Books

9 Books Celebrating Comic Creators for #NationalComicBookDay

Kirsten W. Larson

It’s National Comic Book Day! Today we celebrate comic books and all the writers and artists, who create them.

According to the National Day Calendar, the first hardcover comic book was The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck, which was published in 1842. The first modern-day comic book didn’t appear until 1933, Famous Funnies, a reprint of several comic strips. Of course, comic books really came into their own during World War II, with superheroes like Superman, Batman, and my favorite, Wonder Woman. To learn more about the history of comic books, check out this post from Book Riot.

Today, I’m celebrating National Comic Book Day with a nine books highlighting the accomplishments of comic book creators.

Picture Books

A True Wonder Book Cover

A TRUE WONDER: The Comic Book Hero Who Changed Everything by Kirsten W. Larson, illustrated by Katy Wu

With Great Power Book

WITH GREAT POWER: The Marvelous Stan Lee by Annie Hunter Eriksen, illustrated by Lee Gatlin

Boys of Steel Book Cover

BOYS OF STEEL: The Creators of Superman by Marc Tyler Nobleman, illustrated by Ross Macdonald

Bill: The Boy Wonder cover

BILL: The Boy Wonder by Marc Tyler Nobleman, illustrated by Ty Templeton

Jack Kirby book cover

JACK KIRBY: Creator & Artist by Sue Hamilton

Independent Readers

The Story of Stan Lee cover

THE STORY OF STAN LEE: A Biography for New Readers by Frank J. Berrios

Who Was Stan Lee? cover

WHO WAS STAN LEE? by Geoff Edgers

What Is the Story of Batman? cover

WHAT IS THE STORY OF BATMAN? by Michael Burgan

What is the Story of Wonder Woman? cover

WHAT IS THE STORY OF WONDER WOMAN? by Steve Korte

Published by Kirsten W. Larson

Kirsten W. Larson used to work with rocket scientists at NASA. Now she writes picture books and graphic novels for curious kids -- and grown ups too. She's the author of the craft book, REIMAGINING YOUR NONFICTION PICTURE BOOK: A step-by-step revision guide (Both/And) and the picture books, WOOD, WIRE, WINGS: Emma Lilian Todd Invents an Airplane, illustrated by Tracy Subisak (Calkins Creek, 2020), A TRUE WONDER: The Comic Book Her Who Changed Everything, illustrated by Katy Wu (Clarion, 2021); and the Orbis Pictus honor winning THE FIRE OF STARS: The Life and Brilliance of the Woman Who Discovered What Stars are Made of, illustrated by Katherine Roy (Chronicle, 2023). Her forthcoming books include THIS IS HOW YOU KNOW, illustrated by Cornelia Li (Little, Brown, 2025) and THE LIGHT OF RESISTANCE, illustrated by Barbara McClintock (Roaring Brook, 2025). Find her at kirstenwlarson.com or on Twitter/Instagram @KirstenWLarson.

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