The Fellowship was fortunate enough to obtain a copy of THE COMIC BOOK HISTORY OF COMICS #1 from IDW Publishing. Fred Van Lente writes and
letters, Ryan Dunlavey draws, and Adam Guzowski colors.
The creators of Action Philosophers are back, and this time
they’re tackling the long and storied history of comics. This issue starts at
the beginning (a good idea), with the start of newspaper comics in the US in
the late 19th century. We learn about yellow journalism, Nell
Brinkley, and the origins of animation. And that’s just barely scratching the
surface.
There’s also a page on cave paintings, so the story really
starts before the beginning. And that also gives the reader an idea of how
detailed and carefully treated this history is. The main concepts are well
explained within the constraints of having to fit so much into a small space.
And the art plays just as integral a role in showing the different and varying
pieces of history as the words do. This just wouldn’t work without the seamless
combination of concise facts and carefully rendered drawings.
Yes, I’m a bit of a history nut. But this is really cool
reading anyway. History is more than just facts – presentation is just as
important to make the material easy to absorb. And this book does it well. Pick
it up and learn something.
~Mike ( @MikeyGeek )
