Wednesday, April 23, 2008

History 4004 students: Discuss Golden Age comics here

Remember there will be no class today, April 24. Work on your papers, but also participate in an alternative discussion right here. Leave comments under your real name, or else inform me by email of what screen name you used. You should all have received an email with links to some early issues of Action Comics featuring some of the first appearances of Superman. Read those and the "Golden Age" chapters of Comic Book Nation, and answer one or more of the following, or make some other relevant observation:
  • How did the superhero concept change in the transition from the pulps to the comics?
  • How are these early renditions of Superman different from what you are used to?
  • What elements of these stories can be related to the late 1930s time period in which they were published?
Another early version of Superman, after the character had evolved a bit more, can be seen in the classic Fleischer Brothers cartoons from the early 1940s. The first one should be embedded below and the rest are also available on YouTube. How did Superman, and the superhero concept, change in the transition to the big screen?

Monday, April 21, 2008

Golden Age superhero comics

Here are some interesting resources on the so-called "Golden Age" (1930-40s) of comics:
more to come

Monday, April 7, 2008

Resources on the Pulp Era (and after)

Here are some sites we will be using in our discussions of the detective hero and the rise of the superhero. It all goes back to the cheap popular literature of the early 20th century, especially the pulp magazines.