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Comic Book are American History


Before I know it, I'm sure someone will ask me why a class on comic books. This is the natural question to ask, especially since I and my colleague William Svitavsky are gearing up to teach HIS 235: American Graphic Media. This class is dedicated to studying comic books and what those comics can tell us about U.S. culture in the modern era. While we are both highly skilled intellectuals:), we will still get troubling looks from someone. Nonetheless, the chance to challenge assumptions and create new ways of considering contemporary issue abound studying comics.

Comments

cocoababez87 said…
I have never really gotten into comic books, but I was very interested in the Batman movies and the superman shows. This course will be an opportunity for me to gain knowledge in the fields of comic books, especially since I couldn't distinguish between Marvel and DC comics. I also want to learn about the historical references seen in comic books, the racial aspects of the time reflected in these works. I also wonder what is the fascination with comic books as we see with grown-ups? I hope after this class I will actually appreciate comic books after this course.
January 18, 2008 at 12:53 AM
jkeeley said…
I have always loved comic books. Or, I have always loved the heroes behind them. In chapters one and two I was surprised how much information I learned about comics through such an imaginative text. Ideas such as my driving a car becoming an extension of myself was a concept that never occurred to me. Or how often humans see themselves in inanimate objects, provided they have a circle and dot representing an eye ball. When I saw that 90 pages of total reading was assigned I frowned, but as I got into the reading I was hooked. I look forward to discovering more of the history of comics (such as their origins in hieroglyphics) and the people behind them.
January 18, 2008 at 8:56 AM
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Why blame comics for societal failure?

Why blame comics for societal failure? Society blamed comics for the societal failures because it was a fairly new industry, and as things seemed to go “wrong” they figured it must be comic books. When a child grew up during the war, his father was probably killing people and the military and his mother was probably making things in factories to help kill the opposition. The only things kids had to “babysit” them was comic books, and they read many different kinds. So when kids starting acting differently in this new generation the figured it must be the comic books. Society didn’t want to believe it may have been the internal and external scars war causes on the soldiers and their families. Also the fact that young unattended children are reading these comics may not be able to differentiate between fantasy and reality. When society fails it always needs a scapegoat then it was comic books next it was rock and roll. Society naturally resist change.
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