Summer Course Comics as Literature

Beg, borrow, lie, cheat, steal, whatever you have to do to get the money to take my course on comics in Duke’s Term 1 this summer. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, 5-7 PM.

LIT 151S Comics as Literature. Beginning with Batman and Superman, passing through R. Crumb, Harvey Pekar, and Maus, and moving into the contemporary era of Persepolis and Dykes to Watch Out For, this course will survey the history and reception of graphic narrative as the genre moves from a predominantly American, predominantly male fixation on the superhero towards an increasingly popular international art movement that crosses gender, class and ethnic lines. Likely texts will include Siegel and Shuster’s Superman, Frank Miller’s Batman, Stan Lee’s Iron Man, Art Spiegelman’s Maus, Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor, Chris Ware’s Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home, Guy Delisle’s Pyongyang, Osamu Tezuka’s Buddha and Alan Moore’s Watchmen, as well as selected excerpts and Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics.