The History of Comics in 500 Issues

Nov 10 2024 6 ep. 38 mins 42
The History of Comics in 500 Issues Podcast artwork

A leisurely walk through the history of comic books, one issue at a time. In each episode, I'll choose a single issue of a comic book (or comic book-like magazine) and talk about why the issue is important in the history of the medium, or particularly representative of a trend or a particular writer or artist's work, or is of significant aesthetic value. The first episode begins in the 1820s; the last episode, whenever that is, will be about a significant comic from the 2020s (or possibly the 2030s). I don't limit myself to American comics; I am going to discuss comics & comic book-like magazines from around the world.

  Arts  History
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Episode Six: "Treachery on the Trail!" Star Ranger #1 & Western Picture Stories #1

Nov 10 2024 63 mins  
In this episode I discuss the history of the genre of the Western, beginning early in the 19th century as frontier fiction and proceeding up to the late-1930s, when the first two Western comic books--Star Ranger #1 and Western Picture Stories #1--were published. Among the topics discussed: frontier fiction of England, France, and Spain; James Fenimore Cooper; the Mexican-American W

Episode Five: "The Empire, Long Divided, Must Unite": The Story of the Three Kingdoms

Oct 27 2024 30 mins  
In this episode I describe the early history of the Chinese comic book industry--specifically the lianhuanhua industry--from its beginning in 1899 to its first end during the Cultural Revolution. I discuss the history of pictorial communication in pre-modern China; the influence of lithography on Chinese publishing; the Romance of the Three Kingdoms; the "Four Famous Female Roles,"

Episode Four: "The Clock!" "That is right, gentlemen--and striking just in time!" Funny Pages #6

Oct 13 2024 28 mins  
In this episode I go back to 1935 and 1936 and discuss how business was actually done in the early comics industry the rise of Comics Magazine Company Everett M. "Busy" Arnold's career in comics the unsavory intersection of "Busy" Arnold, Joe Paterno, and the realities of big-time college football in the 1930s Funny Pages #6, and why it's an important issue in the history of Ameri

Episode Three: In England's Green and Pleasant Land: Comic Cuts #1

Sep 29 2024 44 mins  
In which I take a look at British comics during the 19th century, talk about some of the notable and important people who were a part of it, and describe what led up to Comic Cuts #1, the most important British comic of the 19th century and the comic that set the standard for British comics for the next forty years. The transcript, complete with illustrations, can be found at my P

Episode Two: "A new cargo of mystery and thrills!" New Fun #1

Sep 15 2024 26 mins  
In which I briefly sketch the history of comics between Rodolphe Topffer and the 1930s, discuss the first comic books, and then describe New Fun #1, the first comic book that featured all new material rather than reprinted newspaper comic strips. I also discuss Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, the failson behind New Fun #1, and what makes New Fun #1 notable besides the presence of entir

Episode One: To Begin With: L'Histoire de M. Vieux Bois

Sep 02 2024 36 mins  
In which I begin the series by taking us back to Switzerland in the 1820s and 1830s and describe how Rodolphe Topffer, a Swiss teacher and caricaturist, invented the modern comic book. It's a bit more complicated than that, of course.