Gregory Smith

Gregory Vance Smith has a Ph.D. in Communication and M.A. in English from the University of South Florida. His published research focuses on media, music, and cultural production. In addition to writing for PopMatters, he frequently contributes to The Fandom Post. He can be reached on Twitter @GregVSmithPhD
Tadao Tsuge’s ‘Slum Wolf’ Provides a Dramatic Look at the Persistence of the Disaffected

Tadao Tsuge’s ‘Slum Wolf’ Provides a Dramatic Look at the Persistence of the Disaffected

After the devastating effects of American bombings of Japan during World War II, how do people rebuild themselves and their society? Tadao Tsuge explores these difficulties in Slum Wolf.

Nick Drnaso’s ‘Sabrina’ and Affronts to Truth

Nick Drnaso’s ‘Sabrina’ and Affronts to Truth

In the graphic novel ‘Sabrina’, Nick Drnaso explores how psychic and social isolation fuels tragedy’s evolution into social paranoia.

Anthony Bourdain’s ‘A Cook’s Tour’, or, Things that Make You Strong

Anthony Bourdain’s ‘A Cook’s Tour’, or, Things that Make You Strong

One of Bourdain's common themes in A Cook's Tour was eating meals that locals said "will make you strong." His focus was not on the bravado, however, but on the people involved in making local food, home cooks and restauranteurs alike.

‘Yellow Negroes’ Draws the Plight of Undocumented Lives

‘Yellow Negroes’ Draws the Plight of Undocumented Lives

The liminal state between immigrant and citizen becomes the permanent experience of undocumented people.

Finding Personality in the Ephemeral Comic Shop

‘Blood at the Root’ and the Cultivation of Racial Hatred in America

‘Blood at the Root’ and the Cultivation of Racial Hatred in America

The story of Georgia's all-white Forsyth County and how they made it that way.

Empathy Is a Mirror in ‘Stardust Nation’

Empathy Is a Mirror in ‘Stardust Nation’

"Memories arrive instead. Uninvited, they crash through the sky."

‘Tokyo Boogie-Woogie’ Guides Readers on a Musical Journey Through Japanese Modernity

‘Tokyo Boogie-Woogie’ Guides Readers on a Musical Journey Through Japanese Modernity

Tokyo Boogie-Woogie outlines the contested space of Japanese popular songs as the modern nation evolves.
Consumption, Performance, and ‘The Agony of Eros’

Consumption, Performance, and ‘The Agony of Eros’

Byung-Chul Han argues that love, sex, and even theory are disappearing in consumer cultures because our systems of finances and behaviors erode the Other in favor of sameness.
‘Uncomfortably Happily’ Considers the Radical Notion of Expecting Less of One’s Self

‘Uncomfortably Happily’ Considers the Radical Notion of Expecting Less of One’s Self

Marriage and creativity through the eyes of an artist burdened by student debt and the frustration of a changing economy.
Dressing Like Dolls as a Form of Resistance: ‘So Pretty / Very Rotten’

Dressing Like Dolls as a Form of Resistance: ‘So Pretty / Very Rotten’

Unlike the western understanding of the word, "Lolitas" engage in a somewhat sexless performance of innocence, fairy tale femininity, and cultural resistance.
Can an Illustrator Capture One Man’s Descent into a Void?

Can an Illustrator Capture One Man’s Descent into a Void?

Imagine sitting, chained in place, watching the light from a window move across the wall. Guy Delisle imagines and renders it in Hostage.