Comix: A History of Comic Books in America

Comix: A History of Comic Books in America

by Les Daniels 

Outerbridge and Dienstfrey, 1971

Les Daniels (1943 - 2011) was a U.S. writer who played an important role as a chronicler of pop culture, especially during the early 1970s, when he and authors such as Tony Goodstone (with his 1970 book 'The Pulps') were able to persuade publishers to issue books on the topic.

Daniels's 'Comix,' and in 1975, 'Living in Fear,' were touchstone treatments of prominent, fan-favorite topics, and possessed intrinsic appeal to those Baby Boomers who were edging into middle age and willing to buy books that evoked nostalgia.

Daniels parlayed his success with these nonfiction books into a productive career writing horror fiction, and, in the early 1990s, coffee-table quality hardcover books on both Marvel and DC comics.

I have vague memories of seeing 'Comix' back in the early 70s but I don't believe I sat down and read it. So recently I picked up a copy, noticing that in its presentation, the book (which is hardbound) has the quality of an 'underground' publication, obviously a conscious decision by Daniels and his collaborator, the graphic artist John Peck.

In its 198 pages, 'Comix' furnishes a chronological overview of the comic book, from its start in the late 1930s, up to the early 1970s.

It suffers from having a self-consciously 'scholarly' attitude towards the material, and the prose can be stilted. In time Daniels would adopt a more colloquial style of prose but for this book he likely was hoping to establish some credibility with the literati.

Illustrations (all in black and white) are sprinkled throughout the text, and each chapter ends with some black and white and graytone reprints of comic book stories, from publishers such as Disney, Marvel, D.C., Warren, and E.C., rendered in landscape format. There is a selection of color comics provided in the middle of the book.

 

The book's final chapter is devoted to underground comics, making clear Daniels's attitude that the undergrounds, which were flourishing the year the book was published, represented a new paradigm for the comic book, and for the role of comics not just in the counterculture, but the larger sociopolitical landscape of 20th century America. 

 

I'm guessing that the chapter on the undergrounds also allowed a sly Daniels the chance to be transgressive and naughty in terms of exposing unsuspecting kids (like I was in '71) to nudity and drug use, this being camouflaged - to the eyes of clueless librarians and parents - in a book about 'funnies' and 'kid stuff.'

Who should get a copy of 'Comix' ? Truth be told, while its treatment of the material was innovative at its time of publication, the ensuing 53 years inevitably have seen quite a few historical and critical overviews of comic books that are more informative, and serve as better references, than 'Comix.' 

Where Daniels's book retains value is in its immediacy as a snapshot of the comic book enterprise in a time and place where the medium had a level of excitement that would only grow during the rest of the decade. For Baby Boomers such as myself, if even for sentimental reasons, it's worthwhile to revisit that era in the pages of 'Comix.'

 

For another review of the book, readers are directed here.