Comics Studies is an interdisciplinary field of academic inquiry that examines the art, culture, and significance of comics. It encompasses the analysis of comic books, graphic novels, webcomics, and other forms of sequential art. Scholars in comics studies explore various aspects, including narrative structures, visual language, cultural representation, and the impact of comics on society.
As a field, Comics Studies is also invested in the form’s dynamic use of blending visual and verbal narratives to help diverse audiences understand and appreciate the complexity of human experience. To this end, the UBC Comics Studies Cluster’s primary focus is collaborations with community members, nonprofits, and academics to support arts-based knowledge creation and the production of graphic narratives that benefit from the unique storytelling capabilities of the comics medium.