Jonathan McBurnie – författare

Flixcomix: Comics Aesthetics in Film reorients the longstanding conversation between comics and cinema by examining film through the lens of comics studies. Rather than relying on film theory to define comics, Adam Geczy and Jonathan McBurnie flip the script—showing how comics’ visual language, timing, and expression have shaped film aesthetics from the silent era to the blockbuster age. While comics and film share graphic and sequential qualities, they also share a common cultural and technological lineage. From early cinema to today’s highly stylized adaptations, Flixcomix explores how comics’ storytelling methods—once thought to "adulterate" the filmic experience—actually deepen psychological nuance, expand temporal structures, and transform visual expression. Organized in a lively, accessible format, Flixcomix draws connections across time and media, examining beloved and polarizing creators, characters, and styles from Aeon Flux to Zack Snyder. A must-read for scholars, fans, and critics alike, this book uncovers the hybrid visual language that continues to define how we see and feel moving images.

Flixcomix: Comics Aesthetics in Film reorients the longstanding conversation between comics and cinema by examining film through the lens of comics studies. Rather than relying on film theory to define comics, Adam Geczy and Jonathan McBurnie flip the script—showing how comics’ visual language, timing, and expression have shaped film aesthetics from the silent era to the blockbuster age. While comics and film share graphic and sequential qualities, they also share a common cultural and technological lineage. From early cinema to today’s highly stylized adaptations, Flixcomix explores how comics’ storytelling methods—once thought to "adulterate" the filmic experience—actually deepen psychological nuance, expand temporal structures, and transform visual expression. Organized in a lively, accessible format, Flixcomix draws connections across time and media, examining beloved and polarizing creators, characters, and styles from Aeon Flux to Zack Snyder. A must-read for scholars, fans, and critics alike, this book uncovers the hybrid visual language that continues to define how we see and feel moving images.

Critical studies of the graphic novel have often employed methodologies taken from film theory and art criticism. Yet, as graphic novels from Maus to Watchmen have entered the literary canon, perhaps the time has come to develop theories for interpreting and evaluating graphic novels that are drawn from classic models of literary theory and criticism.   Using the methodology of Georg Lukács and his detailed defense of literary realism as a socially embedded practice, Litcomix tackles difficult questions about reading graphic novels as literature. What critical standards should we use to measure the quality of a graphic novel? How does the genre contribute to our understanding of ourselves and the world? What qualities distinguish it from other forms of literature?   LitComix hones its theoretical approach through case studies taken from across the diverse world of comics, from Yoshihiro Tatsumi's groundbreaking manga to the Hernandez Brothers' influential alt-comix. Whether looking at graphic novel adaptations of Proust or considering how Jack Kirby's use of intertextuality makes him the Balzac of comics, this study offers fresh perspectives on how we might appreciate graphic novels as literature.