Ethics in the Gutter: Empathy and Historical Fiction in Comics

254 Pages·2017·10.482 MB·English

by  Kate Polak

STUDIES IN COMICS AND CARTOONS
LUCY SHELTON CASWELL AND JARED GARDNER, SERIES EDITORS

ETHICS
IN THE GUTTER
Empathy and
Historical Fiction
in Comics
KATE POLAK
THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS | COLUMBUS
Copyright © 2017 by The Ohio State University.
All rights reserved.
The various characters, logos, and other trademarks appearing in this book are the
property of their respective owners and are presented here strictly for scholarly
analysis. No infringement is intended or should be implied.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Polak, Kate (Assistant professor of English), author.
Title: Ethics in the gutter : empathy and historical fiction in comics / Kate Polak.
Other titles: Studies in comics and cartoons.
Description: Columbus : The Ohio State University Press, [2017] | Series: Studies in
comics and cartoons | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017025900 | ISBN 9780814213537 (cloth ; alk. paper) | ISBN
0814213537 (cloth ; alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Comic books, strips, etc.—History and criticism. | Empathy—Comic
books, strips, etc. | Historical fiction—History and criticism. | Violence—Comic
books, strips, etc. | Graphic novels—History and criticism.
Classification: LCC PN6710 .P65 2017 | DDC 741.5/358—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017025900
Cover design by Martyn Schmoll
Text design by Juliet Williams
Type set in Palatino
To Mamia and Daddio, who told me, “Persist.”

C O N T E N T S
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
INTRODUCTION History, Metafiction, and the Affective Power of
Graphic Narratives 1
CHAPTER 1 Being a Dog: Transformation, Focalization, and
Memory in Deogratias 37
CHAPTER 2 Just Like Sally: Rape and Reflexivity in Watchmen 76
CHAPTER 3 “We’re Still Here”: Authenticity and Memory in Scalped 111
CHAPTER 4 My Children Will Remember All of the Things I
Tried to Forget: Bayou and Intergenerational Trauma 144
CHAPTER 5 Telling the Wound: Framing and Restricted
Narration in Hellblazer 177
CONCLUSION (The) Moving Past 212
Works Cited 223
Index 231

I L L U S T R A T I O N S
FIGURE I.1 John Constantine and other characters’ points of view
in The Red Right Hand. Mina, Denise, Leonardo Manco,
Lee Loughridge, and Jared K. Fletcher. Hellblazer: The
Red Right Hand. New York: DC Vertigo, 2007. 22
FIGURE 1.1 Deogratias, point of view and vacation photographs.
Stassen, J. P. Deogratias. Trans. Alexis Siegel. New
York: First Second, 2006. 48
FIGURE 1.2 Deogratias and Apollinaria read a romance comic.
Stassen, J. P. Deogratias. Trans. Alexis Siegel. New
York: First Second, 2006. 51
FIGURE 1.3 Deogratias becomes a dog. Stassen, J. P. Deogratias.
Trans. Alexis Siegel. New York: First Second, 2006. 61
FIGURE 1.4 Brother Philip watches Rwanda through the television.
Stassen, J. P. Deogratias. Trans. Alexis Siegel. New
York: First Second, 2006. 68
FIGURE 1.5 Deogratias’s point of view. Stassen, J. P. Deogratias.
Trans. Alexis Siegel. New York: First Second, 2006. 71
FIGURE 2.1 Hooded Justice’s point of view. Moore, Alan, and
Dave Gibbons. Watchmen. New York: DC, 1987. 86
ix