Comics in Medieval and Early Modern Literature Classrooms

Forrest C. Helvie

What Constitutes a Comic?

To be considered a comic book, the work must do more than merely incorporate pictures into its narrative. Pictures in comics must be arranged in a meaningful order to help drive the narrative, and language may or may not be used to aid in this process For the narrative to make sense, it depends upon the reader to piece together the pictures on a page and construct the sequence of the story, using his or her imagination to fill in the gaps between the panels

Picking the Right Comic for Your Class

Is this comic a graphic translation of the source?
If so, how faithful to the source material is it? If not, are the changes meaningful? A comic that takes some creative liberties in translating the source material into comic form is an excellent choice as these points of departure provide fertile territory for teachers and students to engage in critical discussions and analyses of each work.

Do you want to trace the influence of your primary source to the present day?
A comic that is different from the original sources, but incorporates many similar elements can provide students and teachers with opportunities to engage students in higher levels of critical thinking and discussion

Beowulf

(IDW, 2007)

Written by Caitlin Kiernan, Neil Gaiman and Roger Avery Art by Gabriel Rodriguez

The Boasting of Beowulf & Unferth Notice text is used to describe sounds. The readers imagination must now take over and piece events together
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Beowulf succumbs to the temptations of Grendels mother And lies to covers his tracks in a significant change to the original hero.

The Battle Between Beowulf & Grendel Note how panel layout helps drive the narrative.

The Canterbury Tales (Bloomsbury, 2011)

By Seymour Chwast

The General Prologue for The Canterbury Tales

Notice the significant reduction of the original

The Wife of Bath & The Prioress: For all of the detail Chaucer provides, notice how little is given in these visual representations. This recalls McClouds use of iconic v. realistic art. Does form compliment or obstruct content?

The Pardoner: Although there is a slight leering, indulgent appearance, how much do we truly see of the Pardoners unsavory nature depicted here?

Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard (Archaia, 2010)

By David Petersen

Setting the Frame: Here we see the innkeeper establishing the storytelling contest for the patrons

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Crown of Silver, Crown of Gold: This story draws heavily upon the biblical story of King David, Uriah, and Bathsheba. Notice the use of sharp lines on the face and crown of the king. Here, we can infer the king might be a particular hard, cruel ruler (which matches what read about him)
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The Canterbury Tales (Image, 2009)

Written by Brian J.L. Glass & Michael Avon Oeming Art by Micahel Avon Oeming

The Chosen One: Karic descends into a cave and encounters the fish gods who mark him as The Chosen One similar to Fionn mac Cumhaill from Irish myth.

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The Knight & his Squire: Karic learns the ways of the Templar Knight from Pilot the Tall.

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MacBeth, Romeo & Juliet, and Hamlet (Sparknotes, 2008)

By William Shakespeare

MacBeth: Hecate visits the sisters prior to MacBeths arrival in Act Four, Scene One.

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Romeo & Juliet: Romeo receives word of Juliets death in Act Five, Scene One.

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Hamlet: Hamlet after meeting the actors in Act Two, Scene Two.

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The End
(Thank You!)

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