The He-Man Effect: How American Toymakers Sold You Your Childhood

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
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: First Second
Published: 07/11/2023
Pages: 272
Weight: 1.3lbs
Size: 8.60h x 6.20w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9781250261403


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

About the Author
Brian "Box" Brown is an Eisner Award-winning author whose comics have appeared in the New York Times, Playboy, and New York magazine. His books include the New York Times-bestselling Andre the Giant: Life and Legend, Tetris: The Games People Play, Is This Guy for Real?: The Unbelievable Andy Kaufman, Cannabis: The Illegalization of Weed in America, Child Star, and Accidental Czar (with writer Andrew S. Weiss). boxbrown.com