A history of comic books from the 1930s to 9/11.

A wordless wonder of a picture book, reminiscent of David Wiesner and Chris Van Allsburg. An unforgettable subway ride in an alien world filled with truths of our own.

Winner of the Popular Culture Association's Ray and Pat Browne Award for Best Book in Popular or American Culture In the 1940s and ’50s, comic books were some of the most popular—and most unfiltered—entertainment in the United States. Publishers sold hundreds of millions of copies a year of violent, racist, and luridly sexual comics to Americans of all ages until a 1954 Senate investigation led to a censorship code that nearly destroyed the industry. But this was far from the first time the US government actively involved itself with comics—it was simply the most dramatic manifestation of a long, strange relationship between high-level policy makers and a medium that even artists and writers often dismissed as a creative sewer. In Pulp Empire, Paul S. Hirsch uncovers the gripping untold story of how the US government both attacked and appropriated comic books to help wage World War II and the Cold War, promote official—and clandestine—foreign policy and deflect global critiques of American racism. As Hirsch details, during World War II—and the concurrent golden age of comic books—government agencies worked directly with comic book publishers to stoke hatred for the Axis powers while simultaneously attempting to dispel racial tensions at home. Later, as the Cold War defense industry ballooned—and as comic book sales reached historic heights—the government again turned to the medium, this time trying to win hearts and minds in the decolonizing world through cartoon propaganda. Hirsch’s groundbreaking research weaves together a wealth of previously classified material, including secret wartime records, official legislative documents, and caches of personal papers. His book explores the uneasy contradiction of how comics were both vital expressions of American freedom and unsettling glimpses into the national id—scourged and repressed on the one hand and deployed as official propaganda on the other. Pulp Empire is a riveting illumination of underexplored chapters in the histories of comic books, foreign policy, and race.

A history of Mexican comic books, their readers, their producers, their critics, and their complex relations with the government and the Church that discusses cultural nationalism, popular taste, and social change.

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

A close inspection of comic book lovers and their ever-expanding culture

In issue #6 of Z Nation: Sea of Death, Specialist Israel Johnson and Private Edie Cutler have to flee the zombie filled, capsized cruise ship Empress of the Seas, leading the few surviving passengers to the dubious safety of an offshore oil rig. They’re pursued by the ship’s maniacal Captain and Crew, who are intent on killing the would-be heroes. And the zombie whale that capsized the ship is still waiting in the water to devour whoever wins the final fight to the death. Sea of Death is a prequel set in the world of Syfy's hit zombie series Z Nation, produced by The Asylum. Featuring Z Nation's signature blend of horror, humor and heart, Sea of Death is a six-issue miniseries from acclaimed writer Fred Van Lente (add appropriate credits) and Craig Engler, based on the long running series Z Nation created by Karl Schaefer and Craig Engler.