The Enduring Power of Comic Strips

Abstract

This chapter argues that the power of comics resides in the historic appearance and modulation of the affective possibilities of the comic strip register. On this basis, it explores how this power is realized in popular visual literature, which derives from, develops and transforms the historic contingencies of reading. Analysing examples in the work of Leo Baxendale, Michiko Hasegawa, Kaz, Christophe Blaine, R. J. Ivankovic, Catherine Anyango, Seth Tobocman, Keiji Nakazawa, Debbie Drechsler and Nicola Streeten, it describes a number of ways in which comics engage with and manipulate these historic contingencies, discussing the use of comedy, satire and parody and the development of political protest and life writing as sub-genres that are fundamentally engaged with readers’ habits and expectations. Finally, the chapter focuses on the opportunities that visual story showing and depictive drawing continue to provide to comics artists to achieve this engagement.