The Power of Comics is the first introductory textbook for comic art studies courses. Lending a broader understanding of the medium and its communication potential, it provides students with a coherent and comprehensive explanation of comic books and graphic novels, including coverage of their history and their communication techniques, research into their meanings and effects and an overview of industry practices and fan culture. Co-authors Randy Duncan and Matthew J. Smith draw on their own years of experience teaching comics studies courses and the scholarly literature across several disciplines to create a text with the following features: * Discussion questions for each chapter * Activities to engage readers * Recommended reading suggestions * Over 150 illustrations * Bibliography * Glossary Unlike many other texts about comic books, The Power of Comics is not just a history or devoted to a single aspect of the culture of the medium, but a synthesis of the comics...