Comics
in General
Academic
Resources
Anthologies
Cartoonists
Collecting
Guides
Countries
/ Regions
Genres
/ KInds of Comics
How-To
Guides
Interview
Collections
News
About Comics
Periodicals
Publishers
& Groups
Subject
Areas / Topics
Titles
& Characters
Other Links
ComicsResearch.org
Subject Areas / Topics
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.Entries marked
or
have been newly added or revised since September 1, 2010.
Animals || Antecedents / Early Comics || Architecture and Comics || Art
Censorship / Controversy / Regulation || Fandom
Film/Movies and Comics || History || Jews in / and Comics
Music / Recordings and Comics || Race / Ethnicity
Religion || Science || Sex / Eroticism
Typography / Lettering || War || Women and Comics
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: Pomegranate. 168pp. ISBN 0764917374 (paper). Buy It!
WebLink: Early 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).
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!
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!
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. 2001. Black Superheroes, Milestone Comics, and Their Fans. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.
Hills, Matthew. 2002. Fan Cultures. Sussex Studies in Culture and Communication. Routledge.
Lupoff, Pat & Dick. 2004. The Best of Xero: Selections from the Hugo Award-Winning Magazine. Introduction by Roger Ebert. Tachyon Publications. 220pp. ISBN 1892391112 (hc -Buy It!
Pustz, Matthew J. 1999. Comic Book Culture: Fanboys and True Believers. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi..
Schelly, Bill. 1995. The Golden Age of Comic Fandom . Seattle: Hamster Press.
Schelly, Bill. 2001. Sense of Wonder: A Life in Comic Fandom. Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows Publishishing.
Wertham, Fredric. 1973. The World of Fanzines: A Special Form of Communication. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.
WebLink: Transformative Works and Cultures: "the academic arm of the nonprofit fan advocacy group Organization for Transformative Works"
Hughes, David. 2003. Comic Book Movies. (Virgin Film series). London: Virgin Books.
Morrow, James and Murray Suid. [1974?]. Moviemaking Illustrated: The Comicbook Filmbook . Hayden Book Company.
Schoell, William. Comic Book Heroes of the Screen.
Naepel, Oliver. Auschwitz im Comic - Die Abbildung unvorstellbarer Zeitgeschichte [Auschwitz in Comics - The Depiction of Unimaginable Contemporary History]. Muenster (Germany): LIT, 1998.ISBN 3825837033.
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.
Kaplan, Arie. 2006. Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed! Will Eisner, Stan Lee, Neil Gaiman and More! Chicago Review Press, 2006.
Kaplan, Arie. 2008. From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books. Foreword by Harvey Pekar and JT Waldman. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 2008.
Weinstein, Simcha. 2006. Up, Up, and Oy Vey!: How Jewish History, Culture, and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero. Leviathan Press.
ebLink: Jewish Comics: A Select Bibliography : Maintained by Steven M. Bergson. Annotated list of primarily American comics featuring Jewish characters or themes.
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).
Brown, Jeffrey A. 2001. Black Superheroes, Milestone Comics, and Their Fans. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. 232pp. ISBN 157806-2810 (cloth), 1578062829 (paper).
Cartoons and Ethnicity. 1992. Catalog of the 1992 Festival of Cartoon Art. Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University Libraries.
Foster, William H., III. 2005. Looking for a Face Like Mine. Waterbury, CT: Fine Tooth Press. 100pp. ISBN 0976665247 (paper).
Rifas, Leonard. 2004. "Racial Imagery, Racism, Individualism, and Underground Comix." ImageTexT: Interdisciplinary Comics Studies 1.1 (2004). on-line
Strömberg, Frederik. 2003. Black Images in the Comics: A Visual History. Foreword by Charles R. Johnson. Seattle, WA: Fantagraphics. 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
Garrett, Greg. 2005. Holy Superheroes: Exploring Faith and Spirituality in Comic Books. Navpress Publishing Group. 191pp. ISBN 1576835766 (paper).
Strömberg, Frederik. 2005. The Comics Go to Hell: A Visual History of the Devil in Comics. Seattle, WA: Fantagraphics. 320 pp. ISBN 1560976160 (cloth).
Science
WebLink: The Periodic Table of Comic Books : Maintained by John P. Selegue and F. James Holler.
Gilmore, Donald H. 1971. Sex in Comics: A History of the Eight Pagers. San Diego: Greenleaf Classics.
Gluckson, Robert K. 1992. Sex Comics in the 1930s-1950s: A Genre History. Master's thesis, University of Washington.
Horn, Maurice. 1985. Sex in the Comics. New York: Chelsea House. ISBN 0877548501.
Pilcher, Tim, with Gene Kannenberg, Jr. 2008. Erotic Comics: A Graphic History from Tijuana Bibles to Zap Comix. Introduction by Aline Kominsky Crumb. NY: Abrams. also published as Erotic Comics: A Graphic History. Volume 1: From Birth to the 1970s. East Sussex, UK: ILEX.
Pilcher, Tim, with Gene Kannenberg, Jr. 2009. Erotic Comics 2: A Graphic History from the Liberated '70s to the Internet. Introduction by Alan Moore. NY: Abrams. also published as Erotic Comics: A Graphic History. Volume 2: From the 1970s to the Present Day. East Sussex, UK: ILEX.
Sidén, Hans. 1972. Sadomasochism in Comics: A History of Sex and Violence in Comic Books. Introduction by Donald H. Gilmore, Ph.D. Greenleaf Classics.
Yoe, Craig. 2007. Clean Cartoonists' Dirty Drawings. Last Gasp.
Yoe, Craig [and Joe Shuster]. 2009. Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman’s Co-Creator Joe Shuster. Introduction by Stan Lee. New York, NY: Abrams ComicArts.
WebLink: Tijuana Bibles : Large archive of eight-pagers, with lots of extra info. Adults-only site!
Typography / Lettering (see also How-To > Lettering)
Gutjahr, Paul and Megan L. Benton, eds. 2001. Illuminating Letters: Typography and Literary Interpretation. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2001.
WebLink: Grawlixes Past and Present: Gwillim Law's expansion on Mort Walker's ideas from Backstage at the Strips and The Lexicon of Comicana.
War
WebLink: Four Color Combat: Since the 1930s, comic books have graphically depicted America at war : By Don Vaughan; article from Military Officer.
WebLink: World War II Periodicals [Collection] 1939-1946 : Housed in Columbia University's Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
Copyright InformationFranzen, Monika, and Nancy Ethie. 1988. Make Way!: 200 Years of American Women in Cartoons . Chicago: Chicago Review Press. ISBN 1-55652-023-9 (paper).
Horn, Maurice. Women in the Comics. 1980. New York and London: Chelsea House.
Inness, Sherrie A., ed. 2004. Action Chicks: New Images of Tough Women in Popular Culture. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 293pp. ISBN 1403964033 (cloth), 1403963967 (paper). Buy It!
Robbins, Trina. 1996. The Great Women Superheroes . Northampton, MA: Kitchen Sink Press, 1996. 210pp. ISBN 0878164820 (cloth - Buy It!
Robbins, Trina. 1993. A Century of Women Cartoonists . Northampton, MA: Kitchen Sink Press.
Robbins, Trina. 1999. From Girls to Grrrlz: A History of Women's Comics From Teens to Zines . San Francisco: Chronicle Books. ISBN 0811821994 (paper). Buy It!
Robbins, Trina. 2001. The Great Women Cartoonists. New York: Watson-Guptill. ISBN 082302170X (pb). Buy It!
Robbins, Trina, and Catherine Yronwode. 1985. Women and the Comics . No place of publication given: Eclipse Books. 127pp. ISBN 0-913035-01-7 (cloth), 0-913035-02-5 (paper).
Wood, Susan. 1989. 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. 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.