Tucked discreetly between the pages of â’X-Men,â’ â’Green Lanternâ’ and other comic book adventure stories are themes that delve into more than extraordinary feats of strength or superhuman powers. Oftentimes, socially relevant messages of the time are delivered to readers of all ages, albeit, in an untraditional often unintended fashion.

The environmental, racial and political issues of yesterday and today are brought to life colorfully and creatively through the popular medium that has stood the test of time for more than 60 years. Comic books and graphic novels do more than create a fantasy world where good simply conquers evil through the superheroes created by companies like DC Comics and Marvel Comics.

Through the interdisciplinary course, Race and Graphic Narrative in the Postwar United States, students and professors alike at Misericordia University are exploring multiculturalism and other important social issues that are addressed in comic strips, comic books and graphic novels. Allan Austin, Ph.D., associate professor of History, and Patrick Hamilton, Ph.D., assistant professor of English, designed the English 415/History 320 course by utilizing their common interest and professional backgrounds.

â’One day, Patrick came into my office and asked if Iâ’d ever seen the â’˜New Guardiansâ’,â’â’ Dr. Austin recalls. â’He showed me a blog that was just horrific. Out of that, we started saying thereâ’s something to teach here.

â’Weâ’re both really interested in issues of race, ethnicity and identity, and weâ’re trying to find ways to draw students in,â’â’ adds Dr. Austin, an avid collector and reader of comic books since he was six years old. â’It seemed we could use comic books as a medium to discuss how terribly wrong multiculturalism went in 1980s comic books as well as other issues of race since mid-century.â’â’

The new course has been fully rostered for the spring 2008 and spring 2009 semesters. Coursework includes required readings of â’La Perdidaâ’ by Jessica Abel, â’Citizen 13660â’ by Miné Okubo, â’Green Lantern/Green Arrowâ’ (Vol. 1) by Dennis Oâ’Neil and Neal Adams, â’Maus: A Survivorâ’s Taleâ’ ( Vol. 1 â” â’My Father Bleeds Historyâ’â’) by Art Spiegelman and â’American Born Chineseâ’ by Gene Luen Yang, and writing brief weekly papers, longer essays and classroom participation.

Each text allows students to view relevant social issues through a different prism. â’Supermanâ’â’ comic strips and â’Citizen 13660â’ engages them in Japanese American concentration camps during World War, for example, and spawns scholarly discussion on the controversial topic. â’I was very surprised that ethnocentrism played a role in some of the comics,â’â’ says Marissa Miller â’09, an English major who is enrolled presently in the course. â’I was aware from reading a few graphic novels on my own that the environment and multiculturalism can be found in this written form, but I was happily surprised to find depth and focus.

â’Miné Okuboâ’s â’˜Citizen 13660â’ deeply moved me and I gained a great amount of knowledge about the â’˜internmentâ’ camps that the Japanese Americans were forced into because it had never really been addressed in depth in any of my other history courses in college or high school,â’â’ she adds.

In recent years, comics and graphic novels have been looked at more critically in academia, similar to the way traditional literature is reviewed. Instead of stereotyping the boom!, bam! and splats! of action comics, high school teachers and college professors are using them as a gateway to engage their students in discussion, debate and scholarship.

â’We try to get them to look at these with a more critical eye in terms of what sort of ideologies and ideas they are exposing,â’â’ says Dr. Hamilton, who began collecting Marvelâ’s â’Avengersâ’ series as a young child.

Before the spring semester, the majority of their students didnâ’t believe comics addressed race, ethnicity or event historical movements. â’The things that we look at are immensely a product of those same issues that we often see comics and pop culture in general divorced from,â’â’ Dr. Hamilton explains. â’Things like the â’˜New Guardianâ’ series that we deal with are an attempt at multiculturalism that goes horribly awry. They donâ’t exist in a vacuum and I think that ties into breaking down boundaries.

â’Whether itâ’s literature, comics or film,â’â’ he adds, â’they are products of whatâ’s going on in culture generally. What are the intellectual, social issues?â’â’

Through the course, Misericordia students become more critical consumers of media by understanding historical context and literary criticism, and are able to apply these tools, according to Drs. Hamilton and Austin.

â’It is vitally important that one never writes off a form of information based on its outside form,â’â’ says Miller, explaining the lessons she learned from the unique course. â’My grandparents were initially very shocked that I was taking a course on comics and graphic novels because they didnâ’t understand the hidden depth and history behind the works.

â’After sharing what Iâ’ve learned with my family and friends, theyâ’ve accepted that I am genuinely learning from a worthy academic course. I firmly believe that if an individual is to grow they must step outside of the confines of a set environment and venture into unknown territory,â’â’ she adds.

Personal Thoughts

Aren’t comics more mainstream?  It is not necessarily paperback or graphic novel itself that has made it seem comic books are more popular. I do believe that the internet has opened doors for collectors, reader and movie producers to interlink.

There has, is and always will be a market for comic books, yes even before motion pictures.  The best comic books have always been on the cusp of social issues and comentary.  For example:  Iron Man fought during the Korean War and was hit by a bullet scrapnel in the heart, Captain America was all into WWII, and now we have Obama comics.

If that were not enough, Michelle Obama is getting her own comic book. This one-shot features the United States’ latest First Lady, Michelle Obama. A mother, political force, and now, wife of the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, it’s obvious that Michelle Obama has lived a life many have only dreamed of. Continuing Bluewater’s examination of strong female  figures in politics, this visual biography will examine Michelle’s life in detail to help find her context in modern history.

The new popularity meter, is there a comic book with your name on the cover?

Tags: Barack Obama, Comic, Comic Books, Comics, Graphic Novels, Obama, politics, webcomics