World Famous Comics: Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book
Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book
By: Gerard Jones Publisher: Basic Books Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Basic Books Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 416 Publication Date: October 10, 2005
Product Description: "The fascinating and heartbreaking true story of the goniffs, shmendricks, and shlemiels who gave birth to the superhero comics-written with all the verve and velocity of a golden age comic book."-Art Spiegelman
Animated by the stories of some of the last century's most charismatic and conniving artists, writers, and businessmen, Men of Tomorrow brilliantly demonstrates how the creators of the superheroes gained their cultural power and established a crucial place in the modern imagination.
"This history of the birth of superhero comics highlights three pivotal figures. The story begins early in the last century, on the Lower East Side, where Harry Donenfeld rises from the streets to become the king of the 'smooshes'-soft-core magazines with titles like French Humor and Hot Tales. Later, two high school friends in Cleveland, Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, become avid fans of 'scientifiction,' the new kind of literature promoted by their favorite pulp magazines. The disparate worlds of the wise guy and the geeks collide in 1938, and the result is Action Comics #1, the debut of Superman. For Donenfeld, the comics were a way to sidestep the censors. For Shuster and Siegel, they were both a calling and an eventual source of misery: the pair waged a lifelong campaign for credit and appropriate compensation." -The New Yorker
Fascinating study This book gets off to a slow start but is well worth the effort if you stick with it. Much of the ground covered is familiar from other histories of the comics, but Jones adds some unique twists. In particular, he talks about the publishers -- not just the artists, writers, and editors -- and sets the origins of the comics in the Jewish culture of New York in the 1920s and 1930s. He also uses the experiences of Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster as the through-line for his story, giving it unusual emotional resonance and depth. This is the real-life version of The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.
Near Flawless Non-Fiction Mr. Jones has succeeded in crafting a narrative which is as enjoyable and gripping as the comic books whose genesis he so ably describes. "Men of Tomorrow" is a fitting tribute to the pioneers of the genre. Highly recommended.
Men of Tomorrow Gerard Jones' Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book delivers on its title. The author weaves together a tale starring bootleggers, pornographers, and socially awkward science fiction fans that coalesces into the birth of Superman with the release of Action Comics #1. The story culminates with today's mass media acceptance of comics and the rise of literary graphic novels such as Art Spiegleman's Maus and Will Eisner's A Contract With God.
The main character whose story weaves together the book is Harry Donnefield, one-time publisher of such "smooshy" titles as LaParee Stories and a line of "art nudie" magazines containing photos of nude women, ostensibly for artists to use to hone their anatomy skills. Donnefield, who was also an associate of bootleggers and gangsters, went on to become part owner of National Periodical Publications, better known as DC Comics.
Jones outlines the early days of science fiction fandom, which help give fuel and inspiration to the adolescent fantasies of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the creators of Superman (first published by Harry Donnefield of course). The author picks up many threads known to anyone who has studied the history of comic books: Siegel and Shuster's struggles with National Periodical Publications over acknowledgement and payment for their creation of Superman; Bob Kane, "creator" of Batman and the many ghost artists who worked for him; and Frederic Wertham's crusade against crime comics in the 1950's. What Jones does so well is take these familiar stories and firmly sets them in context with the experience of first and second generation Jewish immigrants (which many of the early comic book creators were), the rise of the science fiction pulps and the subsequent American hunger for mass entertainment.
Men of Tomorrow starts out rather slowly, with lots of background on the Jewish immigrant experience and how their outsider looking in perspective combined with the American dream of remaking yourself birthed this new and uniquely American form of entertainment. But once Superman appears on the scene, the story literally takes off. As someone who has been reading about comic book history on and off for the last twenty-five years, this book pulled together many things I had heard about before and provided a lot of new information.
Best Golden Age History Men of Tomorrow is a fascinating book. It tells the story of the origins of comics from two perspectives: the men who became the publishers and powerbrokers of the industry and the men who had the talent and the ideas. The focus is on Siegel, Shuster and the creation of Superman. I can't recommend this book enough.
A First Class Entertainment Disturbing and enlightening, if true.
Given that Jones exhibits evidence of at least some admiration for the amusing hi-jinks of gangsters--I can't help wondering just how much of this material is legit. But hey--there are no good guys or bad guys here--just business. Ya' know? Just business.
(Thing is--if Jack Liebowitz had tried to do to Bugsy Siegel what he did to Jerry Siegel, well, he would not have lived to be a hundred, ifyouknowwhatI'msayin'.)
I suppose that I shouldn't have been too surprised that Time-Warner-AOL was founded by organized crime, considering how hard it is to cancel an AOL subscription (an offer you can't refuse!).
I guess the moral of the story is that it ain't a crime if you don't get caught. Am I right or am I right? This is an amazing book--if just a wee bit too easy on the thugs. Brilliantly written. Well researched.
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