Comic Book Culture

An Illustrated History

By Ron Goulart

2000

First Published

3.92

Average Rating

206

Number of Pages

6H15M

Audio Length

During the Golden Age of comic books, from the middle 1930s to the late 1940s, readers could choose from hundreds of titles colorfully displayed on America's newsstands—from Action Comics to Zip Comics. Selecting from thousands of cover illustrations of the period, comics authority Ron Goulart has assembled more than 400 of the most entertaining and provocative for this book. All of which are comprehensively indexed for the first time. You'll see images of various characters, including Superman, Batman, Plastic Man, Captain Marvel, The Flame, Cat-Man, the Black Terror, the Blue Beetle and Sheena—Queen of the Jungle. You'll encounter the most effective output of admired artists such as Will Eisner, Jack Kirby, Lou Fine, Jack Cole, Alex Schomburg and Bill Everett, plus lesser-know cartoonists such as Paul Gustavson, Matt Baker, Gus Ricca, L.B. Cole and Ramona Patenaude. Several covers in this collection have not been reprinted since their original publication. The text provides a concise history of the comic book business, from its shaky beginnings in the early 1930s to its multi-million dollar successes during the WWII years. Through informed copy and profuse images, Goulart offers an intimate look at one of the most popular forms of American popular art.

Avg Rating

3.92

Number of Ratings

5 STARS

23%

4 STARS

46%

3 STARS

31%

2 STARS

1 STARS

goodreads

Author

Ron Goulart

Author · 72 books

Pseudonyms: Howard Lee; Frank S Shawn; Kenneth Robeson; Con Steffanson; Josephine Kains; Joseph Silva; William Shatner. Ron Goulart is a cultural historian and novelist. Besides writing extensively about pulp fiction—including the seminal Cheap Thrills: An Informal History of Pulp Magazines (1972)—Goulart has written for the pulps since 1952, when the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction published his first story, a sci-fi parody of letters to the editor. Since then he has written dozens of novels and countless short stories, spanning genres and using a variety of pennames, including Kenneth Robeson, Joseph Silva, and Con Steffanson. In the 1990s, he became the ghostwriter for William Shatner’s popular TekWar novels. Goulart’s After Things Fell Apart (1970) is the only science-fiction novel to ever win an Edgar Award. In the 1970s Goulart wrote novels starring series characters like Flash Gordon and the Phantom, and in 1980 he published Hail Hibbler, a comic sci-fi novel that began the Odd Jobs, Inc. series. Goulart has also written several comic mystery series, including six books starring Groucho Marx. Having written for comic books, Goulart produced several histories of the art form, including the Comic Book Encyclopedia (2004).