Course Proposal
for Spring 2007 (and beyond)
Comics in
Context: The Graphic Narrative
Course
Number 42.286
Susan Kirtley
and Bridget M. Marshall
The course will focus on texts that combine words and images to make meaning, including comics and graphic novels. History and theory of the genre, as well as a focus on critical reading and writing will be central to the course.
Comics, graphic novels, comic strips, cartoons. There are many terms for them, but they are all names for innovative story-telling done through some combination of words and images. While picture-images date as far back as the Egyptian tombs, or the caves of Lascaux, our course will consider the development of the modern comic in twentieth- and twenty-first- century America. Our readings will include not just comics, but also the history of comics, art and literary theory, a novel about comics, and articles that consider the legal, political, and social issues surrounding comics. We will also look at traditional and contemporary comic strips and graphic novels to explore what we can learn from them about American Popular Culture.
The academic study of comics is
on the rise, with many major literature conferences including at least one panel of papers on comic arts. The 2001 publication of Comic Book
Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America by Bradford Wright (published by Johns
Hopkins University Press) also indicates the importance of this growing
field. A growing list of academic
press books and dissertations also indicates a growing acceptance of the study
of comics in academia.
Comics are on
the cutting edge of contemporary literature, and there are many avenues to
pursue in the study of this narrative form. This course will include intensive reading and writing, and
will ask students to engage with demanding theoretical works, in addition to
incorporating a considerable amount of research. While the subject matter can be lighthearted, the course
takes these texts seriously, and asks for intellectual engagement with the
issues and concerns of culture depicted in these words and pictures.
1. Defining Comics and Comic
Autobiography. Students will need
to develop a working definition and talk about their own experience with and
relation to comics. Part of this
assignment will take the form of a comic itself, written and/or illustrated by
the student.
2. Biography of a comic artist. Students will research the life and
work of any comic artist (writer or artist); contemporary or historical. They will seek out a variety of sources
(traditional and online) as well as create a small portfolio of the artistÕs
work. This focused research
project will orient the students to the resources available, as well as begin
to hone writing skills. For each
comic chosen for inclusion in the portfolio, students will be asked to write a
brief explanation of the comic.
3. A short research project on a comic strip
or comic character pre-1980.
This will require work with archives, many of which are available online,
as well as engagement with history.
Students will need to connect the themes and motifs of the comic with
whatÕs happening historically.
They might look at the ways that comics draw attention to issues of
political and social concern, how they portray everyday or fantasy life of the
time, or how they spoof particular individuals or stereotypes.
4. A final project of the studentÕs
choosing, in most cases resulting in an 8 to 10 page paper with a focus on a
specific comic artist, comic movement, or period. Engagement with social issues (censorship, sexism, racism,
etc.) will be necessary. The paper
should also indicate familiarity with theoretical and technical terminology, as
well as a clear historical grounding in the subject matter.
Week 1:
Definitions: What are comics?
á
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (Scott McCloud): This is a chapter by chapter guide on how to read comics and the
history of comics, written in the form of a comic book
á
Collection
of strips including ÒThe PeanutsÓ (Charles Schultz), ÒThe Far SideÓ (Gary
Larsen), ÒCalvin and HobbesÓ (Bill Watterson), and strips brought in by
students from various sources.
á
The
Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Klay (Michael Chabon): 2001 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel tells
the story of two cousins brought together in the shadows of World War II,
parallels the beginnings of Action Comics and a timeline of the comic book
industry. We will also use
this novel as a point of comparison:
how does this novel, which has no pictures, tell its story compared to
the many comics that we will read in the course?
While Understanding
Comics provided a great
introduction to the history of the genre, these books will focus on particular
rises within comics, particularly the dynasty of Marvel comics and the rise of
underground comics. These are two
huge forces within comic books.
á
Marvels (Kurt Busiek & Alex Ross): This
comic book tells the history of the Marvel Universe over the past 50 years,
told through the lens of a human photojournalist without superpowers.
á
A
History of Underground Comics (Mark
Estren)
Superman is
perhaps the first character anyone thinks of when they think Òcomics.Ó WeÕll spend considerable time looking
at the legend of superman – his creation, his various incarnations in a
variety of media, and some of the larger concerns (sexism, racism) that arise
from the study of this and other comics.
á
Superman:
Archives Volume 1 (Jerry
Siegel and Joe Shuster): These are the first five comics featuring the now
mythic Superman.
á
Icon (Dwayne McDuffie): Comic book portraying
a black man, Augustus Freeman III with powers that rival those of Superman
á
ÒSuperman
and Japanese InternmentÓ
á
Screening: Superman in the movies (excerpts) and on
television in Lois & Clark
and Smallville
Not every
superhero works for good. These
books consider the darker side of heroism – what might be at stake when
we turn our attention to the dark side of human (and superhuman) nature?
á
The
Watchmen (Alan Moore and
Dave Gibbons)
á
Batman:
The Dark Knight Returns
(Frank Miller)
After dabbling
in heroes and dark heroes, we will turn to the more recent development of non-heroes
as the subject matter of comics.
What happens when the lead character has no super powers, dark or
otherwise? What happens when he
has a normal job and does normal things?
á
Our
Cancer Year (Harvey
Pekar, Joyce Brabner, and Frank Stack)
á
A
Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories (Will Eisner)
Screening: film American
Splendor
Since many comic
readers are young people, the focus on the everyday sometimes turns to
portrayals of teens, either by teens, or retrospectively by adults. WeÕll consider how teens are portrayed
and their reaction to these portrayals, as well as considering questions about
general comic book readership. In
addition to the comic books, weÕll read tracts that argue that comics are
dangerous for teens and young people.
á
Seduction
of the Innocent [from
1954] (Frederic Wertham)
á
Ghost
World by Daniel Clowes
á
Screening:
film Ghost World
We will consider
the ÒupscaleÓ comic of the graphic novel, which has become a major text in all
kind of literature courses over the past few years.
á
Maus I
& II (Art
Speigelman)
Comics have a
long history of engagement with politics.
We will look at early examples of ÒpropegandaÓ comics (made for WWII)
and more recent comics created as a means to protest U.S. engagement in
war. What can comics do in the
political realm? Are they an
effective means of protest?
á
Captain
America: The Classic Years
(1941) (Joe Simon & Jack Kirby)
á
Get Your
War On (David Rees)
Some Comics
focus more heavily on images, completely eliminating words, or having a bare
minimum of them. This unit will
consider how these comics differ from their worded brethren, how to categorize,
and what kinds of stories they tell.
Is there more room for interpretation here? Is this art?
á
Frank (Jim Woodring)
á
Acme
Novelty Comics (Chris
Ware)
á
"Rhetoric
of the Image" (Roland Barthes)
á
Molly Bang,
Picture This: How Pictures Work
(Molly Bang)
á
Iconology:
Image, Text, Ideology (W.J.T.
Mitchell)
á
Images by
Roy Lichtenstein
á
Lynda
Barry, One Hundred Demons
á
MarvelÕs Black
Panther
á
Aaron
McGruderÕs Boondocks
á
The New
Comics Anthology (ed. Bob
Callahan)
á
Manga!
Manga!; the world of Japanese comics (Frederik
Schodt)