From Author J. Andrew Deman a look at different groups in comics. What are the consequences for an art-form when it establishes century-long tradition of taking the low road when it comes to representations of women, racial minorities and geeks?More importantly, how can an art-form move beyond such a tradition? Comics have frequently relied upon Othering practices such as stereotype when representing minority characters. This tendency, in turn, contributes to the low cultural status of comics throughout the better part of the last century. In recent years, however, comics artists have cultivated revisioning techniques that challenge the use of Othering practices in comics. These efforts represent an important step in the push toward what is now known as the mics-as-literature movement. In essence, The Margins of Comics is a chronicle of how Othering lowered the cultural status of comics and how revisioning allowed a new generation of artists to carve a different path for an often maligned art-form.
Dr. J. Andrew Deman is a faculty member and lecturer at the University of Waterloo, where he teaches courses on The Superhero, Fantasy, and Science Fiction. Andrew’s comics work is published in Critical Survey of Graphic Novels, American Visual Memoir After the 1970s, English Studies Forum, TRANSverse, and in the forthcoming Canadian Graphic Life Narratives. Andrew also served as a featured expert for the ten part comics documentary series INK: Alter Egos Exposed. Andrew is now serving as the President of the Canadian Society for the Study of Comics (CSSC), and blogging/microblogging about all things comics and geeky through doctordeman. wordpress.com and, on Twitter, @AndrewDeman.
Book Details:
The Margins of Comics
By J. Andrew Deman
ISBN: 978-0-9938286-0-7
$27.50 (CAN)
Pages: 180