Having stood and gone through the bookshelves at home I've come to the conclusion that there is no single volume history of the comic book. In the early 80s comic buyers were treated to magazines such as Comics Journal, the fortnightly Amazing Heroes with their half yearly preview specials, Comics Interview, etc. They didn't cater to a fanboy element like Wizard did or does but were informative publications for their time. Sure there's coffee table company histories that toe the line, and in depth character analysis in the form of either the DK rip offs or the Les Daniels volumes, but nothing that gets in to the nitty gritty. There's nothing there that would inform younger or newer comic readers and buyers of the wealth of history and lore behind the titles that they buy and read today. So for any body reading this can I offer a few suggestions ~
Buy a copy of Overstreet. Get a marked down copy because you'll not use it for the values, but it is essential reading for two reasons. First it lists nigh on every American comic ever published, with significant artists and writers, guest spots, origins, villains, crossovers, etc. Secondly it offers an encapsulated history with significant dates, and a current American market report. It provides a great overview of all that has gone before and even though CBGs Standard Catalog is gaining acceptance with some dealers, it is still the industry standard.
Slings And Arrows by Frank Plowright long overdue a revised edition, it offers synopsis of hundreds of titles.
Comic Book Heroes: From Silver Age To The Present by Will Jacobs & Gerard Jones is out of print but worth tracking down. It goes some way to covering the second comics explosion which resulted in characters that are still published today. They also wrote a follow up volume which covered the mid 80s to the 90s'.
