Michelle Ann Abate - Selected Articles

Selected Articles

A portrait of the literary critic Michelle Ann Abate rendered in the style of a comic.

Below are some my essays and articles that are available full-text online.

For a more complete list of my publications, see the "About" section.

Comics Studies

Let's go exploring! Are you a fan of Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes?

Click below to read my essay about the role of solitude in Calvin's life.

“A Gorgeous waste”: solitude in Calvin and HobbesThis essay examines the important but unexamined role that solitude plays in Calvin and Hobbes. The proclivity that Watterson’s 6-year-old protagonist has for being by himself forms a core facet bo...

Comics Studies and Popular Culture

If you're anything like me, memes form a big part of your social media scroll--and your sense of humor.

In the essay linked below, I make a case that memes are also a new form of digital comics.

Children's and Young Adult Literature

Angie Thomas's acclaimed young adult novel The Hate U Give is commonly viewed as a work of urban fiction.

In my essay linked below, I examine the novel's references to flowers, gardening, and environmental justice.

“He Cuts Roses that Have Blooms as Big as My Palms”: Floriography, the Black Gardening Movement, and Environmental Justice in The Hate U Give - Children's Literature in EducationThis essay explores the numerous, but underexamined, references to nature and the environment in Angie Thomas’s acclaimed young adult novel The Hate U Give. Not only is the narrative set in a neighborhood called “Garden Heights,” but all its municipal features are named after flowers or trees: Magnolia Avenue, Carnation Street, Cedar Grove. Additionally, both major and minor characters in the novel—Big Mav, Mrs. Pearl, etc.—are avid and talented gardeners. I examine these details through the lenses of floriography and the Black gardening movement, respectively. Doing so gives new literary, cultural, and historical meaning to events in The Hate U Give, and they also augment the text’s socio-political commentary. Ultimately, the references to plants, horticulture, and nature in The Hate U Give introduce issues of environmentalism and ecoracism, adding a new facet to the social justice themes that the narrative addresses.

Animated Film and Popular Culture

In Disney's animated filmThe Little Mermaid, Sebastian is a crab, Scuttle is a seagull, is and Ursula is a... vampire?

Intrigued? Click the link below to read my article about the overlooked vampiric nature of this iconic Disney villain.

LGBTQ Studies

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is an award-winning LGBTQ-themed novel set in the late 1980s. However, it completely omits any reference to the AIDS crisis that was occurring at the time.

In the article linked below, I explore this historical omission, as much more than simply a narrative flaw but as a socio-political opportunity.

This essay received Honorable Mention for the Article Award from the Children's Literature Association.

Comics Studies and LGBTQ Studies

Milton Caniff's Terry and the Pirates was one of the most popular newspaper comic strips in the mid-twentieth century. It also featured what is perhaps the first lesbian character in mainstream U.S. comics: a villain named Sanjak.

In the essay linked below, I explore Sanjak's function in this series, as well as the influence she may have had on an even more iconic character: Wonder Woman.

Comics Studies and LGBTQ Studies

Q: What's an even better way to cope with the terribleness of the world of late than re-reading Alison Bechdel's "Dykes to Watch Out For" series?

A: Re-reading Alison Bechdel's "Dykes to Watch Out For" series AND writing about all the witty puns, clever socio-political commentary, and satiric snarkiness embedded in the background details!

In the essay linked below, I argue that both the variety and frequency of comics asides that permeate Bechdel's series suggest a new form of comics narratology: what can be termed "voice-under narration."

“Bed, bath, & bite me”: Comics asides and voice-under narration in Alison Bechdel’s Dykes to Watch Out forThis essay serves a dual purpose. First and foremost, it gives much-needed attention to the important, but largely unexplored, role that comics asides play in Alison Bechdel’s Dykes To Watch Out Fo...

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Selected Articles

Comics Studies

Comics Studies and Popular Culture

Children's and Young Adult Literature

Animated Film and Popular Culture

LGBTQ Studies

Comics Studies and LGBTQ Studies

Comics Studies and LGBTQ Studies

michelle.ann.abate@gmail.com