2018-2019 Human Ities Center Bro Wn Ba G Ser

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2018-2019 Human Ities Center Bro Wn Ba G Ser

Beware the Zuvembies: Circumventing Comics Censorship with the Not-Quite Undead Chera Kee, English, Associate Professor of Film & Media Studies Image: Kane, Gil (p) and Frank Giacoia (i), Strange Image: Wein, Len (w), Gene Colan (p), and Frank Giacoia (i), “March of Image: Wein, Len (w), Gene Colan (p), and Frank Giacoia (i), “March of the Tales #171 (Dec. 1973), Marvel Comics Group: cover. the Dead!” Strange Tales #171 (Dec. 1973), Marvel Comics Group: 14. Dead!” Strange Tales #171 (Dec. 1973), Marvel Comics Group: 3. Thursday, January 31, 2019 12:30PM-1:30PM Rm. 2339 Faculty Administration Bldg By the late 1940s, several groups were worried about the impact violence Chera Kee and gore in comics had on children. In response, the industry created the Comics Code Authority in 1954 to self-censor; one of the first things English prohibited was the zombie. However, from the start, comics producers tried to find ways around the Code, and in the early 1970s, the Code was finally Associate Professor of relaxed. It remained firm on zombies, though: as creatures without literary antecedent, zombies were considered too unrefined for comics readers. Film & Media Studies Yet, the zombie was experiencing a renaissance in pop culture, largely due to the cult success of Night of the Living Dead (1968), so Marvel found a new way to circumvent censorship with creatures called “zuvembies.” This presentation traces the history of the living dead in comics—from the 2019 HUMANITIES CENTER BROWN BAG SERIES BAG BROWN CENTER HUMANITIES 2019 horror comics of the 1950s to the zuvembies of the 1970s—to explore how - zombies in comics have consistently pushed the boundaries of acceptability while anticipating later shifts in how the undead have been conceived of in other mediums. It will ultimately argue that from almost the beginning of 2018 their tenure in comics, zombies have existed as “zuvembies,” both embodying and challenging popular expectations of the undead. Chera Kee is an Associate Professor of Film & Media Studies in the English Department, where she teaches courses on popular culture, identity, and horror, among other things. FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC For more info about the Humanities Center, call (313) 577-5471 or visit www.research2.wayne.edu/hum .

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Copyright 2013 Shawn Patrick Gilmore
Copyright 2013 Shawn Patrick Gilmore THE INVENTION OF THE GRAPHIC NOVEL: UNDERGROUND COMIX AND CORPORATE AESTHETICS BY SHAWN PATRICK GILMORE DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2013 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Professor Michael Rothberg, Chair Professor Cary Nelson Associate Professor James Hansen Associate Professor Stephanie Foote ii Abstract This dissertation explores what I term the invention of the graphic novel, or more specifically, the process by which stories told in comics (or graphic narratives) form became longer, more complex, concerned with deeper themes and symbolism, and formally more coherent, ultimately requiring a new publication format, which came to be known as the graphic novel. This format was invented in fits and starts throughout the twentieth century, and I argue throughout this dissertation that only by examining the nuances of the publishing history of twentieth-century comics can we fully understand the process by which the graphic novel emerged. In particular, I show that previous studies of the history of comics tend to focus on one of two broad genealogies: 1) corporate, commercially-oriented, typically superhero-focused comic books, produced by teams of artists; 2) individually-produced, counter-cultural, typically autobiographical underground comix and their subsequent progeny. In this dissertation, I bring these two genealogies together, demonstrating that we can only truly understand the evolution of comics toward the graphic novel format by considering the movement of artists between these two camps and the works that they produced along the way.
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‘Yes, But What Have You Done for Me Lately?’: Intersections of Intellectual Property, Work-for-Hire, and The Struggle of the Creative Precariat in the American Comic Book Industry © 2019 By Ora Charles McWilliams Submitted to the graduate degree program in American Studies and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Co-Chair: Ben Chappell Co-Chair: Elizabeth Esch Henry Bial Germaine Halegoua Joo Ok Kim Date Defended: 10 May, 2019 ii The dissertation committee for Ora Charles McWilliams certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: ‘Yes, But What Have You Done for Me Lately?’: Intersections of Intellectual Property, Work-for-Hire, and The Struggle of the Creative Precariat in the American Comic Book Industry Co-Chair: Ben Chappell Co-Chair: Elizabeth Esch Date Approved: 24 May 2019 iii Abstract The comic book industry has significant challenges with intellectual property rights. Comic books have rarely been treated as a serious art form or cultural phenomenon. It used to be that creating a comic book would be considered shameful or something done only as side work. Beginning in the 1990s, some comic creators were able to leverage enough cultural capital to influence more media. In the post-9/11 world, generic elements of superheroes began to resonate with audiences; superheroes fight against injustices and are able to confront the evils in today’s America. This has created a billion dollar, Oscar-award-winning industry of superhero movies, as well as allowed created comic book careers for artists and writers.
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