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Chapter 2 - Comics, Media Culture, and Seriality

from Part I - Forms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2023

By
Matthieu Letourneux
Edited by
Maaheen Ahmed
Maaheen Ahmed
Affiliation:
Universiteit Gent, Belgium
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Summary

The aesthetics of comics is deeply linked to the history of media serialities. Modern comics were born in the newspaper and followed its periodic rhythms and exploited its logic of reader loyalty. The two historically dominant models of comics, the comic strip and the comic book, are each linked to a publication medium or format – the newspaper and the magazine, respectively – and to their logics of consumption. Many characteristics of the comic strip – the principle of gag variations, the importance of generic conventions, recurring characters, spin-off series, crossover logics – can be reinterpreted according to the industrial and media contexts in which they appear and which are aesthetically exploited by the authors. Reflection on the seriality of comics can therefore not be limited to analyses of plots or modes of graphic narration. It needs to consider media logics, including the industrial and commercial dynamics and modes of consumption they encourage. Ultimately, comics seriality engages with, on the one hand, the principles of generic seriality, which thematize these logics of production and consumption. On the other, diegetic seriality, of the recurrent character and the fictional universe, also determines the strategic choices of industrial and media players.

Keywords

serial fictioncomic bookscomic stripsgenresrecurring charactersmedia cultureaudience engagementfans

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Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to Comics , pp. 46 - 62
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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References

Primary Sources

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Secondary Sources

Beetham, Margaret. “Open and Closed: The Periodical as a Publishing Genre.” Victorian Periodicals Review, vol. 22, no. 3, Fall, 1989, pp. 96–100.Google Scholar
Davis, Blair. Movie Comics: Page to Screen, Screen to Page. Rutgers University Press, 2017.Google Scholar
Eco, Umberto. “The Myth of Superman.” Translated by Natalie Chilton. Diacritics, vol. 2, no. 1, 1972, pp. 14–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eco, Umberto. “Innovation and Repetition: Between Modern and Post-Modern Aesthetics.” Daedalus, vol. 114, no. 4. The Moving Image, 1985, pp. 161–184.Google Scholar
Freeman, Matthew. “Up, Up and Across: Superman, the Second World War and the Historical Development of Transmedia Storytelling.” Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, vol. 35, no. 2, 2015, pp. 215–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedenthal, Andrew J. Retcon Game: Retroactive Continuity and the Hyperlinking of America. University Press of Mississippi, 2017.Google Scholar
Gabilliet, Jean-Paul. Of Comics and Men: A Cultural History of American Comic Books. University Press of Mississippi, 2009.Google Scholar
Gabriele, Sandra and Moore, Paul S.. “The Globe on Saturday, the World on Sunday: Toronto Weekend Editions and the Influence of the American Sunday Paper, 1886–1895.” Canadian Journal of Communication, vol. 34, no. 3, 2009, pp. 337–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gardner, Jared. Projections: Comics and the History of Twenty-first-Century Storytelling. Stanford University Press, 2012.Google Scholar
Gardner, Jared. “A History of the Narrative Comic Strip.” From Comic Strips to Graphic Novels, edited by Stein, Daniel and Thon, Jan-Noël. De Gruyter, 2013, pp. 301–322.Google Scholar
Genette, Gérard. Palimpsests. Translated by Channa Newman and Claude Doubinsky. University of Nebraska Press, 1997.Google Scholar
Glaude, Benoît and Odaert, Olivier. “The Transnational Circulation of Comic Strips Before 1945.” Journal of European Popular Culture, vol. 5, no. 1, 2014, pp. 43–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gunning, Tom. “The Art of Succession: Reading, Writing, and Watching Comics.” Comics & Media, Critical Inquiry, vol. 40, no. 3, 2014, pp. 36–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenkins, Henry. Comics and Stuff. New York University Press, 2020.Google Scholar
Jones, Gerard. Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of Comic Book. Basic Books, 2004.Google Scholar
Kelleter, Frank, “‘Five Ways’ of Looking at Popular Seriality.” Media of Serial Narrative, edited by Kelleter, Frank. Ohio State University Press, 2017, pp. 7–34.Google Scholar
Latour, Bruno. Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory. Oxford University Press, 2005.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Letourneux, Matthieu. Fictions à la chaîne. Seuil, “Poétique,” 2017.Google Scholar
Letourneux, Matthieu. “‘The editors have cast me in comic stories’, Comic books, western stars e transmedialità.” Bande à part 2, fumetto e transmedialita, edited by Benvenuti, Giuliana, Colaone, Sara, and Quaquarelli, Lucia. Morellini Editore, 2019, pp. 47–65.Google Scholar
Letourneux, Matthieu. “Penser les fictions sérielles en régime postfordiste.” Cahiers de Narratologie, no. 37, 2020. https://doi.org/10.4000/narratologie.10488Google Scholar
Meyer, Christina. Producing Mass Entertainment: The Serial Life of the Yellow Kid. Ohio State University Press, 2019.Google Scholar
Sabin, Roger. Comics, Comix & Graphic Novels. Phaidon, 1996.Google Scholar
Smolderen, Thierry. The Origins of Comics: From William Hogarth to Winsor McCay. Translated by Bart Beaty and Nick Nguyen. University Press of Mississippi, 2014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thérenty, Marie-Ève. La Littérature au quotidien. Seuil, “Poétique”, 2007.Google Scholar
Turner, Mark W. “Periodical Time in the Nineteenth Century.” Media History, vol. 8, no. 2, 2002, pp. 183–196.Google Scholar
Turner, Mark W. “The Unruliness of Serials in the Nineteenth Century (and in the Digital Age).” Serialization in Popular Culture, edited by Allen, Rob and van der Berg, Thijs. Routledge, 2014, pp. 11–32.Google Scholar
Vaillant, Alain. “Portrait de l’humoriste moderne en serial rieur. À propos d’Alphonse Allais.” Belphégor, no. 14, 2016, Sérialités, n. pag. https://journals.openedition.org/belphegor/740Google Scholar
Beetham, Margaret. “Open and Closed: The Periodical as a Publishing Genre.” Victorian Periodicals Review, vol. 22, no. 3, Fall, 1989, pp. 96–100.Google Scholar
Davis, Blair. Movie Comics: Page to Screen, Screen to Page. Rutgers University Press, 2017.Google Scholar
Eco, Umberto. “The Myth of Superman.” Translated by Natalie Chilton. Diacritics, vol. 2, no. 1, 1972, pp. 14–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eco, Umberto. “Innovation and Repetition: Between Modern and Post-Modern Aesthetics.” Daedalus, vol. 114, no. 4. The Moving Image, 1985, pp. 161–184.Google Scholar
Freeman, Matthew. “Up, Up and Across: Superman, the Second World War and the Historical Development of Transmedia Storytelling.” Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, vol. 35, no. 2, 2015, pp. 215–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedenthal, Andrew J. Retcon Game: Retroactive Continuity and the Hyperlinking of America. University Press of Mississippi, 2017.Google Scholar
Gabilliet, Jean-Paul. Of Comics and Men: A Cultural History of American Comic Books. University Press of Mississippi, 2009.Google Scholar
Gabriele, Sandra and Moore, Paul S.. “The Globe on Saturday, the World on Sunday: Toronto Weekend Editions and the Influence of the American Sunday Paper, 1886–1895.” Canadian Journal of Communication, vol. 34, no. 3, 2009, pp. 337–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gardner, Jared. Projections: Comics and the History of Twenty-first-Century Storytelling. Stanford University Press, 2012.Google Scholar
Gardner, Jared. “A History of the Narrative Comic Strip.” From Comic Strips to Graphic Novels, edited by Stein, Daniel and Thon, Jan-Noël. De Gruyter, 2013, pp. 301–322.Google Scholar
Genette, Gérard. Palimpsests. Translated by Channa Newman and Claude Doubinsky. University of Nebraska Press, 1997.Google Scholar
Glaude, Benoît and Odaert, Olivier. “The Transnational Circulation of Comic Strips Before 1945.” Journal of European Popular Culture, vol. 5, no. 1, 2014, pp. 43–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gunning, Tom. “The Art of Succession: Reading, Writing, and Watching Comics.” Comics & Media, Critical Inquiry, vol. 40, no. 3, 2014, pp. 36–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenkins, Henry. Comics and Stuff. New York University Press, 2020.Google Scholar
Jones, Gerard. Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of Comic Book. Basic Books, 2004.Google Scholar
Kelleter, Frank, “‘Five Ways’ of Looking at Popular Seriality.” Media of Serial Narrative, edited by Kelleter, Frank. Ohio State University Press, 2017, pp. 7–34.Google Scholar
Latour, Bruno. Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory. Oxford University Press, 2005.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Letourneux, Matthieu. Fictions à la chaîne. Seuil, “Poétique,” 2017.Google Scholar
Letourneux, Matthieu. “‘The editors have cast me in comic stories’, Comic books, western stars e transmedialità.” Bande à part 2, fumetto e transmedialita, edited by Benvenuti, Giuliana, Colaone, Sara, and Quaquarelli, Lucia. Morellini Editore, 2019, pp. 47–65.Google Scholar
Letourneux, Matthieu. “Penser les fictions sérielles en régime postfordiste.” Cahiers de Narratologie, no. 37, 2020. https://doi.org/10.4000/narratologie.10488Google Scholar
Meyer, Christina. Producing Mass Entertainment: The Serial Life of the Yellow Kid. Ohio State University Press, 2019.Google Scholar
Sabin, Roger. Comics, Comix & Graphic Novels. Phaidon, 1996.Google Scholar
Smolderen, Thierry. The Origins of Comics: From William Hogarth to Winsor McCay. Translated by Bart Beaty and Nick Nguyen. University Press of Mississippi, 2014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thérenty, Marie-Ève. La Littérature au quotidien. Seuil, “Poétique”, 2007.Google Scholar
Turner, Mark W. “Periodical Time in the Nineteenth Century.” Media History, vol. 8, no. 2, 2002, pp. 183–196.Google Scholar
Turner, Mark W. “The Unruliness of Serials in the Nineteenth Century (and in the Digital Age).” Serialization in Popular Culture, edited by Allen, Rob and van der Berg, Thijs. Routledge, 2014, pp. 11–32.Google Scholar
Vaillant, Alain. “Portrait de l’humoriste moderne en serial rieur. À propos d’Alphonse Allais.” Belphégor, no. 14, 2016, Sérialités, n. pag. https://journals.openedition.org/belphegor/740Google Scholar

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