Books in the Great Comics Artists Series series

At once familiar and hard to place, the work of acclaimed Canadian cartoonist Seth evokes a world that no longer exists--and perhaps never existed, except in the panels of long-forgotten comics. Seth's distinctive drawing style strikingly recalls a bygone era of cartooning, an apt vehicle for melancholy, gently ironic narratives that depict the grip of the past on the present. Even when he appears to look to the past, however, Seth (born Gregory Gallant) is constantly pushing the medium of comics forward with sophisticated work that often incorporates metafiction, parody, and formal experimentation.Forging the Past offers a comprehensive account of this work and the complex interventions it makes into the past. Moving beyond common notions of nostalgia, Daniel Marrone explores the various ways in which Seth's comics induce readers to participate in forging histories and memories. Marrone discusses collecting, Canadian identity, New Yorker cartoons, authenticity, artifice, and ambiguity--all within the context of comics' unique structure and texture. Seth's comics are suffused with longing for the past, but on close examination this longing is revealed to be deeply ambivalent, ironic, and self-aware.Marrone undertakes the most thorough, sustained investigation of Seth's work to date, while advancing a broader argument about how comics operate as a literary medium. Included as an appendix is a substantial interview, conducted by the author, in which Seth candidly discusses his work, his peers, and his influences.

Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts comic strip franchise, the most successful of all time, forever changed the industry. For more than half a century, the endearing, witty insights brought to life by Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, and Lucy have caused newspaper readers and television viewers across the globe to laugh, sigh, gasp, and ponder. A Charlie Brown Religion explores one of the most provocative topics Schulz broached in his heartwarming work--religion.Based on new archival research and original interviews with Schulz's family, friends, and colleagues, author Stephen J. Lind offers a new spiritual biography of the life and work of the great comic strip artist. In his lifetime, aficionados and detractors both labeled Schulz as a fundamentalist Christian or as an atheist. Yet his deeply personal views on faith have eluded journalists and biographers for decades. Previously unpublished writings from Schulz will move fans as they begin to see the nuances of the humorist's own complex, intense journey toward understanding God and faith."e;There are three things that I've learned never to discuss with people,"e; Linus says, "e;Religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin."e; Yet with the support of religious communities, Schulz bravely defied convention and dared to express spiritual thought in the "e;funny pages,"e; a secular, mainstream entertainment medium. This insightful, thorough study of the 17,897 Peanuts newspaper strips, seventy-five animated titles, and global merchandising empire will delight and intrigue as Schulz considers what it means to believe, what it means to doubt, and what it means to share faith with the world.

Kerry D. Soper reminds us of The Far Side's groundbreaking qualities and cultural significance in this book. In this first full study of Larson's art, Soper follows the arc of the cartoonist's life and career, describing the aesthetic and comedic qualities of his work, probing the business side of his success, and exploring how The Far Side connected with its core readers.

Amid the controversy surrounding immigration and border control, the work of California cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz (b. 1964) has delivered a resolute Latino viewpoint. Of Mexican descent, Alcaraz fights for Latino rights through his creativity, drawing political commentary as well as underlining how Latinos confront discrimination on a daily basis. Through an analysis of Alcaraz's early editorial cartooning and his strips for La Cucaracha, the first nationally syndicated, political Latino daily comic strip, author Hector D. Fernandez L'Hoeste shows the many ways Alcaraz's art attests to the community's struggles.Alcaraz has proven controversial with his satirical, sharp commentary on immigration and other Latino issues. What makes Alcaraz's work so potent? Fernandez L'Hoeste marks the artist's insistence on never letting go of what he views as injustice against Latinos, the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States. Indeed, his comics predict a key moment in the future of the United States--that time when a racial plurality will steer the country, rather than a white majority and its monocultural norms.Fernandez L'Hoeste's study provides an accessible, comprehensive view into the work of a cartoonist who deserves greater recognition, not just because Alcaraz represents the injustice and inequity prevalent in our society, but because as both a US citizen and a member of the Latino community, his ability to stand in, between, and outside two cultures affords him the clarity and experience necessary to be a powerful voice.

One of the most eclectic and distinctive writers currently working in comics, Grant Morrison brings the auteurist sensibility of alternative comics and graphic novels to the popular genres that dominate the American and British comics industries. Marc Singer examines how Morrison uses this fusion of styles to intervene in the major political, aesthetic, and intellectual challenges of our time.

Provides a close reading of Rutu Modan's work and examines her role in creating a comics arts scene in Israel. Drawing on archival research, Kevin Haworth traces the history of Israeli comics from its beginning in the 1930s, to the counterculture movement of the 1970s, to the burst of creativity that began in the 1990s and continues today.

Walt Kelly (1913-1973) is one of the most respected and innovative American cartoonists of the twentieth century. His long-running Pogo newspaper strip has been cited by modern comics artists and scholars as one of the best ever. We Go Pogo is the first comprehensive study of Kelly's cartoon art and his larger career in the comics business.

Since 1968, Garry Trudeau (b. 1948) has brought his brand of political satire to bear on public figures, movie stars, heads of state, and even on himself. In Garry Trudeau: "Doonesbury" and the Aesthetics of Satire, Kerry D. Soper traces the contribution of this groundbreaking artist.

Best known for her long-running comic strip Ernie Pook's Comeek, illustrated fiction, and graphic novels, the art of Lynda Barry has branched out to incorporate plays, paintings, radio commentary, and lectures. In Lynda Barry, author Susan E. Kirtley examines the artist's career and contributions to the field of comic art and beyond.

Steve Ditko (1927-2018) is one of the most important contributors to American comic books. As the cocreator of Spider-Man and sole creator of Doctor Strange, Ditko made an indelible mark on American popular culture. Mysterious Travelers resets the conversation about his heady and powerful work.