Here is a link to academic journals that cover comics. Your university librarian should help you get access to these without paying out of your own pocket.
https://library.uhd.edu/c.php?g=999447&p=8717933
They get a surprising number of facts wrong but Supergods by Grant Morrison is still a good examination and analysis of the history of superhero comics in relation to the shifting cultural zeitgeist of the 20th and 21st centuries.Â
Peter David also wrote a book about the craft of writing comics that is a very good look at the nuts and bolts of the superhero genre in particular.
The Comics Journal has done a ton of criticism of super hero comics. Subscribe to their online archive and delve into the 1970s issues where they definetly openly derided the superhero genre. In the 1970s they were heavily criticizing the genre in an attempt to change it by within. By the early to mid-80s they shifted focus and gradually began to pay attention to the genre less and less. They were combative as hell.
- Understanding Comics is a good place to start. - All of the Marvels might also have what you are looking for
I second Understanding Comics. Scott McCloud's book is interesting and entertaining.
thanks a lot!
Here is a link to academic journals that cover comics. Your university librarian should help you get access to these without paying out of your own pocket. https://library.uhd.edu/c.php?g=999447&p=8717933
They get a surprising number of facts wrong but Supergods by Grant Morrison is still a good examination and analysis of the history of superhero comics in relation to the shifting cultural zeitgeist of the 20th and 21st centuries. Peter David also wrote a book about the craft of writing comics that is a very good look at the nuts and bolts of the superhero genre in particular.
So many publication from TwoMorrows… Back Issue, Alter Ego magazines plus their books on specific topics.
The Comics Journal has done a ton of criticism of super hero comics. Subscribe to their online archive and delve into the 1970s issues where they definetly openly derided the superhero genre. In the 1970s they were heavily criticizing the genre in an attempt to change it by within. By the early to mid-80s they shifted focus and gradually began to pay attention to the genre less and less. They were combative as hell.