The funny thing about comics is that they\u2019ve never been taken super seriously as a literary medium in critical conversation. The more ironic thing is that right now, the comic book as a medium is responsible for much of popular culture discourse \u2014 adaptations of comic books are leading Hollywood\u2019s TV shows and movie spheres, from the likes of the DC TV shows on the CW to Marvel\u2019s cinematic universe blockbusters.
\n\tComic books, usually when brought up evoke a very specific image as the Keywords for Comic Studies essay on the topic discusses. In the Jared Gardner essay, he goes over the various forms of publications that have been referred to as comic books throughout history. First were \u201cautho-litographies\u201d and other visual prints that were developed starting in the 1860s, and cartoons were regularly published in periodicals in that period. Newspaper comic reprints eventually took over as the dominant form of comics, with compilations later becoming the \u2018comic book\u2019. Eventually in the 1940s, after the Great Depression, superhero comics led the medium with the rise of Marvel and DC.
\n\tModern comics have now evolved a little, with superhero comics still leading the pack, other forms have become popular. Graphic novels are on the rise now, gaining in popularity outside of the Marvel\/DC dominated landscape. A recent Washington Post article examines this popularity boom, noting that among young readers literary graphic novels were selling well (MacPherson). MacPherson also points out another interesting debate at the heart of comic books as a critical medium: <\/p>\n
\u201cBefore we go any further, though, here\u2019s another question at the heart of the matter: Should we call these books \u201ccomics\u201d or \u201cgraphic novels\u201d? Over the years, \u201ccomics\u201d has become something of a pejorative, meaning a less-than-literary book played for laughs. \u201cGraphic novel\u201d sounds more highbrow, but it\u2019s not always correct, given that many of these books now are memoirs and other kinds of nonfiction. In addition, some people still get tripped up by the multiple meanings of the word \u201cgraphic\u201d (MacPherson).<\/p>\n
The debate about taking comics seriously critically also comes into the terminology of what is a comic book, and if calling a comic a graphic novel makes it more acceptable as a literary work. Interestingly, American comics are also losing popularity. Eastern comic books, particularly Japanese manga are now regularly outselling American superhero comics for many reasons, as Stratos notes in a report that compiled reactions to this statement.<\/p>\n
I personally find it a very interesting medium, and I think it deserves more critical and scholarly attention. Graphic novels, comics, manga etc. are now all rising in popularity for distinct reasons, dominating the cultural landscape somehow in conversation. Dismissing it would be a disservice and a failure on the literature academia world\u2019s part to understand how this medium is thriving today. The debate about what constitutes a comic is an examinable one as well, and maybe part of the conversation about why critical conversation is lagging in discussing the medium.<\/p>\n
Works Cited<\/p>\n
Gardner, Jared, and Jared Gardner. \u201cComic Book.\u201d Keywords, 1 Jan. 2021, keywords.nyupress.org\/comics-studies\/essay\/comic-book\/. <\/p>\n
MacPherson, Karen. \u201cPerspective | Don’t Be Afraid to Let Children Read Graphic Novels. They’re Real Books.\u201d The Washington Post, WP Company, 28 Feb. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com\/entertainment\/books\/dont-be-afraid-to-let-children-read-graphic-novels-theyre-real-books\/2020\/02\/27\/ed374b92-4dd7-11ea-9b5c-eac5b16dafaa_story.html.
\n\tStratos. \u201cWorldwide, Manga Is Outselling American Comics.\u201d UltraMunch, 28 May 2021, ultramunch.com\/worldwide-manga-is-outselling-american-comics\/. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The funny thing about comics is that they\u2019ve never been taken super seriously as a literary medium in critical conversation. The more ironic thing is that right now, the comic book as a medium is responsible for much of popular culture discourse \u2014 adaptations of comic books are leading Hollywood\u2019s TV shows and movie spheres, … Continue reading What exactly is a ‘comic’, anyways?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3888,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[145909],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2021-blog-posts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3888"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}