HIST 211: The History of Comic Books & American Society: Books

Volume 1 1800-1960 -- Volume 2 1960-1980 -- Volume 3 1980-1995 -- Volume 4 1995-2014.

: Science Fiction, Superhero Comics, and the Paranormal

"On a tiny lighthouse island far from the rest of the world, a lonely hermit lives out his existence. Every week a supply boat leaves provisions, its occupants never meeting him, never asking the obvious questions: Who are you? Why do you hide? Why do you never leave? What is it like to be so alone? Years spent on a deserted rock--a lifetime, really--with imagination his sole companion has made the lighthouse keeper something more than alone, something else entirely."

"Originally published in single magazine form as Batman, the Dark Knight returns 1-4."

The dark knight returns -- The dark knight triumphant -- Hunt the dark knight -- The dark knight falls.

"Loosely based on the author's life, chronicles Craig's journey from childhood to adulthood, exploring the people, experiences, and beliefs that he encountered along the way."

"Little Bao has had enough: harnessing the powers of ancient Chinese gods, he recruits an army of Boxers--commoners trained in kung fu who fight to free China from "foreign devils."

"The Boxer Rebellion is in full swing, and bands of young men roam the countryside, murdering Westerners and Chinese Christians alike. Torn between her nation and her Christian friends, Vibiana will have to decide where her true loyalties lie-- and whether she is willing to die for her faith"

"... is the story of Marjane Satrapi's childhood and coming of age within a large and loving family in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution;"

"...originally published in 1978, was the first graphic novel: the prototype-along with A Life Force and Dropsie Avenue-for such seminal works as Maus and Persepolis. Set during the Great Depression, this literary trilogy, assembled in one volume for the first time, presents a treasure house of now near-mythic stories that fictionally illustrate the bittersweet tenement life of Eisner's youth. "

"... The tale of this historic storm and the drowning of an American city is one of selflessness, heroism, and courage -- and also of incompetence, racism, and criminality. Don Brown's kinetic art and as-it-happens narrative capture both the tragedy and triumph of one of the worst natural disasters in American history." -- Publisher's description

"Sprawling across an epic landscape of deserts, harems, and modern industrial clutter, Habibi tells the tale of Dodola and Zam, refugee child slaves bound to each other by chance, by circumstance, and by the love that grows between them. "

"A graphic novel that begins in the year 1900, with the scream of a newborn, and ends, 100 pages later, in the year 2000, with the death rattle of a 100-year-old man."

"This innovative, dramatic graphic novel recounts the spiritual odyssey of philosopher Bertrand Russell. In his agonized search for absolute truth, Russell crosses paths with legendary thinkers and finds a passionate student in the great Ludwig Wittgenstein."

" This graphic novel is a first-hand account of Congressman John Lewis' lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation. Rooted in Lewis' personal story, it also reflects on the highs and lows of the broader civil rights movement."

"The author-illustrator traces his father's imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp through a series of disarming and unusual cartoons arranged to tell the story as a novel."

In this richly historical graphic novel, historian Aomar Boum and illustrator Nadjib Berber take us inside this lesser-known side of the traumas wrought by the Holocaust by following one man's journey as a Holocaust refugee.

"This stunning graphic novel chronicles the fall from grace of a group of superheroes plagued by all too human failings. The concept of the super hero is dissected and inverted as strangely realistic characters are stalked by an unknown assassin. Originally published as a 12 issue series in 1986 and 1987, Watchmen remains one of DC Comics' most popular graphic novels."