Book picks similar to
Our Gods Wear Spandex: The Secret History of Comic Book Heroes by Christopher Knowles
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Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology
Jennifer K. Stuller - 2010
She shows how the female hero in modern mythology has broken through the traditional boy's club barrier to reveal the pivotal role of high-heeled crimefighters in popular culture. Chapter topics include love and compassion, spies and sexuality, daddy’s girls, and the complicated roles of superwomen who are also mothers. The book also includes a glossary of modern mythic women, as well as a foreword by acclaimed cultural commentator Roz Kaveney, author of Superheroes! Capes and Crusaders in Comics and Films.http://www.ink-stainedamazon.com/
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Marv Wolfman - 1985
Worlds died. And the DC Universe was never the same.In 1985, DC Comics dramatically altered comics' original universe with Crisis on Infinite Earths, a 12-issue series that rocked the comics community, tragically dooming some of DC's most beloved characters and drastically altering others. An unforgettable and defining event in comics history, Crisis was arguably the first companywide crossover to make good on its promise of lasting change.Written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Pérez, with inks by Dick Giordano, Jerry Ordway, and Mike DeCarlo, Crisis on Infinite Earths finds the alternate worlds that once were a hallmark of the DC Universe under siege by a mysterious force powerful enough to wipe out the lives of billions.Painstakingly restored and meticulously recolored, Crisis on Infinite Earths is at last available as a handsome and affordable softcover collection.
The History of Magic: From Alchemy to Witchcraft, from the Ice Age to the Present
Chris Gosden - 2020
But magic - the idea that we have a connection with the universe - has developed a bad reputation.It has been with us for millennia - from the curses and charms of ancient Greek, Roman and Jewish magic, to the shamanistic traditions of Eurasia, indigenous America and Africa, and even quantum physics today. Even today seventy-five per cent of the Western world holds some belief in magic, whether snapping wishbones, buying lottery tickets or giving names to inanimate objects.Drawing on his decades of research, with incredible breadth and authority, Professor Chris Gosden provides a timely history of human thought and the role it has played in shaping civilization, and how we might use magic to rethink our understanding of the world.
The Flash, Vol. 1: Move Forward
Francis Manapul - 2012
Tapping into the energy field called The Speed Force, he applies a tenacious sense of justice to protect an serve the world as The Flash!The Fastest Man Alive returns to his own monthly series as part of the DC Comics—The New 52 event with the writer/artist team of Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato. The Flash knows he can't be everywhere at once, but he has seemingly met his match when he faces DC Comic' hottest new Super Villain, Mob Rule, who really can be everywhere at once!As Mob Rule wages a campaign of crime across Central City, including an electromagnetic blast that plunges the city into darkness, The Flash learns the the only way he can capture Mob Rule and save Central City is to learn how to make his brain function even faster than before—but as much as it helps him, it also comes with a steep price.Collecting: The Flash 1-8
The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries
W.Y. Evans-Wentz - 1911
This magnificent book is a collection of stories, anecdotes, and legends from all six of the regions where celtic ways have persisted in the modern world.
Batman: Heart of Hush
Paul Dini - 2009
What will this mean for Bruce Wayne? Secrets shared years ago between Bruce Wayne and Tommy Elliott begin to have dangerous repercussions in the present. Why is this mystery driving Hush to destroy Batman's life? What part does Catwoman play in Hush's plans?Collects DETECTIVE COMICS #846-850.
Kirby: King of Comics
Mark Evanier - 2007
More significantly, he created much of the visual language for fantasy and adventure comics. There were comics before Kirby, but for the most part their page layout, graphics, and visual dynamic aped what was being done in syndicated newspaper strips. Almost everything that was different about comic books began in the forties on the drawing table of Jack Kirby. This is his story by one who knew him well—the authorized celebration of the one and only “King of Comics” and his groundbreaking work.“I don’t think it’s any accident that . . . the entire Marvel universe and the entire DC universe are all pinned or rooted on Kirby’s concepts.” —Michael Chabon
Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination
Peter Ackroyd - 2002
To tell the story of its evolution, Ackroyd ranges across literature and painting, philosophy and science, architecture and music, from Anglo-Saxon times to the twentieth-century. Considering what is most English about artists as diverse as Chaucer, William Hogarth, Benjamin Britten and Viriginia Woolf, Ackroyd identifies a host of sometimes contradictory elements: pragmatism and whimsy, blood and gore, a passion for the past, a delight in eccentricity, and much more. A brilliant, engaging and often surprising narrative, Albion reveals the manifold nature of English genius.
Book of the Hopi
Frank Waters - 1963
The Hopis have kept this view a secret for countless generations, and this book was made possible only as a result of their desire to record for future generations the principles of their "Road of Life." The breaking of the Hopi silence is significant and fascinating because for the first time anthropologists, ethnologists, and everyone interested in the field of Indian study have been given rich material showing the Hopi legends, the meaning of their religious rituals and ceremonies, and the beauty of a conception of life within the natural world that is completely untouched by materialistic worlds."Only a person as deeply steeped in Hopi mysticism as the Hopis themselves could have produced this volume. Mr. Waters and Mr. Fredericks have approached the task of combining Hopi art, history, tradition, myth, folklore, and ceremonialism with dignity and authority.... Deserves to be part of the library of any student of the American Southwest."—American Anthropologist
The 12th Planet
Zecharia Sitchin - 1976
Over the years, startling evidence has been uncovered, challenging established notions of the origins of life on Earth - evidence that suggests the evidence of an advanced group of extraterrestrials who once inhabited our world.The first book of the revolutionary Earth Chronicles series offers indisputable documentary evidence of the existence of the mysterious planet of Nibiru and tells why its astronauts came to Earth eons ago to fashion mankind in their image.The product of more than thirty years of meticulous research, The 12th Planet treats as fact, not myth, the tales of Creation, the Deluge, the Tower of Babel, and the Nefilim who married the daughters of man.
Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America
Bradford W. Wright - 2001
Selling in the millions each year for the past six decades, comic books have figured prominently in the childhoods of most Americans alive today. In Comic Book Nation, Bradford W. Wright offers an engaging, illuminating, and often provocative history of the comic book industry within the context of twentieth-century American society.From Batman's Depression-era battles against corrupt local politicians and Captain America's one-man war against Nazi Germany to Iron Man's Cold War exploits in Vietnam and Spider-Man's confrontations with student protestors and drug use in the early 1970s, comic books have continually reflected the national mood, as Wright's imaginative reading of thousands of titles from the 1930s to the 1980s makes clear. In every genre—superhero, war, romance, crime, and horror comic books—Wright finds that writers and illustrators used the medium to address a variety of serious issues, including racism, economic injustice, fascism, the threat of nuclear war, drug abuse, and teenage alienation. At the same time, xenophobic wartime series proved that comic books could be as reactionary as any medium.Wright's lively study also focuses on the role comic books played in transforming children and adolescents into consumers; the industry's ingenious efforts to market their products to legions of young but savvy fans; the efforts of parents, politicians, religious organizations, civic groups, and child psychologists like Dr. Fredric Wertham (whose 1954 book Seduction of the Innocent, a salacious exposé of the medium's violence and sexual content, led to U.S. Senate hearings) to link juvenile delinquency to comic books and impose censorship on the industry; and the changing economics of comic book publishing over the course of the century. For the paperback edition, Wright has written a new postscript that details industry developments in the late 1990s and the response of comic artists to the tragedy of 9/11. Comic Book Nation is at once a serious study of popular culture and an entertaining look at an enduring American art form.
Supergirl, Volume 1: Last Daughter of Krypton
Michael Green - 2012
She's got the unpredictable behavior of a teenager, the same powers as Superman - and none of his affection for the people of Earth. Crash landing on a strange new planet, Supergirl must come to grips with Krypton's destruction with her cousin Superman and learn about her own recent past. But an ingenious new foe wants that same information - and will do anything to get it.Supergirl, Vol. 1 presents an all-new take on the Superman's cousin Kara, and her standing in the DC Comics - New 52 universe!Collecting: Supergirl #1-7.
DC Comics Encyclopedia Updated Edition
Cefn Ridout - 2016
Packed with information and thrilling comic book art, this one-volume encyclopedia features more than 1,100 characters, including Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Joker, and much more.The new edition of the DC Comics Encyclopedia brings everything up to date, providing an accessible, compelling, and lavishly illustrated guide to the dynamics of the DC Comics Universe.All DC characters and elements © & ™ DC Comics. (s16)
The Marvel Comics Encyclopedia: A Complete Guide to the Characters of the Marvel Univers
Tom DeFalco - 2006
A comprehensive overview of all of Marvel's greatest heroes and villains furnishes profiles of more than one thousand characters that document their individual superpowers and their careers, in a reference that traces the history of Marvel Comics and encompasses stunning artwork by some of Marvel's greatest artists.
Comic Book History of Comics
Fred Van Lente - 2012
Crumb, Harvey Kurtzman, Alan Moore, Stan Lee, Will Eisner, Fredric Wertham, Roy Lichtenstein, Art Spiegelman, Herge, Osamu Tezuka - and more! Collects Comic Book Comics #1-6.