JeffHaas
Friday, September 24, 2010, 02:19 PM
How Far We've Come
by Jeffrey Haas
For decades, comics had existed as the ugly step-child of what was considered acceptable literature. They have been, and are still viewed by some, as "funnybooks", with none of the reverence normally reserved for other works of fiction like novels and poetry. In 1948 a psychiatrist named Fredric Wertham stated in his article, "The Comics...Very Funny!" "You cannot understand present-day delinquency if you do not take into account the pathogenic and pathoplastic influence of the comic book...the way in which they cause trouble or determine the form that trouble takes," (Pustz). It was articles like this one that led to the Comic Burnings of 1948, where, "children — overseen by priests, teachers, and parents — publicly burned several hundred comic books in both Spencer, West Virginia, and Binghamton, New York. Once these stories were picked up by the national press wire services, similar events followed in many other cities," (academic). But Wertham was not done simply with one article, he would later write a book called, "Seduction of the Innocent" where he wrote, "I think Hitler was a beginner compared to the comic-book industry," (Dotinga). Wertham's book not only gained the attention of Congress, but led to the eventual Comic's Code that almost killed comics in the 50's. Stories about mothers who threw away you or your father's comic book collections are still bemoaned by many a former collector who has now witnessed the high values of their old comics. The height of comics representation in the media in the 60's was the Batman television program that made fun of its central character and the medium within which he existed. Remember the cartoon Super Friends? Same thing. How far we've come.
1991 may have simultaneously marked a high and low point for the comic book industry when," Neil Gaiman's Sandman issue #19 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' won the World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction," (wiki). This would be the first time a comic book ever won this award..and subsequently the last. Following "A Midsummer Night's Dream's" winning of the award, the rules were altered to prevent this from ever happening again. This led to Gaiman's quote, "not only had they left the barn door open, the horse won the Kentucky Derby," (Jamesford). In one fell swoop, comics had received their highest honor to date and were reminded, that for most people, comics did not belong in the same company as other literary forms.
A year later another, more obscure comic, would find itself receiving adulation for its literary achievement. In 1992 a graphic novel, named Maus, by Art Spiegelman, would win the Pulitzer Prize. (Spiegelman). "Maus is the story of a Jewish family before, during and after World War II. The story is told through the eyes of an artist who is interviewing his father about his wartime experiences with the plan to make these experiences into a comic book," (Mann). Within the comic, the Jews are represented by mice and the Nazis as cats, which acts as a straightforward, but effective, analogy. The comics' unique art style and mature subject matter struck such a cord, that a special Pulitzer award was created specifically to honor Spiegelman's masterpiece. It should be pointed out, however, that again this award separated the graphic novel format from other literary forms. Maus, however, may have still laid important groundwork that helped further the acceptance of comics within the larger literary community.
Following in the footsteps of Maus and Sandman was the graphic novel Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, which was first published in 2000. This graphic novel was an autobiographical take on the Satrapi's childhood while in Tehran, Iran. Although it received its greatest accolades in France, in the U.S, it garnered very favorable reviews from Time magazine who listed Satrapi's novel in their, "Best Comix of 2003" list," (wiki). Persepolis' favorable reviews even extended to the The Oxonian Review of Books, which is a graduate level journal at the University of Oxford. Again, the important feature of this review is that it is a literature journal, and not one devoted solely to the comic book medium. "Kristin Anderson of The Oxonian Review of Books ...said 'While Persepolis’ feistiness and creativity pay tribute as much to Satrapi herself as to contemporary Iran, if her aim is to humanise her homeland, this amiable, sardonic and very candid memoir couldn’t do a better job,'" (Wiki). In 2007, Persepolis was released as an animated movie, where it would achieve its highest level of public awareness and critical approval. The IMDB website lists the feature has having won 17 awards and having been nominated 24 times, including an Oscar nomination for the "Best Animated Feature Film of the Year". While, Persepolis gained most of its widespread attention as a feature film, the graphic novel furthered the acceptance of the art form as a means to tell deeply moving stories as well as entertainment.
While Persepolis, Maus, and The Sandman, had already made significant strides in bringing about the acceptance of comics within the larger literary community, it was made clear in 2001, that their work was not yet done. It was in this year that Chris Ware's, "Jim Corrigan or The Smartest Kid On Earth," became, "...the first graphic novel to win a big British literary award," (Gibbons). The before mentioned award was the Guardian First Book Award which is awarded to the best work of fiction and non-fiction, by a new author. Now you may be asking yourself, "how can a victory not be a sign of progress?" When the victory comes with the protests of several of the judges who, apparently, did not believe that a comic deserved an award of such stature. Ware's graphic novel is about, "Jimmy's journey to the city to meet his father for the first time at the age of 36. The trip reveals that his grandfather was just as defeated by the world as he," (Gibbons). The story gained acclaim for its ability to balance humor with the dramatic. It also won by a single vote. Gibbons describes the voting among the judges as, "controversial". However, the literary editor of the Guardian was also quoted in the same article as saying, "Chris Ware has produced a book as beautiful as any published this year, but also one which challenges us to think again about what literature is and where it is going," (Gibbons).
Perhaps the single greatest leap in the acceptance of comics came in Times' 2005 list, the "All-Time 100 Novels", where Alan Moore's The Watchmen ranked among the likes of "To Kill A Mockingbird" and "The Catcher In the Rye". Of course within the paragraph discussing this well known graphic novel, Lev Grossman of Time wrote, "Watchmen is a graphic novel — a book-length comic book with ambitions above its station," (Grossman). The "above its station" remark seems to offer a back-handed compliment, which at once praises the individual work, while belittling the medium to which it belongs. Its most significant achievement of The Watchmen's inclusion in Time's 100 was best stated by Dr. Terry Harpold of the University of Florida who pointed out, "They didn't say, 'the best graphic novel'. They just placed it with all the other novels. They treated it as a form that merited that stature." This is significant, because, even though they placed it apart from other comics, they still recognized that a work from that medium can rise in achievement to works of the classic novel. This transition was further articulated to me by Dr. Harpold who said, "I think we are entering a phase in which people are beginning to attend to comics as an expressive medium that could be seen on equal footing [as novels]". In other words, we are presently witnessing this transition within the medium, into a form that is garnering wider acceptance. Time's inclusion of the Watchmen is merely one example of this.
As if to further accentuate Dr. Harpold's remarks, another graphic novel has recently won a very prestigious literature award. In April of 2010, the award for "Best Book For Older Readers" went to "Nelson Mandela: The Authorized Comic Book". The graphic novel by, Umlando Wezithombe, tells the biographical tale of, "Nelson Mandela’s life from his birth in 1918 to his retirement in 2004," (Mandela). This award, is not only evidence of the giant strides that comics have made in the literary community, but the means of the graphic novel's conception also shows the growing trend of utilizing comics for educational purposes. This graphic novel was designed specifically to educate young adults about Nelson Mandela, who might not have been inclined to read a lengthier biography. In fact, "Unlando Wezithombe is a comic production company focusing on using the visual medium for education, training and entertainment," (Mandela). It should be noted as well, that with the announcement of this graphic novel winning the award there were no mentions of it existing beyond its form's station, or any great controversy surrounding its victory. It was simply presented as the best story of that year.
Comics are not only winning acceptance within the realm of awards but in the greater academic community as well. You may have wondered why Dr. Harpold was sought as an expert for this article? The reason is that he is one of the professors at the University of Florida who teach a doctorate level study of, "Comics and Visual Rhetoric". When I learned this, I was fascinated to learn that the University of Florida was not alone in its treatment of the comics' medium as one deserving of doctorate level study. I asked Dr. Harpold to discuss why it is important to study comics as literature. Dr. Harpold replied, "Specific things happen in comics. How stories are told, the events, places and [how] people are represented that don't appear in other media...They have unique properties and characteristics. It is incumbent to us, as scholars, to pay attention to comics the way we would the specific traits of film, print media and static images."
With my curiosity peaked, I wanted to know about which specific aspects of comics were being studied. To further extrapolate the concepts being explored in the University's doctorate, Dr Harpold introduced me to one of his graduate students who was preparing a doctorate thesis on the "Gotham Sirens". Who would have thought that these characters existed as useful tools to understand not only female empowerment, but also the means to develop modals on how people cope with trauma. In Melissa's own words, " I think the popularity of these characters speaks to our own feelings of helplessness resulting from our own psychological and emotional traumas.... The Sirens narrative has a way, as most narratives do, of empowering the reader by allowing him or her to vicariously beat down the threat of trauma, of fear, of loss, etc., through these characters own battles." By researching the literary concepts behind these characters and analyzing why they are popular, they help us further understand ourselves. The logic behind this idea is sound when you consider that these comics, and characters, have endured throughout generations. As Dr. Harpold puts it, "[Comics] have emerged primarily as a popular medium....and because they have been cast as a popular medium...they are more symptomatic of our culture's fears and desires. If they are successful, it must be because they connect with that audience...[they are a] barometer of that culture."
As previously mentioned, Melissa is also utilizing the stories of the various Gotham Sirens to look at how they reflect ideas of female empowerment. "because these are female characters that we are dealing with, their narratives also speak to a feminist discourse of abuse and empowerment, and struggling against the bitter reality of a cruel and unjust society." To accomplish this, Melissa is analyzing the many different women that together make up the Gotham Sirens. For instance, "Pamela Isley's fetishism originates from her disavowal of being separated from the Mother figure; in this case, the natural, Mother Earth, and so her depictions are hyper-feminized, hyper-sexualized, and she is often very maternal." Melissa also surmises in regard to Harley Quinn's fetish as, "... a product of an Oedipal complex that aims to seduce the Joker (as both father and lover), and so her representation in the comics is one that compliments his own perverse obsessions and maintains her as forever the child." The uniqueness among the rogue gallery that makes up the Gotham Sirens, according to Melissa, is that, "The different fetishes work together to create a family dynamic between the characters... trauma is combated not solely through the fetish, but by the emotional and psychological support of each woman by the other two." The third in this trio being Selina Kyle.
The Gotham Sirens are not alone in peaking the interest of academics, but all comics have an aspect worthy of study. There is The Walking Dead who Dr. Harpold offered as a possible representative, "...scenario for dealing with the sense in American culture that somehow we lost control...There would only be individual initiative if everything could be wiped clean...and if I survived, I could remake the world...It is a concept that Bryan Aldiss called the 'Cozy Catastrophe'." It can be theorized that that The Walking Dead's popularity stems then from its ability to tap into our culture's collective consciousness.
There is also symbolism to be found in the daily struggles of superheroes such as Superman. I am not even steering towards the oft-used savior analogy that is now forever linked to the character. Dr. Harpold points to the fact that superheroes, like Superman, "are always under threat...what attracts us is not the winning, but the eternal struggle...[our] mundane struggles [are] amplified...The superheroes struggle purifies that [struggle] by amplifying them into world affairs...If it turns into crazy, world shattering, madman vs. the Man of Steel [the struggle] is simplified." Dr. Harpold continues, "Batman is the moment of crisis. The quiet desperation in everyone's life, is reduced to an elemental struggle. We see this in Homer's Odyssey and the Gilgamesh Epic." In other words, reading of these characters' hardships becomes like therapy which allows us to cope with our own problems in life. And much like in our life, the superheroes that we root for, as Dr. Harpold points out, "...Can't win". There is always another battle to be fought, just like in our lives where there is always a conflict with which we are being faced. In this way, understanding what we read and why, helps us understand ourselves.
It is not solely the characters and their battles that is of interest to contemporary scholars but how these stories are told, unique to the medium, that is of academic interest. One important characteristic of comic books that is being closely analyzed is the "image texts". In other words, how the text balloons, captions, etc show up on the page. For an example of the importance of the text itself as a tool in storytelling, Dr. Harpold introduced me to the works of Alfred Bester. Not only was Bester the creator of the Green Lantern oath in the 40's but his use of texts in his stories was also revolutionary. Bester utilized, "graphic textual elements...when certain events occur in the novel, this is represented not by just a description, but the text start to shoot all over the page. [In Bester's work] 'The Stars, My Destination", the hero is capable of...[movement] through time and space, and when he does this the type on the page start going vertically and diagonally." This all part of what Dr. Harpold describes as the field of "visual rhetoric" which is "words and images on the page". To further explain this concept, Dr. Harpold explained that, "Text does not repeat the image. There is a feedback system between them. One thing that comics do with extraordinary force is that they address the possibility of these two forms of representation working in juxtaposition and against each other." In other words the use of texts on the page can allow for additional dimensions of storytelling. While this use of texts is possible in other literary forms, these forms do not do so with the frequency and success of comics. This offers another avenue for scholars to evaluate how readers interpret literature and offers another facet of storytelling to also be explored. We can also learn further details about how the mind processes information, by examining how texts and images relate on the page within comic books. In other words, comics offer many elements worthy of serious study.
Now that comics have been established as a literary format deserving of study, what type of jobs are available to someone with a doctorate degree in comic studies? Dr. Harpold explained that he, "Encourages graduates, who work in comic studies to diversify their portfolio...There are not a lot of comic study jobs out there...We are beginning to see, over the last five years, an increasing number of jobs at universities, that are research and teaching jobs, where people are saying, 'We want people to work in these five areas,' and one of those areas will be comic studies or the analysis of image texts... The job market is opening up for them." Now do not take the comment about the lack of comic study jobs out there as a knock on the medium or a sign that the University of Florida's Comic Studies program is some sort of fringe program. Due to the current attitude around universities about where to focus their academic and financial attention towards, prospective candidates for hire are being expected to teach courses in English that cover multiple genres, periods and formats. In other words, most professors now are expected to be a jack of all trades within the umbrella subject of English or literature. Dr. Harpold commented that comic studies are being increasingly sought after by universities looking for an expert in 20th century literature. So while comics as an academic field may be in small demand, for the moment, someone who is proficient in the study of them is actually desired by many colleges. For instance, Melissa is looking to become, "an English professor at a well-established university and continue doing research." It is important to realize that in saying one wants to be an English professor, or offering the position of an English professor, with a comic study background, automatically places the medium of comics on equal footing with other literary genres and fields.
And the University of Florida is not alone in viewing comics on this equal footing. On the University of Ohio homepage you can find an article discussing their adding of a, "new series to its literature and literary studies publications. Studies in Comics and Cartoons," (OSU). On their site they comment that, "Comics studies is the epitome of a growing scholarly pursuit that is continually gaining both public and critical attention". You can also study comics at the University of Mississippi and Webster University, just to name a few.
The important fact to remember is that comics have become recognized as true literature, even in the eyes of those who pride themselves in knowing what great literature is supposed to be. For this reason, comics have greater freedom with the stories they tell. The age range for comics will increase as it becomes increasingly acceptable for people to read comics at older and older ages. Also the increased attention on comics at Universities will also widen the audience to who will demand more diverse stories. Also, through the years, the shame some people may feel in saying they read comics is ever diminishing. In time commenting that you read comics to a complete stranger will feel the same as saying you read novels or poetry. "The battle has now, in fact, been won. Not only are comics appealing to a wider and older audience than ever before, but the idea of comics as a valid art form . . . is widely if not quite universally accepted... Fredric Wertham must be turning in his grave," (Saler).
Works Cited
Dotinga, Randy. "Why Comic Books Scared Us So". http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/2008/0325/p13s02-bogn.html. The Christian Science Monitor. 3-25-2008. The Christian Science Monitor. 2010.
Gibbons, Fiachra. "Graphic Novel Wins Guardian Book Award". http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2001/dec/07/books.booksnews. The Guardian. 12-7-2001. Guardian News Media Limited. 2010.
Grossman, Lev. "Watchmen (1986) by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons". All Time 100 Novels. 10-16-2005. Time, Inc. 2010. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1951793_1951946_1952878,00.html.
Mandela Foundation. "Nelson Mandela Comic Book Wins Award". 4-28-2010. Nelson Mandela Foundation. 2010. http://www.nelsonmandela.org/index.php/news/article/nelson_mandela_comic_book_wins_award/
Mann, Roland. "Maus, The Pulitzer Nobody Knows". The Flor-Ala Online Edition. 1-11-01. Comic Publishers. 2006. http://media.www.florala.net/media/storage/paper293/news/2001/01/11/Lifestyle/Maus-The.Pulitzer.Nobody.Knows-19879.shtml.
OSU. "Cartoon Library & Museum". The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum. 2010. http://cartoons.osu.edu/
Pustz, Mathew. Comic Book Culture. Jackson. University Press of Mississippi. 1999
Saler, Michael. "The Rise of Fan Fiction and Comic Book Culture". The Sunday Times. 6-4-2008. Time Newspapers. 2010.
Spiegelman, Nadja. "Art Spiegelman". Pantheon. Random House, Inc. 2010
Wikipedia. "The Sandman (Vertigo)". Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 9-23-2010.
---. "Persepolis". Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 9-19-2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persepolis_(comics).
by Jeffrey Haas
For decades, comics had existed as the ugly step-child of what was considered acceptable literature. They have been, and are still viewed by some, as "funnybooks", with none of the reverence normally reserved for other works of fiction like novels and poetry. In 1948 a psychiatrist named Fredric Wertham stated in his article, "The Comics...Very Funny!" "You cannot understand present-day delinquency if you do not take into account the pathogenic and pathoplastic influence of the comic book...the way in which they cause trouble or determine the form that trouble takes," (Pustz). It was articles like this one that led to the Comic Burnings of 1948, where, "children — overseen by priests, teachers, and parents — publicly burned several hundred comic books in both Spencer, West Virginia, and Binghamton, New York. Once these stories were picked up by the national press wire services, similar events followed in many other cities," (academic). But Wertham was not done simply with one article, he would later write a book called, "Seduction of the Innocent" where he wrote, "I think Hitler was a beginner compared to the comic-book industry," (Dotinga). Wertham's book not only gained the attention of Congress, but led to the eventual Comic's Code that almost killed comics in the 50's. Stories about mothers who threw away you or your father's comic book collections are still bemoaned by many a former collector who has now witnessed the high values of their old comics. The height of comics representation in the media in the 60's was the Batman television program that made fun of its central character and the medium within which he existed. Remember the cartoon Super Friends? Same thing. How far we've come.
1991 may have simultaneously marked a high and low point for the comic book industry when," Neil Gaiman's Sandman issue #19 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' won the World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction," (wiki). This would be the first time a comic book ever won this award..and subsequently the last. Following "A Midsummer Night's Dream's" winning of the award, the rules were altered to prevent this from ever happening again. This led to Gaiman's quote, "not only had they left the barn door open, the horse won the Kentucky Derby," (Jamesford). In one fell swoop, comics had received their highest honor to date and were reminded, that for most people, comics did not belong in the same company as other literary forms.
A year later another, more obscure comic, would find itself receiving adulation for its literary achievement. In 1992 a graphic novel, named Maus, by Art Spiegelman, would win the Pulitzer Prize. (Spiegelman). "Maus is the story of a Jewish family before, during and after World War II. The story is told through the eyes of an artist who is interviewing his father about his wartime experiences with the plan to make these experiences into a comic book," (Mann). Within the comic, the Jews are represented by mice and the Nazis as cats, which acts as a straightforward, but effective, analogy. The comics' unique art style and mature subject matter struck such a cord, that a special Pulitzer award was created specifically to honor Spiegelman's masterpiece. It should be pointed out, however, that again this award separated the graphic novel format from other literary forms. Maus, however, may have still laid important groundwork that helped further the acceptance of comics within the larger literary community.
Following in the footsteps of Maus and Sandman was the graphic novel Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, which was first published in 2000. This graphic novel was an autobiographical take on the Satrapi's childhood while in Tehran, Iran. Although it received its greatest accolades in France, in the U.S, it garnered very favorable reviews from Time magazine who listed Satrapi's novel in their, "Best Comix of 2003" list," (wiki). Persepolis' favorable reviews even extended to the The Oxonian Review of Books, which is a graduate level journal at the University of Oxford. Again, the important feature of this review is that it is a literature journal, and not one devoted solely to the comic book medium. "Kristin Anderson of The Oxonian Review of Books ...said 'While Persepolis’ feistiness and creativity pay tribute as much to Satrapi herself as to contemporary Iran, if her aim is to humanise her homeland, this amiable, sardonic and very candid memoir couldn’t do a better job,'" (Wiki). In 2007, Persepolis was released as an animated movie, where it would achieve its highest level of public awareness and critical approval. The IMDB website lists the feature has having won 17 awards and having been nominated 24 times, including an Oscar nomination for the "Best Animated Feature Film of the Year". While, Persepolis gained most of its widespread attention as a feature film, the graphic novel furthered the acceptance of the art form as a means to tell deeply moving stories as well as entertainment.
While Persepolis, Maus, and The Sandman, had already made significant strides in bringing about the acceptance of comics within the larger literary community, it was made clear in 2001, that their work was not yet done. It was in this year that Chris Ware's, "Jim Corrigan or The Smartest Kid On Earth," became, "...the first graphic novel to win a big British literary award," (Gibbons). The before mentioned award was the Guardian First Book Award which is awarded to the best work of fiction and non-fiction, by a new author. Now you may be asking yourself, "how can a victory not be a sign of progress?" When the victory comes with the protests of several of the judges who, apparently, did not believe that a comic deserved an award of such stature. Ware's graphic novel is about, "Jimmy's journey to the city to meet his father for the first time at the age of 36. The trip reveals that his grandfather was just as defeated by the world as he," (Gibbons). The story gained acclaim for its ability to balance humor with the dramatic. It also won by a single vote. Gibbons describes the voting among the judges as, "controversial". However, the literary editor of the Guardian was also quoted in the same article as saying, "Chris Ware has produced a book as beautiful as any published this year, but also one which challenges us to think again about what literature is and where it is going," (Gibbons).
Perhaps the single greatest leap in the acceptance of comics came in Times' 2005 list, the "All-Time 100 Novels", where Alan Moore's The Watchmen ranked among the likes of "To Kill A Mockingbird" and "The Catcher In the Rye". Of course within the paragraph discussing this well known graphic novel, Lev Grossman of Time wrote, "Watchmen is a graphic novel — a book-length comic book with ambitions above its station," (Grossman). The "above its station" remark seems to offer a back-handed compliment, which at once praises the individual work, while belittling the medium to which it belongs. Its most significant achievement of The Watchmen's inclusion in Time's 100 was best stated by Dr. Terry Harpold of the University of Florida who pointed out, "They didn't say, 'the best graphic novel'. They just placed it with all the other novels. They treated it as a form that merited that stature." This is significant, because, even though they placed it apart from other comics, they still recognized that a work from that medium can rise in achievement to works of the classic novel. This transition was further articulated to me by Dr. Harpold who said, "I think we are entering a phase in which people are beginning to attend to comics as an expressive medium that could be seen on equal footing [as novels]". In other words, we are presently witnessing this transition within the medium, into a form that is garnering wider acceptance. Time's inclusion of the Watchmen is merely one example of this.
As if to further accentuate Dr. Harpold's remarks, another graphic novel has recently won a very prestigious literature award. In April of 2010, the award for "Best Book For Older Readers" went to "Nelson Mandela: The Authorized Comic Book". The graphic novel by, Umlando Wezithombe, tells the biographical tale of, "Nelson Mandela’s life from his birth in 1918 to his retirement in 2004," (Mandela). This award, is not only evidence of the giant strides that comics have made in the literary community, but the means of the graphic novel's conception also shows the growing trend of utilizing comics for educational purposes. This graphic novel was designed specifically to educate young adults about Nelson Mandela, who might not have been inclined to read a lengthier biography. In fact, "Unlando Wezithombe is a comic production company focusing on using the visual medium for education, training and entertainment," (Mandela). It should be noted as well, that with the announcement of this graphic novel winning the award there were no mentions of it existing beyond its form's station, or any great controversy surrounding its victory. It was simply presented as the best story of that year.
Comics are not only winning acceptance within the realm of awards but in the greater academic community as well. You may have wondered why Dr. Harpold was sought as an expert for this article? The reason is that he is one of the professors at the University of Florida who teach a doctorate level study of, "Comics and Visual Rhetoric". When I learned this, I was fascinated to learn that the University of Florida was not alone in its treatment of the comics' medium as one deserving of doctorate level study. I asked Dr. Harpold to discuss why it is important to study comics as literature. Dr. Harpold replied, "Specific things happen in comics. How stories are told, the events, places and [how] people are represented that don't appear in other media...They have unique properties and characteristics. It is incumbent to us, as scholars, to pay attention to comics the way we would the specific traits of film, print media and static images."
With my curiosity peaked, I wanted to know about which specific aspects of comics were being studied. To further extrapolate the concepts being explored in the University's doctorate, Dr Harpold introduced me to one of his graduate students who was preparing a doctorate thesis on the "Gotham Sirens". Who would have thought that these characters existed as useful tools to understand not only female empowerment, but also the means to develop modals on how people cope with trauma. In Melissa's own words, " I think the popularity of these characters speaks to our own feelings of helplessness resulting from our own psychological and emotional traumas.... The Sirens narrative has a way, as most narratives do, of empowering the reader by allowing him or her to vicariously beat down the threat of trauma, of fear, of loss, etc., through these characters own battles." By researching the literary concepts behind these characters and analyzing why they are popular, they help us further understand ourselves. The logic behind this idea is sound when you consider that these comics, and characters, have endured throughout generations. As Dr. Harpold puts it, "[Comics] have emerged primarily as a popular medium....and because they have been cast as a popular medium...they are more symptomatic of our culture's fears and desires. If they are successful, it must be because they connect with that audience...[they are a] barometer of that culture."
As previously mentioned, Melissa is also utilizing the stories of the various Gotham Sirens to look at how they reflect ideas of female empowerment. "because these are female characters that we are dealing with, their narratives also speak to a feminist discourse of abuse and empowerment, and struggling against the bitter reality of a cruel and unjust society." To accomplish this, Melissa is analyzing the many different women that together make up the Gotham Sirens. For instance, "Pamela Isley's fetishism originates from her disavowal of being separated from the Mother figure; in this case, the natural, Mother Earth, and so her depictions are hyper-feminized, hyper-sexualized, and she is often very maternal." Melissa also surmises in regard to Harley Quinn's fetish as, "... a product of an Oedipal complex that aims to seduce the Joker (as both father and lover), and so her representation in the comics is one that compliments his own perverse obsessions and maintains her as forever the child." The uniqueness among the rogue gallery that makes up the Gotham Sirens, according to Melissa, is that, "The different fetishes work together to create a family dynamic between the characters... trauma is combated not solely through the fetish, but by the emotional and psychological support of each woman by the other two." The third in this trio being Selina Kyle.
The Gotham Sirens are not alone in peaking the interest of academics, but all comics have an aspect worthy of study. There is The Walking Dead who Dr. Harpold offered as a possible representative, "...scenario for dealing with the sense in American culture that somehow we lost control...There would only be individual initiative if everything could be wiped clean...and if I survived, I could remake the world...It is a concept that Bryan Aldiss called the 'Cozy Catastrophe'." It can be theorized that that The Walking Dead's popularity stems then from its ability to tap into our culture's collective consciousness.
There is also symbolism to be found in the daily struggles of superheroes such as Superman. I am not even steering towards the oft-used savior analogy that is now forever linked to the character. Dr. Harpold points to the fact that superheroes, like Superman, "are always under threat...what attracts us is not the winning, but the eternal struggle...[our] mundane struggles [are] amplified...The superheroes struggle purifies that [struggle] by amplifying them into world affairs...If it turns into crazy, world shattering, madman vs. the Man of Steel [the struggle] is simplified." Dr. Harpold continues, "Batman is the moment of crisis. The quiet desperation in everyone's life, is reduced to an elemental struggle. We see this in Homer's Odyssey and the Gilgamesh Epic." In other words, reading of these characters' hardships becomes like therapy which allows us to cope with our own problems in life. And much like in our life, the superheroes that we root for, as Dr. Harpold points out, "...Can't win". There is always another battle to be fought, just like in our lives where there is always a conflict with which we are being faced. In this way, understanding what we read and why, helps us understand ourselves.
It is not solely the characters and their battles that is of interest to contemporary scholars but how these stories are told, unique to the medium, that is of academic interest. One important characteristic of comic books that is being closely analyzed is the "image texts". In other words, how the text balloons, captions, etc show up on the page. For an example of the importance of the text itself as a tool in storytelling, Dr. Harpold introduced me to the works of Alfred Bester. Not only was Bester the creator of the Green Lantern oath in the 40's but his use of texts in his stories was also revolutionary. Bester utilized, "graphic textual elements...when certain events occur in the novel, this is represented not by just a description, but the text start to shoot all over the page. [In Bester's work] 'The Stars, My Destination", the hero is capable of...[movement] through time and space, and when he does this the type on the page start going vertically and diagonally." This all part of what Dr. Harpold describes as the field of "visual rhetoric" which is "words and images on the page". To further explain this concept, Dr. Harpold explained that, "Text does not repeat the image. There is a feedback system between them. One thing that comics do with extraordinary force is that they address the possibility of these two forms of representation working in juxtaposition and against each other." In other words the use of texts on the page can allow for additional dimensions of storytelling. While this use of texts is possible in other literary forms, these forms do not do so with the frequency and success of comics. This offers another avenue for scholars to evaluate how readers interpret literature and offers another facet of storytelling to also be explored. We can also learn further details about how the mind processes information, by examining how texts and images relate on the page within comic books. In other words, comics offer many elements worthy of serious study.
Now that comics have been established as a literary format deserving of study, what type of jobs are available to someone with a doctorate degree in comic studies? Dr. Harpold explained that he, "Encourages graduates, who work in comic studies to diversify their portfolio...There are not a lot of comic study jobs out there...We are beginning to see, over the last five years, an increasing number of jobs at universities, that are research and teaching jobs, where people are saying, 'We want people to work in these five areas,' and one of those areas will be comic studies or the analysis of image texts... The job market is opening up for them." Now do not take the comment about the lack of comic study jobs out there as a knock on the medium or a sign that the University of Florida's Comic Studies program is some sort of fringe program. Due to the current attitude around universities about where to focus their academic and financial attention towards, prospective candidates for hire are being expected to teach courses in English that cover multiple genres, periods and formats. In other words, most professors now are expected to be a jack of all trades within the umbrella subject of English or literature. Dr. Harpold commented that comic studies are being increasingly sought after by universities looking for an expert in 20th century literature. So while comics as an academic field may be in small demand, for the moment, someone who is proficient in the study of them is actually desired by many colleges. For instance, Melissa is looking to become, "an English professor at a well-established university and continue doing research." It is important to realize that in saying one wants to be an English professor, or offering the position of an English professor, with a comic study background, automatically places the medium of comics on equal footing with other literary genres and fields.
And the University of Florida is not alone in viewing comics on this equal footing. On the University of Ohio homepage you can find an article discussing their adding of a, "new series to its literature and literary studies publications. Studies in Comics and Cartoons," (OSU). On their site they comment that, "Comics studies is the epitome of a growing scholarly pursuit that is continually gaining both public and critical attention". You can also study comics at the University of Mississippi and Webster University, just to name a few.
The important fact to remember is that comics have become recognized as true literature, even in the eyes of those who pride themselves in knowing what great literature is supposed to be. For this reason, comics have greater freedom with the stories they tell. The age range for comics will increase as it becomes increasingly acceptable for people to read comics at older and older ages. Also the increased attention on comics at Universities will also widen the audience to who will demand more diverse stories. Also, through the years, the shame some people may feel in saying they read comics is ever diminishing. In time commenting that you read comics to a complete stranger will feel the same as saying you read novels or poetry. "The battle has now, in fact, been won. Not only are comics appealing to a wider and older audience than ever before, but the idea of comics as a valid art form . . . is widely if not quite universally accepted... Fredric Wertham must be turning in his grave," (Saler).
Works Cited
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Gibbons, Fiachra. "Graphic Novel Wins Guardian Book Award". http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2001/dec/07/books.booksnews. The Guardian. 12-7-2001. Guardian News Media Limited. 2010.
Grossman, Lev. "Watchmen (1986) by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons". All Time 100 Novels. 10-16-2005. Time, Inc. 2010. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1951793_1951946_1952878,00.html.
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OSU. "Cartoon Library & Museum". The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum. 2010. http://cartoons.osu.edu/
Pustz, Mathew. Comic Book Culture. Jackson. University Press of Mississippi. 1999
Saler, Michael. "The Rise of Fan Fiction and Comic Book Culture". The Sunday Times. 6-4-2008. Time Newspapers. 2010.
Spiegelman, Nadja. "Art Spiegelman". Pantheon. Random House, Inc. 2010
Wikipedia. "The Sandman (Vertigo)". Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 9-23-2010.
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