Tag: comics

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World Literature and Graphic Novel Syllabus

Last semester, I taught a course entitled The Reverberations of World War II where students read works by Anna Seghers, Victor Serge, Magda Szabó, Intizar Husain, and Yasa Katsuei. The course focused, specifically, on the lead up to the war (Katsuei), the war itself (Seghers, Serge, and Szabó), and the aftermath of the war (Szabó and Husain) across the world from Korea to France to Hungary … Read More World Literature and Graphic Novel Syllabus

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Eradicating Hate is “Like Trying to Erode a Mountain and the Truth is Rain”

When I first read Chip Zdarsky and Daniel Acuña’s Avengers: Twilight earlier this year, I knew I wanted to teach it at some point, and I did just that in my “Who Watches Superheroes?” course. As I reread the series in preparation for class, Bullseye’s comments in issue #5 as the Avengers moved to attack Red Skull stood out. The series revolves around older versions of … Read More Eradicating Hate is “Like Trying to Erode a Mountain and the Truth is Rain”

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The Moral Majority and “X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills”

Writing about the lynching of Mark and Jill, two Black children, at the beginning of Chris Claremont and Brent Anderson’s X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills, John Jennings points out the use of the word “Mutie,” a label that the Purifiers put onto the dangling bodies of the two children. Jennings writes, “the slur “MUTIE” has come to represent for many, all racial, ethnic, homophobic and … Read More The Moral Majority and “X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills”

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“Who makes the world?” Religion and Morality in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s “Watchmen”

During Dr. Manhattan’s public reveal in March 1960 in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen, a newscaster stares into the camera and says, “The Superman exists, and he’s American.” Watchmen takes place in an alternate history where the United States won the Vietnam War, Richard Nixon remains president in 1985, and superhero “vigilantes,” inspired by the appearance of Superman and others in the late 1930s, protect individuals … Read More “Who makes the world?” Religion and Morality in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s “Watchmen”

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Fascism in Frank Miller and Klaus Janson’s “The Dark Knight Returns”

Constructing my syllabus for “Who Watches Superheroes?”, I knew I wanted to include early turns in the superhero genre towards self-reflection by including two seminal works from the mid-1980s: Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen and Frank Miller and Klaus Janson’s The Dark Knight Returns. It has been a while since I read each of these books, and looking at articles and discussions about The Dark Knight Returns, … Read More Fascism in Frank Miller and Klaus Janson’s “The Dark Knight Returns”