The Interview Proper: Qiana Whitted, Guest Comics Editor

1. As a dedicated scholar of comics, how would you broadly define or describe the genre for newcomers?

Comics as a medium is widely known as a form of storytelling that blends image and text. The form has also become associated over time with other features such as word balloons, panels, and onomatopoeia. Likewise, comics contain a variety of genres, including superhero comics, memoir, fantasy, horror, crime, and slice-of-life stories. A large part of the field of comics studies involves lively debates over what makes comics unique, and scholars such as Scott McCloud, Charles Hatfield, Thierry Groensteen, Barbara Postema, and (W&L professor) Chris Gavaler have been at the forefront of those conversations.

2. What makes a good comic to you? How do the pieces featured in this Shenandoah collection exemplify those traits?

In my view, “good comics” are crafted in ways that emphasize the interplay between word, picture, and page, so that none of those elements can tell the story alone. The pieces featured in this issue of Shenandoah exemplify this quality in that each brings a distinctive style and a range of aesthetic choices to the messages relayed through their narrative drawings.

3. How did you first take an interest in comics as a field of study? What compels you to continue researching them now?

My interest in comics began as a kid. I grew up enjoying newspaper comics strips like Garfield and Peanuts, Mad magazine, and later, fantasy and horror comics like Watchmen, Sandman, Spawn, and Swamp Thing. Early in my career, I brought these comics into the classes that I taught at the University of South Carolina, and in the process of researching materials for teaching, I discovered that there were scholars who studied the medium and published academic works that made connections between comics, history, and cultural studies. I was delighted to find an avenue in comics studies to bring my interest in the art form together with my research on African American literature by looking closely at comic books and graphic novels about Black life, history, and culture. Over the past decade, I have also been deeply fascinated by the history of comics in the United States and through books like EC Comics: Race, Shock, and Social Protest and Desegregating Comics: Debating Blackness in the Golden Age of American Comics, I examine the role that race and racism played in the early years of the comics industry, both on the page and behind the scenes.

4. What was the process of editing the comics section for Shenandoah’s 75th issue like? Can you give us a peek into the process of selecting a theme and curating pieces? What was your favorite part?

Today, Black superheroes like Black Panther, Storm, Green Lantern, and Cyborg are widely known, thanks in part to popular media adaptations. I wanted to use my brief stint as guest editor for the comics section as an opportunity to highlight outstanding cartoonists of color working in other genres, whether debating real-life issues or creating fictional stories. My favorite part was getting the chance to see how the artists were able to incorporate little suggestions into each draft. I’m used to asking academics to add a source or expand a paragraph, so it was really interesting to see how these creators added details or reorganized sections of the comics.

5. In your note introducing this comic selection in the issue, you state that your central theme for this collection regarded interactions with AI. How did you feel comics as a genre might be capable of uniquely engaging this subject, and why did you choose to pursue this topic in Shenandoah specifically?

One thing that I hope my introduction conveyed was that the debates over generative AI were a touchstone for these comics, rather than a major theme. It was an issue that they could come at from any angle or choose not to use at all. In the case of Ebony Flowers, for instance, “We Collect Cans for Money” was an unpublished comic that she shared with students and faculty during a visit to my university, and I asked if it could be included in this section. Despite this, I did see a few commonalities emerge, and I think the connections between the pieces say a lot about our relationship to emerging technologies, as tools that we sometimes control and that sometimes control us.

6. The pieces featured in the Shenandoah comic selection include vastly different art styles. As an editor and scholar, what do you make of the interplay between different styles of comic art and the effects these pieces have on their readership? Do you see particular styles of art as inherently suited to achieving different ends?

This is a great question, because I love seeing the very different styles that each cartoonist brings to their art. Both Ben Passmore and Whit Taylor, for example, are contributors to online journals like The Nib, which showcases editorial and nonfiction comics. The comics that Passmore and Taylor create are shaped by historical research, data analysis, and social and political commentary, and they make artistic choices that allow these details to take center stage. Alternatively, Jonathan Todd and Naima Whitted take various cartoony approaches to the expressive character-driven stories that distinguish all-ages comics. Ebony Flowers focuses her story through the lens of children, yet her loose, improvisational style and frank subject matter may not always be intended for that audience. The incredible differences here reiterate a proposition that is essential to my understanding of the form: comics can tell any story and reach every audience!

7. You’ve edited a few works prior to this, largely academic pieces. How do you approach the position of editor? How do you perceive your role in creating the final product?

Editors help to set the tone and direct the focus of a collection, of course, but in this case I saw myself more as a second set of eyes and ears to assist the cartoonists with their decisions. Each of these artists bring unique voices and powerful visions to their narrative drawings, and making sure those elements came through was my first priority.

8. Much of your work engages with the power of comics as a tool of social commentary and critique. How do you see the genre of comics as specially suited to this task? What unique features and advantages do comics as a genre display compared with other literary and artistic forms?

I would point, first, to the history of comics in popular culture, and second, to elements of the comics form, as two reasons why the medium is specially suited to social commentary and critique. Comics has a long history of using action and adventure to entertain audiences while also educating them, sometimes through biting satire, or in other instances, through humor and suspense. In other words, comics have always been political (and politicized) across the ideological spectrum. My work on EC Comics highlights one approach to social commentary during the 1950s, for example, while scholars such as Rebecca Wanzo, Michael Chaney, Julian Chambliss, Joanne Davis-McElligatt, Daniel Stein, and others demonstrate how an industry that skyrocketed to popularity through disturbing racial caricatures could also be repurposed to challenge those same stereotypical ideas. Along with the historical context, form is key to understanding the advantages of comics as compared to other media. Comics have ways of picturing a variety of sentiments, including great suffering and trauma, that cannot be put into words. Even the design of the page and panels can be the difference between a tightly plotted representation of conflict and an open-ended mystery that relies on the reader’s interpretation to solve. Of course, poetry, painting, and film have their own methods of relaying social commentary and critique, but comics actively engage readers in the creative process in dynamic ways.

9. Do you see your work curating Shenandoah’s comic selection as heavily influenced by the ideas that have fueled your academic research? If so, how?

In curating the section, I felt it was important to showcase the work of Black artists, whether they decided to explore race or not. Often in my own scholarship, I look for opportunities to move beyond the simple recognition of Black creators and cultural traditions to invite more meaningful engagement with the actual material. There are times when serious, sustained attention is the best way to acknowledge the hard work of artists and writers. I hope that the comics featured in this issue of Shenandoah encourage this kind of discussion and engagement!