Maaheen Ahmed is Associate Professor of comparative literature at Ghent University, Belgium, where she teaches courses on comics and intermediality. She has published widely on North American and European comics, graphic novels and periodicals. Her monographs include Openness of Comics (2016) and Monstrous Imaginaries (2019). She recently edited The Visionary Art of Franco-Belgian Comics (2025) with Hugo Frey, in addition to The Cambridge Companion to Comics (2023), and Comics Memory: Archives and Styles (2018) with Benoît Crucifix.

• IntroductionChapter 1: Historical and Biographical ContextsGrowing UpComics, Books, Graphic (Life) NarrativesChapter 2: Key TextsEarly Comic Strips and Stories Illustrated DiariesComics MakingChapter 3: Critical Themes and QuestionsPicturing the Invisible Writing and Language TexturesLife WritingChapter 4: Social and Cultural ImpactIntersectional Comics Teaching Comics Expanding ComicsConclusion BibliographyIndex

In this highly engaging book, Maaheen Ahmed teases out the complexities of the genre-defying, boundary-blurring work of Lynda Barry, herself a committed pedagogue. Displaying a sharp awareness of developments in the field of comics studies, this is an insightful guide for readers and a valuable resource for teachers.

Maaheen Ahmed is Associate Professor of comparative literature at Ghent University, Belgium, where she teaches courses on comics and intermediality. She has published widely on North American and European comics, graphic novels and periodicals. Her monographs include Openness of Comics (2016) and Monstrous Imaginaries (2019). She recently edited The Visionary Art of Franco-Belgian Comics (2025) with Hugo Frey, in addition to The Cambridge Companion to Comics (2023), and Comics Memory: Archives and Styles (2018) with Benoît Crucifix.

• IntroductionChapter 1: Historical and Biographical ContextsGrowing UpComics, Books, Graphic (Life) NarrativesChapter 2: Key TextsEarly Comic Strips and Stories Illustrated DiariesComics MakingChapter 3: Critical Themes and QuestionsPicturing the Invisible Writing and Language TexturesLife WritingChapter 4: Social and Cultural ImpactIntersectional Comics Teaching Comics Expanding ComicsConclusion BibliographyIndex

In this highly engaging book, Maaheen Ahmed teases out the complexities of the genre-defying, boundary-blurring work of Lynda Barry, herself a committed pedagogue. Displaying a sharp awareness of developments in the field of comics studies, this is an insightful guide for readers and a valuable resource for teachers.

Maaheen Ahmed is Associate Professor of comparative literature at Ghent University, Belgium, where she teaches courses on comics and intermediality. She has published widely on North American and European comics, graphic novels and periodicals. Her monographs include Openness of Comics (2016) and Monstrous Imaginaries (2019). She recently edited The Visionary Art of Franco-Belgian Comics (2025) with Hugo Frey, in addition to The Cambridge Companion to Comics (2023), and Comics Memory: Archives and Styles (2018) with Benoît Crucifix.

• IntroductionChapter 1: Historical and Biographical ContextsGrowing UpComics, Books, Graphic (Life) NarrativesChapter 2: Key TextsEarly Comic Strips and Stories Illustrated DiariesComics MakingChapter 3: Critical Themes and QuestionsPicturing the Invisible Writing and Language TexturesLife WritingChapter 4: Social and Cultural ImpactIntersectional Comics Teaching Comics Expanding ComicsConclusion BibliographyIndex

In this highly engaging book, Maaheen Ahmed teases out the complexities of the genre-defying, boundary-blurring work of Lynda Barry, herself a committed pedagogue. Displaying a sharp awareness of developments in the field of comics studies, this is an insightful guide for readers and a valuable resource for teachers.