The works of pustz 1999, jenkins 1992, and brown 1997 provided different point of views to the study of comic book readers. Pustz is an adjunct professor of american studies at the university of iowa. Book awards book club selections books by author books by series coming soon kids books new releases teens books this months biggest new releases. Fanboys and true believers examines the varied reading communities absorbed by the veneration of the comics and demonstrates how each functions in the everbroadening culture. The librarys vast trove of comic books exposes a unique and revealing history of american popular culture. Pustz has done a wonderful job analyzing the audiences of comic books. Over the last twenty years, there has been a proliferation of book length works focusing on the history of comic books, but few have investigated how comics can be used as sources for doing american cultural history. Comic books and american cultural history by matthew j. What do the denizens of this pop culture world have in common. Review of pustz, comic books and american cultural history. With history, interviews, and textual analysis comic book culture.
Jackson, university press of mississippi, 1999, 264 pp. While not as theoretical as some of the scholarly works on popular culture and its users such as can be found on topics like film or rock and roll, this is a benefit, since it is the first for its topic. Pustz, 9781441163196, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Pustz 1999 explores the culture around a comic store to generate. What pustz tries to cover is the area inbetweenwhere fans and publishers met. Bbc culture why comic books are more radical than you. A cultural history of american comic books, jeanpaul gabilliet argues that the academic study. This is the culture of comic books, the place where the two groups make. Fanboys and true believers examines the varied reading communities absorbed by the veneration of the comics and demonstrates how.
Pustz, 9781578062010, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Comic culture created by students and staff the the university of north carolina pembroke, comic culture highlights various comic book artists and writers. Comic books have always been considered a sensitive, and perhaps misunderstood, area for academia. Comic book fandom and cultural capital researchgate. The popular culture stigma and the case of comic books. A cultural history of american comic books uf english. This book provides good answers as it scrutinizes the fans whose profiles can be traced at their conventions, in pages of fanzines, on websites, in chatrooms, on electronic bulletin boards, and before the racks in comic book. As the back cover of the book informs us, over the last twenty years, there has been a proliferation of book length works focusing on the history of comic books, but. This subculture eventually included, besides comic books. Why comic books are more radical than you think comic books have sometimes been decades ahead of the curve on issues of race, gender and sexuality. What are superdevoted fans of comic books really like. Comic books and american cultural history is an anthology that examines the ways in which comic books can be used to understand the history of the united states.