By Britton Summers

Being a comic book nerd has become more popular in the modern day. 

With superhero films gaining popularity in mainstream entertainment, comic books have taken on new life in our culture. 

In keeping with that trend, Oklahoma City Community College has sanctioned a class discussing the history of comic books as a medium. 

Professor of English Jeffrey Provine will be teaching the class. 

Provine has been reading comics for as long as he’s been reading. He first started out with newspaper comic strips like Calvin & Hobbes and Garfield, before moving on to more long form comic books. 

“In high school, I started reading more long form comic books, especially the Dark Horse Star Wars comics that painted an expanded picture of what we’d seen in those days of the original trilogy. By college, I began looking into more graphic novels, and I was astounded by how much excellent literature there was out in the world that I’d never seen,” Provine said. 

Provine said that he first had the idea to start the class while he was doing his webcomic, called The Academy. He noted how he had grown interested in how comics were changing in the age of the Internet, where anyone could do a comic. 

This ended up causing Provine to study more about the development of modern comics, which evolved into a Freshmen Programs course at the University of Oklahoma. Provine then pitched the idea of a comic history class to the Humanities Department as a 2000-level course, which they supported. 

Provine said that the class will first define comics as pictorial storytelling and trace examples of it through history, such as with hieroglyphs, tapestries and oil paintings before newspapers picked up political cartoons and comic strips.

“Most of the course will be on comic books themselves, tracing trends through several eras such as the 1930s Golden Age when superheroes were unquestionably good and fought WWII, the darker eras of the ’70s and ’80s, and the new literary movements of the past two decades. We’ll also spend time looking at international comics, particularly manga,” Provine said. 

Provine also noted that students will be reading comics and discussing the history of comic books as a creative medium. He also said that students will also study techniques of comic design as they create their own comics. Even if students are nervous about only being able to draw stick figures, they will show how those can make for great comics too. 

Provine hopes that this class will create a broader appreciation for comics. He noted that for nearly a century, there has been a major stigma about comics being “just for kids.” While some of that has dwindled, Provine said that there is still a great deal of potential for people to embrace storytelling through graphic narratives.

“Great stories can come from comics just as much as books and movies, such as Art Spiegelman’s Maus showing a deep perspective on family, the Holocaust, and self-identity,” he said. 

Provine said that comics are an interesting beast academically. Comics use a hybrid of words to tell a story, something between textual literature and film or theater. Provine further noted that their use of images gives a clearer picture of the creator’s intentions than description, but there is still much left to the reader’s mind as it instinctively fills the gaps between panels. 

The History of the Comic Book course will begin on March 21 as an 8 week course for the Late Spring 2022 term. 

“We decided to go online with it to maximize availability for all those interested,” Provine said.