Providing an overview of the dynamic field of comics and graphic novels
for students and researchers, this Essential Guide contextualises the
major research trends, debates and ideas that have emerged in Comics
Studies over the past decades. Interdisciplinary and international in
its scope, the critical approaches on offer spread across a wide range
of strands, from the formal and the ideological to the historical,
literary and cultural.
Its concise chapters provide accessible introductions to comics
methodologies, comics histories and cultures across the world,
high-profile creators and titles, insights from audience and fan
studies, and important themes and genres, such as autobiography and
superheroes. It also surveys the alternative and small press alongside
general reference works and textbooks on comics. Each chapter is
complemented by list of key reference works.