This is a misleading statement because right after the end of WWII, America was going through important rebuilding times that required unity and growth for the country as a whole. And it was, after all, a time of development and financial prosperity for the U.S. But with great pride and freedom there was also more than a hand full of issues that the country was dealing with as well. The list began with civil rights and women's rights, and it also included comic books, of course. The comic book industry was being bashed by every parent in the country, along with several teachers, doctors, and other adults. After the war, when superhero comics essentially went down the drain in terms of popularity, the industry went down the route of crime, horror, and everyday news stories. To the children in which the comics were targeting, the stories were awesome, of course. But to adults they were corrupting the youth of America one gory tale at a time. With the war just ending, the American people began practicing more family values and peaceful activities, meanwhile their kids were reading the opposite in their "literature". This lead to a good amount of tension during this time period for the American population.
To begin with, I really do like the idea of reading a comic about comics. I think it's a great idea and it's very well executed. As I was reading the first two chapters, I was surprised at how many examples there were of art in recent (and ancient, in some cases) history that are variations of "sequential visual art" and thus the foundations of modern comics. I'd never even thought about it before and it was hard to believe how many different kinds there were. I also love all the discussion about how our human brains automatically interpret certain images in a specific way, how we see others constantly but we identify ourselves when we look at cartoons, and how inanimate objects automatically becomes extensions of our bodies. The pyramid of styles was very interesting too as a way to conceptualize and almost graph or "place" a specific art style in comics. In Comic Book Nation , I enjoyed reading about the evolution of early comics from "funnies...
Comments