Use Of Comic Books Research Articles

Comic Cognition: Exploring the Potential Cognitive Impacts of Science Comics

Increasing people’s interest and involvement in science is a growing concern in education. Although many researchers and educators seek innovations for classroom instruction, much could be gained by harnessing the activities that people perform at their leisure. Although new media are constantly emerging, comic book reading remains a popular activity for children and adults. Recently, there has been an explosive increase in the creation of educational comic books, including many about science. This rapid increase in science comics far outstrips our understanding of how comics impact people’s beliefs and interests in science. In this theoretical article, we draw on research from cognitive science and education to discuss heretofore unexplored cognitive impacts of science comics. We propose several ways in which learning could be enhanced or impaired through reading science comics and discuss several broader issues related to the use of comic books in education, including individual differences and informal learning.

Alter/native Heroes: Native Americans, Comic Books, and the Struggle for Self-Definition

This article offers a critical interpretation of Native Americans as objects and authors of comic books, an often maligned and neglected domain of kids' popular culture. The discussion begins with a brief overview of the misappropriation of Indianness in North America. Against this background, it elaborates a three-fold analysis. First, it details the prominence of anti-Indianism in comic books, particularly as means through which Euro-American authors and audiences have made claims on and through Indianness. Second, it unpacks the use of comic books to challenge and question dominant misappropriations and misunderstandings. Third, it examines the recent emergence of indigenous comics intent to use the medium to reclaim Indianness. In conclusion, it proposes that the alternative uses of comic books should be read as an excellent example of a larger movement for visual sovereignty in native North America.

The Tyranny of the Serial: Popular Geopolitics, the Nation, and Comic Book Discourse

Abstract: This paper seeks to theorize the structuring of geopolitical worldviews and attitudes by the comic book medium and by serial popular culture more broadly. Evidence of the use of comic books to promote specific discourses by geopolitical actors is presented, and the conventions that govern the limits of comic book narration are outlined. Among the conventions of production discussed are the role of “continuity” as a structuring force and the serial nature of most comic books. The impact of these conventions is viewed through an examination of Watchmen and Captain America comic books. Both series revolve around issues of political legitimacy and the structuring of geopolitical space, but do so in different ways. This leads to insight connecting seriality with the concept of the nation itself. Finally, a theorization of the limits to comic book and other serialized discourse is outlined, and its ultimately conservative political outcome is described as endemic to the genre.

A bio-psycho-social approach to addiction

Welcome to this special issue of Psyke & Logos, which focuses on addictions. Several journals are dedicated to the issue of addictions (e.g. Addiction, Addictive Behaviors, and Psychology of Addictive Behaviors), yet little attention has been dedicated to the concept of addictions and the addictive component in different types of addictive behavior. Since the 60s and the 70s with the introduction and wide spread use of substances such as cannabis and opiates, there has been an increase in the multitude of substances used for recreational (i.e. non-medical) purposes including the use of cocaine and amphetamine in the 80s and 90s and so-called »designer drugs« such as ecstasy in the new millennium. At the same time, we’ve seen concerns ‘addictive behaviors’, particularly among children, associated with technological developments ranging from the use of comic books in the 60s and 70s, to the use of video films in the 80s, the use of video games in the 90s and the use of the internet and mobile phones in the new millennium. A third development is the efforts of information and reduction of health risking behavior. Most noticeably, probably, is the perceptual and behavioral changes related with tobacco use, which has resulted in a reduction of the total number of smokers as well as a reduction of smoking in public places. Other areas which have received attention in later years is eating disorders (both anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and over eating (binge eating)), as well as the efforts to inform about risk behavior of alcohol consumption among youths. The Psyke & Logos conference held on January 28, 2005 has the focus of comparing different types of addictive behavior in a conglomerate of clinical manifestations. The papers produced from the conference together with the invited papers for this issue, all present different aspects of addictive behavior, and have been chosen to provide the reader with insights into the different types of behaviors as well as different disciplinary approaches to understanding and treating addictive behavior. The papers are divided into three main categories: 1.) Approaches to addiction, 2.) New types of addiction, and 3.) Treatment of addiction.