ENGL 202: Boom! Splat! Comics as Literature

This course centers around the impact that comics and graphic novels and memoirs have had upon American culture and the literary canon, from Civil War cartoonist Thomas Nast’s work and its role in the election of President Ulysses S. Grant, to the golden age of newspaper comic strips, and into the 21st century with the emerging importance of the graphic memoir by writers like Alison Bechdel and Art Spiegelman. Students in this course examine the academic value of comic books and graphic novels through the study of their history, similarity to other forms of literature, their own specialized literary and artistic techniques, and development as compelling narratives.