Graphic Subjects

Some of the most noteworthy graphic novels and comic books of recent years have been autobiographical. Michael A. Chaney, a professor of English and African and African-American studies, assembles 27 scholarly essays that examine the genre. Subjects include Art Spiegelman’s Maus, Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis and Alan Moore’s Watchmen. Chaney contributes an essay on Rupert Bazambanza’s Smile Through the Tears, a memoir of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. (University of Wisconsin Press)