How have comic books influenced and been influenced by their historical context? Sydney Heifler (The University of Oxford) argues that 1950s romance comics reflected normative, anti-feminist, and societal stereotypes and expectations of the Cold War era as espoused by the white male writers, becoming anti-feminist tools to teach women about their roles in society. Christopher Sperandio (Rice University) discusses a new museum exhibition that presents the art of Mexican comics in the context of other global comic book trends of the time, in particular the nearly forgotten "micro-comic." Kathleen McClancy (Texas State University) examines how Jones and Rich's Lady Killer is emblematic of the ways in which comics as a medium can challenge the ideological uses of nostalgia through its refusal to engage in the reification of history.
Sunday March 25, 2018 2:00pm - 3:30pm PDT
Room 210
