Superhero comics didn’t invent retroactive continuity but have become strongly associated with it. Some retcons shock readers or streamline stories. “Alias” offers a critical retcon that self-reflexively comments on its own history and context. 1/12 #JessicaJones #comicsstudies Alias employs a variety of techniques to insert Jessica Jones into the existing fictional history of the Marvel comics universe. The character’s history is initially hinted at through photos of Jessica dressed as a superhero standing next to the Avengers. 2/12

Alias was created – quite specifically – to be something different from mainstream Marvel comics of the time, and those differences create a series of visual challenges for the artwork. #JessicaJones 1/7 Most notably, Jessica Jones is a noir detective story, not a punch-em-up superhero spectacle. The majority of scenes are constructed around tense, rapid-fire dialogue rather than action sequences. 2/7

Because Western culture has historically privileged the male gaze, the act of looking can be gendered. As John Berger famously said of Western art, “Men act and women appear.” But “Alias” deliberately—and self-reflexively—foregrounds a woman who looks. #JessicaJones 1/11 “Alias” emphasizes the gaze of Jessica Jones both narratively and stylistically. At a plot level, her job as a private investigator affords her an active, knowledgeable gaze. She uses experience, technology, and various special skills to see things others don’t. 2/11

“Alias” by Brian Michael Bendis & Michael Gaydos with covers by David Mack ran for 28 issues from 2001-2004. It was the first title in Marvel’s MAX imprint for “mature” readers & puts its creative freedom to good use introducing a revolutionary female character—Jessica Jones. 1/9 Jessica is a former superhero & current private investigator who often finds herself embroiled in cases involving fellow supers. Jessica isn’t an antihero; she's committed to justice. But she is selfish, flawed, and unapologetically vulgar. Her comic's first word is “f*ck.” 2/9

Teen Titans #50 marks the end of the illustrious first Wolfman/Pérez run on the series and features a brilliant character scene between Nightwing and Batman that showcases the incredible talent that made the Wolfman/Pérez work so special in the first place. #TeenTitans 1/11 Robin’s transition to Nightwing is built up slowly throughout the course of the Titans franchise as the story of a young man seeking to escape the shadow of his beloved but emotionally distant father-figure, a perfect vehicle for exploring “Teen” self-discovery. 2/11

In just the second issue of The New Teen Titans, Wolfman and Pérez created what would become the defining antagonist for the series, as well as one of the most popular and boundary-pushing villains in DC history: Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke. #TeenTitans #Deathstroke. 1/10 At a time when the bronze age of comics was transitioning its depictions of villainy from a focus on mad scientists to personifications of free-market capitalism run amok, Deathstroke was, objectively and obviously, neither of those things. 2/10

Dick Grayson has been singled out as a rare (and highly prominent) example of a queer-coded male character in North American comics. This reading extends throughout the character’s history, but takes a new permutation in his relationship with Starfire. #TeenTitans 1/9 The first thing to note is the counter-intuitive nature of this relationship. Dick/Kory (DicKory) is (canonically) a committed, monogamous relationship between two consenting young adults. Yet within that seemingly-nuclear structure, queer elements might still emerge. 2/9

At a time when Black superheroes were rare, and disabled superheroes rarer, Victor Stone, aka Cyborg, presented as both (and transhuman to boot) - a hero with a rare capacity to produce intersectional commentary on three forms of Otherness. #TeenTitans 1/11 Intersectionality is defined by Patrick R. Grzanka as explorations of how different categories “of identity and inequality shape the contours of social life & structures” - understanding that these categories overlap & juxtapose, producing different experiences accordingly. 2/11

Teen Titans is widely regarded as DC’s answer to Chris Claremont’s X-Men. But when the new TT debuted, X-Men was basically the Phoenix/Dark Phoenix Saga, and thus we can narrow our focus quite a bit and see how that story is the specific link between UXM/TT. #Titans #xmen 1/9

The New Teen Titans debuted the same month that the final chapter of the Dark Phoenix Saga was published. As such it is interesting to consider how that particular character arc might be read parallel to key character elements in each of the Titans. 2/9

Though later iterations across media would lose touch with it, one of the most unique and compelling aspects of Marv Wolfman and George Pérez’s founding take on the character Raven is her commitment to pacifism and non-violence as categorical imperatives. #TeenTitans #Raven 1/8 After the team’s first encounter with Deathstroke, Starfire chastises Raven: “You’re letting them go? But they attacked us – they tried to kill us.” Raven responds: “If there is a difference between his kind and ours, it must be in our compassion for an enemy.” 2/8

In “George Pérez and the Classical Narrative Style” scholar Marc Singer breaks down the genius of Pérez’s style and seeks to account for the critical neglect that the legendary illustrator has received from comics scholars, despite a legendary career output. #TeenTitans 1/7 According to Singer, Pérez has been critically overlooked. “The reasons for this neglect aren’t obscure. His work is rooted squarely in the tropes of heroic fantasy rather than the realistic self-expression that has commanded the most attention in comics studies” 2/7

The New #TeenTitans began in 1980, revitalizing previous attempts at a Teen Titans franchise that traced back all the way to the 1960s, with mixed results. The Wolfman-Pérez run of Titans, however, was an unequivocal triumph, both financially and creatively. 1/9 The relaunched title was co-created by writer Marv Wolfman and penciller George Pérez (overseen by Len Wein) and launched its number one issue with finishes by Romeo Tanghal, letters by Ben Oda, and colours by Adrienne Roy. 2/9

The “gag strip,” a short comic strip common in newspapers, is sometimes viewed as a simplistic form of humor. Yet gag strips are considerably more complex than they’re often given credit for, due in part to comics’ unique representations of space & time. 1/12 #ComicsStudies Many gag strips employ slapstick, defined as “a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy” (Wikipedia). Comic strips use juxtaposition to generate slapstick and amplify punchlines. 2/12

Where some comic strips read like nothing that came before them, Bill Watterson’s “Calvin & Hobbes” can be read like everything that came before it, all at once – a work of pastiche that mines earlier comics greats for influence and inspiration. #CalvinandHobbes 1/7 There’s no question that Watterson’s strip is both innovative and distinctive, but Watterson himself was a student of the comic strip and simply having a great eye for imitable masters can be seen as one of the more fundamental skills in Watterson’s toolbox. 2/7

Comics historians have suggested that early American comic strips would often make use of broad racial caricatures as the subject of specific punchlines, entire comedic premises or even iconic characters. #ComicStrips #ComicsStudies 1/8 Wildly popular figures such as Happy Hooligan (1900-1930) and Abie the Agent (1914-1940) were premised on racial caricature of Irish and Jewish people, respectively, finding a large audience with the potential to mass-disseminate and normalize grotesque portrayals. 2/8

Many histories of comics privilege male characters & connotatively masculine genres. But comics have always responded to changing gender norms, including various waves of feminism. The popular genre of “working girl” comic strips offers many illustrative examples. 1/12 One of the first working girls was AE Hayward’s “Somebody’s Stenog” (1917-41). The nameless protagonist works as a secretary but spends most of her time shopping & dancing. As Maurice Horn observes, this “would be perpetuated in the hordes of working girl strips to come.” 2/12

In his essay “Tarpé Mills’ Miss Fury: Costume, Sexuality and Power,” appearing in the book “Supersex,” pioneer comics scholar Richard Reynolds analyzes #MissFury, the first female superhero created by a woman, as a rich—and potentially queer—exploration of gendered power. 1/14 Launching 6 months before Wonder Woman, “Miss Fury” (originally Black Fury) was a syndicated weekly comic strip that ran from 1941-1952. At its peak, it appeared in over 100 American Sunday papers. Material was also repackaged for a Timely comic book that ran from 1942-1946. 2/14

One of the more interesting nuances of Charles Schulz’s work that has been singled out by comics scholars is his portrayal of faith and religion, the subject of more than one book on the author’s legacy to the broader field of comics history. #peanuts #comicsstudies 1/6 Scholar Stephen J. Lind, for exampled recently published: A Charlie Brown Religion: Exploring the Spiritual Life and Work of Charles M. Schulz for the University of Mississippi Press, building on work by other scholars such as Robert Short and David Michaelis. 2/6

Charles Schulz’s “Peanuts” comic strip is iconic – a true transmedia property whose scope exceeded anything that came before it. But lost in that, at times, is the fact that Peanuts was (particularly early on) an innovative work of pop culture genius. #PEANUTS #comicsstudies 1/10 A useful comparison to Peanuts might be the TV series “The Simpsons,” a series that rose fast and redefined the media landscape, but that has suffered a series of diminishing returns over an excessively long tenure. 2/10

In the book “Wide Awake in Slumberland,” Katherine Roeder relates Winsor McKay’s classic comic strip #LittleNemo to a variety of preoccupations of early 20th century entertainment & consumerism, referencing dime museums, amusement parks, circuses & the rise of mass culture. 1/14 In 1891, McKay got his start painting signs, posters, and stage sets at Kohl and Middleton’s Dime Museum in Cincinnati. According to Roeder, “McCay’s experiences drawing exotic animals & freak show acts clearly influenced his later depictions of Slumberland in Little Nemo.” 2/14

Though perhaps not as enduring in our culture as other comics classics (despite notable reprinting enterprises), there is an argument to be made that the most important and influential comic strip in human history is “Krazy Kat” by George Herriman. #krazykat #comicsstudies 1/10 The strip ran from 1913-1944 to success and notable international regard. As described by comics historian Stefan Kanfer, “Krazy Kat” captured the imagination of an impressive roster of cultural tastemakers of the time: 2/10