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Son of Classics and Comics presents thirteen original studies of representations of the ancient world in the medium of comics. Building on the foundation established by their groundbreaking Classics and Comics (OUP, 2011), Kovacs and Marshall have gathered a wide range of studies with a new, global perspective.
List of contents
- Introduction.
- C. W. Marshall and George Kovacs
- Postmodern Odysseys
- 1. Odysseus and The Infinite Horizon
- C. W. Marshall
- 2. Mythic Totality in Age of Bronze
- George Kovacs
- 3. Classical Symbolism in Asterios Polyp
- Abram Fox and HyoSil Suzy Hwang-Eschelbacher
- East's Wests
- 4. Mecha in Olympus: Masamune Shirow's Appleseed
- Gideon Nisbet
- 5. [un]Reading the Odyssey in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
- Nicholas Theisen
- 6. Xerxes, Lost City in the Desert:
- Classical Allusions in Fullmetal Alchemist
- Sara Raup Johnson
- All Gaul
- 7. Re-inventing the Barbarian:
- Classical Ethnographic Perceptions in Astérix
- Eran Almagor
- 8. Asterix and the Dream of Autochthony
- Stuart Barnett
- 9. We're not in Gaul Anymore: the Global Translation of Astérix
- Siobhàn McElduff
- Modern Classics
- 10. Classical Allusion in Modern British Political Cartoons
- Ian Runacres and Michael K. Mackenzie
- 11. Eliot with an Epic, Rowson with a Comic:
- Recycling Foundational Narratives
- Frederick Williams and Edward Brunner
- 12. Ozymandias the Dreamer: Watchmen and Alexander the Great
- Matthew Taylor
- 13. And They Call That Poison Food:
- Desire and Traumatic Spectatorship in the Lucifer Retelling of Genesis
- Kate Polak
- Bibliography
About the author
George Kovacs is Assistant Professor of Ancient History and Classics at Trent University in Peterborough, Canada.
C. W. Marshall is Professor of Greek at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.
Together, they have co-edited Classics and Comics (OUP, 2011) and No Laughing Matter: Studies in Athenian Comedy (BCP, 2012).
Summary
Wonder Woman, Amazon Princess; Asterix, indefatigable Gaul; Ozymandias, like Alexander looking for new worlds to conquer. Comics use classical sources, narrative patterns, and references to enrich their imaginative worlds and deepen the stories they present. Son of Classics and Comics explores that rich interaction. This volume presents thirteen original studies of representations of the ancient world in the medium of comics. Building on the foundation established by their groundbreaking Classics and Comics (OUP, 2011), Kovacs and Marshall have gathered a wide range of studies with a new, global perspective. Chapters are helpfully grouped to facilitate classroom use, with sections on receptions of Homer, on manga, on Asterix, and on the sense of a 'classic' in the modern world. All Greek and Latin are translated. Lavishly illustrated, the volume widens the range of available studies on the reception of the Greek and Roman worlds in comics significantly, and deepens our understanding of comics as a literary medium. Son of Classics and Comics will appeal to students and scholars of classical reception as well as comics fans.
Additional text
Studies presented by George Kovacz and C. W. Marshall in their book show current comics as very complicated works, which are in no way lacking when compared with current prose. Classic philologists may be cured by this book from their notion that comics are only rather and easy play for children who are too lazy to read.
