Dale Jacobs’ book “On Comics and Grief” was selected as an Outstanding Academic Title by Choice, a publishing unit of the Association of College and Research Libraries. Jacobs offers an innovative, emotionally affecting approach to comics scholarship that's accessible to both fans & scholars. 1/8
Jacobs’ book tackles something that comics scholars often acknowledge but less often incorporate into their own analyses, which is the contingent, subjective nature of all interpretations of comics, which engender especially participatory reading practices and intense emotional investments. 2/8
On the most direct, basic level, Jacobs’ monograph is a reflection on his attempt to read all of the mainstream comics published in 1976 to, in his words “fill the void” that was created by the 2013 death of his mother, Amy Melvina Jacobs, and “allow [himself] to begin to process [his] grief.” 3/8
This book is, as such, simultaneously a work of historically situated academic close reading, a tribute to Jacobs’ mother, and a public act of mourning. It is also a self-reflexive consideration of the processes of academic analysis. 4/8
Jacobs compares versions of the same content written for different contexts, such as invited talks, articles, and conference papers, then punctures this professionalism with raw emotional reflections, including memories of his mother & the process of writing the book as his mother was dying. 5/8
Each chapter represents a single month of reading and experience, in which Jacobs analyzes two comic book titles from 1976 in conversation his reflections on his mother’s life, death, and influence on his own life and love of comics. 6/8
Jacobs often uses generic juxtapositions that encourage us to rethink how we read & think about comics. For instance: the January chapter pairs Marvel Team-Up #41 with Casper Halloween Trick or Treat #1; and the December chapter pairs Conan King-Size Annual #2 with Archie Comics Digest #21. 7/8
Jacobs’ mode of presentation puts the humanity back in humanities and asks important questions about what we gain and lose by talking about comics in certain ways and, more broadly, by sometimes trying too hard to separate the personal from the professional. 8/8
For more information on Dale Jacobs’ book “On Comics and Grief,” published by Wilfred Laurier University Press, visit the publisher’s website:
Wilfrid Laurier University Press - Transforming Ideas
