Comics and graphic novels are not only fictional entertainment media – they often also reflect current affairs and historic events. The exhibition Myths and History in Comics and Graphic Novels presents projects carried out by Bachelor students from the Art History Department of the University of Leipzig during the 2015/16 winter semester. They analyse the relationship between fictional and documentary elements in these popular media forms. Comic exhibits, posters and accompanying texts are used to demonstrate how current political affairs and traumatic historic events are translated into mythical narrative, visual metaphors and stereotype image formulas. Superheroes are on a mission to save the USA from terrorism, the end of the GDR is heralded by a journalist suffering from toothache, the censored reports of the murder of Anna Politkowskaja and the violation of human rights in Chechnya are just some examples of the events depicted in the form of comic images.
Following the presentation at the GfZK, the exhibition will be shown at the Institute of Art History, Dittrichring 18-20, from 7 April 2016.
