Never before have comics seemed so popular or diversified, proliferating across a broad spectrum of genres, experimenting with a variety of techniques, and gaining recognition as a rich form of art. Openness of Comics examines this trend by taking up the philosopher Umberto Eco’s notion of the open work of art, according to which the reader–or listener or viewer, as the case may be–is offered several possibilities of interpretation in a cohesive narrative and aesthetic structure. The monograph delineates the visual, literary, and other medium-specific features used by comics to form open rather than closed works, focusing on the methods through which comics generate (or limit) meaning, as well as increase the scope of reading into a text.
The analysis of a diverse group of Anglo-American and European (Franco-Belgian, German, Finnish) comics from key genre categories–fictionalized memories and biographies, adventure and superhero, noir, black comedy and crime, science fiction and fantasy–demonstrate the many ways in which comics generate openness by teasing genres codes and conventions while maintaining a cohesive structure.
Analyzed comics include: Will Eisner’s The Contract with God Trilogy, Jacques Tardi’s It Was the War of the Trenches, Hugo Pratt’s The Ballade of the Salty Sea, Edmond Baudoin’s The Voyage,Grant Morrison and Dave McKean’s Arkham Asylum, Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s From Hell, Moebius’ Arzach, Yslaire’s Cloud 99 series, and JarmoMäkilä’s Taxi Ride to Van Gogh’s Ear.