Description

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Fully revised and updated for its second edition, The Power of Comics remains the most authoritative introduction to comic books and graphic novels - the history of the medium, its many forms and manifestations and their place in contemporary culture.

The new edition includes:

An expanded historical section bringing the story of comic books up to the present and covering the rise of the graphic novel and the advent of digital comics
A new chapter on the memoir genre and a thoroughly revised chapter on the superhero genre
A revised chapter - "Exploring Meanings in Comic Book Texts" - introduces students to the theoretical tools they need to read comics critically
Study objectives, discussion points, activities and annotated further reading guides in each chapter, helping students master the topics covered

Illustrated throughout, with an extensive glossary of key terms, The Power of Comics also includes further updated resources available online at www.powerofcomics.com, including additional essays, weblinks and sample syllabi.

About the Author

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Randy Duncan is Professor of Communication at Henderson State University, USA, and co-founder the Comic Arts Conference, the nation's first annual academic conference devoted solely to the study of comics. He is also the co-editor of Icons of the American Comic Book: From Captain America to Wonder Woman. Dr. Matthew J. Smith is professor of Communication at Wittenberg University where he regularly teaches Comics Studies courses. Paul Levitz is a former President and Publisher of DC Comics and teaches a course in the American Graphic Novel at Columbia University, USA. He has written for many of DC's major comic books series, including Superman and Batman, and is the only writer to have appeared on the New York Times Graphic Books Best Seller list for both his fiction and non-fiction work.