Suddenly, comics are everywhere: a newly matured art form, filling bookshelves with brilliant, innovative work and shaping the ideas and images of the rest of contemporary culture. In Reading Comics, critic Douglas Wolk shows us why this is and how it came to be. Wolk illuminates the most dazzling creators of modern comics-from Alan Moore to Alison Bechdel to Dave Sim to Chris Ware -- and introduces a critical theory that explains where each fits into the pantheon of art. Reading Comics is accessible to the hardcore fan and the curious newcomer; it is the first book for people who want to know not just what comics are worth reading, but also the ways to think and talk and argue about them.
Douglas Wolk writes about comics and music for publications including the New York Times, Rolling Stone, the Washington Post, Salon, and The Believer. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix Theory and History 1 What Comics Are and What They Aren't 3 Auteurs, the History of Art Comics, and How to Look at Ugly Drawings 29 What's Good About Bad Comics and What's Bad About Good Comics 60 Superheroes and Superreaders 89 Pictures, Words, and the Space Between Them 118 Reviews and Commentary 135 A Small Disclaimer 137 David B.: The Battle Against the Real World 139 Chester Brown: The Outsider 147 Steve Ditko: A Is A 156 Will Eisner and Frank Miller: The Raconteurs 166 Gilbert Hernandez: Spiraling into the System 181 Jaime Hernandez: Mad Love 193 Craig Thompson and James Kochalka: Craft Versus Cuteness 203 Hope Larson: The Cartography of Joy 214 Carla Speed McNeil: Shape-Changing Demons, Birth-Yurts, and Robot Secretaries 220 Alan Moore: The House of the Magus 228 Grant Morrison: The Invisible King 258 Dave Sim: Aardvark Politick 289 The Dark Mirrors of Jim Starlin's Warlock 304 Tomb of Dracula: The Cheap, Strong Stuff 317 Kevin Huizenga:Visions from the Enchanted Gas Station 329 Charles Burns and Art Spiegelman: Draw Yourself Raw 336 Why Does Chris Ware Hate Fun? 347 Alison Bechdel: Reframing Memory 359 Afterword: The Rough Wave and the Smooth Wave 365 Notes 373 Index 391