Autobiographical Comics - (Bloomsbury Comics Studies) Annotated by Andrew J Kunka

About the Book

Book Synopsis

A complete guide to the history, form and contexts of the genre, Autobiographical Comics helps readers explore the increasingly popular genre of graphic life writing. In an accessible and easy-to-navigate format, the book covers such topics as:

- The history and rise of autobiographical comics
- Cultural contexts
- Key texts - including Maus, Robert Crumb, Persepolis, Fun Home, and American Splendor
- Important theoretical and critical approaches to autobiographical comics

Autobiographical Comics includes a glossary of crucial critical terms, annotated guides to further reading and online resources and discussion questions to help students and readers develop their understanding of the genre and pursue independent study.

Review Quotes

"Bloomsbury has launched a Comics Studies Series that has kicked off with Andrew Kunka's Autobiographical Comics ... It's an excellent resource, combining a brief history of this sub-genre with critical questions, key texts and a glossary. Kunka shows us that you can learn a lot about comics by how cartoonists organize their lives on the page." --Times Literary Supplement

"Kunka offers a useful overview of the subject, with an inclusive approach that includes everything from "proto-autobiographical comics" (such as Winsor McCay's inclusion of a cartoonist character in his early strips) to the latest web comics, and scrupulously cites his sources, making it easy to locate relevant literature on any of the topics he discusses ... [The book] offer[s] insightful and specific analysis that can be comprehended without requiring total immersion in the latest and trendiest academic jargon." --PopMatters

"Autobiographical Comics is a well-informed, highly readable, and perceptive overview that will be extremely useful for students and teachers looking for introductory material and bibliographic references for further study ... Kunka balances depth and brevity with skill ... The endnotes, glossary, and extensive bibliography highlight the author's deep knowledge of the field and are indispensable tools for further scholarship. As a studying and teaching tool, Autobiographical Comics is a superb introduction to the field that achieves accessibility without diminishing scholarly rigor ... Autobiographical Comics is the best study guide available, and Kunka's generosity of scholarship and tone provides a robust platform for teaching and researching graphic life narratives." --Biography

"As an introduction to a genre, a reference guide, and a critical study, Andrew J. Kunka's Autobiographical Comics represents a necessary foray into the particulars of autobiographical graphic narratives. His book contributes to the Bloomsbury Comics Studies series, upholding its commitment to expansive and accessible introductions to comics and Comics Studies. Kunka deftly juggles concepts new and familiar to Comics Studies, as his thorough survey of this genre takes up questions of reliability, authenticity, and objectivity ... A tremendous resource for anyone crafting a syllabus and hoping to include popular or lesser known works. Kunka's introduction guides and helps us interrogate the genre of autobiographical comics. His careful survey and his attention to texts and critical questions both popular and lesser known make this book a clear and compelling resource for readers of comics who might wonder about the narrative, stylistic, or thematic questions behind comics that represent, in so many different ways, autobiographical experiences." --Studies in Twentieth & Twenty-First Century Literature

About the Author