I recently caught up with Randy Duncan and Matthew Smith, editors of the Eisner nominated book Critical Approaches to Comics: Theories and Methods, a work that collects together writings by a who's who of comics scholars and their deep thoughts regarding all sorts of critical analysis.
KM: Congratulations on your Eisner Award nomination. I understand that this is a new category for academic writing?
KM: Congratulations on your Eisner Award nomination. I understand that this is a new category for academic writing?
RD/MS: Yes,
the Eisner Awards administrators and judges, particularly Ben Saunders,
an English professor and comics scholar, recognized that academic work
on comics was substantially different from the work usually nominated in
the Best Comics-Related Book category. Books with few pictures and
words like “critical,” “theories,” and “methods” in the title are not
likely to fair well against beautifully produced coffee table books
about the history of DC Comics or the art of Alex Toth.
Randy Duncan and Matthew Smith signing at San Diego Comic-Con |
RD/MS: Reputation had a lot to do with the selections. Nearly all of these scholars had written a book that we had read or made a presentation at a conference we attended in the past. David Berona is the leading scholar on wordless comics, Molotiu edited the Eisner-nominated Abstract Comics anthology, Peter Coogan wrote the definitive book on the superhero genre, and Amy Nyberg is currently working on the definitive book on comics journalism. We knew we were aiming our sites high with the list of contributors, but to our delight, nearly everyone we invited agreed to contribute. And we agree: They are stellar!
KM: How does this book build on (or compliment) your previous book Power of Comics: History, Form & Culture?
RD/MS: Power of Comics
is really about introducing novice students to the field. And as its
subtitle suggests, it covers the breadth of the field, covering what
previous scholarship tells us about the history, form, and culture of
comics. And so if the Power of Comics is an introduction to the field, then Critical Approaches is emersion into
the field. It articulates ways to generate new comics scholarship by
explaining the various intellectual tools that comics scholars use and
modeling how they would be employed in order to identify new insights
into the medium and the cultures surrounding it.
KM: Can you talk about the structure of the book and the different sections you've included? This is intended as a teaching text, right?
KM: Can you talk about the structure of the book and the different sections you've included? This is intended as a teaching text, right?
Book Cover |
KM: What else are you looking forward to at Comic-Con, aside from (hopefully) winning an Eisner?
RD/MS: Ha, ha. It’s just an honor to be nominated . . . and to get to sit at the big kids’ table this year. In addition to the Eisner ceremony, another highlight will be commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the Comics Arts Conference. Randy will be moderating a Pioneers of Comics Scholarship panel featuring some of the scholars whose work is the foundation of comics studies. Matt will also be offering his “Experience at Comic-Con” course for undergraduates who want to study the intersection of fandom and marketing cultures (seats are still available—see www.powerofcomics.com/fieldstudy for details).
Critical Approaches includes contributions from Henry Jenkins, David Berona, Joseph Witek, Randy Duncan, Marc Singer, Pascal Lefevre, Andrei Molotiu, Jeff McLaughlin, Amy Nyberg, Christopher Murray, Mark Rogers, Ian Gordon, Stanford Carpenter, Matthew J. Smith, Brad J. Ricca, Peter Coogan, Leonard Rifas, Jennifer K. Stuller, Ana Merino, Mel Gibson, Jeffrey A. Brown and Brian Swafford. Congratulations on the nomination, and good luck!
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