THE COMICS SINCE 1945 - Brian Walker 'Founder and former director of the International Cartoon Museum of Art, Walker here presents a survey of postwar strips that made it to the big time of daily syndication, as well as of their creators. Strip illustrations (210 in color, 776 in all) range from Little Orphan Annie collecting scrap metal to help the war effort, to Doonesbury's Zonker parodying interactive media by losing his punchline to a computer error. Walker, who since 1984 "has been part of the creative team that produces Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois," orients the book toward hugely popular strips like the still-running Peanuts, B.C. and Garfield and cubicle-based smash Dilbert, and thus ends up giving more of a history of American taste than of the entire form. Still, readers will be happy to rediscover the likes of '80s media tweaker John Darling; genre strips like the western Red Ryder (1938-64), '50s sci-fi Twin Earths and the adventure strip Steve Canyon; and Walt Kelly's ever-influential Pogo. Proceeding chronologically, Walker notes the effects of the invention of television, the politics of syndication, and the means of racial integration, and offers biographical profiles tracking the careers of all the names less familiar to us than the characters - the cartoonists. The whole feels a little too accepting of the dictates of syndication for a mass audience, but it is a solid account of the way various artists have worked within that system. ' Original edition, full size hardback, with dustjacket. Use the 'Mouse Over to Zoom / Click to Enlarge' feature for meticulous scrutiny of the condition of the item. A monstrous 338 pages Published by Abrams. 2002 edition. Hardback Dustjacket, in good, used condition. On the rear there is a 1" tear, not detached, plus a couple of small scuff marks, bumps to the dustjacket edges and yellowing to the front from shelf storage, the usual signs of a dustjacket doing its job well. 9 1/2 " x 13"...or, if you prefer...240mm x 330mm format, approx. Index included. A very good reading and reference copy. Binding intact, no creases, small bumps and scuffs to page edges and covers, just the usual signs of light reading and storage wear. No pen or ink marks or notations. 10 pictures uploaded, various views, all of the actual item. Interesting item, bulky and weighty, undeniably, a real coffee table filler and definitely one for the collectors and enthusiasts... Buy-it-Now, $28.50 Thanks for looking! :o) Postage USA - Free postage.