NE North Dakota News

Justin Wigard, an assistant professor of English at the University of North Dakota (UND), recently delivered a lecture on the scholarly significance of comics as part of the Randy Rasmussen Memorial Lecture Series. The series was established in 2023 to honor Randy Rasmussen, a former employee of the Chester Fritz Library and an arts and sciences enthusiast.

Wigard discussed how comics are more than just entertainment; they encompass various disciplines within the humanities. He explained that comics' multimodality, accessibility, and popularity make them suitable for academic study. "They’re really powerful vehicles of representation," he noted, emphasizing the importance of who is represented in comics.

Wigard's journey into literature began at Central Michigan University, where he discovered his passion for studying pop culture, games, comics, and digital humanities. He holds bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in English from Michigan State University and co-authored "Attack of the New B Movies."

During his lecture, Wigard advised attendees to explore comics by starting with familiar material. He highlighted the importance of panels in understanding comics: "If you take away nothing else from this, pay attention to the panel." His research elaborates on how panels create narrative through sequences of time and space.

He also pointed out that storytelling through sequential imagery dates back to around 20,000 years ago with examples like the Lascaux Cave art in France. "We can see that there is a story that humans drew to convey and pass down to future generations," Wigard said.