The following video consists of a lecture I delivered on 5 January 2006 at Glen Carbon Centennial Library in Glen Carbon, Illinois.

The total runtime is 46 minutes. Because of its length, it has been divided into 20 files.

1 Introduction

1.1 The Modern Comic

1.2 International Comics

For more on French comics, consider “The Obscure Cities: An Introduction.”

1.3 Antecedents

1.4 What is and isn’t Comics

1.5 Terminology

For more information on what we call the medium, see “The Sequart Manifesto.”

1.6 Growing Respect

1.7 Comics Work

2 Comics as a Different Medium

2.1 Comics are Literature

2.2 Comics are Art

2.3 Tensions Between Word and Image

For more on these tensions, consider “Tensions Between Text and Image.”

2.4 Comics as Readerly, Unlike Film

For more on the history of writers in comics and the implications for the medium, consider “The Cult of the Writer.”

2.5 Time in Comics

2.6 The Look of the Page

2.7 Examples Unique to Comics, Part 1

2.8 Examples Unique to Comics, Part 2

3.1 Influence on Cinematography

3.2 Influence on Cinematic Subjects

3.3 Other Influences

For more on super-heroes and morality, click here.