Volume 1 covers the following subjects: COMING ATTRACTIONS - The origins of the graphic story up to the newspaper strips; THE BLOODY PULPS - The influence of the pulp magazines; - THE SUPER STAR - The ultimate fantasy hero, Superman; THE PLAYBOY HERO - The legend of Batman and Robin; THE AMERICAN IDOL - The life and times of Captain America; SUPER DOUBLE FEATURE - Submariner vs. The Human Torch, other Timely heroes; BEST SUPPORTING CHARACTERS - Flash, Hawkman, Justice Society, more DC heroes; THE KID PLAYERS - The kid gangs of the comics' Golden Age.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT CLASSIC THAT NEEDS A REPRINT,
By JON STRICKLAND "Jon Strickland" (Smithfield, NC United States) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Steranko History of Comics, Volume 1 (Paperback)
The Steranko History of Comics I is a well-presented volume that I would highly recommend for those interested in the history of pulp fiction and comic books.It is a brilliant summary of a large portion of the genres, formats, and marketing strategies that comprised the Golden Age of Comics, which dated back to the 1930s and 1940s. Even a reader who is not particularly a comics fan will likely find this book fascinating and enlightening. To me, the Steranko History of Comics I is one of the greatest efforts to document the history and development of the superhero fantasy. Introduced in this publication are highlighted stories and photographed covers of the various pulp fiction magazines, including The Shadow, The Spider, Weird Tales, etc., all of which were prevalent in American dime stores and contained various tales about time travel, unlimited atomic energy, ghosts, and alien invaders. Though these fantasies were popular, the pulp novel editors, according to Steranko, eventually needed to find a way to publish their stories at a pace in sync with an accelerating, thus increasingly demanding, society that was producing faster machines, trains, planes, and automobiles. Thus was developed, according to Steranko, the transition of the pulp fiction format from the long-time-to-read traditional page-by-page sequencing to the illustrated frame-by-frame comic book, the latter of which could literally present the visual setting and thus relax the mind's eye of the reader. Mentioned subsequently is that for the next few years, the conversion from pulp fiction protagonists to comic book heroes varied from one stage to the next, and in essence, there was formed an assembly of characters that seemingly constituted a secret society that maintained law and order. Eventually, many were looking for a single, all-encompassing, super action superhero; and the answer, as Steranko would proclaim, was the iconic brainchild of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Superman. With the creative success of the Siegel/Shuster duo, Superman inspired the origins of other superheroes, including Batman, Captain America, Captain Marvel, and Wonder Woman. And in the pages of Steranko's History of Comics is a chronological, photographed sequencing of landmark comics that were pervasive in America during the Great Depression and World War II, from Action Comics to Whiz Comics. Notice the price label on each of these issues and how affordable these publications were back then but are now anything but! All in all, Steranko did a nice chapter-by-chapter sequence, bringing forth names of the great contributors to the comic book universe while mixing in some rather romantic narrations concerning the popularity of the myriad creations. And last, but not least, is the cover of Steranko's artwork, which is an illustrated collage of nearly all the superheroes that were identified in this great classic of classics.
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