Reading Comics - by Douglas Wolk (Paperback)

About the Book

Critic Wolk illuminates the most dazzling creators of modern comics--from Alan Moore and Alison Bechdel to Dave Sim and Chris Ware--and introduces a critical theory that explains where each fits into the pantheon of art.

Book Synopsis

Suddenly, comics are everywhere: a newly matured art form, filling bookshelves with brilliant, innovative work and shaping the ideas and images of the rest of contemporary culture. In Reading Comics, critic Douglas Wolk shows us why this is and how it came to be. Wolk illuminates the most dazzling creators of modern comics-from Alan Moore to Alison Bechdel to Dave Sim to Chris Ware -- and introduces a critical theory that explains where each fits into the pantheon of art. Reading Comics is accessible to the hardcore fan and the curious newcomer; it is the first book for people who want to know not just what comics are worth reading, but also the ways to think and talk and argue about them.

Review Quotes

NPR.org "Wolk [is] such an engaging writer...If you're already a devotee of the form, you will find yourself nodding in furious agreement with his cleareyed take on precisely why good comics are good. If, on the other hand, you've ever publicly opined that comics are crude, juvenile and/or witless, be prepared: it's only a matter of time before someone presses this thoughtful, utterly convincing book into your hands."

About the Author

Douglas Wolk writes about comics and music for publications including the New York Times, Rolling Stone, the Washington Post, Salon, and The Believer. He lives in Portland, Oregon.