Big Idea prospectus

For my Big Idea project, I decided to focus my research around comic books and graphic novels. I do understand the confusion about how this could be relevant to a project that is supposed to be profound and groundbreaking, at least for an undergrad research paper. However, comics and graphic novels are a widely accessible form of literature that people of any age can enjoy and understand. I chose to focus my research on the representation of Indigeneity within the graphic novel genre of the literary world. This topic was so appealing to me because, as an avid comic/graphic novel reader, I always had trouble finding characters I could relate to. A lot of the time Indigenous characters in the graphic novels I was reading played a minor role and were never at the forefront of major decision making and at times were treated as cannon fodder when situations turned south. I found myself constantly searching for a character I could dream myself as in a universe I love which is why, when the opportunity arose, I jumped at the chance to delve into the research of the topic. I think this research matters because Indigenous people deserve to be seen as more than secondary characters who are disposable. Indigenous children should be excited to see themselves reflected within the pages of works art.

This first major piece of evidence I looked at was a graphic novel called 1602 which was published by Marvel and had Captain America depicted as an Indigenous person, blond braids and all. I found this not only highly problematic, but incredibly disappointing. Marvel had the position to do something revolutionary and put an Indigenous character as one of the main protagonists under a widely-loved publication name. This disappointment prompted me to put out feelers for different characters, publishers, and graphic novels. In my search, I was not disappointed. I managed to find a graphic novel depicting the struggle and death of an escaped residential school victim trying to find his way home in the middle of winter; a novel that depicted an anti-hero who fought for his reservation in unconventional manners after leaving it at a young age and going on to become a member of the FBI; and a young Indigenous girl coming into her own powers to overcome the creature that has been plaguing her people for years. These three graphic novels depict their Indigenous characters as strong people who are doing what they think is best and the manner in which they are depicted holds great significance. The Secret Path is the story of a young boy who has escaped residential school and the entire novel has no text. Instead, the novel has musical accompaniment, but the lack of wording within the novel itself could represent how many residential school survivors didn’t talk about what they went through and stayed silent. In Scalped, the main protagonist Dashiell Bad Horse, has been depicted with a shaved head. This feature may seem insignificant, except for the unfortunate fact that when Indigenous people are depicted, they tend to be depicted with long flowing locks of raven black hair. Scalped also takes place on an Indian reservation and deals with issues of abuse, drugs, and gang mentality. Miiyahbin, possibly my favourite character from the three graphic novels, is a young Indigenous woman who comes into her own and saves her community. These graphic novels are solid evidence within themselves, but when you take into account the peer reviewed literature that works with them, small details become more significant. Native Noir contains a section which specifically focuses on the graphic novel Scalped and what it means for key features of the story to focus on harmful stereotypes while also relating it the noir genre. Other articles I chose tend to focus on how graphic novels are beneficial in an educational sense as the artful depictions and the diverse dialogue (depending on the story) appeal beyond a single age bracket.