Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Comic book themes'

Comic books are a unique and increasingly popular form of entertainment combining visual and textual elements of communication. This work pertains to making comic books more accessible. Specifically, this paper explains how we detect elements such as speech bubbles present in Japanese comic book panels. Some applications of the work presented in this paper are automatic detection of text and its transformation into audio or into other languages. Automatic detection of elements can also allow reasoning and analysis at a deeper semantic level than what’s possible today. Our approach uses an expert system and a machine learning system. The expert system process information from images and inspires feature sets which help train the machine learning system. The expert system detects speech bubbles based on heuristics. The machine learning system uses machine learning algorithms. Specifically, Naive Bayes, Maximum Entropy, and support vector machine are used to detect speech bubbles. The algorithms are trained in a fully-supervised way and a semi-supervised way. Both the expert system and the machine learning system achieved high accuracy. We are able to train the machine learning algorithms to detect speech bubbles just as accurately as the expert system. We also applied the same approach to eye detection of characters in the panels, and are able to detect majority of the eyes but with low precision. However, we are able to improve the performance of our eye detection system significantly by combining the SVM and either the Naive Bayes or the AdaBoost classifiers.

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2007.<br>Title from file title page. Marian Meyers, committee chair; Layli Phillips, Amira Jarmakani, committee members. Description based on contents viewed June 3, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 120-123).

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2007.<br>Title from file title page. Chris Kocela, committee chair; Paul Schmidt, Michael Galchinsky, committee members. Electronic text (95 p. : ill. 9some col.)) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Nov. 16, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 78-81).

Thesis (MPhil (Visual Arts))--Stellenbosch University, 2008.<br>This thesis considers the author's project submission, a comic-book entitled The Number One Game, as production of a local heroic myth. The author will show how this project attempts to engage with mythic and archetypal material to produce an entertaining narrative that has relevance to contemporary Cape Town. The narrative adapts previous incarnations of the hero, with reference to theories of archetypes and mythic patterning devices that are derived from the concept of the “mono-myth”. Joseph Campbell's conception of myth as expressing internal psychic processes will be compared to Roland Barthes' reading of myth as a special inflection of speech that forms a semiotic “metalanguage”. The comic-book is a specific form of the language of comics, a combination of image and text that is highly structured and that can produce a rich graphic text. Using the Judge Dredd and Batman comic-books as models it will be shown how The Number One Game adapts traditions of representation, such as in genre references, to local perspective to create a novel interplay of archetypes. It will be shown that this interplay in the author's project work and the rich potential of the comic-book as a site for mythic speech makes the mythic a useful paradigm for considering the expression of ideology in the heroic comic-book.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis investigates the human capacity of modifying established myth in the light of new circumstances. It focuses on the changing status of myth and mythical cosmologies in Western culture as advances in telematics and techno-culture has led to the abundant proliferation of mythic content in modern society. The rise of scientific, secular and rational tendencies in the Occident has resulted in the demystification and negation of some myths and the cultural realities they once supported. Mythical symbols, however, do exhibit a certain degree of independence from their original set ontologies, growing and transforming continuously within contemporary culture as they are communicated to all social spheres. A particular focus is placed on the demystification of myth and its ability to be appropriated within other discourses, most notably fiction. As such, myth tends to exhibit certain migratory and conservational qualities that this study investigates. This serves as background for this thesis that is primarily located within the broader theoretical argument of myth as a system of world-representation in society, the main point of discussion is the re-appropriation of myth within the narrower field of visual signification, specifically the comics medium, as exemplified in the works of Neil Gaiman and Conrad Botes, as well as in my own work.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die tesis ondersoek die menslike kapasiteit om gevestigde mites te wysig in die lig van nuwe omstandighede. Dit fokus op die veranderlike status van mites en mitiese kosmologieë in die Westerse kultuur, aangesien vooruitgang in die telematiek en tegnokultuur gelei het tot ’n ryk proliferasie van mitiese inhoud in die moderne samelewing. Die opkoms van wetenskaplike, sekulêre en rasionele tendense in die Weste het die demistifikasie en negasie van sommige mites en kulturele realiteite wat hulle eens ondersteun het, tot gevolg gehad. Mitiese simbole vertoon egter ’n sekere graad van onafhanklikheid van hul oorspronklike vasgestelde ontologieë en groei wild binne die kontemporêre kultuur, aangesien hulle deurlopend gekommunikeer word aan verskillende sosiale sfere. Daar word veral gefokus op die demistifikasie van die mite en sy vermoë om geapproprieer te word binne ander diskoerse, veral in fiksie. As sodanig is mites geneig tot migrasie en die vertoon van konserverende kwaliteite, soos ondersoek in hierdie studie. Alhoewel die tesis eerstens gelokaliseer is binne die breër teoretiese argumentasie rondom mite as ’n sisteem van wêreldrepresentasie in die samelewing, is die kern van diskussie die re-appropriasie van die mite binne die smaller veld van visuele betekenisgewing, spesifiek in strippe as medium, soos uitgelig in die werke van Neil Gaiman en Conrad Botes, asook in my eie werk.

The purpose of this study is two-fold. First, I will examine the influences shaping the choices of teenagers living in an affluent society during the early days of the Cold War, specifically 1950 - 1955. I will discuss the contradictions about society, the family unit, and gender roles teenagers attempted to sort out as they moved through adolescence. Secondly, I will focus on two forms of mass media, specifically comic books and movies of the 1950s. Media has always had the power to change and shape the opinion of the youth culture who consumed it. I will discuss the lengths parents, educators, law enforcement, and government officials went to in order to blame the messages media conveyed for the behavior of this youth in revolt.

Thesis (M.Phil) -- University of Stellenbosch, 2000<br>230 leaves printed single pages,numbered pages 1-230.Includes bibliography.Digitized at 600 dpi grayscale to pdf format (OCR),using an Bizhub 250 Konica Minolta Scanner.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Anton Kannemeyer and Conrad Botes have been publishing Bitterkomix,, their comics magazine, for nearly a decade in South Africa. These comics are a structured satyrical attack on the South African and specifically Afrikaans culture. Both artists employ different narrative strategies to convey their sometimes shocking message. The reaction on their writing and drawing shows an unwillingness in certain academic circles to analyse their texts critically. As a result Bitterkomix has drawn very little academic attention. This unwillingness is a product of the modernist approach to the comic as "low" literature. Modernists didn't regard comics as worthy material for critical analyses. The literary paradigm shift towards popular culture, and therefore comics, and the pluralistic reading strategy ofpostmodemism make it possible for an academic approach towards this previously ill-treated art form. This thesis is an attempt to suggest an approach strategy to Bitterkomix as a South African underground comics magazine. As a backdrop the study looks at the development of comics in general, as well as the changes that took place in the traditional approach strategies to the modem comic. It also focusses on selected texts by Kannemeyer and Botes to demonstrate how Bitterlwmix functions as an underground comic in the changing South African society. The writers draw upon methods and strategies used by underground comix artists in the United States during the sixties. Their specific employment of the drawing styles and narrative contents of artists like Robert Crumb, S. Clay Wilson and also the Belgian artist, Herge, makes intertextuality one of the strongest postmodemist aspects of Bitterlwmix. Botes's and Kannemeyer's combined use of intertextuality and other postmodemist metafictional narrative strategies gives Bitterlwmix a literary value that requires an academic approach.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Anton Kannemeyer en Conrad Botes se strokiestydskrif Bitterkomix verskyn reeds bykans 'n dekade in Suid-Afrika. Hulle strokies, wat van 'n akademiese en literere uitgangspunt getuig, is 'n berekende satiriese aanval op die Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing en meer spesifiek die Afrikanerdom. Beide skrywers span 'n verskeidenheid vertelstrategiee in om hulle somtyds skokkende boodskap oor te dra. Die reaksie op hulle skryf- en tekenwerk spreek egter van 'n onvermoe ofonwilligheid by die akademici om die tekste op kritiese wyse te analiseer. Gevolglik het Bilterkomix tot dusver min akademiese aandag gekry. Hierdie onvermoe stam myns insiens moontlik uit 'n modemistiese miskenning van die strokie as kunsvorm. Strokies is as "lae" literatuur gekategoriseer en is volgens modemiste dus nie geskikte materiaal vir 'n diepsinnige bespreking me. Die literere paradigma ten opsigte van populere kultuur en dus strokies het egter intussen verander en die pluralistiese leesstrategie van 'n postrnodemistiese benadering maak dit moontlik om akademiese aandag aan hierdie voorheen miskende kunsvorm te skenk. Die tesis is 'n poging om 'n benaderingswyse voor te stel tot Bitterkomix as Suid-Afrikaanse underground-strokiestydskrif. As agtergrondstudie ondersoek dit die ontstaan en ontwikkeling van die strokie in die algemeen, asook die veranderinge wat plaasgevind het in die tradisionele benaderingswyses tot die modeme strokie. Daama fokus die bespreking op geselekteerde tekste uit die oeuvres van Botes en Kannemeyer om te probeer aantoon hoe Bitterkomix as underground-strokie binne die veranderende Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing funksioneer. Die skrywers gebruik onder andere uitgangspunte en strategiee van die underground-strokie, soos dit veral in die sestigerjare in Arnerika gevind is. Hulle doelbewuste inspeling op beide die tekenstyle en verhaalinhoude van skrywers soos Robert Crumb, S. Clay Wilson asook die Belgiese Herge maak intertekstualiteit een van die sterkste postmodemistiese kenmerke van Bitterkomix. Botes en Kannemeyer se gebruik van intertekstualiteit, metafiksionaliteit, en ander postrnodemistiese vertelstrategiee verleen aan Bitterkomix 'n literere kwaliteit wat om 'n akademiese benaderingswyse vra.<br>Instituut vir Navorsingsontwikkeling van die Raad vir Geesteswetenskaplike Navorsing

Graphic texts, or graphic novels, have spent many years on shelves with comic books about superheroes and adventurers. They officially gained notoriety in 1992 with Art Spiegelman’s Maus, and at this time, critics and scholars began to take notice. However, graphic novels have not been fully adapted by academia. Graphic novels have the ability to offer new levels of instruction and learning in upper-level classrooms.The following is a study in the multitude of uses of graphic text in academia. Chapter 1 looks at the history of graphic text to understand the present and future of graphic novels. Chapter 2 focuses on literacy issues to develop a basis for the use of graphic novels in the classroom. Chapter 3 offers a method of using graphic novels to broaden a students’ understanding of plays. Chapter 4 moves on to a study of graphic novels as works of literature. Through this look of historical data and an analysis and discussion of the modern form of graphic novels, we will come to the conclusion that graphic novels can be useful assets in the classroom when they are taken from the shelf of comic books and used to their full potential.

This thesis explains the connection between comics and public reactions in two separate eras of conservatism. Comic books were targeted by critics in the 1950s because their content challenged conservative norms. In 1954, a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing on Juvenile Delinquency tried to determine if comic books were having a harmful impact on children. The senators were concerned that comic books objectified women, taught children to engage in violence, promoted bigotry, and perhaps even encouraged homosexuality. The concerns caused outrage that was encouraged by the press. As a result, comic books adopted a form of self-censorship through the Comic Code Authority. The censorship combined with challenges from other media collapsed the comic book market until the next decade. Between 1978 through 1993, the United States entered a second period of conservatism. During this period, comic books reflected far more sensational content than that which had caused the public to react so strongly in 1954. And yet this time, there was almost no public outrage directed at comics. The purpose of this study is to find out why sensational content did not result in the same degree of public outrage that had occurred in 1954. This thesis starts with an overview of the controversies about comics in the 1950s era. Then, in the remainder of the thesis, comic books produced between 1978 and 1993 by the most popular mainstream comic book company, Marvel Comics, focusing on Daredevil, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, and the X-Men. The thesis also draws extensively on fan mail from the Stan Lee Archives in Laramie, Wyoming, and in the comic books themselves. Comparing comic books and the period’s changing media landscape, I show that comic books were deemed subversive and a source of scandalously sensational material out of step with much popular culture in the 1950s, but blended so well into the media landscape of the 1970s and 80s that they were safe from public outrage. Therefore, even though comic books became more violent and engaged in escalating levels of sexual objectification of female characters, fans approved of the new tone.

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2008.<br>Title from file title page. Jennifer Patico, committee chair; Emanuela Guano, Megan Sinnott, committee members. Description based on contents viewed Sept. 10, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p. 141-147).

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University , 2002.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis is concerned with a study of the two basic elements of communication, namely image and text. How these basic communication tools function in the genre of the visual narrative with regard to their roles in the comic strip and the artist's book, will be examined. Both genres, the comic book and the artist's book, consist of complex structures regarding their workings in the framework of the visual narrative, and this work explores these complexities by analysing how image and text function in the visual narrative. The area of semiotics is used as a basis on which the arguments in this thesis are built. The principles contained in semiotics act as useful guidelines in the reading and understanding of communication in general, but in this study these principles give focus and structure to the research of especially the comic strip and the artist's book. Concepts that are discussed in depth include the interesting interactions which occur between image and text when they are used together. Signs, icons, symbols and how they function with (or without) text, are also examined. Text can also function as image, and this visualisation of text is explored. The role of concepts like interpretation, perception, the study of images and image-association, are all very important in the visual communicator's eventual success with his/her communication. How these concepts influence the creation and forming of one's visual intelligence and visual literacy, and the eventual effect it has on the process of communication, make up a very important part of this study. These arguments lead to a discussion of the dynamics contained in the visual narrative when looked at from a semiotic perspective. Central to the discussion on the visual narrative in this thesis, is the differentiation between two similar genres: 1) Firstly, a discussion of the functioning of the comic strip medium. Important aspects of this subject are the interactions of image and text, and how the comic medium consists of a unique set of symbols, which influence the specific communication in this genre. 2) Secondly, the genre of the artist's book, and how the medium of the book functions as a unique phenomenon in communication. The systems of meaning contained in the medium of the book are looked at against the light of a semiotic analysis of text and image. This research supports the importance of a semiotic approach as a helpful aid in the interpretation of any piece of communication, but especially that of the comic strip medium and the artist's book. The theories of Charles Peirce, Ferdinand de Saussure, Roman Jakobson, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Umberto Eco are used as basis of the arguments in this thesis and serve as valuable ground for a useful discourse. The implementation of above mentioned theories lead to an indication of the complexities involved in the special visual language of the comic strip and the artist's book.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie is gemoeid met 'n ondersoek na die twee basismiddele of "taal" van kommunikasie, naamlik beeld en teks. Hoe hierdie basiese kommunikasiegereedskap funksioneer in die visuele narratief, met verwysing na veral die komiekstrip en die kunstenaarsboek, word ondersoek. Beide van laasgenoemde genres beskik oor komplekse strukture in hul bestaan binne die raamwerk van die visuele narratief, en hierdie navorsing ondersoek hierdie kompleksiteite deur die funksionering van beeld en teks in die visuele narratief te ontleed. Die area van semiotiek word as basis gebruik waarop die argumente in die tesis gebaseer is. Die beginsels vervat in die rigting van semiotiek tree op as 'n handige hulpmiddel in die lees en verstaan van enige vorm van kommunikasie, maar in hierdie studie verleen dit veral fokus en struktuur aan die navorsing binne die raamwerk van die komiekstrip en kunstenaarsboek. Konsepte wat in diepte bespreek word met die oog op hul uiteindelike funksionering binne die visuele narratief, sluit die interessante interaksies wat ontstaan tussen beeld en teks wanneer hulle saam gebruik word, in. Konsepte soos tekens, ikone en simbole, asook hul werking saam met teks (en afsonderlik daarvan), word bespreek. Teks kan in werklikheid ook as visuele beeld funksioneer, en hierdie "ikonifisering" of "beeldwording" van teks word ondersoek. Die rol van konsepte soos interpretasie, persepsie, beeldherkenning en assosiasie, wat uit hierdie proses van visuele kommunikasie voortspruit, is baie belangrik in die visuele kommunikeerder se uiteindelike sukses met sy/haar poging tot kommunikasie. Hoe hierdie konsepte aanleiding gee tot die skep van 'n persoon se "visuele intelligensie" en "visuele geletterdheid", en die uiteindelike effek wat dit op die proses van kommunikasie het, maak 'n belangrike deel van hierdie navorsing uit. Hierdie konsepte lei tot 'n bespreking van die dinamika van die visuele narratief wanneer daar vanuit 'n semiotiese oogpunt daarna gekyk word. Sentraal tot die bespreking van die visuele narratief in hierdie tesis, kan daar tussen twee ooreenkomstige genres onderskei word: 1) Eerstens is daar 'n bespreking van die funksionering van die komiekstripmedium. Belangrike aspekte van hierdie onderwerp is die funksionering van en interaksies tussen beeld en teks binne die medium, en hoe die stripmedium bestaan uit 'n unieke stel simbole wat die kommunikasie van die werk beïnvloed. 2) Tweedens die genre van die kunstenaarsboek, en hoe die boek as unieke medium funksioneer, word bespreek en ontleed. Die sisteme van betekenis vervat in die visuele narratief betrokke in die boekmedium, word beskou teen die lig van 'n semiotiese ondersoek na die interaksies van die basismiddele beeld en teks. Hierdie navorsing steun die belangrikheid van semiotiek as hulpmiddel in die interpretasie van enige stuk kommunikasie, maar veral in die stripmedium en die kunstenaarsboek. Die studie maak veral gebruik van die teorieë van Charles Peirce, Ferdinand de Saussure, Roman Jakobson, Maurice Merleau-Ponty en Umberto Eco. Die toepassing van bogenoemde teorieë in hierdie studie, lei tot 'n aanduiding van die kompleksiteite vervat in die spesiale "visuele taal" van veral die komiekstrip en die kunstenaarsboek.

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2008.<br>Title from file title page. Mary E. Stuckey, committee chair; Greg Smith, Ted Friedman, committee members. Electronic text (220 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Sept. 19, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 213-220).

Thesis (MA (Visual Arts)) -- University of Stellenbosch, 1997<br>168 leaves printed single pages,preliminary pages and numberd pages 1-70.Includes bibliography and 115 illustrations.Digitized at 600 dpi grayscale to pdf format (OCR),using an Bizhub 250 Konica Minolta Scanner.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study considers the history and problematics of the contemporary comic strip, particularly in regard to issues of controversy and iconoclasm. Special attention is paid to the local magazine, Bitterkomix as an example. In Chapter One, the comic medium is identified and discussed as a homogeneous art form. Its independence from both fine arts and literature is explained and the identifying, intrinsic characteristics of the medium are used as a basis for the analysis of form and meaning in selected contemporary comics. Chapter Two provides a brief history of iconoclasm, subversion and controversy surrounding selected comics from the 1950's up to the present. The emphasis is placed on pivotal developments in the medium, particularly in the United States. A link is suggested between the post-war affluence of the American society and the conservative values which underpin it. Because of the many similarities which exist between the value systems of white South Africa and those of the more conservative states of the U.S., a contextual parallel is mooted which identifies the development and impact of controversial comics abroad and the reception which Bitterkomix encountered in South Africa. Chapter Three outlines and analyses this connection, emphasising that Bitterkomix has to be seen in the wider historical context and not simply as an expression of a parochial, "alternative"culture among young Afrikaners. In the final two chapters, satire and the use of stereotypes in the comic form is considered. The study pays particular attention to the publications, Gif, Afrikaner Sekskomix and Loslyf(an Afrikaans skin magazine) in order to establish connections between deviant sexual behaviour in a repressive society.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING:In hierdie werkstuk word die geskiedenis en problematiek van die hedendaagse strip, veral die kontroversieIe en ikonoklastiese aspekte daarvan, aangespreek. As 'n voorbeeld word die aandag veral toegespits op die plaaslike tydskrif, Bitterkomix. In Hoofstuk Een word die stripmedium geidentifiseer en as homogene kunsvorm bespreek. Die medium se onafhanklikheid van beide die Skone Kunste en die Letterkunde word verduidelik en die identifiserende, intrinsieke kenmerke word basies toegepas vir die ontleding van vorm en betekenis in gekose, hedendaagse strips. Hoofstuk Twee bestaan uit 'n kort oorsig van die geskiedenis van ikonoklasme, ondermyning en kontroverse rondom geselekteerde strips vanaf 1950 tot die hede. Die k1em word geplaas op deurslaggewende ontwikkelings in die medium, veral in die Verenigde State. 'n Skakel word voorgestel tussen die na-oorlogse welvaart van die Amerikaanse gemeenskap en die konserwatiewe waardes onderliggend daaraan. As gevolg van die baie ooreenkomste tussen die waarde-sisteme van wit Suid-Afrika en die van die meer konserwatiewe state van die V.S., word 'n kontekstuele parallel vasgestel wat die ontwikkeling en impak van kontroversieIe strips in die buiteland en die reaksie op Bitterkomix in Suid-Afrika, identifiseer. Hoofstuk Drie skets en ontleed hierdie verbintenis en beklemtoon dat Bitterkomix in 'n wyer historiese konteks beskou moet word en nie slegs as 'n uitdrukking van 'n parogiale, "altematiewe" kuItuur onder jong Afrikaners nie. In die laaste twee hoofstukke word satire en die gebruik van stereotipes in die stripvorm oorweeg. Aandag word veral gegee aan die publikasies Gif: Afrikoner Sekskomix, en Loslyf( 'n Afrikaanse sekstydskrif) om kwessies van abnormale seksuele gedrag in 'n repressiewe gemeenskap aan te raak.

The Batman media franchise (comics, movies, novels, television, and cartoons) is unique because no other form of written or visual texts has as many artists, audiences, and forms of expression. Understanding the various artists and audiences and what Batman means to them is to understand changing trends and thinking in American culture. The character of Batman has developed into a symbol with relevant characteristics that develop and evolve with each new story and new author. The Batman canon has become so large and contains so many different audiences that it has become a franchise that can morph to fit any group of viewers/readers. Our understanding of Batman and the many readings of him gives us insight into ourselves as a culture in our particular place in history.

Thesis (M.A.)--Florida State University, 2008.<br>Advisor: John Fenstermaker, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Program in American & Florida Studies. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 20, 2008). Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 70 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

This paper addresses the issues inherent in comics translation, with specific regard to the translation of Japanese manga into English. In North America, the norms of manga translation have undergone several radical shifts in the past few decades, with strong preference being shown alternately for domesticating and foreignizing translations. Such paradigm shifts suggest differences between readerships, which have a strong influence on translators’ and publishers’ decisions. This understanding of the current translation situation then provides the backdrop for a novel method of translation that is centered around an initial textual analysis, which is itself rooted in a form-focused understanding of the comics medium. This understanding of the medium also sheds light on some of the translation issues specific to the Japanese context, particularly those of flopping and treatment of onomatopoeia. At all points in the translation process, the translator must keep in mind that comics is a medium that utilizes multiple overlapping, intertwining sign-systems, which can only be translated effectively when considered in relation to one another. The paper concludes with two short manga translations, which represent the culmination of these ideas.

This dissertation engages in a longitudinal study of the method of grassroots comics (Packalen & Sharma, 2007) amongst the Khwe people in the community of Platfontein, which is situated outside of Kimberley, South Africa. The study is largely informed by contemporary shifts in development theory, particularly that of participatory communication, which values individuals who live in the community as active participants in the research process. The use of grassroots comics (Packalen & Sharma, 2007) is largely based on theoretical concepts surfacing in current literature regarding the field development communication, which is somewhat critical of older, more dominant theories of development. Instead of applying a predetermined, uniform model of communication to multiple different settings in which varying development issues exist, this study is driven by the active involvement of community stakeholders throughout every stage of the research process. This includes the identification of community issues, the utilization of grassroots comics in the context of adapting and communicating about those issues on a community-wide scale, and the overall analysis of the process once research has been carried out. This particular study focuses on general health issues and how these might affect the Khwe community from a development perspective. However, what is of central importance is how the comics created by certain stakeholders in the community might serve as a means of promoting participatory communication amongst the local population, for the sake of alleviating certain health issues prevalent in the community itself. The practical nature of grassroots comics as a forum for health communication is what is of particular interest in this study. Purposive sampling techniques are employed in order to identify key participants and informants in the research process, to present a case-specific analysis of grassroots comics in use, and for purposes of limiting this study. Data collection methods applied to the research setting and research findings are conducted using various qualitative research techniques including participant observation, interviews, discussions and a participatory grassroots comics workshop.<br>Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.