I’m off to the library to see what they have from this list. I checked e-bay and half.com, but found none of them there, though I did find one called, The Classic Era of the American Comics by Nicky Wright, and bid on it.
For books, always start with bookfinder.com. It’s a meta-search site that combines the results of 30 or more online book search sites. It will find a dozen or more copies of each title, guaranteed.
A good general history of comics Comic Book Nation by Bradford Wright, particularly if you’re interested in the non-creative side of the business.
I accidentally bought a book on the history of EC Comics a while back. While I don’t have it now - I returned it mostly unread - it was interesting even to someone who wasn’t interested. I can’t recall the name of it, but it’s the official work on the subject.
Bah. The library had a third of a shelf about comic books (six total, three of which I have already), and included none of the books listed here. There was one about the great comic book artists, and it had some interesting essays at the front, but I was able to read those at the library in about 20 minutes. The rest was just a bibliography and sample of the 150 artists, so it did little for me.
The online used book stores all want between $20 and $30 per book for used copies, and the new retailers mostly report them out of print. Since I have only enough extra cash right now for one book at those prices, I’m going to get Comic Book Nation.
Thanks for all of the suggestions, I’m going to try the used bookstores next.