(Ü/PS) Of Monsters and Men: An Introduction to Sequential Art […]

Bonnie Tyler needs a hero; the British Empire needs several – at least according to Alan Moore, one of the most renowned comic book authors of our time. 

This seminar provides students with an introduction to sequential art, and specifically examines Moore’s reinvention of superhero fiction via a close reading of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. We will discuss how different forms of otherness and marginality are introduced to the normative hero trope through unconventional ‘heroes’ who blur the lines between good and evil, hero and villain, monster and (hu)man. Besides investigating how Moore puts well-established binaries to the test, we will consider the graphic novel in regard to its intertextual potential, drawing on some of the most iconic examples of 19th-century fantastic literature, such as Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, and the scientific romances of H.G. Wells. 

In preparation to the seminar, please read:

Moore, Alan (2000). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume One. New York: DC Comics. 

--- (2003). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume Two. New York: DC Comics.

Additional material will be provided during the term.