SUPERMAN: The Complete History
By Les Daniels
Chronicle, 192 pages, $29.95
This detailed and greatly entertaining “life story” of the Man of Steel begins with the circumstances and influences that eventually led young writer Jerry Siegel and young artist Joe Shuster to create Superman, who debuted in Action Comics No. 1 in June 1938. From there, “Superman: The Complete History” engagingly traces the evolution of the comic-book character and recalls the newspaper comic strip, movie cartoons and movie serial that appeared by 1948, the TV series that started in 1953, and the artists, editors and publishing factors that affected the presentation of Superman over the years.
Also covered are the caped superhero’s enemies, the “Superman” movies, the creation of Superboy and Supergirl comic books and the “Lois & Clark” TV series. The book’s lively, inventive layout, by designer Chip Kidd, incorporates photos of Superman collectibles, movie and TV stills, plenty of comic-book cover art and color reprints of stories from Superman comics.
ALL GONE: Things That Aren’t There Anymore
By David Seidman
General Publishing Group, 189 pages, $17.95 paper
Iceboxes, Nehru jackets and the shame of divorce are just a few of the once-common items recalled here that have pretty much disappeared from the American landscape (or in some cases migrated to attics and collectibles shops). Others on this vanished-species list include rumble seats, TV test patterns, Billy Beer, panty raids, HUAC, Burma-Shave signs and movie-theater newsreels–all given either brief mentions or six- or seven-paragraph entries in this enjoyable cavalcade of reminiscences about bygone objects, pastimes and phenomena.
ELVIS PRESLEY 1956
Photographs by Marvin Israel, edited and designed by Martin Harrison
Abrams, 94 pages, $17.95
If it’s the holiday season, there’s sure to be a Santa in the mall and at least one new Elvis book in stores. This volume offers black-and-white photos of Presley, his band members, fans and parents shot in 1956 by Marvin Israel, a graphic designer and photographer who was art director for Seventeen magazine in the mid-’50s.
The shots were taken at two Presley concerts in Dayton, Ohio; at the opening of the Presley movie “Love Me Tender” in New York City; and at Presley’s parents’ home in Memphis.
While there are some evocative images among Israel’s shots and the Presley faithful will want the book, a far more involving look at Elvis during the same time period was provided in photographer Alfred Wertheimer’s 1979 effort, “Elvis ’56: In the Beginning.”
CLASSIC MOTORCYCLES: Harley-Davidson
By Hugo Wilson
DK Publishing, 44 pages, $8.95
This pocket-size tome presents a mini-gallery of models made by Milwaukee’s Harley-Davidson company, from an early 1900s “Silent Gray Fellow” to the 1997 FLHR Road King. You won’t learn much here about the company or become an expert on its bikes, but the book’s open, attractive layouts featuring great-looking machines make it a good stocking (or saddlebag) stuffer for any easy riders on your holiday gift list. DK has similar books devoted to BMW, Triumph and Honda cycles.
READ MY LIPS: A Cultural History of Lipstick
By Meg Cohen Ragas and Karen Kozlowski
Chronicle, 120 pages, $14.95
With material on the sales and marketing history of lipstick, the psychological effects for women of wearing lipstick, and lipstick in art, film and song, “Read My Lips” offers a diverting, popular history of lip painting.
Illustrated with vintage ads and magazine covers and photos old and new, the book is interesting when presenting facts (who knew there’s a metallic-silver lipstick called Trailer Trash?) but tends to become a bit enthusiastic when delving into the cultural and psychological import of lipstick (“Unlike any other cosmetic,” the authors aver, “lipstick gives the gift of resurrection”).
