Take That, Adolf!: The Fighting Comic Books Of The Second World War Paperback – April 4, 2017

Bracing and lively collection of more than 500 digitally restored, generously sized comic book covers from the war years, 1940-46. As an oversized art book, TAKE THAT, ADOLF! is an invigorating good time: there's so much color and fevered action on these glossy pages that you may find yourself panting with exertion just from gazing at them. But for context--that is, where all this anti-Axis activity came from and what it really meant--you won't do better than author Mark Fertig's insightful and smartly arranged introduction. He discusses American nationalism, the preponderance of Jewish publishers and other creators, the emergence of Captain America and the multitude of costumed Axis bashers that followed, and the introduction of Marston and Peter's thoroughly remarkable Wonder Woman. Fertig also discusses the cheerfully aggressive kid gangs (The Young Allies, et al) that went to war, non-fiction wartime comics, and the special fervor that informed comics produced after the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. The introduction concludes by describing the sea change that swept the comics industry once the hostilities were over, a change perhaps best exemplified by Lev Gleason/Bob Wood/Charles Biro's eye-opening CRIME DOES NOT PAY.I was particularly pleased to see Fertig's honest appraisal of battle-ready--but squirmingly stereotyped--black characters (C. C. Beck's Steamboat and others) created to assist their white "overseers" (my term, not Fertig's). Fertig correctly notes that the subject of race-inspired characters is generally avoided in comics histories, or, at best, merely touched on and glossed over. Although this section of the text is not overlong, it effectively conveys the wrongness of these racist portrayals, linking them to the larger race enmity that allowed, for instance, the USA's illegal wartime internment of thousands of Japanese-Americans.As for those 500 covers, well, they were naturally designed to grab the attention of potential buyers, but they also functioned as bluntly powerful anti-German and anti-Japanese propaganda (with the occasional Mussolini caricature tossed in for variety), as well as rah-rah pro-American agitprop. In retrospect, none of this is subtle; to the contrary, artists depicted the heroes and heroines as exemplars of perfect WASPy righteousness, while playing into familiar tropes of Axis beastliness (fangs, buck teeth, a penchant for grisly, crazily ingenious torture, and the labors of drooling, deformed, and sometimes undead (!) toadies).Many of the Golden Age's greatest artists are represented: Alex Schomburg (the dominant figure in these pages), Charles Biro, Reed Crandall, Syd Shores, Bob Fujitani, Fred Ray, Jack Binder, Mac Raboy, Simon & Kirby, Rudy Palais, L. B. Cole, Lou Fine, and numerous others. Wow! End text provides useful bios of ten of these giants.This is another scintillating historical collection from Fantagraphics Books, handsomely designed by Jacob Covey. Like the Allies . . .it's a winner!

Take That Adolf is an amazing collection of restored WWII comic book cover art coupled with a thoughtful (and very well written) analysis of the social, political and cultural factors connecting the Second World War to what the author calls the "Golden Age of comics". This book is as fascinating to read as it is beautiful to look at (the images are really incredible) and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in comics, WWII, history, Americana, design and/or art.

This book is probably the most comprehensive title out there on the relationship between WWII and the comic book covers of that same era. With text aimed for a general audience, and with lavishly and lovingly restored covers gracing the back pages, this book is a must for any with an interest in superheroes, WWII, and pop culture art. Highly recommend.

This book showcases 500 of the best comic book covers produced during World War II. The collection presented here is breath-taking. My favorite part is looking at all the covers, their artwork, typography, and understanding Hitler's role as one of worst villains of all time. This purchase was well worth it!

The content of this book is fabulous, but the formatting is PDF like, so there's no way to highlight or share relevant passages.

Not much to add beyond the other 5-star reviews here. Comprehensive, beautiful, well-written. Some books on comics history one skims and shelves, never to be viewed again. This is a book to be savored.

excellent-4covers to a pg-or 1 cover to a pg-excellent report, glossy paper just like original comic covers-very impressed-always wanted to see many of these covers since it was the cover that sold the comic--THANK YOU

First class effort - spectacular covers, beautifully restored, informative commentary, nice glossy paper; I only wish it was a hardcover. Another winner from Fantagraphics!

Fantastic,Mr Fertig as done a grand job,if you like comics and the Golden age this is the book for you,splendid comic book covers,many full size,nice text introduction ,and bios: of some of the many artist,s ,Raboy Sultan,Kirby Shores Eisner Crandall etc only wish ther were more book like this