In the 400+ pages of Manga's First Century, author Andrea Horbinski delivers an in-depth history of of manga that works to "counter essentialist myths" and focus on the actual documented history of the form as it emerged in Japan during the 20th century. 

PLEASE NOTE:  This is an academic work that is written for those who want to learn the nitty gritty details, and as such it is only very sparsely illustrated.  

Here's the publisher description:

> 2026 Eisner Award Nominee—Best Academic/Scholarly Work <

A comprehensive English-language history of a beloved medium, Manga’s First Century tells the story of the artists and fans who built a cultural juggernaut. Manga is the world’s most popular style of comics. How did manga and anime—“moving manga”—become ubiquitous? Manga’s First Century delves into the history and finds surprising answers. In fact, manga has always been a global phenomenon. Countering essentialist myths of manga’s emergence from the deepest wells of Japanese art, author Andrea Horbinski shows it was born in the early 1900s, a hybrid form that crossed single-panel satirical cartoons popular in Europe and America with the Edo period’s artistic legacy. As a medium, manga initially focused on political commentary, expanding to include social satire, children’s comics, and proletarian art in the 1920s and 1930s. Manga’s evolution into a medium embracing complex, long-form storytelling was likewise driven by creators and fans pushing publishers to accept new, radical expansions in manga’s artistic and narrative practices. In the 1970s, innovative creators and fans empowered a new breed of fan-generated comics (dojinshi) and established robust audiences of adult, female, and queer manga readers, while nurturing generations of amateur and professional creators who continue to enrich and renew manga today.

And here's the table of contents to give you an idea of what to expect:

Table of Contents
Contents

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Note on Names, Styles, and Terms

Introduction

Part One: Origins, 1905–1928
Overview: Manga Against Tradition
1. The Origins of Japanese Comics
2. Arresting the Fleeting Moment: Manga Turns Modern
Conclusion: 1928

Part Two: Manga During Wartime, 1928–1945
Overview: Manga During Wartime
3. Norakuro and Friends
4. The Manga Men
Conclusion: Eating Vegetables, Rereading Manga

Part Three: Manga in the Postwar Era, 1945–1963
Overview: Nowhere to Go but Up
5. The Manga Pulps and the God of Manga
6. Manga for Whom? Kashihonya, Gekiga, and the "Ban Bad Books Movement"
Conclusion: Postwar Platforms

Part Four: TV Manga and the Age of Revolution, 1963–1975
Overview: Shambling Toward the Postmodern
7. Seeking Alternatives: Garo, COM, and Manga Fan Culture
8. The Emergence of Seinen Manga and the Shojo Revolution
Conclusion: Tankobon: The Meaning of a Format

Part Five: Manga Turns Postmodern, 1975–1989
Overview: Applauding the DJ
9. Something Postmodern Going On
10. Lost in Wonderland
Conclusion: Still Preoccupied with 1989

Conclusion: A Distinctive History

Note on Sources
Glossary
Notes
Bibliography
Index