Comics & Comix
In case you can't make out the details in the image above, I will be leading a panel discussion about comics on Thursday, September 25 as part of the Book History Colloquium at Columbia University. 5:30 - 7:00 in 523 Butler Library.
The speakers are David Hajdu, author of The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America (2008) and David Beronä, author of Wordless Books: The Original Graphic Novels
These two books are part of a growing body of excellent secondary works on comic history/graphic narrative. Other recent favorites of mine include Men Of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book by Gerard Jones and Rebel Visions: The Underground Comix Revolution, 1963-1975 by Patrick Rosenkranz.
In addition to these works, there has been an explosion of quality re-printings of comics from an earlier era. Thanks in large part to the success of The Complete Peanuts published by Fantagraphics, it is possible for fans and researchers to get their hands on complete runs of classics such as Krazy Kat, Gasoline Alley, Dick Tracy, and many more. Add to these the availability of DC Archive Editions and Marvel MasterWorks editions PLUS the lesser-known super heroes being reissued by Dark Horse, and it's clear we're living in another golden age of comics.
A golden age of comics history, at any rate.
Excelsior!