Comics and Graphic Novels by Julia Round, Rikke Platz Cortsen, and Maaheen Ahmed (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Comics and Graphic Novels by Julia Round, Rikke Platz Cortsen, and Maaheen Ahmed Lise Tannahill Comics and Graphic Novels. By Julia Round, Rikke Platz Cortsen, and Maaheen Ahmed. (Readers' Guides to Essential Criticism) London: Bloomsbury. 2023. xi+ 268 pp. £65 (pbk £21.99; ebk £19.79). ISBN 978–1–350336–10–0 (pbk 978–1–350336–09–4; ebk 978–1–350336–08–7). This collaborative work is an impressive effort to offer an overview of the development of the field of comics and graphic novel studies from its early beginnings to today, an interdisciplinary field that the authors note 'has only really developed in the last century (p. 1) but which is now expanding at an exponential rate. Given the breadth and continuing development of this field, production of a guide of this type may seem a daunting task, but it is one which the authors approach in a comprehensive and considered way, producing a key reference volume for those new to and familiar with comics scholarship alike. Over twelve chapters arranged in four overarching parts ('Approaching Comics', 'Histories and Cultures', 'Production and Reception', 'Themes and Genres'), the authors present a wide-ranging survey of key texts in comics scholarship. While they are clear that this survey is not exhaustive, the stated aim is one of international scope, 'beyond the anglophone' (p. 1); included is scholarship from the Francophone world, Japan, Chile, and Sweden, to give just a few examples. Chapters within these four parts are loosely grouped thematically: Approaching Comics' contains chapters on formalist concerns (early scholarship, semiotic approaches, comics as language) along with chapters on ideology (colonialism, superheroes, cultural legitimacy) and the materiality and sensory experience of comics. 'Histories and Cultures' discusses early criticism, censorship, and legitimization in American, British, Francophone, and other global contexts, and offers a snapshot of historical accounts of comics, from the global scale to the more geographically specific. 'Production and Reception' includes discussion of publishers and creators of comics in various forms, but also fan culture, reader identity, and fan studies. 'Themes and Genres' is necessarily wide-ranging, providing overviews of scholarship on documentary, memory, and children in comics, genres such as romance, superheroes, and horror, and the underground comics context in the Anglophone and Francophone spheres. This last section also includes a chapter on general reference works and textbooks for making or teaching comics. Alongside bibliographical information, the authors detail key themes and arguments of the works discussed in each chapter. Summaries are concise and informative, expressing often complex ideas in clear language, without oversimplifying. Given the inclusion of works written in languages other than English, this approach is helpful in disseminating, if only partially, scholarship which is not easily accessible to Anglophone readers without knowledge of those languages. [End Page 597] Both the work's expressed aims and its structure are extremely clear, with informative summaries and conclusions bookending each chapter. This clarity of structure is particularly beneficial as it facilitates reading of separate chapters as coherent wholes according to the reader's areas of interest. While the work functions well as a whole, the breadth of scope required by a volume offering an overview of such a wide field necessarily means that a large amount of information is presented, and this has the potential to overwhelm anyone reading the book sequentially. The self-contained nature of chapters might make this work useful both for readers or researchers looking for specific information and for teaching purposes in a university setting, as each chapter could function as a literature review or as a reading list for those considering particular areas of study or research questions. The clarity of language and readable style make Comics and Graphic Novels accessible to seasoned researchers and students alike. For readers who are approaching comics studies for the first time, the volume as a whole offers a useful entry point to the field, its key arguments and theories. This facilitation of access to comics scholarship on a global scale, available in formats with low barriers to entry (the paperback edition was supplied for review, and all three versions are discounted further on the publisher's website), is...