WHAT I LIKED
I have not read graphic nonfiction for adults before, but I love this format and hope to read more like it. The closest book I can think of is How to Fake a Moon Landing, which is YA and not one I really loved, TBH.

The He-Man Effect starts out describing a brief history of government propaganda and how it accelerated with WWI and WWII. This stuff just makes me so mad to hear about, and I’m even more irritated that it works as well as it does.

I’ve lived outside the US since 2014, so it’s quite easy for me to tune out US media and the propaganda that goes with it. But I’d be naive to think that I’m totally immune to it. I may not be as exposed to it as I would be if I still lived in the US, but it definitely still trickles down to me through the social media I use, the books I read, and the movies I watch. This manipulation of people’s thoughts is just plain wrong, and I truly hate that it’s so pervasive in today’s media.

Anyhoo, while the propaganda stuff made me mad, I loved the 80s cartoon sections! Apparently, my beloved 80s cartoons were created to sell action figures. How sad to learn that!

My sister and I loved watching He-Man, but I don’t remember either of us ever wanting any He-Man action figures. It made me wonder if, as girls, we weren’t really the market the ads were targeting. Or maybe our parents were just not going to buy this stuff for us, and we didn’t ask because the answer was always a big fat “NO, because I said so.” Christmas at our house was always games and puzzles and books and clothes. We did get one (and only one) new Barbie each at Christmas. For the most part, heavily-marketed children’s toys were considered “junk” in our house. Kudos to my Mom and Dad for being right about that!

There were several references to a show called The Toys That Made Us. I need to watch that because it sounds like more about this interesting topic. It’s unreal how well cartoons-as-marketing worked, even if I didn’t have any action figures. My friends and their siblings certainly did.

There are lots and lots of references in the backmatter. This was well-researched and will be interesting for any child of the 80s and 90s. All the nostalgia certainly brought back some memories!

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
I loved the whole book! I read it in one sitting and read several parts out loud to my husband, who is also an 80s kid (and who had loads of “collectible” action figures…hmm…).

DIVERSITY
Many of the people depicted are white males, but that’s who the real people in the story were. Non-specific children (many are male) are diverse in skin tone and hair texture.

There is mention that a lot of the marketing at this time targeted white males, age 6, from middle class families. I felt this because as much as my sister and I loved the He-Man cartoons we never had any desire for action figures. They were “for boys,” after all.

ARTWORK/ILLUSTRATIONS
All artwork is black and white pen-and-ink drawings. Lots of drawings of real people, including former US presidents, actors and actresses, film directors, political figures, and marketing executives. My favorite illustrations are of the many cartoons from the 1980s and 1990s.

THEMES
children’s television, marketing, history of propaganda, toys, 1980s, 1990s, nostalgia, cartoons

LIBRARIANS WILL WANT TO KNOW
Would adults like this book? YES, especially if they are age 40+

Would I buy this for my high school library? Maybe, but I’m not sure today’s high school students will understand many of the cartoon references. The propaganda history could be useful though.

Would I buy this for my middle school library? No. I don’t see middle schoolers really getting into this one unless there is some propaganda unit in a social studies class.

Would I buy this for my elementary school library? No.

MATURE CONTENT
Language: I think there was some profanity, but I don’t remember anything specifically. It wasn’t gratuitous.

Sexuality: very mild; some discussion of scantily-clad females and female seduction in G.I. Joe.

Violence: very mild; some references to 80s cartoon violence

Drugs/Alcohol: none

Other: no concerns

An excellent graphic novel about advertising, media and the toys we love. The major effects of media deregulation are still with us and unlikely to go away. At the same time, the toys and shows that came out of the 80s and early 90s are well loved and still inspiring new media adaptations today. The author demonstrates well the good and bad, how we all were manipulated as children leading us to the same effect as adults with disposable incomes. This is a new and unique subject for a graphic novel with the art enhancing the text and adding another layer to the stories being told.

This graphic novel told a really interesting story about the cartoons and toys that held such sway over us as children (and to this day as adults), and how and why this was done purposely by companies to make money and control capitalist markets. I liked how this was told as a graphic novel.

Brown's look at the power of propaganda on the hearts and minds of impressionable young children left me wondering how deeply we have all been affected by the things we grew up loving.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a review e-copy.

The graphic novel, The He-Man Effect takes you along an epic journey of toy history with classic comic stip art found in newspapers. The author does well to weave other aspects of history - FCC, science of the importance of imaginative play, psychology of capitalism, etc. Along with character dialogue that is very straight forward that it is humorous.

There is a little bit of everything for different generations to find an appeal to, but I would say I could not find all of it enjoyable because my interest lied in the history of toys and cartoons during my generation, so I found myself skipping over anything earlier.

I would say this is a wonderful graphic novel reference book and does well to touch on nostalgic elements. I would recommend this title to those itching to understand the impact toys had during their generation,

I’m a 90s baby and I enjoyed this so much. I didn’t watch “The Toys That Made Us” so I am not sure how it compares to that. I learned a lot of new information in an engaging way... I have to get a copy for my classroom as well!

Thanks NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an eARC of this book! All opinions are my own.

This was an eye opener. While a lot of the content was explored in the awesome Netflix show “The Toys That Made Us”, it is laid out here in an elegant and concise way divided up by time period and cause and effect, not by brand. The two consumed together are synergistic and help to paint a very clear picture of the ends to which advertisers would go to influence my childhood and that of every other person my age. Late gen x and the elder millennials are perhaps the most nostalgic people I’ve ever met, and I’m not discounting myself from that group. But to know that planning was taking place behind the scenes to force nostalgia? To create a world where entertainment and advertising are not separable? To sell my brain and my history to the lowest bidder? That doesn’t sit right. I feel used. And to know that all of this, again, goes back to Reagan reasserts for me that living my entire life in a post-Reagan, neoconservative America is the worst possible timeline. Our world would be monumentally different and better without his meddling, discrimination, and deregulation.

A really illuminating and entertaining read - filled with lots of facts you want to share with others. The book wrestles with the ethics of advertising to children, and ultimately the ethics of entertainment monopolisation (i.e. with Disney).

As someone who is not a Star Wars, He-Man, Transformers or GI Joe fan in any way, a lot of this was new information for me. Box Brown really makes wonderful non-fiction comics, I would read work on any subject by him.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

This is fascinating! I love it when a graphic novel uses it's format to inform, and entertain at the same time. It was especially interesting how war, propaganda and advertising played such a huge role in our childhood memories. A fascinating (and a little terrifying!) slice of history.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel, this is a topic that I’ve found super interesting since A level psychology. Especially now with a child of my own, it was definitely heavier than I expected but so informative. The author broke this down so I had no trouble understanding anything. I will definitely be looking for more from the author in the future.

<b>Actual rating: 3.5 stars</b>

Box Brown tells us about how toys and media companies associated to market to kids. This book was interesting, but sadly (for me) a lot of the facts presented in it I already knew about after watching the docuseries The Toys That Made Us. That being said, if the topic interest you (and you haven't seen the mentioned show) I think it's well told in the graphic novel format.

It's easy and pleasant to read and the info is well presented. The art style is what you'd expect from Box Brown: clean and simple, so no surprise there. Overall I'd recommend the book with the condition previously mentioned to not have seen the docuseries or it might be redundant.

A smart, sardonic look at how generations have had their imaginations and childhoods shaped and changed by advertising executives, complete with pictures to make the learning go down easier. Nostalgia is a trap, and this might set us free.

Thank you to NetGalley and First Second books for a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
I found this to be an entertaining read. A lot of the content was a rehash of things I had learned from "The Toys that Made Us" on Netflix, but the graphic novel format gave the same information in a new format, which I enjoyed. I'm not sure that the argument the author was trying to make here comes through throughout the book - it seemed like more of an afterthought in the reading.

Really interesting nonfiction graphic novel about toy companies, action figures and the power of nostalgia. In the 80s basically all children's TV shows like He-Man were long commercials for the action figures. This was very interesting to learn about.

The premise of this book is not a surprise to anyone who grew up in the late 70s to early 90s. That children's television producers were actively marketing toys to kids during programming should be no surprise to the kids who watched the shows, or to the parents who passed through the room now and then. Even though I was within the age bracket to be affected by this, I found this book largely unimpressive. Maybe it was because the book focused most of its energy on TV shows marketed almost exclusively to boys: GI Joe, He-Man, Transformers, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Although She-Ra was mentioned, no one I knew was interested in it. I think the message would have been more effective if the book had isolated one property, say Star Wars or Disney animation, and followed that exclusively. The artwork was enough--not particularly compelling, but sufficient to get the idea across.

I love learning about history from Brian Brown. It well researched, Thought provoking and great art. I loved it from start to finish. I have been telling people all week that they would love this and to be on the lookout for it. So so so good.

Box Brown always shares intriguing work. The He-Man Effect is fascinating to me as a comics and film fan, child of the 1980s and 1990s, and observer of culture now. It’s well-researched and thought-provoking; what is more, this book made me rethink some of the ways I grew up and grew to value particular brands. Recommended reading!

This was a really digestible read on an interesting topic. It gave me flashbacks to an advertising literacy course I took in university. There is a lot to unpack about nostalgia, pop-culture, and how corporations and brands use these tactics starting at a really young age. I grew up in the teeth of this era, so it's an interesting look back on a topic that's still very much relevant, because a lot of people in my age range have franchise/ brand loyalty, Sounds like that was the idea from the beginning.

Really loved this! I think Brown does such a good job at breaking down complex topics into bite size brain treats for readers. The only problem is that I inhaled this book and need to re-read it again to put more thought into it.

This was a very informative and interesting graphic novel that really delved into media culture in the United States and the marketing of products and ideas that built on nostalgia. While I enjoyed this, I didn't always agree with the author's political analogies or the way he presented some of the facts. Some of the origins of the toys and products for companies such as Disney and IP such as Star Wars left out facts that I wish had been included.