Depictions of Self and Other: What Do Autobiographical Comics Tell Us About Life in the US?

In 2017, the Library of Congress Magazine released a special issue on its growing comic book collection that urges readers to “open a comic book” where one “can see America in the pages—its people, its values, its culture, how it’s changed.” This workshop will think historically and visually about the process of making comics and the autobiographical nature of this work. Starting with the Underground Comix movement in the late 60s and ending with the recent proliferation of Web Comics on platforms like Instagram, we will explore how the hand of the artist reveals to readers the idiosyncrasies and personal lived experiences of independent comic book creators in the United States. Turning to a handful of revealing case studies, we reflected on the various aspects of an artist’s identity, embodied and intellectual, including race, gender, religion, class, and political perspectives. We also thought about the various communities in which these artists take part as citizens, critics, activists, and/or scholars. The goal of this workshop was to use autobiographical comics as a starting point for understanding individual lived experiences within the United States and how these narratives map onto or challenge broader frameworks of belonging, such as nationhood, capitalism, and political protest.

Sponsored by the Centre for the Study of the United States.