Supermen!: The First Wave of Comic Book Heroes 1936-1941
| AUTHOR | Sadowski, Greg; Sadowski, Greg; Lethem, Jonathan et al. |
| PUBLISHER | Fantagraphics Books (04/20/2009) |
| PRODUCT TYPE | Paperback (Paperback) |
Description
"A collection like SUPERMEN works like a reverse-neutron bomb to assumptions about the birth of the superhero image: it tears down the orderly structures of theory and history and leaves the figures standing in full view, staring back at us in all their defiant disorienting particularity, their blazing strangeness."--from the foreword by Jonathan Lethem
The enduring cultural phenomenon of comic book heroes was invented in the late 1930s by a hungry and talented group of artists and writers barely out of their teens, flying by the seat of their pants to come up with something new, exciting, and above all profitable. The iconography and mythology they created flourishes to this day in practically all visual media. Supermen collects the best and the brightest of this first generation, including Jack Cole, Will Eisner, Bill Everett, Lou Fine, Fletcher Hanks, Jack Kirby, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and Basil Wolverton. Readers expecting to find an All-American group of altruistic do-gooders are in for quite a jolt. As Jonathan Lethem writes in his Foreword, "A collection like Supermen works like a reverse-neutron bomb to assumptions about the birth of the superhero image: it tears down the orderly structures of theory and history and leaves the figures standing in full view, staring back at us in all their defiant disorienting particularity, their blazing strangeness." Beautifully designed and produced in full color, Supermen contains twenty full-length stories, nine full-sized covers, a generous selection of vintage promotional ads, and comprehensive background notes by editor Greg Sadowski.
This anthology is indispensable to anyone interested in the origins of superheroes and the history of the comic book form.
The enduring cultural phenomenon of comic book heroes was invented in the late 1930s by a hungry and talented group of artists and writers barely out of their teens, flying by the seat of their pants to come up with something new, exciting, and above all profitable. The iconography and mythology they created flourishes to this day in practically all visual media. Supermen collects the best and the brightest of this first generation, including Jack Cole, Will Eisner, Bill Everett, Lou Fine, Fletcher Hanks, Jack Kirby, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and Basil Wolverton. Readers expecting to find an All-American group of altruistic do-gooders are in for quite a jolt. As Jonathan Lethem writes in his Foreword, "A collection like Supermen works like a reverse-neutron bomb to assumptions about the birth of the superhero image: it tears down the orderly structures of theory and history and leaves the figures standing in full view, staring back at us in all their defiant disorienting particularity, their blazing strangeness." Beautifully designed and produced in full color, Supermen contains twenty full-length stories, nine full-sized covers, a generous selection of vintage promotional ads, and comprehensive background notes by editor Greg Sadowski.
This anthology is indispensable to anyone interested in the origins of superheroes and the history of the comic book form.
Show More
Product Format
Product Details
ISBN-13:
9781560979715
ISBN-10:
1560979712
Binding:
Paperback or Softback (Trade Paperback (Us))
Content Language:
English
More Product Details
Page Count:
192
Carton Quantity:
20
Product Dimensions:
7.50 x 0.80 x 10.30 inches
Weight:
1.65 pound(s)
Feature Codes:
Price on Product,
Table of Contents,
Illustrated
Country of Origin:
MY
Subject Information
BISAC Categories
Literary Criticism | Comics & Graphic Novels
Grade Level:
11th Grade
and up
Dewey Decimal:
741.5
Library of Congress Control Number:
2014378094
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
annotation
Containing 22 long-out-of-print stories, this collection shines the spotlight on bygone superheroes from the dawn of the comic-book format, including Wonder Man, Spacehawk, Blue Bolt, and Rex Dexter. It also contains artwork by such comics luminaries as Fletcher Hanks, Will Eisner, Jack Kirby, and Basil Wolverton.
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publisher marketing
"A collection like SUPERMEN works like a reverse-neutron bomb to assumptions about the birth of the superhero image: it tears down the orderly structures of theory and history and leaves the figures standing in full view, staring back at us in all their defiant disorienting particularity, their blazing strangeness."--from the foreword by Jonathan Lethem
The enduring cultural phenomenon of comic book heroes was invented in the late 1930s by a hungry and talented group of artists and writers barely out of their teens, flying by the seat of their pants to come up with something new, exciting, and above all profitable. The iconography and mythology they created flourishes to this day in practically all visual media. Supermen collects the best and the brightest of this first generation, including Jack Cole, Will Eisner, Bill Everett, Lou Fine, Fletcher Hanks, Jack Kirby, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and Basil Wolverton. Readers expecting to find an All-American group of altruistic do-gooders are in for quite a jolt. As Jonathan Lethem writes in his Foreword, "A collection like Supermen works like a reverse-neutron bomb to assumptions about the birth of the superhero image: it tears down the orderly structures of theory and history and leaves the figures standing in full view, staring back at us in all their defiant disorienting particularity, their blazing strangeness." Beautifully designed and produced in full color, Supermen contains twenty full-length stories, nine full-sized covers, a generous selection of vintage promotional ads, and comprehensive background notes by editor Greg Sadowski.
This anthology is indispensable to anyone interested in the origins of superheroes and the history of the comic book form.
The enduring cultural phenomenon of comic book heroes was invented in the late 1930s by a hungry and talented group of artists and writers barely out of their teens, flying by the seat of their pants to come up with something new, exciting, and above all profitable. The iconography and mythology they created flourishes to this day in practically all visual media. Supermen collects the best and the brightest of this first generation, including Jack Cole, Will Eisner, Bill Everett, Lou Fine, Fletcher Hanks, Jack Kirby, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and Basil Wolverton. Readers expecting to find an All-American group of altruistic do-gooders are in for quite a jolt. As Jonathan Lethem writes in his Foreword, "A collection like Supermen works like a reverse-neutron bomb to assumptions about the birth of the superhero image: it tears down the orderly structures of theory and history and leaves the figures standing in full view, staring back at us in all their defiant disorienting particularity, their blazing strangeness." Beautifully designed and produced in full color, Supermen contains twenty full-length stories, nine full-sized covers, a generous selection of vintage promotional ads, and comprehensive background notes by editor Greg Sadowski.
This anthology is indispensable to anyone interested in the origins of superheroes and the history of the comic book form.
Show More
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