Comics and culture: The Record of Washington University in St. Louis reviews The Rubber Frame: Essays in Culture and Comics, an investigation of key themes and moments in the history of comics. The book includes essays such as "Strands of a Single Cord: Comics & Animation, "Two Centuries of Underground Comic Books" and "The 1960s, African-Americans and the American Comic Book."

The newspaper also talks with co-editor D.B. Dowd about the book and the accompanying art exhibitions at the university:

"Comics have long since overcome abiding prejudices about their cultural value, or lack of same. ... The innovation of The Rubber Frame will be to subject primarily American comics to multiple perspectives. These include broader thinking about antecedents; sustained formal and content analysis; arguments about the relationship between creative strategy, technology and distribution; and reflections about representations of, and contributions from, African-American characters and artists."