716 YOUTH CULTURE IN COMICS
As the full story of the horrors visited on Jews becomes clear, so too does the need to
fi ght back, and make the Germans pay for their acts. From this point on, Yossel uses his
gift of art to spy on the Germans, and eventually plants a bomb in their headquarters.
Th e comic ties in well with many of the other Holocaust themed books in recent
years, including Art Spiegelman ’s Maus (1973–91), which set the standard for such
works. As with Maus , Yo s s e l relates the Holocaust via a personal family history, though
this time an imagined one. Kubert notes in the preface that the story is based on
correspondence with relatives in the area as well as on later recollections of those who
survived. Other recent graphic novels about the Holocaust include Miriam Katin’s We
Are on Our Own (2006), Pascal Croci’s Auschwitz (2004, fi rst published in French in
2002), and Will Eisner’s Th e Plot: Th e Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion
(2005).
Th e black and white artwork of Yo s s e l is signifi cant as it relays a type of
documentary-style storytelling, while reinforcing the notion that, in some cases,
moral oppositions are not complex and ambiguous but can be as simple and stark as
the opposition between black and white. One can see a similar black-and-white form
of storytelling in works such as Persepolis (1999 – 2003), by Marjane Satrapi, and
Palestine (2001), by Joe Sacco.
Cord Scott
YOUTH CULTURE IN COMICS. Th e connection between the comic book world and
youth is strong and undeniable. Although children and teenagers are not the only com-
ponent of the comic book audience, they constitute a majority that has represented the
modern comic book audience par excellence. Th is link between comics and youth has
two sides that are closely interrelated: the evolution of comic books as a form of youth
entertainment and the many representations of youth in the comic medium.
Since youth has been the most important audience, comic book publishers and
creators have often looked for stories that appeal to this age group, transforming
comics into a channel to express and represent the interests and concerns of diff erent
generations of (especially American) youth. Th e rise of comics as a cultural phenom-
enon came at a moment of history when children and adolescents were increasingly
becoming a distinctive target market for the entertainment industry. Comics were
one of the only forms of entertainment that bypassed the control of parents and
other cultural authorities. Accessibility was and has been a main issue in the past and
present of comic books; two factors were decisive during the infancy of the medium:
the low price that permitted the independent purchase by youth; and the easy access
through newsstands.
Th e content of the comic books published at the birth of the industry is easily
encapsulated in two titles: Superman (1938) and Archie (1941). Both titles are still in
print and represent two leading genres at the time: the superhero narrative and the teen
humor narrative. Superheroes dominated the industry from the late 1930s until the
end of the World War II. By then, the market was saturated with superhero stories and
