Beyond their common association with superheroes, comics have a long and varied history that reaches back to the modern development of the form in the late nineteenth century. This module will take a broad perspective and will provide an in-depth examination of comics and their associated cultures from early newspaper strips to contemporary graphic novels. You will read a wide range of different primary texts, including early comic strips, World War II propaganda comics, controversial horror comics, underground comix from the counterculture, alternative comics, and contemporary autobiographical graphic novels. The module’s approach will be global, and you will read comics from North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Japan. In addition to these texts, you will read secondary literature from comics studies and related fields, which will help you understand the various cultural contexts and production practices. You will also examine comics through different thematic perspectives, such as race, gender, and sexuality. Throughout, you will learn to pay special attention to form as well as content when reading comics and you will develop a critical vocabulary for evaluating the aesthetics of the form. The module also includes an opportunity to learn about the comics form through creative practice, an approach that is integrated into the module’s design and learning objectives at every stage.