1. COMICS AND CULTURE
The History of the Medium and Why it Matters

2. Comics in America
1. Comics were always a commercial artform
2. Comic books and superheroes are a cultural artifact of
the 1930s
3. Most of the founders of American comics were 1st or
2nd generation, mostly Jews.
4. Comics have had relationships with other media types
from the beginning.
A few notes on the cultural/historical context:
The cultural legacy of comics
shapes current day perceptions of the medium

3. Comics were always
commercial
The Yellow kid (“Hogan’s Alley”)
R.F. Outcault, 1895
“Yellow Journalism”
W.R. Hearst, Joseph Pulitzer

4. Comic books started in the
30s
“Superman – Champion of the Oppressed.”
Action Comics #1 (June, 1938)

5. Class origins of comics
Publishers
Jerry Siegel &
Joe Shuster Bob Kane & Bill Finger Will Eisner Joe Simon & Jack Kirby
Harry Donenfeld & Jack Liebowitz Martin Goodman
Sheldon
Meyer
Maurice Coyne, Louis
Silberkleit & John Goldwater

6. Further reading
Chabon, M.
The Amazing
Adventures of Kavalier
& Clay (2001)
Jones, G.
Men of Tomorrow:
geeks, gangsters, and
the birth of the comic
book (2005)
Fingeroth, d.
Disguised as clark kent:
jews, comics and the
creation of the
superhero (2008)
Hajdu, d.
The ten-cent plague:
the great comic book
scare and how it
changed America (2009)

7. Comics & other media
Little Nemo in Slumberland (Windsor McCay)
Little Nemo Animated (1911)

8. Superman, media
superstar
Radio (1939)
Animated Shorts
(1939)
Movie Serial
(1941)
TV Series (1952)
Novel (1942)
Coloring Book
(1939)
Syndicated Newspaper
Strip (1939)
Toys (1940s)

9. Comicbook Confidential
• 1988
• Directed by Ron
Mann
• 90 Minutes

10. Break time

11. COMICS IN CONTEXT
What You’re Saying when You’re Saying it
with Comics

12. The Evolving Cultural
Context
1920s-30s: Comics as mainstream
1940s: Comics as mass media
1950s: Comics as menace
1960s: Comics
as youth
culture
1960s: Comics
as camp/kitch
1960s: Comics
as rebellion1980-90s:
Comics as
literature
1970s-80s:
Comics as
nerd
subculture
2000s:
Comics as
community
2010s:
Comics as
big business

13. Context and perception

14. Comics and commerce

15. Critical perceptions

16. Legal implications
“They told me
I was not to
draw.”
- Mike Diana

17. Gender issues

18. Comics and Big Media

19. Intellectual property

20. Creator Rights
“Relying on Marvel and DC is no longer becoming a viable option, because the contracts
aren’t viable and the rates aren’t set. They make the rules. A lot of people have fooled
themselves into thinking that’s stability but are now realizing that it’s the exact opposite.
The real stability is controlling your own career and being in a position to hire yourself,
generating ideas that are enough to make you a sustainable income, and also controlling
those ideas and your own destiny. That’s the new stability and that’s something people are
realizing. I’m very optimistic that it’ll be something that is here to stay.”
-- Robert Kirkman (creator, The Walking Dead)

21. Coming Attractions
Both of these… one of these…

22. Written assignment
• 800 word analysis
• Short synopsis of subject matter
• How does the author use the medium of
visual narrative to tell the story?
• What specific techniques are employed?
• Why does the piece work or not work?

23. Special Guests
Ellen Forney,
Best-Selling Graphic Novelist
Marbles, LustLab, I was Seven in ‘75
Calvin Reid, Senior Editor
Publishers Weekly

24. SEE YOU ON 4/20!
Rob Salkowitz
rob@robsalkowitz.com
@robsalk
206-860-9847 (h/o)
206-669-2471 (m/txt)