A9-3 Research Committee on Comics Studies and Graphic Narrative

Chairs:

- Stefan Buchenberger, Kanagawa University, Yokohama/Japan

- Abhishek Chatterjee, RV University Bangalore/India

Even as superheroes continue to dominate mainstream comics, graphic narratives worldwide have increasingly shifted toward themes that transcend Übermenschian ideals and the classic good-versus-evil binary. This panel invites scholarship on “Heroism,” “Villainy,” and the spaces in between in graphic traditions, examining how these themes intersect with national, folk, and world literatures. Traditionally, iconic figures such as Batman, Spider-Man, the Joker, and Green Goblin embody what Scott McCloud describes as archetypes that “amplify through simplification,” helping readers navigate the hero-villain binary. Yet, these characters are also sites of sociocultural anxieties—a point underscored in Fredric Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent (1954). Figures like John Constantine and the Punisher further introduce morally ambivalent narratives that exemplify Thierry Groensteen’s theorization of the medium’s “postmodern turn.” Beyond superheroes, contemporary graphic narratives frequently address human-scale conflicts rooted in pluralities, harnessing the medium’s distinct ability to bear witness to trauma. Works such as Chris Ware’s Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth (2000) and Brian K. Vaughan’s Pride of Baghdad (2006) present alternative visions of heroism within personal and collective struggles. In the Indian context, Bhimayana (2011) by Srividya Natarajan and S. Anand, rendered in Gond art, narrates Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s life and his struggle against caste oppression, foregrounding narrative forms that subvert universalist conventions and advocate for a comparative, interdisciplinary approach to comics studies. We welcome submissions that explore these themes through comparative, cross-cultural, and illustrators' perspectives, examining how heroes, anti-heroes, and villains function across diverse global and historical contexts.

Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:

• Comparative studies of superhero ideologies and moral complexities across cultures

• Antiheroes and the ethics of justice in diverse narrative traditions

• Human-scale conflicts in graphic narratives and trauma literature

• Non-Western graphic narratives that challenge Western aesthetic and narrative norms