Periodization of the American Comic Book – A New Proposal

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/AdAmericam.22.2021.22.04

Keywords:

comics, comic books, history, periodization, USA, America, DC, Marvel, Image, film, movie, 9/11

Abstract

The article aims to present a new proposal for the periodization of the history of American comic books. The introduction deals with the problems of other propositions: the academic one created by Arthur Asa Berger and the so-called Olympic / Mainstream that is mainly used by industry artists and readers. The most critical short comings of these periodization are also listed, including them being outdated. The new proposal complements the deficiencies of the previous two: in its actuality, it focuses on the transformations of the comics genre caused by the socio-political implications of the events of September 11, 2001. Each epoch was given specific time frames, cut-off dates, events, and characteristics.

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Author Biography

Dawid Przywalny, Jagiellonian University, Poland

PhD, is a comic books researcher, Americanist, film expert, and graduate of International Relations. In his academic exploration, he focuses on finding, analyzing, and describing the connections between the world of politics and the works of pop culture. He obtained his PhD in 2021 with the dissertation under the title “Terrorism, politics and civil liberties in the American comics after September 11, 2001, based on a comics analysis of Marvel Comics, DC Comics and Image Comics”. He is also the author of the monograph titled “The Batman’s Myth as a reflection of contemporary America. An Analysis of Comic Book Movie Adaptations (1989-2012)” [BookOne, 2014].

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Published

2021-03-28

How to Cite

Przywalny, D. “Periodization of the American Comic Book – A New Proposal”. Ad Americam, vol. 22, Mar. 2021, pp. 45-72, doi:10.12797/AdAmericam.22.2021.22.04.

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Articles