Synopses & Reviews
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
Review
"A well-researched, absorbing, first-rate history....[A] wonderful book....It passes a reader's test for any especially good work, be it novel or comic book: As soon as you finish it, you want to read it again." San Francisco Chronicle
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"[T]his punchy new history dives right into that world of brawny, ridiculous heroics and implausible scenarios with commendable and unapologetic gusto....Bold and brassy, with a solid grasp of its material." Kirkus Reviews
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"[Jones'] vivid writing suits the subject. But it is his impressively thorough research that makes this one of the most valuable books on a distinctively American storytelling form." Booklist
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"Jones provides a lively portrait of the talent, energy, and chutzpah that gave birth to the comic book industry." Business Week
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"If Jones...has not produced the definitive book on the boisterous history of comic books, it is hard to imagine that he has not written the most insightful, engaging and...erudite accounting of how comic books elbowed their way to the very core of mainstream popular culture." Baltimore Sun
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"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
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"[A] superb, insightful history....Jones displays a firm grasp on the minutiae of comics history, but he goes far beyond those facts, exploring the psychology of the comics' creators and publishers and presenting a wealth of detail....Highly recommended." Library Journal
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"Jones does a better job of tracing the growth of comic books as a business than as an aesthetic or cultural phenomenon....Men of Tomorrow is an interesting study of the origins of the comic book but by no means a definitive one." Los Angeles Times
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"[A]n exhaustively researched book, and a rather exhaustive read at that....As a true comic book geek who loves his details, it doesn't take X-ray vision to see where Jones' heart lies. Still, it might take some super powers to get through this dense read." San Antonio Express-News
Synopsis
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.
Synopsis
A real-life Kavalier and Clay, the first full-scale history of superhero comic books reveals how ambitious crooks and adolescent dreamers created a new art form and forever changed the entertainment business in America. Cover design by Chip Kidd.
About the Author
Gerard Jones is a writer whose credits include the New York Times, Harper's, Batman and Spider-Man comics, and Pokémon cartoons. Recently, he has developed the Art & Story Workshops for children and spoken on fantasy, aggression, and the media at institutions around the country. He is the author of Honey, I'm Home: Sitcoms Selling the American Dream and The Comic Book Heroes. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and son.