Want to get schooled in comic book history, but not bored to tears? Look no further than Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey’s series Comic Book Comics, which teaches historically accurate lessons about the graphic format – but, you know: fun. To celebrate the release of the fifth, “All Lawsuit!” issue of the book, which illustrates (literally) events ranging from the Marvelman controversy, to the legal flap between Siegel & Shuster and DC Comics over Superman, Midtown Comics welcomed the Author/Illustrator duo for an extended chat and signing, and we were on the scene! I’m Scoops McGee, and… Okay, never mind, here’s what happened:

The majority of the event was taken up with Van Lente and Dunlavey reading a story each from the issue. Van Lente read first story in book, “Grabbers,” which is all about DC’s copyright battle with Siegel and Shuster, and Marvel’s battles with Steve Ditko – among others. One of the highlights of the issue, the literate and reader-friendly breakdown of just what “work-for-hire” means in the comics business is a great argument for why it’s necessary that Comic Book Comics exists. Van Lente read the story along with a PowerPoint presentation of the panels, peppering the reading with asides to the audience, and voices for the characters ranging from Ziggy, to a slightly hip-hop Darkseid.

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Tags Comic Book Comics, Fred Van Lente, Midtown Comics, Ryan Dunlavey