ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses identity and autographics, a genre of comics that has produced a large number of critically acclaimed texts and one that is of huge interest within comics studies. It considers the future of the form and where both scholarship and the form itself may go in the future. Of all the genres in which comics is establishing itself as a key form, the most visible and dynamic is life writing. Among the most popular, highly commended and compelling texts of the autographics genre are those that make visible the personal experiences of conflict and violence. Comics has established a firm foothold in both academic and popular circles, a vast array of texts is available to readers of all ages and interests, and scholarship is forging new paths and new connections within the academy. The chapter outlines a cultural phenomenon that is key to understanding the slow move of comics from pulpy trash to important narrative and socio-political form.
