Even with comic book superheroes, there have been the fortunate ones, the famous gang and then, the “others,” in this case describing the many clones or rather, imitators of the likes of Superman or Bat-Man (as he originally was named in the golden age). As it should be clear that in the Golden Age of […]
Teenage Thunder – A Front Row Look at the 1950s Teenpics by Mark Thomas McGee (2020)
The teenager, not present in the immediate post-war years, in the early 1950s suddenly became a financial force and a very visible part of American culture. That also meant clueless parents, disgusted older generations and horrified school teachers, as teenage delinquency and violence ostensibly exploded in the mid-fifties. It did not take long before movie […]
Fashion and Masculinities in Popular Culture by Adam Geczy and Vicki Karaminas (2019)
With the advent of modernity, the choices of men and women to shape their own character freely, pick their styles and outfit and maybe even follow a new role model were multiplied. Thanks to travel, tourism, modern means of communication, news and image transfer, no longer only the local role models and heroes were attainable […]
Robots in American Popular Culture by Steve Carper (2019)
The idea of building, commanding and using artificial creatures, based on mechanical components that would assist mankind doing anything from work, transportation or pleasure goes back to very early stories of creation such as the Gilgamesh epic. And mythology from ancient Greece and other regions. That idea also demonstrates man’s wish to become the creator […]
Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey & A Clockwork Orange. Book & DVD Sets by Alison Castle (ed.)
Two new books in Taschen‘s Making of a Masterpiece series go into detail on Stanley Kubrick‘s A Clockwork Orange and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Edited by Alison Castle, who has published books on film, design and photography for many years in an excellent manner, the beautiful and richly pictured editions reveal many facts and maybe […]
Star Attractions: Twentieth-Century Movie Magazines and Global Fandom by T. J. Mcdonald and L. Lanck...
Ever since motion pictures became a crucial part of popular culture, certain consumers decided that simply watching those products and going to the theaters was not enough. Accordingly, editors of the earliest movie magazines quickly realized that gossip, behind-the-scenes talk and all sorts or rumors surrounding those new media stars obviously were at least as […]
The World of DC Comics by Andrew J. Friedenthal (2019)
When it comes to highly influential and important comic book big players, two names will be mentioned at once: DC Comics and Marvel Comics. While both have left their mark on the history (and the turnover) of the industry, DC Comics can be also credited with refining a giant imaginary world in which superheroes such […]
Sticking It to the Man: Revolution and Counterculture in Pulp and … by Iain McIntyre and Andrew Nett
The latest work edited by Iain McIntyre and Andrew Nette has the focus on pulp fiction published in English and connected to and influenced by the Counterculture and ideas of revolution. The emphasis is on “the long sixties,” meaning the aftermath of that truly revolutionary decade that was at work long into the 1970s, in […]
Five Years Ahead of My Time: Garage Rock from the 1950s to the Present by Seth Bovey (2019)
The Third Bardo’s 1967 song “Five Years Ahead of My Time,” a musical gem by the psychedelic garage band from New York is the eponym for this book, as the many garage bands of the 1960s laid the foundations for American Rock music. The word “garage” in this context actually describes their foremost place of […]