Graphic Novels Tackling the Social/Historical
Want some visual reading over the break that’s not too heavy but also not too light? Try one of these graphic novels that explore social and historical issues:
Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, by Art Spiegelman
Persepolis and Persepolis 2, [and DVD] by Marjane Satrapi
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, and Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama, by Alison Bechdel
Abina and the Important Men: A Graphic History, by Trevor Getz and Liz Clarke
Latino U.S.A.: A Cartoon History, by Ilan Stavans and Lalo Alcaraz
Students for a Democratic Society: A Graphic History, by Harvey Pekar, Gary Dumm, and Paul Buhle
Footnotes in Gaza, by Joe Sacco
Trotsky: A Graphic Biography, by Rick Geary
J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography, by Rick Geary
Che: A Graphic Biography, by Sidney Jacobson and Ernie Colon
Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb, by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm
Interested in reading some scholarly analyses of graphic novels and/or comic books? Here are a few to get you started:
- Danziger-Russell, Jacqueline. (2013). Girls and Their Comics: Finding a Female Voice in Comic Book Narrative. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press.
- Emad, Mitra. (2006). Reading Wonder Woman’s Body: Mythologies of Gender and Nation. Journal of Popular Culture, 39(6), 954-984.
- Howard, Sheena. C., & Jackson Ronald L. (2013). Black Comics: Politics of Race and Representation. New York: Bloomsbury Academic.
- Sabin, Roger. (1996). Comics, Comix, & Graphic Novels: A History of Comic Art. London: Phaidon.
- Steinmetz, Christian J. (2008). A Genealogy of Absence & Evil: Tracing the Nation’s Borders with Captain America. (Masters Theses). Georgia State University.
- Tabachnick, Stephen. (2010). The Graphic Novel and the Age of Transition: A Survey and Analysis. English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920, 53(1), 3-28.
- York, Chris, & York, Rafael. (2012). Comic Books and the Cold War, 1946-1962: Essays on Graphic Treatment of Communism, the Code and Social Concerns. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.