New From McFarland

Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History, 2d ed.

William B. Jones, Jr.

Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-3840-2
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8840-7
357 photos (48 in color), appendices, notes, bibliography, index
409pp. hardcover (8.5 x 11) 2011
Price: $55.00

About the Book
A significant expansion of the critically acclaimed first edition, Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History, 2d ed., carries the story of the Kanter family’s series of comics-style adaptations of literary masterpieces from 1941 into the 21st century. This book features additional material on the 70-year history of Classics Illustrated and the careers and contributions of such artists as Alex A. Blum, Lou Cameron, George Evans, Henry C. Kiefer, Gray Morrow, Rudolph Palais, and Louis Zansky. New chapters cover the recent Jack Lake and Papercutz revivals of the series, the evolution of Classics collecting, and the unsung role of William Kanter in advancing the fortunes of his father Albert’s worldwide enterprise. Enhancing the lively account of the growth of "the World’s Finest Juvenile Publication" are new interviews and correspondence with editor Helene Lecar, publicist Eleanor Lidofsky, artist Mort Kunstler, and the founder’s grandson John "Buzz" Kanter.

Detailed appendices provide artist attributions, issue contents and, for the principal Classics Illustrated-related series, a listing of each printing identified by month, year, and highest reorder number. New U.S., Canadian and British series have been added. More than 300 illustrations--most of them new to this edition--include photographs of artists and production staff, comic-book covers and interiors, and a substantial number of original cover paintings and line drawings.


Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: “Good Stories” 1

I. Albert Kanter’s Dream 9
II. Of Musketeers and Mohicans: The Jacquet Shop 17
III. Louis Zansky: The Painter’s Touch 26
IV. Eccentricity Abounding: The War Years 35
V. Arnold Lorne Hicks: Transitional Figure 42

Between pages 48 and 49 are eight pages containing 22 color plates

VI. Enter Iger: The Fiction House Artists 49
VII. Henry Carl Kiefer and the Classics House Style 63
VIII. Alex A. Blum: “A Prince of a Man” 76
IX. A “Newer, Truer Name”: The Late Forties 90
X. Blood, Sweat, and Rudy Palais 104
XI. Painted Covers and an Extra Nickel: The Early Fifties 111
XII. Maurice del Bourgo: A “Man’s World Artist” 131XIII. Canonical Matters and Classical Curiosities 135
XIV. Lou Cameron: “If John Wayne Had Drawn Comic Books” 144
XV. Norman Nodel: “A Certain Integrity” 153
XVI. From the Crypt to the Classics: The EC Era 165
XVII. George Evans, Reed Crandall, and the Tradition of EC Realism 182
XVIII. Roberta the Conqueror 197

Between pages 200 and 201 are eight pages containing 26 color plates
IX. High Tide and Greenbacks: The Late Fifties 201
XX. Gerald McCann: The Colors of the Sky 213
XXI. Gray Morrow: “Real People and Real Events” 217
XXII. “Roberta’s Reforms”: The Early SixtiesXIII. William E. Kanter: About a Son 240
XXIV. Five Little Series and How They Grew: Picture Progress; Classics Illustrated Junior; Classics Illustrated Special Issues; The World Around Us; The Best from Boys’ Life Comics 244
XXV. “Frawley’s Folly”: The Twin Circle Era (1967–1971) 270
XXVI. Classics Abroad: The Worldwide Yellow Banner 274
XXVII. The Wilderness Years: The Seventies and Eighties 280
XXVIII. Great Expectations: First Publishing’s Graphic Novels 283
XXIX. “Your Doorway to the Classics”: Acclaim’s Study Guides 291
XXX. Restoration: Jack Lake Productions and Papercutz 294
XXXI. Classics Collected: Notes on the Evolution of a Pastime and a Passion 299
XXXII. Classical Coda 306
Notes 309

Appendices
A. Classic Comics and Classics Illustrated 317
B. Classics Illustrated Giant Editions 334
C. Fast Fiction/Stories by Famous Authors Illustrated 334
D. Classics Illustrated Educational Series 335
E. Picture Parade/Picture Progress 335
F. Classics Illustrated Junior 336
G. Classics Illustrated Special Issues 342
H. The Best from Boys’ Life Comics 343
I. The World Around Us 344
J. British Classics Illustrated, First and Second Series 349
K. Classics Illustrated, Second Series (Berkley/First) 353
L. Classics Illustrated, Third Series, Study Guides (Acclaim) 353
M. Classics Illustrated, Fourth Series ( Jack Lake) 355
N. Classics Illustrated Junior, Second Series ( Jack Lake) 357
O. Classics Illustrated Special Issues, Second Series ( Jack Lake) 359
P. British Classics Illustrated, Third Series 359
Q. Papercutz Classics Illustrated DeLuxe Editions 360
R. Papercutz Classics Illustrated Editions 360
S. Correspondence Between Roberta Strauss and the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, re: The Dark Frigate 360
T. Letter from Roberta Strauss Feuerlicht to E. Nelson Bridwell 361

Bibliography 363
Index 367


About the Author
Attorney, teacher, and freelance writer William B. Jones, Jr., lives in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Portraying 9/11: Essays on Representations in Comics, Literature, Film and Theatre

Edited by Veronique Bragard, Christophe Dony and Warren Rosenberg

Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-5950-6
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8896-4
4 photos, notes, bibliographies, index
184pp. softcover (7 x 10) 2011
Price: $40.00

About the Book
Commentators and artists attempting to represent the events of September 11, 2001, struggle to create meaning in the face of such powerful experiences. This collection of essays offers critical insights into the discourses that shape the memory of 9/11 in the narrative genres of comics, literature, film, and theatre. It examines historical, political, cultural, and personal meanings of the disaster and its aftermath through critical discussions of Marvel and New Yorker comics, American and British novels, Hollywood films, and the plays of Anne Nelson.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments vii
Introduction
VÉRONIQUE BRAGARD, CHRISTOPHE DONY and WARREN ROSENBERG 1

Part I: Comics
Covering 9/11: The New Yorker, Trauma Kitsch, and Popular Memory
TIMOTHY KRAUSE 11
Spandex Agonistes: Superhero Comics Confront the War on Terror
MATTHEW J. COSTELLO 30
“Whose Side Are You On?” The Allegorization of 9/11 in Marvel’s Civil War
STEPHAN PACKARD 44

Part II: Literature
September 11 and Cold War Nostalgia
AARON DEROSA 58
Don DeLillo’s Falling Man: Countering Post–9/11 Narratives of Heroic Masculinity
MAGALI CORNIER MICHAEL 73
Misplaced Anxieties: Violence and Trauma in Ian McEwan’s Saturday
ULRIKE TANCKE 89
The Mediated Trauma of September 11, 2001, in William Gibson’s Pattern Recognition and David Foster Wallace’s “The Suffering Channel”
MARC OXOBY 102

Part III: Performance
Terror and Mismemory: Resignifying September 11 in World Trade Center and United 93
GERRY CANAVAN 118
From Flying Man to Falling Man: 9/11 Discourse in Superman Returns and Batman Begins
DAN HASSLER-FOREST 134
Authenticating the Reel: Realism, Simulation, and Trauma in United 93
FRANCES PHEASANT-KELLY 147
Connecting in the Aftermath: Trauma, Performance, and Catharsis in the Plays of Anne Nelson
JAMES M. CHERRY 160

About the Contributors 173
Index 175



About the Author
Veronique Bragard is associate professor in comparative literature at the Universite Catholique de Louvain, Belgium. Christophe Dony combines teaching and research activities at the Universite de Liege, Belgium, where he is a PhD candidate in English Literatures. Warren Rosenberg is a professor and chair of English at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

CFP Joker Collection

My thanks to the NEPCA Journal for the head's up:

Call for Abstracts

The Joker: Critical Essays on the Clown Prince of Crime

Robert Moses Peaslee & Robert G. Weiner, Editors

“Nobody panics when things are going according to plan, even if the plan is horrifying.”

-- The Joker (Heath Ledger), The Dark Knight (2008)

If one were to survey the global public about their favorite superheroes, the results would likely place Batman, Spider-Man, and perhaps Superman in the top tier. If one were to ask about super villains, however, it’s unlikely that any character would receive more attention than the Joker. To date, the character has appeared in thousands of comics, numerous animated series, and three major blockbuster feature films dating back to 1966. One could make a strong argument that the Clown Prince of Crime is the most popular and well-known fictional villain in the history of popular culture. A superhero is only as interesting as the villains he or she faces, and the Joker stands out among hundreds of villains as one of the most complex, culturally resonant, and morally ambiguous characters to ever grace a comic book page or movie screen. In 2006, Industry publication Wizard ranked the Joker as the number one comic villain of all time.

Academic studies and collections of Batman abound, both as a text and as an industry (DiPaolo, 2009; Eury, 2009; Schopp, 2009; Kuwata, 2008; O’Neil, 2008; Zehr, 2008; Brooker, 2007; Morris, 2005; Pearson & Uricchio, 1991; Beard 2010). Despite the Joker’s popularity, however, there has never appeared a serious scholarly monograph or edited collection based around the character. The editors hope to rectify this gap in the literature of sequential art, film, media, and cultural studies. Our aspiration is to compile the definitive volume on the character, encompassing historical, textual, institutional, and interpretational approaches from a wide variety of disciplines.

To this end, the editors seek abstracts of no more than 500 words outlining proposed essays of 6,000-8,000 words. Abstracts should make clear the author’s approach to the material in epistemological terms and indicate whether or not the piece has appeared in previous forms elsewhere. Abstracts should show potential as rigorous primary research, theory development or criticism.

A by-no-means-exhaustive list of possible topics includes:

• Historical-textual examinations of the Joker’s emergence and evolution
• Comparative analyses of the Joker’s various characterizations and adaptations
• Socio-cultural approaches to the Joker’s symbolic potential
• The Joker and gender, race, sexuality, ability, etc.
• Gaming environments and the Joker’s manifestations in ludic narratives
• The Joker as an entertainment marketing tool
• The Joker pre- and post-9/11
• Relationships between the Joker and other heroes and/or villains
• Author- or creator-driven analyses
• Theoretical approaches to the Joker’s visual composition
• Narrative and rhetorical criticism
• Archetypal explorations of Joker pre-cursors
• Psychological or psychoanalytical analyses
• Humor and/or clowning and their relationship to the sinister
• The para-cinema of the Joker
• Fan communities and performance
• The Joker as a stabilizing or confounding force in sequential art taxonomies
• Joker philosophy
• Art historical or visual culture-driven analyses of the Joker
• The Joker as a pedagogical tool


Abstracts should be submitted no later than Dec. 15, 2011. Please send abstracts via email to rob.weiner@ttu.edu.

Those authors whose abstracts are accepted will be notified no later than February 1, 2012. Full essays will be required by April 1, 2012 and will be reviewed by both the editors and guest reviewers.

Note that invitation to submit a full essay does not guarantee inclusion in the volume. Selected authors will be notified over the summer of 2012.




Rob Weiner
Humanities Librarian Texas Tech University
Email: rob.weiner@ttu.edu

CFP Monsters in the Margins Conference

From the ImageTexT News Feed (note that the conference conflicts with the meeting of the Popular Culture Association in Boston):
"Monsters in the Margins" April 13-15, 2012
Posted 20 Nov, 2011

UF Conference on Comics and Graphic Novels

In any crisis, whether economic or cultural, there is a sense of an unimaginable danger right around the corner. These unknown and unfathomable terrors fascinate the imagination and dramatically play out our anxieties in a more cognitively relatable form—we attempt to embody them, to transplant them, or to make them somehow tangible—yet the underlying terror persists. The narratives and mediums we channel our terrors into become our monsters.

In the midst of the first true economic crisis of the 21st century, we return to these sites with renewed curiosity. How can we depict the sublime terror of our anxieties? How can we convey our unabashed horror through image and text, and communicate those feelings? Why do we keep trying to re-imagine the same monstrous templates, especially when the tools of a craft are perpetually unable to represent the unimaginable?

The 9th University of Florida Comics Conference hopes to address these issues by welcoming any and all explorations into the representation of monsters in a visual/textual form. We are especially interested in how text augments the imaginative image (or vice versa) and approaches horror in ways that help the conscious mind endure and (hopefully) resolve the trauma that the unknown antagonizes within us. From traditional genres to new horizons of horror, we seek to examine the monsters of media and attempt to understand how the medium influences the message.

Submissions should maintain a focus on comics, manga, children's literature, video games, imaging technology or any other form that includes both image and text in its representations (either simultaneously or indirectly).

Building on the interdisciplinary and multi-modal aims of the conference, "Monsters in the Margins" encourages scholars and artists from all fields to consider alternative, interactive presentation models that utilize both technology and audience collaboration.

While traditional lecture models remain the core of the conference, "Monsters in the Margins" will also re-think the margins of the conference itself by hosting discussion-oriented panels that emphasize and incorporate audience participation. We hope that this conversational framework will facilitate a discursive space in which audience and speaker can come together to explore content, theory, and process. If you are interested in this alternative format panel, please submit an extended abstract outlining your topic and approach. Abstracts will be published online prior to the conference to help facilitate these colloquia.

Suggested topics and approaches include (but are not limited to):
Historical (EC Comics and the censored monster, historical context and development of a monster/the monstrous through manuscripts or newspapers)
Cultural (monster as metaphor for crisis, mimetic manifestations in monstrous traits)
Graphic/Image (illustrating the monster, monstrous representations)
Graphic/Text/Digital ('wording' the monster, 'voicing' the monster's image, ghost in the machine)
Adaptation (monsters across mediums, times, and periods)
Topological (landscapes, territories, terrain, environment, haunted spaces)
Socio-Cultural (PTSD and its manifestations, the neighbor, anxiety and influence)

Deadlines

21 January '12: Extended abstracts for experimental panels

15 February '12: Presentation abstracts

Please direct all items and inquiries to imagetext@english.ufl.edu

ImageText for Fall 2011

Just came across the following:

ImageTexT

Volume 6, Issue 1 (Fall 2011)

Contents:
Fidelity and Period Aesthetics in Comics Adaptation byMatthew Bolton
The Violence Museum: Aesthetic Wounds from Popeye toWe3 by Jonathan Gaboury
Two Texts on "Comics" from China, ca. 1932: "In Defense of 'Comic Strips'" by Lu Xun and "Comic Strip Novels" by Mao Dun by Sean Macdonald
When Photographs Aren't Quite Enough: Reflections on Photography and Cartooning in Le Photographe by Nancy Pedri
The Empirical Twilight: A Pony's Guide to Science & Anarchism by Walton Wood

Review of Charles M. Schulz's My Life With Charlie Brown by Eric L. Berlatsky
Review of History and Politics in French-Language Comics and Graphic Novels by Anne Cirella-Urrutia
Surveying the Field: Recent Scholarship on Superheroines by Megan Condis
Review of Caped Crusaders 101: Composition through Comic Books by Michael Dean
Book Art: a review of Art of McSweeney's by Zara Dinnen
Review of Theodor SEUSS Geisel by Donald E. Pease by Rebekah Fitzsimmons
Review of Drawing France: French Comics and the Republic by Andréa L. Gilroy
Review of José Alaniz' Komiks: Comic Art in Russia by Alison Mandaville
Review of Teaching Visual Literacy by Clinton L. Robison
Review of Toni Johnson-Woods' MANGA by Caleb Simmons
Review of Animators Unearthed: A Guide to the Best of Contemporary Animation by Walton Wood

SANE 1.2 on Alan Moore

The new issue of Sequential Art Narrative in Education is now available. The journal is provided free of charge but accepts donations from readers.


VOL 1, NO 2 (2011)
TEACHING THE WORKS OF ALAN MOORE


Articles examining how the comics of Alan Moore and his associates can/should/ought to be taught and the issues surrounding teaching Moore's work in various classroom settings.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ARTICLES
Introduction to Edition 1:2: "Teaching the Works of Alan Moore" PDF
James Bucky Carter, Ph.D. i-iii

Comprehending Comics and Graphic Novels: Watchmen as a Case for Cognition PDF
Travis White-Schwoch, David Rapp, Ph.D. 1-16

Lost [and Found] Girls: Teaching a College Course in Alan moore PDF
Matthew J. Smith 17-28

Learning "Stuff" and Using V for Vendetta in the Composition Classroom PDF
Stacey L Kikendall 29-42


RATIONALES
Rationale for V for Vendetta PDF
Susan Spangler 43-46

Rationale for Teaching Watchmen PDF
John Carl Weaver 47-51

Rationale for Saga of the Swamp Thing Volume 1 PDF
James Bucky Carter, Ph.D. 52-55


REVIEWS
Review of Di Liddo's Alan Moore: Comics as Performance, Fiction as Scalpel PDF
Orion Ussner Kidder 56-58

DC Comics for the Kindle

DC Comics has recently released its first set of collected editions of Amazon's Kindle reader. Details at the DC Comics blog The Source at http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/2011/11/22/new-dc-entertainment-storefront-launches-on-amazon-com/.

Comics Papers at NEPCA

The following papers where presented this weekend at the annual NEPCA conference. I attended the keynote and second session and learned a lot from the presentations.

FRIDAY, 11 NOV.
Comics and Graphic Novels I: Disturbing and Disturbed Bodies
Chair: Lance Eaton, Emerson College

“ ‘I Know it When I See it’: Mike Diana’s Use of Childhood Iconography as ‘Obscene’ Mode of Discourse”—Lisa Cunningham, University of West Georgia

“Boundless Monstrosity: The Evolution and Intertextual Development of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”—Lance Eaton, Emerson College

“Bam! Biff! Pow!: Batman and the Evolution of the American Romantic Hero”—Forrest C. Helvie, Indiana University of Pennsylvania


RECEPTION/KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Professor William H. Foster, III

SATURDAY, 12 NOV.

Comics and Graphic Novels II: Damsels Causing Distress
Chair: Lance Eaton, Emerson College

“ She-Hulk: A Cultural Study of the Pornographic ‘Angry’ Woman”—D. L. Stephenson, Western Connecticut State University

“Vampiric Viragoes: Villainizing and Sexualizing Arthurian Women in King Arthur v. Dracula (2005) and Madame Xanadu (2008)”—Kate Allocco, Western Connecticut State University

“Women in Comics”: Jessica Gamache, Western Connecticut State University

“Drawing from the Margins: Truth, Fiction, and Power in Marisa Acocella Marchetto’s Cancer Vixen”—Lindsey Hanlon, Boston College

CFP Transnational Boys’ Love (BL) Fan Studies

Transnational Boys’ Love (BL) Fan Studies, special issue of TWC
Call for Papers Date: 2012-03-01
Date Submitted: 2011-06-06
Announcement ID: 185722


“Transnational Boys’ Love Fan Studies,” a special issue of Transformative Works and Cultures, edited by Kazumi Nagaike and Katsuhiko Suganuma, Oita University

The editors of this special issue of Transformative Works and Cultures seek papers examining the activities of transnational ‘BL’ (Boys’ Love) fans, fan communities, fandom, and the production of fan fiction beyond Japan and North America. Specifically, we are seeking contributors who are engaged in the exploration of non-Japanese and non-North American contexts (e.g. Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, Africa, and others). Transnational BL fan studies may also be incorporated into the broader socio/political critical frameworks offered by studies in economics, gender/sexuality, race/class, and other areas.

‘BL’ (Boys’ Love), a genre of male homosexual narratives (consisting of manga, novels, animations, games, films, and so forth) written by and for women, has recently been acknowledged, by Japanese and non-Japanese scholars alike, as a significant component of Japanese popular culture. The aesthetic and style of Japanese BL have also been assumed, deployed and transformed by female fans transnationally. The current thrust of transnational BL practices raises a number of important issues relating to socio/cultural constructs of BL localization and globalization.

We welcome submissions dealing with, but not limited to, the following topics:

--Case-studies and ethnographic examinations of BL fans, specifically examining fans’ sex/gender, age, occupation, class, race/ethnicity, et cetera.

--Local ethnographies relating to BL fans’ production, distribution, and use of these materials. Discussions concerning the ways in which broadly framed socio/political issues or forms of consciousness (e.g. gender/sexuality formations, authorities’ interference, censorship, and so forth) impact fans’ BL activities.

--Media and social responses to fans’ involvement in BL activities.

--Commercial aspects of BL and fans’ contribution to the development of BL economics.

--The integration of research on BL fans into a wider discussion of social theory, differing cultural discourses, and globalization.

--Discussions concerning the ways in which BL fans’ forms of production, distribution, and consumption might challenge traditional notions of Author, Reader, and Text.

--Theoretical overviews reflecting traditional/contemporary ideas of fandom, fans, fan communities, and fans’ means of communications, demonstrating how these ideas specifically relate to BL fans.

--Explorations of the ways in which BL participants are motivated to become involved in other fan-oriented activities (e.g. cosplay; female fans’ cross-dressing as male BL characters).

##Submissions##

TWC accommodates academic articles of varying scope as well as other forms that embrace the technical possibilities of the Web and test the limits of the genre of academic writing. Contributors are encouraged to include embedded links, images, and videos in their articles or to propose submissions in alternative formats that might comprise interviews, collaborations, or video/multimedia works. We are also seeking reviews of relevant books, events, courses, platforms, or projects.

--Theory: Often interdisciplinary essays with a conceptual focus and a theoretical frame that offer expansive interventions in the field. Peer review. Length: 5,000–8,000 words plus a 100–250-word abstract.

--Praxis: Analyses of particular cases that may apply a specific theory or framework to an artifact; explicate fan practice or formations; or perform a detailed reading of a text. Peer review. Length: 4,000–7,000 words plus a 100–250-word abstract.

--Symposium: Short pieces that provide insight into current developments and debates. Editorial review. Length: 1,500–2,500 words.

Submissions are accepted online only. Please visit TWC’s Web site for complete submission guidelines, or e-mail editor@transformativeworks.org.

##Due dates##

Contributions for blind peer review (Theory and Praxis essays) are due by March 1, 2012.

Contributions that undergo editorial review (Symposium, Interview, Review) are due by April 1, 2012.



Kazumi Nagaike, nagaikeoita-u.ac.jp
Katsuhiko Suganuma, suganumaoita-u.ac.jp
Oita University, Japan
Email: nagaike@cc.oita-u.ac.jp
Visit the website at http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/announcement/view/19

CFP: Rocky Mountain Conference on Comics and Graphic Novels

CFP: Rocky Mountain Conference on Comics and Graphic Novels, June 15-16, 2012
Location: Colorado, United States
Call for Papers Date: 2012-01-15
Date Submitted: 2011-08-28
Announcement ID: 187474


CFP: Rocky Mountain Conference on Comics and Graphic Novels, June 15-16, 2012

Rocky Mountain Conference on Comics and Graphic Novels, June 14-15, 2012, is a new literary conference devoted solely to the scholarly study and teaching of the sequential arts. What sets this conference apart from others is its unique mission to combine an educational classroom initiative with the benefits of theoretical and critical discourse. RMCCGN is being held in conjunction with the newly-emerging Denver Comic Con at the top-rated Colorado Convention Center, June 15-17 2012. All profits from both events directly benefit Comic Book Classroom, a nonprofit free after-school program for children, whose focus is raising literacy through comic books and graphic storytelling.

The conference is designed to bring together a wide range of theoretical, pedagogical, and disciplinary perspectives, and is open to both undergraduate and graduate students, as well as academic, independent, and fan scholars. Any topics in the field of comics and graphic novels are welcome.

We seek proposals of 200-300 words for talks of 15-20 minutes in length and should be sent along with a brief, 100-word biography to Christina Angel at christina@comicbookclassroom.org. Deadline for submission is January 15, 2012 and notification of acceptance or rejection will be emailed by or before March 1, 2012.

Please visit our websites: www.comicbookclassroom.org and www.denvercomiccon.com for more information about these events.

Exciting guest announcements are coming soon – stay tuned!



Christina Angel, PhD
christina@comicbookclassroom.org
Email: christina@comicbookclassroom.org
Visit the website at http://denvercomiccon.com

CFP Graphic Novels, Comics and Popular Culture SWTXPCA

Call for Papers: Graphic Novels, Comics and Popular Culture-SWTXPCA 2012 Feb 8-11th
Location: New Mexico, United States
Call for Papers Date: 2011-12-01 (in 29 days)
Date Submitted: 2011-09-16
Announcement ID: 188088


Call for Papers: Graphic Novels, Comics and Popular Culture-SWTXPCA 2012

Please make plans to attend our 33rd Annual Conference
February 8-11, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel & Conference Center in
Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Hyatt Regency Albuquerque
330 Tijeras NW,
Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA 87102
Tel: +1 505 842 1234 or 888-421-1442
http://www.swtxpca.org

Proposal submission deadline: December 1st 2011

The SW/TX PCA/ACA area chair invites papers on Comics, Graphic Novels and Popular Culture.

Any Aspect of Comics and Graphic Novels in Popular Culture will be considered.

Possible panel/discussion topics

With the recent rise in the Superhero movies, a discussion of 2011’s summer of the superhero or superflop would be welcome eg., Captain America, Green Lantern, Thor, X-Men First Class. What is the future of the superhero based movie?

Pedagogical approaches to teaching graphic novel content. This has become an increasingly important part of comic studies and the area chair seeks those scholars who would like to present on this topic.

Zombies and Vampires in comics continue to rise in popularity. Why are these monsters ideally suited for four colored pages?

Other topics:

Sequential Art and Storytelling
Manga, Anime and the Movies
Comic-Conventions-Fan Culture
Particular Artists or writers (Bendis, Steranko, Kirby, Everett, Niles, etc)
The Rise of the Graphic Novel
What is a Graphic Novel?
History of Newspaper Comics!
Gay Characters in comics
Film and Superheroes!
Adapting Graphic Novels for the Screen
Racism and the X-Men
Spiderman as the Everyman
Cartoon Network: Good or Bad for Comics
Comics and Philosophy
Graphic Novels as outlets for social justice (ie,, World War III )
Comics as political satire (eg,., Tom Tomorrow, Addicted To War )
Horror Comics
The Resurrection of Captain America-Why NO comic character ever stays dead?
DC, Marvel, and Comic corporations
Comics Studies and Film Studies: How do the two intersect?
The Definition of the Superhero.

Indies and their role
Comics and Graphic Novels around the world (eg., Tintin, Asterix).
The scholarly study of Graphic Novels/comics in the academy
Libraries and Graphic Novels

Proposal submission deadline: December 1st 2011

Please submit your title, and 100-250 word abstract through our website database which can be accessed at http://conference2012.swtxpca.org

33rd Annual Conference Southwest/Texas Popular/American Culture Association
February 8-11, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel & Conference Center in Albuquerque,
New Mexico.
Submission Deadline: 12/1/11
Priority Registration Deadline 12/31/11
Conference Hotel:
Hyatt Regency Albuquerque
330 Tijeras NW,
Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA 87102
Tel: +1 505 842 1234 or 888-421-1442
http://www.swtxpca.org

Rob Weiner
Area Chair: Graphic Novels, Comics, and Popular Culture
Humanities Librarian Texas Tech University
Rweiner5@sbcglobal.net
http://www.swtxpca.org

CFP Religion and Comics

On the Scholarship of Religion and Comic Books
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Call for Papers Date: 2011-12-01 (in 29 days)
Date Submitted: 2011-09-12
Announcement ID: 187932


The last half-dozen years have seen an explosion in U.S. publications addressing the intersection of religion and comics, but little has been said on the body of work taken as a whole. Outside of individual reviews, rarely are these works discussed in terms of their applications, their intertextuality, their audiences, their shortcomings, or the new questions they raise. This panel is to act as a forum addressing either portions of these works, entire books, their shared space, or the next steps to which they may all lead. In addition to the print publications recommended below, this panel also invites reflections on some of the websites and blogs conducting similar work, also listed:

Books: Superheroes: Religion and Popular Culture (2005), Up, Up, and Oy Vey (2006), Our Gods Wear Spandex (2007), Superheroes and Gods: A Comparative Study from Babylonia to Batman (2007), Disguised as Clark Kent (2007), Holy Superheroes! Revised and Expanded Edition (2008), From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books (2008), The Jewish Graphic Novel: Critical Approaches (2008), Jews and American Comics (2008), India’s Immortal Comic Books: Gods, Kings, and Other Heroes (2009), Graven Images: Religion in Comic Books and Graphic Novels (2010), Supergods (2011), The Seven Spiritual Laws of the Superhero (2011), Do the Gods Wear Capes? (2011)

Online: ComicAttack.net “Comics Are My Religion” columns, ComicBookBin.com “Religion and Comics” columns, By Rao! Religion and Religion site, Jewish Comics blog, Faith in Four Colors site

Other English-language, U.S. market pieces of scholarship may be considered, but the focus should remain on already-produced analysis, not on works-in-progress nor on the comics themselves. Submissions should be thoughtful reflections on how these pieces function, what opportunities they present, where they may fail, and what has been overlooked.

Abstracts of 100-250 words, a C.V., and brief bio are due by December 1 to ADL@bu.edu for consideration. The full panel will be proposed for the Popular Culture Association / American Culture Association (PCA/ACA) Annual Conference 2012 in Boston from April 11-14, 2012.



A. David Lewis
Boston University
Department of Religion
147 Bay State Road
Boston, MA 02115
Email: adl@bu.edu
Visit the website at http://captionbox.net/loosepages/?p=900

CFP Smallville Collection

Call for Submissions: Edited collection on the recently-concluded WB/CW television series Smallville (01/15/12, 06/01/12)
Call for Papers Date: 2012-01-15
Date Submitted: 2011-09-23
Announcement ID: 188301


Call for Submissions: Edited collection on the recently-concluded WB/CW television series Smallville.

Areas of analysis: American Studies, Cultural Studies, Fan Studies, Fan Studies, Film and Television Studies, Folklore, Gender Studies, Popular Culture Studies.

Editors: Cory Barker, Chris Ryan and Myc Wiatrowski, Bowling Green State University

When the WB/CW television series Smallville ended its unprecedented 10-year run this past May, it was the longest-running comic-book based series and the longest-running North American science fiction series in television history. The televised story of Clark Kent’s long, complicated journey to becoming Superman survived dysfunctional networks, actor and creator departures and two years in the “Friday night death slot.” Yet, despite the series’ decade-long stay on the air, very little has been written about Smallville in critical and academic circles. This collection of essays seeks to rectify this academic blind spot and examine Smallville from multiple perspectives and disciplines.

Potential topics for discussion include, but are not limited to:

*Clark Kent’s journey to becoming Superman within Smallville

*Character arcs for Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, Chloe Sullivan, Oliver Queen and other Smallville supporting characters

*Clark Kent’s relationships with Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, Chloe Sullivan and other supporting characters

*Relationships between other characters (i.e. Lex and Lionel, Chloe and Lois, Oliver and Chloe, etc.)

*Representations of masculinity, femininity, race, sexuality and family within Smallville

*Explorations of good and evil, heroes and villains and the concept of justice within Smallville

*Explorations of the role of legend and folklore within the diegetic framework of Smallville

*Smallville’s relationship to the Superman mythology or other Superman-related productions

*Smallville’s usage and representation of known DC Comics characters and stories

*Smallville’s narrative techniques, including “Freak of the Weak” stories and long-term story arcs

*Smallville’s visual style and practices, including special effects, direction and costuming

*Smallville as an example of the science fiction, superhero and teen drama genres

*Chapters discussing individual episodes or story arcs

*Critical reception to Smallville

*Smallville in popular culture

*Fan readings, productions and activities related to and about Smallville

The deadline for proposals of 500 words is January 15, 2012. Please email your abstract and a short biography to Smallville.Book@Gmail.com. The subject line should contain the writer’s surname followed by “Smallville Abstract.” If an abstract is selected for the collection, the full essay of 5,000-7,000 words will be due June 1, 2012.



Myc Wiatrowski
Department of Popular Culture
Bowling Green State University

7A Hanna Hall
Bowling Green, OH 43403
Office Phone: (419) 372-9182
Office Hours: Mondays & Wednesdays, 10:00am-11:00am
Email: michaw@bgsu.edu