University of Texas at El Paso DigitalCommons@UTEP Open Access Theses & Dissertations 2015-01-01 Comic Book Fandom: An Exploratory Study Into The orW ld Of Comic Book Fan Social Identity Through Parasocial Theory Anthony Robert Ramirez University of Texas at El Paso,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.utep.edu/open_etd Part of the Mass Communication Commons Recommended Citation Ramirez, Anthony Robert, "Comic Book Fandom: An Exploratory Study Into The orldW Of Comic Book Fan Social Identity Through Parasocial Theory" (2015). Open Access Theses & Dissertations. 1131. https://digitalcommons.utep.edu/open_etd/1131 This is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UTEP. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UTEP. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. COMIC BOOK FANDOM: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY INTO THE WORLD OF COMIC BOOK FAN SOCIAL IDENTITY THROUGH PARASOCIAL THEORY ANTHONY R. RAMIREZ Department of Communication APPROVED: _____________________________ Roberto Avant-Mier, Ph.D., Chair _____________________________ Thomas Ruggiero, Ph.D. _____________________________ Brian Yothers, Ph.D. ___________________________ Charles Ambler, Ph.D. Dean of the Graduate School Copyright © by Anthony Robert Ramirez 2015 COMIC BOOK FANDOM: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY INTO THE WORLD OF COMIC BOOK FAN SOCIAL IDENTITY THROUGH PARASOCIAL THEORY by ANTHONY R. RAMIREZ B.F.A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at El Paso in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Communication THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO May 2015 ABSTRACT Comic books and their extensive lineup of characters have invaded all types of media forms, making comics a global media phenomenon that are having a wider profile in media and popular culture.