Ian Gordon is a cultural historian. He writes on comic strips and comic books and film and television. [1]
Gordon earned a PhD in history at the University of Rochester. In 2015-16 he offered a Superhero Entertainments MOOC through the Coursera platform.
Gordon uses comic strips to make an argument about American culture. He says that comic strips were one of the first forms of truly national culture, by which he means people all over the country read them on the same day, and so had shared experiences, and that this happened on a widespread basis as early as 1908. He also ties comic strips to transformations in advertising styles, and not just the comic strip advertising style of the 1930s but the generalized use of more images in advertising as the twentieth century progressed. The book even has a chapter on the beginnings of comic books, which is a useful short overview and has good information on the early Superman. On 11 April 2011 he created an online version of the book which can be found at academia.edu.
The Journal of American History said: "Gordon has done historians a service by recognizing the importance of popular visual sources as important clues to understanding American culture. And the book is not only informative but fun to read." [2]
American Journalism said: "a must read for any scholar interested in the question of popular culture." [3]
This book addresses Superman's place in American culture and discusses the way the character was shaped through interactions between writers, artists, editors, publishers, and readers. Gordon looks at Superman in his many media versions and also licensed items.
Writing in Choice John Lent said "the research for Superman: The Persistence of an American Icon is extraordinarily rich, the analysis is meticulously conceived and implemented, and the writing is clear and interesting, spiced with anecdotes, asides, and quotes." [4]
On April 26, 2018 this book was nominated for an Eisner Award for best scholarly work on comics. [5]
A comic book, comic-magazine or simply 'comic', is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and written narrative, usually dialogue contained in word balloons emblematic of the comics art form.
Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book Action Comics #1. Superman has been adapted to several other media including radio serials, novels, films, television shows, theater, and video games.
Comics are a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically takes the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate dialogue, narration, sound effects, or other information. There is no consensus among theorists and historians on a definition of comics; some emphasize the combination of images and text, some sequentiality or other image relations, and others historical aspects such as mass reproduction or the use of recurring characters. Cartooning and other forms of illustration are the most common means of image-making in comics. Photo comics is a form that uses photographic images. Common forms include comic strips, editorial and gag cartoons, and comic books. Since the late 20th century, bound volumes such as graphic novels, comic albums, and tankōbon have become increasingly common, along with webcomics as well as scientific/medical comics.
The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era in the history of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many well-known characters were introduced, including Superman, Batman, Robin, Captain Marvel, Captain America, and Wonder Woman.
Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman, professionally known as Art Spiegelman, is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel Maus. His work as co-editor on the comics magazines Arcade and Raw has been influential, and from 1992 he spent a decade as contributing artist for The New Yorker. He is married to designer and editor Françoise Mouly and is the father of writer Nadja Spiegelman. In September 2022, the National Book Foundation announced that he would receive the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
Scott McCloud is an American cartoonist and comics theorist. His non-fiction books about comics, Understanding Comics (1993), Reinventing Comics (2000), and Making Comics (2006), are made in comic form.
Richard Felton Outcault was an American cartoonist. He was the creator of the series The Yellow Kid and Buster Brown and is considered a key pioneer of the modern comic strip.
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art is a 1993 non-fiction work of comics by American cartoonist Scott McCloud. It explores formal aspects of comics, the historical development of the medium, its fundamental vocabulary, and various ways in which these elements have been used. It expounds theoretical ideas about comics as an art form and medium of communication, and is itself written in comic book form.
National Comics Publications was an American comic book publishing company. It was the direct predecessor of modern-day DC Comics.
More Fun Comics, originally titled New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine, is a 1935–1947 American comic book anthology that introduced several major superhero characters and was the first American comic book series to feature solely original material rather than reprints of newspaper comic strips. It was also the first publication of National Allied Publications, the company that would become DC Comics.
In fiction, an origin story is an account or backstory revealing how a character or group of people become a protagonist or antagonist.
Ethnic stereotypes in comics have evolved over time, reflecting the changing political climate.
Gene Luen Yang is an American cartoonist. He is a frequent lecturer on the subjects of graphic novels and comics, at comic book conventions and universities, schools, and libraries. In addition, he was the Director of Information Services and taught computer science at Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland, California. In 2012, Yang joined the faculty at Hamline University as a part of the Low-Residency Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults (MFAC) program. In 2016, the U.S. Library of Congress named him Ambassador for Young People's Literature. That year he became the third graphic novelist, alongside Lauren Redniss, to receive a MacArthur Fellowship.
Funnyman is a comic book character whose adventures were published in 1948 by Magazine Enterprises.
Black people have been portrayed in comics since the medium's beginning, with their portrayals often the subject of controversy. Mainstream comic publishing companies have had a historical trend of being predominantly white and male, reflecting the lack of representation and inaccurate depictions of Black people in comics. The integration of black characters in mainstream and superhero comics has endured various obstacles and challenges. Critics have noted that black men and women have historically often been portrayed as jungle or ghetto stereotypes, and as sidekicks as opposed to primary characters. Occiasionally, comic book creators would lampshade stereotypes, lack of representation and emphasize social injustices. In recent years, with the integration of more Black people in mainstream comic writing rooms as well as the creation of comics on digital platforms has changed the representation and portrayals of Black people in comics and has started to reflect the complexities of Black people across the diaspora.
Comics studies is an academic field that focuses on comics and sequential art. Although comics and graphic novels have been generally dismissed as less relevant pop culture texts, scholars in fields such as semiotics, aesthetics, sociology, composition studies and cultural studies are now re-considering comics and graphic novels as complex texts deserving of serious scholarly study.
The history of American comics began in the 19th century in mass print media, in the era of sensationalist journalism, where newspaper comics served as further entertainment for mass readership. In the 20th century, comics became an autonomous art medium and an integral part of American culture.
WomenWriteAboutComics (WWAC) is a comic book website, founded in December 2011 by Megan Purdy. The site has been nominated four times for an Eisner Award, winning three back-to-back from 2020-2022. As of 2022, the site is run by Wendy Browne and Nola Pfau.
An Irish comic is a periodical published in Ireland that contains comic strips. Ireland's comic book market has historically been very small, and closely linked to the British market. In recent years, many comics have been released with themes drawn from Irish mythology and history. The Irish comic industry has its roots in Irish nationalism and Irish Catholicism. Most comics are in English, but some in the Irish language have also been produced. Authors have often portrayed Cú Chulainn and the like as superheroes, and made explicit connection between them and Irish revolutionaries.