Reexamining the Misfit Identity in Adolescent Comics Fandom

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 3
  In Roundtable Session: Between the Panels: The Power and Possibilities of Co-Constructing Comics Research

Abstract

Television shows like The Big Bang Theory and The Simpsons are hardly responsible for creating the archetype of the socially-awkward comic book reader, but they have certainly (re)popularized it. In these media portrayals, comics is “a misfit’s medium” (King, 2015, n.p), serving as shorthand for social awkwardness. This paper examines whether and how comics are linked with social awkwardness in the eyes of contemporary youth. Do comics and manga fans identify as “misfits” at all? It is perhaps time to reevaluate relationships between comics and identity in light of the “mainstreaming of nerd culture” over the past decade (Fowle, 2019).

Author

• David Eric Low, California State University - Fresno