Comics: Anatomy of a Mass Medium by Reinhold Reitberger, Wolfgang Fuchs (review)

Books 279 passive or active attitudes in viewers’ minds? Is there a way for viewers to control the propaganda they are subjected to? Should governments or political parties have the right to use insidious psychological methods (such as the PLANT technique) to introduce ideas in a people’s collective mind? However, though this book does not go deeply into ideological questions of Prop Art, it is an extensive study of the poster phenomenon. The illustrations refresh one’s memories of significant political events of the past few years and show how poster design for the sake of causes is a powerful form of applied art. Comics: Anatomy of a Mass Medium. Reinhold Reitberger and Wolfgang Fuchs. Studio Vista, London, 1972. 264 pp., illus. €2.25. Reviewed by Peter C. Marzio* This book is packed with useful information about comic strips, comic books and the audio-visual comic productions of the 20th century. It was originally published by Heinz Moos Verlag of Munich under the title COMICS Anatonzie eines Massentnediirtns. Unfortunately, the work is poorly written (and/or poorly translated), disorganized, dense and occasionally incorrect. The opening passages of chapter seven are typical: ‘When in 1830 a steam-driven printing machine was invented, it meant not only the beginning of a mass-produced press, but also of mass-produced literature . Together with the need to produce a readership arose the now economically vital necessity to abolish illiteracy.’ The style speaks for itself. Moreover, the date 1830 is of no special significance and the assertion that literacy in the 19th century was an ‘economically vital necessity’ is debatable. The authors seem compulsive in their use of superlatives. At times their claims of ‘perfect’ and ‘best’ are made ludicrous by their own hedging: ‘One of the best of the Western authors was possibly Zane Grey. ...’ And their sweeping statements about society in the U.S.A. seem designed to drive historians mad. We are told in the beginning of chapter three, for example, that the ‘twenties was a period of intellectual negation and passivity’ and in the middle of the same chapter these words appear: ‘decadent, technological society will always be fascinated by stories set in a wilderness or in primeval forests.’ One is prone to ask what a technological society without decadence is likely to fantasize? More important than the stylistic problems and the simplistic comments on social history, is the authors’ failing to make sufficient distinction between the important facts in comic history and the simple trivia. This lack of focus is due to the authors’ apparent concern to include as many strips and artists as possible, and to their accepting the standard comic strip categories of ‘everyday life’, ‘humor’, ‘adventure’, ‘melodrama’, etc. These categories have failed to yield much insight into comic art. They are more useful to antiquarians than to historians. The most forceful part of the book is chapter five, ‘Criticism and Censorship’. Here there is a particular theme. The names and dates and events revolve about an issue and the reader is led from one point to another in a clear and logical manner-if only this kind of approach had been applied throughout! In addition to difficultiesin approach, the reproduction of the illustrations is uneven and weighted far too heavily on the side of the post-1940 period. The layout is confusing and the index is incomplete. Nevertheless, this is an important book in a new field. It will prove invaluable as a source of factual information for research scholars. What it lacks for a broader readership is inspiration and style. *Div. of Graphic Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Nat. Museum of History and Technology, Washington, D.C. 20560, U.S.A. Tie and Dye as a Present Day Craft. Anne Maile. Mills & Boon, London, 1971. 182 pp., illus. €1.85. Tie and Dye Made Easy. Anne Maile. Mills & Boon, London, 1971. 160 pp., illus. E2.75. Reviewed by Marjorie S. Thompson** The first book was originally published in 1963. Revisions have been made and new material added in several of the six later printings. Detailed, well-illustrated instructions are given for four basic techniques in tie-dyeing: knotting, binding, folding and sewing. Several chapters are devoted to procedures for...