<< Comics Workshop RECOMMENDED READING

This is an archive page for materials & links related to the comics in the World War II era.
Relevant Comics & Online Archives:
War Comics: Comics with a Military Theme
A single-page lo-res cover archive from Australia.
Propaganda Extravaganza!
A wartime cover archive on SuperDickery.com … You won’t BELIEVE what US publishers actually printed during the war!
Superhero & War Comics Cover Gallery
Since many Golden Age superhero comics dealt with the war, this gallery combines the two categories. (Also links to amazing Romance & Horror galleries.)
“Norakuro” by by Suiho Tagawa (wartime manga about Japan’s fight with China):
“Norakuro” on Lambiek.net
“Norakuro” on Wikipedia
More Norakuro page samples
Barefoot Gen
One boy’s Hiroshima story
“U.S. Petroleum Administration for War”educational comics(1943):
“Comin’ in on a Wing and a Prayer”
“How to Spot a Jap”
US Army/Navy “educational” comic (1943) employing some seriously racist propaganda techniques!
POLITICAL CARTOONS (Single-panels & Illustrations):
WWII Political Cartoon Archive
Nazi cartoons from Kladderadatsch
Cartoons from Brennessel (Nazi humor magazine)
Nazi cartoons about Winston Churchill
Cartoons from Das Schwarze Korps (1943-1944) (Nazi SS weekly newspaper) (1943-1944)
Editorial cartoons from Das Reich (1940-1941) (Nazi weekly magazine)
Editorial cartoons from Das Reich (1944-1945)
For related Nazi images, see: http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/ww2era.htm
“Dr. Seuss Went to War”
A well-organized collection of Theodore Geisel’s wartime political cartoons.
Action Comics #1
(June, 1938 – The first episode of Superman.)
A Family Secret
A Dutch teenager learns about his grandmother’s experiences during World War II.
The Search
A Jewish survivor of the Holocaust tracks down the wartime stories of her family and friends.
SLIDESHOW: Art Spiegelman discusses his creative process in Maus
Check out this amazing 1944 cover of THE NEW YORKER –>
It depicts D-Day in the style of the Bayeux Tapestry (and for more on that, see CW’s Europe page) …
“MONTY ET IKE MARE NAVIGAVIT” indeed!
(Also, note the mice & other items scampering around in the marginal ornamentation…)
Articles, Analysis, &c.:
- Types of War Comics
- US-European Theater:
- “Golden Age of Comic Books” on Wikipedia (1930s-1940s)
- “Kryptonomics: Why Superman’s Creators Got a Raw Deal” (The New Yorker, 24 June 2013)
- Classic Comicson Suite101.com:
- Education & Propaganda:
- Manga (Japanese Comics) (See also: Japanese Culture & History in Manga):
- About.com: Manga in WWII
- POSTWAR CENSORSHIP:
Chris and Reggie’s Cosmic Treadmill: “Weird Comics History: The Comics Code”
(5 episode series, March 2017)