The superhero narrative is typically premised on the conflict between the hero and the villain, t... more The superhero narrative is typically premised on the conflict between the hero and the villain, the mythical struggle between good and evil. It therefore promotes a Manichaean worldview where good and evil are clearly distinguishable quantities. This bipolar model is questioned in the Batman movies of Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan. Since his creation in 1939, Batman has blurred the line between black and white unlike any other classic comic book superhero. As a “floating signifier”, he symbolizes the permeability of boundaries, for his liminal character inhabits a world between light and darkness, order and anarchy, hero and villain. Drawing on the complex ambiguity of the character, Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan deconstruct the traditional dichotomy of good and evil in the superhero narrative by reversing its polarity and emphasizing the fictionality of it all. Although they differ in style and method, both filmmakers invite us to overcome the Manichaean belief in favor of a ...
What is a comic? the simple answer states that a comic is a drawn story that is picturerather tha... more What is a comic? the simple answer states that a comic is a drawn story that is picturerather than text-oriented and told serially. in other words, a comic is a type of illustration. Realism is not its goal; rather a narrative is developed through reduction according to specific stylistic means. I start this article with a definition of the term “comic”, and move on to highlight the complexity of the comic and to argue that insight into this complexity is necessary for its correct interpretation. Only then can we recognise that the comic is not only entertaining but also, in its own way, a vehicle for content that might be system confirming and propagandistic but can also be system critical. Doing so allows us to see the potential of the comic that is embedded in its particular affinity with nonlinear interactive audiovisual media.
Can a comic book be religious? Or even sacred? At first, it seems a somewhat strange idea to look... more Can a comic book be religious? Or even sacred? At first, it seems a somewhat strange idea to look for the holy in the most mundane form of popular culture. After all, the sacred and the profane are two strictly separated realms, as Émile Durkheim informs us, “two distinct classes, [...] two worlds between which there is nothing in common”. However, as Assaf Gamzou and Ken Koltun-Fromm argue in their edited volume Comics and Sacred Texts, breaking up clear-cut distinctions and transgressing boundaries is the very nature of the graphic narrative itself. Comics are a hybrid medium of image and text defying any distinct categorization and highlighting the ambiguous space left blank in between the images: “In their showing and telling, in the stutter-step of the paneled narratives, comics offer us a liminal experience of reading, engaging, and constructing meaning. It is an experience ‘betwixt and between time’ [citing Victor Turner] that in its form as an imagetext both undermines the s...
The superhero narrative is typically premised on the conflict between the hero and the villain , ... more The superhero narrative is typically premised on the conflict between the hero and the villain , the mythical struggle between good and evil . It therefore promotes a Man¬ ichaean worldview where good and evil are clearly distinguishable quantities . This bi¬ polar model is questioned in the Batman movies of Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan . Since his creation in 1939 , Batman has blurred the line between black and white unlike any other classic comic book superhero . As a“floating signifier ”, he symbolizes the permeability of boundaries , for his liminal character inhabits a world between light and darkness , order and anarchy , hero and villain . Drawing on the complex ambigu¬ ity of the character , Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan deconstruct the traditional dichotomy of good and evil in the superhero narrative by reversing its polarity and emphasizing the fictionality of it all . Although they differ in style and method , both filmmakers invite us to overcome the Manichaean be...
The Marx Brothers were some of cinema’s greatest comedians. Their anarchistic comedy was unique, ... more The Marx Brothers were some of cinema’s greatest comedians. Their anarchistic comedy was unique, yet it bears traces of an older performance tradition. Stock characters, ad-libbing and their self-image as professional comics connect the Marx Brothers with the commedia dell’arte, the improvised mask theatre of travelling groups from Italy at the time of the Renaissance. By combining approaches from film and theatre studies, ‘Die Marx Brothers und die Commedia dell’arte’ elaborates how Groucho and his brothers successfully transposed the performative characteristics and mask types of the commedia into the 20th century. Like the Italian comics, the Marx Brothers used their non-mimetic acting to create a fantastical world from which they could unveil the mask-like nature of society. This book fills a gap in research literature, which is abundant in studies on the commedia and the Marx Brothers; however, the fascinating point at which these two performing traditions intersect has so far ...
The superhero narrative is typically premised on the conflict between the hero and the villain, t... more The superhero narrative is typically premised on the conflict between the hero and the villain, the mythical struggle between good and evil. It therefore promotes a Manichaean worldview where good and evil are clearly distinguishable quantities. This bipolar model is questioned in the Batman movies of Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan. Since his creation in 1939, Batman has blurred the line between black and white unlike any other classic comic book superhero. As a “floating signifier”, he symbolizes the permeability of boundaries, for his liminal character inhabits a world between light and darkness, order and anarchy, hero and villain. Drawing on the complex ambiguity of the character, Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan deconstruct the traditional dichotomy of good and evil in the superhero narrative by reversing its polarity and emphasizing the fictionality of it all. Although they differ in style and method, both filmmakers invite us to overcome the Manichaean belief in favor of a ...
What is a comic? the simple answer states that a comic is a drawn story that is picturerather tha... more What is a comic? the simple answer states that a comic is a drawn story that is picturerather than text-oriented and told serially. in other words, a comic is a type of illustration. Realism is not its goal; rather a narrative is developed through reduction according to specific stylistic means. I start this article with a definition of the term “comic”, and move on to highlight the complexity of the comic and to argue that insight into this complexity is necessary for its correct interpretation. Only then can we recognise that the comic is not only entertaining but also, in its own way, a vehicle for content that might be system confirming and propagandistic but can also be system critical. Doing so allows us to see the potential of the comic that is embedded in its particular affinity with nonlinear interactive audiovisual media.
Can a comic book be religious? Or even sacred? At first, it seems a somewhat strange idea to look... more Can a comic book be religious? Or even sacred? At first, it seems a somewhat strange idea to look for the holy in the most mundane form of popular culture. After all, the sacred and the profane are two strictly separated realms, as Émile Durkheim informs us, “two distinct classes, [...] two worlds between which there is nothing in common”. However, as Assaf Gamzou and Ken Koltun-Fromm argue in their edited volume Comics and Sacred Texts, breaking up clear-cut distinctions and transgressing boundaries is the very nature of the graphic narrative itself. Comics are a hybrid medium of image and text defying any distinct categorization and highlighting the ambiguous space left blank in between the images: “In their showing and telling, in the stutter-step of the paneled narratives, comics offer us a liminal experience of reading, engaging, and constructing meaning. It is an experience ‘betwixt and between time’ [citing Victor Turner] that in its form as an imagetext both undermines the s...
The superhero narrative is typically premised on the conflict between the hero and the villain , ... more The superhero narrative is typically premised on the conflict between the hero and the villain , the mythical struggle between good and evil . It therefore promotes a Man¬ ichaean worldview where good and evil are clearly distinguishable quantities . This bi¬ polar model is questioned in the Batman movies of Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan . Since his creation in 1939 , Batman has blurred the line between black and white unlike any other classic comic book superhero . As a“floating signifier ”, he symbolizes the permeability of boundaries , for his liminal character inhabits a world between light and darkness , order and anarchy , hero and villain . Drawing on the complex ambigu¬ ity of the character , Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan deconstruct the traditional dichotomy of good and evil in the superhero narrative by reversing its polarity and emphasizing the fictionality of it all . Although they differ in style and method , both filmmakers invite us to overcome the Manichaean be...
The Marx Brothers were some of cinema’s greatest comedians. Their anarchistic comedy was unique, ... more The Marx Brothers were some of cinema’s greatest comedians. Their anarchistic comedy was unique, yet it bears traces of an older performance tradition. Stock characters, ad-libbing and their self-image as professional comics connect the Marx Brothers with the commedia dell’arte, the improvised mask theatre of travelling groups from Italy at the time of the Renaissance. By combining approaches from film and theatre studies, ‘Die Marx Brothers und die Commedia dell’arte’ elaborates how Groucho and his brothers successfully transposed the performative characteristics and mask types of the commedia into the 20th century. Like the Italian comics, the Marx Brothers used their non-mimetic acting to create a fantastical world from which they could unveil the mask-like nature of society. This book fills a gap in research literature, which is abundant in studies on the commedia and the Marx Brothers; however, the fascinating point at which these two performing traditions intersect has so far ...
Uploads
Papers by Simon Born