Identity and form in alternative comics, 1967-2007

In the late 1960s, underground cartoonists established the comic book form as a
\nspace for the exploration of personal identity. “Alternative” comics grew out of this
\ntradition as subsequent writers produced work independently of the major comics
\npublishers, aimed at an adult audience and encompassing a broad range of
\nvisual styles and narrative content. Throughout the past forty years, British, US
\nand Canadian writers and artists have used this medium to explore questions of
\nselfhood and perception, often implicitly or overtly relating these issues to the
\nform, history and conventions of the comic book itself.
\nTwo main threads run through this discussion of the representation of
\nselfhood: childhood and memory on the one hand and sexuality and gender on
\nthe other. This thesis argues that for many creators there exists a useful analogy
\nbetween the comic book form and mental processes, specifically between the
\nfractured, verbal-visual blend of the comics page and the organisation of human
\nmemory. It further suggests that the historical association of comics first with
\nchildhood, and subsequently with male adolescence, has conditioned the
\nrepresentation of selfhood in adult comics. Comic book consumption has often
\ncentred on a community of predominantly young, white, male, socially marginal
\nreaders, buying and collecting serialised narratives. Comics creators’ awareness
\nof this audience (either in response or resistance) has affected the content of
\ntheir work.
\nAlthough presented as a chronological narrative, this thesis is not a
\ncomprehensive history of Anglophone alternative comics, but centres on eight
\nprominent authors/artists: Robert Crumb; Dave Sim; Lynda Barry; Julie Doucet;
\nAlan Moore; the collaborative partnership of Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean; and
\nChris Ware. Whilst spanning a wide range of genres and themes (autobiography,
\nfantasy, gothic horror, parody, soap opera, the grotesque and others) each
\nconfronts and negotiates with conventions regarding the representation of
\nselfhood.

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