Atomic comics : cartoonists confront the nuclear world / Ferenc Morton Szasz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Szasz, Ferenc Morton, 1940-2010.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Comic books, strips, etc--History and criticism.

Comic books, strips, etc.

Atomic bomb in literature.

Cartoonists.

Physical Description:

xv, 179 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Reno : University of Nevada Press, [2012]

Summary:

The late Szasz, who taught history at the U. of New Mexico and had a large collection of nuclear-themed comics, explores how comic books, comic strips, and other cartoon media represented the Atomic Age from the early 1920s to the present, with particular focus on the post-World War II years and US-based cartoons (although some from Japan and Europe are included). He shows how these cartoons helped to simplify the science of the fissioned atom for the general public and acquaint them with the potential benefits and threats of atomic power. He discusses comics before Hiroshima, including strips like Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon; the period from 1945 to the early 1960s, with comics that had superheroes who boasted atomic origins, like Atomic Man; and the period from the mid-1950s to the present, discussing the antinuclear efforts of counterculture "comix" artists and newspaper cartoonists, nuclear superheroes like Spiderman, Solar, Firestorm, and Captain Atom, and adversaries like Dr. Octopus and the Atomic Skull. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Contents:

Before Hiroshima

The initial reaction: 1945-early 1960s

Atomic comics change direction: the mid-1950s to the present day.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780874178746

0874178746

9780874178791

0874178797

OCLC:

759395888