As announced by Fred Van Lente on Twitter, the collected edition of his and Ryan Dunlavey’s Comic Book Comics will be published by IDW in May 2012.
Retitled The Comic Book History Of Comics, the book will collect the six issue series, clocking in at 224 pages, and will be “remastered, corrected” and full of “additional goodies.” The book, a thematic follow-up to Action Philosophers by the same duo, chronicles the history of the sequential art medium, working its way from the earliest days of comics newspaper strips and pulp magazines through all of your favorite Golden/Silver Age hits before hitting the modern age, the direct market, and comic book piracy. It’s quite the informative read, told by the best two candidates to tell it.
The solicit information, as pulled from Comics Should Be Good’s Fred Van Lente Day, is as follows:
Written by Fred Van Lente
Drawn by Ryan Dunlavey224pp – B&W – Standard Comic Size: 6.625 x 10.25
For the first time ever, the inspiring, infuriating and utterly insane story of comics, graphic novels and manga is presented in comic book form! The award-winning Action Philosophers team of Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey turn their irreverent-but-accurate eye to the stories of Jack Kirby, R. Crumb, Harvey Kurtzman, Alan Moore, Stan Lee, Will Eisner, Fredric Wertham, Roy Lichtenstein, Art Spiegelman, Hergé, Osamu Tezuka – and more! “Done with wit, energy, a healthy dose of insolence and a dedication to getting it right.” – NPR. Collects Comic Book Comics #1-6.
Comic Book Comics tied for the #3 spot on our Most Overlooked Title of 2011 this year, with writer Walter Richardson noting, “you have no reason to continue overlooking this fun and smart title, which I would go so far as to call an essential for any supposed fan of the medium.” If that’s not a glowing recommendation of the book, I’m not quite sure what is.
You can check out the comic now digitally or through Evil Twin Comics, but keep your eyes peeled in May of next year, true believers.
