Without a doubt Chris Ware is one of the preeminent creators of comics today. He is a brilliant figure in a generation of extraordinarily talented people. Granted, there are a lot of innovators in the field right now, but no one else in the last seventy years has explored the capabilities of the genre to the same extent as has Ware. His genius, in part, comes from his interest in and understanding of the past accomplishments of figures such as George Herriman and Winsor McCay. One might even say that much of his work is somewhat archaeological in nature: he is interested in a reclamation of the past. Rather than merely excavating the achievements of past masters for the sake of history, however, Ware is also fortifying, expanding, and enriching comics so that it might flourish in the present. This work begins with a broad examination of the nature of comics. First by briefly discussing the cognitive operations involved in processing this hybrid medium, then by surveying the generic branches of comics, and then by offering an historic examination of its contemporary development, which goes back as far as the sixteenth century. Next is an analysis of comics in relation to literature, film, and the visual arts. Comics utilizes elements from all of these, but it also offers a unique narrative experience. This book primarily focuses upon Ware’s magnum opus to date, Jimmy Corrigan. It contextualizes his work within developments in comics over the last fifty years, as well as comparing him to other prominent figures such as Will Eisner, Art Spiegelman, Daniel Clowes, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Lynda Barry, and Frank Miller.

An assessment of the achievement and aesthetic of one of America's brightest comics innovators

Nine critically acclaimed cartoonists and graphic novelists invite us into their studios to discuss their art and inspirations These studio visits with some of today's most popular and innovative comic artists present an unparalleled look at the cutting edge of the comic medium. The artists, some of whom rarely grant interviews, offer insights into the creative process, their influences and personal sources of inspiration, and the history of comics. The interviews amount to private gallery tours, with the artists commenting, now thoughtfully, now passionately, on their own work as well as the works of others. The book is generously illustrated with full-color reproductions of the artists' works, including some that have been published and others not originally intended for publication, such as sketchbooks and personal projects. Additional illustrations show behind-the-scenes working processes of the cartoonists and particular works by others that have influenced or inspired them. Through the eyes of these artists, we see with a new clarity the achievement of contemporary cartoonists and the extraordinary possibilities of comic art.

A concise introduction to one of today's fastest-growing, most exciting fields, Comics Studies: A Guidebook outlines core research questions and introduces comics' history, form, genres, audiences, and industries. Authored by a diverse roster of leading scholars, this Guidebook offers a perfect entryway to the world of comics scholarship.

When it comes to recounting history, issues arise as to whose stories are told and how reliable is the telling. This collection of fourteen essays explores the unique ways in which graphic novels can aid us in addressing those issues while shedding new light on a variety of texts, including those by canonical North American and European writers Art Spiegelman (Maus, In the Shadow of No Towers), Alan Moore (From Hell, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), Frank Miller (The Dark Knight Returns), Chris Ware (Jimmy Corrigan), Chester Brown (Louis Riel), and Harvey Pekar. Recognizing the global appeal of graphic novels, this collection also provides a fresh look at history seen through the eyes of canonical non-Western writers Marjane Starapi (Persepolis) and Yoshihiro Tatsumi (A Drifting Life) and the highly vexed relationship of the West and the Middle East. The array of contributors (from the fields of art, literature, history, and cultural studies) is matched by the array of theoretical perspectives and by the depth and breadth of subjects, ranging from the sixteenth century voyages of Sebastian Cabot to Jack the Ripper, from the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 to lynching in the early twentieth-century American South, and from post-war Japan to the fall of the Shah in Iran.

On the surface, the relationship between comics and the ‘high’ arts once seemed simple; comic books and strips could be mined for inspiration, but were not themselves considered legitimate art objects. Though this traditional distinction has begun to erode, the worlds of comics and art continue to occupy vastly different social spaces. Comics Versus Art examines the relationship between comics and the most important institutions of the art world, including museums, auction houses, and the art press. Bart Beaty's analysis centres around two questions: why were comics excluded from the history of art for most of the twentieth century, and what does it mean that comics production is now more closely aligned with the art world? Approaching this relationship for the first time through the lens of the sociology of culture, Beaty advances a completely novel approach to the comics form.

Autobiography has seen enormous expansions and challenges over the past decades. One of these expansions has been in comics, and it is an expansion that pushes back against any postmodern notion of the death of the author/subject, while also demanding new approaches from critics. Drawing from Life: Memory and Subjectivity in Comic Art is a collection of essays about autobiography, semi-autobiography, fictionalized autobiography, memory, and self-narration in sequential art, or comics. Contributors come from a range of academic backgrounds including English, American studies, comparative literature, gender studies, art history, and cultural studies. The book engages with well-known figures such as Art Spiegelman, Marjane Satrapi, and Alison Bechdel; with cult-status figures such as Martin Vaughn-James; and with lesser-known works by artists such as Frédéric Boilet. Negotiations between artist/writer/body and drawn/written/text raise questions of how comics construct identity, and are read and perceived, requiring a critical turn towards theorizing the comics' viewer. At stake in comic memoir and semi-autobiography is embodiment. Remembering a scene with the intent of rendering it in sequential art requires nonlinear thinking and engagement with physicality. Who was in the room and where? What was worn? Who spoke first? What images dominated the encounter? Did anybody smile? Man or mouse? Unhinged from the summary paragraph, the comics artist must confront the fact of the flesh, or the corporeal world, and they do so with fascinating results.

Computer technology has completely revolutionized the work of graphic designers, printers, and print production professionals. To keep pace with these far-reaching changes, Production for Graphic Designers is set firmly in the digital age. This revised fourth edition embraces all the new and emerging technologies in graphics and print production, comprehensibly explaining the prepress and printing processes from traditional letterpress to the latest on-press CtP (computer-to-plate) digital offset and on-demand colour printing. It also covers new workflows and spells out the many acronyms encountered by today's designers. As well as covering print, it provides an authoritative guide to working in digital media, particularly the internet. There are also additional feature spreads on key graphic designers Bruce Mau, Paul Rand, Chris Ware and Pentagram.

Comics have always embraced a diversity of formats, existing in complex relationships to other media, and been dynamic in their response to new technologies and means of distribution. This collection explores interactions between comics, other media and technologies, employing a wide range of theoretical and critical perspectives. By focusing on key critical concepts within multimodality (transmediality, adaptation, intertextuality) and addressing multiple platforms and media (digital, analogue, music, prose, linguistics, graphics), it expands and develops existing comics theory and also addresses multiple other media and disciplines. Over the last decade Studies in Comics has been at the forefront of international research in comics. This volume showcases some of the best research to appear in the journal. In so doing it demonstrates the evolution of Comics Studies over the last decade and shows how this research field has engaged with various media and technologies in a continuously evolving artistic and production environment. The theme of multimodality is particularly apt since media and technologies have changed significantly during this period. The collection will thus give a view of the ways in which comics scholars have engaged with multimodality during a time when “modes” were continually changing.

Whether one describes them as sequential art, graphic narratives or graphic novels, comics have become a vital part of contemporary culture. Their range of expression contains a tremendous variety of forms, genres and modes − from high to low, from serial entertainment for children to complex works of art. This has led to a growing interest in comics as a field of scholarly analysis, as comics studies has established itself as a major branch of criticism. This handbook combines a systematic survey of theories and concepts developed in the field alongside an overview of the most important contexts and themes and a wealth of close readings of seminal works and authors. It will prove to be an indispensable handbook for a large readership, ranging from researchers and instructors to students and anyone else with a general interest in this fascinating medium.