Men Of Tomorrow

Rating:
Summary: Best Comicbook History to Date
Review: A wealth of books are on the market exploring the 70 year history of the comic book industry. This riviting and revealing book may very well be the best. Jones presents a history of breathtaking depth going back into the early 1900s to develop detailed origins of the major personalities that, almost by accident, combined to create Superman and DC comics.Fans of comic history may know some of these stories,but never have all of the fascinating pieces been put together into such a fully formed and complex continuous narrative. The story is meticulously researched, and told with the vigor of a pulp fiction thriller. At the same time all of the personalities are treated with respect and nuance.

Rating:
Summary: "Biography not bibliography"
Review: By Gerard Jones's own admission this book is a biography and not a bibliography, it's more about the real world Golden Age players than their brightly costumed alter egos. It should technically be described as a comparative social biography of Superman's creators (Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster) and Superman's publishers (Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz). The introduction is dynamite and really sets the scene for where Jerry Siegel was on the day Superman The Movie was announced. The first act paints a broad picture of 1920s and 1930s New York and Cleveland, and illustrates how different social conditions shaped the lives of very different groups of immigrant Jews.

The dense, dangerous world of early 20th century New York is perhaps the most emotive and Jones expertly draws the reader into the world of the street gangs and Prohibition era alliances that gave birth to the Jewish dominated New York mob. His portrait of Harry Donenfeld is as an opportunistic, if charismatic, rogue and he portrays Liebowitz as a humourless straight man - a real-life double act. By contrast Cleveland comes across as an icon of suburban American life and we get a real sense of Jerry Siegel's childhoon - including the revelation that Siegel's father had been murdered. Of the four leads Joe Shuster remains the most enigmatic.

Woven through the these histories are the side stories of the elder and younger Gaines, Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Julius Schwartz, Mort Weisinger, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Will Eisner, and a host of other names. Most of them were from the same generation, most of them were Jewish and most of them were drawn to New York by a powerful new medium. Something Jones doesn't do is to carry the sense of the Jewishness much further. He uses it to give us a sense of the New York scene and to show the growth of the businesses on the edge of the mob, but it isn't followed through and all we are left with is links between former mob businesses. It would have been nice to have more of a sense of how the strong Jewish roots of the industry became eroded.

The same cast features prominently in the middle act of the book which chronicles the 1940s and the maturation of the medium. They are also followed through the last (third) act which deals with their post-1940s history. Jones glosses over much of the Silver Age and instead concentrates on how the first generation of comic book players faired in the post Comics Code world. The thread that ties the entire narrative together is Superman. From his inception, his influences, and his sale to the subsequent play and counter play between Siegel and Donenfeld. Jones never demonises either party and he aptly demonstrates how completely different life experiences created two people who simply didn't understand each other. Each party feeling fully justified to claim Superman as their own.

Jones's book is a rich look at the real world figures who inspired Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. A lot of the early material is based on extensive interviews with the surviving players and almost as importantly interviews with people from outside the comic book industry that knew the players. His writing flows easily and holds your attention, although the more well read fan may find themselves occasionally skimming through the more famous sections (a danger, as Jones often reveals new details). He digs into the industry's self reinforcing mythology and strips it away to show the real people and their personal struggles.

Most comic book histories, many of them excellent, are based on first hand accounts from the surviving editors and artists ("the Geeks") collected by fan historians (themselves "Geeks") that are often more focused on the creative process than on the social history. Jones's book focuses equally on publishers and the creators, and as I comic fan I was at times far more interested in the, to me, hitherto unknown world of Donenfeld and Liebowitz. This isn't an apologist work, but it is balanced towards a wider audience than most comic book histories will reach.

Rating:
Summary: Superheroes Take a Backseat to the Talent Behind DC Comics
Review: For those like myself who enjoyed Michael Chabon's "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay", this is the book for you as this gives the non-fiction account of approximately the same pre-WWII burst of creativity that led to the birth of the comic book industry. As most baby boomers know, comic book aficionados fall into two camps based on the two big houses, Marvel Comics or DC Comics. Since I am firmly in the DC camp, I am happy that author Gerard Jones tackles the history of the company that brought Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman to our collective consciousness.

In alternating chapters, Jones describes the careers of founders Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz and the stories of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who invented Superman. What strikes me is how relevant their parallel stories are relative to the entrepreneurial spirit driving the start-ups of today. In particular, Siegel and Shuster, as portrayed here, reflect geek culture at its purist. Siegel loved adventure movies, and along with his school chum, Shuster, began composing illustrated stories and trying to sell them. Inspired by Zorro, they came up with the story of Superman in a single night. He didn't fly in the first drafts; he jumped and now I understand the comment of leaping tall buildings in a single bound. The other basic elements were there though - the destroyed planet, the surviving baby, the powers, the secret identity, and Lois Lane. Meanwhile, the story of Donenfeld is just as interesting. A natural huckster, he started life printing cheesy magazines and pulp fiction. Later, an old client asked Donenfeld for a job for his son, Jack Liebowitz. A former socialist and union organizer, Liebowitz signed on with Donny Press as the business manager, and his financial savvy and brilliance kept the business afloat while many others went under. Together they built a commercial empire worthy of a miniseries. It culminates with taking the company public and selling it to ex-Time Warner chief Steve Ross.

The author digs into the stories behind all the Golden Age heroes, revealing such nuggets as how Bob Kahn became Bob Kane and built his reputation largely on the work of others. The author also examines the bizarre psychologist, William Moulton Marston, who turned his odd notion that "women enjoy submission, being bound" into a comic book that often featured its heroine in bondage, Wonder Woman. This is quite a combination of stories for anyone interested in the serendipitous mix of talent necessary to make a burgeoning media organization successful. In certain ways, there is more to learn here than from the likes of Rupert Murdoch and other current moguls. Highly recommended especially for those who grew up with these comic books.

Rating:
Summary: street superheroes
Review: Gerald Jones, himself a sometimes comic book and superhero screenwriter, describes the real origins of Superman and other superheroes in the gritty urban streets of the 1930s. In this mostly chronological narrative, we follow high school collaborators Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster, who created Superman, the first of the superheroes who reemerged in recent years to dominate the box office.

Jones also profiles Bob Kane of Batman fame (portrayed as a less than admirable figure) and Stan Lee, impresario of the Marvel superheroes, like Spider-Man and the Hulk.

But this is not a gee-whiz comic book portrayal, or a series of personality profiles. This is rich cultural history brought to life. By following these characters, readers will learn as much about Prohibition and the Depression, and what it was like for immigrants scrapping to make it in the teeming cities. Perhaps among the surprises is the involvement of gangsters in the success of the crime-fighting superheroes.

Jones shows how the superheroes established the comic book in American culture, as a kind of combination of several genres: the daily newspaper comic strips (so popular and important in immigrant life---as well as a way that many immigrants learned English), and the similarly popular crime and science fiction pulp magazines.

This book's publicity calls it "A real-life Kavalier and Clay." I read it just after reading that mesmerizing Michael Chabon novel, and though this non-fiction book is mostly about a different era, it also tells an engrossing story very well. I was also impressed by the author's care in telling what is known, what is generally believed but doesn't quite check out, and what is still speculation.


Rating:
Summary: Highly Entertaining Look at Origins of Comics
Review: Gerard Jones, in Men of Tomorrow, has written a highly entertaining look at the world of superhero comic books, predominantly the men who started the whole ball rolling in the 1930s. This history is far more about the business (and, hence, the gangsters of the sub-title) than creative side oriented but the author makes it all quite enjoyable. His portraits of Jack Liebowitz, Harry Donenfeld, and Siegel and Shuster (the original geeks of the sub-title) are actually quite gripping and even, at times, very touching as he takes them all from kids to old men, bringing their creations, particularly and alway Superman, along with them. It is a twisted story that is presented clearly, with humour and insight. A highly recommended book.

Rating:
Summary: It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's the truth about comics!
Review: I am a 40yr old Jewish comics nut and history buff. I feel like this book was written for me and only me. My favorite book on the subject was 1997's "The Comic Book Heroes" by Gerard Jones (with Will Jacobs). A carefully and excitingly written history of the Silver Age of comics. Please pick it up if you haven't already!

Seven years later, Jones has followed up with this... a thoughtful, provacative, history of that fading era known as the "Golden Age" of comics.

Facinating from start to finish. It's like a great roller coaster... when you finish, you get right back in line to ride again. I've read it two times already. (with another read of "The Comic Book Heroes" in between!)

An awesome task undertaken by Jones has yielded dazzling results. My congratulations to Mr. Jones for this essential contribution to an original American art form.

Comic fan or not... BUY IT! Read it and keep it.

Happy Holidays to all and stay well.



Rating:
Summary: Social history of comics with a business twist
Review: I was a comic book fan from my earliest age to about 10 years ago, when the whole thing seems to have gone to the dogs. I was brought up on the Mexican editions of DC comics, and didn't become familiar with Marvel Comics until I visited the US in the second half of the 1970s and learned to love the cheeky humor and mindless action, plus the wonderful artwork of the Romitas, Buscemas and Ditkos of this world, and their little mannerisms ("true believers", "'nuff said", "excelsior!", "no-prizes" and such). Although I did learn a bit about the origins and evolution of the medium, I must confess I was never too interested about the creators themselves. For me, they were subsumed within the characters and stories they told, drew and inked. I guess this may be a consequence of having learned about comics from reprints of 1960s Superman and Batman books, where the writers and artists were hidden under wraps, and strong individuality was discouraged. Although I knew that Siegel and Schuster created Superman, that Kane and Finger did the same for Batman, and that Lee and a host of other talents (like Kirby, Ditko et a.) gave forth the Silver Age, I didn't know much about the guys themselves, or the business they were in.

This book has introduced me to the inner workings of the "House(s) of Ideas", both those of the creators and the businessmen. It is certainly interesting to find out how such basic concepts as secret identity, origin story, motivation, super-villains and love interests came to be, and what was the business model that would enrich a few managers at the expense of some of the creators. I was aware of the essential "American-ness" of comic books (that was, after all, part of the pleasure they gave to a foreigner in the days before color TV and cheap international travel). "The Adventures of Kavalier and Klay" showed me that this was a particular brand of "American-ness", very deeply interwoven with a particular immigrant experience. "Men of Tomorrow" fleshes out this landscape, and populates it with fascinating characters. Even if you are not a comic book fan, it would be a very enjoyable read, since it is not a book for "geeks" and fleshes out all the stories for a general reader. I give it four stars because it could have used more pictures. Memo for the editors: people who read comics like pictures! Put some in in the next edition.

Rating:
Summary: Geeks and Gangsters is where it should have stayed
Review: The book was an excellent introduction into the creation of the comic book. for anyone interested in comics or in publishing in general it is a fairly well done lesson in the men who created the first comics and their reasons to do so. however, the book did have a few major flaws.
Firstly, the authour does not organize his material in a manor that is easy to read. he will work chronoilogically for a chapter, then he will devote a section to a particular person, then he will have to go back and fill us in on what everyone else was doing and so on. this made it very difficult to establish a clear timeline of events. it also created chaos in trying to decipher the realtionships between all of the different parties and who owned what company at what point in time and what their primary fuinction was at said time.
The other large problem i had with this book was that the author wanted to focus entirely on Schuster and Siegel, but to support this thesis he needed to include a myriad of other details that were not necesarilly his passion. due to this, a lot of information about a number of influential people was left out. creators were mentioned only as footnotes to the Siegel and Schuster story. this creates a large problem as we move out of the golden age and the pace of the book skyrockets leaving the reader with a very incomplete view of the growing (and shrinking) comic world.
This book would have been better if it had stayed focused on the very beginings of the comic book instead of reaching past the few characters the author really wanted to talk about. the job he does of flushing out those main players is superb and one gets a feel for why they did what they did. if only that could have been applied to more of the figures in comics' past.

Rating:
Summary: About as behind-the-scenes as you can get!
Review: This is a wonderful examination of the men who created one of the most enduring and endearing media in modern times, the comic book.

For history buff, pop culture fans, and, of course, comic book "geeks", this book offers an intimate and sometimes alarming (even depressing) account of the birth of the comic book, the screwing of young talent, the greed of companies, and America itself from the early part of the 20th century almost to today.

3 complaints, and they are each rather minor (since the book held my attention like few others have):

1.) So much attention is spend on 3 or 4 central figures throughout the book that other important creators get the short shift.

2.) Not enough is said about comics from the mid 1970's to today. It is as if the writer shot his wad in research and writing about 4/5ths of the way through the book, then rushed through the rest.

3.) More photographs and art samples would have made this a more complete experience.

Again, if you enjoy American history, popular culture, and/or comic books, this book will hold you in its grip.

Rating:
Summary: "Impressively thorough research"?
Review: While Jones' book is valuable and a significant contribution, the limited nature of his research is a significant flaw. There are two kinds of sources used: interviews and well-known background studies. There are three problems with not consulting primary documents:
1. Hearsay counts for too much. "Rumors have it": Edgar Hoover denied the existence of organized crime because he got tips on the horses from Frank Costello through Winchell--maybe. Gershon Legman ghost wrote Wertham's _Seduction of the Innocent_. Maybe but Legman's other ghost writing is in his inimitable style.
2. Conjectures are loosely documented, or not at all. Donnenfeld "may have" smuggled whiskey and condoms from Canada along with legal goods like paper. Great info! But one has to be as careful as possible to verify it. There has been no attempt to consult the voluminous records of the post office in the National Archives, transcripts of court cases, or newspaper stories of the period, one of more ofwhich might refer to this kind of smuggling.
3. Begging the question: one example: "bottom rung thugs usually pushed pornography." What kind? There were dirty comics and "readers" of which this is true, but other kinds, including Victorian and contemporary literature, which were distributed by upscale and well-reputed booksellers to trusted, wealthy customers. Another example: the supoposed relation between garment center piecework and smutty magazines. Certainly there are ways in which both kinds of merchants dealt in sex and female models. But the issue is raised and not pursued.
_Men of Tomorrow_ tells us much about connections between various kinds of disreputable entertainment and the entrepreneurs involved. The interviews are wonderful in themselves, although Jones' accurate assessment of the character of the Donenfelds and Liebowitzes suggests that accuracy was not high on their priority lists, even if their memories were not faulty. This book does not do all that is needed for a top-flight sociological study. That it is possible to be both scholarly and communicate to a general audience, writers such as Luc Sante and Gay Talese, but not Jones, have brilliantly shown.