Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean - Hardcover

Douglas Wolk

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0306815095 ISBN 13: 9780306815096

Publisher: Da Capo Press, 2007

Synopsis

Suddenly, comics are everywhere: a newly matured art form, filling bookshelves with brilliant, innovative work and shaping the ideas and images of the rest of contemporary culture. In Reading Comics, critic Douglas Wolk shows us why this is and how it came to be. Wolk illuminates the most dazzling creators of modern comics-from Alan Moore to Alison Bechdel to Dave Sim to Chris Ware-and introduces a critical theory that explains where each fits into the pantheon of art. Reading Comics is accessible to the hardcore fan and the curious newcomer; it is the first book for people who want to know not just what comics are worth reading, but also the ways to think and talk and argue about them.

About this title

Review:

"(Wolk) does a good job of being comprehensible to outsiders without setting himself up for too much of a pillorying from messianic comic fans... (H)e writes sensitively about the awe-inspiring amount of time and effort it takes to write and draw a graphic novel, an ill-rewarded job that is only ever done for the love of it." The Sunday Telegraph --The Sunday Telegraph

"(Douglas Wolk's) writing style is breezy and engaging." The Observer --The Observer

"Critics in any artistic field could learn from Wolk's willingness to express not just appreciation but joy. His enthusiasm is as infectious as it is refreshing..." "intelligent, discerning, incisive and terrifically engaging: not the last word, but a very good place to start." The Irish Times --The Irish Times

Synopsis:

This is the first serious, readable, provocative, canon-smashing book of comics criticism by the leading critic in the field. Suddenly, comics are everywhere: a newly matured art form, filling bookshelves with brilliant, innovative work and shaping the ideas and images of the rest of contemporary culture. In "Reading Comics", critic Douglas Wolk shows us why this is and how it came to be. Wolk illuminates the most dazzling creators of modern comics and introduces a critical theory that explains where each fits into the pantheon of art. "Reading Comics" is accessible to the hardcore fan and the curious newcomer; it is the first book for people who want to know not just what comics are worth reading, but also the ways to think and talk and argue about them.

About this edition

• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0306815095
• ISBN 13: 9780306815096
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 405