An inventive anthology that uses comics to explore the tenets of philosophy

Jeff McLaughlin is full professor of philosophy at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia. He is editor of Graphic Novels as Philosophy, Comics as Philosophy, and Stan Lee: Conversations, all published by University Press of Mississippi.

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European (especially French) scholars have dealt with philosophy and comics since the 1960s, leaving one to wonder why American researchers have shied away from the topic. McLaughlin resolves this dilemma with this welcome book. . . . The eleven essays collected here use comic books and various branches of philosophical inquiry to address specific questions: What is the good? What is the truth? Contributors address such topics as race, 9/11, deconstruction of the superhero, political philosophy in Tintin, existentialism in Daniel Clowes's Ghost World, ecocriticism in Paul Chadwick's 'Concrete' series, ethical aspects of the postwar comic book controversy, and the meaning of life from Platonian and Spider-Man perspectives. The chapters by scholars trained in philosophy (e.g., Jeremy Barris, Iain Thomson, Laura and Paul Canis, and Kevin de Laplante) are particularly useful.

Choice

A durable contribution to the knowledge of the comics field

The Journal of American Culture