6 minute read
American Comic Book Chronicles
THE WORLD OF TWOMORROWS In 1994, amidst the boom-&-bust of comic book speculators, THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #1 was published for true fans of the medium. That modest labor of love spawned TwoMorrows Publishing, today’s premier purveyor of publications about comics and pop culture. Celebrate our 25th anniversary with this special retrospective look at the company that changed fandom forever! Co-edited by and featuring publisher JOHN MORROW and COMIC BOOK ARTIST/COMIC BOOK CREATOR magazine’s JON B. COOKE, it gives the inside story and behind-the-scenes details of a quarter-century of looking at the past in a whole new way. Also included are BACK ISSUE magazine’s MICHAEL EURY, ALTER EGO’s ROY THOMAS, GEORGE KHOURY (author of KIMOTA!, EXTRAORDINARY WORKS OF ALAN MOORE, and other books), MIKE MANLEY (DRAW! magazine), ERIC NOLENWEATHINGTON (MODERN MASTERS), and a host of other comics luminaries who’ve contributed to TwoMorrows’ output over the years. From their first Eisner Award-winning book STREETWISE, through their BRICKJOURNAL LEGO ® magazine, up to today’s RETROFAN magazine, every major TwoMorrows publication and contributor is covered with the same detail and affection the company gives to its books and magazines. With an Introduction by MARK EVANIER, Foreword by ALEX ROSS, Afterword by PAUL LEVITZ, and a new cover by TOM McWEENEY!
(256-page FULL-COLOR Trade Paperback) $37.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 9781605490922 • Diamond Order Code: JUL192275 (272-page ULTRA-LIMITED HARDCOVER) $75 Only 125 copies available for sale, with a 16-page bonus Memory Album! HARDCOVER NOT AVAILABLE THROUGH DIAMOND—DIRECT FROM TWOMORROWS ONLY!
American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1940s to The 1990s!
1940-44 KURT MITCHELL documents comics’ WWII Golden Age! EISNER’s Uncle Sam and work with IGER, SIMON & KIRBY’s Captain America, birth of Archie Andrews, “pack agers” like HARRY A CHESLER, and how companies published genres, from funny animals and crime to jungle and sci-fi! (288-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $45.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 9781605490892 Diamond Order Code: FEB192024
1945-49 KURT MITCHELL and BILL SCHELLY on the aftermath of WWII, when creators returned from battle and readers turned to genres like CHARLES BIRO’s Crime comics, Romance comics by JOE SIMON and JACK KIRBY, Timely and National Comics’ Westerns, BILL GAINES new line at EC Comics, and more! (288-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $48.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 9781605490991 NEW! SHIPS IN EARLY 2021!
The 1950s BILL SCHELLY tackles the Atomic Era of Marilyn Monroe and Elvis: EC’s TALES FROM THE CRYPT, MAD, CARL BARKS’ Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge, the FLASH in Showcase #4, return of Timely’s CAPTAIN AMERICA, HUMAN TORCH & SUB-MARINER, & FREDRIC WERTHAM! (240-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $46.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 9781605490540 Diamond Order Code: OCT192159 TEMPORARILY SOLD OUT!
Each volume presents a year-by-year account of the comic book industry’s most significant publications, most notable creators, and most impactful trends, with exhaustively researched details on all the major events along the comics history timeline! Taken together, the AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES series forms a cohesive, linear overview of the entire landscape of comics history, sure to be an invaluable resource for ANY comic book enthusiast! Edited by KEITH DALLAS.
AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES: 1945-49 KURT MITCHELL and BILL SCHELLY document the comic book industry during the aftermath of World War II, when scores of writers and artists returned from foreign battlefields to resume their careers. It was a period when readers began turning away from the escapist entertainment offered by super-heroes in favor of other genres, like the grittier, more brutal Crime comics. It was a time when JOE SIMON and JACK KIRBY inaugurated a golden age of Romance comics, Timely and National Comics capitalized on the popularity of Westerns, BILL GAINES plotted a new course for EC Comics, and JERRY SIEGEL and JOE SHUSTER first sued for the rights to Superman. These are just a few of the events chronicled in this exhaustive, full-color hardcover. Taken together, AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES forms a cohesive, linear overview of comics history, sure to be an invaluable resource for ANY comic book enthusiast! COMING IN EARLY 2021!
FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER SERIES documenting each decade of comics history!
All characters TM & © their respective owners. 1940-44 KURT MITCHELL and ROY THOMAS document the 1940-44 “Golden Age” of comics, a period that featured the earliest adventures of BATMAN, CAPTAIN MARVEL, SUPERMAN, and WONDER WOMAN. It was a time when America’s entry into World War II was presaged by the arrival of such patriotic do-gooders as WILL EISNER’s Uncle Sam, HARRY SHORTEN and IRV NOVICK’s The Shield, and JOE SIMON and JACK KIRBY’s Captain America—and teenage culture found expression in a fumbling red-haired high school student named Archie Andrews. But most of all, it was the age of “packagers” like HARRY A CHESLER, and EISNER and JERRY IGER, who churned out material for the entire gamut of genres, from funny animal stories and crime tales to jungle sagas and science-fiction adventures. Watch the history of comics begin! NOW SHIPPING! (288-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $48.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 • ISBN: 9781605490991
Look for the 1945-49 volume in early 2021! NEW!
(288-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $45.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 9781605490892 • Diamond Order Code: FEB192024 ACBC: The 1950s & The 1990s are TEMPORARILY SOLD OUT, but available as Digital Editions. Look for new print editions once the current situation with overseas tariffs on printing is resolved.
1960-64 JOHN WELLS covers comics in the 1960- 64 JFK and Beatles era: DC’s new GREEN LANTERN, JUSTICE LEAGUE and multiple earths! LEE and KIRBY at Marvel on FF, SPIDER-MAN, HULK, and X-MEN! BATMAN’s “new look”, Charlton’s BLUE BEETLE, CREEPY #1 and more! (224-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 9781605490458 Diamond Order Code: AUG121321
1965-69 JOHN WELLS spotlights comics during the stormy cultural upheaval of 1965-1969: MARVEL COMICS transforms into a pop phenom, WALLY WOOD’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, CHARLTON’s Action Heroes, BATMANIA, GOLD KEY’s digests, ARCHIES and JOSIE & THE PUSSYCATS, and more! (288-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $41.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 9781605490557 Diamond Order Code: DEC131299
The 1980s KEITH DALLAS documents comics’ 1980s Reagan years: Rise and fall of JIM SHOOTER, FRANK MILLER as comic book superstar, DC’s CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, MOORE and GAIMAN’s British invasion, ECLIPSE, PACIFIC, FIRST, COMICO, DARK HORSE and more! (288-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $48.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 9781605490465 Diamond Order Code: SEP192055 NOW BACK IN PRINT! The 1970s JASON SACKS examines comics during the ’70s relevant and disco years: O’NEIL and ADAMS’ run of relevance with Green Lantern, KIRBY’s Fourth World saga at DC, monsters and the supernatural, the DC Explosion and Implosion, the coming of JIM SHOOTER and the Direct Market, & more! (288-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $41.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 9781605490564 Diamond Order Code: MAY141628
The 1990s KEITH DALLAS & JASON SACKS detail the decade X-MEN #1 sold 8.1 million copies, IMAGE COMICS formed, Superman died, Batman broke his back, Neil Gaiman’s SANDMAN led to the VERTIGO line of adult comics, and gimmicky covers, skimpy costumes, and mega-crossovers ruled! (288-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $48.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 9781605490847 Diamond Order Code: MAY182060 TEMPORARILY SOLD OUT! 3
