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    ENG 470: Comics and Graphic Novels

    The many links on this page are to specific texts that were taught in ENG 470 during Spring 2008 by Jan Susina, in the English Department at Illinois State University.

    Comics and Graphic Novels that were studied in this course include:

    Scroll down for additional links to these authors and much more.

    Good web sites for reference

    Scott McCloud's website

    Fantagraphic Books website

    Acme comic store in Normal, Illinois

    Gene Kannenberg's Comic Research website

    The Acme Comic store website in Normal  

    International Journal of Comic Arts website

     ImageText: Interdisciplinary Comics Studies (University of Florida)

    Gene Yang's Humble Comics website (Yang is the author of American Born Chinese)

    Dav Pilkey's Website o' Fun (Pilkey is the author of the Captain Underpants series)

     Ivan Brunetti's website
    1196313-1385948-thumbnail.jpg
    I Brunetti image

    Rodolpher Topffer information

    A website about Winsor McCay 

    Lambiek Comiclopedia

    The Drawn and Quarterly website

    Top Shelf Productions website

    Frank King short video on YouTube 

    Artbomb.net.  A site devoted to graphic novels, including reviews.

    Alison Bechdel links

     Alison Bechdel's website Dykes to Watch Out For: Life in a Box

    Video of Bechdel at Rutgers (5 min)dykesimage.jpg

    From Bechdel's wikipedia entry: "The strip popularized what is now known as the Bechdel Test, also named the Mo Movie Measure or Bechdel's Law. Bechdel credits her friend Liz Wallace for the test. The test appears in a 1985 strip entitled "The Rule", in which a character says that she only watches a movie if it satisfies the following requirements:

    1. It has to have at least two women in it, who
    2. Talk to each other about,
    3. Something besides a man."

    Dykes to Watch out for archive on planetout.com dykes2.jpg

    Biographies for Bechdel's characters, from her blog 

    Bookslut interview with Bechdel from March 2007 

    Pine Street Art Works, a gallery representing Bechdel.  Here showing large sketches on kraft paper. 

    Article on Bechdel on Afterellen.com 

    Austin Kleon's blog notes on talk by Alison Bechdel, nicely detailed, particularly on how she creates her comics. Oct. 2006

    Craig Thompson linksblanketsTitle.jpg

    Craig Thompson's website Doot Doot Garden

    interview with Craig Thompson about Blankets by Bookslut. February 2004

    .Craig Thompson on his influences in a blog entry for Boneville.com 

     

     cuddledoodle01.jpg

    cuddledoodlesmore.jpg 

    From Thompson's blog "The comics narrative part of the CARNET DE VOYAGE.was constructed during a more comfortable part of the day or the next morning. I kept a separate journal to doodle and piece out my thoughts and thumbnail page compositions. Here’s a peek at that:"

    thompsoncarnetA.jpg

     

    an rejected image from Blankets 

    thopsonrejected.jpg

    From Thompson's blog: "Okay. And now since this is supposed to be a visual blog, here’s a sample of the construction of a single HABIBI page.(recently shown at my Wordstock and PNCA talks)
    1) the first draft drawn directly in my sketchbook in ballpoint pen. 2) the messy, re-edited / page breakdown version. 3) the penciled page, and some ornamentation I sampled and digitally arranged. 4) the final inked page.

     pageconstruction.jpg

    Click on the following images for links to bigger images of preliminary sketches for Blankets 

    blanketsnotes01.thumbnail.jpg   blanketsnotes02.thumbnail.jpg

    A page from a proposed screenplay of "Blankets"
    Portland Life interview with Thompson about Blankets

     Thompson talks about his 2007 Grammy award nomination for best record packaging for CD by Menomena

    Link to the band Menomena's website, note Thompson graphics 

    Chris Ware links

     YT. Comix:Chris Ware interviewed on French television in 2005. part 1 of 3.sfartists_ware_asleep.jpg

    YT. Comix: Chis Ware interviewed on French television in 2005. part 2 of 3 

    YT. Comix; Chris Ware interviewed on French television in 2005. part 3 of 3. 

    YT. Chris Ware in motion 

    YT. Chris Ware on graphic novels vs. comics terms. 40 sec. 

    Images from Jimmy Corrigan on Random House website (a series of 4 images)

    Chris Ware gallery on Random House page. with single images of Jimmy Corrigan

    Chris Ware The Whitney Prevaricator 2002 From the Tate Modern collection

    online©2006 C. Ware

    Transcript of Chris Ware interview on PBS, including thoughts on Tintin Copyright

    Carl Hammer Gallery in Chicago, one of the galleries representing Ware.  Check out  b/w early versions and later color versions of work.

    Adam Baumgold Gallery in New York.  Links to some Chris Ware works. includes link to four New Yorker covers for Thanksgiving 2006.

    Chris Ware original art, framed, from David Chila.  Many links to Corrigan pages. 

    Article from Publishers Weekly blog on comics about Chris Ware and the Columbian Exposition 

    cwpop.jpg

     jimmycorrigan-tm.jpg

    Jimmy6.jpgntm4-1-21s.jpg acme_c.jpgjimmyspread3.jpg

    nestware1_small.jpg   jimmycorrigan%20panel.jpg  baet001.gif 

    Robert Crumb links

    YT. Interview with Robert Crumb. (1 min 39 sec) 

    YT. 8 1/2 minutes with Robert Crumb

    YT. Crumb to Ghostworld. 

    YT. A Short History of America  From Crumb, the 1994 Terry Zwigoff documentary

    YT. Ghost World. Clip called "Satanists and Wowville" ( 3 min 17 sec) 

    Official website of R. Crumb 

    R. Crumb family website (may have adult themes)

    Salon biographical article about R Crumb. By Steve Burgess. May 2, 20000. 

    Art Spiegelman. Maus. Links.

    YT. Maus: A Stupid Metaphor

    YT. Art listens to the Vladek tapes

    YT. Charlie Rose. 1996.  Stanley Crouch is the subsitute host and eventually there's an interview with Spiegelman. 

    Lambieknet. brief bio on Spiegelman.

    Read Yourself Raw.  Bio and description of comics of Spiegelman from his site for Raw magazine. 

    Virginia QuarterlyComic Spiegelman created for this journal. 

    Will Eisner

    Montilla Pictures: official site for Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Art. Scroll down for trailer.eisnernewbook.jpg

    Link to imdb on Will Eisner documentary 

     Video interview of Eisner documentary director, Andrew D. Cooke.  This is on Huffington Post site.

    Interview with Jon B. Cooke on Eisner documentary from The Comics Reporter site. 

    Overview of Oliver Twist. 

    Official site for Roman Polanski's  Oliver Twist 2005 film

    Link to PBS site for 2002 Masterpiece Theater version of Oliver Twist

    A Dickens Dinner at Indiana University

    Tintin sites

     PBS. Tintin and I. part of the POV series.

    Official Tintin site.   Includes video extract link on front page, biography details, & book material.

    Titinophile blog with links.

    National Maritime Exhibit website. Tintin at Sea

    YT. Hergé's Adventures. A West End play, based on Tibet book.

    YT. Hergé's Adventures. Play. shorter video, quick overview. 

    YT. Tintin in Tibet. Animated version in English. part 1. about 10 min. 

    YT. Tintin in Tibet. Cartoon in English. part 2. 10 min. begins with Snowy getting lost. 

    YT. Tintin in Tibet. Cartoon in English. part 3. "We must save Chang!" 10 min.

    YT. Tintin in Tibet. Cartoon in English. part 4. Begins with meeting in monastery. 10 min. 

    Link to Arefee's YouTube page with many Tintin animated versions in English.

    YouTube. Tintin, in Swedish cover-mc2.jpg(I think) 

    Good web sites for reference

    Scott McCloud's website

    Fantagraphic Books website

    Gene Kannenberg's Comic Research website

    The Acme Comic store website in Normal 

    International Journal of Comic Arts website

     ImageText: Interdisciplinary Comics Studies (University of Florida)

    Gene Yang's Humble Comics website (Yang is the author of American Born Chinese)

    Dav Pilkey's Website o' Fun (Pilkey is the author of the Captain Underpants series)

     Ivan Brunetti's website
    1196313-1385948-thumbnail.jpg
    I Brunetti image

    Rodolpher Topffer information

    A website about Winsor McCay 

    Lambiek Comiclopedia

    The Drawn and Quarterly website

    Top Shelf Productions website

    Frank King short video on YouTube 

    Artbomb.net.  A site devoted to graphic novels, including reviews. 

    Links to texts from course 

    Babymouse! website. Interview with Matthew Holm, co-creator of Babymouse

     D.C. Comics website

     Minx Books website

     Brian Selznick The Invention of Hugo Cabret website

    Website devoted to the history of Flipbooks.  At end of this page is one of Chris Ware's viewers.