Son of Classics and Comics: (Classical Presences)

Wonder Woman. Asterix the Gaul. Watchmen. These popular comics, and many others, use classical sources, narrative patterns, and references to enrich their imaginative worlds and deepen the stories they present. This volume explores that rich interaction. Son of Classics and Comics presents thirteen original studies of representations of the ancient world in the medium of comics. Building on the foundation established by their groundbreaking Classics and Comics (2011), George Kovacs and C. W. Marshall have gathered a wide range of essays with a new, global perspective. Chapters are helpfully grouped to facilitate classroom use, with sections on receptions of Homer, on manga, on Asterix, and on the sense of a "classic" in the modern world. All Greek and Latin passages are translated. Lavishly illustrated, the volume significantly widens the range of available studies on the reception of the Greek and Roman worlds in comics, and deepens our understanding of comics as a literary medium. Son of Classics and Comics will appeal to students and scholars of classical reception as well as comics fans.

Table of Contents:
Introduction. C. W. Marshall and George Kovacs Postmodern Odysseys 1. Odysseus and The Infinite Horizon C. W. Marshall 2. Mythic Totality in Age of Bronze George Kovacs 3. Classical Symbolism in Asterios Polyp Abram Fox and HyoSil Suzy Hwang-Eschelbacher East's Wests 4. Mecha in Olympus: Masamune Shirow's Appleseed Gideon Nisbet 5. [un]Reading the Odyssey in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Nicholas Theisen 6. Xerxes, Lost City in the Desert: Classical Allusions in Fullmetal Alchemist Sara Raup Johnson All Gaul 7. Re-inventing the Barbarian: Classical Ethnographic Perceptions in Astérix Eran Almagor 8. Asterix and the Dream of Autochthony Stuart Barnett 9. We're not in Gaul Anymore: the Global Translation of Astérix Siobhàn McElduff Modern Classics 10. Classical Allusion in Modern British Political Cartoons Ian Runacres and Michael K. Mackenzie 11. Eliot with an Epic, Rowson with a Comic: Recycling Foundational Narratives Frederick Williams and Edward Brunner 12. Ozymandias the Dreamer: Watchmen and Alexander the Great Matthew Taylor 13. And They Call That Poison Food: Desire and Traumatic Spectatorship in the Lucifer Retelling of Genesis Kate Polak Bibliography

About the Author :
George Kovacs is Assistant Professor of Ancient History and Classics at Trent University. C. W. Marshall is Professor of Greek at the University of British Columbia.

Review :
"This is a rare sequel, displaying a progeny nobler than its sire. On the journey from North America to Japan and back to Gaul and Britain, Son of Classics and Comics provides continual delight and entertainment for all who wish to gaze on the ancient world in modern garb." --Arthur J. Pomeroy, Victoria University of Wellington "This rich treasury of accessible scholarship is hard to put down. Its authors show how classics relate to everything, and that comics worldwide use antiquity in endlessly creative ways. From Odyssey to Infinite Horizon; Caesar to Astérix; Hercules to Hulk; myth to manga: it's all here. What's not to like?" --Daniel B. Levine, University of Arkansas "Son of Classics and Comics is an enfant terrible in the best possible sense, expanding the borders of its predecessor to include European, Japanese, and independent comics. These compelling essays demonstrate how the vibrant dialogue between classical antiquity and comics continues to produce infinite horizons for both fans and scholars alike." --Brett M. Rogers, University of Puget Sound "Son of Classics & Comics offers a multi-faceted view of how ancient materials are refracted across a wide range of the modern artform. Covering European bandes dessinées and Japanese manga as well as Anglophone works, this insightful collection will be of great interest to readers of classics and comics alike." --Benjamin Eldon Stevens, Trinity University "Continues to expand our knowledge of a rich but underexplored topic and to make cogent arguments for the place of comic books in Classical reception studies." --Bryn Mawr Classical Review