Ally Sloper: The First Comics Superstar?

Abstract

This book is the result of the conference 'Comics Scenarios: Cultural Analyses of a Picto-Graphical Medium', organised by the Universities of Berlin and Viadrina, and held in Berlin in 2003. My chapter involves the early British comics character 'Ally Sloper', a Victorian anti-hero, and his crossover with other mediums, such as music hall. Specifically, it is an investigation of the various texts which have borne the signifier 'Ally Sloper' in the years between 1867 and 1916, in an attempt to reconstruct their context and hence recover the meanings carried by this cultural icon at key moments in his history. It also asks how Sloper's cross-fertilisation with other mediums constituted the forerunner for modern multinational capitalism in the entertainment business. The approaches taken include a combination of political economy and Cultural Studies methodologies.