The Rise and Reason of Comics and Graphic Literature: Critical Essays on the Form

by Joyce Goggin (Editor), Dan Hassler-Forest (Editor)

Overview

These 15 essays investigate comic books and graphic novels, beginning with the early development of these media. The essays also place the work in a cultural context, addressing theory and terminology, adaptations of comic books, the superhero genre, and comic books and graphic novels that deal with history and nonfiction. By addressing the topic from a wide range of perspectives, the book offers readers a nuanced and comprehensive picture of current scholarship in the subject area.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786442942
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	09/23/2010
Pages:	244
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Joyce Goggin teaches literature, film and new media at the University of Amsterdam, where she is currently the acting chair of the English literature. Dan Hassler-Forest is an assistant professor of Media and Cultural Studies at Utrecht University. He has published books and articles on superhero movies, comics, transmedia storytelling, adaptation studies, critical theory and zombies.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction
Joyce Goggin and Dan Hassler-Forest     

Part One. Origin Stories: History and Development of the Genre
1. Of Gutters and Guttersnipes: Hogarth’s Legacy
Joyce Goggin     
2. Ridiculous Rebellion: George L. Carlson and the Recovery of Jingle Jangle Comics
Daniel F. Yezbick     
3. Suspended in Mid-Month: Serialized Storytelling in Comics
Daniel Wüllner     

Part Two. What We Talk About When We Talk About Comics: Theory and Terminology
4 Balloonics: The Visuals of Balloons in Comics
Charles Forceville, Tony Veale, and Kurt Feyaerts     
5. Remediation and the Sense of Time in Graphic Narratives
Kai Mikkonen     
6. Brick by Brick: Chris Ware’s Architecture of the Page
Angela Szczepaniak     

Part Three. Out of the Gutter: Comics and Adaptations
7. It Was the Best of Two Worlds, It Was the Worst of Two Worlds: The Adaptation of Novels in Comics and Graphic Novels
Dirk Vanderbeke     
8. The 300 Controversy: A Case Study in the Politics of Adaptation
Dan Hassler-Forest     

Part Four. Men in Tights: The Superhero Paradigm
9. The Last Action Hero’s Swan Song: Graphic Novelty or Never-Ending Story?
Andreas Rauscher     
10. Extraordinary People: The Superhero Genre and Celebrity Culture in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Jonathan E. Goldman     
11. Warren Ellis’s Planetary: The Archaeology of Superheroes
Karin Kukkonen     

Part Five. Drawing History: Nonfiction in Comics
12. Reconsidering Comics Journalism: Information and Experience in Joe Sacco’s Palestine
Benjamin Woo     
13. Comics, Trauma and Cultural Memory(ies) of 9/11
Christophe Dony and Caroline van Linthout     
14. “Be vewy, vewy quiet. We’re hunting wippers”: A Barthesian Analysis of the Construction of Fact and Fiction in Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s From Hell
Julia Round     
15. Graphic Black Nationalism: Visualizing Political Narratives in the Graphic Novel
James Braxton Peterson     

About the Contributors     
Works Cited     
Index