Comics Studies: A Guidebook

337 Pages·2020·13.298 MB·English

by  Charles Hatfield (editor)

Comics Studies

Comics Studies
A Guidebook
EDITED BY CHARLES HATFIELD AND BART BEATY
Rutgers University Press
New Brunswick, Camden, and Newark, New Jersey, and London
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Hatfield, Charles, 1965– editor. | Beaty, Bart, editor.
Title: Comics studies : a guidebook / edited by Charles Hatfield and Bart Beaty.
Description: New Brunswick, New Jersey : Rutgers University Press, 2020. | Includes bibliographi-
cal references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019050055 | ISBN 9780813591421 (hardback) | ISBN 9780813591414 (paper-
back) | ISBN 9780813591438 (epub) | ISBN 9780813591445 (mobi) | ISBN 9780813591452 (pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Comic books, strips, etc.— History and criticism.
Classification: LCC PN6710 .C6664 2020 | DDC 741.5072— dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019050055
A British Cataloging- in- Publication record for this book is available from the British Library.
This collection copyright © 2020 by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Individual chapters copyright © 2020 in the names of their authors
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from
the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 106 Somerset Street, New Brunswick, NJ
08901. The only exception to this prohibition is “fair use” as defined by U.S. copyright law.
♾ The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American National Stan-
dard for Information Sciences— Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI
Z39.48- 1992.
www .rutgersuniversitypress .org
Manufactured in the United States of America
In memory of
Don Ault and Tom Spurgeon,
mentors and great souls—
and to the comics scholars
of the future

Contents
Introduction 1
BART BEATY AND CHARLES HATFIELD
Part I Histories
1 Comic Strips 13
IAN GORDON
2 Comic Books 25
CHARLES HATFIELD
3 Underground and Alternative Comics 40
ROGER SABIN
4 European Traditions 53
BART BEATY
5 Manga 66
FRENCHY LUNNING
6 The Graphic Novel 82
ISAAC CATES
Part II Cultures
7 Comics Industries 97
MATTHEW P. MCALLISTER AND BRIAN MACAULEY
8 Readers, Audiences, and Fans 113
BENJAMIN WOO
vii
viii • Contents
9 Children and Comics 126
PHILIP NEL
10 Difference 138
THERESA TENSUAN
Part III Forms
11 Cartooning 153
ANDREI MOLOTIU
12 Design in Comics: Panels and Pages 172
MARTHA KUHLMAN
13 Words and Images 193
JAN BAETENS
Part IV Genres
14 Superheroes 213
MARC SINGER
15 Autographics 227
GILLIAN WHITLOCK
16 Girls, Women, and Comics 241
MEL GIBSON
17 Digital Comics 253
DARREN WERSHLER, KALERVO SINERVO, AND SHANNON TIEN
Time Line of Selected Events 267
Acknowledgments 283
Bibliography 285
Notes on the Contributors 305
Index 311
Comics Studies