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Szasz, Ferenc Morton. Atomic Comics: Cartoonists Confront the Nuclear World. Reno: Univ. of Nevada Press, 2012. 
Added by: joachim (9/13/13, 9:44 PM)   Last edited by: joachim (9/13/13, 10:03 PM)
Resource type: Book
Language: en: English
ID no. (ISBN etc.): 978-0-87417-874-6
BibTeX citation key: Szasz2012
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 Categories: General
Keywords: Sciences, Superhero, USA
Creators: Szasz
Publisher: Univ. of Nevada Press (Reno)		 Views: 6/559
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Abstract
At the dawn of the Atomic Age, the wonders and dangers of this strange new energy were explained by scientists, politicians, and writers of every kind. But for millions of ordinary Americans, their primary source of information was comic books, comic strips, and cartoons. These ubiquitous pop culture vehicles simplified the intricate science of the fissioned atom to the general public, explaining both the potential benefits and the threats of atomic power. Through newspaper strips such as Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, comic book superheroes including Atomic Man, Spiderman, and Captain Atom, and nuclear villains such as Dr. Octopus and the Atomic Skull, readers acquired a new scientific vocabulary and comprehended the controversies surrounding nuclear science. This was accomplished, Szasz contends, both through the medium itself, which has a remarkable ability to present complex ideas in easy-to-grasp visual form, and through the ways cartoonists incorporated vexing quandaries into engaging stories of adventure, suspense, and even humor.

Table of Contents

p>List of Illustrations (xi)
Preface (xiii)
Acknowledgments, Margaret Connell-Szasz (xvii)

Introduction (1)

I Before Hiroshima
1. Comic Strips Confront the Subatomic World: The Turn of the Century to the Early 1930s (9)
2. The Comics and the Fissioned Atom: The Mid-1930s to August 6, 1945 (22)

II The Initial Reaction 1945–Early 1960s
3. Coming to Grips with the Atom: Early Atomic Superheroes (43)
4. Atomic Comic Utopias, Espionage, and the Cold War (67)

III Atomic Comics Change Direction: The Mid-1950s to the Present Day
5. American Underground Comix, Political and International Cartoonists, and the Rise of Japanese Manga (89)
6. The Never-Ending Appeal of Atomic Adventure Tales (115)

Conclusion (133)

Notes (137)
Bibliography (155)
Index (167)


  
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