Short Description

Adults reading comics? Who would have thought it? Even the New York Times is now reviewing and publishing work by top graphic novelists. The growing literary graphic novel movement is giving us an unprecedented number of new works of biography, journalism and fiction targeted at serious readers. In this four-week course we will explore seminal graphic novels by Chris Ware, Lynda Barry, Jason, and Dan Clowes, among others. Along the way we will discuss each artist's unique approach to visual storytelling and find out how this unique melding of words and pictures differs from poetry, literature and film. We'll also touch on the history of the medium from newspaper comic strips through comic books to underground comix.

For the first session, please read Jaime Hernandez's book, The Death of Speedy: Volume Seven of the Complete Love and Rockets (also available in the collection Locas: A Love & Rockets Book, pp. 256-376).

Required Books

• Read For Week One: The Death of Speedy: Volume Seven of the Complete Love and Rockets. Jaime Hernandez. 1989, Fantagraphics Books. ISBN: 1560970030. [Note: The same story appears in Locas: A Love & Rockets Book. Jaime Hernandez. 2004, Fantagraphics Books. ISBN: 156097611X.]
  
  
• Read For Week Two: The Freddie Stories. Lynda Barry. 1999, Sasquatch Books. ISBN: 1570611068. AND The Complete Peanuts 1950-1952. Charles M. Schulz. 2004, Fantagraphics Books. ISBN: 156097589X.
  
  
• Read For Week Three: Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth. Chris Ware. 2003, Pantheon. ISBN: 0224063979.
  
  
• Read For Week Four: Hey Wait!. Jason. 2001, Fantagraphics Books. ISBN: 156097463X. AND Ghost World. Daniel Clowes. 2001, Fantagraphics Books. ISBN: 1560974273
  
  

Optional Books

The following optional books cover the language and history of comics and expand on many of the ideas we will cover in class. They are not required, but you may want to read or consult these books as you take the course.

• Comics and Sequential Art. Will Eisner. 1985, Poorhouse Press. ISBN: 0961472812
  
  
• Understanding Comics. Scott McCloud. 1994, Perennial Currents. ISBN: 006097625X
  
  
• Making Comics. Scott McCloud. 2006, Perennial Currents. ISBN: 0060780940