AMERICAN DAREDEVIL: COMICS, COMMUNISM, AND THE BATTLEs OF LEV GLEASON
-2021 EISNER AWARD NOMINEE-
Brett Dakin, Gleason’s great-nephew, opens up the family archives—and the files of the FBI—to take you on a journey through the publisher’s life and career. In American Daredevil, you’ll learn the truth about Gleason’s rapid rise to the top of comics, unapologetic progressive activism, and sudden fall from grace.
PRAISE FOR AMERICAN DAREDEVIL
“[AMERICAN DAREDEVIL] PULLS LEV GLEASON OUT OF THE SHADOWS OF HISTORY AND PLACES HIM IN THE WELL-DESERVED SPOTLIGHT AS ONE OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS OF THE COMIC BOOK INDUSTRY.”
— MICHAEL USLAN, COMIC BOOK HISTORIAN AND PRODUCER, JOKER, THE SPIRIT, JUSTICE LEAGUE, AND THE BATMAN FILMS
“COMIC BOOKS TELL LEGENDS OF HEROES THAT STAND UP AND DO THE RIGHT THING. LEV GLEASON WAS NOT ONLY AN EARLY PUBLISHER OF THESE STORIES, HE WAS A SUPERHERO IN HIS OWN RIGHT. HIS STORY DESERVES TO BE TOLD, AND DAKIN DOES SO HERE IN AN INFORMATIVE, ENTERTAINING MANNER.”
— ANTHONY DEL COL, WRITER, LUKE CAGE, KILL SHAKESPEARE, AND SON OF HITLER
“AMERICAN DAREDEVIL PROVIDES A FRESH PERSPECTIVE ON THE HISTORY OF COMICS, AND AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIONEERS OF THE AMERICAN COMIC BOOK INDUSTRY. […] AT A TIME WHEN FASCISM NO LONGER SEEMS CONTAINED WITHIN THE PAGES OF HISTORY TEXTBOOKS, WE CAN TAKE SOME INSPIRATION FROM GLEASON, WHOSE ANTI-FASCIST ACTIVISM WAS NOT CONFINED TO HIS COMICS.”
— LEONARD RIFAS, COMIC BOOK ARTIST, HISTORIAN, TEACHER, AND AUTHOR, KOREAN WAR COMIC BOOKS
IMMERSE YOURSELF IN THE WORLD OF LEV GLEASON WITH THIS CURATED PLAYLIST.
“One of the great joys of writing about Uncle Lev was discovering the music that was popular at different points during his lifetime--an incredible range of styles, as he was born on the cusp of the twentieth century and lived for 73 years. This playlist includes U.S. hits spanning from Over There (1917), when Lev was fighting in France, to John Lennon's Imagine (1971), released the year Lev died. A fighter for progressive change throughout his life, Lev remained hopeful until the end.”
–Brett Dakin