This is a first year Media Studies course offered both online and face-to-face through Vancouver Island University. This course focuses on popular culture through the lens of Narrative Illustration (comics, cartoons, graphic novels, posters), with a particular emphasis on alternative voices within these forms. This course also investigates how these media forms have developed in different cultures and how these have influenced each other.Students are encouraged to think critically about these forms of media, particularly in their relationship to such themes as: power; class; cultural imperialism; gender and sexuality; postmodernity, identity, and globalization. Students are encouraged to explore the subject both through written analysis and creative expression. Final projects may include texts, graphic works, videos, websites and other forms of media.