Masters of American Comics - Hardcover

Carlin, John; Karasik, Paul; Walker, Brian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 030011317X ISBN 13: 9780300113174

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2005

Synopsis

Comic strips and comic books were among the most popular and influential forms of mass media in 20th-century America. This fascinating book focuses on fifteen pioneering cartoonists, ranging from Winsor McCay to Chris Ware, who brought this genre to the highest level of artistic expression and who had the greatest impact on the development of the form. Organised chronologically, Masters of 20th-Century American Comics explores the rise of newspaper comic strips and comic books and considers their artistic development throughout the century. Featuring a wide selection of original drawings as well as progressive proofs, vintage printed Sunday pages and comic books themselves, the authors also look at how the art of comics was transformed by artistic innovation as well as by changes in popular taste, economics and printing conventions. First appearing in newspaper Sunday supplements, the comic strip became immediately successful and created the largest audience of any medium of its time. The comic book first began as a way to print existing newspaper comics, then subsequently established the mass popularity of superheroes in the 1940s and 1950s before it matured as a vehicle for independent personal expression in the underground comic books and graphic novels of the 1960s. Artists featured in Masters of 20th-Century American Comics: Winsor McCay 'Little Nemo', Lyonel Feininger 'Kin-der-Kids' and 'Wee Willie Winkie', George Herriman 'Krazy Kat', E. C. Segar 'Thimble Theatre starring Popeye', Frank King 'Gasoline Alley', Chester Gould 'Dick Tracy', Milton Caniff 'Terry and the Pirates', Charles Schulz 'Peanuts', Will Eisner 'The Spirit', Jack Kirby 'Captain America' and 'Fantastic Four', Harvey Kurtzman Mad Magazine, R. Crumb Zap Comix, Art Spiegelman Maus and In the Shadow of No Towers, Gary Panter 'Jimbo', Chris Ware Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth.

About this title

Review:

'Handsome design and faultless reproductions...the text...allows the impressive richness of the work to speak for itself.' -- The Telegraph, 14th January 2006

'Masters of American Comics convincingly positions the genre of comics into the history of art...' -- State of Art, January-February 2006

'This book is a large, gorgeously glossy exhibition companion, which exhibits a certain bias toward the 'underground' or 'alternative' comic.' -- Steven Poole, The Guardian, 28th January 2006

About the Author:

JOHN CARLIN is an independent writer and curator, specializing in the history of comics. He is also chief executive officer of Funny Garbage, a premier media developer in New York City. PAUL KARASIK is a cartoonist whose works have appeared in "The New Yorker "and "Nickelodeon "magazines. He was associate editor of "RAW "and published his own magazine, "Bad News. "He studied with Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, and Art Spiegelman at the School of Visual Arts. BRIAN WALKER is a cartoonist and a founder of the International Museum of Cartoon Art. He has written and edited more than a dozen books, including "The Comics Since 1945."

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 030011317X
• ISBN 13: 9780300113174
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256