| This dissertation examines masculine identity construction in the early works of comics writer and illustrator Frank Miller. Miller helped to redefine American superhero comics in the 1980s. My goal with this dissertation is to provide a close study of how masculinity is defined and constructed in sequential art. To accomplish my goals, I examine visual and verbal representations of masculinity through the lens of semiotics. The tools I use to study Miller’s texts are applicable to other writers and can help to develop scholarship on masculinity in the medium.
The particular branch of semiotics I use is informed by Lacanian psychoanalysis In chapter 1, I identify and define terms from Lacan that help to pinpoint Miller’s conception of identity and then apply those terms to Miller’s first graphic novel, Ronin, The chapter can be read as a session between an analyst and analysand with the goal of determining identity.
Next, I examine how Miller creates identity in his Batman stories. This chapter follows the character arc of Bruce Wayne/Batman over the course of four novels: The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One, All Star Batman & the Boy Wonder, and The Dark Knight Strikes Again. The close study of images shows how Miller and various artists both rely on and contribute to the larger culture’s understanding of masculinity.
My third chapter discusses censorship in American comics. This chapter dramatizes the crusade of Fredric Wertham in the 50s and Miller’s revolt against censorship in the 80s. I
use The Dark Knight Returns to illuminate all of the philosophical disagreements Miller has with censorship.
My final chapter argues for the inclusion of multimodal texts such as comics in the classroom. The chapter places an emphasis on Robert Scholes’s argument for teaching reading methods rather than just texts. I combine working memory and semiotics to extend Scholes’s argument. I also provide an sample lesson plan using Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One. |