Comic Books and American Cultural History: An Anthology - Explore the Evolution of Comics in US Society | Perfect for Students, Historians & Pop Culture Enthusiasts

Part of the growing academic literature on comic books, I enjoyed this edited volume though, like all edited volumes, my enjoyment varied with the topics of each contribution. Since my own interests lie in the intersection of politics and cultural globalization, I was impressed by Martin Lund's contribution on Superman as a Golem, on John Donovan's reading of the anti-Communist "Fighting American" series, and Peter Lee's chapter on the early-1970s kung fu craze. That being said, at the end of the day this is still an academic, rather than popular, piece of non-fiction, and as a result several of the contributions tend to get bogged down in theoretical discussions that will leave non-academic readers frustrated. In addition, several of the chapters require a fairly high degree of intimacy with specific characters or series in order to take much away from them. Indeed, one of the weaknesses of several chapters, especially Donovan's, is the linearity of the arguments; long digressions on which artist inked whose pencils, for example, don't offer me much value. As an educator, the most valuable contributions in the book were Jessamyn Neuhaus's and Bridget M. Marshall's chapters on using comic books as classroom resources.