“It’s wot’s behind me that I am”: Articulating Race Representation and Authenticity in Twentieth and Twenty-first Century American Comics

Abstract

Race representation in American comics has gone through multiple transformations that have largely been informed by significant historical events and movements. This is because comics have always inherently reflected real-world concerns. For the most part, race representation in comics has been dominated by stereotypes and only in the past two decades has it started to become more diverse with nuanced depictions of characters of colour. This is an outcome of the diversification of the comics industry. Comics with input from cartoonists of colour are arguably more ‘authentic’ in their representation of racial minorities. Authenticity is a discursive notion that changes in meaning with social, political, cultural and technological shifts. Discourse surrounding authenticity and comics is multifaceted, due to the multimodal nature of comics, the unique relationship between artist and consumer and is further complicated with the addition of new comic sharing and consuming platforms, such as social media. This thesis is a historical and thematic trajectory of race representation in twentieth and twenty-first century American comics, with an investigation of the concept of authenticity. Though the notion of authenticity is constantly in a state of flux, I argue that it is worthwhile investigating, as it has long been a pervasive signifier of merit and acceptance in Western value systems of both race and visual media. Therefore, it must be considered when discussing race representation in comics. As a visual medium, comics can have the ability to influence and frame the world, especially in regards to how individuals think about themselves, others and how society views them; hence why it is imperative to have authentic representations of people of colour. The first half of this thesis is dedicated to how race representation in comics were informed by significant national occurrences and how race representation in comics attempted to either reify or change societal beliefs surrounding race. The latter half of this thesis focuses on contemporary negotiations of race in autobiographical and superhero comics, while examining the various ways in which authenticity can be read in these contexts. Through the exploration and connecting of these notions, I argue that comics can be political tools that have the ability to empower marginalised people.