From our multiplexes, where Marvel and DC movies reign supreme, to our television screens, where comics-based shows like "The Walking Dead" have become among the most popular in cable history, to convention halls and bestseller lists, comics shape American culture, in ways high and low, superficial and deeply profound. In AMERICAN COMICS, Columbia professor Jeremy Dauber takes readers through their incredible but little-known history. His story shows not only how comics have changed over the decades but how American politics and culture have changed them. Throughout, he describes the origins of beloved comics, champions neglected masterpieces, and argues that we can understand how America sees itself through whose stories comics tell.