The He-Man Effect: How American Toymakers Sold You Your Childhood (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781250261403)

Brian "Box" Brown brings history and culture to life through his comics. In his new graphic novel, he unravels how marketing that targeted children in the 1980s has shaped adults in the present.

Powered by the advent of television and super-charged by the deregulation era of the 1980s, media companies and toy manufacturers joined forces to dominate the psyches of American children. But what are the consequences when a developing brain is saturated with the same kind of marketing bombardment found in Red Scare propaganda?

Brian "Box" Brown's The He-Man Effect shows how corporate manipulation brought muscular, accessory-stuffed action figures to dizzying heights in the 1980s and beyond. Bringing beloved brands like He-Man, Transformers, My Little Pony, and even Mickey Mouse himself into the spotlight, this graphic history exposes a world with no rules and no concern for results beyond profit.

Author: Brian Box Brown
ISBN-10: 1250261406
ISBN-13: 9781250261403
Publisher: First Second
Language: English
Published: 07/11/2023
Pages: 272
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.30lbs
Size: 8.60h x 6.20w x 1.10d

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 05/15/2023
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 07/01/2023 - Book Of Special Distinction
Publishers Weekly 07/03/2023
Booklist 07/01/2023 pg. 36
School Library Journal 12/02/2023 pg. 1