Subject: Comic Art Studies #55 (p. 6-12) Date: Thu, 8 Feb 1996 17:10:48 -0500 (EST) From: "Peter M Coogan" <[c--ga--e] at [pilot.msu.edu]> PAGE 6 6-1 Comics Scholars Survey Results Edited by Peter M. Coogan For the past four years the Comics Scholars Survey has attempted to track what needs to be done, as well as what has already been done, in the study of comics, and to take stock of the current state of comics scholarship. The questionnaire appeared in the last issue of the newsletter. Please write for the survey and complete results; (email: [c--ga--e] at [pilot.msu.edu]). These responses have come in over the past year. A. Defining the medium. A.1. What is the definition of comics? and what is included in the term comics? (comic books, comic strips, single panel, editorial cartoons, etc.) Gene Phillips echoed McCloud's definition with his comment that "no one has managed to improve on Will Eisner's definition of comics as 'graphic narrative'" with the qualification that this definition implies "the existence of at least two panels for there to be a progression of narrative." He continued that, although single-panel cartoons employ some of the devices best popularized by narrative comics--particularly the caption or dialogue-balloon, they should still be designated as "cartoons" only, despite the public's tendency to lump together such cartoons and comics. Because such single-panels capture only one moment in time, as book illustrations and paintings do, they cannot truly deal with the devices of narrative, and comics imply narrative. A.2. Are comics unique? and if so, why? Guillaume de Syon added that "Comics are unique as far as their quasi-universal appeal goes." This response seems to tie in well with Scott McCloud's idea of the universality of the cartoon image (Understanding 31). Gene Phillips finds comics' uniqueness in the combination of "the kinetic appeal of media like films and TV with a more meditative appeal characteristic of the appreciation of books and paintings." One can take as much time as one likes to pore over a favorite scene. Comics, therefore, offer more meditative potential than film, and allow one to process greater amounts of information than with film, but less than with prose. Comic books somewhat overshadow comic strips in this area, "even when such strips are collected, their nature--which might be called 'punctuated,' as each strip must be as a sentence--confers a certain 'jumpiness' of texture, whether said strip is part of a larger continuity or not." This 'jumpiness' is much less pronounced in comic books, even when they appear in chapter-form, Phillips feels. A.3. What are the particular strengths and weaknesses of the medium? Guillaume de Syon put forward the idea that "the very strength of comics (they can be understood and enjoyed at many levels, hence their wide appeal) is also its weakness, for how many people will try to go beyond the primary story/art display?" A.6. What are the extremes, in terms of balancing words and pictures, that are acceptable as comics? Jeffrey Brown's answer speaks to the difficulty of defining the medium, "A comic without any words is still a comic, but without any pictures it isn't." Barb Rausch echoed this definition, "Comics can be a wordless narrative sequence of illustrations--like Lynd Ward's woodcut novels--but not a pictureless narrative sequence of words!" Scott McCloud addressed precisely this issue in Understanding Comics when he switched the word "static" for the words "pictorial and other images" (8-9). B. History B.1. What histories have been written? B.2. What do you like or dislike about these histories? Barb Rausch mentioned that she liked histories which are written from a "genuine and enlightened in-depth engagement with the subject matter," and cited Jules Feiffer's The Great Comic Book Heroes as an example. Gene Phillips noted the number of good "diachronic histories," but cited their limitations coming from their focus on "tracing comics-phenomenon purely in terns of historical events." He mentioned Mike Benton's The Comic Book In America as an exception to this rule, due to Benton's inclusion of genres. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- PAGE 7 B.3. What kind of histories need to be written? Gene Phillips called for more "synchronic histories" that deal with specific topics, and he cited The Many Lives of the Batman as a good start, "although its discussion of other media- representations detracts somewhat from consideration of the comics." To this I would add that the superhero needs to be studied first and foremost in its home medium, comics, although the interaction and interdependence of superhero comics and superheroes in other media should always be appreciated. B.5. What age are we in, and is ages a good way to continue to define historical periods? (Golden, Silver, Marvel, Bronze, New, Independent, Baroque, etc.) Barb Rausch believes that the Independent Age is a justifiable term, given the critical and commercial success of independent comics and the influential work of independent creators on mainstream characters. Gene Phillips cited Darrell Boatz's breakdown of the various ages in CAPA-Alpha , which designated the current age as the "Age of Plastic." He reminds us that "so long as we keep in mind that an 'age' denotes primarily a nexus of creative influence in a particular field, it is a useful designation (and probably an unavoidable one). I will try to find Boatz's breakdown and include in an update of the survey. C. Industry C.1. What about the industry has been and needs to be studied? (independent publishers, censorship, creator's rights, etc.) Guillaume de Syon asked for study on the ways the comics industry has shifted in response to comics becoming "acceptable" adult entertainment. Barb Rausch turns this desire on its head, suggesting that we study marketing to find ways to broaden our audience, to develop a wider variety of comics, and to create new marketing techniques to reach wider segments of society, particularly the almost untouched women's market, and the overlooked seniors, all of whom grew up on the great newspaper continuity strips. C.2. How is the comics industry similar to and different from other media industries (t.v., film, recording, etc.) and how do we know this? Amy Nyberg brought up the issue of DC's role in the Time-Warner conglomerate, and the domination of the comic book market by Marvel. Barb Rausch broadened this issue to encompass the way that comics, as an industry, share the corporate mindset at the executive and upper editorial levels, as well as the focus of other entertainment industries on the youth market and the almost built-in pop culture tendency to repeat, with slight variations, anything that sells. She continued, that comics, "almost alone among pop culture mass media--can still be the creation and labor of a single person, and be produced and distributed on an individual's shoestring budget (which was also mentioned in A.3.). E. Gender As in H. Superheroes below, Donna Barr raised a methodological issue, "Why are gender issues to be questioned more specifically than other issues? And why do 'gender issues' seem to be narrowed, at least in the survey outline, to topics dealing mainly with gay/lesbian issues?" Gender seemed to me to be an important issue, so I included it on my original questionnaire in a general sense (E.1.). The gay/lesbian focus represents the responses that have come in. In this survey I am not trying to shape the polylogue, but to report on it. I welcome the expansion of the topics and the discussion in the survey. E.1. What work needs to be done on gender issues? Barb Rausch would like to see comics marketed toward children and youth to be responsible about perpetuating negative stereotypes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- PAGE 8 E.2.a. What gay/lesbian comics are there? Barb Rausch mentioned the limited range of comics by/for/about gays and lesbians that she is acquainted with, most notably Donna Barr's The Desert Peach, Tim Barela's Leonard and Larry, Leanne Franson's mini-comic Lilane, and the 1989 Gay Comics anthology (from New American Library), besides the creators mentioned above. She also mentioned P. Craig Russell's work, specifically his opera comics, as an example of non-gay oriented material by gay creators. She also noted that adult material is usually labeled as such so that it can be responsibly retailed, but that a certain amount of institutional homophobia in the business has impacted on the distribution and critical acknowledgment of comics work equal in quality to any being done today. Craig Russell himself mentioned his adaptation of Oscar Wilde's work--both the fairy tales and Salome--which are not gay themed, but obviously gay related. E.2.c. How have gays and lesbians been portrayed in comics? Barb Rausch echoed this understanding by noting that the range of portrayal runs from highly sensitive portrayals such as The Desert Peach to what she has heard are irresponsible stereotypes in mainstream comics that are inappropriate for material aimed at impressionable youth audience. F. Genre/Formula F.1. How can genre/formula theory be applied to comics? Gene Phillips found that genre/formula theory is best applied to comics in terms of the concepts of "conventions" and "inventions:" the "one serving to convey to the reader something of the rules of the game and the other serving to vary the theme enough to provide pleasurable surprise." As an example, he referred to the importance of keeping the "boy's adventure" genre in mind when looking at Barks' Disney work, rather than simply lumping it in with other series about anthropomorphic animals. He also pointed to the way that awareness of the existence of common conventions in the works of great artists helps to modify the "great man" theory of creativity, "by showing that even great artists do adapt into their repertoire ideas originally promulgated by lesser talents." F.2. What impact have comics had on genre/formula in other media? and what impact has genre/formula in other media had on comics? Guillaume de Syon mentioned the use of "photo-novel" (very like he means fumetti) and comics-inspired characters--fake ones, la Liechtenstein--as an alternative to paying rights for famous comics heroes. Barb Rausch commented that since the inception of visual mass media in the U.S., starting with newspaper comic strips, there has been a lot of cross over; comic books and strips have always had a heavy emphasis on melodrama, especially when it generates intense images, which most often arise out of action and violence, and more recently, sexuality and sexually provocative images. Melodrama lends itself to formula, and gives rise to genre themes. Comic books have inherited the melodrama of the newspaper continuity strips and intensified it. F.3. How does genre/formula work in comics? and which ones work better or worse? Barb Rausch said that any genre or formula can achieve the level of art in the hands of talented creators, but like most popular culture media, comics seem to thrive on repeating, with slight variations, anything that sells big the first time around. Therefore "works better," defined solely by the profit motive, means the comics with the most intense action/violence/ sexually provocative imagery, i.e. superheroes. Gene Phillips mentioned that the last ten years have seen comics having a definite impact on the generic conventions of film and television; prior to that, most of the generic influence went strictly from the more popular media to the lesser. He noted the conceptual differences between the first Superman and the first Batman movie. In the Superman film, "the motifs of the comic book stories are basically inflated into a typical Hollywood-style epic, while in the Batman film the motifs of the comics are given center-state; there is no attempt to transcend or subsume them in generic conventions foreign to the original comics." He continued that the occasional success of films adapted from comics, like The Crow or The Mask, has dome much to promote the idea that comics have some identity of their own. F.4. Are the differences between comic books, comic strips, and the various kinds of cartoons generic differences or differences of media? What terms can be used to discuss these differences? Barb Rausch believes that a one-panel cartoon, or 3-4 panel gag strip that is not part of the "story arc" format that seems to have replaced plot in most newspaper strip continuities, does differ generically from what Will Eisner defined as "sequential narrative," which is essentially cinematic storytelling applied to the comics page. Comic books continually attempt to push the envelope of that principle--whether it be superheroes "blasting off the page," or the Disneyesque "cinematography" of Jeff Smith's Bone. She continued that in a comic book series--as opposed to a graphic novel with a since self-contained plot--another element operates, an element most clearly illustrated by the fan response to the original Star Trek TV series, which motivated extensive creative involvement by fans who expanded upon the television show with their own fiction and art. The same fan response affects fans of Wendy Pini's Elfquest , Donna Barr's Desert Peach, and other comics. One does not see that response with newspaper strips like The Far Side, Garfield, or Doonesbury. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- PAGE 9 G. Comics As An Art Form G.1. What questions are there about comics as an art form? Barb Rausch broadened the question to apply to any pop culture art form: How does it meet--or transcend--its criteria of form and aesthetics? G.2. What is at stake in claiming the status of art for comics? Guillaume de Syon summed it up, "In a nutshell, making comics respectable." Doing so will enable comics to reach an equilibrium of status with other media. He noted that many people seem to prefer obscure novels, even trashy ones, to comics on a bookshelf. G.3. What can we learn from the movement of other media into the status of art? Barb Rausch weighs in that jazz has become a respected art form, but that this recognition has come too late for too many of the creators who died in drugs and poverty. Rock music can also be art, but the peril there for creators seems to be an overdose of recognition. Certainly with the acclaim of Maus, the "cultural establishment" has begun "sniffing around" comics, "but as anyone who has read Tom Wolfe's The Painted Word would perceive, that might not be a positive occurrence!" In a paper I wrote for the Comics Arts Conference entitled: "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: The Effects of Academic Attention on Popular Art Forms: The Novel, Jazz, Film, and Comics," I found some common patterns which occurred when academics turned their attentions to popular art forms: 1. Gobbledygook writing that excludes readers through the use of jargon, confusing concepts, and an exclusionary attitude. 2. The production of sterile, academic work. 3. A formal training ground for artists and critics in the academy. 4. A level of cultural legitimacy and acceptance, instituted primarily by another art form coming up from "below." 5. The preservation of old texts. 6. Some insightful analysis that deepens and broadens our understanding of particular works of art, media, and the creative process itself. Very likely these patterns will recur in comics when they reach the academic level of acceptance of jazz, film, or the novel. Gene Phillips contended that, in promoting comics as an art-form, it would be wise to avoid the cant advanced by film critics (and some comics critics) that if business would simply promote and encourage the most artistically rewarding creations, then sooner or later the public would come around and put aside their love of pop-art. Phillips believes that "no medium can survive being made the exclusive domain of 'coterie' fiction; there must be an ongoing popular tradition in which the tastes of the many make possible the underwriting of the tastes of the few." The death of the popular tradition, in his view, will spell the death of the medium. Phillips does not believe, contrary to Dave Sim's hypothesis in a recent issue of Cerebus, that the "independent" creators can make a go of it alone. H. Superheroes Donna Barr raised a methodological issue. She asked, "Superheroes are only one generic story-form within comics. Are they the only subject or form to be discussed under the outlines of the survey?" Superheroes were the only comics genre I included in my original survey, primarily because the superhero is a direct scholarly interest of mine and other genres are not. Since then only gay/lesbian/bi comics have been suggested (not that they are necessarily a genre) and I included them under E. Gender because the response was to that area. Luca Somigli mentioned the comic strip/comic book question as a genre consideration. This survey originally reflected my own emphases and now reflects the responses that have come in. Other genres will be included when responses dealing with other genre come in (and I would really like to see them come in). H.1. What about superheroes needs to be studied? Gene Phillips put forward the most direct answer, that "Superheroes need to be studied for their ability to perpetuate in new terms the story-motifs characteristic of myth and folklore." Barb Rausch put forward these questions as profitable areas of study of superheroes: What are the truly creative--as well as best-selling--"re-creations" of superheroes, such as Alan Moore's Swamp Thing or Neil Gaiman's Sandman, and why do they work? Why do they succeed, critically and economically, without retractable claws or babes in spandex? Why is the marketing and distribution of comics so slanted to superheroes that it is almost negatively effective for other genres of comics, preventing the broadening of the scope of comics readership? She offered the example of how the Japanese successfully create and market comics targeted to every segment of their population as a possible methodology for looking at the U.S. situation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- PAGE 10 H.2. What approaches or methodologies work? Gene Phillips mentioned, as "the most rewarding" methodology, the structuralism of Levi-Strauss, given that many early superheroes have the feel of folk literature, despite the attempts of Marxist critics to simplify all modern media as "commodity literature." He also pointed to Jung's psychological notion of a collective unconscious as a worthwhile yardstick, proved one is able to avoid his attempt to see all motifs as psychological, and Levi-Strauss' to see everything as sociological. Phillips also cited Geoffrey Hill's book Illuminating Shadows, which studies several films in the context of modern myth, averring that they form a cinemasophia, and he offers the possibility that a parallel comicsophia has developed in the comics medium, despite, or perhaps because of, the low status of the comics medium. Coincidentally, I am using Levi-Strauss' structuralism in my dissertation, "The Antediluvian Age: The Emergence of the Superhero in America from Daniel Boone to Batman" to look at oppositional pairs of heroes. I expect to find that these pairs, which embody opposing characteristics I have clustered under the headings "Visionary" and "Violent," mirror certain of Jung's archetypes. As I suggested in B.5 on Ages, Thomas Schatz's theory of genre cycles fits the pattern superhero comics have gone through. I. Academia I.1. Where specifically are comics being studied, taught, and archived? Washington State University has collected underground, newave, and small press comix since 1984. At present (1995) they have around 4000-5000 volumes, according to Steve Willis. K. Organizational K.3. Would you support a comics organization or newsletter to inform you about what is being studied and done? Guillaume de Syon fears that a new organization could cause fragmentation in the field of Popular Culture studies, and brings up the issue of who would dominate the organization, "artists, post-modern scholars, Marvel enthusiasts, or would there be more subgroups?" L. Bibliographic/Indexing L.1. What bibliographies and indexes exist? According to Steve Willis, over 1700 of Washington State University's comix were cataloged in WLN before they defected to OCLC. Their holdings up to 1986 were listed (along with an author index) in printed catalogs. M. Publications M.1. Where can comics scholarship be published? Guillaume de Syon brought up that some unlikely publications sometimes use caricature as a more "established" base of investigation, and pointed to Martin J.S. Rudwick's "Caricature as a Source for the History of Science: De la Beche's Anti-Lyellian Sketches of 1831." Isis 66 (1975), 534-560. N. Criticism N.1. What would a rhetoric or poetics of comic contain? Gene Phillips found that a "unified theory" of how words and pictures work together to convey information without privileging one over the other would have to be at the center of a poetics of comics. This is because in comics there must always be a disjunction between seeing pictures and reading words, even where the two seem almost seamless, unlike filmed media, where the two occur simultaneously. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- PAGE 11 N.2. Do we need a rhetoric or poetics of comics? Barb Rausch believes that if comics are to be considered an art form, it certainly does need aesthetic criteria. The works of Eisner and McCloud provide an ideal starting point, but they can be supplemented with reference to applicable critical material from related fields such as animation, film, and TV. Invaluable insights and critical vocabulary exist in the standard comics histories, such as Thompson's All in Color for a Dime, Goulart's The Adventurous Decade, and Berger's Comic-Stripped American. N.3. What makes for good criticism? Barb Rausch grounded all good criticism in a reasonably broad background in arts and literature, plus a genuine appreciation for comics as a medium, as well as a sense of structure, a sensitivity to subtext, and a strong visual orientation to "reading" pictorial material. N.4. Where can Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics be improved on? What did he overlook or deal with inadequately? (This question can be extended to encompass Will Eisner and R.C. Harvey's treatises). Barb Rausch had these criticisms: In discussing the schematic representation of the human face, he did not go far enough: research has shown that human infants are "programmed" to respond to the basic configuration of human facial features and to even the subtlest variations of expression on them. This programming is why a cartoon face as minimalist as Charles Schulz's Charlie Brown can elicit as much response from a viewer as the most realistically rendered features of a figure by Alex Raymond or Hal Foster. Gene Phillips took issue with McCloud's definition of comics, which seems to privilege the picture over the word. He does not deny that there are comics that can flourish without words, but he sees them as exceptions that cannot be used to define the rule. N.5. Which comics creators have written or are writing knowledgeably about the work of other creators? If not professionally published, where can these writings be found? In fanzines? On the Internet? (Barb Rausch included these questions as a response to R.1. Omitted Topics). O. Scholarship O.2. What do creators think needs to be done? Barb Rausch believes that scholars and creators should meet informally and socially more frequently at conventions, outside of the structure of the Comics Arts Conference. O.5. How can comics (and comics scholarship and criticism) attain the respectability of film, literature, and art (and their scholarship and criticism), and should comics (scholarship and criticism) try to attain that? Barb Rausch, from her perspective of a working professional, turned this questions toward her professional concerns, by suggesting that comic book creators might become as respectable as newspaper cartoonist, and--more importantly--be able to maintain creative control when their creations are adapted for other media and merchandising. P. Other P.1. What five things would help you most as a comics scholar? P.2. What five projects would you like to see done, like to help with, or like help with? A union catalog of comix from the major academic collections. A bibliography of the "gray" literature (obscure journals, comics and fanzines). Publishers' statistics on sales, market share, etc., so as to qualify such statements as "immensely successful," and to further the understanding of issues of marketing. An centralized available source of illustrations for use with studies and article, perhaps for a nominal copyright fee if no public domain work were available. Guillaume de Syon would be happy to help with surveying the aviation comics genre, and also surveying the uses of comics to teach history (of which there are several French projects underway, according to Guillaume) or the way comics are used as historical evidence. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- PAGE 12 Fifth Anniversary of the Comics Arts Conference Wednesday July 3, 1996 San Diego, California held in conjunction with the San Diego Comicon, July 4-7 Confirmed professionals: Paul Levitz and Kurt Busiek, other professionals scheduled, but not yet confirmed. The Comics Arts Conference is designed to bring together comics scholars, practitioners, critics, and historians who want to be involved in the dynamic process of evolving an aesthetic and a criticism of the comics medium. To nominate yourself for participation in a seminar, send a two page position statement on the seminar topic and an academic vitae or short biography of professional involvement in the comics field. Send self-nominations to: Randy Duncan, Box 7834, Henderson State University, Arkadelphia AR 71999-0001, or [d--c--r] at [holly.hsu.edu.] For other questions contact: Peter M. Coogan, Comic Art Studies, MSU Libraries, East Lansing MI 48824-1048, (517) 485-8039, [c--ga--e] at [pilot.msu.edu] Deadline for participation is April 1, 1996. There is a $20.00 registration fee ($10.00 for students). Seminars: The questions offered for each topic should serve only as springboards for your thoughts; please go beyond the boundaries of the questions asked. Seminar I: Continuity and Exhaustion This seminar examines the idea of continuity and the concept of exhaustion. How do the non-continuity stories (Elseworlds, Alternaverse) function in terms of universe maintenance? What effect does ret-conning have on readersU understanding of or relationship to a comics companyUs product? Why have these strategies become a seemingly necessary part of superhero comics? Seminar II: Authorial Intent VS. Critical Reading What validity does criticism at odds with stated or evident authorial intent have? What weight should be given to statements by an author in a criticUs reading of a work? For this seminar we plan to look at Arkham Asylum and as a springboard for discussion use excerpts from Lucy RollinUs article on the graphic novel (from INKS, Feb. 1994) alongside corresponding passages from interviews with Grant Morrison and Dave McKean (please write if you need a copy of either piece). The panelUs scholars and professionals will then discuss the validity of such criticism and the value of examining authorial intent. Seminar III: Criticism in Action! This seminar will examine Astro City, written by Kurt Busiek. Four scholars from different disciplines will offer short interpretations of the piece, with Mr. Busiek in attendance. He will then comment on the readings and we will see how a critical consensus is reached, or not reached. Seminar IV: What Makes for Good Comics? This panel focuses on evaluative criteria. What standards and criteria do we use in judging a work? This panel will consist of professionals, reviewers, and scholars. Each person will present his or her criteria and a discussion will follow. This seminar will be repeated at the comicon itself during programming as a sort of outreach to fans, to make available evaluative tools to them and to educate them in ways of reading and evaluating comics. Poster Session and Slide Show There will be two poster sessions, one for faculty and one specifically for students. Submit a 100 word abstract and brief description of your display (to fit on a 14Sx18S poster and a folder or binder). The organizers are looking for a professional to deliver a slide show. Past presenters have included Steve Bissette, Scott McCloud, Carl Potts, Gary Vargas, and Arlen Schumer. Please write for details on either. -- Pete Coogan [c--ga--e] at [pilot.msu.edu] -- Pete Coogan [c--ga--e] at [pilot.msu.edu]