Some history (western). David Kunzle, “Rodolphe Töpffer’s Aesthetic Revolution” [CSR], Robert C. Harvey, “How Comics Came to Be” [CSR].  Rodolphe Töpffer, Mr. Pencil (1831) [CP]; George Herriman, Krazy Kat [CP]; Charles Schulz, Peanuts [CP].

Books reviewed:

• David Kunzle, Father of the Comic Strip: Rodolphe Töpffer. UP Mississippi, 2007. Reviewed by Tareneh Matloob.
• David Michaelis, Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography.  HarperCollins, 2007. Reviewed by Steven Tolson.

Watchmen, second half. 

Books reviewed:

• Scott Bukatman, Matters of Gravity: Special Effects and Supermen in the 20th Century. Duke UP, 2003. Reviewed by Zach Wellhouse.
• Annalisa Di Liddo, Alan Moore: Comics as Performance, Fiction as Scalpel. UP Mississippi, 2009. Reviewed by Josh Pearson.

Image and text. Mitchell, Iconology, Chapter 2; Mitchell, “Beyond Comparison” [CSR]; Thierry Groensteen, “The Impossible Definition” [CSR]; Brian Selznick, The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007).

Books reviewed:

• Thierry Groensteen, The System of Comics. 1999. Translated by Bart Beaty and Nick Nguyen. UP Mississippi, 2007. Reviewed by Chris Gaines.
• Scott McCloud, Making Comics. HarperCollins, 2006. Reviewed by Alyssa Dawson.

Space and time. McCloud, Chapter 4; Mitchell, Iconology, Chapter 4; Charles Hatfield, “An Art of Tensions” [CSR]; Gene Kannenberg Jr., “The Comics of Chris Ware” [CSR]; Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library No. 18 (2007).

Books reviewed:

• Daniel Raeburn, Chris Ware.  Yale UP, 2004. Reviewed by Aimee Norris.
• Douglas Wolk, How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean. Da Capo, 2007. Patrice Farrell.

Some history (eastern); emotional range. McCloud, Chapters 5 & 6.  Robert S. Petersen, “The Acoustics of Manga” [CSR]; Adam Kern, “Manga versus Kibyöshi” [CSR]; Tezuka, Dororo, Vol. 1 (1967-1968). Paper Abstract Due.

Books reviewed:

• Adam L. Kern, Manga from the Floating World: Comicbook Culture and the Kibyohi of Edo Japan. Harvard, 2006. Reviewed by Diedre Mapes.
• Frederik L. Schodt, The Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution. Stone Bridge P, 2007. Reviewed by Heather Miller.
• Anne Allison, Permitted and Prohibited Desires: Mothers, Comics, and Censorship in Japan. Westview Press, 1996. Reviewed by Crystal Bandel.

Frank L. Cioffi, “Disturbing Comics” [CP]; Phoebe Gloeckner, The Diary of a Teenage Girl (1998).

Books reviewed:

• Charles Hatfield, Alternative Comics: An Emerging Medium. UP Mississippi, 2005. Reviewed by Elizabeth Williams.
• Roger Sabin, Comics, Comix & Graphic Novels: A History of Comic Art. Phaidon, 1996. Reviewed by Laura Roderick.