The Big Book of Urban Legends by Jan Harold Brunvand

Marvels & Tales, October, 2003 by Normie Salvador

Adapted by Robert Loren Fleming and Robert F. Boyd, Jr. New York: Paradox Press/DC Comics, 1994. 223 pp.

In the introduction and commentary to The Big Book of Urban Legends (BBUL), Jan Harold Brunvand wonders "is this the climax of my career as a folklorist--to see my collections of urban legends turned into comics?" (7). He continues, saying that his mentor, the late Professor Richard M. Dorson, would probably have approved as Dorson himself wrote an illustrated book, America in Legend. Magnanimous, Brunvand also observes that "comics are just another manifestation of the same popular culture that gives rise to many urban legends in the first place." Despite Brunvand's low estimation of comic books, BBUL should be of interest to folklorists and storytellers.

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