Reviews
"...students and the public as well as academics should be interested in and entertained by this scholarly treatment of a popular culture form."- Jack David Eller,, "Comic Book Crime is an important book devoted to a medium that has long been dismissed"- Popmatters ,, "Students and the public as well as academics should be interested in and entertained by this scholarly treatment of a popular culture form."-Jack David Eller, Anthropology Review Database, "Comic Book Crime is one of those rare books that is both academically respectable and accessible to the general reader…Phillips and Strobl have not only read more comics than you have, they have thought about them deeply, and related them to contemporary social concerns. Comic Book Crime is definitely worth reading, both for those interested in its subject, and as a model of how to approach thematic surveys of popular culture." -, American Studies, "Innovative, exciting, and truly interdisciplinary, Phillips and Strobl pen a wonderful book on the iconic cultural figures in contemporary American comic books. Phillips and Strobl use criminal justice, criminology, law, history, sociology, and related social sciences to argue that comic books and the characters that inhabit those spaces constitute a rather comprehensive understanding of crime and justice in America. Phillips and Strobl's book is made up of 10 succinct chapters, all edgy and creative. The book's most persuasive component may be the final substantive chapter in which Phillips and Strobl present the impact of this attention to crime fighting, which has led to astronomical numbers of Americans incarcerated. If readers were to only read one chapter of the book, it should be the final chapter....Comic Book Crime is an essential book for anyone interested in truth, justice, and the American way, but more importantly who defines those notions and how. Summing Up: Highly recommended."-A.R.S. Lorenz, CHOICE, "Phillips and Strobl provide a fascinating depiction of the type of crime-laden worlds these superheroes reside, the paths to justice for these superheroes, and the characteristics that comic books portray superheroes having." - Journal of American Culture, "Carrying ahead the project of cultural criminology, Phillips and Strobl dare to take seriously that which amuses and entertains us - and to find in it the most significant of themes. Audiences, images, ideologies of justice and injustice - all populate the pages of Comic Book Crime. The result is an analysis as colorful as a good comic, and as sharp as the point on a superhero's sword." Jeff Ferrell, author of Empire of Scrounge, "Philips and Strobl are criminologists, and they take a distinctly criminological approach to their examination of stories about law and order in comic books, but their book should appeal to all social science and humanities scholars with an interest in comics. The authors are also comic book insiders who volunteer to serve as patient mentors to those of us who are new to the genre, explaining key words like 'retcon,' and core processes like 'crossover event.' This is a very accessible guide for the comic book newcomer that is also mindful of 'fanboy' readers."- Men and Masculinities, "Carryingahead the project of cultural criminology, Phillips and Strobl dare to takeseriously that which amuses and entertains us--and to find in it the mostsignificant of themes. Audiences, images, ideologies of justice and injustice--allpopulate the pages of Comic Book Crime.The result is an analysis as colorful as a good comic, and as sharp as thepoint on a superhero's sword."-Jeff Ferrell,author of Empire of Scrounge, "Carrying ahead the project of cultural criminology, Phillips and Strobl dare to take seriously that which amuses and entertains us-and to find in it the most significant of themes. Audiences, images, ideologies of justice and injustice-all populate the pages ofComic Book Crime.The result is an analysis as colorful as a good comic, and as sharp as the point on a superhero's sword."-Jeff Ferrell,author ofEmpire of Scrounge, "Carrying ahead the project of cultural criminology, Phillips and Strobl dare to take seriously that which amuses and entertains us - and to find in it the most significant of themes. Audiences, images, ideologies of justice and injustice - all populate the pages of Comic Book Crime. The result is an analysis as colorful as a good comic, and as sharp as the point on a superhero's sword." Jeff Ferrell, author of Empire of Scrounge " Comic Book Crime is an important book devoted to a medium that has long been dismissed, despite its crossover appeal...For smart readers like us, Comic Book Crime is long overdue. It's a thrilling look at comics from a new perspective--and it's better than most superhero films."-- Popmatters.com, "Carryingahead the project of cultural criminology, Phillips and Strobl dare to takeseriously that which amuses and entertains us-and to find in it the mostsignificant of themes. Audiences, images, ideologies of justice and injustice-allpopulate the pages of Comic Book Crime.The result is an analysis as colorful as a good comic, and as sharp as thepoint on a superhero's sword."-Jeff Ferrell,author of Empire of Scrounge, "Carrying ahead the project of cultural criminology, Phillips and Strobl dare to take seriously that which amuses and entertains us-and to find in it the most significant of themes. Audiences, images, ideologies of justice and injustice-all populate the pages of Comic Book Crime. The result is an analysis as colorful as a good comic, and as sharp as the point on a superhero's sword." Jeff Ferrell, author of Empire of Scrounge, Another important and original contribution to cultural criminology and the study of popular culture more generally. Phillips' and Strobl's work lays out the primacy of crime, violence, hegemony, and retribution to American conceptualizations of mythic justice., "Another important and original contribution to cultural criminology and the study of popular culture more generally. Phillips' and Strobl's work lays out the primacy of crime, violence, hegemony, and retribution to American conceptualizations of mythic justice."-Michelle Brown,co-author of Criminology Goes to the Movies: Crime Theory and Popular Culture, "Carrying ahead the project of cultural criminology, Phillips and Strobl dare to take seriously that which amuses and entertains us-and to find in it the most significant of themes. Audiences, images, ideologies of justice and injustice-all populate the pages of Comic Book Crime. The result is an analysis as colorful as a good comic, and as sharp as the point on a superhero's sword."-Jeff Ferrell,author of Empire of Scrounge, Philips and Strobl are criminologists, and they take a distinctly criminological approach to their examination of stories about law and order in comic books, but their book should appeal to all social science and humanities scholars with an interest in comics. The authors are also comic book insiders who volunteer to serve as patient mentors to those of us who are new to the genre, explaining key words like & retcon, and core processes like & crossover event. This is a very accessible guide for the comic book newcomer that is also mindful of & fanboy readers., Carrying ahead the project of cultural criminology, Phillips and Strobl dare to take seriously that which amuses and entertains usand to find in it the most significant of themes. Audiences, images, ideologies of justice and injusticeall populate the pages of Comic Book Crime. The result is an analysis as colorful as a good comic, and as sharp as the point on a superheros sword., Innovative, exciting, and truly interdisciplinary, Phillips and Strobl pen a wonderful book on the iconic cultural figures in contemporary American comic books. Phillips and Strobl use criminal justice, criminology, law, history, sociology, and related social sciences to argue that comic books and the characters that inhabit those spaces constitute a rather comprehensive understanding of crime and justice in America. Phillips and Strobl's book is made up of 10 succinct chapters, all edgy and creative. The book's most persuasive component may be the final substantive chapter in which Phillips and Strobl present the impact of this attention to crime fighting, which has led to astronomical numbers of Americans incarcerated. If readers were to only read one chapter of the book, it should be the final chapter....Comic Book Crimeis an essential book for anyone interested in truth, justice, and the American way, but more importantly who defines those notions and how.Summing Up: Highly recommended., "Comic Book Crime is one of those rare books that is both academically respectable and accessible to the general reader...Phillips and Strobl have not only read more comics than you have, they have thought about them deeply, and related them to contemporary social concerns. Comic Book Crime is definitely worth reading, both for those interested in its subject, and as a model of how to approach thematic surveys of popular culture." -, American Studies, "Comic Book Crime: Truth, Justice, and the American Way is an impressive study that investigates not only comic book culture but the conditions of fictional worlds where a different sense of justice is at work. So obviously the comics present an alternate American society; and the book also takes a look at the development of the American law system and its possible flaws, past and present corruption and other imperfections that called for fictional heroes such as Batman and Superman in the first place."- Pop Culture Shelf
