This essay was envisaged as a dialogue with Paweł Ciołkiewicz, author of the book Moje komiksy, Vol. 1, Od Tajfuna do Supermana [My Comics, Vol. 1, From Typhoon to Superman] (2019), who has for years been fascinated by the phenomenon of comics and made them the subject of scholarly reflection. When analyzing the history and contemporaneity of the comic book, he uses concepts from many fields familiar to sociologists, such as cultural anthropology, philosophy, history, psychology, and religious studies. In discussion with Ciołkiewicz, the author of the article addresses the following topics: (1) comics in the grid of academic concepts; (2) comics as an illustration of the fate of popular culture in the Polish People’s Republic and the USA; and (3) the comic book as myth. In summary, he recalls Ciołkiewicz’s statement that for him comics are not only an object to be studied but also an instrument for breaking through the veil of obviousness.
