Government Issue: Comics for the People, 1940's-2000's is an adorable volume from Abrams Comicart which showcases decades of comics used for safety advice, military propaganda, civil defense information, drug abuse dramatizations, and many other uses. Written and compiled by Richard L. Graham and featuring a forward by Sid Jacobson, former Harvey editor and who along with Ernie Colon has produced some of the best nonfiction comics of the last decade, this volume tries to be comprehensive.
The only knock is that I'd have loved to have had more full comics, but space as always with these kinds of collections is a premium. From benign comics like one about fighting fires starring Smokey the Bear to infamous tomes like Milt Caniff's "How to Spot a Jap" to safety tips from the Peanuts gang, this one truly has something for everyone. There's vigorous work by Jack Sparling and some of the earliest comics work ever by Neal Adams. Also on hand are some great King Features characters and even Walt Kelly's Pogo shows up.
For a gander at some of the material contained take a gander at the covers below, some by seasoned and respected professionals in the comic book biz.
Rip Off
You found this at Half-Price Books, right? I was looking at a copy there myself! Hadn't heard a thing about it until I saw it there. I passed it up simply because there's a website with PDFs of most (if not all) the comics I saw represented therein.
ReplyDeleteI did indeed. I've been looking at one across town at Joseph-Beth for months, but the price along with the fact their copy is dinged up kept me from it. But for the price (a third of cover) I had to have it. I love that store. My wife and I landed five books between us on a brief visit and together they cost what Government Issue cost on the cover.
DeleteRip Off