I really love how this book was put together starting with a historical take and providing multiple resources in images, illustrations, and color photos! This is the type of book that not only can I use in teaching to my students, but they can also borrow and read in independent study and research to learn even more when they are working on their projects or even as a finish early read through. The historical information is laid out in a way that keeps your interest with enough imagery and helpful tips and tools as it goes. I would highly recommend this book for any art, design, or history classroom.

How comics are made it´s a true gem of research in the history of comics. The editorial perspective it shows is interesting and revealing.
Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for this advanced reader's copy.

If you’ve ever been captivated by the Sunday funnies or marvelled at the clever punchline of a comic strip, How Comics Are Made is your backstage pass to the magic behind the panels. Glenn Fleishman offers an incredibly informative and visually captivating journey through the history and production of newspaper comics, tracing their evolution from early print days to the era of modern webcomics.

This book is more than a timeline; it’s a vibrant exploration of the evolving tools, techniques, and wizardry that brought comics from rough sketches to the printed page. Fleishman covers an impressive breadth of material with clarity and care, making the book a treasure trove for academics, students, fans, and artists alike. Packed with a multitude of images, archival artwork, photographs, and diagrams, the book is as visually appealing as it is rich in content. Fleishman’s approachable writing style presents complex production methods in layman’s terms while keeping the pages dynamic and engaging.

What makes this volume particularly special are the chapters dedicated to influential creators and critical moments in comics history. Fleishman spotlights Charles M. Schulz as the ultimate all-in-one creator and Garry Trudeau for his transformative impact on production timelines. Another standout chapter thoughtfully addresses the inclusion and portrayal of people of colour in newspaper comics, focusing on shading techniques used to depict Black characters and highlighting the work of Black creators—an important and often overlooked aspect of comics history.

This book is a must-have for any comic nerd eager to uncover lesser-known details about this beloved medium. It’s clear that Fleishman cherishes the craft deeply, and his passion shines through every page. Although I read a digital copy, I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical edition to gift to fellow comic lovers.

Read if you:
Love the nostalgic and artistic history behind your favourite comic strips
Are fascinated by the creative processes and technological evolution of comics
Want a beautifully curated, richly illustrated coffee table book that doubles as a cultural artefact

Skip if you:
Prefer straight academic tomes without much visual flair or personal anecdotes
Aren’t interested in the craft or history of comics

This is an incredibly informative and visually appealing book about the history and production of newspaper comics. Glenn Fleishman covers so much material in How Comics Were Made in a clear way — it is an asset to any academic, student, fan, or artist interested in comics, newspapers, or publication in general.

How Comics Were Made traces the history of the production of newspaper/serial comics from the earliest days of publication through to modern webcomics, including detailed information on production methods, the role of comics in newspaper publication, and methods of art creation. The book is very detailed with a multitude of images supporting the history and descriptions. Fleishman also has a wonderful way of presenting the material in layman’s terms while also laying it out in a visually appealing way that keeps the reader’s eyes moving around the page.

In addition to the history and production material, Fleishman includes two chapters focused almost entirely on specific comics creators and their style in relation to the history of comics production: Charles M Schulz as an all-in-one creator and Gary Trudeau and changes to the production timeline. Likewise, Fleishman includes one chapter dedicated to the inclusion of people of colour in newspaper comics. The focus of this chapter is on the ways in which shading and other techniques have been used to indicate Black characters in newsprint over the years, but it also briefly deals with the portrayal of these same characters and Fleishman does work to highlight Black creators in this section.

I really enjoyed reading this book and think it would be an enjoyable read for fans of the art form. I also think it could be an excellent resource for anyone interested in newspaper comics, newspaper histories, advertising in newspapers, or the history of books/publication. I understand that this was a Kickstarter project originally and I hope we see more projects like this making their way to publication through crowdsourcing.

This review is my honest opinion of the book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a digital copy for me to read in advance of the publication date.

This is my first read from Glenn Fleishman and it was such a blast! How interesting to read the history of comics and how they were first made (before it was easy to make them in mass quantity), all the way to present day with digital comics. I grew up reading Marvel comics so this was an especially delightful read for me, as I knew some of the techniques but others were new to me.
I think anyone who is a comic book nerd needs to get in on this book, they are going to learn a thing or two that they didn't know before about this beloved media. You can tell the author cherishes the craft and has put in a lot of love towards this book. Although the copy I read was a digital one, I can't wait to grab a copy and gift it to my fellow comic lovers. The book is rich with colorful pages and high quality comic book strips from throughout the past several decades. Who doesn't love a detailed breakdown of the exact angles you have to print different ink colors on in order to create the perfect overlapping dot pattern for your picture? This book is going straight to my coffee table so I can bring it up with everyone who visits me!

Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book to review. Pick up your copy June 3rd!

Thank you to NetGalley for my Advanced Reader's copy of this book.

As an avid comic book reader and collector, this book was a true delight to read. And I learned so much. I wouldn't call this book a history of comics as it is more a history of how comics are made. But I have read lots of histories about comics themselves so to me this was a very unique read. I highly recommend for any comic fan or any fan of knowing the history of printing.

Note: I received a DRC from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

“How Comics Are Made covers the entire history of newspaper comics from a unique angle—how they were made and printed. This book combines years of research and dozens of interviews with cartoonists, historians, and production people to tell the story of how a comic starts with an artist’s hand and makes it way through transformations into print and onto a digital screen. You’ll see reproductions of art and artifacts that have never appeared in print anywhere, and some historic comics will appear for the first time ever in any medium in this book. And you’ll find out about metal etching, Dragon’s Blood (a real thing), flong (also a real thing), and the massively, almost impossibly complicated path that original artwork took to get onto newsprint in the days of metal relief printing. The book is divided by time and transitions, from the start of consistently appearing daily and weekly comics in

“The Early From the Yellow Kid in the 1890s to the 1910s Syndication in When it became affordable to make hundreds or thousands of copies of daily strips to send around the country (or world), from the 1910s to 1970s Newspapers’ switch from relief to flat printing and the shift to purely photographic transformations from the 1950s to the 1980s Pixel The transition from photographic to digital, from scanning to digital creation, from the 1970s to 2000s and through the present day Webcomics and Look, ma, no ink! Digital comics read online and sometimes put on press to make books Each section will feature interviews with artists, reproductions of original cartoon art, printing and coloring artifacts, and the way cartoons appeared in print—or on screen.”

I grew up reading all sorts of comics, and “How Comics are Made” makes me appreciate comics even more. I love how the book displays the history of making comics in 5 separate parts. THe book brings up lots of interesting facts about how comics are made. Showcasing the evolution of comics over the years, this book is perfect for all kinds of comics fans. I really enjoyed this book, and I hope you do too!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you're interested in learning how comics are made, this is a must-read! This book is packed with information on the history and behind-the-scenes process of how comics have been created over the years. It’s like a history book for comics lovers and would be a fantastic resource for kids who are interested in comics—or even as part of a homeschool curriculum. With pictures, diagrams, and tons of detailed explanations, it's an amazing guide for anyone curious about what goes into making comics.

My thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an advance copy of this book that looks at the history of comic strips, and how the ideas of their creators were translated to the page, and to their numerous fans.

My father grew up reading the funnies in the paper and he passed that love to my brother and myself. We used to spend most of our weekends in the Bronx visiting our grandparents and my father would always stop and get the early editions of the Sunday paper when he could. The Daily News had the coolest pullout full color strips that have been lost to time, remembered by speciality publishers and well nerds like myself. The smell, the unique color of the strips. I loved them so. There have been numerous books on newspaper comic strips, from paperback collections to prestige hardcovers and immense reference books, many of which I have. Few however get into the part that is most important, how did those strips make it onto the paper. Not magic as one thought, but with a lot of work, a lot of mechanical know-how and science. And for all that my childhood thanks those who did this. For after reading this book, I know how hard it was. How Comics Are Made: A Visual History from the Drawing Board to the Printed Page by Glenn Fleishman is a look at the work, the technical skills needed to translate what a cartoonist drew on his board, into papers all over the country.

This is not a history of comic strips, more a how the sausage is made book about how sequential art, photographs and more were printed in newspapers. The book begins in the past, with a showing of a work of Chinese art that looks like a comic strip as printed on silk. From there we move forward to just before the 20th century and the story of the Yellow Kid, the first real comic strip, and one that caused a minor war between rival publishers. The book goes into how the mechanics of the strip were printed, as well as how this changed newspapers. The addition of photos, and colors and more are shown. As well as popular strip the book looks at how the printing process changed, that syndicates could be started, syndicates that could market the same strips all over the country. The book is lavishly illustrated with examples from the time, classic strips and more.

A very good study of a subject that up to know I had taken for granted. I knew there were strips in newspapers, and in collections, but not the amount of time and effort it takes to make them available. One really follows the history of newspapers, from a trusted source that was read by millions, to the sad decline that has happened to much of media, some self-inflicted, some brought on by social media and their many failed promises. The book is well-written and and clear to follow. There are some things that might need a second reading or two, but as many of us find changing the clocks difficult to do when the seasons changes, this is understandable. I book I really enjoyed and one that should be on many shelves for people who love comic strips and their rich history.

This brought me a lot of unexpected joy. This is a history of newspaper comics framed by the mechanical processes that allowed for them to grow into a phenomenon, how printing them worked and was integrated into the papers becomes a de facto history of newspaper printing from the late 19th century to today.

It delves incredibly deep, how the methods for printing, the limitations of those processes, and the success and eventual decline of newspaper comics all shaped the medium, and influenced how we perceive comics and cartooning.

This book tells the story of comics, starting in the 1890s with The Yellow Kid and continuing until now. It is divided into 5 timeframes reflecting technological developments, including reproductions of the comics mentioned.
It was an interesting and informative read. The included images clarified the concepts discussed in the book, and it was fascinating to learn what comic artist themself had to say.
Thank you, Andrews McMeel Publishing, for providing me with this book to review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.