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9 - “Scared Witless”

War in the American Graphic Novel

from Part I - History and Genre

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2024

By
Hugo Frey
Edited by
Jan Baetens ,
Hugo Frey  and
Fabrice Leroy
Jan Baetens
Affiliation:
KU Leuven, Belgium
Hugo Frey
Affiliation:
University of Chichester
Fabrice Leroy
Affiliation:
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
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Summary

This chapter addresses the representation of war in the American graphic novel. It begins with a historical discussion of the decline of the war comic in light of social change in the 1960s. While pop art appropriation of war comics questioned the jingoistic content of the tradition, older-generation comics artists (Milton Caniff, Jack Kubert, et al.) and the National Cartoonist Society continued to promote American militarism in their work. In this culturally compromised context, war comics declined in status and circulation, facilitating the rise of the American graphic novel, which inverted the aesthetics of the old war comics. By contrast, war graphic novels account for the suffering of war, reveal personal and family tragedies, bring forward women’s experiences, and (in translation) offer an international perspective. The recognition given to graphic novels in the public sphere has also facilitated the exhibition and republication of previously marginalized works (e.g., material from Vietnam War veteran Vernon Grant). The chapter concludes with a discussion of Florent Silloray’s graphic novel biography of the famous war photographer Robert Capa, which includes a new theorization of the status of the war image and the human cost of military violence.

Keywords

military historyautobiographyBarry Windsor-SmithcurationFlorent Silloraypop artRobert CapaRoy LichtensteinVernon Grant
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to the American Graphic Novel , pp. 155 - 174
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • “Scared Witless”
  • Edited by Jan Baetens, KU Leuven, Belgium, Hugo Frey, University of Chichester, Fabrice Leroy, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to the American Graphic Novel
  • Online publication: 10 January 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009379311.011
Available formats
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Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • “Scared Witless”
  • Edited by Jan Baetens, KU Leuven, Belgium, Hugo Frey, University of Chichester, Fabrice Leroy, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to the American Graphic Novel
  • Online publication: 10 January 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009379311.011
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • “Scared Witless”
  • Edited by Jan Baetens, KU Leuven, Belgium, Hugo Frey, University of Chichester, Fabrice Leroy, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to the American Graphic Novel
  • Online publication: 10 January 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009379311.011
Available formats
×