Comics Studies as Interdiscipline

2019 ◽  
pp. 655-670
Author(s):  
Dale Jacobs
Keyword(s):  
Reflective Practice ◽  
Media Studies ◽  
Book History ◽  
Comic Books ◽  
Book Industry ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
Comics Studies ◽  
Commercial Publishing ◽  
Ways Of Thinking

This chapter is a call for comics studies to become a fully interdisciplinary endeavor—an interdiscipline rather than an anti-discipline—and for that move toward interdisciplinarity to occur through reflective practice. The chapter proposes that one way this move might be accomplished is by incorporating methodologies and ways of thinking from the fields of book history and media studies into comics studies. Both book history and media studies demand that scholars be mindful of the commercial publishing contexts of comics, while additionally providing examples of hybrid methodologies that work toward interdisciplinarity in their own right. These questions of interdisciplinarity and methodology are approached through discussions of the 1976 Project, which involves examining a year of traditional output of the American comic book industry. The chapter details how book history and media studies might contribute to comics studies and addresses questions raised by and methodologies needed to examine seven comic books from August 1976.

Gender Differences in Clothing Worn in Current Popular Comic Books

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Landon Jossy
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Comic Books ◽  
Book Industry ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
Lower Body ◽  
Female Characters ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Males And Females

This study looked at how males and females were portrayed, based on the amount of skin shown in the clothing worn.  A Content analysis was performed on a sample of 20 randomly selected popular comics from the last 3 years.  Both male and female characters were rated on how much skin they showed in three clothing categories; neck line, sleeve length, and lower body.  Results showed that in all 3 categories, women consistently wore more revealing clothing.  The findings demonstraetd that the comic book industry is comparable to other forms of media, in the sexualization of female characters, by having them wear more revealing clothing.

scholarly journals Humanizing a Superhero: An Empirical Test in the Comic Books Industry

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 189
Author(s):  
Michela Addis ◽  
Gabriele Troilo
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Quantitative Study ◽  
Comic Books ◽  
Empirical Test ◽  
Book Industry ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Secondary Data Sources

<p>One of the most firmly-established and widespread marketing policies in the comic book industry is the humanization of superheroes as a strategy to achieve success, especially for characters populating the Marvel Universe. However, there is no clear evidence of how exactly artists actually and operatively create human superheroes, and whether those variables truly affect sales of comic books. To address those two issues we run a quali-quantitative study by interviewing experts, and regressing sales on a broad range of variables of comic books gathered through content analysis and secondary data sources. Our findings show that humanization is not as powerful as expected in driving sales of comic books.</p>

Wertham’s Little Goblins

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Cremins
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Comic Books ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
The United States ◽  
Childhood Memories ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Comics Studies ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 1960S

After Fawcett’s legal settlement with National in 1953, the original Captain Marvel did not return to comic books until 1973. In the meantime, comic book fans and amateur historians began writing about the character in the 1960s. This chapter traces Captain Marvel’s afterlife in these fanzines, publications that helped to establish the foundation for comics studies in the United States. The chapter also includes an overview of recent developments in the field of memory and nostalgia studies. These recent studies of the history of nostalgia in medicine, psychology, and the arts are essential for an understanding of how childhood memories have shaped comics studies as a discipline.

Type in pictures. Comic book lettering in contemporary American comics. An overview

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-186
Author(s):  
Michał Wolski
Keyword(s):  
Main Part ◽  
Comic Books ◽  
Book Industry ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Methodological Framework ◽  
Text And Image ◽  
History Of ◽  
European Counterpart

This paper focuses on the issue of comic book lettering in mainstream American comics with an aim to introduce theoretical and methodological framework for further analysis of comic book typography. First, it addresses numerous aspects of relations between text and image in comics and presents the brief history of lettering in American comic book industry, as it grew apart from its European counterpart in the early years of development and became much more institutionalized, in no part because of the works of Will Eisner, Gaspar Saladino and especially Richard Starkins, who introduced an affordable means of using the digital typography in early 90s&#39; comic books. In its main part the paper presents the classification of usage of lettering in comics&#39; communicates, which distinguishes the diegetic (graphic, verbal and mental) and non-diegetic (meta- or paratextual and narrative) communicates. This analysis was based on the research sample of over 700 comic book issues, mostly from the Ultimate Marvel imprint (2000–2015) In the final paragraphs, the author critically examines functions of comic book typography and outlines three possible fields of further study.

Adaptation and Racial Representation in Dell/Gold Key TV Tie-ins

2019 ◽  
pp. 552-572
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Kunka
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Comic Books ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
Television Series ◽  
Racially Diverse ◽  
Racial Representations ◽  
Comics Studies ◽  
Visual Style ◽  
The Way

This chapter examines the comic-book adaptations of television series produced by Dell and Gold Key Comics from 1966 to 1973. These comic books often contained diverse casts, especially with African-American characters, yet they are little discussed in relation to racial representations in the medium. The chapter explores these comic books in terms of the visual style used to depict these minority characters and the way the content addresses social issues related to racism and diversity. Finally, it compares the television adaptations to the more popular superhero comics that were also introducing racially diverse casts at the time, and it raises questions about why these comic books are neglected in comics studies.

scholarly journals Indian spooks: What Indian Comic Books Readers Are Afraid of

Politeja ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2(59)) ◽  
pp. 161-176
Author(s):  
Marcin Ciemniewski
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Comic Books ◽  
Book Industry ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
Indian Literature ◽  
Adult Readers ◽  
Book Series ◽  
American Popular Culture ◽  
Local Languages

The comic book industry in India began in 1950. Back then leading American comic books like The Phantom, Flash Gordon and Rip Kirby started to be published in India and translated into local languages. Indian youngsters in no time became interested in the new medium, especially in superhero comics known from the American popular culture. The success of these translations encouraged local publishers and cartoonists to create Indian themed comic books, set in India with Indian heroes (and superheroes) − even though Indian comics were still strongly influenced by American ones, mainly in terms of esthetics. However, around 1950, American comics publishing companies also tried to attract adult readers by presenting more adult content in a form of horror and thriller stories. Publishers in India quickly adapted this trend launching a very popular comic book series in Hindi of thrill, horror and suspense. In this way horror – till then almost completely absent from Indian literature and popular culture – was introduced to the local audience. The question remains, how different are those local spooks from the American ones and finally: what are Indians afraid of?

Comic Books, Tragic Stories: Will Eisner’s American Jewish History

AJS Review ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Dauber
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Jewish History ◽  
Comic Books ◽  
Book Industry ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
Profit Sharing ◽  
Star System ◽  
American Jewish History ◽  
American Jewish ◽  
Michael Chabon

In recent years, we have witnessed a significant increase in writing by scholars and literary and cultural critics on the genre of the comic book, corresponding to an increased legitimacy given to the comic book industry and its writers and artists more generally. Part of this phenomenon no doubt stems from the attention lavished on the field by mainstream fiction and nonfiction writers who consider comic books a central part of their own and America’s cultural heritage, such as Michael Chabon and Jonathan Lethem. It may also stem from the changing nature of the industry’s finances, which now employ a “star system” revolving around writers and artists, not merely the major companies’ storied characters; though the days of the big houses that control the major characters are by no means gone, in the last two decades, numerous specialty imprints have been developed to publish characters that are owned outright by writers and artists, to say nothing of profit-sharing deals with major stars, even at some of the major companies.

The Evolution of Female Readership

2018 ◽  
pp. 221-250
Author(s):  
Tim Hanley
Keyword(s):  
Comic Books ◽  
Book Industry ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
Regular Feature ◽  
The Past

The comic book industry is currently experiencing a renaissance of female readers across all genres, including superhero books. By every conceivable metric, women have engaged in superhero fandom in ever-increasing levels over the past decade. However, historical demographic breakdowns for the readership of superhero comics are essentially non-existent. There is one way to construct our own data, however. In the early 1960s, letter columns became a regular feature in superhero comic books, and remained a constant in the genre through the 1990s. This chapter uses letters pages as a way of estimating the level of, and investigating the nature of, female readership of superhero comics.

KOMIK DI LINGKARAN INDUSTRI MUSIK

DeKaVe ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Terra Bajraghosa
Keyword(s):  
Comic Books ◽  
Music Industry ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
Narrative Approach ◽  
Visual Narrative ◽  
Common Practices ◽  
Visual Style ◽  
Song Lyrics ◽  
The Common

Comic ges. Based on comprehention as a narrative media, comics in Indonesia are oftenly compared to bas-reliefs on Borobudur temple and Wayang Beber.. From many kind of stories Indonesian comic books recently offered, with the developed visual wrapping, some comics steal attentions by its unique themes. These comic books are created because of the inspiration and relation to music industry. These comic books couldn't be seen from the visual style alone, as they were created in many visual genres, but they could be seen from their relations to music industry, whether the mainstream or indie ones. These comic books are published together with the music CDs, telling fictional stories from factual bands or musicians, telling a band's factual stories, or created by one of the band members. To understand modes of creation of these music industry-related-comic books, visual narrative approach will be applied. Through visual narrative approach, the band members' or musician's necessity for telling stories via comics, beside the common practices via music and song lyrics, will be observed.Keywords : Comic book, music industry, visual narrative

Candy and Drugs for Dinner

2019 ◽  
pp. 572-588
Author(s):  
Sean Guynes
Keyword(s):  
Comic Book ◽  
Gender Politics ◽  
Media Production ◽  
Comics Studies ◽  
Contemporary Media ◽  
The Aesthetic

This chapter links the seemingly disparate but deeply interconnected discourses and practices of contemporary media production, genre, aesthetics, and comics. It offers these arguments through a case study of the popular fantasy comic book Rat Queens and in the process demonstrates the critical utility to comics studies of reading genre, aesthetics, and industry together. The chapter reads Rat Queens through Sianne Ngai’s conception of the zany, cute, and interesting, showing how each of these categories is part of the aesthetic logic of the series, while also showing how each performs or critiques the series’ (superficial) investment in gender politics and the fantasy genre.

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