From the publisher:

In their first five decades, the funnies became an essential part of American life. Comic strip characters - Mutt and Jeff, Barny Google, Little Orphan Annie, Popeye, Blondie, Dick Tracy, Flash Gordon, Li'l Abner - were everywhere. They starred in live-action and animated films, stage plays, and radio programs, and they helped market a wide range of products. Their phrases enriched the language; their adventures, which reflected societal changes, were retold in books and inspired hit songs.

Cartoonist and historian Brian Walker's comprehensive survey - illustrated with rare original art - is the most authoritative history of American newspaper comics currently in print. It documents the fascinating origins of the comics and, decade by decade, the major trends in the funnies business. In-depth biographies of twenty-one of the most important creators of the era are featured, as well as samples of many other artists' work. The Comics Before 1945 joins the author's The Comics Since 1945 to form a classic survey of American popular culture by one of the greatest authorities in the field.

From Publishers Weekly:

Something of a prequel to Walker s already released The Comics Since 1945, this volume actually surpasses its companion 's considerable beauty and charm-- if only because early newspaper comics were so whimsical and imaginative. Gorgeously illustrated, the weighty coffee-table book is organized by decade, allowing it to broadly contextualize the strips into the historical periods that gave them life. There are also brief, page-long bios of their most notable creators, among them Richard Outcault (The Yellow Kid and Buster Brown), Frank King (Gasoline Alley), Cliff Sterrett (Polly and Her Pals), Harold Gray (Little Orphan Annie) and Chester Gould (Dick Tracy).

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