By Gina Cherundolo
(This is the third in a series of profiles of faculty, staff and students in the College of Communications at Penn State.)

Comic books seem like the type of item that would be found in a child’s bedroom or pawn shop, not in a college professor’s office.

However, Penn State faculty member Matthew McAllister studies comic books and their effect on society and has subsequently become the editor of recently published book about comic books and their disappearance as solely a form of entertainment for children.

McAllister, associate professor of film-video and media studies, is the third editor of the book titled Film and Comic Books, which tackles issues concerning bringing comic books to life on the big screen.

“The book explores how film and comic books are affected by one another,” McAllister said. “There are both good and bad consequences of this.”

The book explores issues including audience reaction and reception to the films, methods of adapting the medium of comics to film and the ways comic book aesthetics are translated to the screen. Other topics addressed include the ideological, industrial, and economic impact of the adaptations.

Popular comic book adaptations are featured, including superheroes such as Spider-Man, graphic novels such as American Splendor, and comic strips such as Dick Tracy.

McAllister, who came to Penn State in 2004, said he began reading comic books at an early age. Throughout his professional career, he has conducted research and published journal articles, papers, book chapters and newspaper articles concerning comic books, film and their impact on society.

He said that currently the comic book industry is concentrating more on character licensing than publishing. The commercial proliferation of characters rather than the books that feature them could very well mean the “beginning of the end of comic books.”

Matt McAlliseter ,
Associate Professor
College of Communications