Comics Marija Dalbello Rutgers Image credit: Victor GAD Marija Dalbello Comics Rutgers School of Communication, Information, and Library Studies dalbello@scils.rutgers.edu http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~dalbello
Comics _______________________________________ History Comic book culture Visual language of comics (Comic literacy) Artists / Publishers / Readers Taxonomies
Comic Book History _______________________________________ turn of the century (pictorial storytelling) 1940s superhero comics 1960s adult comics 1980s slump 1990s revival; alternative comics (Vertigo); graphic novel boom Comic Book Code (Fredric Wertham’s The Seduction of the Innocent (NY: Random, 1954)
_______________________________________ Artists / Writers _______________________________________ Harvey Pekar (writer: American Splendor)(http://www.harveypekar.com) Chris Ware (innovative visual language) (http://orion.it.luc.edu/~dcihla/ware.htm) Robert Crumb (http://www.fantagraphics.com/artist/crumb/crumb.html) Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons (Watchmen-cinematic effects) (http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Studios/3840/watchmen.html) Neil Gaiman (Death, The Cost of Living, Sandman - horror, supernatural) (http://www.neilgaiman.com) Art Spiegelman (Mauss - Pulitzer prize) (http://www.iath.virginia.edu/holocaust/spiegelman.html) DC comics, Vertigo, Marvel, minicomics (Samizdat editions)
Artists / Writers _______________________________________
Readers _______________________________________ Comicon published letters (interaction bw readers and with the writers) close relationship with production (readers as participants and producers in the culture) extensive reading mainstream vs. alternative audience
Taxonomies _______________________________________ manga (anime) superhero comics (young adult, adult) alternative comics (adult) genres: action, horror, supernatural, SF