Download Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book, by Gerard Jones
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Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book, by Gerard Jones
Download Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book, by Gerard Jones
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From The New Yorker
This history of the birth of superhero comics highlights three pivotal figures. The story begins early in the last century, on the Lower East Side, where Harry Donenfeld rises from the streets to become king of the "smooshes"—soft-core magazines with titles like French Humor and Hot Tales. Later, two high-school friends in Cleveland, Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, become avid fans of "scientifiction," the new kind of literature promoted by their favorite pulp magazines. The disparate worlds of the wise guy and the geeks collide in 1938, and the result is Action Comics #1, the début of Superman. For Donenfeld, the comics were a way to sidestep the censors. For Shuster and Siegel, they were both a calling and an eventual source of misery: the pair waged a lifelong campaign for credit and appropriate compensation. Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker
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From Booklist
The comic book's early days have received heightened attention in the wake of Michael Chabon's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Kavalier and Clay, about the cutthroat businessmen and naive artists who then populated the industry. Although Jones' history limns dozens of the young writers and artists, most from working-class Jewish neighborhoods and many still teenaged, and the bosses who exploited them, its central figures are Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who launched the superhero genre by creating Superman, only to sell the rights to the character for a pittance and spend decades in obscurity and near-poverty. Jones continues the story through the censorship that nearly destroyed the industry in the 1950s to the 1960s superhero revival that continues today. Jones' experience as a comic-book scripter, albeit decades after the period he chronicles, gives him the advantage over most previous writers on the comics milieu, and his vivid writing suits the subject. But it is his impressively thorough research that makes this one of the most valuable books on a distinctively American storytelling form. Gordon FlaggCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Product details
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Basic Books; Export Ed edition (October 12, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0465036562
ISBN-13: 978-0465036561
Product Dimensions:
6.5 x 1.2 x 9.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.4 out of 5 stars
45 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#794,437 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
To be sure this book is well researched. It goes deeply into the immigrants (mostly Jewish) who would found the comic book industry (some patience is need for the first fifth of the book as it is not about comics-they had not been invented yet-but it is fascinating to watch the pieces slowly drift together). Though most of the big and small publishers are covered the lynchpin of this narrative is the story of Siegel and Shuster; how they created Superman and how they lost him and their long struggle to get some sort of compensation. To be truthful the author is very even handed in his portrayal of both sides of the struggle. The creators of Superman seemed to have had their one big idea, then they struggled; one with failing eyesight, the other just could not seem to come up with the next big concept creating many failures along the way. Some of the popular myths that we think of as "comic history" are disputed and shown for what they were.Though I might have wanted to hear more about other creators and companies; and that is not to say you don't; I understand that in such a vast field it is important to provide a focus otherwise the book would have been ten times as long. Sometimes I was aghast at how cut-throat the comic industry could be-this is a warts-and-all story and very worth the time to pursue.For more information on EC comics which is intertwined with DC comics seek out a copy of the Mad World of Bill Gaines which really goes deeply in ECs history.
I was a comic book fan from my earliest age to about 10 years ago, when the whole thing seems to have gone to the dogs. I was brought up on the Mexican editions of DC comics, and didn't become familiar with Marvel Comics until I visited the US in the second half of the 1970s and learned to love the cheeky humor and mindless action, plus the wonderful artwork of the Romitas, Buscemas and Ditkos of this world, and their little mannerisms ("true believers", "'nuff said", "excelsior!", "no-prizes" and such). Although I did learn a bit about the origins and evolution of the medium, I must confess I was never too interested about the creators themselves. For me, they were subsumed within the characters and stories they told, drew and inked. I guess this may be a consequence of having learned about comics from reprints of 1960s Superman and Batman books, where the writers and artists were hidden under wraps, and strong individuality was discouraged. Although I knew that Siegel and Schuster created Superman, that Kane and Finger did the same for Batman, and that Lee and a host of other talents (like Kirby, Ditko et a.) gave forth the Silver Age, I didn't know much about the guys themselves, or the business they were in.This book has introduced me to the inner workings of the "House(s) of Ideas", both those of the creators and the businessmen. It is certainly interesting to find out how such basic concepts as secret identity, origin story, motivation, super-villains and love interests came to be, and what was the business model that would enrich a few managers at the expense of some of the creators. I was aware of the essential "American-ness" of comic books (that was, after all, part of the pleasure they gave to a foreigner in the days before color TV and cheap international travel). "The Adventures of Kavalier and Klay" showed me that this was a particular brand of "American-ness", very deeply interwoven with a particular immigrant experience. "Men of Tomorrow" fleshes out this landscape, and populates it with fascinating characters. Even if you are not a comic book fan, it would be a very enjoyable read, since it is not a book for "geeks" and fleshes out all the stories for a general reader. I give it four stars because it could have used more pictures. Memo for the editors: people who read comics like pictures! Put some in in the next edition.
This is a wonderful examination of the men who created one of the most enduring and endearing media in modern times, the comic book.For history buff, pop culture fans, and, of course, comic book "geeks", this book offers an intimate and sometimes alarming (even depressing) account of the birth of the comic book, the screwing of young talent, the greed of companies, and America itself from the early part of the 20th century almost to today.3 complaints, and they are each rather minor (since the book held my attention like few others have):1.) So much attention is spend on 3 or 4 central figures throughout the book that other important creators get the short shift.2.) Not enough is said about comics from the mid 1970's to today. It is as if the writer shot his wad in research and writing about 4/5ths of the way through the book, then rushed through the rest.3.) More photographs and art samples would have made this a more complete experience.Again, if you enjoy American history, popular culture, and/or comic books, this book will hold you in its grip.
Once again, the old adage that truth is stranger than fiction seems to resonate. Michael Chabon's recent fictional history on the comic book pioneers may have been beautifully written but this book is utterly fascinating. People may think that Jones is rehashing events that are `well known' within the annals of comics history but the author does a masterful job of placing this subject within the broader context of popular culture and for that matter, 20th century America. In doing so I can guarantee that you'll never look at a comic book in quite the same way ever again. There's lots of information in here on a variety of subjects: you'll have no problems reading this book twice. Buy it.
I've been a fan of comics for 5 decades now but knew very little of how the whole business got it's start, other than a few anecdotes here and there by surviving creators. This book tells the whole story of the early Golden Age and the beginnings of the Silver Age, warts and all. I love how it even went back to the start of the sci-fi genre and tied in with comics' genesis. Written historically yet suspensefully, 'Men Of Tomorrow' is an absolute great book to buy and read, whether you're a fan of the genre or not.
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