Our latest for @sequentialscholars.bsky.social talks #Supergirl and transmedia adaptation! #ComicsStudies #Adaptation

Announcing our next unit: The Tea Dragon Society! #TheTeaDragonSociety

Many scholars embrace the participatory elements of McCloudian closure. Understanding Closure in Understanding Comics [4 of 4]

While it is unfair to judge a movie before seeing it, there is an interesting opportunity with Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow to speculate on how such a dense, complicated, and challenging story might be adapted for the cinema and what that might say about transmediation in general. #supergirl 1/12

🔈Fun announcement! We won a thing!! Specifically, the Gilbert Seldes Prize for Public Scholarship from @cssorg.bsky.social!!! Thank you 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

Understanding Identification in Understanding Comics [2/3] According to McCloud, simplified characters are easier to identify with because they connote greater universality than more specific, realistic images

Other scholars argue McCloud doesn’t sufficiently explain how comics use closure differently than films. Understanding Closure in Understanding Comics [3 of 4] #UnderstandingComics

TBT:Carol Danvers debuted as Ms. Marvel in 1977, in a story written by Gerry Conway & pencilled by John Buscema. She was self-consciously designed to be both one of Marvel’s premier female superheroes and specifically, its premiere feminist superhero. 1/11 #CaptainMarvel #TheMarvels

Tom King often eschews endings that resolve all conflicts and send the audience home satisfied. He prefers, instead, what we might simply call a ‘challenging ending,’ one that forces the reader to reflect on the story and the deeper meanings it seeks. Supergirl is a good example. #supergirl 1/17

In comics, there’s conventionally a graphic demarcation between sequential images known as the gutter. Understanding Closure in Understanding Comics [2 of 4]

Our latest for @sequentialscholars.bsky.social discusses the use of colour in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. #ComicsStudies #Supergirl

The colorist’s art often goes under the radar in discussing a successful comic (in large part because it’s effects are often subconscious though powerful). Despite this, several readers and reviewers have flagged Mattheus Lopes’s colors in Supergirl as spectacular. Let’s discuss why.#supergirl 1/12

In his seminal book #UnderstandingComics, Scott McCloud argues that comics employ a unique brand of closure, and that closure is essential to the language & power of comics. Understanding Closure in Understanding Comics [1 of 4]

Our latest for @sequentialscholars.bsky.social talks first person narrative voices in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow! #ComicsStudies #Supergirl

Throughout his career, Tom King has made frequent use of strongly characterized, first person narrative voices and the impacts that they can have on a story. His work on Vision and Mister Miracle are both strong examples of this. Ruthye, in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, is no exception. 1/12

Understanding Identification in Understanding Comics [3/3]

TBT: In “The Supergirls,” Mike Madrid writes of #DoomPatrol’s Elasti-Girl, “She is an emancipated superheroine, with strength and power to put her on part with her male counterparts.” In the 1960s, Elasti-Girl was almost unique in this regard, pushing boundaries & making space. 1/11

As part of their promotion of the forthcoming movie, DC put out a brief interview with writer Tom King that highlights some of his main goals and ambitions for his take on Supergirl.

Understanding Identification in Understanding Comics [2/3] According to McCloud, simplified characters are easier to identify with because they connote greater universality than more specific, realistic images

Our latest for @sequentialscholars.bsky.social spotlights Bilquis Evely's world building in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow! #ComicsStudies #Supergirl

In #UnderstandingComics, Scott McCloud proposes the concept of “amplification through simplification” to explain the richness & intensity of our identification with comics characters. It’s one of McCloud’s most appealing concepts–and one of the most frequently critiqued. #ComicsStudies

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow takes place amidst Bilquis Evely’s (Bilquis Evely) stunningly imaginative backdrop, drawing attention to one of the more underappreciated art-forms in comics: the artist’s role in creating worlds from nothing – the art of visual worldbuilding. #supergirl 1/14

Our latest for @sequentialscholars.bsky.social scholars talks everyone's favourite superpooch, Krypto! #Supergirl #ComicsStudies

The inciting force of Woman of Tomorrow is the unthinkable: a dying beloved dog who has to be saved from the poison that is draining his life. Krypto isn’t just Supergirl’s companion here, he’s a potent symbol for the simple altruistic drive that Kara has lost in this story. #supergirl #krypto 1/12

Circe in "Absolute Wonder Women" [5/5]

Circe in "Absolute Wonder Women" [4/5]

TBT: The “gag strip,” a 3-4 panel comic strip common in newspapers, is sometimes viewed as simplistic slapstick humor. Yet gag strips are considerably more complex than they’re often given credit for, due to comics’ unique representations of space & time. 1/12 #ComicsStudies

"Woman of Tomorrow" is one of my favorite series of the past few decades. It's powerful, heartfelt, sad, and heroic. And Bilquis Evely draws the absolute bejezus out of it. Every page is a wonder. Do yourself a favor and read this one before the film comes out.

Our latest for @sequentialscholars.bsky.social talks the pivotal opening scene of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow! #ComicsStudies #Supergirl

In a charming introductory scene, Woman of Tomorrow takes Supergirl from her usual position of pristine virtue to a far messier place (physically and emotionally). In doing so, it sets the stage for what might be the most poignant exploration of Kara’s character in the history of comics. 1/12

Circe in "Absolute Wonder Women" [3/5]

Our latest for @sequentialscholars.bsky.social introduces our latest unit - all about Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow! #Supergirl #ComicsStudies

Circe in "Absolute Wonder Women" [2/5]

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is a 2021 miniseries for DC Comics, written by Tom King and pencilled by Bilquis Evely. The series was nominated for a 2021 Eisner Award and is now the subject of a 2026 DCU film. #supergirl 1/7

Sequential Scholars has been running a phenomenal series of threads on various aspects of Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics as well as its overall legacy, and anyone interested in comics scholarship should read them all and share them far and wide.

Our latest for @sequentialscholars.bsky.social talks the legacy of Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics." #UnderstandingComics #ComicsStudies

Our next unit: Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow!

The legacy of #UnderstandingComics is too large & too diffuse to be definitively assessed. But we can consider how its legacy has evolved by comparing two important retrospectives: in The Comics Journal #211 from 1999 & in Inks: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society vol. 6, no. 3 from 2022. 1/13

Circe in "Absolute Wonder Women" [1/5]

Our latest for @sequentialscholars.bsky.social talks McCloud talking manga in Wizard Magazine! #ComicsStudies #UnderstandingComics

TBT: Representing supernatural worlds requires representing the unrepresentable. Mike Mignola’s “Hellboy” comics tackle this problem through the use of aspect-to-aspect & non-sequitur panel transitions, as well as inset panels that prompt imaginative, subjective closure. 1/10 #Hellboy

Scott McCloud’s theories in Understanding Comics have always shown the influence of manga, and a 1996 essay from Wizard Magazine #56 provides some insight into McCloud’s background with manga and its influence on McCloud’s foundational comics scholarship. #understandingcomics 1/11

Our latest for @sequentialscholars.bsky.social talks Scott McCloud's theory of "amplification through simplification." #ComicsStudies #UnderstandingComics

Sequential Scholars, as usual, doing an excellent job of exploring the language of comics, interrogating McCloud’s key, but questionable, contention that the simplified imagery of cartoons makes them more universally identifiable. Exploring the concept w/o fully dismissing it because they’re class.

In #UnderstandingComics, Scott McCloud proposes the concept of “amplification through simplification” to explain the richness & intensity of our identification with comics characters. It’s one of McCloud’s most appealing concepts–and one of the most frequently critiqued. 1/12 #ComicsStudies

Our latest for @sequentialscholars.bsky.social talks time in Understanding Comics! #ComicsStudies #UnderstandingComics

Scott McCloud’s seminal book #UnderstandingComics became seminal for a reason—because it’s extremely effective at not only describing formal aspects of comics, but showing them. McCloud’s explanation of how comics can use space to represent time is an illustrative case in point. 1/11 #ComicsStudies

Our latest for @sequentialscholars.bsky.social revisits Scott McCloud concept of "closure." #UnderstandingComics #ComicsStudies

In his seminal book #UnderstandingComics, Scott McCloud argues that comics employ a unique brand of closure, and that closure is essential to the language & power of comics. It may be McCloud’s most enduring & influential theory. It’s also not without critique & controversy. 1/14 #ComicsStudies

Our latest debates Scott McCloud's definition of comics! #ComicsStudies #UnderstandingComics