This semester I'm getting my third crack at a comics course; I decided to go with a class I've always wanted to teach. I don't know whether I'll have time to post a running commentary as we go along, but I thought I'd share the reading list with you.
Week 1
Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics
Jules Feiffer, The Great Comic Book Heroes
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Superman #1
Richard Reynolds, Super Heroes
Week 2
Bob Kane and Bill Finger, Batman #1
Jules Feiffer, The Great Comic Book Heroes
William Moulton Marston and Harry Peter, Wonder Woman #1 and #3
Ben Saunders, “Wonder Woman: Bondage and Liberation”
Gloria Steinem, “Wonder Woman”
Week 3
Fredric Wertham, Seduction of the Innocent
Jules Feiffer, The Great Comic Book Heroes
Amy Nyberg, Seal of Approval
Bart Beaty, Fredric Wertham and the Critique of Mass Culture
Week 4
Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Amazing Fantasy #15
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, The Incredible Hulk #1
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Essential Fantastic Four vol. 3
Charles Hatfield, Hand of Fire
Week 5
Jack Kirby, The New Gods #7 and Mister Miracle #9
Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams, Green Lantern/Green Arrow #76 and #87
Week 6
Chris Claremont and John Byrne, X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga
Richard Reynolds, Super Heroes
Sean Howe, Marvel Comics: The Untold Story
Week 7
Frank Miller, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
Geoff Klock, How to Read Superhero Comics and Why
Jim Collins, “Batman: The Movie, Narrative: The Hyperconscious”
Weeks 8-9
Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, Watchmen
Richard Reynolds, Super Heroes
Annalisa di Liddo, Alan Moore
Watchmen film, dir. Zack Snyder
Week 10
Dwayne McDuffie and Mark Bright, Icon: A Hero’s Welcome
Jeffrey Brown, Black Superheroes, Milestone Comics, and Their Fans
Week 11
Spider-Man, dir. Sam Raimi
Iron Man, dir. Jon Favreau
The Dark Knight, dir. Christopher Nolan
David Bordwell, “Superheroes for Sale”
Will Brooker, Hunting the Dark Knight
Week 12
Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, All Star Superman
Zack Smith, “All Star Memories”
Week 13
Student presentations
Week 14
Chris Ware, “Thrilling Adventure Stories”
I'm down with this. Week 5 needs more OMEGA THE UNKNOWN, though.
Would love the running commentary.
Posted by: Marc-Oliver Frisch | January 14, 2014 at 12:45 PM
One of many things I'd love to include if I had the space.
(Actually, I'd moreso love to teach Jonathan Lethem and Farel Dalrymple's Omega alongside an issue or two of the original and Lethem's Fortress of Solitude, but that would be for a very different class...)
Posted by: Marc | January 14, 2014 at 07:29 PM