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Comic Books and Academia
What’s the big deal?
 THREE parts to what we will look at today
1. What exactly are comic books?
2. How can comic books relate to academics?
3. How I am applying comic books to academics?
Part 1:
What are comic books?
Start with a question…
 So, if I ask you what comic books are, what would be
your reply?
 Now, when I talk about comic books I am talking in
general about a large grouping of texts
1. Monthly, weekly, etc. regularly published comic books
2. Graphic novels
3. Manga and other pictographic representations
Definition
 Scott McCloud, in his work
Understanding Comics,
quickly admits that defining
a world so huge and varied
is difficult.

He ultimately arrives at the
definition that they are
“Juxtaposed pictorial and
other images in deliberate
sequence”
Tim Leong’s Super Graphic helps
a bit to see more…
Here is just a sampling of some of McCloud’s work,
done in the form of a graphic novel aimed to explain
how images work and why we become “so engaged”
Will Eisner
 Famous comic book artist, writer, and dare say, theorist
believed a great deal in the power of imagery as a
communicator
 He states:
 Comics deal with two fundamental communicating
devices: words and images. Admittedly this is an arbitrary
separation. But, since in the modern world of
communication they are treated as independent
disciplines, it seems valid. Actually, they are derivatives of
a single origin and in the skillful employment of words
and images lies the expressive potential of the medium
Comic Books are more..
 Comic books are not just Superheroes like Superman,
Batman, Wolverine and Spiderman – this is but one genre
within the medium
 There are, especially at different times and places, all kinds of
comics from horror and western to romance and kids books.
 Comic books, according to Eisner, have the potential for the
greatest forms of human expression – and I agree with him
 Comic books even are divided up by age appropriateness too.
 However…that was not always the case.
A little History
 Where did they start?
 The modern comic book began in the late 19th century and early
20th century.
 They were color cartoon strips found in Newspapers and often
were designed to reach illiterate individuals and groups.
 Modern “comic book” appeared in around 1935 and developed
into a form popular with children
 It is worth noting that many who were involved in the early
comic book industry, the artists, writers, and many of the
editors were minorities in America: Italians, Jews, AfricanAmericans, and even women
Catching on quick
 The superhero comic book took off, drawing upon
sources such as Pulp novels and newspaper strip
characters with the appearance of Superman in Action
Comics #1, printed by National Comics (now DC
Comics)
 This created a sensation. Sails of Superman reached
1,250,000 issues a month in 1940.
 Superman’s comic books were quickly duplicated by
other publishing firms and as many 30-40 existed right
before, during, and through the end of WWII
The War
 Comic books were a highly popular and patriotic method
employed during WWII.
 The U.S. Military bought them and distributed them to
the soldiers.
 This increased both sales and popularity of titles that the
GI’s brought back with them.
 Comic books also served to promote propaganda in
support of the war effort as well.
Propaganda
 Action Comics #58,
published in March, 1943
 Promoted the idea of
Superman promoting kids
and readers to “Slap a Jap”
 Racism?
 Propaganda?
 Prejudice?
 Yes…
Backlash
 After WWII a rise in juvenile diligence and teenage violence.
 This sparked critics such as the Catholic Church, the
Government, Organizations, and Child Psychologists (such as
Fredric Wertham) to view comic books as the cause of this
problem
 A fantastic and full account of all of this and backlash, in
detail, can be found in David Haidju’s book The Ten- Cent
Plague
 Main backlash was against EC Comics “Horror” comics but
all comics were targeted.
Fredric Wertham
 Prominent child psychologist, author of Seduction of the
Innocent.
 He asserted that “Comic books are definitely harmful to
impressionable people, and most young people are
impressionable” He also noted that he thought “Hitler
was a beginner compared to the comic books”
 Thought they promoted homosexuality (Batman and
Robin), deviance (Wonder Woman), and fascism
(Superman)
Comic Book Code
 Founded in 1954 after attacks of Wertham and Senate
Subcommittee Hearings into Juvenile Delinquency of 1954.
 The code was a self-regulated attempt to save the medium
 Required approval for strips, limited content, and basically
acted as a form of censorship that ended up putting
companies out of business and turning comic books into the
equivalent of porn
 http://www.comicartville.com/comicscode.htm
Eventually coming into
the light
 The code simply forced publishers and writers to go
underground a bit.
 Eventually they bounced back and pushed back against
the code
 Many companies abandoned the code and it was
declared dead in 2011.
Modern Explosion
 The cultural zeitgeist of the early 21st century, the
economic depression of 2007-present could be argued as
pushing comics into the mainstream.
 Superman certainly emerged at the tail end of the Great
Depression.
 Cultural and Economic Crisis = Need for heroes?
Part 2:
Comic Books and
Academia
Oxford University
 I have had the pleasure of TWICE attending a Global
Conference of the Graphic Novel at Mansfield College
of Oxford University in the UK.
 While there I have witnessed many presentations and
applications of people who are doing research, looking
for applications, and analyzing the value of graphic
narratives such as comic books and their larger cousins,
graphic novels
 Here is just a few…
Nursing
 I have not only heard of imagery used to help prepare
and train nurses…
 Also, graphic novels have served as ways for nurses to
build community among patients, help disabled find selfexpression, and serve as an outlet for them to promote
ideas
 If you want a strong mode of communication that gets
someone’s attention, this is one.
History
 Who can recall their favorite part of History book?
 For me it was the maps, the pictures that brought the
narrative to life. Made me feel like I was there in the
events.
 I love history, but the idea of incorporating visuals along
with text seems to serve the strong purpose of drawing in
the audience and retention of what is there by making
one feel as if they are there.
Philosophy and
Theory
www.introducingbooks.com
Psychology
 Fredric Wertham would spin in his grave…
 Psychoanalysis and the exploration of the mind often
relies on finding forms of expression that help
communicate one’s inner thoughts and feelings.
 The creation of a comic book can be used to help
patients not only cope with issues but find constructive
outlets that can lead them towards productive resolutions
as well
Literature
Many classic texts from the
Odyssey to Dante’s Divine Comedy
to Shakespeare have been
converted into graphic narratives
The Graphic Canon
Three volumes out so far
covering examples from all
across literature.
What it all boils down
to…
 There is far more to all of it than one might initially
assume
 I have only attempted to list but a few examples and
fields but the ideas are near limitless.
 The medium of comics is like TV, movies, books, etc…if
you can think of it, there is a form to express it (in fact,
probably several).
Part 3:
Graduate Research
Sir Ken Robinson
 In an RSA whiteboard video of his lecture “Changing
Educational Paradigms,” Robinson notes (as it is
illustrated) that “the arts especially address the idea of
aesthetic experience . . . one in which your senses are
operating at their peak. When you are present in the
moment, resonating with the excitement of this thing
you are experiencing. When you are fully alive”
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U&
safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1
From the video
My Research…
 I believe that comic books embody the power of Robinson’s
“aesthetic experience” by engaging one in the visual process
of both reading and experiencing images in a comic book.
 Particularly, my current work is focusing on how Superman,
via his presence and position as identifiable to America and
American culture, operates as a model of behavior that one
would wish to emulate. Not emulate with his powers, we can’t
fly, but by his character and choices…
 The following here is a sampling of some of what I am
working on.
Narrative RetCon & ReAccentuation
Recovering Arête in All-Star Superman
What is re-accentuation
 For the word is, after all, not a dead material object in
the hands of an artist equipped with it; it is a living word
and is therefore in all things true to itself . . . but its
meaning-once realized-can never he completely
extinguished. And under changed conditions this
meaning may emit bright new rays, burning away the
reifying crust that had grown up around it and thus
removing any real ground for a parodic accentuation,
dimming or completely extinguishing such reaccentuation. (419)
RetCon
 According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term
retro-continuity serves as both a noun and a verb.
 As a noun, it is commonly seen as “a piece of new
information that imposes a different interpretation on
previously described events, typically used to facilitate a
dramatic plot shift or account for an inconsistency”
Coming Together
 One way to recapture or explore elements of Superman’s
long 75-year history requires an understanding of how
the narrative has been altered via RetCon and just how
more contemporary devotes of Superman have allowed
and made use of re-accentuation of lost and sometimes
altered aspects of the heroes narrative to achieve
recognizable and identifiable symbolic responses through
this process.
Two Examples
1. Superman’s original origin found in Action Comics #1
(1938) and its re-accentuated version found in the
opening of All-Star Superman #1(2006).
2. Depictions of Superman’s power to save lives (and social
attitudes towards mental illness) found in Action Comics
#9 (1939) and All-Star Superman #10.
Works Cited
Bakhtin, Mikhail. The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays. Trans. Michael Holquist and Caryl Emerson. Austin: U
of Texas P., 1982. Print.
Eisner, Will. Comics and Sequential Art: Principles and Practices from the Legendary Cartoonist. New York: W. W.
Norton & Co, 2008. Print.
Hajdu, David. The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America. New York:
Picador. 2008. Print
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York: HarperPerennial, 1994. Print.
Morrison, Grant- and Frank Quitely. All-Star Superman. New York: DC Comics, 2010. Print.
---. Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and A Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being
Human. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2012. Print.
Perelman, Chaim and L. Olbrechts-Tyteca. The New Rhetoric: A Treatise on Argumentation. Tran. John Wilkinson
and Purcell Weaver. Notre Dame: U of Notre Dame P. 1969. Print.
Siegel, Jerry and Joe Shuster. “Superman, Champion of the Oppressed .” The Superman Chronicles, Vol. 1. New
York: DC Comics, 2006. Print.
---. “Wanted: Superman.” The Superman Chronicles, Vol. 1. New York: DC Comics, 2006. Print.
Questions?
Comments, Questions, and Feedback is MOST appreciated