Contents

• A word to the fore beats a pair of anything
• 1. Slouching toward an aesthetic : the beginning of a critical vocabulary
• 2. Legions in long underwear : the advent of the comic book and the reign of the superhero
• 3. The search for art and meaning : Westerns and the American spirit
• 4. But is it art? : the spirit of Will Eisner
• 5. The heroic avenue to art : experimentation and the mark of Kane
• 6. The comic book as individual expression : Harvey Kurtzman and the revolution
• 7. Style and flash and filigree : manipulating breakdowns, composition, and layout for effect
• 8. Only in the comics : why cartooning is not the same as filmmaking
• 9. The lonely hearts club band : autobiographical angst and other adventures in topics and treatments
• 10. All together now