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A Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics Hardcover – May 17, 1982

by J. Michael Barrier (Editor), Martin T Williams (Editor)

4.5 52 ratings

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Presents selections from comic books from 1938 to 1955 that feature the adventures of characters such as Superman, Batman, Pogo, Captain Marvel, and Donald Duck

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Smithsonian; First Edition (May 17, 1982)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0874742285
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0874742282
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.25 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.1 x 0.1 x 0.1 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,101,012 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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- #61,818 in Comics & Graphic Novels (Books)

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4.5 52 ratings

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4.5 out of 5

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Zack Davisson

A great book collecting rare reprints.

Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2002

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This book is nothing more or less than a series of reprints of what the author deems "important" comics. Each comic story faithfully reprinted, with the page emulating newsprint. (The entire comic is not reproduced, only the highlighted strip.) There is a little one or two page introduction giving a little history about each comic.
What makes this book such a standout, is that the author's taste is singular, and not limited by a single company or genre. Characters from several different companies happily exist side-by-side in this excellent hardcover. The author has a confessed predisposition for "funny" comics, and these take up a large percentage of the book.
This predisposition allows for several comics to be reprinted that are not normally available. There are numerous reprints of Action Comics #1 (The first Superman comic) and Detective Comics #27 (The first Bat-man Comic) but how many other collections include All-American Comics #20 with the first appearence of Ma Hunkle, the original Red Tornado?
A list of comics included: Action Comics #1 (First appearance of Superman); Detective Comics #29 (Origin of Bat-man); All-American Comics #20-#14 (First appearance of the Red Tornado, and other Red Tornado stories); Police Comics #1 and #13 (First appearance of Plastic Man, and Woozy Winks); Captain Marvel Adventures #100 (Captain Marvel Battles the Plot Against the Universe); Sub-Mariner #4 (Dr. Dimwit by Basil Wolverton); Tessie the Typist #8 (Powerhouse Pepper by Basil Wolverton); Jingle Jangle Comics #5, 24#, (The Pie-faced Prince by George Carlson); Little Lulu Four Color 74 and Little Lulu #38, #40, #80; Walt Disney's Christmas Parade #1 (Donald Duck Christmas story by Carl Barks); Animal Comics #1, Pogo Possum #3, #8 (Pogo the Possum and Gang by Walt Kelly); The Spirit supplements August 10, 1941, September 5, 1948, September 11, 1949 (Great Spirit stories by Will Eisner); The EC Collection (Frontline Combat No. #4, Two-Fisted Tales #25, Mad #4 (Superduperman vs. Captain Marbles), Mad # 18, Impact #1)

16 people found this helpful

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M. Watkins

Super coool!

Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2022

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Great Price! Prompt shipping!

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Terence Mahoney

Good, If Somewhat Repetitive

Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2017

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This book generally follows the larger editions Jules Feiffer's book in its choice of what characters to include. For instance, there is a very early and poorly done Superman story, and one of similar quality featuring Batman. Some of the stories are readily available elsewhere. It would have been nice to see some little known surprising things of quality. There is also material published by Mad Magazine in the 1950s. This is the most recent material included.

The book would have benefited from more history and commentary. This book will be enjoyed best by people who seek an introduction to these comics.

2 people found this helpful

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nathan virgil

The Classics

Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2012

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This book displays the work, stories, and art of the early days of comic books. Featuring the first appearances of DC Comics icons, Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel, and Red Tornado, the first superheroes get their spotlight. Beyond that, though, the other genres really take center stage. Pogo, Little Lulu, and Powerhouse Pepper show just how great funny books once were, while The Spirit pushes then-contemporary boundaries of the art form, Kurtzman redefines war stories, and nothing is safe from Mad's satirical jabs.

My local library is where I first found this book, and I don't regret having my own copy. Just using the art as reference makes this worth it's weight in gold.

2 people found this helpful

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Aerianne

Comic Book History at Its Best.

Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2015

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I've just started reading this excellent book on comic book history. It is mostly colorful, faded comic book excerpts with great written history. It is an excellent book to share with children and is a wonderful comic book history source. It is put out by the Smithsonian and is well written and informative. I highly recommend this book. You can buy it used on Amazon and save some money. It is quite a long and thick book and well worth the price of Americana history.

Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2013

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One of the first to reproduce directly from the printed strips rather than to muddy the waters with "restoration," this book has a nice collection of stories by the usual suspects, Eisner, Cole, Stanley, etc. But even if your bias is toward humor material, if you're going to include any super hero stuff at all, how do you not include a story by Jack Kirby? In fact, even if you had decided to eliminate superhero material entirely, wouldn't Kirby still merit a place on the basis of his romance, horror, crime, and western work? Yes, I'm a Kirby fan (as well as a fan of most of the others in this book), so consider my bias, but it seems to me that in a book called "Smithsonian" there should be a place for the man whose drawing board wound up in the museum of the same name.

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SebastianPaper

A great collection

Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2019

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The Smithsonian has put together a great collection here. The early Batman, Plastic Man, and Mad magazine stand out as great reads.

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The Bracken Record

This was the perfect gift for someone who owned this book a long ...