Comics Studies: Introduction

A guide to comics studies resources at UNT for research, teaching, or creating comics.

Thoughts on comics

Cartoon image of the word "boom" in red, with a blue spiked bubble around it

"Some people are worried about the future of comics and some people are busy building it. That latter group are my heroes."--Gail Simone

Suggestion Box

This year, the UNT Libraries will be doing a collection enhancement project for our Comics Studies materials, and we would love to get your suggestions!

This collection enhancement is not meant to primarily support the purchase of new comics or graphic novels, but rather comics scholarship, media, archival collections, databases, or other materials used for research and teaching.  Materials may come from any discipline or field of study and in any format, as long as they're relevant to Comics Studies.  We can't guarantee that all suggested items will be purchased, but we will add all suggestions to our list of items to consider. All responses are anonymous.

Submit your suggestions:https://forms.gle/ZrFQbkfJAUVFBWCJ6

And feel free to check the UNT Libraries catalog for materials we may already own.

Check This Out!

Scholarly Communication Librarian

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John Martin
he/him
Contact:
Willis Library, Room 080
1155 Union Circle #305190
Denton, TX 76203-5017
(940) 565-3980
Website

What is Comics Studies?

Comics studies is a field of academic research focused on comics and sequential art, including comic books, comic strips, cartoons, graphic novels, animation, digital media, and film.

Comics studies can include the theory, history, philosophy, aesthetics, or cultural relevance of comics, as well as the industrial production, marketing, and collection of comics or comic art. It may draw on scholarship from a broad range of disciplines including history, literary studies, media and communication studies, art & art history, sociology, linguistics, philosophy, business & marketing, library & information science, or legal studies (particularly in regard to first amendment & censorship issues).

Since the 1990s, comics studies has developed into an active field of scholarly research, with a number of books, journals, conferences, and programs devoted to the topic.

On the following pages, you'll find resources for scholars, students, librarians, comic creators or collectors, and others interested in the study of comics and related art forms.

For more on comics studies, see:

Videos

The videos below offer some examples of different approaches to comics studies:

Additional Links

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