ANALYSES
Seeks to probe and know a phenomenon using methods that
go beyond superficial acknowledgement of the subject or
simple responses to its existence.
Comic scholarship involves coming to a clearer
understanding of what comics mean to their audiences.
ART
The purpose of this paper is to analyze themes of submission and dominance in the
visual and written narratives of the NEW 52 reboots of Wonder Woman and
Batwoman. Specifically, we argue that the male writers and artists of these reboots
intentionally created narratives that redirect and play with the male gaze. Wonder Woman
was chosen because her construction began and continues to be the comic book response to first
and second wave feminism (Stanley, 2005). In the wake of third wave feminism, it is necessary
to critique how her NEW 52 representations redirect the male gaze and represent her as a
powerful and agentic woman. Batwoman was chosen because she is DC Comics only lesbian
superhero. Given that she began as a potential love interest for Batman, it is important to
critique how her NEW 52 reboot plays with comic book femininity in general and lesbian
representation specifically. We will explore how strategically constructed, New 52 layouts and
panel mise en scene portray Wonder Woman and Batwoman as challenging masculine hegemony
without emasculating the men in their personal and professional lives. That is, we will show
how certain visual narratives offer alternative visions for portraying powerful women as
equals to powerful men.
STORY
The purpose of this paper is to discuss my view of the narratives and
visual representations of Storm in UNCANNY XMEN and various BLACK
PANTHER titles. Specifically, I want to examine the rhetorical space that
Marvel’s writers have allowed her to “claim” as a single, black woman, and
compare it to the rhetorical space that Hudlin “assigned” her to as Panther’s
wife. The ideas presented in this paper are not meant to suggest that women have to
focus on their careers to be relevant or that being a wife and/or mother is
unimportant. This is not about determining whether Storm is happier or feels more
fulfilled as a single or married woman. I am suggesting that a black woman who no
longer functions as a superhero in a superhero comic book drastically loses status in
the eyes of her readers–black and white. I feel that the marriage between Storm
and Black Panther rhetorically negated her critical superhero identity
qualities and thereby devalued the important space that she claimed in the
Marvel Universe.
STORY
The purpose of this paper is to explain the rhetorical
influence of “Time for a Change” on comic book audiences
during the 2008 presidential campaign. Specifically, the lithograph
will be conceptualized as a visual and narrative text with persuasive
intent—an ideograph. Then, the Kent/Superman transformation
ideograph (“Quick Change”) will be compared to and contrasted with
the Obama transformation ideograph (“Time for a Change”) in order
to connect the visual appeal of the images to what their narratives
represent to members of fanboy/fangirl culture. The goal is to assert
that “Time for a Change” combined the superhero narrative with
the presidential campaign narrative in order to promote Barack
Obama as an agent of “hope and change” to comic audiences.
Seeks to explain the social world/environment
Answers are discovered through formal processes of observing
behavior of groups of people directly or by collecting reports of their
attitudes and experiences through carefully administered surveys.
Use it to for EBC papers.
Answers questions dealing with patterns and trends—inferential
Examines the frequency of selected variables/themes. Concepts are
counted, tabulated and discussed in terms of statistics.
Use to explain FAN responses (fantasy chaining).
Explore the meanings constructed by symbols within the text—
inferential
The researcher begins by selecting a text and drawing connections
between the symbols in the STORY/ART and the meanings that they
connect to in the larger culture itself. The researcher then writes an
argument/case for the presence and significance of the meanings that
he/she believes are present in the text.
Use with Narrative Paradigm.
Explore the meanings of texts as interpreted by the audiences—
interpretive
Researchers pay particular attention to exposing imbalances in social
power and advocate for change using the critical reflections/feedback
from those outside an ideology’s influence to expose that ideology’s
biases. Pay attention to preferred, oppositional and negotiated
readings of “the unexpected” in STORY/ART.
Use with Symbolic Convergence Theory.