Reading Graphic Novels at the Cambridge Center
Course Handouts
Below are links to download the various class handouts and other links you might find useful. Some files are PDFs. You will need the free Adobe Reader to view and print these files.
- Course Outline
(updated 1-13-07) (1.1Mb) - Course Flyer/Poster
(updated 2-19-07) (662k)
Love & Rockets
- Love & Rockets Exhibit at Brown: Feb 5 - Mar 2
(updated 1-25-07) - Interview with Jaime Hernandez - The Comics Journal #126
(updated 2-11-07) (18Mb)
Lynda Barry
- Interview with Lynda Barry - Salon.com - 1999
(updated 3-2-07) - Video of Lynda Barry reading from Ernie Pook's Comeek
(updated 3-2-07)
Charles Schulz
- A few example strips from the 60s and 70s
(updated 3-17-07) - Chris Ware on Peanuts
(updated 3-17-07)
Chris Ware
- Video Excerpt from This American Life Animated by Chris Ware
(updated 3-31-07) - 1997 Interview from Print Magazine and 2000 Interview from CNN.com (updated 3-31-07)
Dan Clowes
- Dan Clowes Interview - The Comics Journal #250
(updated 4-7-07)
Jason
- Jason Interview - The Comics Journal #253 (updated 4-7-07)
Reading Graphic Novels
March 29 - April 19, 2007
Adults reading comics? Who would have thought it? Even the New York Times is now reviewing and publishing work by top graphic novelists. The growing literary graphic novel movement is giving us an unprecedented number of new works of biography, journalism and fiction targeted at serious readers. In this four-week course we will explore seminal graphic novels by Chris Ware, Lynda Barry, Jason, and Dan Clowes, among others. Along the way we will discuss each artist's unique approach to visual storytelling and find out how this unique melding of words and pictures differs from poetry, literature and film. We'll also touch on the history of the medium from newspaper comic strips through comic books to underground comix.
Required Books
- Read For Week One: The Death of Speedy: Volume Seven of the Complete Love and Rockets. Jaime Hernandez. 1989, Fantagraphics Books. ISBN: 1560970030. [Note: The same story appears in Locas: A Love & Rockets Book. Jaime Hernandez. 2004, Fantagraphics Books. ISBN: 156097611X.]
- Read For Week Two: The Freddie Stories. Lynda Barry. 1999, Sasquatch Books. ISBN: 1570611068. AND The Complete Peanuts 1950-1952. Charles M. Schulz. 2004, Fantagraphics Books. ISBN: 156097589X.
- Read For Week Three: Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth. Chris Ware. 2003, Pantheon. ISBN: 0224063979.
- Read For Week Four: Hey Wait!. Jason. 2001, Fantagraphics Books. ISBN: 156097463X. AND Ghost World. Daniel Clowes. 2001, Fantagraphics Books. ISBN: 1560974273
Optional Books
The following optional books cover the language and history of comics and expand on many of the ideas we will cover in class. They are not required, but you may want to read or consult these books as you take the course.
- Comics and Sequential Art. Will Eisner. 1985, Poorhouse Press. ISBN: 0961472812
- Understanding Comics. Scott McCloud. 1994, Perennial Currents. ISBN: 006097625X
- Making Comics. Scott McCloud. 2006, Perennial Currents. ISBN: 0060780940
- Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean. Douglas Wolk. 2007, Da Capo Press. ISBN: 978-0306815096