'Nuff Said: American Graphic Media

Don't worry if the title doesn't make sense, give it a minute. Ages of Heroes, Eras of Men is coming along. Our contributors are finishing up the last touches and the editors are making our list and checking it twice. As I have mentioned in the past, the book's contributors offer a complex and interesting look at comics and comic culture in the United States. Nonetheless, sealing the deal in regards to this book is keeping me working during my summer "vacation." I'm starting to miss the regular grind of grading papers and hearing student complain (I'm kidding...mostly). Anyway, I think the key to this process is to stay focus and work the process. The book exists, it just not in its final form. As it always the process, there are some people sending things in late, but most people have the their submissions done. We are a little concerned about length (the problems of a down economy, everything is more expensive--shaving a few pages from each subm...

I recently got feedback on Ages of Heroes, Eras of Men from a prospective publisher. It a tough process, getting feedback from someone who doesn't know all the work you have put into something. It is honest feedback and I will take it and make sure the final product answer the editor's questions. We have done a lot of great work on the book, but publishers are a cold and objective bunch slow to hand out praise (and contracts). As I scramble to reply to the press, I realize I have not done much with one of the chapters I am writing for the book. My chapter looks at the introduction of African-American superheroes to the Marvel Universe in the 1960s and 1970s. The decision to introduce minority characters to a fictional universe may seem petty compared to the titanic struggles occurring over Civil Rights during the 1960s, but those struggles drove the decision to incorporate minorities into comics. The question for me is what does the Marvel Comic experience integrating per...