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comic books



  • Book Bans Today Recall 1950s Panic over Comic Books

    by Jeremy C. Young and Jonathan Friedman

    Child psychologist Fredric Wortham had fough Jim Crow by theorizing the damage caused to Black children by segregation. He had a less likely role in supporting the idea that lurid plots in comic books would create a generation of emotionally damaged adults. 



  • Watching “Watchmen” as a Descendant of the Tulsa Race Massacre

    While the HBO series directed national attention to the Tulsa massacre, some Black descendants of the residents of the Greenwood district targeted by mob violence and arson were uncomfortable with their families' tragedy being mined for dramatic purposes. 



  • Up for auction, Frank Miller’s cover of ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ No. 2; near-mint ‘Batman’ 1

    PHILADELPHIA — It is the comic book cover that captured the grim visage of an older, wiser — and meaner — Batman.Now, the 1986 pen and ink creation — drawn by writer/artist Frank Miller — that is the cover to “The Dark Knight Returns” No. 2 will be sold next month in Dallas by Heritage Auctions.It’s the first cover from DC Comics’ 1986 four-issue “Dark Knight” miniseries to be sold and is expected to go for more than $500,000.Miller’s story “radically altered the direction of comics,” said Todd Hignite, Heritage’s vice president....

  • The "Man of Steel" Rusts

    by Bruce Chadwick

    Credit: Flickr.Superman is back in Man of Steel, the latest version of the story about the powerful hero from the planet Krypton who came to Earth to uphold truth, justice and the American way.The movie, starring unknown Henry Cavill as the man who can leap tall buildings with a single bound, opened last week and earned an amazing $113 million in its first weekend, to the astonishment of show business experts.Lord knows why.This latest Superman saga sinks faster than a ton of steel. It is dreary, tedious and lacks any humor, heroism or camaraderie. Superman should fly back to his galaxy and leave crime fighting and planet saving to Batman.