AMERICAN COMICS

An ambitious attempt to comprehensively map the progression of comics in America.

“This book,” writes Dauber, professor of Jewish literature and American studies at Columbia, “tries to cover the whole shebang, from [Thomas] Nast’s cartoons to the latest graphic memoirs and transmedia corporate productions.” If anything, he understates his intent, because “the whole shebang” also encompasses political and cultural upheavals reflected in the work; social concerns they addressed and the prejudices they reflected, from the explicitly racist and misogynist to restrictions within a field criticized as a White boys club; technological and distributional shifts, from printing presses to computers and from selling through magazine stands to headshops to comic book shops; shifts in the target demographics; and branding, merchandising, and multimedia concerns. Although the presentation of all this well-researched material leads to some narrative discohesion, there’s plenty of delight and revelation for comics fans. Dauber effectively shows how profoundly Mad magazine shifted the landscape, in defiance of the codes to which others submitted, and how Maus and other literary graphic novels would erase the already blurring line between high and low culture that had kept comics on the wrong side of the tracks. There are also the oft-told stories of artists and developers never receiving their due—e.g., how Superman paid big dividends for so many other than its creators, or how Stan Lee received much of the glory at Marvel, at Jack Kirby’s expense. Dauber seems to revel in minutiae, with as many as a half-dozen all but forgotten comics name-checked within a single paragraph as well as offhand references to dozens more. It’s clear that the author, in his diligence, was worried about leaving something out, and the lack of supporting illustrations—the comics themselves—reinforces the adage that a picture is worth 1,000 words.

Dauber clearly knows and cherishes his subject, and readers who share his passion will find plenty to love.