Category Archives: News

Welcome to ENGL 493: The Graphic Novel

ENGL 493 is a class offered by the Department of English at George Mason University dedicated to the critical study of graphic narrative, more popularly known as graphic novels. And what you are reading now is the first entry on the class blog for ENGL 493. If you are a student in ENGL 493, you can register for the blog, something you’ll need to do before the first week of classes is over.

Even if you don’t want to register yet, you can still browse this site, which will play an essential role in our course this semester. Of particular interest to students in ENGL 493 will be the course guidelines and the day-to-day class calendar.

And finally, a note about the header image of this blog, a detail from the much larger “Wally Wood’s 22 Panels That Always Work,” a legendary document in the comics business from the even more legendary artist and editor Wally Wood. In 2009, Joel Johnson, the former executive editor of Wired, placed a winning bid on the original 22 panels, scanned them and placed them online to share with the larger world. Here are the 22 panels in their entirety (larger image):

Wally Wood's 22 Panels That Always WorkThese 22 panels appear to distill the artistry of graphic narrative down to an easily applicable formula that even a “dumb writer” can learn. But in fact, as we will see in this class, the emotional and intellectual impact of comics is not simply the result of using a “down-shot” with “cast shadows.” Much more is at work in every panel on every page, and I’m looking forward to exploring this complex art and narrative form this semester.