• A Word to the Fore Beats a Pair of Anything . . . ix

1. Slouching towaard on Aesthetic

The Beginning of a Critical Vocabulary . . . 3
2. Legions in Long Underwear

The Advent of the Comic Book and the Reign of the Superhero . . . 16
3. The Search for Art and Meaning

Westerns and the American Spirit . . . 50
4. But Is It Art?

The Spirit of Will Eisner . . . 66
5. The Heroic Avenue to Art

Experimentation and the Mark of Kane . . . 100
6. The Comic Book as Individual Expression

Harvey Kurtzman and the Revolution . . . 126
7. Style and Flash and Filigree

Manipulating Breakdowns, Composition, and Layout for Effect . . . 152
8. Only in Comics

Why Cartooning Is Not the Same as Filmmaking . . . 173
9. The Lonely Hearts Club Band

Autobiographical Angst and Other Adventures in Topics and Treatments . . . 192
10. All Together Now . . .263

• Notes . . . 275
• Index . . . 285

Reviews in Print

• Hatfield, Charles. "Give Me Excess Of It." The Comics Journal 187 (May 1996): 49-54.
• Scott, Randall W. [Review.] inks: Cartoon and Comic Art Studies 3.3 (November 1996): 37-39.