Reading and understanding comics is much more complex than you might initially think.
Articles on Comic books
Displaying 1 - 20 of 41 articles
New York City played a starring role in the golden age of comics. And like Kirby, many of the genre’s most famous artists were Jewish.
Vampires reflect the prejudices of their times.
Jewish American artists were at the heart of the comics industry – and a closer read of beloved characters reflects fears about assimilation and acceptance.
Those who visit parallel worlds come back traumatised and changed, perhaps even becoming the monsters they once hunted or tried to escape.
The history of comics is closely tied to the involvement of Jewish creators, who have had an enormous impact on the medium over the last 90 years.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniafinds itself charged with not only kick starting Marvel’s Phase 5, but also shaking the MCU’s audience out of their franchise fatigue.
Comic book creators with a history of galvanising social action on America’s streets have created a graphic novel about the US Capitol attacks.
Many comics are now more representative of the people who actually read them but it’s clear there’s room for more diversity when it comes to our superheroes.
Netflix’s Sandman is quite different from the comics and that opens up the story to a whole new fandom.
Ms. Marvel represents a break from the ‘Muslim equals Middle Eastern’ portrayals popular in western media.
The Marvel universe is expanding with new heroes in new films and shows that break new boundaries and tackle new genres.
The caped crusader is back in another dark outing that speaks to this cultural moment.
The multigenerational memoir laid the groundwork for graphic memoirs to become an essential form for remembering the Holocaust and communicating its legacy of trans-generational trauma.
Comic characters like Ms. Grundy of Riverdale High, and Johnny Thunder (alias Mr. Tane), offer a valuable look at how teachers navigate mainstream cultural assumptions about teaching.
Comics have always had queer elements; and Superman has always been on the edge of social justice. This new comic book, featuring a bisexual Jonathan Kent, brings those factors together.
From the blog ‘Mom’s Cancer’ to novellas about lupus to moving Instagram posts, comic artists are humanising illnesses.
When we read comics, we ‘hear’ sound on the page. Creators are experts at this cross-sensory form of storytelling - indeed one database lists over 2500 comic book sounds.
Science and comic books have been cross-pollinating each other for some time (think Spider-Man). But kids can learn a lot of valuable science information from comics books too.
Neither the Second World War nor 9/11 stopped weekly comic book distribution to comic stores. But COVID-19 means production and distribution is now on hold, and the future of comics is up in the air.
Top contributors
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Lecturer and PhD Candidate in Comics and Architecture, University of Brighton
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Managing Director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute, University of Michigan
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Senior Lecturer in Psychology
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Senior Lecturer in History, Heritage and Classics, Swansea University
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Graduate Tutor and Lecturer in Film, Northumbria University, Newcastle
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Professor of Bioethics, Clinical Ethics and Medical Law, St George's, University of London
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Principal Lecturer in Wildlife Conservation, Nottingham Trent University
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Associate Professor and Cinema and Screen Studies Discipline Leader, Swinburne University of Technology
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Adjunct Lecturer, Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences, University of Baltimore
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Associate Professor in Human Factors, Heriot-Watt University
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Professor of Film and Cultural Studies, Kingston University
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Professor of Graphic Fiction and Comic Art, Lancaster University
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Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
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Adjunct Associate Professor of Learning and Instruction, University at Buffalo
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Lecturer at the Forum for Critical Inquiry, Glasgow School of Art