“American Comics: A History”, by Jeremy Dauber

 

592 pages, W. W. Norton & Company, ISBN-13‏: ‎ 978-0393635607

Everything I know about comic books I learned through osmosis from my older brother, Tom. He was the true collector, and while such mainstream titles – like X-Men – made it into his collection, he seemed to favor the more independent titles, like Alien Legion, published by Epic Comics (an imprint of Marvel). I tried my hand at comics for a time, reading every issue of House of Mystery I could get my hands on (especially when they ran the I…Vampire recurring storyline), getting in on the ground floor with the resurrected Firestorm in 1982, along with such New Universe titles as Star Brand in 1986 (to say nothing of my beloved Groo the Wander). But all for naught, as I was well and truly under the sway of history, and these fictional beings couldn’t match the exploits of men (it was mostly men) who really lived and shaped their worlds.

So with all that said, it may make you wonder why I read American Comics: A History by Jeremy Dauber, seeing as I was a tangential fan of the medium, at best. Well, it was because I was ignorant of so much of what has occurred surrounding this most American of mediums, and decided to cure this ignorance the best way I know how. American Comics is exhaustive in its approach, starting with the birth of newspaper comics in the late 19^th Century and continuing on through to the present day, when these mainstays of every geek’s life (he said with nothin’ but love) conquered the movies and popular culture. While the big names everyone has heard of are represented, Dauber does justice to the underground comics of the 60s and 70s, as well as those publications attached to comics, like MAD Magazine and its imitators.

Dauber’s work is as thorough and comprehensive as one could hope for, and every character this comic book noob could imagine makes an appearance at some point; just as importantly, though, I learned about their creators, the often unheralded writers and artists (most of whom I’d never heard of) were brought forth and offered a bow. The big names are here, like Steve Ditko, Jerry Siegel, Stan Lee, Will Eisner and so many others besides, but the more obscure creators are given their due, as well. While some may kvetch that these lesser-known lights shouldn’t be given so much page space relative to their better-known colleagues, Dauber seemed intent on giving as complete a history of this American art form as possible, even if the reader hadn’t heard of whomever was under discussion.

Eclectic and incomplete, I’m sure, as I don’t think that Dauber spoke to a single comic-geek for a fan’s-eye-view of the medium, or any comic book store owners for any behind-the-scenes tales of selling these things. And when he speaks of so-called “toxic fandom” he really goes off the rails, availing himself of all the anecdotal evidence at his fingertips and assigning bad-faith motivations to fans who have reacted badly to the poor storytelling that is presented solely for the sake of achieving so-called “diversity”. Really, now, to pretend that this push for inclusion at all costs – while simultaneously cheering it on even as it subverts good storytelling for politics – hasn’t created a crisis in the industry is to ignore reality. And how in the hell do you write a book about comics with absolutely no pictures?

But, anyway…American Comics: A History did its job in informing me of what I didn’t know. Dauber doesn’t really bring anything new to the table that hasn’t been said before elsewhere, but he does provide a simple, concise history of this medium that conquered American culture and, thus, the world.