I'm doing a Modern History MA, and for one of my courses and 5,000 word essays I'm doing 'History of the Media'. My choice of media for the essay is comics.

My essay is going to be about 'Seduction of the Innocent' and its effects on the industry. Also I want to look at it in a larger cultural context, examining where the book developed from, looking at the McCarthy-ism and Red Hollywood for other examples of moral panic regarding hidden messages, and psychological subtext influencing the masses.

What I need help with is finding secondary readings; books about the history of comics. I've a few books I've been eyeing up to provide, hopefully, some context and further argument, but I could really do with some more and to anyone who knows anything, I would greatly appreciate your pointing me in the right direction.

Cheers in advance.


These are the books I'm considering buying ('cause my university library is hideously understocked):

'This Book Contains Graphic Language: Comics as Literature', 'Arguing Comics (Studies in Popular Culture)', 'Faster Than A Speeding Bullet: The Rise of the Graphic Novel', 'The Language of Comics: Word and Image' and 'Bad Language, Naked Ladies, and Other Threats to the Nation'.