Multicultural Comics: From Zap to Blue Beetle

by Frederick Luis Aldama (Editor), Derek Parker Royal (Introduction)

Overview

Multicultural Comics: From Zap to Blue Beetle is the first comprehensive look at comic books by and about race and ethnicity. The thirteen essays tease out for the general reader the nuances of how such multicultural comics skillfully combine visual and verbal elements to tell richly compelling stories that gravitate around issues of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality within and outside the U.S. comic book industry. Among the explorations of mainstream and independent comic books are discussions of the work of Adrian Tomine, Grant Morrison, and Jessica Abel as well as Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan's The Tomb of Dracula; Native American Anishinaabe-related comics; mixed-media forms such as Kerry James Marshall's comic-book/community performance; DJ Spooky's visual remix of classic film; the role of comics in India; and race in the early Underground Comix movement. The collection includes a "one-stop shop" for multicultural comic book resources, such as archives, websites, and scholarly books. Each of the essays shows in a systematic, clear, and precise way how multicultural comic books work in and of themselves and also how they are interconnected with a worldwide tradition of comic-book storytelling.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780292722811
Publisher:	University of Texas Press
Publication date:	09/01/2010
Series:	Cognitive Approaches to Literature and Culture Series
Pages:	271
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Frederick Luis Aldama is Arts and Humanities Distinguished Professor of English at Ohio State University. He is the author and editor of eleven books, including Postethnic Narrative Criticism; the MLA–award winning Dancing with Ghosts: A Critical Biography of Arturo Islas; Why the Humanities Matter; Your Brain on Latino Comics; and A User's Guide to Postcolonial and Borderland Fiction.

Table of Contents

Foreword; Or Reading within the Gutter Derek Parker Royal ix

Multicultural Comics Today: A Brief Introduction Frederick Luis Aldama 1

Part I History, Concepts, and Methods

1 Race and Comix Leonard Rifas 27

2 "Authentic" Latinas/os and Queer Characters in Mainstream and Alternative Comics Jonathan Risner 39

3 Native American Narratives from Early Art to Graphic Novels: How We See Stories / Ezhi-g'waabamaanaanig Aadizookaanag Margaret Noori 55

4 Liminality and Mestiza Consciousness in Lynda Barry's One Hundred Demons Melinda L. De Jesús 73

5 Black Nationalism, Bunraku, and Beyond: Articulating Black Heroism through Cultural Fusion and Comics Rebecca Wanza 93

6 Birth of a Nation: Representation, Nationhood, and Graphic Revolution in the Works of D. W. Griffith, DJ Spooky, and Aaron McGruder et al. James Braxton Peterson 105

7 Lost in Translation: Jessica Abel's La Perdida, the Bildungsroman, and "That 'Mexican' Feel" Patrick L. Hamilton 120

8 Same Difference: Graphic Alterity in the Work of Gene Luen Yang, Adrian Tomine, and Derek Kirk Kim Jared Gardner 132

Part II A Multicultural Comic Book Toolbox

9 "It ain't John Shaft": Marvel Gets Multicultural in The Tomb of Dracula Elizabeth Nixon 149

10 Invisible Art, Invisible Planes, Invisible People Evan Thomas 157

11 Wondrous Capers: The Graphic Novel in India Suhaan Mehta 173

12 Chronology, Country, and Consciousness in Wilfred Santiago's In My Darkest Hour Nicholas Hetrick 189

13 Finding Archives/Making Archives: Observations on Conducting Multicultural Comics Research Jenny E. Robb Rebecca Wanzo 202

Works Cited 221

Contributor Notes 235

Index 239

Editorial Reviews

Considering race and ethnicity in comics from a broader perspective, 13 chapters address cartooning across diverse traditions, including Latino, Native American, Filipino, African American, Asian, and continental Indian. A final chapter covers conducting research in multicultural comics and finding resources.

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