ABSTRACT
Howard Chaykin’s comic book American Flagg! (published by First Comics) took full advantage of the decline of the self-regulating Comics Code Authority to demonstrate the viability of independent comics marketed to mature readers. A striking example of intertwined form and content, the satiric and dystopian series about a futuristic cop and his sexual adventures, incorporated many of the themes and devices of postmodernism in general and cyberpunk in particular, blending science fiction elements, superhero conventions, and prominent design elements drawn from contemporary advertising and television. As this chapter demonstrates, Chaykin’s dense yet playful page layouts demanded unusually attentive reading, and boldly emphasized the power of surface over depth, or the signifier over the signified, in ways that made the comic especially resonate with fans versed in contemporary cultural theory.
