Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
France, The Second Comics Market
1.Antiquity and Bandes Dessinées: Schizophrenic Nationalism Between
Atlanticism and Marxism
Henri-Simon Blanc-Hoàng
2.Did You Learn Your Strip?: The History of France as Comic Fad in
the 1970s
Guillaume de Syon
3.“Ils sont fous ces Gaulois!”: Astérix, Lucky Luke, Freedom Fries,
and the Love-Hate Relationship Between France and the United
States
Annick Pellegrin
Nation and Revolution
4.Image and Text in Service of the Nation: Historically-themed
Comic Books as Civic Education in 1980s Mexico
Melanie Huska
Images of US Wars
5.Who is Diana Prince?: The Amazon Army Nurse of World War II
Peter Lee
6.Wonder Woman as Patriotic Icon: The Amazon Princess for the
Nation and Femininity
Annessa Ann Babic
7.Comic Containment: No Laughing Matter
James C. Lethbridge
8.Graphic/Narrative/History: Defining the Essential Experience(s)
of 9/11
Lynda Goldstein
Morals, Ethics, and Race
9.Super Gay!: Depictions of Homosexuality in Mainstream Superhero
Comics
Kara M. Kvaran
10.The Man in the Gray Metal Suit: Dr. Doom, the Fantastic Four,
and the Costs of Conformity
Micah Rueber
11.Seen City: Frank Miller’s Re-Imaging as a Cinematic “New
Real”
Christina Dokou
Dark Logic
12.The Zombie Apocalypse: A Fictional State of Nature?
Faiz Sheikh
13.Logicomix and the Enunciatory Apparatus
Beatrice Skordili
Works Cited
Index
About the Contributors
Annessa Ann Babic is the coordinator of interdisciplinary studies at New York Institute of Technology.
This collection is welcome because it features essays by
researchers new to the field, some with novel ideas. The volume
provides a sampling of genres, personalities, stories, and issues
in the lifeline of comics--bande dessinée, Mexican educational
comics, film adaptations, Wonder Woman, Astérix, Lucky Luke, Dr.
Doom, the Fantastic Four, Sin City--and also considers comics
relative to nationalism, femininity, masculinity, homosexuality,
censorship, containment, conformism, and patriotism. Interesting
essays on Mexico and France discuss comic books officially
sanctioned for educational purposes, pointing to what they left
out, downplayed, or emphasized to serve government interests. An
essay on Wonder Woman during WW II shows the duplicitous, confusing
roles the superwoman played while representing women generally;
another on the containment of comics in the 1950s examines the
contributing factors of fear and insecurity, which ultimately led
to censorship. The book includes some well-thought-out,
decipherable theory--best presented in Lynda Goldstein's excellent
chapter on issues and challenges of historical discourse concerning
an event, here 9/11. . . .Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division
undergraduates and above.
*CHOICE*
Comics is a visual medium used to express ideas via images, often
combined with text or visual information. Comics frequently takes
the form of juxtaposed sequences of panels of images. Often textual
devices such as speech balloons, captions, and sound effects
indicate dialogue, narration, or other information. Elements such
as size and arrangement of panels control narrative pacing.
Cartooning and similar forms of illustration are the most common
image-making means in comics; fumetti is a form which uses
photographic images. Common forms of comics include comic strips,
editorial and gag cartoons, and comic books. Since the late 20th
century, bound volumes such as graphic novels, comics albums, and
tankobon have become increasingly common, and online webcomics have
proliferated. Compiled and edited by Annessa An Babic, 'Comics as
History, Comics as Literature: Roles of the COmic Book Scholarship,
Society, and Entertainment' is a 272 page compendium comprised of
thirteen articulate, erudite, and seminal essays on the cultural
impact of comics. Of special note is 'SuperGay: Depictions of
Homosexuality in Mainstream Superhero Comics'. A seminal body of
impressive scholarship that is enhanced with the inclusion of an
extensive bibliography and a comprehensive index, Comics As
History, Comics As Literature is very highly recommended reading
and an invaluable addition to academic library Popular Culture
Studies and Literary Studies reference collections.
*Midwest Book Review*
The book studiously delves into the ways in which comics often goes
beyond entertainment to both reflect and influence society. This
intriguing collection of essays spans a wide range of comic book
styles and eras. . . .The book will enable you to view the world of
comics in a new light.
*Pop Culture Classics*
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