The Dal Knight

Prof. Anthony Enns collected comic books as a kid and now he's teaching a course about them. (Danny Abriel Photo)

It’s official: comics are cool. The Dark Knight steamrolled its competition at the multiplex, Japanese “manga” comics are stocked en masse at your local library, and Free Comic Book Day is celebrated on the first Saturday of May throughout North America.

All signs say that the comic book—er, “graphic novel”—is enjoying an unexpected renaissance. Perhaps it’s no surprise then, that one of Dalhousie’s newest courses will be taught with the help of Donald Duck, Wonder Woman and maybe even Dr. Seuss.

This winter, Cartoons and Comics (ENGL 2080)  is joining the Department of English’s offerings.

“The department was looking for this kind of a course for a while, since before I came here,” says Anthony Enns, cultural theorist and Dalhousie professor. Julia Wright, Dal professor and Canada Research Chair in European Studies, proposed the course and wrote the syllabus, but Prof. Enns, currently working on a critical essay about comic books, is taking the reins.

English 2080 will trace the history of cartoons and comics, from 18th- and 19th-century political propaganda to the golden age of Marvel and DC.

“There are many different ways to teach (this course),” says Prof. Enns. “One obvious (way) would be to take a strict literary approach—read more highbrow comic books and make an argument for comic books as literature… If you were going to teach the course that way, I think you would probably not bother to teach superheroes. I think that would be a mistake.

“So much of graphic material is made up of the superhero genre. It would be wrong to just ignore it.”

Cultural ideologies

But what kind of cultural ideologies could possibly be encoded in kryptonite and batmobiles? “I was thinking I was going to do a unit on Wonder Woman,” he says. “Is Wonder Woman a strong feminist figure, or is she a kind of a sex kitten? ... (William Moulton) Marston, the creator, was really into S and M, he loved being tied up … there’s some aspect of sexual titillation to the Wonder Woman character.”

Wonder Woman’s male co-workers are not exempt from similar inspection. “For Batman, I’m going to do homosexuality … There are some articles championing Batman as a sort of queer hero.” He is bemused by the Robin-less state of most modern Batman literature; the Boy Wonder was conspicuously absent from blockbusters Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. “(Frank) Miller’s Dark Knight Returns turns Robin into a woman… (Miller) really tries to avoid the whole Batman/Robin relationship.”

Hardcore comickers will not be surprised that classic superhero controversies will be taught—they date back to the decency debates of the early 20th century. But even the most serious fans may be startled to hear about other items in Prof. Enn’s curriculum—for instance, a possible unit on Donald Duck. The problem isn’t Donald’s lack of pants; rather, it’s the imperialist ideology he presents. In fact, children’s literature is often loaded with cultural implications. “Babar is often read as a parable about colonialism,” Prof. Enns explains. “Babar is educated in Europe and that’s the reason why he’s the king of the elephants.”

Prof. Enns is also well-versed in more traditionally highbrow graphic novels, such as Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer-winner Maus, a Holocaust fable told, like Orwell’s Animal Farm, through the use of animals-as-people. “I’m going to look at it through this question of racial representation. The choice to represent Jews as mice and Nazis as cats… It’s offensive, but in an intentional way… it’s impossible to accuse Maus of being Nazi propaganda. That’s silly… but (Art Spiegelman) is definitely playing on the history of Nazi propaganda.”

Pop culture rules

Although English 2080 won’t be taught until January, the course is already full with a waitlist besides. It’s no surprise that students are queuing up—Prof. Enns has an obvious enthusiasm for his subject matter. “When I was younger, I collected comic books. I quit when I was in my 20s. Now I’m coming back as a critic.” He lists Alan Moore’s Watchmen and Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns among his personal favorites. “I was also into alternative comics—I loved (Robert) Crumb.”

He Enns hopes the course will be accessible to all students: “It’s going to be less English-oriented… It’s really going to be more like sociology or anthropology. Cultural studies ask the question of ‘what do comic books reveal about the culture that produced them?’ That answer is different for every single comic.”

“Pop culture says more about us than our highbrow culture,” he continues. “If you go back to the 18th century, the tools that dentists use say more about class differences than any of the great works of literature the culture produced.”

“Besides,” he adds, “It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Student writer Rebecca Schneidereit added her name to the waitlist after interviewing Prof. Enns for this story.