I just finished and had approved my Masters Thesis. The subject was the interreflectivity of comics and society. Aside from McCloud's fine work, I also drew heavily on Semiotics, the "science" of symbolism and language. Here's a URL for anyone interested in the basics: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B Having taught the concepts of subliminals when I was teaching advertising and journalism, I think that this whole field is something that needs some serious academic exploration. The artists involved in creating the art should be a part of this discourse. One of the literarary theories teaches that the author artist) has no idea what they are saying when they write (create) their work and it is up to the professionally trained critic to tell the world what the point is. I don't buy that idea but I think that the artist (writer) should be an active participant in the dialogue with the observer. What are your thoughts?