Ian Gordon (historian)

Associate Professor Ian Gordon is a member of the Department of History and the Deputy Director of the University Scholars Programme at the National University of Singapore, Singapore. He writes on comic strips and comic books and film and television. [ [http://www.lib.msu.edu/comics/rri/grri/gop.htm Partial listing of Ian Gordon's works in the Comic Art Collection, Michigan State University] . Accessed February 7, 2008] [ [http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/hisilg/gordon.html Brief biography and link to full cv] . Accessed February 7, 2008]

Biography

Ian Gordon earned his PhD in History at the University of Rochester. He revised his dissertation "Envisioning Consumer Culture" with additional material for publication by the Smithsonian Institution Press as "Comic Strips and Consumer Culture". [http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/hisilg/gordon.html Brief biography and link to full cv] . Accessed February 7, 2008] In addition to his book he has published two co-edited books "Comics & Ideology" and "Film and Comic Books" and numerous articles.

Comic Strips and Consumer Culture

Gordon uses comic strips to make an argument about American culture. He says that comic strips were one of the first forms of truly national culture, by which he means people all over the country read them on the same day, and so had shared experiences, and that this happened on a wide spread basis as early as 1908. He also ties comic strips to transformations in advertising styles, and not just the comic strip advertising style of the 1930s but the generalized use of more images in advertising as the twentieth century progressed. The book even has a chapter on the beginnings of comic books which is a useful short overview and has good information on the early Superman.

The "Journal of American History" said: "Gordon has done historians a service by recognizing the importance of popular visual sources as important clues to understanding American culture. And the book is not only informative but fun to read."

"American Journalism" said: "a must read for any scholar interested in the question of popular culture."

Partial bibliography

Books
* "Comic Strips and Consumer Culture, 1890-1945". (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998). Paperback edition 2002.
* "Comics and Ideology". co-edited. (New York: Peter Lang, 2001).
* "Film and Comic Books". co-edited. (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2007)

References