Good companion book with Wild Minds (book about Golden Age of animation). ( )

The finest historical survey of mainstream comics ever produced. Covering 1938-1955, the collection offers not only the super-heroes such as Superman, Batman, Plastic Man, Captain Marvel, and The Spirit but also Scribbly, Little Lulu, and Pogo. Includes selections from E.C., Basil Wolverton, and George Carlson. The only knock on this collection is that the reproductions are not as clear as they should be, but this is a small complaint. A must for any serious comic book fan. ( )

This is an antique book in more ways than one. Published/printed in 1981, and currently out of print, it includes color reproductions of a variety of pre-1954 comic books. Why was that year a cut-off date? As stated in the introduction, 1954 was when the Comics Code was adopted which apparently caused a great change in the comic book industry.

I enjoyed this volume, which includes first, or early, editions of Superman and Batman comics as well as featuring some characters that I was not familiar with, such as Plastic Man. It's organized around comic book creators, such as Will Eisner and Walt Kelley. I think my favorite was the one about Donald Duck and creator Carl Barks (Letter to Santa, from Walt Disney's Christmas Parade No. 1 (1949). ( )

A nice collection of classic Comic Book pages, although the color reproduction is not the best. Lightly annotated, almost the whole of the book is given over to the comics themselves. Not so much a reference as a loving collection of reprints. ( )