Book review

Abstract

A review of comic book nation: The transformation of youth culture in America by Bradford W. Wright. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins university, 2001.

Comic Book Nation examines the reciprocal impact of comic books on American popular culture, and youth culture particularly, from World War II through the 1990s. Wright's distinctive contributions to the scholarly literature on comic book history lie not only in meticulous annotated research and clear, brilliant writing, but in his argument that most comic books are products of their times. While a commercial venture catering largely to adolescent boys’ need for excitement and impulse gratification, what Chabon (2000, p. 66) calls “wishful figments,” both by design and preference comic books’ creators communicated their responses to looming social and political events. Comics are thus analogous to other popular culture media, and are more than a sub‐literature of escapist entertainment. Wright provides sketches of comic book entrepreneurs and leading artists. He also tracks changes occurring in the industry, in classic and lesser titles and characters, and among its readership.

Notes

Kalman Goldstein, is Professor of History Emeritus at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Teaneck, NJ 07666 ([email protected]).