Comics: Between the Panels HC (2003)

This lavish volume takes an in-depth look at the history of comics in a manner decidedly unlike the dry timelines and profiles of most reference-style titles. Via alphabetical entries, the authors take an irreverent, often hilarious, behind-the-scenes look at creators, companies, characters, collectors, and conventions, pulling no punches when exposing some of the darker sides of the industry. Containing countless stories gleaned from over 150 interviews of comics industry veterans, Comics Between the Panels is loaded with more than half a century of insider information on the talented and eccentric creators who forged the comics industry and art form. Featuring 670 illustrations and photos -- including dynamic and bizarre cover art compiled under such curious headings as Atomic Bombs, Death with Indignity, Gorillas, Headlights, Hooded Menaces, and Skulls -- Comics Between the Panels will entertain and enlighten the hardcore comic collector as well as the casual reader with an eye for pop-culture curiosity.