Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 0809299666, Hardcover)

In terms of both words and images, the American comic book had a tremendous impact on popular culture. Comics could be funny and cute, or they could be bizarre, morbid, risque (acute accent), violent, and bursting with the subconscious desires of youth culture. The Classic Era of American Comics is a celebration of the golden era of American comics and the wonderful art and stories it produced. This volume takes a look at the pioneers of the comic book and the industry's founding connections with sleazy pulp magazines; the campaign for censorship in the fifties; the unstable and oftentimes unfair relationship between artists and publishers--how comic artists' work wasn't considered art at the time; and, of course, the exciting comics themselves.

The Classic Era of American Comics covers all of the genres--superheroes, westerns, crime, horror, war, science fiction, girl comics, animal characters, and more. It is vibrantly illustrated with more than 400 stunning color images and includes a foreword by Joe Kubert, editor of Sgt. Rock, illustrator of Hawkman, and producer of Fax from Sarajevo.