{"product_id":"out-of-the-gutters-obscenity-censorship-and-transgression-in-american-comics-hardback-9781477331804","title":"Out of the Gutters; Obscenity, Censorship, and Transgression in American Comics (Hardback) 9781477331804","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eOut of the Gutters\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eObscenity, Censorship, and Transgression in American Comics\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eJorge J. Santos (Edited by), Patrick Lawrence (Edited by)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781477331804, University of Texas Press\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eHardback, published 10 June 2025\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e304 pages, 30 b\u0026amp;w illustrations\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 3 cm, 0.54 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eA rich and compelling compilation of essays, \u003ci\u003eOut of the Gutters\u003c\/i\u003e is a valuable resource for readers across fields, from comix\/graphic novel devotees, to students of censorship or obscenity law, to those interested in underground publishers and transgressive cultural forms. Thoughtful and engaging, this volume draws on a wide body of materials that will make it a key resource.\u003c\/div\u003e - Brett J. Gary, New York University, author of Dirty Works: Obscenity on Trial in America's First Sexual Revolution\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e Comics have long been a subject of moral panics, no doubt thanks to their in-your-face illustrations and their association with young readers. Indeed, the politicians and parents behind today’s book-banning campaigns reserve special ire for graphic novels. What makes today’s controversies different is the content of the alleged obscenity. Instead of targeting sex as such, censors now focus on affirmations of nonheteronormative identity, as in Maia Kobabe’s \u003ci\u003eGender Queer\u003c\/i\u003e. And while violence is a constant in comics, stories that acknowledge nationalist oppression and violence, such as Art Spiegelman’s \u003ci\u003eMaus\u003c\/i\u003e, are also being blacklisted. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eOut of the Gutters\u003c\/i\u003e assembles scholars from diverse disciplines to examine US comics, graphic novels, and cartooning that have been challenged as obscene or transgressive. Covering well-known underground figures like Robert Crumb and Charles Burns, newcomers such as C. Spike Trotman and Emil Ferris, and mainstream creators including Chris Claremont and Archie Goodwin, the collection explores the market economics of transgression, historical representations of graphic violence, the ever-changing meaning of pornography, sex-positive comics by BIPOC authors, and queerness in pop-culture mega-properties like \u003ci\u003eX-Men\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Walking Dead\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e List of Illustrations \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Foreword. Your Obscene Is Not Mine: A Defense of the Art of Comics (Frederick Luis Aldama) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Introduction. “\u003cbr\u003eA Cultural Slaughter of the Innocents”\u003cbr\u003e (Patrick S. Lawrence and Jorge J. Santos Jr.) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Timeline of Significant Events \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Part One. Out of the Gutters: Comics’\u003cbr\u003e History of Obscenity \u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 1. Why Sex? (Hillary Chute) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 2. “\u003cbr\u003eWise Up, Old Hags! Th’\u003cbr\u003e Weak One Is a Valuable Possession to Us”\u003cbr\u003e: R. Crumb’\u003cbr\u003es \u003ci\u003eBible of Filth\u003c\/i\u003e and Obscenity as Artificial Scarcity (Patrick S. Lawrence) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 3. Howard Cruse’\u003cbr\u003es War on the War on Obscenity (Andrew J. Kunka) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 4. Obscene Histories: Indexing the Racial Phantasms of \u003ci\u003eBlazing Combat\u003c\/i\u003e (Jorge J. Santos Jr.) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Part Two. Obscenity in the Gutters and at the Margins \u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 5. Graphic Storytelling, Book Challengers, and Obscenity (Richard S. Price) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 6. Big-Boned Sapphic Smut: The Reading Pleasure of Comics by and about Black Women (Cathy Thomas) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 7. Robert Kirkman’\u003cbr\u003es Gays in the Gutter: Anti-Queer Censorship, Obscenity, and \u003ci\u003eThe Walking Dead\u003c\/i\u003e (Jarred Wiehe) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Part Three. Theorizing the Obscene, Seeing Obscenity \u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 8. Planet Xeno: Obscenity as Erotic Alienation in Charles Burns (Jordan Carroll) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 9. Seen, Unseen, and Obscene: Historical Violence in Comic Books (Jennifer Caplan) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 10. Obscene Empathy: Kink and the Comics Code Authority in X-Men’\u003cbr\u003es “\u003cbr\u003eDark Phoenix Saga”\u003cbr\u003e (Anthony D’\u003cbr\u003eAgostino) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e 11. Boobs   Monsters: Emil Ferris’\u003cbr\u003es \u003ci\u003eMy Favorite Thing Is Monsters\u003c\/i\u003e, Horror Comics, and the Fate of Disciplinary Normalization in the Twenty-First Century (Lee Konstantinou) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Afterword. A Conversation about Community with MariNaomi (Jorge J. Santos Jr.) \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Acknowledgments \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Contributors \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Index \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"University of Texas Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52523182981400,"sku":"9781477331804","price":37.39,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/out-of-the-gutters-obscenity-censorship-and-transgression-in-american-comics-hardback-9781477331804","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}