Millar and Yu's Superior

Mark Millar and Leinil Yu's comic book series Superior has recently been released in a hardcover collected edition. The series is an updating of the Captain Marvel character and illustrates the appeal of superheroes, especially ones like Superman, in an world without real heroes.

Ages of The X-Men Collection CFP (6/1/12)

The Ages of The X-Men
Call for Papers Date: 2012-06-01
Date Submitted: 2012-04-04
Announcement ID: 193758

Please circulate and post widely

The editor of The Ages of The X-Men is seeking abstracts for essays which could be included in the upcoming collection to be published by McFarland & Co. This collection will be a companion volume to The Ages of Superman, which was recently published, and the upcoming collection The Ages of Wonder Woman. The essays should examine the relationships between X-Men comic books, or any of the spin-off titles in the X-Men family of comic books, and the period of American history when those comics were published. Analysis may demonstrate how the stories found in X-Men comic books (and the creators who produced the comics) embrace, reflect, or critique aspects of their contemporary culture.

Essays should focus on stories from the X-Men’s comic book adventures, not media adaptations of the character. Furthermore, essays should look at a single period of comic book history, rather than drawing comparisons between different publication eras. For example, an essay that analyzed X-Men comics from the Claremont/Byrne relaunch and contextualized them with what was happening in American society would be more likely to be accepted than an essay that contrasted Lee/Kirby X-Men comic books with the Whedon/Cassaday Astonishing X-Men comic books . The completed essays should be approximately 15 double-spaced pages.

Some possible topics for essays include, but are not limited to, the following:
The Cuban Missile Crisis, Nuclear Power, and The X-Men #1; The X-Men, The Feminist Movement, and Team Gender Dynamics; The Civil Rights Movement and the Mutant Metaphor; The Sentinel Trilogy and Government Oppression; The All-New, All-Different X-Men: (Partially) Diversifying the Franchise; The Proteus Saga and the Threat of Power in the Cold War; From Marvel Girl to Phoenix to Intergalactic Threat: The Progression and Regression of a Female Superhero; The Dark Phoenix Saga: The Corrupting Influence of Power After the Nixon Era; Days of the Future Past: Fearing the Future in the Vietnam Era; Dazzler and the Disco Era; The X-Tinction Agenda: Genosha as an Allegory for Apartheid; Marvel’s Legacy Virus and the AIDS Epidemic; Generation X and the Rising Generation of Mutants; All the Latino/a Mutants Have Criminal Backgrounds: 1990’s Cultural Stereotypes in Mainstream Comic Books; Grant Morrison’s New X-Men: The Mainstream Embracing Subcultures; 9/11 and Muslim Mutants; The Astonishing X-Men: Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s Progressive Gender Portrayal; The House of M: Committing Genocide to Strengthen a Minority Metaphor?; X-Men: Schism and the Education Debate in America.

Any other topics will be considered for publication.

Abstracts (100-500 words) and CVs should be submitted by June 1, 2012
Please submit via email to Joseph Darowski, darowskij@byui.edu




Joseph J. Darowski
Brigham Young University Idaho
525 S. Center
Rigby Hall 122
Rexburg, ID 83460
Email: darowskij@byui.edu

Ages of Wonder Woman Collection CFP

Still seeking proposals earlier this month:

Collection: The Ages of Wonder Woman
Edited by Joseph J. Darowski
Publisher: McFarland & Company

Please circulate and post widely

The editor of The Ages of Wonder Woman is seeking abstracts for essays which could potentially be included in the upcoming collection. This collection will be a companion volume to The Ages of Superman. The essays should examine the relationships between Wonder Woman comic books and the period of American history when those comics were published. Analysis may demonstrate how the stories found in Wonder Woman comic books (and the creators who produced the comics) embrace, reflect, or critique aspects of their contemporary culture.

Essays should focus on stories from Wonder Woman’s comic book adventures, not media adaptations of the character. Furthermore, essays should look at a single period of comic book history, rather than drawing comparisons between different publication eras. For example, an essay that analyzed Wonder Woman comics from the early 1960s and contextualized them with what was happening in American society would be more likely to be accepted than an essay that contrasted Wonder Woman comic books from the 1940s with Wonder Woman comic books from the 1980s. The completed essays should be 12-15 double-spaced pages.

Some possible topics for essays include, but are not limited to, the following:

William Marston’s Controversial Feminine Ideal; Wonder Woman Joins the Justice Society of America…as Their Secretary?; The World War II American Patriot from Themyscira; From Fearless Worker to Anxious Lover: Wonder Woman’s Transition after World War II; DC Comics’ Response to Wertham’s Allegations; Superwoman: The Evil Wonder Woman from Another Dimension; A Powerless Fashion Boutique Owner: DC Comics Tries to Modernize Wonder Woman; Silver Swan and Dr. Cyber: Wonder Woman’s Enemies Just Want to be Pretty; Superman vs. Wonder Woman: Superpowered Gender Roles in the 1970s; “Gods and Mortals”: Wonder Woman’s Introduction to the Modern World of the Late 1980s; Wonder Woman Versus Storm: The Gender Politics of Inter-Company Crossovers; Politics, Discord, and a Nation Divided in “Paradise Lost”; Alex Ross and Paul Dini’s “Spirit of Truth”: Wonder Woman and Global Concepts of Femininity; Trinity: The Roles of Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman in the DC Universe; “Rise of the Olympians”: Defense Versus Aggression on the World Stage; The New 52: DC Reimagines Wonder Woman for the Present Day

Abstracts (100-500 words) and CVs should be submitted by April 1, 2012
Please submit via email to Joseph Darowski, darowskij@byui.edu.

Joseph Darowski
Brigham Young University-Idaho
525 S. Center
Rigby Hall 122
Rexburg, ID 83460
Phone: (517) 281-3275
Email: darowskij@byui.edu

Superman vs The Elite OVA

Coming to Blu-ray, DVD, and digital video on 12 June 2012:


Further details at Wikipedia and the DC Movies Wiki. The film is based on a story by writer Joe Kelly who comments about the adaptation on a variety of websites, including The Hollywood Reporter.

Comics Panels PCA This Week

Here is the complete listing of sessions from Comic Art & Comics Area at this week's meeting of the Popular Culture Association. I am grateful to Nicole Freim, area chair, for the information. The full program for the conference can be accessed at http://pcaaca.org/conference/conf_program.php.

Comic Art &Comics -- Panels 2012

All sessions are in Simmons Room – Number denotes panel number in program

1036    Wed. 4/11      1:15 – 2:45 p.m.         Comics and Traditions       Chair: Chris Bolster

“Epic Reinterpretation in The Life and Times of Martha Washington,” Oriana Gatta, Georgia State University

“Did the Greeks Wear Tights? : An Analysis of the Homeric Hero Odysseus in Batman,” Emma Zieske, The College of Wooster

“Everyday they're Shuffling: Humanity in The Walking Dead,” Peter Pijanowski, West Chester University

“Garfield as Trickster: The Existential Implications of a World Without Garfield,”

Christopher Bolster, Western Connecticut State University

1160    Wed. 4/11      3:00 – 4:30 p.m.         Teaching with Comics        Chair: Robert Watkins

“Where are the Superheroes? Academia’s Dichotomous Study of Comic Book Literature,” Gian Pagnucci, Indiana University of Pennsylvania & Mr. Alex Romagnoli

“The Bias Visual Literacy, a New Generation, and Comics in the Classroom,” Sarah Bryski, Susquehanna University

“Sequential Quintilian and Graphic Freire: Combining Critical Pedagogy and Ancient Rhetoric to Teach Comics as Multimodality,” Robert Watkins, Iowa State University

1146    Wed. 4/11      4:45 – 6:15 p.m.         Sexuality and Gender in Comics  Chair: John Ronan

“Pixie Dust and Crime: A Revision of the Puer Aeternus in Gosho Aoyama’s Detective Conan,”  Mimi Okabe, Brock University

“Zap Bang: Sex and Sexuality in American Underground Comix,”  John Ronan, University of Florida

1048    Wed. 4/11      8:15 – 9:45 p.m.         Roundtable: Fanculture and Feminism: The Female Superhero in DC's New 52     Moderator: Sarah Maitland - University of Rhode Island

Discussants:

Jessica McCall

Dianne Evanochko,

2170    Thurs. 4/12    8:00 – 9:30 a.m.          Genre Conventions and Restrictions  Chair: Natalie Pendergast

“Retroactive Continuity and Revisionary Ratios,” Brian Land, Delaware County Community College

“Sterling’s Sidekicks – Audience Creation and the Rise of the Sidekick in Early Superhero Comics,” Lance Eaton, North Shore Community College

“Melodrama, Romance, and the Celebrity of Superheroes,” Ben Grisanti, DePaul University

“The “Arranged” Marriages of Superman, Spiderman and Archie,”  Natalie Pendergast, University of Toronto

2290    Thurs. 4/12    9:45 – 11:15 a.m.        Representations of Minorities       Chair: Joseph Darowski

“White Masks and Black Hats: The Prevention of Cross-racial Identification Due to Othering of Chromatic Characters in the Comic Book Narrative.,” Rejena Saulsberry, University of Arkansas at Monticello

“Translating Otherness: Stereotypes, Doublespeak and Dead Puerto Rican Superhombres,” Luis Saenz de Viguera Erkiaga, Merrimack College

“Iron Man: A Study in Orientalism and Hegemony,”  Aiden Bryant

“The Non-Metphorical Use of Minorities in The Uncanny X-Men,” Joseph Darowski, Brigham Young University-Idaho

2342    Thurs. 4/12    11:30 – 1:00 p.m.       Uses of the Comic Medium           Chair: Colin Beineke

“How to Create Comics (and Community) in New Delhi,” Jeremy Stoll, Indiana University

“Stylish Vixen, Not Sexy Victim: Marisa Acocella Marchetto’s Cancer Vixen as a Counter to the Sexualization of Breast Cancer,” Lindsey Hanlon, Boston College

‘The cursed, the impious, the unnatural technique!’: Depicting the Lovecraftian Unnamable in Comics,”  Colin Beineke, Arkansas State University

2006    Thurs. 4/12    1:15 – 2:45 p.m.         21st Century Comics           Chair: James Morton

“Digital Comics: Rating the Container, not the Comic,” Lorena O'English, Washington State University

“Comic Book's 99%: Revisting A Bill of Rights for Comics Creators,” Ora McWilliams, University of Kansas

“Watching Watchmen:  The Reading of Motion Comics,” Fred Wright, Ursuline College

“The Nintendo Generation versus the World: The Esotericism of Scott Pilgrim”

James Morton

2326    Thurs. 4/12    3:00 – 4:30 p.m.         The Title Tells the Tale      Chair: Terrence Wandtke

“Do You Like Lime?”: Embracing Dionysius in Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing,” Michael Smith, James Madison University

“Text and Subtext in Claremont and Byrne’s Iron Fist,” Chris York, Pine Technical College

“Analyzing the Joker: Projected Wounds in Batman: The Killing Joke,” Valentino Zullo, Bowling Green State University

“The “Retro-Futurism” of Dean Motter’s Mister X:Crime Comics’ City of the Past and the Future,”  Terrence Wandtke, Judson University

2092    Thurs. 4/12    4:45 – 6:15 p.m.         Comics and Social Commentary  Chair: Bryan Vizzini

“Displacing the Shojo: Consumerist Culture, Temporal Insecurity and Cultural Nostalgia in Junko Mizuno's Cinderalla,”  Francesca Mastrangelo, Rollins College

“The Sky is the Killer of Us All: Personification and De-Humanization in Enemy Ace,”  Jason Tondro, University of California Riverside

“Transmedial Theatricality: V for Vendetta and the Occupy Movement,” Kane Anderson - UC Santa Barbara

"Lightning Comics' Tod Holton, Super Green Beret: Images of American Exceptionalism in Vietnam,"  Bryan Vizzini, West Texas A&M University

2392    Thurs. 4/12    8:15 – 9:45 p.m.         Film Screening: White Scripts and Black Supermen: Black Masculinities in Comic Books

(Producer/Director: Jonathan Gayles, 52 minutes, 2011)

White Scripts and Black Supermen: Black Masculinities in Comic Books analyzes representations of Black masculinity in comic books over a 40 year period.  In a serious, lively and humorous manner, the film examines the degree to which Black superheroes generally adhered to and were burdened by stereotypes about Black men.   However, we also witness how some images shifted – oftentimes clumsily - to reflect the changing times. 

   

It features commentary by scholars and cultural critics (Jelani Cobb, Mark Anthony Neal, Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua) producers, writers and artists (Dwayne McDuffie, Reginald Hudlin, John Jennings).  They provide tools for critiquing all media as they introduce and analyze the  leading comic book superheroes Black Panther, the Falcon, John Stewart (the Green Lantern), Luke Cage, and Black Lightening and some of the commentators discuss how they looked to Black superheroes for a sense of empowerment during childhood.  

3158    Fri. 4/13          8:00 – 9:30 a.m.          Historical Perspectives I     Chair: Darren Harris-Fain

“Image of African Americans in Syndicated Cartoon Strips,” William Foster

“The ‘Atrocities of the Color Supplements’: The Cultural Rhetoric of Attacks on Early, Turn-of the-Twentieth Century Comic Strips,” Kerry Soper, Brigham Young University

"Harold Gray, Little Orphan Annie, and the Early Graphic Novel,"  Darren Harris-Fain, Auburn University at Montgomery

3160    Fri. 4/13          9:45 – 11:15 a.m.        Historical Perspectives II               Chair: Paul Malone

“The Wolverton Bible and Other Visions,” Lawrence Rodman, Independent Artist

“Fresh Off the Boat: The Americanization ProcessIn Anya’s Ghost and American Born Chinese,”   Forrest Helvie, Indiana University of Pennsylvania

“Spiegelman, The Cartoon,” Maxwell Foxman, New York University

“Great White Hope of the German Comic,” or “Eternal Insiders’ Tip”?: 20 Years of Peter Puck’s Satirical Comic Rudi,” Paul Malone, University of Waterloo

3286    Fri. 4/13          11:30 – 1:00 p.m.       The Comics Get Medieval 2012: A Celebration of Medieval-Themed Comics in Commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of Prince Valiant   Chair: Michael A. Torregrossa

“Integrating Ideologies: Monarchy and Democracy in Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant”

Nathan A. Breen, College of Lake County,

“Excalibur as Science Object: Democratizing the Power behind the Arthurian Throne in Camelot 3000”  Michelle Braun, Mount Royal University

“The Myth of the Death of the Hero: Eternal Return in Arthurian Literature and Neil Gaiman’s Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?”

Hannah Means-Shannon, Georgian Court University

3176    Fri. 4/13          1:15 – 2:45 p.m.   Intersections of Comics and Film  Chair: Nicole Freim

“Stand-up Comedy: Chester Brown's Paying for It and Humour,” Dominick Grace, Brescia University College

“The Effects of Superhero Sagas on Our Gendered Selves,” Hillary  Pennell

“Evil as Depicted in Batman's Villains,” Carol Madere, Southeastern Louisiana University

“Which Web Will Stick?: Hollywood’s Twisted Visions of Comics,”  Nicole Freim, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

3074    Fri. 4/13          3:00 – 4:30 p.m.         Comic Books and American Cultural History I            Chair: Matthew Pustz

“Agent of Change: The Evolution and Enculturation of Nick Fury,”  Philip G. Payne & Paul S. Spaeth, ppayne@sbu.edu

“ ‘Duel. I’ll Give You a DUEL’: Intimacy and History in Megan Kelso’s Alexander Hamilton Trilogy,”  Alison Mandaville, Pacific Lutheran University

“ ‘Dreams May End, But Love Never Does’: Marriage and Materialism in American Romance Comics, 1947-1954,”  Jeanne Gardner

3280    Fri. 4/13          4:45 – 6:15 p.m.         Special Guest Speaker: Denis Kitchen

Please join us for a session with Denis Kitchen, an underground cartoonist and publisher.   He founded Kitchen Sink Press and launched the underground newspaper The Bugle-American.  He syndicated comic strips to numerous college and underground newspapers, publishing his own work and work by artists such as Jim Mitchell, Trina Robbins, and Bruce Walthers.  Kitchen is also the founder of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, a non-profit organization that protects the rights of comics creators, publishers, and retailers.  Although his publishing company has closed, Kitchen is currently working with Boom! Studios to release old Kitchen Sink Press titles.

Fri. 4/13          6:30 – 8:30 p.m.         Comic Art & Comics Area Dinner  

Please join the Comic Art & Comics area for a group dinner.  We will meet in the hotel lobby and head to a nearby restaurant for dinner, conversation, and probably a little comics geekery.  Presenters in our area, spouses, friends, and anyone interested in the field of comics are all welcome.  Please notify area chair Nicole Freim at nfreim@gmail.com if you would like to attend (for reservation count) and check with her at the conference for exact location.

4016    Sat. 4/14         8:00 – 9:30 a.m.          Comic Books and American Cultural History II           Chair: Matthew Pustz

“Transformers and Monkey Kings: Gene Yang’s American Born Chinese and the Quest for Identity,”  Todd S. Munson

“The Militarism of American Superheroes After 9/11,”  A. David Lewis

“From Hiroshima to Katrina: The Journalism of John Hersey and Josh Neufeld,” Amy Nyberg, Seton Hall University

“ ‘Paralysis and Stagnation and Drift’: America’s Malaise as Demonstrated in Comic Books of the 1970s,”  Matthew Pustz

4104    Sat. 4/14         9:45 – 11:15 a.m.        Structure and Rhetoric       Chair: Susan Kirtley

“Reading Outside the Box: Space, Time, and Hypertext in Jason Shiga's Meanwhile,” Karl Mohn, Independent Scholar

“Making Sense of Fragments: Narrative Structure in Comics,” Barbara Postema, Ryerson University

“The Rhetoric of the Paratext in Marvel Comics' Amazing Spider-Man,” Gene Kannenberg, Jr., Independent Scholar / ComicsResearch.org

“Pedagogy, Power, and Persuasion: Invitational Rhetoric in What It Is,”  Susan Kirtley, Portland State University

4110    Sat. 4/14         11:30 – 12:00 p.m. Comic Art & Comics Special Session: The Institute for Korvac Studies

Please join us for a special discussion on the current state of Korvac scholarship  led by the most noted Korvac-ologists in the country.  This year will feature an additional focus on characters who, like Korvac, have not received the attention they deserve.  There will be a chance for an open forum to discuss the special impact little-known characters have on their respective universes.  We will also discuss the triumphant return of Korvac and present the coveted Korvie award.

Discussants: Kane Anderson, Randy Duncan, Ora McWilliams

Sat. 4/14         12:00 – 1:00 p.m.       Comic Art & Comics: Area Meeting  -- Chair: Nicole Freim

This session covers area business, including future conferences, recruiting judges for the Inge award, and information on The International Journal of ComicArt.   We will also have the presentation of the Inge and Lent Awards and discussion of calls for papers for new books.  The meeting is open to all presenters and anyone interested in our area.

4010    Sat.  4/14        1:15 – 2:45 p.m.         Boston Area Cartoonists Roundtable

Moderator: Kent Worcester, Marymount Manhattan College, kworcester@mmm.edu

Dan Mazur

Shelli Paroline

Liz Prince

Nick Thorkelson

Dan Wasserman

Maris Wicks

This roundtable will feature Boston area cartoonists discussing their work in a scholarly context, particularly the state of cartooning and the medium’s distinctive characteristics. The audience will also have a chance to ask questions of the participants.

4064    Sat. 4/14         3:00 – 4:30 p.m.         On the Scholarship of Religion and Comic Books – Using, Expanding, and Maximizing the Intersection  Chair: A. David Lewis

“Pedagogical Pop Culture: Using Comic Books to Teach Religion,”  Jacob Rennaker, Claremont Graduate University

“Grant Morrison’s Supergods and the Ironic and the Tragic,” Andrew Tripp, Boston University

“Embracing the Mutant Bible: Comics and the Supernatural World of Everyday

Evangelicalism,” Andrew Coates, Duke University

4062    Sat. 4/14         4:45 – 6:15 p.m.         On the Scholarship of Religion and Comic Books – Christ, Superman, and the Bible               Chair: A. David Lewis

“Christ in Comics: Imagination, Incarnation, Iconoclasm,” Daniel Clark, Cedarville University

“Superman as Christ, Christ as Superman: Christian Comic Book Apologetics,”

Kate Netzler Burch, Indiana University

“Reading with X-Ray Vision: How the Eyes of Superman Influence our

Interpretation of the Bible,“ Nicholaus Pumphrey, Claremont Graduate University