2007-11-27 By far the best scholarly attempt at comic book analysis

Aside from William Savage's short history of Cold War comics, there is little else that comes close to matching the scholarly analysis of Bradford Wright's study. He is able to accomodate a broad sweep of the the development of the American comic book industry whilst highlighting the interplay of the comic book narratives with the cultural mores of the time. It by no means is perfect, but undoubtedly it is the best academic study of comic books available and hence is groundbreaking in its vision. Even better Wright's style of writing makes for the book to be accessible to a non academic readership. It's a highly recommended book for academics, everyday readers, and comic book fans, but not for art historians. Wright makes no attempt to debase himself in pretending to be an art historian. This study is purely a socio-cultural piece of superb research.