Gutter Politics ~ Splash Page

an ongoing look at the political punning & punditry in comic books & related genre media,

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'Paper Girls' Delivers Critical Nostalgia for Reagan's America

C.M.Knopf

Aug 20, 2022
6 min

'Paper Girls' Delivers Critical Nostalgia for Reagan's America

| The Past, the Present, and the Future walked into the show. It was tense.| The recent release (July 29, 2022) of season one of Paper...

C.M.Knopf

Sep 19, 2021
3 min

A New View for Watching the Watchers

| TELEPATHS flips the script of the dystopian surveillance-state.| The excesses of state, or corporate, surveillance is a familiar staple...

C.M.Knopf

Sep 11, 2021
3 min

Politics has Gone to the Dogs

| MAYOR GOOD BOY introduces fart jokes to the tradition of Good Government Comics.| Mayor Good Boy, the new kids' graphic novel from RH...

C.M.Knopf

Aug 8, 2021
7 min

Commanding Compassion

| COMMANDERS IN CRISIS explores the political dimension of emotion. | NOTE: This is a version of a paper presented at the 2021 Comics...

C.M.Knopf

Jul 5, 2021
4 min

The Devil's in the Details

|Marvel's HEROES REBORN offers stories rehashed.| At first glance, Heroes Reborn and Heroes Return appears to be a typical superhero...

C.M.Knopf

Jun 6, 2021
5 min

LADY FREEDOM vs Lady [Liberty]

| Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's... just plain, weird. | Writing about Reagan's Raiders in Comic Art Propaganda: A Graphic History (St....

The Political Dais et Machina (a backblog)

C.M.Knopf

May 25, 2021
6 min

The Political Dais et Machina (a backblog)

| NY's political machine stars in EX MACHINA. | No, Ex Machina by Brian K. Vaughn with artist Tony Harris is not a new comic. Its omnibus...

Red Color Out of Space & the Dunwich Communist

C.M.Knopf

May 19, 2021
3 min

Red Color Out of Space & the Dunwich Communist

| MISKATONIC makes Lovecraft's horror a tame Red Scare | AfterShock's Misktatonic, by Mark Sable and Giorgio Pontrelli, promises "a...

ABBOTT's Light of Truth Drives Out the Darkness

C.M.Knopf

Feb 22, 2021
3 min

ABBOTT's Light of Truth Drives Out the Darkness

| In Abbott & Abbott: 1973, journalist sheds light in society's dark corners. | As noted previously in this blog, reporters were once...

C.M.Knopf

Feb 21, 2021
4 min

Open Up, Flip Thru, Drop Out

| The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys: National Anthem is a McLuhanesque trip. | The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys: National...

C.M.Knopf

Feb 19, 2021
2 min

Stop 'The Recount'

| Scout Comics debuts disturbingly dystopian drama of democracy with 2020 election.| The official release date of The Recount #1 was...

The Maniac, 'Maniac of New York,' I Sure Know

C.M.Knopf

Feb 13, 2021
4 min

The Maniac, 'Maniac of New York,' I Sure Know

| A chilling new comic from AfterShock looks at a world where crises are the new normal. | According to writer Ellitott Kalan, the...

C.M.Knopf

Jan 22, 2021
4 min

Politicians and Other Blood Suckers

| The newest installment of American Vampire takes us to the country's Bicentennial, via 2020 politics. | American Vampire has always...

C.M.Knopf

Jan 15, 2021
4 min

BOMB QUEEN & the Incendiary Divisive

| Do we get the government we deserve? | If you aren't familiar with Bomb Queen by Jimmie Robinson, I encourage you to watch the short...

The Coup: A Major, Transmedia, Crossover Event! (updated)

C.M.Knopf

Jan 8, 2021
2 min

The Coup: A Major, Transmedia, Crossover Event! (updated)

| The January 6th invasion of the U.S. Capitol prompted a lot of pop culture allusions. | In the wake of the 2017 Women's March that...

"Invasion of America" Reboot: The Prescience of Prez

C.M.Knopf

Jan 7, 2021
3 min

"Invasion of America" Reboot: The Prescience of Prez

| In January 2021, an armed mob invaded the Capitol (really). In January 1974, an armed mob invaded the White House (fictionally). | When...

C.M.Knopf

Dec 17, 2020
2 min

DC Comics Comments on... DC Comics?

| Nightwing #77 called "the most political comic this year." Really? | On December 16, 2020 Bleeding Cool's Rich Johnston reviewed the...

C.M.Knopf

Dec 7, 2020
6 min

The Truth is In Here

| The Department of Truth spins conspiracy theories for the 2020s. | I've always loved a good mystery. My childhood media diet included...

C.M.Knopf

Nov 29, 2020
3 min

Votes and Comics for Women!

| Tidal Wave's Female Force to be reckoned with. | TidalWave Productions has led the market with political biography titles since about...

C.M.Knopf

Nov 28, 2020
2 min

More Powerful than a Speeding Ballot

| Comic books fight a never-ending battle for truth and justice. | Shortly before the 2020 election, School Library Journal highlighted...

ABOUT

The manuscript for Politics in the Gutters was finalized and sent off in late May 2020. But comic books and related media continued to comment on and in the political scene, especially during a presidential campaign, punctuated by international protests, in the midst of a global pandemic, which culminated in a contested election. The Gutter Politics SPLASH PAGE picks up where the book left off, albeit in a more casual, less academic, structure.

Dr. Christina M. Knopf is the author of Politics in the Gutters and the writer of the Gutter Politics~SPLASH PAGE. She is a Professor in Communication & Media Studies at the State University of New York (SUNY), Cortland. She holds a PhD concentrating in political communication and cultural sociology from the University at Albany. [read more]

The views expressed here are my own and do not represent my institution or university system.

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