Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History with Illustrations
2004; Volume: 34; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1548-9922
Autores Tópico(s)Themes in Literature Analysis
ResumoWilliam B. Jones, Jr. Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History with Illustrations. McFarland, 2002. 287 pages; $55.00. Postwar Period From approximately 1945 until 1955 another generation of American teenagers emerged onto adolescent stage. Here, during these formative years, youngsters played fast-moving neighborhood games such as Johnny-rides-a-pony, ringalevio, and spud, helped their mothers operate those ringer washing machines, while off to side, eyed their fathers slap another patch on a tire's inner tube. In schoolroom, they sang Arkansas Traveler, Stout-Hearted Men, and Tit Willow while their teachers reminded them that the proof of pudding is in eating or warned about dangers of being out of kilter. Back in house, these kids screwed flashbulbs into cameras, threw coal into furnace (later, they would remove ashes), and, when feeling mischievous, listened to some neighbor chew fat on those party line telephone connections. Sometimes, they watched an older sister (or an unmarried aunt) get dolled up for a Saturday night dance or envied an older brother who strolled into a diner and ordered a blue plate special. In their kitchens, these adolescents wolfed down bowls of Kellogg's Pep (Superman's official cereal), gulped glasses of Ovaltine (Captain Midnight's favorite drink), and watched their mothers toss a generous spoonful of Crisco into a frying pan, while in background radio adventures of Boston Blackie (friend to those who had no friends), The Fat Man (Weight: 237 pounds; fortune: danger), The Shadow (Who knows what evil lurks in hearts of men?), We People (Gabriel Heatter's reassuring Ah, there's good news tonight), and, of course, The Lone Ranger (Who was that masked man?) emanated from front room. At neighborhood shows, youngsters cheered their favorite cowboy heroes-Johnny Mack Brown, Lash LaRue, Red Barry, Hopalong Cassidy-galloping across plains blasting those unsavory, mustachioed villains trying to steal some widow's ranch while over in combat zone John Wayne, Dennis Morgan, and John Garfield repeatedly routed America's Axis foes. Since postwar period was in its incipient stages, many of youngsters remembered those blackout shades their parents installed, postage-stamp-sized points necessary to buy rationed food, backyard victory gardens, those war bonds sold almost everywhere, and Memorial Day parades, where polite spectators quietly demurred when Gold Star mothers-sitting collectively in their convertible automobiles-passed in review. For literary pursuits, every teenager stocked his own stash of comic books, those ten-cent purchases that provided untold enjoyment and faraway dreaming. Here in fantasy world of Red Ryder, Little Lulu, Mandrake Magician, Bucky Bug, L'il Abner, Smilin ' Jack, Terry and Pirates, The Little King, and Dick Tracy, these adolescents reveled in fun and fancy these monthly publications provided. Blackhawk, Plastic Man, Batman, Archie, The Phantom, Wonder Woman, Superman-these comic book characters provided a visual education and, coupled with pride in ownership, formed basis of a youngster's first library. But what comic books stood out? …
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