A big hole in the run — the 1945-49 volume — is due to be filled in 2024 by TwoMorrows…
TwoMorrows’ American Comic Book Chronicles is one of the most ambitious series of comics history books we’ve ever seen. The eight-volume series of hardcovers gives a chronological account of the field from the Golden Age through the 1990s. For a variety of reasons, the books were not released in order and now the final installment is on its way: 1945-49, by Richard J. Arndt and Kurt F. Mitchell, with Keith Dallas.
Dig the official description:
NEW VOLUME! The American Comic Book Chronicles continues its ambitious series of FULL-COLOR HARDCOVERS, where TwoMorrows’ top authors document every decade of comic book history from the 1940s to today! At long last, this 1945-49 volume covers 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 created Young Romance, inaugurating a golden age of romance comics. And it was during this five-year period that Timely and National Comics capitalized on the popularity of Westerns, that Bill Gaines plotted a new course for EC Comics in the wake of his father’s death, and that 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, further documenting the ACBC series’ cohesive, linear overview of the entire landscape of comics history! By Richard J. Arndt and Kurt F. Mitchell, with Keith Dallas.
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A few thoughts:
— The 288-page hardcover is due May 29, 2024, and can already be pre-ordered through TwoMorrows. Click here.
— The other editions in the line are also available from TwoMorrows. Click here.
— So is this it? No! John Morrow, the company’s chieftain, says: “The plan is for a (shorter) 1930s volume, and a 2000s, but no release date is currently planned (these take a long while to write, and Keith Dallas edits each one to keep them consistent across the different authors, so that’s time consuming as well). A 2010s is a possibility down the line, but nothing definite yet.”
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MORE
— ALTER EGO to Celebrate 25th Anniversary With KING-SIZE SPECIAL. Click here.
— BACK ISSUE Sets Tributes to MARVELMANIA and Gaiman’s SANDMAN. Click here.
