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Preview
  • Comic Book Punks

  • How a Generation of Brits Reinvented Pop Culture
  • By: Karl Stock
  • Narrated by: Liam Gerrard
  • Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins
  • 5.0 out of 5 stars (4 ratings)

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Comic Book Punks

By: Karl Stock
Narrated by: Liam Gerrard
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Summary

The influence of the comic book has never been greater, from movies to streaming and beyond, but the journey comics took from little-regarded kids' magazines to literary prize-winning books and global franchises turned on a highly unusual group of writers and artists. Few would have expected a small gathering of British comic book fans and creators in the early 'seventies to be a global cultural pivot-point, but this was the start of a disparate movement of punks, dropouts, and disaffected youths who reinvented a medium and became the imaginative heart of a global success story.

Based on years of interviews with a generation of leading writers, artists, and editors, Karl Stock reveals the true story of the wild times, passion, and determination that helped, hindered, and saw the reinvention of comics.

Stock brilliantly tells the story of the triumphs and disasters that rewrote the rulebook on what comics could be and who they should be for.

©2023 Karl Stock (P)2023 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
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What listeners say about Comic Book Punks

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

The immense comic knowledge of the writing makes this a must read for all comics fans, not just Uk fans.

An amazingly detailed and interesting look at the UK comic writers influence on the medium. Full of fascinating facts on some of the best in the business. Informative, fun and a great read.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent book let down by narrator

This is a thoroughly researched and impressively expansive account of the history of the British comics industry in the second half of the 20th century. It is engagingly and accessibly written, while avoiding the hyperbole and speculation some pop culture histories are prone to. If there is a better book on the history of the British comics industry as whole- as opposed to a specific publisher, genre, or group of creators- I’m not aware of it. If you are interested in the subject at all, it is a must read/listen.

The narration, sadly, leaves a great deal to be desired. Despite the clear enunciation and pleasing tone of voice, I suspect the reader was using a manuscript with a lot of typos (at one point Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes’s DARE comic strip is referred to as “Dave”) and the performance is riddled with mispronunciations and inappropriate emphases- for example, the name of the historic comic shop “Dark They Were, and Golden Eyed” is consistently spoken as if it were two separate entities, and many other parts are similarly undermined by a reading the betrays a clear lack of understanding of the information being delivered. This is a real shame, given the quality of the book itself.

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