A Visual History
from the Drawing Board
to the Printed Page
Foreword by Michael Chabon
A celebration of the newspaper comic as an art form and object of industrial production, from the 1890s to the 2020s.
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Cover of How Comics Were Made,
designed by Mark Kaufman
My book How Comics Were Made celebrates the evolution of the comic strip: from the Yellow Kid and early syndication through the very latest webcomics. This covers the whole ball of wax of how artists, knowing their newsprint medium, drew their comics and marked drawings up for color reproduction; how printers put that work through the most arcane and impossible-to-believe operations to get them onto paper; and how modern cartoonists produce cartoons for print and online or web-only.
What people are saying about the book:
“…no one, before now, has written a history of the comic strip as a technological artifact — not, at least, in such depth, and on such a sound foundation of research.” — Michael Chabon, author, “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay”
“…if you want to know about how comics were produced for basically any time during the twentieth century, I can assure you this is the best book on the subject.” — Sean Kleefeld, comics historian, author of the academic teaching guide “Webcomics”
“…a deep dive into the print production world of syndicated comic strips and is exactly as nerdy and fun as that sounds.”” — Lex Fajardo, creator of “Kid Beowulf” and Editorial Director at the Charles M. Schulz Studio
“…essential reading, as much a history of technology as of art. The story is one of art in amongst the constraints, artists working with the changes in printing technologies” — Simon Le Gross Bisson, technology journalist and writer
“There are few things more wonderful than reading a book that expresses the absolute joy of the author.” — Erik Dunham, design educator and part of the Small Press Expo team
“I found How Comics Were Made more fascinating than intimidating, and came away having been entertained as well as educated.” — Mike Peterson, The Daily Cartoonist
The book is laden with original cartoon artwork, photographs, scanned newspaper reproductions, and illustrations, some of which have never appeared in print anywhere, while some historic comics appear for the first time ever in any medium in this book. The book is available as a 288-page full-color print edition and as a fully linked ebook in PDF format. You can purchase separately or as a bundle. Print copies are limited.
The gallery below shows you a sample of pages from the book.
How Comics Were Made relies on my personal collection of printing artifacts backstopped with the help of artists, estates, and institutions that thankfully retained original work and newspaper and printed versions. Key among them is the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. You can watch a video I made for a 2022–2023 exhibit at Billy Ireland showing one aspect of the artist-to-newspaper process (it appeared in a 2023–2024 exhibition, too). The Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center also provided extensive assistance and material.
As part of the book, I interviewed dozens of cartoonists about the aesthetic and functional choices they made and make to ensure their work remains true to their vision through print and online production, particularly around color. I asked how those who started in the 70s and 80s worked through the great metal and analog to offset and digital switch. For instance, Lynn Johnston (For Better or For Worse) told me she was concerned enough at the start of her career to get the Sunday color just right that she flew to Buffalo, New York, to get a hands-on look at the operations of American Color, the largest firm handling and printing color comics in the country. I spoke as well to comics historians, production artists, colorists, and other people across the industry.
In addition to Johnston, among 40 interviewees are Tom Batiuk (Funky Winkerbean, Crankshaft), John “Derf” Backderf (The City, My Friend Dahmer), Paige Braddock (Jane’s World, Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates Chief Creative Officer), Georgia Dunn (Breaking Cat News), Lex Fajardo (Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates Editorial Director, Kid Beowulf), Bill Griffith (Zippy), Guy Gilchrist (formerly Nancy, Muppets, and many others), Jim Keefe (King Features colorist, Sally Forth artist), Garry Trudeau (Doonesbury), comics historian Brian Walker (writer on Beetle Bailey and Hi & Lois, author of The Comics: The Complete Collection), Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes), and Shena Wolf (cartoonist’s agent; formerly Andrews-McMeel Universal).
What’s this all about?
The book covers the entire history of newspaper comics from a unique angle—how they were made and printed. You can find many other books that I can recommend that look at comics through the lens of artist, biography, genre, and subject matter, as well as hundreds of lovingly, painstakingly restored collections, such as the complete Peanuts and Little Nemo Sunday strips.
How Comics Were Made turns to the stories of creation: What did artists’ originals look like and how were they transformed for print? In the days before digital reproduction, how did a cartoonist tell a printer they wanted a 30% green? How, in fact, did the Yellow Kid get his tint? Does a cartoonist have to conceive of a comic differently now when aiming for multiple print and digital appearances in different formats? The answers are surprising, revealing, and beautiful.
Other digital creative efforts get their day in the sun. While the methods are different, I’ll look into how webcomics artists have created their work for online-only or online-first reading for the last 25-plus years and how that’s changed archiving, reading habits, and perception.
This special Kickstarter-funded edition was printed in a limited edition. To get your copy, order today!
Who am I to do this?
Acting as a check on Glenn’s flights of fancy and bringing a gimlet eye as editor is Harry McCracken, the perfect mix of technology expert and comics aficionado and researcher. Harry held a variety of editorial positions at PC World over 13 years, and has spent the last 10 years as technology editor of Fast Company. But Harry is also a deeply nerdy comics and animation fan with a deep appreciation and knowledge of the classics—particularly forgotten comics. Read Harry’s full bio…
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Sign up for either or both of two lists:
How Comics Were Made newsletter: This monthly-or-so newsletter features insights about comics history, excerpts of interviews, new discoveries, and lots of pictures and scans of amazing cartoon history! (Read back issues here.)
Shipping announcement: Sign up to this very low-volume list to receive an update when the book appears in future printings, if any.
What you’ll find in the book
The book is roughly divided by time and transitions, from the start of consistently appearing daily and weekly comics in newspapers:
Each section features interviews with artists, reproductions of original cartoon art, printing and coloring artifacts, and the way cartoons appeared in print—or on screen.
The book specs
How Comics Were Made is a 288-page softcover book measuring 8¼ tall × 10½ inches wide (21 × 27 cm). This format was designed to fit strip and Sunday comics. The book features french flaps—you know, those fancy fold-in flaps on nice paperback titles.
Full front and back cover plus spine and flaps of How Comics Were Made
An index page shows the depth of detail provided.
Table of Contents
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Back Matter
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