Frank Bramlett - The Routledge Companion to Comics

THE ROUTLEDGE COMPANION TO COMICS

This cutting-edge handbook brings together an international roster of scholars to examine many facets of comics and graphic novels. Contributor essays provide authoritative, up-todate overviews of the major topics and questions within comics studies, offering readers a truly global approach to understanding the field.

Essays examine:

the history of the temporal, geographical, and formal development of comics, including topics such as art comics, manga, comix, and the Comics Code;

issues such as authorship, ethics, adaptation, and translating comics;

connections between comics and other artistic media (drawing, caricature, film), as well as the linkages between comics and other academic fields such as linguistics and philosophy;

new perspectives on comics genres, from funny animal comics to war comics to romance comics and beyond.

The Routledge Companion to Comics expertly organizes representative work from a range of disciplines, including media and cultural studies, literature, philosophy, and linguistics. More than an introduction to the study of comics, this book will serve as a crucial reference for anyone interested in pursuing research in the area, guiding students, scholars, and comics fans alike.

Contributors: Jos Alaniz, Jan Baetens, Frank Bramlett, Simone Castaldi, Roy T Cook, Brian Cremins, Randy Duncan, Jonathan Evans, Craig Fischer, Mel Gibson, Michael Goodrum, William Grady, Richard Graham, Brenna Clarke Gray, Ian Hague, Justin Hall, Darren Hudson Hick, John Holbo, M. Thomas Inge, Michael A. Johnson, David Annwn Jones, Adam L. Kern, Andrew J. Kunka, Chris Lamb, Pascal Lefvre, Mark Long, Christy Mag Uidhir, Ajuan Mance, Mark McKinney, Ana Merino, Aaron Meskin, Hannah Miodrag, Adrielle Mitchell, Andrei Molotiu, Chris Murray, Amy Kiste Nyberg, Barbara Postema, Henry John Pratt, Matthew Pustz, Charlotte Pylyser, Leonard Rifas, Jon Robson, Lara Saguisag, Anastasia Salter, Matthew J. Smith, Jeremy Stoll, Carol L. Tilley, Robert G. Weiner, and Kent Worcester.

Edited by
Frank Bramlett, Roy T Cook,
and Aaron Meskin

AARON MESKIN, ROY T COOK, AND FRANK BRAMLETT

PART I
History and Traditions

M. THOMAS INGE

PASCAL LEFVRE

AMY KISTE NYBERG

ROY T COOK

CHRIS MURRAY

MARK MCKINNEY

BRENNA CLARKE GRAY

ANA MERINO

SIMONE CASTALDI

JEREMY STOLL

JOS ALANIZ

ADAM L. KERN

PART II
Comics Genres

ANDREI MOLOTIU

MATTHEW J. SMITH

KENT WORCESTER

BRIAN CREMINS

JUSTIN HALL

WILLIAM GRADY

DAVID ANNWN JONES

LEONARD RIFAS

MICHAEL A. JOHNSON

BARBARA POSTEMA

MARK LONG AND CHRIS LAMB

PART III
Issues and Concepts

AARON MESKIN

HENRY JOHN PRATT

ADRIELLE MITCHELL

CHRISTY MAG UIDHIR

ROY T COOK

MATTHEW PUSTZ

ANDREW J. KUNKA

MEL GIBSON

AJUAN MANCE

JAN BAETENS AND CHARLOTTE PYLYSER

JON ROBSON

JONATHAN EVANS

DARREN HUDSON HICK

PART IV
Other Media and Other Disciplines

CRAIG FISCHER

ANASTASIA SALTER

CAROL L. TILLEY AND ROBERT G. WEINER

JOHN HOLBO

FRANK BRAMLETT

HANNAH MIODRAG

RICHARD GRAHAM

RANDY DUNCAN

MICHAEL GOODRUM

IAN HAGUE

LARA SAGUISAG

Jos Alaniz, Associate Professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Washington, has published Komiks: Comic Art in Russia (University Press of Mississippi, 2010) and Death, Disability and the Superhero: The Silver Age and Beyond (University Press of Mississippi, 2014).

Jan Baetens is Professor of Literary and Cultural Studies at the University of Leuven. He is the author of various studies on comics, among which is a co-authored book with Hugo Frey, The Graphic Novel: An Introduction (Cambridge University Press, 2014).

Frank Bramlett works at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, specializing in discourse studies, gender and sexuality, sociolinguistics, and TESOL. He is the editor of Linguistics and the Study of Comics (Palgrave, 2012), and he co-edited a special issue of ImageTexT (8.2) devoted to the works of Grant Morrison.

Simone Castaldi, Associate Professor of Italian at Hofstra University, is the author of Drawn and Dangerous (University Press of Mississippi, 2010), a book on Italian comics during the 1980s. He is co-translating Hugo Pratts Corto Maltese series for the Library of American Comics (IDW).

Roy T Cook is CLA Scholar of the College, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, and Resident Fellow at the Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science, author of The Yablo Paradox: An Essay on Circularity (Oxford University Press, 2014), and co-editor of The Art of Comics: A Philosophical Approach (Wiley-Blackwell 2012).

Brian Cremins is an Associate Professor of English at Harper College. His essays have appeared in Studies in American Humor, the Journal of Medical Humanities, and in Comics and the U.S. South. He is writing a book about the original Captain Marvel for the University Press of Mississippi.

Randy Duncan is Professor of Communication at Henderson State University. He has co-authored or co-edited The Power of Comics (2009), Critical Approaches to Comics (2011), and Creating Comics as Journalism, Memoir and Nonfiction (2015). Duncan is co-founder of the Comics Arts Conference.

Jonathan Evans is a Lecturer at the University of Portsmouth. His research focuses on creative uses of translation in literature, film, and comics. He co-edited a special issue of Journal of Specialised Translation on crime and translation (2014). He is on the editorial board of the Comics Grid.

Craig Fischer is Professor of English at Appalachian State University. His writings about comics have appeared in the