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Comics

Comics and Philosophy

John Lent explores three dimensions of philosophy in 2D comics.

The interrelatedness of comic art to philosophy is both long-lived and far-ranging. The three areas I’ll survey are: philosophies about life embedded within comics; depictions of formalized philosophies in comics; and theorists’ and cartoonists’ philosophies about the comics profession.

Gems of philosophy have permeated comics almost from their beginnings. Memorable to me are the stances of Popeye (1935-present): “no matter what I yam – I yam what I yam an’ that’s all I yam”; or of Beetle Bailey (1950-present): “Whenever the urge to work comes over me, I lie down until it goes away.”

Calvin and Hobbes (1985-1995) creator Bill Watterson strove to make his strip philosophical and psychological in tone, the characters’ very names calling to mind 16th Century Protestant reformer John Calvin and 17th Century social philosopher Thomas Hobbes.

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