Search results

How can comics storytelling stay exciting and innovative? How can genres be kept alive? And what makes a successful comics creator? These are the questions writers and artists working in the highly competitive US comics mainstream have always had to ask. But they were especially pressing in the 1980s. As comics readers grew older, they started to call for more sophisticated stories. They were also no longer just following the adventures of popular characters-writers and artists with an immediate...

Contributions by Joshua T. Anderson, Chad A. Barbour, Susan Bernardin, Mike Borkent, Jeremy M. Carnes, Philip Cass, Jordan Clapper, James J. Donahue, Dennin Ellis, Jessica Fontaine, Jonathan Ford, Lee Francis IV, Enrique Garcia, Javier Garcia Liendo, Brenna Clarke Gray, Brian Montes, Arij Ouweneel, Kevin Patrick, Candida Rifkind, Jessica Rutherford, and Jorge Santos Cultural works by and about Indigenous identities, histories, and experiences circulate far and wide. However, not all films, anima...

Toys—a celebrated part of childhood and key figures in children’s imaginative play—have a fantastic history of heroism in print and on film. From the bears that safe guard the sleep of children to the plastic soldiers fighting alongside cowboy dolls as they lay siege to a block castle, toys are the heroes of the stories children inspire authors to tell. In this repository of original essays, literary scholars from around the globe examine the roles toys play as protectors of the child they lov...

Canadian Graphic: Picturing Life Narratives presents critical essays on contemporary Canadian cartoonists working in graphic life narrative, from confession to memoir to biography. The contributors draw on literary theory, visual studies, and cultural history to show how Canadian cartoonists have become so prominent in the international market for comic books based on real-life experiences. The essays explore the visual styles and storytelling techniques of Canadian cartoonists, as well as their...

A great deal of scholarship has focused on Joss Whedon's television and film work, which includes Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, The Cabin in the Woods and The Avengers. But Whedon's work in the world of comics has largely been ignored. He created his own dystopian heroine, Fray, assembled the goofy fannish heroes of Sugarshock, and wrote arcs for Marvel's Astonishing X-Men and Runaways. Along with The Avengers, Whedon's contributions to the Marvel Cinemati...

Iron Man! Thor! The Hulk! Wasp! Ant-Man! These five iconic characters made their debut as the first incarnation of the most exciting super-team ever assembled in September 1963, in The Avengers No. 1. From Captain America to Black Panther to Beast and Mockingbird and She-Hulk, they gained and lost members, added former super villains to the team, and fought every threat imaginable—each one bigger than the last. From the West Coast to the Secret teams (not to mention the Dark and Young and Might...

Superheroes have been an integral part of popular society for decades. Over time, superheroes have developed their own mythology. Though scholars and fans have recognized and commented on this myth, the structure of the mythology has gone largely unexplored until now. The lexicon at the heart of this book gives a structure that can be used to identify the mythology as it applies to characters, stories, and other forms of narrative. The lexicon is the first effort to codify the mythology and how...

Multicultural Comics: From Zap to Blue Beetle is the first comprehensive look at comic books by and about race and ethnicity. The thirteen essays tease out for the general reader the nuances of how such multicultural comics skillfully combine visual and verbal elements to tell richly compelling stories that gravitate around issues of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality within and outside the U.S. comic book industry. Among the explorations of mainstream and independent comic books are discuss...

You've enjoyed the Universal Pictures movie and read the graphic novel - now you can admire a great selection of art and photographs from "Wanted"! This eye-catching collection contains art from the comic, stills and production designs from the movie, images from the video game, and more!

In this comprehensive textbook, editors Matthew J. Brown, Randy Duncan, and Matthew J. Smith offer students a deeper understanding of the artistic and cultural significance of comic books and graphic novels by introducing key theories and critical methods for analyzing comics. Each chapter explains and then demonstrates a critical method or approach, which students can then apply to interrogate and critique the meanings and forms of comic books, graphic novels, and other sequential art. Contri...

With a comics career dating back to 1941, including inking early issues of Captain America, Al Plastino was one of the last surviving penciler/inkers of his era. Laboring uncredited on Superman for two decades (1948-1968), he co-created Supergirl, Brainiac, and the Legion of Super-Heroes, drawing those characters’ first appearances, and illustrating the initial comics story to feature Kryptonite. He was called upon to help maintain the DC Comics house-style by redrawing other artists’ Superman h...

Contributions by Michelle Ann Abate, Leah Anderst, Alissa S. Bourbonnais, Tyler Bradway, Natalja Chestopalova, Margaret Galvan, Judith Kegan Gardiner, Katie Hogan, Jonathan M. Hollister, Yetta Howard, Katherine Kelp-Stebbins, Don L. Latham, Vanessa Lauber, Katherine Parker-Hay, Anne N. Thalheimer, Janine Utell, and Susan R. Van Dyne. Alison Bechdel is both a driver and beneficiary of the welcoming of comics into the mainstream. Indeed, the seemingly simple binary of outside/inside seems perpetua...