This trailblazing survey of an art form preferred by the masses was the
pioneer study of the subject. It shows the evolution and subgenres of
the comics from The Yellow Kid in 1895 through the first decade of the
modern comic book in the 1940s.
First published in 1947 and long out of print, this is considered by
diehard aficionados of the comics as the best book ever written on the
subject, and not just because it was the first. In this far-reaching
study Coulton Waugh set down information that is now common lore, that
the comics are revealing reflectors of society. For general readers and
scholars alike, this new edition has a comprehensive index and an
introduction by M. Thomas Inge, the notable scholar of popular culture
and author of Comics as Culture.