What's the Well-Rounded Comic Art Scholar Reading List?

There is growing interest in academia for comic art. Just look at all the conferences that deal with comics! But what comics and graphic novels should students, educators, and comic art enthusiasts read to achieve a "well-rounded" comic art education? Producing such a list is the main objective of the "Well-Rounded Comic Art Scholar Reading List."

Ultimately, this list should include the most significant and influential works of comic art:

1. in all their manifestations (e.g., strips, comic books, graphic novels, etc.)
2. through the ages (e.g. Platinum Age, Golden Age, etc.),
3. across nations and cultures (e.g. U.S.A., Japan, Europe, etc.).

Additionally, the list should include leading theoretical works that relate to or have significantly contributed to the understanding of comic art.

This list is not a fanboy list nor a popularity contest!

Because of the large scope of this project, we will first develop a list for comics in the U.S.A. from the late 1800's (birth of newspaper strips) to the present. In the future, we hope to develop additional lists for other world regions (French-speaking Europe and Japan come to mind) and for other time periods (such as nineteenth century comics).

At the end of this endeavor, an organized and annotated master list will be published on the website of the National Association of Comic Art Educators.

The Method: Involving the Community of Comic Art Scholars!

In order to produce a meaningful, comprehensive, and well-organized reading list, we will proceed through three phases:

1. ESTABLISHING CATEGORIES: with the assistance of several comic art "generalists," editors will generate a set of categories based on significant movements, historical periods, geographical trends, and distinct genres.
2. PRODUCING THE LIST: through contributions from all interested comic art scholars and through research of existing lists, editors will compile what people believe to be the most significant, influential, essential, "must read" works of comic art through the ages and cultures. Contributors will have the ability to include comments to justify their choices.
3. RANKING / RATING: after having collected a large and seemingly exhaustive list of titles, this list of titles will appear in a web form. Everyone will have the opportunity to rate the works based on their importance in comic art history. This will allow us to discern the "must-read" works from the personal favorites.

As of Summer 2003, we are in Phase 2, "Producing the list" and we are seeking contributions about which works should be included.

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