In every decade, comic books have often reflected the zeitgeist of the times as well as people’s idiosyncrasy. Events considered normal half a century ago were portrayed as such, events that today we might find shocking and inappropriate. To what extent comic books were simply mirroring reality? And in which cases special forms of discrimination seem to be of particular interest for the comic book medium? In this panel we consider all graphic novels and comic books that, whether on purpose or in a fortuitous way, portray instances of sexism, homophobia, racism and other forms of discrimination. This panel welcomes abstract from scholars from multiple disciplines.

3 presenters (15-20 minutes each)