Reading Comics: Language, Culture, and the Concept of the Superhero in Comic Books

by Mila Bongco

Overview

This study explores how the definition of the medium, as well as its language, readership, genre conventions, and marketing and distribution strategies, have kept comic books within the realm of popular culture. Since comics have been studied mostly in relation to mass media and its influence on society, there is a void in the analysis of the critical issues related to comics as a distinct genre and art form. By focusing on comics as narratives and investigating their formal and structural aspects, as well as the unique reading process they demand, this study presents a unique contribution to the current literature on comics, and helps clarify concepts and definitions useful in studying the medium. (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Alberta, 1995; revised with new preface, bibliography, and index)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138864573
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/23/2015
Series:	Studies in American Popular History and Culture
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	252
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction ix

Chapter 1 Comics and Cultural Studies: Sites for Struggle 1

Chapter 2 Responses to Comicbooks and the Concept of the "Popular" 19

Chapter 3 On the Language of Comics and the Reading Process 45

Chapter 4 Superhero Comicbooks 85

Chapter 5 Factors that Changed Superhero Comicbooks 125

Chapter 6 Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns (1986) 151

Chapter 7 A Glimpse at the Comics Scene after 1986 177

Index 231