Comic books have presented fictional and fact-based stories of the Korean War, as it was being fought and afterward. Comparing these comics with events that inspired them offers a deeper understanding of the comics industry, America's "forgotten war," and the anti-comics movement, championed by psychiatrist Fredric Wertham, who criticized their brutalization of the imagination. Comics--both newsstand... [click here for more]
Persia had Rostam. Babylonia had Gilgamesh and Enkidu. Egypt had Horus and Isis. Greece had Odysseus and Achilles.
Israel had its heroes, too—Moses, David, Esther and Samson. While Israel’s heroes did not wear capes or spandex, they did meet cultural needs.
In times of crisis, heroes emerge to model virtues that inspire a sense of commitment and worth. Identity concerns were especially... [click here for more]
The first superhero team from the Silver Age of comics, DC's Justice League has seen many iterations since its first appearance in 1960. As the original comic book continued and spin-off titles proliferated, talented writers, artists and editors adapted the team to appeal to changing audience tastes.
This collection of new essays examines more than five decades of Justice League comics and related... [click here for more]
One of the most popular comic strips of the 1950s and the first to reference politics of the day, Walt Kelly's Pogo took on Joe McCarthy before the controversial senator was a blip on Edward R. Murrow's radar.
The strip's satire was so biting, it was often relegated to newspaper editorial sections at a time when artists in other media were blacklisted for far less. Pogo was the vanguard of today's... [click here for more]