Studying Comics and Graphic Novels

“A much-needed textbook that provides an analytical toolkit to bring to bear on the complexities of comics as narrative art and cultural practice. It is both rigorous and reader-friendly: the case-study approach encourages an active application of the conceptual framework that is carefully built up. This book is a real asset for all students of comics.”—Ann Miller, University of Leicester

“Karin Kukkonen’s Studying Comics provides the reader with the tools necessary to transform themselves quickly from a comics reader to a comics scholar, capable of engaging graphic narratives from a broad range of approaches and ready to engage in this dynamic and emerging field of study. This is a smart introduction that takes both its readers and its comics very seriously indeed, while always remaining lively and accessible.”—Jared Gardner, Ohio State University

Today’s comics and graphic novels tackle serious themes and win Pulitzer prizes. This guide introduces their distinctive characteristics, traces their historical development, and analyzes their narrative structure. An ideal course book, the text includes material on sub-genres, such as autobiography and literary adaptation, and deploys the principles of cognitive science to explore how we respond to texts that fuse visual and linguistic storytelling techniques.

Studying Comics and Graphic Novels includes study activities, assignments, and essay questions on each topic as well as an extensive glossary and list of prominent comic and graphic novel publications, making this an invaluable student resource.