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{{short description|Academic study of comics and graphic novels}}
{{Comics navbar|title=Comics studies}}
'''Comics studies''' (also '''comic''' '''art studies''', '''sequential art studies'''<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=DQhVAAAAMAAJ ''International Journal of Comic Art'', volume 7], 2005, p. 574.</ref> or '''graphic narrative studies''')<ref>Pramod K. Nayar, ''The Indian Graphic Novel: Nation, History and Critique'', Routledge, 2016, p. 13.</ref> is an academic field that focuses on [[comics]] and [[sequential art]].  Although comics and [[graphic novel]]s have been generally dismissed as less relevant [[popular culture|pop culture]] [[Text (literary theory)|texts]], scholars in fields such as [[semiotics]], [[aesthetics]], [[sociology]], [[composition studies]] and [[cultural studies]] are now re-considering comics and graphic novels as complex texts deserving of serious scholarly study.

Not to be confused with the technical aspects of comics creation, comics studies exists only with the creation of '''comics theory'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->—which approaches comics critically as an art—and the writing of '''comics historiography'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--> (the study of the [[history of comics]]).<ref name="Crucifix">Benoît Crucifix, [https://www.academia.edu/25698596/Redrawing_Comics_into_the_Graphic_Novel._Comics_Historiography_Canonization_and_Authors_Histories_of_the_Medium "Redrawing Comics into the Graphic Novel: Comics Historiography, Canonization, and Authors' Histories of the Medium"], "Whither comics studies?" panel, International conference of the French Association for American Studies, Toulouse (France), May 24–27, 2016.</ref> Comics theory has significant overlap with the '''philosophy of comics'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->, i.e., the study of the [[ontology]],<ref name="Meskin">{{Cite journal | doi=10.1111/j.1747-9991.2011.00450.x|title = The Philosophy of Comics| journal=Philosophy Compass| volume=6| issue=12| pages=854–864|year = 2011|last1 = Meskin|first1 = Aaron}}</ref><ref>[[Iain Thomson]], in his "Deconstructing the Hero" (in Jeff McLaughlin, ed., ''Comics as Philosophy'' (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2005), pp. 100–129), develops the concept of comics as philosophy.</ref> [[epistemology]]<ref>Meskin, Aaron and Roy T. Cook (eds.), ''The Art of Comics: A Philosophical Approach'', Wiley-Blackwell, 2012, p. xxxi.</ref> and [[aesthetics]]<ref>[[David Carrier]], ''The Aesthetics of Comics'', Penn State University Press, 2000, Part 1: "The Nature of Comics."</ref> of comics, the relationship between comics and other art forms, and the relationship between text and image in comics.<ref name="Meskin"/>

Comics studies is also interrelated with '''comics criticism'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->, the analysis and evaluation of comics and the comics medium.<ref>Bramlett, Frank, Roy Cook and Aaron Meskin (eds.), ''The Routledge Companion to Comics'', Routledge, 2016, p. 330.</ref>

Matthew Smith and Randy Duncan's 2017 book ''The Secret Origins of Comics Studies'' contains a useful overview of early scholarship on comics with standout chapters by Ian Horton, Barbara Postema, [[Ann Miller (comics scholar)|Ann Miller]], and [[Ian Gordon (historian)|Ian Gordon]].<ref name="SmithDuncan2017" /> [[Frederick Luis Aldama]]'s 2019 book ''Oxford Handbook of Comic Book Studies'' also contains a wealth of articles on approaches to comics studies and a useful history of the field by Ian Gordon.<ref>{{Citation |last=Gordon |first=Ian |editor-first1=Frederick Luis |editor-last1=Aldama |title=Comics Studies in America |date=2019-03-14 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190917944.013.36 |work=The Oxford Handbook of Comic Book Studies |pages=629–641 |access-date=2023-07-18 |publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190917944.013.36 |isbn=978-0-19-091794-4 }}</ref>

==Theorizing comics<!--'Comics semiotics' redirects here-->==
Although there has been the occasional investigation of comics as a valid art form, specifically in [[Gilbert Seldes]]' ''The 7 Lively Arts'' (1924), Martin Sheridan's ''Comics and Their Creators'' (1942), and David Kunzle's ''The Early Comic Strip: Narrative Strips and Picture Stories in the European Broadsheet from c. 1450 to 1825'' (1973), contemporary [[English-speaking world|Anglophone]] comics studies in North America can be said to have burst onto the academic scene with both [[Will Eisner]]'s ''[[Comics and Sequential Art]]'' in 1985 and [[Scott McCloud]]'s ''[[Understanding Comics]]'' in 1993. [[Continental philosophy|Continental]] comics studies can trace its roots back to the pioneering work of [[semiotician]]s such as [[Roland Barthes]] (particularly his 1964 essay "Rhétorique de l'image", published in English as "Rhetoric of the Image" in the anthology ''Image—Music—Text'')<ref>[[Roland Barthes]], [http://www.persee.fr/doc/comm_0588-8018_1964_num_4_1_1027 "Rhétorique de l'image"], ''Communications'' '''4'''(1), 1964, pp. 40–51, translated as "Rhetoric of the Image", in: Roland Barthes, ''Image–Music–Text'', essays selected and translated by Stephen Heath, New York 1977, pp. 32–51.</ref> and [[Umberto Eco]] (particularly his 1964 book ''Apocalittici e integrati'' [''Apocalypse Postponed'']).<ref>[[Umberto Eco]], ''Apocalittici e integrati: comunicazioni di massa e teorie della cultura di massa'', Bompiani, 1964. Cf. also: Umberto Eco (1972). "Epilogue", in: Walter Herdeg and David Pascal (eds.): ''The Art of the Comic Strip'', Zurich: The Graphis Press.</ref> These works were the first attempts at a general system of '''comics semiotics'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->.<ref>Jochen Ecke, Gideon Haberkorn (eds.), ''Comics as a Nexus of Cultures: Essays on the Interplay of Media'', McFarland, 2010, p. 238.</ref>

More recently, analysis of comics have begun to be undertaken by [[cognitive scientist]]s, the most prominent being [[Neil Cohn]], who has used tools from linguistics to detail the theoretical structure of comics' underlying "visual language", and has also used psychological experimentation from cognitive neuroscience to test these theories in actual comprehension. This work has suggested similarities between the way that the brain processes language and the way it processes sequential images.<ref>[[Neil Cohn]], ''The Visual Language of Comics: Introduction to the Structure and Cognition of Sequential Images'', London: Bloomsbury, 2013, p. 1[[wikt:ff.#Abbreviation|ff.]]</ref> Cohn's theories are not universally accepted, with other scholars like [[Thierry Groensteen]], Hannah Miodrag, and Barbara Postema offering alternative understandings.

===Defining comics===
{{quote box
| source = — [[R. C. Harvey]], 2001{{sfn|Harvey|2001|p=76}}
| width = 30em
|"Comics&nbsp;... are sometimes four-legged and sometimes two-legged and sometimes fly and sometimes don't&nbsp;... to employ a metaphor as mixed as the medium itself, defining comics entails cutting a Gordian-knotted enigma wrapped in a mystery&nbsp;..."}}

[[File:Scott McCloud.Making Comics Tour.RISD.gk.JPG|thumb|alt=Photo of a middle-aged man in glasses|Cartoonist and comics theorist [[Scott McCloud]] ]]

Similar to the problems of defining literature and film,{{sfn|Groensteen|2012|pp=128–129}} no consensus has been reached on a definition of the comics medium,{{sfn|Groensteen|2012|p=124}} and attempted definitions and descriptions have fallen prey to numerous exceptions.{{sfn|Groensteen|2012|p=126}}  Theorists such as [[Rodolphe Töpffer]],{{sfn|Thomas|2010|p=158}} [[R.&nbsp;C. Harvey]], [[Will Eisner]],{{sfn|Beaty|2012|p=65}} [[David Carrier]],{{sfn|Groensteen|2012|pp=126, 131}} [[Alain Rey]],{{sfn|Groensteen|2012|p=124}} and Lawrence Grove emphasize the combination of text and images,{{sfn|Grove|2010|pp=17–19}} though there are prominent examples of [[pantomime comics]] throughout its history.{{sfn|Groensteen|2012|p=126}}  Other critics, such as Thierry Groensteen{{sfn|Grove|2010|pp=17–19}} and Scott McCloud, have emphasized the primacy of sequences of images.{{sfn|Thomas|2010|pp=157, 170}}  Towards the close of the 20th century, different cultures' discoveries of each other's comics traditions, the rediscovery of forgotten early comics forms, and the rise of new forms made defining comics a more complicated task.{{sfn|Groensteen|2012|p=112–113}}

===Composition studies===
In the field of [[composition studies]], an interest in comics and graphic novels is growing, partially due to the work of comics theorists but also due to composition studies' growing focus on multimodality and [[visual rhetoric]]. Composition studies theorists are looking at comics as sophisticated texts, and sites of complex [[literacy]].

[[Gunther Kress]] defines multimodality as "the use of several semiotic modes in the design of a semiotic product or event, together with the particular way in which these mode are combined"<ref>{{cite book|author=Kress, Gunther and Theo Van Leeuwen|title=Multimodal Discourse: The Modes and Media of Contemporary Communication|page=20|publisher=Arnold Publishers|year=2001}}</ref> or, more simply as "any text whose meanings are realized through more than one semiotic code".<ref>{{cite book|author=Kress, Gunther and Theo van Leeuwen|title=Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design|edition=2nd|page=177|publisher=Routledge|year=2006}}</ref>

Kristie S. Fleckenstein sees the relationship between image and text as "mutually constitutive, mutually infused"—a relationship she names "imageword". Fleckenstein sees "imageword" as offering "a double vision of writing-reading based on [the] fusion of image and word, a double vision of literacy".<ref>{{cite book|author=Fleckenstein, Kristie|title=Embodied Literacies: Imageword and a Poetics of Teaching|page=2|publisher= Southern Illinois University Press|year= 2003}}</ref>

Dale Jacobs sees the reading of comics as a form of "multimodal literacy or [[multiliteracy]], rather than as a debased form of print literacy".<ref>{{cite journal|author=Jacobs, Dale|title=Marvelling at The Man Called Nova: Comics as Sponsors of Multimodal Literacy|journal=The Journal of the Conference on College Composition and Communication|volume=59 | issue = 2 |page=182}}</ref> According to Jacobs, comics can help educators to move "toward attending to multimodal literacies" that "shift our focus from print only to multiple modalities".<ref>{{cite journal|author=Jacobs, Dale|title=Marvelling at The Man Called Nova: Comics as Sponsors of Multimodal Literacy|journal=The Journal of the Conference on College Composition and Communication|volume=59 | issue = 2 |page=201}}</ref> He encourages educators to embrace a pedagogy that will give students skills to effectively negotiate these multiple modalities.

===Comics historiography<!--'Comicphilia', 'Comicphile', and 'Comics buff' redirect here-->===
§Comics historiography (the study of the [[history of comics]])<ref name="Crucifix"/> studies the historical process through which comics became an autonomous [[art medium]]<ref>Williams, Paul and James Lyons (eds.), ''The Rise of the American Comics Artist: Creators and Contexts'', University Press of Mississippi, 2010, p. 106.</ref> and an integral part of culture.<ref>[[Coulton Waugh|Waugh, Coulton]], ''The Comics'', University Press of Mississippi, 1991, p. xiii.</ref> An area of study is [[premodern]] sequential art; some scholars such as Scott McCloud consider [[Egyptian painting]]s and [[pre-Columbian era|pre-Columbian]] [[Americas|American]] picture manuscripts to be the very first form of comics and sequential art.<ref>[[Scott McCloud]], ''Understanding Comics'', Harper Perennial, 1993, pp. 10–15.</ref> Another area of study is the 20th-century emergence of the [[subculture]] of comics reading, [[comic book collecting]] and '''comicphilia'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->,<ref>Alexandre Linck Vargas, [https://repositorio.ufsc.br/handle/123456789/135497 ''A invenção dos quadrinhos: teoria e crítica da sarjeta''] (''The Invention of Comics: Theory and Criticism of Gutters''), Ph.D. thesis, Federal University of Santa Catarina, 2015, Abstract: "we stumble upon the inventions of a comics artistry, from the [1960s]<!--"1960's" in the original--> on, through conflicts with the art world (Pop Art, Lowbrow Art and exhibitions), through the emergence of an authorial disposal and of an institutionalized comicphilia..."</ref> the passionate interest in comic books.  (A person with a passionate interest in comics is informally called a '''comicphile'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--><ref>{{cite web|last=Warren |first=Jarod |title=Logline: Importance and Creation |url=https://www.cinelinx.com/filmmaking/writers-block/logline-importance-and-creation/ |publisher=Cinelinx.com |access-date=19 May 2020 |date=23 July 2013 }}</ref> or '''comics buff'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->.)<ref>[[Shirrel Rhoades|Rhoades, Shirrel]], ''A Complete History of American Comic Books'', Peter Lang, 2008, p. 66.</ref>

The first attempts at comics historiography began in the United States in the 1940s with the work of [[Thomas Craven]], Martin Sheridan, and [[Coulton Waugh]]. It was not until the mid-1960s, with the publication of [[Jules Feiffer]]'s ''The Great Comic Book Heroes'', that the field began to take root. Historiography became an accepted practice in the 1970s with the work of [[Maurice Horn]], [[Jim Steranko]], [[Ron Goulart]], [[Bill Blackbeard]], and [[Martin Williams (writer)|Martin Williams]]. The late 1990s saw a wave of books celebrating American comics' centennial. Other notable writers on these topics include [[Will Jacobs]], [[Gerard Jones]], [[Rick Marschall]], and [[R. C. Harvey]]. The 1990s also saw a growth of scholarly work on comics with new books from academics such as [[Martin Barker]], [[:fr:David_Kunzle|David Kunzle]], [[M. Thomas Inge|Thomas Inge]], Joseph "Rusty" Witek, and [[Ian Gordon (historian)|Ian Gordon]].

==Educational institutions==
Comics studies is becoming increasingly more common at academic institutions across the world. Some notable examples include: [[Ohio State University]]<!--Wikipedians do not use "The" as part of Ohio State's name; it is considered a marketing gimmick, and routinely deleted.-->,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://popularculturestudies.osu.edu/comics|title = Comics Studies @ OSU &#124; Popular Culture Studies}}</ref> [[University of Florida]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.english.ufl.edu/comics/study.shtml |title=UF &#124; Comics Studies &#124; Studying Comics at UF |publisher=English.ufl.edu |date=2007-04-04 |access-date=2009-11-23 |archive-date=2018-10-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181028084841/http://www.english.ufl.edu/comics/study.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[University of Toronto Mississauga|University of Toronto at Mississauga]],<ref>[https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/dvs/programs/visual-culture-studies Visual Culture Studies - University of Toronto Mississauga].</ref> and [[University of California Santa Cruz]],<ref>[[Art Spiegelman|Spiegelman, Art]]. "Comix 101." Lecture. Porter College, University of California, Santa Cruz, April 1992.</ref> among others. In Britain, growing interest in comics has led to the establishment of a center for comics studies, the Scottish Centre for Comics Studies (SCCS) at the [[University of Dundee]] in Scotland.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://scottishcomicstudies.com/ |title=Scottish Centre for Comics Studies |publisher=scottishcomicstudies.com |access-date=2016-11-28}}</ref> Beside formal programs and degrees, it is common to see individual courses dedicated to comics and graphic novels in many educational institutions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.english.ufl.edu/comics/teaching/ |title=UF &#124; Comics Studies &#124; Teaching Comics |publisher=English.ufl.edu |date=2007-04-09 |access-date=2009-11-23}}</ref>

Sol M. Davidson's [[New York University]] [[thesis]], ''Culture and the Comic Strips'', earned him the first PhD in comics in 1959,<ref>Sol M. Davidson. ''Culture and the Comic Strips.'' Ph.D. diss., New York University, 1959.</ref><ref>[http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/comics/davidson_coll.html Sol & Penny Davison Collection - George A. Smathers Libraries].</ref> while in France, [[Jean-Christophe Menu]] was awarded a [[Art.D.|Doctorate in Art and Art Sciences]] in 2011 from [[Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne]] after defending his thesis ''The Comics and its Double: Language and Frontiers of Comics: Practical, Theoretical and Editorial Prospects''.<ref>[http://www.du9.org/syn-these Article about Jean-Christophe Menu presenting his thesis at the Sorbonne].</ref><ref>[http://www.theses.fr/2011PA010503 Theses.fr: ''La bande dessinée et son double : langage et marges de la bande dessinée : perspectives pratiques, théoriques et éditoriales''].</ref>

In 2012, the [[University of Oregon]] offered the first Comics and Cartoon Studies minor in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-12-02 |title=Serious about the funnies: Private donor endows UO Comics Studies minor |url=https://around.uoregon.edu/content/serious-about-funnies-private-donor-endows-uo-comics-studies-minor |access-date=2022-07-22 |website=Around the O |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Courses {{!}} Comics Studies at University of Oregon |url=https://comics.uoregon.edu/?page_id=2 |access-date=2022-07-22 |language=en-US}}</ref> This Comics Studies program is currently directed by [[Benjamin Saunders (professor)|Benjamin Saunders]].

[[Teesside University]] began offering a BA in Comics and Graphic Novels in 2014,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tees.ac.uk/prospectus/ug/UG_course.cfm?courseid=1265&fos=4&fossub=5 |title=Teesside University Comics and Graphic Novels BA |publisher=Teesside University |access-date=2018-07-06}}</ref> as well as an MA in Comics from 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tees.ac.uk/postgraduate_courses/The_Arts/MA_Comics_and_Graphic_Novels.cfm |title=Teesside University Comics MA |publisher=Teesside University |access-date=2018-07-06}}</ref> They have since appointed a team of renowned comics practitioners including Fionnuala Doran,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irishnews.com/arts/2016/08/11/news/the-graphic-tale-of-irish-revolutionary-roger-casement-644783/ |title=The graphic tale of Irish revolutionary Roger Casement |publisher=The Irish News |date=2016-08-11 |access-date=2018-07-06}}</ref> [[Julian Lawrence]], [[Con Chrisoulis]], [[Nigel Kitching]] and Tara McInerney.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.taramcinerney.com/ |title=Tara McInerney Website |publisher=Tara McInerney |access-date=2018-07-06}}</ref>

The [[University of Lancaster]] started offering a PhD degree in comics studies in 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/student/lancaster-university-offers-doctorate-in-comic-books-a6748651.html |title=Lancaster University offers doctorate in comic books |publisher=Independent.co.uk |date=2015-11-25 |access-date=2016-06-06}}</ref> The same year French comics studies scholar [[Benoît Peeters]] (a student of Roland Barthes) was appointed as the UK's first ever comics professor at Lancaster University.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/nov/26/great-snakes-tintin-expert-appointed-uks-first-comics-professor |title='Great snakes!' Tintin expert appointed UK's first comics professor  |publisher=TheGuardian.com |date=2015-11-26 |access-date=2016-06-06}}</ref>

==Learned societies==
In addition to its presence in academic institutions, comics have also been studied in interdisciplinary [[learned society]]. The first US association dedicated to supporting the study of graphic narrative and sequential art was the [[Comics Studies Society]] (CSS), launched in 2014 at ICAF.<ref name="scifipulse">{{cite web|url=https://www.scifipulse.net/comics-studies-society-goes-public-on-feb-14-2016-launches-its-founding-membership-drive/ |title=Comics Studies Society goes public on Feb. 14, 2016, launches its founding membership drive |publisher=SciFi Pulse |date=2016-02-15}}</ref> Other anglophone societies that can be mentioned are British Consortium of Comics Scholars (BCCS, created in 2012 by Paul Davies), Scottish Centre for Comics Studies (SCCS) and [[Canadian Society for the Study of Comics]] (CSSC, created in October 2010 by Sylvain Rheault).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://britishcomicsscholars.wordpress.com/about-2/ |title=About |date=13 February 2015 |publisher=Official website of British Consortium of Comics Scholars}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://downthetubes.net/creating-comics/comic-studies-in-the-uk-and-beyond/ |title=Comic Studies in the UK and Beyond – Learning the Comic Art |publisher=downthetubes |date=5 February 2020}}</ref>

===Learned societies in Americas===

====Canadian Society for the Study of Comics====
{{Main|Canadian Society for the Study of Comics}}
The first learned society about comics in American continent was the Canadian Society for the Study of Comics (CSSC), also known as Société Canadienne pour l'Étude de la Bande Dessinée (SCEBD). It is a bilingual community of academics focused in discuss all aspects of comics as an art form and cultural phenomenon founded in October 2010 by [[University of Regina]] professor Sylvain Rheault.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/comics-education-and-libraries/ |title=Comics, Education, and Libraries |publisher=American Libraries Magazine |date=2017-05-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://downthetubes.net/creating-comics/comic-studies-in-the-uk-and-beyond/ |title=Comic Studies in the UK and Beyond – Learning the Comic Art |publisher=downthetubes |date=5 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Candida Rifkind and Linda Warley |title=Canadian Graphic: Picturing Life Narratives |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qL0eDQAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Wilfrid Laurier University Press]] |page= |year=2016|isbn=9781771121811 }}</ref>

====Associação de Pesquisadores em Arte Sequencial====
On March 31, 2012, the Associação de Pesquisadores em Arte Sequencial (ASPAS, ''Association of Researchers in Sequential Art'' in Portuguese) was founded in Brazil on March 31, 2012 during the 1st National Forum of Researchers in Sequential Art (FNPAS), an event promoted in the city of [[Leopoldina, Minas Gerais]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://leopoldinense.com.br/noticia/14507/livro--arte-sequencial-e-seus-multiversos-conceituais--tera-lancamento-no-museu-espaco-dos-anjos |title=Livro 'Arte Sequencial e seus Multiversos Conceituais' terá lançamento no Museu Espaço dos Anjos |date=September 3, 2018 |publisher=Jornal Leopoldinense |language=pt}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://obarquinhocultural.com/2022/04/05/aspas-10-anos-fomentando-a-cultura-no-brasil/ |title=ASPAS = 10 anos fomentando a cultura no Brasil |date=April 5, 2022 |publisher=O Barquinho Cultural |language=pt}}</ref>

In addition to regular events, ASPAS also promotes various academic activities, such as the Meeting of Comic Artists with [[Trina Robbins]], held in 2015 at Gibiteca Henfil, in [[São Paulo]], and in 2017 at [[Federal University of Rio de Janeiro]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Elas fazem HQ!: mulheres brasileiras no campo das histórias em quadrinhos independentes |url=https://repositorio.ufsc.br/handle/123456789/183629 |date=2017 |publisher=[[Federal University of Santa Catarina]] |language=pt |last1=Daminelli |first1=Eugênio }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://universohq.com/noticias/trina-robbins-em-dois-eventos-no-rio-de-janeiro/ |title=Trina Robbins em dois eventos no Rio de Janeiro |date=September 26, 2017 |publisher=[[Universo HQ]] |language=pt}}</ref>

====Comics Studies Society====
[[File:Comics Studies Society.png|thumb|upright]]
In November 2014, during the [[International Comic Arts Forum]] (ICAF), the [[California State University, Northridge]] professor Charles Hatfield made a motion to create the Comics Studies Society as an interdisciplinary association open to academics, non-academics or independent scholars, teachers, and students who had the goal of promoting the critical study of comics.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://csunshinetoday.csun.edu/arts-and-culture/csun-professor-advocates-interdisciplinary-collaboration-through-comics-studies/ |title=CSUN Professor Advocates Interdisciplinary Collaboration Through Comics Studies |publisher=CSUN Today |date=2018-03-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Matthew J. Smith |author2=Randy Duncan |title=The Secret Origins of Comics Studies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qno2DwAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Routledge]] |page= |year=2017|isbn=9781317505785}}{{pn|date=August 2023}}</ref><ref name="Picturing">{{cite book |author=Brittany Tullis and Mark Heimermann |title=Picturing Childhood: Youth in Transnational Comics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pw7BDQAAQBAJ |publisher=[[University of Texas Press]] |page=2 |year=2017|isbn=9781477311622 }}</ref> 

At a meeting inside the [[Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum]], the CSS's first Executive Committee was officially voted and the CSS main focuses were defined as "promoting the critical study of comics, improving comics teaching, and engaging in open and ongoing conversations about the comics world". CSS also organizes the Annual Conference of the Comics Studies Society since 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://comicsstudies.org/ |title=About the Comics Studies Society |publisher=Comics Studies Society official website}}</ref><ref name="scifipulse" /><ref name="Picturing" /><ref name="WUSL">{{cite web|url=https://source.wustl.edu/2017/02/the-content-of-our-caricature/ |title=Washington People: Rebecca Wanzo |publisher=Washington University in St.Louis |date=2017-02-03}}</ref>

==Scholarly publications==
[[File:Inks journal.jpg|thumb|upright]]
Some notable academic journals specifically dedicated to comics studies are listed below in alphabetical order:

*''CuCo, Cuadernos de cómic'' (published by the Editorial de Universidad de Alcalá)
*''European Comic Art''
*''ImageTexT'' (a [[peer review]]ed, [[open-access journal]] that began in the spring of 2004 and is based at the [[University of Florida]])
*''Image and Narrative'' (stylized as ''Image [&] Narrative'', a peer-reviewed [[e-journal]] on [[visual narratology]])
*''[[Inks: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society]]'' (published by the [[Ohio State University Press]] and organized by [[Comics Studies Society]] since 2017). The journal was nominated as [[Eisner Awards]] Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism in 2020.<ref name="Sacred">{{cite web|url=http://www.sacredandsequential.org/2016/02/19/announcement-of-open-membership-for-new-comics-studies-society/ |title=Announcement of open membership for new Comics Studies Society |publisher=Sacred and Sequential |date=2016-02-19}}</ref><ref name="WUSL" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/arts/2020-eisner-nominees-complete-list-1297196/ |title=2020 Eisner Nominees: The Complete List |publisher=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=2020-06-04}}</ref>
*''[[International Journal of Comic Art]]''
*9a Arte Online at https://www.revistas.usp.br/nonaarte/
*''Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics''
*''Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios sobre la Historieta''
*''Studies in Comics''
*''SANE: Sequential Art Narrative in Education'' (based at the [[University of Nebraska–Lincoln]])
*''The Comics Grid: Journal of Comics Scholarship'' (first published in January 2011; an open-access, researcher-led, peer-reviewed academic journal published by the [[Open Library of Humanities]])

==Conferences==
Although presentations dedicated to comics are commonplace at conferences in many fields, entire conferences dedicated to this subject are becoming more common. There have been conferences at [[School of the Art Institute of Chicago|SAIC]] ([[International Comic Arts Forum]], 2009), [[Manchester Metropolitan University|MMU]] (The International Bande Dessinée Society Conference), [[University of Technology Sydney|UTS]] (Sequential Art Studies Conference), [[Georgetown University|Georgetown]], [[Ohio State University|Ohio State]] (Festival of Cartoon Art),<ref name="Con">[http://www.comicsresearch.org/academic.html "Regularly Held Conferences"].</ref> and [[Bowling Green State University|Bowling Green]] (Comics in Popular Culture conference),<ref>Robert G. Weiner (ed.), ''Graphic Novels and Comics in Libraries and Archives: Essays on Readers, Research, History and Cataloging'', McFarland, 2010, p. 264.</ref> and there is a yearly conference at [[University of Florida]] (Conference on Comics and Graphic Novels).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.english.ufl.edu/comics/conference.shtml|work=www.english.ufl.edu|title=Comics Conference|access-date=2009-11-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091129135715/http://www.english.ufl.edu/comics/conference.shtml|archive-date=2009-11-29|url-status=dead}}</ref> Additionally, there is an annual [[Michigan State University]] Comics Forum, which brings together academics and professionals working in the industry. Notable regularly held movable conferences include the Comic Art and Comics Area of the Popular Culture Association of America and the conference of the International Society for [[Humor Studies]].<ref name="Con"/>

The [[International Comic Arts Forum]] (ICAF), begun in 1995 at [[Georgetown University]], has been described as one of the earliest academic initiatives for the study of comics.<ref name="SmithDuncan2017">{{cite book|author1=Matthew Smith|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qno2DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT316|title=The Secret Origins of Comics Studies|author2=Randy Duncan|date=2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-50578-5|pages=316}}</ref> The German Gesellschaft für Comicforschung (ComFor, Society for Comics Studies) has organized yearly academic conferences since 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comicgesellschaft.de/?page_id=4&lang=en|title=Gesellschaft für Comicforschung|access-date=2010-10-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718214424/http://www.comicgesellschaft.de/?page_id=4&lang=en|archive-date=2011-07-18|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Comics Arts Conference]] has met regularly since 1992 in conjunction with [[San Diego Comic-Con]] and [[WonderCon]].<ref>[http://comicsforum.org/2014/02/22/the-comics-arts-conference-and-public-humanities-by-kathleen-mcclancy/ ''The Comics Arts Conference and Public Humanities''].</ref> Another important conference is the annual International Graphic Novels and Comics Conference held since 2010 organized by British academics. This conference has been held in conjunction with the longer running International Bande Dessinée Society conference. ''Comics Forum'', a UK-based community of international comics scholars, also holds an annual conference at [[Leeds Central Library]]; the first was held in 2009.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://comicsforum.org/|title=Comics Forum|website=Comics Forum|language=en-US|access-date=2017-02-02}}</ref>

==Comics studies awards==

=== Eisner Award for Best Academic/Scholarly Work ===

{{Main|Eisner Award for Best Academic/Scholarly Work}}

=== Comics Studies Society Prizes ===

Since 2018, [[Comics Studies Society]] awards comics studies, books and articles with five annual prizes: the CSS Article Prize, the Hillary Chute Award for Best Graduate Student Paper, the Gilbert Seldes Prize for Public Scholarship, the Charles Hatfield Book Prize, and the CSS Prize for Edited Book Collections. The nominated scholars do not need to be CSS members, but only members can send the nomination letters. All first-time publications during the previous calendar year are eligible (in case of translated books, is considered the year of English publication).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://comicsstudies.org/prizes/ |title=About the Comics Studies Society Prizes |publisher=Comics Studies Society official website}}</ref><ref name="Sacred" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://comicsresearchlab.mau.se/2022/02/23/comics-studies-society-prizes-2022-call-for-nominations/ |title=Comics Studies Society Prizes 2022: Call for Nominations |publisher=[[Malmö University|Malmö]] Comics Research Lab |date=2022-02-23}}</ref>

==== Winners ====

===== Charles Hatfield Book Prize =====

*2018 - Brannon Costello, by ''Neon Visions: The Comics of Howard Chaykin'' ([[Louisiana State University Press]])<ref name="Past Winners">{{cite web|url=https://comicsstudies.org/prizes/past-winners/ |title=Comics Studies Society Prizes - Past Winners |publisher=Comics Studies Society official website}}</ref>
*2019 - Lara Saguisag, by ''Incorrigibles and Innocents: Constructing Childhood and Citizenship in Progressive Era Comics'' ([[Rutgers University Press]])<ref name="Past Winners" />
*2020 - Jorge Santos, by ''Graphic Memories of the Civil Rights Movement: Reframing History in Comics'' ([[University of Texas Press]])<ref name="Past Winners" />
*2021 - [[Rebecca Wanzo]], by ''The Content of Our Caricature: African American Comic Art and Political Belonging'' ([[New York University Press]])<ref name="Inks 5.3">{{Cite journal |date=2021 |title=2021 Comics Studies Society Prizes |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/article/839592 |journal=[[Inks: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society]] |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=349–351 |via=[[Project MUSE]]}}</ref>
**Honorable Mention: Jean Lee Cole, by ''How the Other Half Laughs: The Comic Sensibility in American Culture, 1895-1920'' ([[University Press of Mississippi]])<ref name="Inks 5.3" />
*2022 - Susan E. Kirtley, by ''Typical Girls: The Rhetoric of Womanhood in Comic Strips'' ([[Ohio State University Press]])<ref name="Oregon">{{cite web |url=https://oregoncartoonproject.org/2022-comics-studies-society-prize-winners/ |title=2022 Comics Studies Society Prize Winners |publisher=Oregon Cartoon Project |date=March 2022}}</ref>
**Honorable Mention: Esther De Dauw, by ''Hot Pants and Spandex Suits: Gender Representation in American Superhero Comic Books'' ([[Rutgers University Press]])<ref name="Oregon" />
**Honorable Mention: Zack Kruse, by ''Mysterious Travelers: Steve Ditko and the Search for a New Liberal Identity'' ([[University Press of Mississippi]])<ref name="Oregon" />

===== CSS Article Prize =====

*2018 - Benoît Crucifix, by "Cut-up and Redrawn: Charles Burns's Swipe Files", published in ''[[Inks: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society]]''<ref name="Past Winners" />
*2019 - André M. Carrington, by "Desiring Blackness: A Queer Orientation to Marvel's Black Panther, 1998–2016", published in ''[[American Literature (journal)|American Literature]]''<ref name="Past Winners" />
*2020 - Dan Mazur, by "Ibrahim Njoya, a Comics Artist in Colonial-Era Cameroon", published in ''[[The Comics Journal]]''<ref name="Past Winners" />
*2021 - Sydney Phillips Heifler, by "Romance Comics, Dangerous Girls, and the Importance of Fathers", published in ''Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics''<ref name="Inks 5.3" />
**Honorable Mention: Maite Urcaregui, by "(Un)documenting Single-Panel Methdologies and Epistemologies in the Non-fictional Cartoons of Eric J. García and Alberto Ledesma", published in ''Prose Studies: History, Theory, Critics''<ref name="Inks 5.3" />
*2022 - Vincent Haddad, by "Detroit vs. Everybody (Including Superheroes): Representing Race through Setting in DC Comics", published in ''[[Inks: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society|Inks]]''<ref name="Oregon" />
**Honorable Mention: Daniel Stein, by "Black Bodies Swinging: Superheroes and the Shadow Archive of Lynching" published in ''Closure''<ref name="Oregon" />
**Honorable Mention: Justin Wigard, by "'The Fearless Spaceman Spiff, Interplanetary Explorer Extraordinaire': Parodic Imagination & the Pulp Aesthetic in Bill Watterson's Calvin & Hobbes", published in ''[[Inks: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society|Inks]]''<ref name="Oregon" />

===== CSS Prize for Edited Book Collections =====

*2020 - Tahneer Oksman and Seamus O'Malley, by ''The Comics of Julie Doucet and Gabrielle Bell'' ([[University of Mississippi Press]])<ref name="Past Winners" />
*2021 - Anna F. Peppard, by ''Supersex: Sexuality, Fantasy, and the Superhero'' ([[University of Texas Press]])<ref name="Inks 5.3" />
**Honorable Mention: Frederick Luis Aldama, by ''Graphic Indigeneity: Comics in the Americas and Australasia'' ([[University Press of Mississippi]])<ref name="Inks 5.3" />
**Honorable Mention: Dominic Davies and Candida Rifkind, by ''Documenting Trauma in Comics: Traumatic Pasts, Embodied Histories, and Graphic Reportage'' ([[Palgrave Macmillan]])<ref name="Inks 5.3" />
**Honorable Mention: Martha Kuhlman and José Alaniz, by ''Comics of the New Europe: Reflections and Intersections'' ([[Leuven University Press]])<ref name="Inks 5.3" />
*2022 - Benjamin Woo and Jeremy Stoll, by ''The Comics World: Comic Books, Graphic Novels, and Their Publics'' ([[University Press of Mississippi]])<ref name="Oregon" />
**Honorable Mention: Jamie Brassett and Richard Reynolds, by ''Superheroes and Excess: A Philosophical Adventure'' ([[Routledge]])<ref name="Oregon" />

===== Hillary Chute Award for Best Graduate Student Paper ===== 

*2018 - Alex Smith, by "Breaking Panels: Gay Cartoonists' Radical Revolt"<ref name="Past Winners" />
*2019 - Isabelle Martin, by "'The Weight of Their Past': Reconstructing Memory and History through Reproduced Photographs in Thi Bui's Graphic Novel The Best We Could Do"<ref name="Past Winners" />
*2020 - Haniyeh Barahouie, by "Mapping the War in Zeina Abirached's A Game for Swallows: To Die, To Leave, To Return"<ref name="Past Winners" />
*2021 - Maite Urcaregui, by "Political Geographies of Race in James Baldwin and Yoran Cazac's ''Little Man, Little Man''"<ref name="Inks 5.3" />
**Honorable Mention: Clémence Sfadj, by "Windows on Everyday Harlem: 'The Cartoons of Ollie Harrington'"<ref name="Inks 5.3" />
*2022 - Kay Sohini, by "The Peculiarity of Time"<ref name="Oregon" />
**Honorable Mention: Bryan Bove, by "It Can't All Be Sorrow: Confronting Trauma Through Television in Marvel's ''WandaVision''"<ref name="Oregon" />
**Honorable Mention: Adrienne Resha, by "Good Is Not a Thing You Are, It's a Thing Superheroes Do: Kamala Khan and the Identity Pause in ''Ms. Marvel'', Superhero Bildungsroman"<ref name="Oregon" />

===== Gilbert Seldes Prize for Public Scholarship =====

*2019 - Osvaldo Oyola, by "Guess Who's Coming Home for the Holidays: Intergenerational Conflict in Bitch Planet", The Middle Spaces, "'I AM (not) FROM BEYOND!': Situating Scholarship & the Writing 'I'", The Middle Spaces, and "YA = Young Avengers: Asserting Maturity on the Threshold of Adulthood", The Middle Spaces<ref name="Past Winners" />
*2020 - Zoe D. Smith, by "4 Colorism, or, the Ashiness of it All" and "4 Colorism, or, White Paper/Brown Pixels", Women Wrote About Comics<ref name="Past Winners" />
*2021 - Zachary J.A. Rondinelli, by "#WelcomeToSlumberland Social Media Research Project"<ref name="Inks 5.3" />
**Honorable Mention: Anna F. Peppard, by "(Behold?) The Vision's Penis: The Presence of Absence in Mutant Romance Tales"<ref name="Inks 5.3" />
*2022 - Ritesh Badu, by "Civilized Monsters: These Savage Shores and the Colonialist Cage"<ref name="Oregon" />
**Honorable Mention: Vincent Haddad, by "'That Wingnut is Insane': Reality vs. Fictionality in Conspiracy Comics"<ref name="Oregon" />
**Honorable Mention: The Oh Gosh, Oh Golly, Oh Wow! Podcast with Anna Peppard, Christopher Maverick, J. Andrew Deman, and Shawn Gilmore, episode 5, "Excalibur #5: 'Send in the Clowns'"<ref name="Oregon" />

==See also==
{{Portal|Comics}}
* [[Alternative comics]]
* [[Childhood studies]]
* [[Glossary of comics terminology]]
* [[Graphic medicine]]
* [[Comics in education]]
* [[Comics poetry]]
* [[Conference on College Composition and Communication]]
* "[[How to Read Nancy|How to Read ''Nancy'']]"
* [[Institute for Comics Studies]]
* [[Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art]]
* [[:Category:Comics critics|List of comics critics]]
* [[University Press of Mississippi#Notable series|University Press of Mississippi: Great Comics Artists Series / Comics and Popular Culture category<!--lowercase (not part of the title)-->]]
* [[Wilhelm Busch Museum]]

'''People'''
* [[Donald Ault]]
* [[Martin Barker]]
* [[Bart Beaty]]
* [[Julian C. Chambliss|Julian Chambliss]]
* [[Peter Coogan]]
* [[Mark Evanier]]
* [[Mel Gibson, comics scholar|Mel Gibson]]
* [[Ian Gordon (historian)|Ian Gordon]]
* [[Thierry Groensteen]]
* [[Charles Hatfield, comics scholar|Charles Hatfield]]
* [[Jeet Heer]]
* [[M. Thomas Inge]]
* [[James Kakalios]]
* [[Susan Kirkby|Susan Kirtley]]
* [[Joan Ormrod]]
* [[Shirrel Rhoades]]
* [[Candida Rifkind]]
* [[Julia Round]]
* [[Peter Sanderson]]
* [[Jim Steranko]]
* [[Carol Tilley]]
* [[Michael Uslan]]
* [[Rebecca Wanzo]]
* [[Qiana Whitted]]
* [[Kent Worcester]]
{{-}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Works cited===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last = Beaty |first = Bart |title = Comics Versus Art |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xuotcKAeM5YC |year = 2012 |publisher = [[University of Toronto Press]] |isbn = 978-1-4426-9627-3 }}<!-- Beaty 2012 -->
* {{cite journal
|last    = Groensteen
|first   = Thierry
|author-link = Thierry Groensteen
|title   = The Current State of French Comics Theory
|journal = Scandinavian Journal of Comic Art
|volume  = 1
|issue   = 1
|date    = Spring 2012
|pages   = 111–122
}}
* {{cite book |last = Grove |first = Laurence |title = Comics in French: The European Bande Dessinée in Context |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=B0AzqTDBdHYC |year = 2010 |publisher = Berghahn Books |isbn = 978-1-84545-588-0 }}<!-- Grove 2010 -->
* {{cite book
|first         = R. C.
|last          = Harvey
|author-link   = R. C. Harvey
|chapter       = Comedy at the Juncture of Word and Image
|pages         = 75–96
|editor1-last  = Varnum
|editor1-first = Robin
|editor2-last  = Gibbons
|editor2-first = Christina T.
|title         = The Language of Comics: Word and Image
|publisher     = [[University Press of Mississippi]]
|year          = 2001
|isbn          = 978-1-57806-414-4
}}
* {{cite book
 |last         = Thomas
 |first        = Evan
 |chapter      = 10: Invisible Art, Invisible Planes, Invisible People
 |title        = Multicultural Comics: From Zap to Blue Beetle
 |editor-first = Frederick Luis
 |editor-last  = Aldama
 |publisher    = [[University of Texas Press]]
 |year         = 2010
 |chapter-url  = https://www.questia.com/read/120791130
 |isbn         = 978-0-292-73743-3
}}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
* Aldama, Frederick Luis (ed.), ''Comics Studies Here and Now'', Routledge, 2018.
* Ayaka, Carolene and Ian Hague (eds.), ''Representing Multiculturalism in Comics and Graphic Novels'', Routledge, 2014.
* Bongco, Mila, ''Reading Comics: Language, Culture, and the Concept of the Superhero in Comic Books'', Routledge, 2014.
* Bonura, Massimo, Provenzano, Federico, ''Teorie e Storia del Fumetto. Il fumetto e le sue teorie comunicative'', Palermo, Zap edizioni, 2017.
* Bramlett, Frank (ed.), ''Linguistics and the Study of Comics'', Springer, 2012.
* Bramlett, Frank, Roy Cook and Aaron Meskin (eds.), ''The Routledge Companion to Comics'', Routledge, 2016.
* Burke, Liam, ''The Comic Book Film Adaptation: Exploring Modern Hollywood's Leading Genre'', University Press of Mississippi, 2015.
* Caswell, Lucy Shelton and Jared Gardner, ''Drawing the Line: Comics Studies and INKS, 1994–1997'', Ohio State University Press, 2017.
* Claudio, Esther and Julio Cañero (eds.), ''On the Edge of the Panel: Essays on Comics Criticism'', Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015.
* [[Neil Cohn|Cohn, Neil]] (ed.), ''The Visual Narrative Reader'', Bloomsbury, 2016.
* Cowling, Sam and Wesley Cray, ''Philosophy of Comics: An Introduction'', Bloomsbury, 2022.
* {{Cite book |last=del Rey Cabero |first=Enrique |url=https://issuu.com/oxfordcomicsnetwork/docs/how_to_study_comics___graphic_novels-a_graphic_int |title=How to Study Comics & Graphic Novels : A Graphic Introduction to Comics Studies |date=2021 |others=Michael Goodrum, Josean Morlesin Mellado |isbn=978-1-8383792-1-6 |location=Oxford |oclc=1301199489}}
* Denson, Shane, Christina Meyer, Daniel Stein, ''Transnational Perspectives on Graphic Narratives: Comics at the Crossroads'', Bloomsbury, 2013.
* DiPaolo, Marc, ''War, Politics and Superheroes: Ethics and Propaganda in Comics and Film'', McFarland, 2011. 
* Dong, Lan (ed.), ''Teaching Comics and Graphic Narratives: Essays on Theory, Strategy and Practice'', McFarland, 2012.
* Duncan, Randy and Matthew J. Smith, ''The Power of Comics: History, Form and Culture'', Continuum, 2009.
* Earle, Harriet, ''Comics, Trauma, and the New Art of War'', University Press of Mississippi, 2017.
* Fawaz, Ramzi, Deborah Whaley, and Shelley Streeby (eds.), ''Keywords for Comics Studies'', NYU Press, 2021.
* Fuchs, Wolfgang J. and Reinhold Reitberger, ''Comics: Anatomy of a Mass Medium'', Little Brown & Co, 1972.
* Gravett, Paul, ''Comics Art'', Yale University Press, 2013.
* [[Thierry Groensteen|Groensteen, Thierry]], ''Comics and Narration'', University Press of Mississippi, 2013.
* [[Thierry Groensteen|Groensteen, Thierry]], ''The System of Comics'', University Press of Mississippi, 2009.
* Hague, Ian, ''Comics and the Senses: A Multisensory Approach to Comics and Graphic Novels'', Routledge, 2014.
* Hatfield, Charles, ''Alternative Comics: An Emerging Literature'', University Press of Mississippi, 2005.
* Hatfield, Charles and  Bart Beaty (eds.), ''Comics Studies: A Guidebook'', Rutgers University Press, 2020.
* [[Jeet Heer|Heer, Jeet]] and [[Kent Worcester]] (eds.), ''A Comics Studies Reader'', University Press of Mississippi, 2009.
* Kukkonen, Karin, ''Studying Comics and Graphic Novels'', Wiley-Blackwell, 2013.
* Kukkonen, Karin, ''Contemporary Comics Storytelling'', University of Nebraska Press, 2013.
* Lund, Martin, ''Re-Constructing the Man of Steel: Superman 1938–1941, Jewish American History, and the Invention of the Jewish–Comics Connection'', Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.
* Magnussen, Anne and Hans-Christian Christiansen (eds.), ''Comics & Culture: Analytical and Theoretical Approaches to Comics'', Museum Tusculanum Press, 2000.
* McLaughlin, Jeff (ed.), ''Comics as Philosophy'', University Press of Mississippi, 2005.
* McLaughlin, Jeff (ed.), ''Graphic Novels as Philosophy'', University Press of Mississippi, 2017.
* Meesters, Gert, "Creativity in Comics. Exploring the Frontiers of the Medium by Respecting Explicit Self-imposed Constraints," in Tony Veale, Kurt Feyaerts, Charles Forceville (ed.), ''Creativity and the Agile Mind: A Multi-Disciplinary Study of a Multi-Faceted Phenomenon'', Walter de Gruyter, 2013, pp.&nbsp;275–292.
* [[Ann Miller (comics scholar)|Miller, Ann]] and Bart Beaty (eds.), ''The French Comics Theory Reader'', Leuven University Press, 2014.
* Miodrag, Hannah, ''Comics and Language: Reimagining Critical Discourse on the Form'', University Press of Mississippi, 2013.
* {{cite journal|title=Why Comics Studies? |first=Angela |last=Ndalianis|journal=Cinema Journal|volume= 50 |number= 3 |date=Spring 2011 |pages= 113–117|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41240726|publisher=University of Texas Press|doi=10.1353/cj.2011.0027 |jstor=41240726 }}
* Pizzino, Christopher, ''Arresting Development: Comics at the Boundaries of Literature'', U of Texas Press, 2016.
* Postema, Barbara, ''Narrative Structure in Comics: Making Sense of Fragments'', Boydell & Brewer, 2013.
* Reynolds, Richard, ''Super Heroes: A Modern Mythology'', University Press of Mississippi, 1994.
* Saraceni, Mario, ''The Language of Comics'', Routledge, 2003.
* Schmitz-Emans, Monika (ed.), ''Comic und Literatur: Konstellationen'', Walter de Gruyter, 2012.
* Smith, Matthew and Randy Duncan (eds.), ''Critical Approaches to Comics: Theories and Methods'', Routledge, 2012.
* Smith, Matthew and Randy Duncan (eds.), ''The Secret Origins of Comics Studies'', Routledge, 2017.
* Stein, Daniel and Jan-Noël Thon (eds.), ''From Comic Strips to Graphic Novels: Contributions to the Theory and History of Graphic Narrative'', Walter de Gruyter, 2015.
* Weiner, Robert G. (ed.), ''Graphic Novels and Comics in Libraries and Archives: Essays on Readers, Research, History and Cataloging'', McFarland, 2010.
* Wolk, Douglas, ''Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean'', Da Capo Press, 2008.

=== Historiography ===
* Barrier, J. Michael and Martin Williams. ''A Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics'' (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1982) {{ISBN|978-0874742282}}
* [[Bill Blackbeard|Blackbeard, Bill]] and [[Martin Williams (writer)|Martin Williams]], editors. ''The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics'' (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1977) {{ISBN|978-0874741728}}
* Blackbeard, Bill and Dale Crain. ''The Comic Strip Century: Celebrating 100 Years of an American Art Form'' (Kitchen Sink Press, 1995) {{ISBN|9780878163557}}
* Booker, M. Keith (ed.), ''Comics through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas'', Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2014.
* Booker, M. Keith (ed.), ''Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels'', Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2010.
* Couperie, Pierre C. and [[Maurice Horn]], editors. ''A History of the Comic Strip'' (Crown Publishers, 1968)
* [[Thomas Craven|Craven, Thomas]], editor. ''Cartoon Cavalcade: A Collection of the Best American Humorous Cartoons from the Turn of the Century to the Present'' (Simon & Schuster, 1943)
* [[Jules Feiffer|Feiffer, Jules]]. ''The Great Comic Book Heroes: The Origins and Early Adventures of the Classic Super-Heroes of the Comic Books'' (Dial Press, 1965)
* Gabilliet, Jean-Paul, ''Of Comics and Men: A Cultural History of American Comic Books'', University Press of Mississippi, 2010.
* [[Ron Goulart|Goulart, Ron]]. ''The Adventurous Decade: Comic Strips In the Thirties'' (Crown Publishers, 1975) {{ISBN|9780870002526}}
* Goulart, Ron. ''The Great Comic Book Artists'' (St. Martin's Press, 1986) {{ISBN|978-0312345570}}
* Goulart, Ron. ''Ron Goulart's Great History of Comic Books: the Definitive Illustrated History from the 1890s to the 1980s'' (Contemporary Books, 1986) {{ISBN|978-0809250455}}
* Goulart, Ron. ''The Encyclopedia of American Comics: From 1897 to the Present'' (Facts on File, 1991) {{ISBN|978-0816018529}}
* Goulart, Ron. ''The Comic Book Reader's Companion: an A-Z Guide to Everyone's Favorite Art Form'' (Harper Perennial, 1993) {{ISBN|9780062731173}}
* Goulart, Ron. ''The Funnies: 100 Years of American Comic Strips'' (Adams Media Corp, 1995) {{ISBN|9781558505391}}
* Goulart, Ron. ''Comic Book Encyclopedia: The Ultimate Guide to Characters, Graphic Novels, Writers, and Artists in the Comic Book Universe'' (HarperCollins, 2004) {{ISBN|978-0060538163}}
* [[David Hajdu|Hajdu, David]], ''The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America'', Picador, 2009 (originally Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008).
* [[R. C. Harvey|Harvey, R. C.]] ''The Art of the Funnies: An Aesthetic History'' (University Press of Mississippi, 1994) {{ISBN| 978-0878056743}}
* Harvey, R. C. ''The Art of the Comic Book: An Aesthetic History'' (University Press of Mississippi, 1996) {{ISBN|978-0878057580}}
* Kunzle, David, ''The Early Comic Strip: Narrative Strips and Picture Stories in the European Broadsheet from c. 1450 to 1825'', University of California Press, 1973,
* [[Will Jacobs|Jacobs, Will]] and [[Gerard Jones]]. ''The Comic Book Heroes: The First History of Modern Comic Books: From the Silver Age to the Present'' (Crown Publishers, 1985) {{ISBN|978-0517554401}}
* Jones, Gerard, ''Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book'', Basic Books, 2005.
* [[Rick Marschall|Marschall, Rick]]. ''America's Great Comic Strip Artists: From the Yellow Kid to Peanuts'' (Abbeville Press, 1989) {{ISBN|978-0896599178}}
* Petersen, Robert S., ''Comics, Manga, and Graphic Novels: A History of Graphic Narratives'', ABC-CLIO, 2011.
* Pustz, Matthew (ed.), ''Comic Books and American Cultural History: An Anthology'', Continuum, 2012.
* Sheridan, Martin. ''Comics and Their Creators: Life Stories of American Cartoonists'', Hale, Cushman & Flint, 1942.
* [[Jim Steranko|Steranko, Jim]]. ''[[The Steranko History of Comics]]'' vol. 1 (Supergraphics, 1970) {{ISBN|0-517-50188-0}}
* Steranko, Jim. ''The Steranko History of Comics'' vol. 2 (Supergraphics, 1972) {{ISBN|978-0517501887}}
* Walker, Brian. ''The Comics: Before 1945'' (Harry N. Abrams, 2004) {{ISBN|978-0810949706}}
* Walker, Brian. ''The Comics: Since 1945'' (Harry N. Abrams, 2006) {{ISBN|978-0810992603}}
* [[Coulton Waugh|Waugh, Colton]]. ''The Comics'' (Macmillan, 1947)
* Williams, Paul and James Lyons (eds.), ''The Rise of the American Comics Artist: Creators and Contexts'', University Press of Mississippi, 2010.
* Wright, Bradford W., ''Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* [http://www.teachingcomics.org/ The National Association of Comic Art Educators' page]
* [http://www.comicsresearch.org/ ComicsResearch.org]
* [http://comicsintheclassroom.net/ Comics in the Classroom]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100110090824/http://www.instituteforcomicsstudies.org/index.html The Institute for Comics Studies] (defunct)
* [http://comicsresearch.org/ Comics Research--annotated bibliographies for comics scholarship]
* [http://www.enjolrasworld.com/ Comic book annotations and bibliographies]
* [http://www.corneredangel.com/amwess/academic.html Online Bibliographies of Anime and Manga research] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409040821/http://www.corneredangel.com/amwess/academic.html |date=2022-04-09 }}
* [http://www.visuallanguagelab.com Neil Cohn's Visual Language Lab website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20171223073915/http://cognitivecomics.webs.com/CognitiveComics_2ndEdition.pdf Cognitive Comics: A Constructivist Approach to Sequential Art]
* [https://www.comicsgrid.com/ The Comics Grid: Journal of Comics Scholarship]
* [https://comicssociety.org/ The Comics Studies Society (CSS)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220330174744/https://comicssociety.org/ |date=2022-03-30 }}
* [https://ohiostatepress.org/Inks.html Inks]: their journal (publisher's site)
* [https://www.jsscc.net/english The Japan Society for Studies in Cartoons and Comics (JSSCC, Nihon manga gakkai)]
* [https://www.acbd.fr/875/ Association des Critiques et journalistes de Bande Dessinée]
* [https://erevistas.publicaciones.uah.es/ojs/index.php/cuadernosdecomic CuCo, Cuadernos de Cómic]
* [http://rlesh.mogno.com/ Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios sobre la Historieta]
* [https://www.torch.ox.ac.uk/comics Oxford Comics Network]

{{Comics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comics Studies}}
[[Category:Comics studies| ]]
[[Category:Literary theory]]
[[Category:Postmodern theory]]
[[Category:Popular culture studies]]