Comic Counter-Narratives and Images of Urban Gentrification

Abstract

The article examines comics that portray the crisis of housing policy and gentrification in various ways. These works serve as a starting point for reflecting on the critical role of comics in exposing political and social injustices in urban environments. The analysis employes the category of urban comics, which emphasizes the strong connection – both in terms of plot and distribution – between visual comic narratives and the city. Additionally, the article draws on the concept of the city from the perspective of urban Marxism, a school of thought focused on the critical analysis of gentrification processes. It raises questions about the critical and political potential of comics in shaping counter-narrative representations of urbanity and discursive formations, challenging the homogeneous messages of neoliberal politics and capitalist control over urban space that promote privatization and gentrification of cities.