Whether one calls it sequential art, graphic narrative or graphic novels, comics have long become an important part of contemporary culture. Their range of expression contains all forms, genres and modes from high to low, from serial entertainment for kids to complex works of art. This has lead to a burgeoning interest in comics as a subject for scholarly analysis, and comics studies is in the process of establishing itself as a major branch of criticism. This handbook, which is part in the larger series of Handbooks of English and American Studies, published by de Gruyter, will combine - in the spirit of the series - a systematic investigation of the subject with an overview over the most important contexts and themes and a number of close readings of seminal or exemplary works. There is as of today no comparable resource available on the book market. This will make the handbook indispensable for a number of readers, from students to researchers.
