American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1970s: 1970-1979 (AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES HC)

This is the fourth volume in a series of five, which have an identical structure but different authors, and is the first one I bought with the fifth volume (The 1980's) being the second. There is a reason for this, two reasons actually, and they affect my opinion of the book(s). Let me explain.I was a teenager in the 60's and, for about three years, picked up the cheaply imported (as ballast in ships' holds) comics from my local newsagent. These comprised DC and (the earliest superhero titles like the FF) from Marvel and I'd be a rich man today if only I'd kept them but life moves on. About a decade later, a friend of mine who'd never given up on them suggested I pick up the two Conan issues (Thomas/Smith) which featured Michael Moorcock's character Elric of whom and which I was a fan. So I did and never really stopped.I've always like reading books about comics of which there are far more these days than ever and Twomorrows the specialist publisher has a good reputation and I own several books they've put out. And so, with Christmas coming on I thought I'd treat myself and I'm glad I did. These two decades are when I did most of my comic book reading and collecting and about which I'm the most knowledgable. Further, I regard the two decades as a period which creatively revolutionised comics as an art form. You'll have to forgive me if I don't explain why but this is a review not an essay. Nevertheless, try these: creator's rights, for mature readers, the second flowering Will Eisner, the rise of the independents, Los Bros Hernandez, Frank Miller, Alan Moore, some Japanese stuff called manga begins to appear in the West, mini-series, big comics called graphic novels, and so on. Here you find most emphatically the roots of modern comics.My friend, who got me back into comics in the first place, asked recently why I would want a book about a period I know so well. My answer was, that that is reason why I want to read about them -to see an overview from a different perspective and to match my own memories of the period.As for how far these books and this one in particular succeed, well it depends on what you're looking for. They are very fact based (i.e. this comic appeared on..., the creative team were...) but it also includes brief assessments and the future developments as a result, plus behind the scenes stuff about conflict as well as creativity. But it is not an in-depth analysis. I don't think there's a page without some form of illustration, usually in colour, though there is also a substantial amount of text. From a comics point of view these are very attractive volumes. They are also very easy to dip into. Essentially, these volumes do what they set out to do.The series consists of: The 1950s, 1960-64, 1965-69, 1970s, 1980s. There is no volume for the 1990s scheduled yet as far as I'm aware. Oh well, I can wait.

Just as good as the 1960's volumes, this edition concentrates more on Marvel & DC with the other companies only getting a paragraph or so for each year although this is probably because the other companies were selling less compared to what they were in the 60's and Dell and Charlton ended up closing. These books are not just about the comics and in fact are more a behind the scenes look at what was going on at the companies with insights from the creators, which makes for fascinating reading and being able to follow the ups and downs and careers of all the comic greats like Roy Thomas, Jack Kirby, Gerry Conway, Carmine Infantino, Marv Wolfman and so on. Essential for anyone who read comics in the 70's.

Speedy delivery and excellent/outstanding product. very happy.

This series is destined to be 'essential reading' for all comic-book historians.