Date of Award
2008
Document Type
Senior Scholars Paper (Colby Access Only)
Department
Colby College. Creative Writing Program
Advisor(s)
Debra A. Spark
Abstract
The increased "visual literacy" that has resulted from mass consumption has changed the way that modern consumers experience and understand works of visual art, such as comics. Around the turn of the century, comics became popular as supplements for national American newspapers. Recognizing the comics' ability to capture a loyal readership, newspaper tycoons William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer included strips in their Sunday supplements. Since the comics were included for their selling potential, American sequential art developed a unique relationship with advertising. This project looks at the relationship between comics and advertisements: their similar histories, as well as their similar formal qualities. Ultimately, I argue that reading comics and ads requires the same cognitive process - a fact which heIps account for the recent emergence of serious or "high" art graphic novels.
Keywords
Comics -- cogntive process -- visual literacy -- advertising
Recommended Citation
Giangreco, Hootie, "Comics as Commerce: The Graphic Novel, Consumer Culture, & Postmodern Theory" (2008). Senior Scholar Papers. Paper 552.https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/seniorscholars/552
Copyright
Colby College theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed or downloaded from this site for the purposes of research and scholarship. Reproduction or distribution for commercial purposes is prohibited without written permission of the author.
Comments
Full-text download restricted to Colby College campus only.