Dauber, an historian of Jewish literature and humor, expands his professional preserve only slightly to accommodate his latest research. Jews were in comic strips from the beginning, and when the comic book got going, Joe Schuster and Jerry Siegel, both Jewish, created arguably the most influential, Superman. Of course, comics aren't Jewish per se, and throughout his name- and title-packed survey, Dauber is attentive to the contributions of women, Black, Asian (including the huge influence of Japanese manga on the graphic novel), and LGBTI artists, writers, and businesspersons, the last because, as they did with the comics' sibling pop-culture-medium, the movies, "the suits" generally got the last word on how comics developed. Not always, though; since the mid-twentieth century, again as with the movies, independent comics creators and publishers have burgeoned. The internet and comics-based movies have made the biggest recent impacts on comics. Dauber covers all these changes and more. Moreover, he pithily and accurately describes hundreds of individual strips and books, colorfully expanding the limits of conventional definitions. This crammed chronicle will not soon be matched, let alone surpassed.

Columbia professor Dauber (Jewish Comedy) covers the entire landscape of American comics in this outstanding encyclopedic survey intelligently analyzing how "comics have shaped wars and inspired movements" and even "conquered pop culture." The roots of today's blockbuster movies date back centuries, but the author focuses on the American experience, which began with the late 19th-century cartoonist Thomas Nast, whose lampooning of the corrupt Tammany Hall was so scathing that he was offered what would today be a multimillion-dollar payoff to stop. Dauber uses Nast to underscore how the medium is replete with erasures that for decades have left creators either ignored or robbed of credit (Nast's wife, Sarah, for instance, wrote most of the most-memorable captions for her spouse's art). Other themes recur throughout the 150 years he chronicles in thrilling detail--including the medium's troubling history of racist and sexist depictions "perpetuated by an overwhelmingly white, male body of cartoonists"; the invention of superheroes, the backlash against comics as supposed corrupting influences on the young, and the expansion of the types of genres depicted in comics beyond action, adventure, and sci-fi. In doing so, he skillfully charts "the story of a changing American audience... American ideals and American anxieties... a perfect vehicle for addressing contemporary issues." It's a thorough--and thoroughly entertaining--work. (Nov.)

Comics and cartoons play a major role in everyday American life. However, no one has ever tied this history closer to societal events and told it in a more sweeping manner than Dauber (Yiddish language, literature, and culture, Columbia Univ.; Jewish Comedy) has done in this latest work. Dauber's history of comics begins in the mid-1800s, examining the role of artists such as Thomas Nast, who sold his drawings depicting political issues to a few of the original American weeklies, including Harper's. These depictions evolved into comic strips that told stories and introduced new characters, like Superman, heroes who could save the world from evil. As Dauber recounts, these comic strips soon appeared in popular magazines and weekend editions of newspapers. The author effectively tells how several recent blockbuster films are based on comic book narratives and relays the history of graphic novels as a popular medium. Charts and illustrations will draw in readers and help them keep track of the numerous comic book characters, titles, and plot lines that Dauber mentions. VERDICT There are several recent histories of comics; however, none are as comprehensive or well-researched as this one. Dauber's book sets itself apart, and comics enthusiasts will be enthralled.--Steve Dixon, State Univ. of New York, Delhi

An ambitious attempt to comprehensively map the progression of comics in America. "This book," writes Dauber, professor of Jewish literature and American studies at Columbia, "tries to cover the whole shebang, from [Thomas] Nast's cartoons to the latest graphic memoirs and transmedia corporate productions." If anything, he understates his intent, because "the whole shebang" also encompasses political and cultural upheavals reflected in the work; social concerns they addressed and the prejudices they reflected, from the explicitly racist and misogynist to restrictions within a field criticized as a White boys club; technological and distributional shifts, from printing presses to computers and from selling through magazine stands to headshops to comic book shops; shifts in the target demographics; and branding, merchandising, and multimedia concerns. Although the presentation of all this well-researched material leads to some narrative discohesion, there's plenty of delight and revelation for comics fans. Dauber effectively shows how profoundly Mad magazine shifted the landscape, in defiance of the codes to which others submitted, and how Maus and other literary graphic novels would erase the already blurring line between high and low culture that had kept comics on the wrong side of the tracks. There are also the oft-told stories of artists and developers never receiving their due--e.g., how Superman paid big dividends for so many other than its creators, or how Stan Lee received much of the glory at Marvel, at Jack Kirby's expense. Dauber seems to revel in minutiae, with as many as a half-dozen all but forgotten comics name-checked within a single paragraph as well as offhand references to dozens more. It's clear that the author, in his diligence, was worried about leaving something out, and the lack of supporting illustrations--the comics themselves--reinforces the adage that a picture is worth 1,000 words. Dauber clearly knows and cherishes his subject, and readers who share his passion will find plenty to love. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.