Lynda Barry: A Critical Guide

(Hardback)

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A complete introduction to the comics and graphic narratives of Lynda Barry, this book maps her historical and biographical contexts, key texts, the critical themes and debates surrounding her publications and the lasting impact of her work on the comics medium. With a distinctive body of work that unfolded during key moments in comics history from the much touted and criticised coming-of-age comics to the rise of underground and alternative comics and the establishment of graphic novels, Barrys comics reflect the changing status of comics, while unpacking the very constituents of the medium and testing its limits.

Comprehensive and conveying specialist knowledge but highly readable, Lynda Barry: A Critical Guide covers:

- comics history from an alternative perspective, focusing on issues of intersectionality and representation
- her major works including One Hundred Demons, What It Is, Making Comics, Syllabus, Cruddy and her comic strip Ernie Pook's Comeek
- Barrys materialities and her use of collage and art brut practices
- how Barry's prompts to creativity and connection highlight the collaborative and accessible dimension of comics
- broad and salient themes in Barrys work including memory, girlhood/womanhood, childhood, art pedagogy, creativity, overcoming creative anxieties, visual paper culture and the possibilities of drawing and collaging

Combining rich insights from comics studies, literary theory and visual culture, this is the ultimate guide to Lynda Barry and her oeuvre. Illustrated throughout, this critical guide exemplifies the diverse ways of approaching comics, combining existing methodologies with novel possibilities inspired from the originality of Barrys work.

Author Bio

Maaheen Ahmed is Associate Professor at Ghent University, Belgium. She has published widely on comics, including graphic novels and periodicals, both North American and European and is the author of Openness of Comics (2016), Monstrous Imaginaries (2019) and The Cambridge Companion to Comics (2023). She is co-editor of The Cultural Standing of Comics (2017) and Comic Memory in Benoit Crucifix (2018).