COMICS AND CONFLICT

PATRIOTISM AND PROPAGANDA FROM WWII

THROUGH OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM
By CORD A. SCOTT

Advance Praise























Cord Scott's Comics and Conflict
demonstrates the powerful role that
comic books have played in American
wars from World War II through Iraqi
Freedom and the central place that wars
have played in American society and
culture in the twentieth century.
LEWIS A. ERENBERG, professor
emeritus, Loyola University Chicago



Comics and Conflict is a superb chronological survey
of American comic book depictions of both real and
imagined war and quasi-war campaigns, amazing in
scope and detail. Scotts insights into the relationship
between the comics and their audience in different eras
are impressive, reflecting the publics increasing
apprehensions about how and why the nations military
was being deployed. The work indicates an author very
much at home with his subject matter.
PETER KARSTEN, editor in chief of Encyclopedia of
War and American Society

Wars are won by both the hard power of the state and
the soft power of its culture. In this fascinating study
of the role of American militarythemed comic books
Cord Scott explores the way popular illustrated stories
have simultaneously buttressed and critiqued the
nations military conflicts. This unique and accessible
study will appeal to the layman and professional alike
and is well suited for classroom adoption for survey and
specialized classes.
THEODORE J. KARAMANSKI, professor of history,
Loyola University Chicago

By combining cultural history and military history,
Cord Scott provides us with fresh insights into both.
Readers interested in how the American public used
cultural media to interpret war will learn much from this
book.
MICHAEL S. NEIBERG, author of The Blood of Free
Men: The Liberation of Paris, 1944

A BOOK FOR REVIEW

NAVAL INSTITUTE PRESS BOOK NEWS






Illustration has been an integral part of human history. Particularly before the
advent of media such as photography, film, television, and now the Internet,
illustrations in all their variety had been the primary visual way to convey history.
The comic book which emerged in its modern form in the 1930s was another form
of visual entertainment that gave readers, especially children, a form of escape.
Very quickly, however, it became something more than a mere form of
entertainment.
As World War II began, comic books became a propagandistic platform,
providing information and education for both children and adults. This book looks
at how specific comic books of the war genre have been used to display patriotism
and adventure through war stories, and eventually to tell of the horrors of
combatfrom World War II through the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan
in the first decade of the twenty-first century.
This book also examines how war and patriotically themed comics evolved from soldier-drawn
reflections of society, eventually developing along with the broader comic book medium into a mirror of
American society during times of conflict. Such works generally reflected patriotic fervor while advancing a
specific cause. Comic books were also used as a means of political protest against war, or what the writers
felt were wider examples of governmental abuse. In the post 9/11 era comic books have returned to their
propagandistic/patriotic roots. At the same time, the grim realities of combat are depicted more realistically
than ever before.
The focus of this work is not only on the development of the comic book medium, but also as a
bellwether of society at the same time. How did comics and their writers approach the news of the war?
Were people for or against the fighting? Did the writers of comics promote a perception of combat or did
they try to convey the horrors of war? Scott explores these questions and fills a gap in a growing literature
that looks beneath the surface of the actions of our comic book heroes.


CORD SCOTT has a doctorate in American history from Loyola University Chicago. He has written
for several encyclopedias and academic journals and has collaborated previously with Robert
Weiner on the book Captain America and the Struggle of the Superhero. He has taught at several
institutions in the Chicago area.

COMICS AND CONFLICT: Patriotism and Propaganda from WWII Through Operation Iraqi
Freedom by Cord A. Scott
Publication date: 15 September 2014 224 pp., 8 illustrations.
Price: $49.95 / 35.50 Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-61251-477-2
History WWII eBook edition also available.
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