**Nominated for the 2021 Eisner Award for Best Academic/Scholarly Work** The first critical guide to cover the history, form and key critical issues of the medium, Webcomics helps readers explore the diverse and increasingly popular worlds of online comics. In an accessible and easy-to-navigate format, the book covers such topics as: *The history of webcomics and how developments in technology from the 1980s onwards presented new opportunities for comics creators and audiences *Cultural contexts - from the new financial and business models allowed by digital media to social justice causes in contemporary webcomics *Key texts - from early examples of the form such as Girl Genius and Penny Arcade to popular current titles such as Questionable Content and Dumbing of Age *Important theoretical and critical approaches to studying webcomics Webcomics includes a glossary of crucial critical terms, annotated guides to further reading, and online resources and discussion questions to help students and readers develop their understanding of the genre and pursue independent study.

**Nominated for the 2021 Eisner Award for Best Academic/Scholarly Work** The first critical guide to cover the history, form and key critical issues of the medium, Webcomics helps readers explore the diverse and increasingly popular worlds of online comics. In an accessible and easy-to-navigate format, the book covers such topics as: *The history of webcomics and how developments in technology from the 1980s onwards presented new opportunities for comics creators and audiences *Cultural contexts - from the new financial and business models allowed by digital media to social justice causes in contemporary webcomics *Key texts - from early examples of the form such as Girl Genius and Penny Arcade to popular current titles such as Questionable Content and Dumbing of Age *Important theoretical and critical approaches to studying webcomics Webcomics includes a glossary of crucial critical terms, annotated guides to further reading, and online resources and discussion questions to help students and readers develop their understanding of the genre and pursue independent study.

Comic Book Fanthropology examines the questions of who and what comic fans are. What prompts them to join fandom in the first place, and why do they so often choose to remain a part of it throughout their lives? The specifics of comic fandom have changed since its hesitant beginnings in the 1920s and '30s, but the fans themselves have not. Whether they're interested in superheroes or in sh jo manga, whether they express themselves in letter columns or through costuming, whether they enjoy minicomics or webcomics, Comic Book Fanthropology explains who they are.