INKS Comics Journal

Book cover: Indistinct fist punches with brass knuckles. A different-looking hand holds up something gray. The title is written in comic lettering between the two hands.

Book review!

Harriet E. H. Earle comments on the significance of violence in “BOOM! SPLAT! Comics and Violence” ed. by Jim Coby and Joanna Davis-McElligatt

muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

@projectmuse.bsky.social #comics #ComicStudies #censorship #PoliticalViolence #Politics #censor #scholarship

Photo: Strip of storefronts. One has a large sign saying “Texas,” and above it is a plaque in Texas’s shape.

How Do Your Students Feel About That? A Reflection on the Use of Graphic Narratives in History Surveys in the State of Texas

Gabrielle Lyle argues for teaching history holistically through comics.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

@projectmuse.bsky.social #history #education #ComicStudies #TexasHistory

Cave drawing: Below a peace symbol, 4 human silhouettes face each other while carrying spears or long branches. One prepares to throw his spear.

It's 2025

Patrick S. Lawrence discusses the resurgence in comic and book censorship.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

@projectmuse.bsky.social #politics #ComicStudies #comics #censorship #history #activism #solidarity #UniversityPress #2025 #freedom #ComicBooks #BannedBooks #CensorshipSucks

Illustration: 7 people in business casual sit on a couch and chairs or stand nearby. 3 text boxes suggest conversation among them. One person shrugs with a question mark above their head.

Comics Studies Conferences in a Time of Crisis

Andrew J. Kunka considers the fallout of the presidential administration’s recent actions.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

@projectmuse.bsky.social #politics #AmericanPolitics #ComicStudies #comics #DEI #activism #comic #students #education #presidents

Good morning! Our latest issue 9.2 is live. Ft. articles like “Are Superhero Comics Copaganda?” By Shea Hennum

muse.jhu.edu/issue/55554

8-panel comic: Each panel has a speech bubble with a different shape, color, and background. Some look like storm clouds.

Comics Are a Subversive Medium

Margaret Galvan pulls from historical and current events to connect the LGBTQ+ identity to comics.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

@projectmuse.bsky.social #LGBTQ+ #queer #WomensRights #ComicStudies #politics #LGBTQRights #subversion #comics #history #research #comic

Illustration: Orange compass rose over teal background. Compass is labeled with the letters for north, south, east, and west.

True North

Bart Beaty comments on the misrepresentation of Canadians in an American comic series.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

@projectmuse.bsky.social #politics #Canada #CanadianPolitics #ComicStudies #comic #academia #students #InternationalRelations #media #representation #commentary #future

Cover of Marvel comic: The Hulk’s green fist punches The Thing’s rock jaw so hard that teeth and rocks fly out. The title is “Hulk & Thing: Hard Knocks.”

Thing Beats Hulk

Peter Nagy examines normative and subversive masculinity in The Hulk versus The Thing saga.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

@projectmuse.bsky.social #Marvel #superhero #SuperheroComics #comic #ComicStudies #MarvelComics #Hulk #TheThing #FantasticFour #Avengers #comics #GenderStudies

Comic: Two tall strips with Green Lantern flying through the sky. Thought bubbles show him conflicted because he can’t think of a legal solution to his problem.

Are Superhero Comics Copaganda?

Shea Hennum questions the relationship between superhero comics and pro-police hegemony.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

@projectmuse.bsky.social #UniversityPress #comics #ComicStudies #politics #discourse #superheroes #GreenLantern #DC #DetectiveComics #JusticeLeague

Single comics panel: Two silhouetted birds fly above a hotel and a street with cars and pedestrians. A text box in the sky says, “Mexicali, Mexico.”

Remapping the Imperial Valley–Mexicali Borderlands in Jose Pimienta's Comics

David Barrera considers the significance of Latin American identity (latinidad) in Pimienta’s comics.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

@projectmuse.bsky.social #comics #ComicStudies #UniversityPress #Latinidad #LatinxComics

Illustration: Girl with headphones reads a book at a desk. Open laptop, paper, writing utensils, and mug also sit on the desk.

Check out the exciting new issue of Inks on Project Muse at the link in our bio!

@projectmuse.bsky.social #UniversityPress #ComicStudies #comic #censorship #superhero #HumanRights #equality #literature #GraphicNovel #academic #ComicArt #ideology #LatinxComics #QueerStudies #feminism #politics

Comic: Extraño superhero wearing high-heeled boots, tights, jewelry, and a big cloak.

In honor of National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day coming up, learn more about Extraño!
“Amidst fervent antiqueer sentiment due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Extraño/Gregorio de la Vega was one of the only queer-coded superheroes in mainstream superhero comics.”
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

#comics

Illustration: A banner reading "Cartoon Crossroads Columbus" below a street sign reading "CXC." Festival booths are in the background.

Looking forward to seeing Inks authors and readers at Cartoon Crossroads Columbus! The free festival runs from September 18-21!
cartooncrossroadscolumbus.org

#CXC #comics #animation #cartoon #ComicArt #artists #con #storytelling #ComicBooks #festival #free #Columbus #CBUS #UniversityPress

Illustration: Two women stand inside three panels. The middle panel shows the women’s distinct forms, while the other panels sketch the rest of their bodies. Below is the title and author.

Book Review!
Paul Young comments on Dale Jacobs’s discoveries in On Comics and Grief.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

@projectmuse.bsky.social #ComicsStudies #comics #review #VisualStorytelling #storytelling #grief #ComicArt #ComicBooks #analysis #WordsHavePower #GriefJourney #GriefAwareness

Illustration: A big pink bow on top of black hair. Below the hair is the title, subtitle and author of the book. At the bottom, are pink and black polka dots.

Here’s Fi Stewart-Taylor’s review of how Jeff Karnicky’s The New Nancy: Flexible and Relatable Daily Comics in the Twenty-First Century recontextualizes Olivia Jaimes’ Nancy.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

@projectmuse.bsky.social #ComicsStudies #comics #TheNewNancy #review #Nancy #storytelling

Here's your updated link!
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

Illustration: Snoopy’s red doghouse with comic text bubbles for the book’s title and subtitle. The author’s name is in the grass under the doghouse.

Book review!
Kerry Soper checks out the contents of Michelle Ann Abate’s uniquely structured Blockheads, Beagles and Sweet Babboos.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

@projectmuse.bsky.social #ComicsStudies #comics #Peanuts #Snoopy #CharlesSchulz #review #storytelling #ComicBooks #VisualStorytelling

Sketch: The unfinished sketch of a hand draws something in a notebook. The sketch is drawn with neat black lines and shaded with a blue colored pencil.

No Substitute for the Experience: A Case for Practice-Based Comics Teaching and Research

Nicholas Wirtz considers a practice-based research strategy that integrates visual thinking.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

@projectmuse.bsky.social #ComicsStudies #comics #pedagogy #research #teaching #essay

Illustration: three superheroes stand by a 'congrats' for Eisner Award winners and the message, "Inks was honored to be among the nominees." One superhero has wings, and another has a limb difference.

@projectmuse.bsky.social #EisnerAward #SDCC25 #comics #ComicStudies #sdcc #UniversityPress #humanities #AcademicPublishing

Illustration: Cover of Inks: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society Volume 9 Issue 1 with a sketch of a hand holding a pencil.

If you’re attending San Diego Comic Con this weekend, check out the Comics Under Fire panel co-hosted by Susan Kirtley, editor of Inks: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society. The panel focuses on comic censorship in the classroom and takes place Sat., July 26th at 11 a.m.
#comics #sdcc #sdcc2025

Illustration: Six black people smile around the roundtable’s title, “Black Comics Studies Now.” Each person has a unique style of hair and clothing.

Black Comics Studies Now

Participants in a Comic Studies Society roundtable discuss the past, present and future of black comics.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

@projectmuse.bsky.social #ComicStudiesSociety #ComicsStudies #comics #BlackComicStudies #RepresentationMatters #ComicBooks #storytelling

Illustration: A woman cries while running a race. She is wearing sunglasses and the race number “501” on her chest.

Beyond Icons: Contemporary Perspectives on Breast Cancer in Graphic Pathographies

Christian Lenemark examines how graphic artists depict breast cancer.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

@projectmuse.bsky.social #ComicsStudies #comics #PinkRibbon #BreastCancer #BreastCancerAwareness #medicine #pathology

Poster: BleachMan superhero stands with a giant syringe next to the tagline, “Clean it with bleach.” BleachMan’s head is a bottle of bleach, and he is wearing red, blue and yellow.

From Bleachman to the PrEP Heroes: Superhero Fantasies and the Fight Against HIV/AIDS

Nicholas Derda unravels the history of the AIDS/HIV superhero symbol.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

@projectmuse.bsky.social #ComicsStudies #comics #superheroes #lgbtq #HIV #AIDS #RepresentationMatters #queer

2 panel comic with fire surrounding a coffee table. Dog character says, "This is fine."

One Does Not Simply Overlook New Forms of Sequential Art: Memes as Fixed-Image Comics

Michelle Ann Abate redefines memes as digital comics.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

@projectmuse.bsky.social #ComicsStudies #DigitalComics #memes #storytelling #comics #ComicArt #ComicBooks #VisualStorytelling

Comic style image of a spring lakeside landscape with the words, Check Out Inks, New Spring Issue Available on Project MUSE, link in bio.

Inks is pleased to be a part of @projectmuse.bsky.social's Subscribe to Open (S2O) pilot. Issue 9(1) now available everywhere. muse.jhu.edu/issue/54898 #ComicsStudies #S2O #GraphicNovels

Comic image with people and trees

Framing, Reframing, and Deframing: Disclosure in Indigenous Comics

Sophie McCall shows how Indigenous #comics creators disrupt or reclaim the conventions of comics.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

@projectmuse.bsky.social #ComicsStudies #EisnerAwards #comics #IndigenousAuthors #RepresentationMatters

Comic drawing of person in a hall way looking at graffitti that says "still here."

Featured Article!
Two-Spirit Pedagogy in Surviving the City, Vol. 2: From the Roots Up

Lisa Tatonetti explores the health of young Two-Spirit people as represented in #comics.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

@projectmuse.bsky.social #ComicsStudies #EisnerAwards #IndigenousComics#IndigenousStudies

Today we spotlight @inkscomicsjournal.bsky.social (an Eisner Award finalist) for its participation in our S2O program. INKS brings together scholarly essays, insights & discoveries from leading comics professionals.

Explore a FREE / OA issue: bit.ly/43WGifG

#ReadUP w / @ohiostatepress.bsky.social

Two people with fire in between with the word Zhauwuno-Geezhigo-Gaubow and his brother Pesquan were known to defeat us, Windigos...

Learning from Looking in “Red Clouds”: Lee Maracle’s See as (Re)Creative and Critical Method

Olivia Abram asks, how do readers look at #Indigenous works and creators, and how do they look back?
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

@projectmuse.bsky.social #VisualStorytelling #ComicsStudies

image of a hand

Comics in the Classroom: Amplifying American Indian Voices and Visibility

Courtney Lewis writes about teaching a course about American Indian-produced #comics and graphic novels.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

@projectmuse.bsky.social ky.social #ComicsStudies #EisnerAwards #SDCC #IndigenousStudies