Classics and Comics: (Classical Presences)

Since at least 1939, when daily-strip caveman Alley Oop time-traveled to the Trojan War, comics have been drawing (on) material from Greek and Roman myth, literature and history. At times the connection is cosmetic-as perhaps with Wonder Woman's Amazonian heritage-and at times it is almost irrelevant-as with Hercules' starfaring adventures in the 1982 Marvel miniseries. But all of these make implicit or explicit claims about the place of classics in modern literary culture. Classics and Comics is the first book to explore the engagement of classics with the epitome of modern popular literature, the comic book. The volume collects sixteen articles, all specially commissioned for this volume, that look at how classical content is deployed in comics and reconfigured for a modern audience. It opens with a detailed historical introduction surveying the role of classical material in comics since the 1930s. Subsequent chapters cover a broad range of topics, including the incorporation of modern theories of myth into the creation and interpretation of comic books, the appropriation of characters from classical literature and myth, and the reconfiguration of motif into a modern literary medium. Among the well-known comics considered in the collection are Frank Miller's 300 and Sin City, DC Comics' Wonder Woman, Jack Kirby's The Eternals, Neil Gaiman's Sandman, and examples of Japanese manga. The volume also includes an original 12-page "comics-essay," drawn and written by Eisner Award-winning Eric Shanower, creator of the graphic novel series Age of Bronze.

Table of Contents:
Preface, C.W. Marshall and George Kovacs Acknowledgments 1. Comics and Classics: Establishing a Critical Frame, George Kovacs Seeing the Past through Sequential Art 2. An Ancient Greek Graphic Novel (P. Oxy. XXII 2331), Gideon Nisbet 3. Sequential Narrative and the Shield of Achilles, Kyle Johnson 4. Declassicizing the classical in Japanese comics, Nicholas A. Theisen 5. Heroes Unlimited, Brett M. Rogers Gods and Superheroes 6. The Furies, Wonder Woman, and Dream, C. W. Marshall 7. Coming up to Code: Ancient Divinities Revisited, Craig Dethloff 8. The Burden of War: From Homer to Oeming, R. Clinton Simms 9. 'Seven Thunders Utter Their Voices', Benjamin Stevens Drawing (on) History 10. Hard-Boiled Hot Gates, Vincent Tomasso 11. Persians in Frank Miller's 300 and Greek vase-painting, Emily Fairey 12. A Dream of Augustus, Anise K. Strong 13. Francophone Romes: Antiquity in les Bandes Dessinées, Martin Dinter The Desires of Troy 14. Twenty-First Century Troy, Eric Shanower 15. Sex and Love in Eric Shanower's Age of Bronze, Chiara Sulprizio 16. Heavy Metal Homer, Thomas E. Jenkins A reading list of Classics in Comics Contributors Bibliography Index

About the Author :
George Kovacs teaches at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. C.W. Marshall is Associate Professor of Greek and Roman Theatre at the University of British Columbia.

Review :
"There is much to be learned from this volume, not just about the comic art form but also about classics, which is truly the best and most productive form of reception studies."--Anastasia Bakogianni, The Classical Review "Classics and Comics is a useful compendium of essays for students of the reception of classical mythology, literature, and history in the modern world, as well as for students of narrative theory. The volume makes accessible to a wider critical audience the theoretical and practical criticism of these media from the last decade and earlier." --Bryn Mawr Classical Review "Whether the reader is liberal or specialized in his or her preferences regarding criticism, Classics and Comics is a dense work that will provide considerable food for thought." --World Literature in Review "This collection of essays can persuade classicists who have yet to venture into comics to go boldly." --Mouseion