A list of book-length studies on the history and criticism of comics and a variety of categories. Individual book entries may include the book's Table of Contents, on-site reviews, printed review citations, links to on-line information, and more.

Reviews and Additional Information: If you'd like to suggest titles or contribute a review of one of these books, please contact us.

NOTE:  indicates a new or revised entry added since 6 January 2008.

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Animals || Antecedents / Early Comics || Architecture and Comics || Art
Caricature || Censorship / Controversy / Regulation || Fandom
 Film/Movies and Comics || History || Jews in / and Comics 
 Music / Recordings and Comics || Race / Ethnicity
Religion || Science || Sex / Eroticism || War || Women and Comics 

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Animals

• Eury, Michael. 2007. Comics Gone Ape! The Missing Link to Primates in Comics. TwoMorrows Publishing. 141pp. ISBN-10: 1893905624, ISBN-13: 978-1893905627 (paperback).
• Groensteen, Thierry. 1987. Animaux en Cases: une histoire de la bande dessinée animalière. Futuropolis.
• Whyte, Malcolm. 2001. Great Comic Cats. [Rev. & expanded ed.] San Francisco: Ponegranate. 168pp. ISBN 0764917374 (paper). Buy It!

Antecedents / Early Comics (Platinum Age, Etc.)

• WebLink: Early Comics

Architecture and Comics 

• Ciutat & Comic, Ciudad & Comic. ISBN 84-7794-539-X.
• Lefèvre, Pascal. 1996[?]. Architectuur in de negende kunst / Architecture dane le nuvieme art. Brussel: NBM-Amstelland Bouw BV. Box set (booklet + plates). ISBN 90-72745-08-6 (box).
  

Art (Fine Art, Pop Art, Etc.)

• Shikes, Ralph E. and Steven Heller. 1984. The Art of Satire: Painters as Caricaturists and Cartoonists from Delacroix to Picasso. Horizon P / Pratt Graphics Center. 125pp. ISBN 0-8180-0141-0 (cloth), 0-8180-0142-9 (paper).
  
• Splat Boom Pow! The Influence of Cartoons in Contemporary Art. 2003. Ed. Valerie Cassel. Houston TX: Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. 127pp. ISBN 0936080787 (paper).
• Yoe, Craig. 2005. Modern Arf: Artists + Models: The Naked Truth. Seatle, WA: Fantagraphics. 120pp. ISBN 1560976292 (paper).  On-line information || Buy It!
  

Caricature

Censorship / Controversy / Regulation

• Allison, Anne. 1996. Permitted and Prohibited Desires: Mothers, Comics, and Censorship in Japan. Boulder, CO: Westview Press,. 225 pp. ISBN 0813316987 (hardcover), 0813331277 (paperback).
• Barker, Martin. 1989. Comics: Ideology, Power, and the Critics . Manchester: Manchester University Press.
• Beaty, Bart. 2005. Fredric Wertham and the Critique of Mass Culture. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 157806810X (hardcover - Buy It! ), 1578068193 (paper - Buy It!). Publisher's website
• Barker, Martin. 1992. A Haunt of Fears. London: Pluto Press, 1984.  Rpt. Jackson and London: University Press of Mississippi, 1992.
• The Fredric Wertham Collection. 1990. Contributions by James Reibman, Peter Nisbit, and Cristina Ashjian. Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University. 101pp. ISBN0916724751 (paper).
• Fulce, John. 1990. Seduction of the Innocent Revisited. Lafayette: Huntington House. 200pp.
• Goldwater, John L. 1974. Americana in Four Colors: Twenty Years of Self Regulation by the Comics Magzine Industry. New York: Comics Magazine Association of America.
• Hajdu, David. 2008. The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 
  
• Jetté, Marc. Censure et bande dessinée Américaine . Montréal: Roussan Éditeur, 1997. ISBN 2-921212-26-9 (paper).
• Lent, John A., ed. 1999. Pulp Demons: International Dimensions of the Postwar Anti-Comics Campaign. Madison and Teaneck: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press / London: Associated University Presses. 306 pp. ISBN 0838637841 (hc).
• Nyberg, Amy Kiste. 1998. Seal of Approval: The History of the Comics Code . Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. 208pp. ISBN 0878059741 (cloth), ISBN 087805975X (paper).
• Rubenstein, Ann. 1998. Bad Language, Naked Ladies, and Other Threats to the Nation: A Political History of Comic Books in Mexico . Durham and London: Duke UP. 210 pp. ISBN 0822321084 (cloth), ISBN 0-8223-2141-6 (paper).
• Schurman, Lydia Cushman and Deidre Johnson, eds. 2002. Scorned Literature: Essays on the History and Criticism of Popular Mass-Produced Fiction in America. Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture, Number 75. Westport, CT & London: Greenwood Press. 245pp. ISBN 0313320330 (hc).
  
• Springhall, John. 1998. Youth, Popular Culture, and Moral Panics: Penny Gaffs to Gangsta-Rap, 1830-1996. New York: St. Martin's Press. 218 pp. ISBN 0312213948 (cloth), 0312213956 (pb).
• Watson, Chris and Roy Shuker. 1998. In the Public Good? Censorship in New Zealand.  Palmerston North, NZ: Dunmore Press.  ISBN 0864693052.
  
• Wertham, Fredric. 1954. Seduction of the Innocent. New York: Reinhart. 397pp.[?]
• WebLink: Cartoonist Rights Network: Featuring information on cartoonists in trouble around the world.
• WebLink: Comic Book Legal Defense Fund : Featuring a bibliography on comics censorship .

• Brown, Jeffrey A. Black Superheroes, Milestone Comics, and Their Fans. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2001. 232pp. ISBN 1578062810 (cloth), 1578062829 (paper). 
• Hills, Matthew. Fan Cultures. Sussex Studies in Culture and Communication. Routledge, 2002. 224pp. ISBN 0415240255 (paper).
  
• Lupoff, Pat & Dick. The Best of Xero: Selections from the Hugo Award-Winning Magazine. Introduction by Roger Ebert. Tachyon Publications, 2004. 220pp. ISBN 1892391112 (hc -Buy It!), 1892391171 (paper -Buy It!).
• Pustz, Matthew J. Comic Book Culture: Fanboys and True Believers. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1999. 244 pp. ISBN 1578062004 (hc), 1578062012 (paper).
• Schelly, Bill. The Golden Age of Comic Fandom . Seattle: Hamster Press, 1995. 138pp. ISBN 0964566907 (paper). 
• Schelly, Bill.  Sense of Wonder: A Life in Comic Fandom. Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows Publishishing, 2001. 216pp. ISBN 1893905128 (paper).
• Wertham, Fredric. The World of Fanzines: A Special Form of Communication. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1973. ISBN 0809306190.

Film / Movies and Comics (see also specific Titles/Characters)

• Hughes, David. Comic Book Movies. (Virgin Film series). London: Virgin Books, 2003. 296pp. ISBN 0753507676 (paper).
  
• Morrow, James and Murray Suid. Moviemaking Illustrated: The Comicbook Filmbook . Hayden Book Company, 1974[?].
• Schoell, William. Comic Book Heroes of the Screen.

History

• Naepel, Oliver. Auschwitz im Comic - Die Abbildung unvorstellbarer Zeitgeschichte [Auschwitz in Comics - The Depiction of Unimaginable Contemporary History]. Muenster (Germany): LIT, 1998.ISBN 3825837033.

Jews in / and Comics

• Fingeroth, Danny. 2007. Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero. Foreword by Stan Lee. Popular Culture and Television series. New York & London: Continuum. 192pp. ISBN-10: 0826417671; ISBN13: 978-0826417671 (hardcover).
• Weinstein, Simcha. 2006. Up, Up, and Oy Vey!: How Jewish History, Culture, and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero. Leviathan Press. 164pp. ISBN 1881927326 (paper).
• ebLink: Jewish Comics: A Select Bibliography : Maintained by Steven M. Bergson. Annotated list of primarily American comics featuring Jewish characters or themes.

Music / Recordings and Comics

• WebLink: Comic Art and Music : By Manfred Vogel & Michael Rhode (Comics Stuff #4); housed at Michigan State University.
  
• WebLink: Platenhoezen ontworpen door striptekenaars / Record Covers Drawn by Comics Artists Web site apparently no longer maintained; some information corrupt (Dec 2003).
  

Race / Ethnicity

• Brown, Jeffrey A. Black Superheroes, Milestone Comics, and Their Fans.  Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2001. 232pp. ISBN 157806-2810 (cloth), 1578062829 (paper).
• Cartoons and Ethnicity. Catalog of the 1992 Festival of Cartoon Art. Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University Libraries, 1992.
• Foster, William H., III. Looking for a Face Like Mine. Waterbury, CT: Fine Tooth Press, 2005. 100pp. ISBN 0976665247 (paper).
• Rifas, Leonard. "Racial Imagery, Racism, Individualism, and Underground Comix." ImageTexT: Interdisciplinary Comics Studies 1.1 (2004). on-line
  
• Strömberg, Frederik. Black Images in the Comics: A Visual History. Foreword by Charles R. Johnson. Seattle, WA: Fantagraphics, 2003. 264 pp. ISBN 1560975466 (cloth). Buy It!
• WebLink: Brown, Jeffrey A. "Comic Book Masculinity and the New Black Superhero."  On-line version of article from African American Review (Spring 1999).
• WebLink: Comics and African Americans: A list based on the comics research bibliography.
  
• WebLink: Museum of Black Superheroes : Large and informative site, by Omar Bilal
• WebLink Pioneering Cartooonists of Color

Religion

• Garrett, Greg. Holy Superheroes: Exploring Faith and Spirituality in Comic Books. Navpress Publishing Group, 2005. 191pp. ISBN 1576835766 (paper).
• Strömberg, Frederik. The Comics Go to Hell: A Visual History of the Devil in Comics. Seattle, WA: Fantagraphics, 2005. 320 pp. ISBN 1560976160 (cloth).

Science

Sex / Eroticism

• Gilmore, Donald H. Sex in Comics: A History of the Eight Pagers, by Donald H. Gilmore. San Diego: Greenleaf Classics, 1971.
• Gluckson, Robert K. Sex Comics in the 1930s-1950s: A Genre History . Master's thesis, University of Washington, 1992.
• Horn, Maurice. Sex in the Comics.  New York: Chelsea House, 1985. ISBN 0-87754-850-1.
• Sidén, Hans. Sadomasochism in Comics: A History of Sex and Violence in Comic Books. Introduction by Donald H. Gilmore, Ph.D. Greenleaf Classics, 1972.
• WebLink: Tijuana Bibles : Large archive of eight-pagers, with lots of extra info. Adults-only site!

War

Women and Comics

• Franzen, Monika, and Nancy Ethiel. Make Way!: 200 Years of American Women in Cartoons . Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 1988. ISBN 1-55652-023-9 (paper).
• Horn, Maurice. Women in the Comics. New York and London: Chelsea House, 1980.
• Inness, Sherrie A., ed. Action Chicks: New Images of Tough Women in Popular Culture. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. 293pp. ISBN 1403964033 (cloth), 1403963967 (paper). Buy It!
• Robbins, Trina. A Century of Women Cartoonists . Northampton, MA: Kitchen Sink Press, 1993.
• Robbins, Trina. From Girls to Grrrlz: A History of Women's Comics From Teens to Zines .  San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1999. ISBN 0811821994 (paper). Buy It!
• Robbins, Trina. The Great Women Cartoonists. New York: Watson-Guptill, 2001. ISBN 082302170X (pb). Buy It!
• Robbins, Trina. The Great Women Superheroes . Northampton, MA: Kitchen Sink Press, 1996. 210pp. ISBN 0878164820 (cloth - Buy It!), 0878164812 (paper - Buy It!).
• Robbins, Trina, and Catherine Yronwode. Women and the Comics . No place of publication given: Eclipse Books, 1985. 127 pp. ISBN 0-913035-01-7 (cloth), 0-913035-02-5 (paper).
• Wood, Susan. The Poison Maiden & the Great Bitch: Female Sterotypes in Marvel Superhero Comics. Baltimore, MD: T-K Graphics, 1974. Rpt.: Essays on Fantastic Literature no. 5. San Bernardino, CA: The Borgo Press, 1989. 28pp. ISBN 0893705373. 
• WebLink: BD de femmes, femmes en BD : A site from Univers BD .
• Weblink: Girl-Wonder.org: "dedicated to females in mainstream [American] comics."
  
• WebLink: Women in Refrigerators : A site about the mistreatment of female characters in (primarily) mainstream American comic books, by Gail Simone.

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