A head's up courtesy the American Literature Association (pdf at http://www.calstatela.edu/academic/english/ala2/2014%20RSAP%20CFP.pdf):
NOTE SEPARATE DEADLINES FOR EACH CALL
American Literature Association
May 22-25, 2014
Washington, D.C.
Research Society for American Periodicals
Call for Papers
RSAP seeks proposals for the American Literature Association’s 25th Annual Conference, 22-25 May 2014 at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C.
Proposals are requested for the following:
1. War and/in American Periodicals after 1914
As spaces of dialogue and dissent, American periodicals have played a formative role in the negotiation of war’s meaning in American culture. This panel seeks 15-20–minute papers that might address any aspect of this topic, including but not limited to: seriality and war; soldier newspapers; trench journalism; periodicals and the home front; fictional representations of war in periodicals; periodicals as spaces for dialogue and dissent about war; anti-war publications; responses to war in black periodicals; war in visual culture; the imagined communities of wartime America; literary style and war correspondence; etc. Please email 300-word abstract and C.V. to Amanda Gailey at gailey@unl.edu by December 15, 2013; please put “RSAP panel submission” in the subject line.
2. “Graphic Humor in American Periodicals”
Abstracts (300 words max.) are encouraged on subjects addressing “graphic humor” in American periodicals. Subjects could range from cartoon strips to political cartoons to illustrations, and may include
alternative interpretations of the term “graphic.” Papers should focus on the periodical context of the subject, as well as broader concerns of interpreting humor. This panel is co-sponsored by the American Humor Studies Association and the Research Society for American Periodicals. Please e-mail abstracts no later than January 10, 2014 to Tracy Wuster (wustert@gmail.com) with the subject line: “AHSA/RSAP session, 2014 ALA.” Notifications will go out no later than January 20, 2014.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Friday, November 15, 2013
IJoCa Spring 2013 Contents
As promised a while ago, here are the contents for the Spring number of IJoCA:
| Vol. 15, No. 1, 2013 |
| 504 pages / 24 Articles |
| John A. Lent | 1 | Editor’s Note |
| Mark McKinney | 2 | Les mésaventures de M. Bêton by Léonce Petit: Reflexivity and Satire in an Early French Comic Book Inspired by Rodolphe Töpffer |
| Lara Saguisag | 35 | The “Secret Tracts” of the Child’s Mind: Theorizing Childhood in Early 20th Century Fantasy Strips |
| Héctor Fernández L’Hoeste | 68 | Súper Cholita and Bolivian Comics: In Search of Cultural and Political Hegemony |
| Ryan Prout | 84 | Mapping Neuro-diverse Alterity in “Social and Sensitive” Comics from Spain |
| Iwan Gunawan | 100 | Multiculturalism in Indonesian Comics |
| Uri Fink | 127 | Comics in Israel -- A Brief History |
| Amy Bright | 146 | Evaluating Text and Image Ratios in Contemporary Young Adult Literature |
| Muliyadi Mahamood | 163 | Pioneers in Comic Art Scholarship Cartoon and Comics Scholarship in Malaysia: A Personal Experience |
| Scott Hales | 197 | “Operation Replica?!!”: Captain America in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction |
| Tsugumi Okabe | 230 | From Sherlock Holmes to “Heisei” Holmes: Counter Orientalism and Post Modern Parody in Gosho Aoyama’s Detective Conan Manga Series |
| Michael Rhode | 251 | Ann Telnaes at the 2011 Small Press Expo |
| Jakob F. Dittmar | 270 | Comics and History: Myth-making in Nazi references |
| Keegan Lannon | 287 | Visualizing Words: The Function of Words in Comics |
| Muhamad Azhar Abdullah | 306 | The Development of Malaysia Comic Art |
| Richard Scully | 323 | The Lion and the Unicorn -- William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli through William Empson’s Looking-Glass |
| Anita K. McDaniel | 338 | Obama-man: The Fanboy Ideograph for “Hope and Change” |
| Sebastian Weinert | 354 | Funny Education? Cartoons and Illustrated Stories as Media of Health Instruction in Weimar Germany |
| Jeremy Stoll | 363 | A Creator’s History of the Comics Medium in India |
| Sylvain Rheault | 383 | Japanese Culture in Franco-Belgian Bande Dessinée |
| Jon LaCure | 395 | CLAMP, the Magic Knights, and Art Nouveau |
| Jade Hidle | 408 | Remembering in Red and Yellow: History, Memory, and Second-Generation Vietnamese American Identity in GB Tran’s VIETNAMERICA |
| Anna Wiederhold | 419 | The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation: Making Meaning in the (Gutter) Spaces between Word, Image, and Ideology |
| Fauzi Naeim bin Mohamed | 435 | The Aesthetics of Oppression in Joe Sacco’s Footnotes in Gaza |
| Eric A. Holmes | 450 | The Horror and Humor of Entertaining Comics |
| John Baird | 456 | Evaluating Math Concept Learning Using Comics |
| John A. Lent | 469 | The Printed Word |
| Dale E. Seeds, John A. Lent | 472 | Book Reviews |
| Edited by Michael Rhode, David Robertson, Michael Rhode | 480 | Exhibition and Media Reviews |
| 489 | Portfolio |
IJoCA Fall 2013
The Fall 2013 number of IJoCa is now available. Volume 15, Number 2 of the journal features nearly 800 pages of essays and reviews. Contents will be posted here as/if they become available.
CFP Spec Issue on Comics, Multimodality, and Composition (8/1/14)
Thanks to IAFA for the head's up:
For 43.1 (Spring 2015)
Guest Editor: Dale Jacobs, University of Windsor
DESCRIPTION
Over the past ten years, composition has increasingly embraced writing and reading in multiple modes (words, but also images, sounds, video, spatial relationships, gestures, and other sign systems). In this movement towards multimodality, comics have been largely ignored. Comics, however, provide rich ground for exploration in relation to multimodality and composition. This special issue begins with the idea that comics are a valuable space of practice for multimodal literacies, both inside and outside the classroom.
Like other multimodal texts, comics form a multifaceted environment in which meaning is negotiated between creators and readers. Comics add another dimension to multimodality, which has often focused on digital texts, and can be used to link traditional alphabetic literacies with newer digital ones. Furthermore, as Michael Bitz argues in When Commas Meet Kryptonite: Classroom Lessons from the Comic Book Project, “In the context of new media and literacies, comics are a rare bridge between the canon of reading skills that children are expected to master in school and the literacies that they embrace on their own and out of school” (11). Not only are comics important multimodal texts in their own right, but they can also function as an important bridge to other literacies both inside and outside the classroom.
This special issue of Composition Studies will explore how comics can be productively used in writing theory and practice. Articles, sequential narratives, short reflective essays, and Course Designs are all welcome, as are pieces on comics aimed at the “Composing With” section of the journal.
Possible topics include (but are not limited to):
Full-length submissions due August 1, 2014
Submission determinations sent by November 1, 2014
Revised manuscripts due February 13, 2015
CONTACTS
Direct queries about the special issue and full-length manuscripts in .doc
or .docx formats to Dale Jacobs at djacobs@uwindsor.ca.
Direct general questions about Composition Studies to compstudies@uc.edu.
Visit our website for more information:
http://www.uc.edu/journals/composition-studies.html.
——————————
Laura Micciche
Associate Professor of English
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH 45221
513.556/6519
laura.micciche@uc.edu
CFP for Special Issue of Composition Studies
Theme: Comics, Multimodality, and CompositionFor 43.1 (Spring 2015)
Guest Editor: Dale Jacobs, University of Windsor
DESCRIPTION
Over the past ten years, composition has increasingly embraced writing and reading in multiple modes (words, but also images, sounds, video, spatial relationships, gestures, and other sign systems). In this movement towards multimodality, comics have been largely ignored. Comics, however, provide rich ground for exploration in relation to multimodality and composition. This special issue begins with the idea that comics are a valuable space of practice for multimodal literacies, both inside and outside the classroom.
Like other multimodal texts, comics form a multifaceted environment in which meaning is negotiated between creators and readers. Comics add another dimension to multimodality, which has often focused on digital texts, and can be used to link traditional alphabetic literacies with newer digital ones. Furthermore, as Michael Bitz argues in When Commas Meet Kryptonite: Classroom Lessons from the Comic Book Project, “In the context of new media and literacies, comics are a rare bridge between the canon of reading skills that children are expected to master in school and the literacies that they embrace on their own and out of school” (11). Not only are comics important multimodal texts in their own right, but they can also function as an important bridge to other literacies both inside and outside the classroom.
This special issue of Composition Studies will explore how comics can be productively used in writing theory and practice. Articles, sequential narratives, short reflective essays, and Course Designs are all welcome, as are pieces on comics aimed at the “Composing With” section of the journal.
Possible topics include (but are not limited to):
- Comics as a way to connect reading and composing multimodal texts
- Comics literacies and digital literacies.
- Comics in relation to the NCTE Position Statement on Multimodal Literacies,
- the WPA Outcomes Statement, and/or the Framework for Success in
- Postsecondary Writing.
- Comics and/as collaboration.
- Comics, rhetoric, and the teaching of writing.
- Comics theory and the teaching of writing.
- Comics as a way to examine how students conceive and experience literacies
- outside of school and possible connections to school literacies.
- Specific ways to use comics in the composition classroom.
- Examinations of how Comics Studies can inform Composition Studies and vice versa
Full-length submissions due August 1, 2014
Submission determinations sent by November 1, 2014
Revised manuscripts due February 13, 2015
CONTACTS
Direct queries about the special issue and full-length manuscripts in .doc
or .docx formats to Dale Jacobs at djacobs@uwindsor.ca.
Direct general questions about Composition Studies to compstudies@uc.edu.
Visit our website for more information:
http://www.uc.edu/journals/composition-studies.html.
——————————
Laura Micciche
Associate Professor of English
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH 45221
513.556/6519
laura.micciche@uc.edu
CFP Panel on Marvel Cinematic Universe (12/1/13)
Here's an older CFP, and I'm not sure why I never posted it before:
An Examination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
An Examination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
| Location: | Florida, United States |
| Call for Papers Date: | 2013-12-01 (in 16 days) |
| Date Submitted: | 2013-05-30 |
| Announcement ID: | 204172 |
| Since its Silver Age rebirth, Marvel Comics has been a focal point of
comic book fandom. Often casted as the upstart company in comparison to
DC Comics, Marvel’s cultural weight and economic success has been tied
to 1960s political protest and social anxiety. For more than 50 years
Marvel’s emphasis on “real word concerns’ in its stories has generated
fan engagement and popular appeal. In the new millennium the
establishment of its own movie studio has allowed the “House of Ideas”
to have a wider cultural impact in the United States and around the
world. While scholars have examined Marvel characters in print, less
consideration has been given to the implication of live action adaptions
from Marvel’s cinematic universe. I seeking scholars for panel for the forthcoming 54th Annula Florida Conference of Historian meeting in St. Augustine, Florida (Jan 31st-Feb 1st, 2014). This panel will examine the ways the Marvel Cinematic Universe represents, constructs, and distorts American culture. Papers that examine specific characters, themes, or films are welcome. Paper title and abstract/proposal (200-300 words) 1. Brief vita or biography (one page max) 2. Complete personal information: name, department, academic affiliation, mailing address, and e-mail address. Abstracts should be sent to Julian C. Chambliss: jchambliss@rollins.edu Deadline for submission is December 1, 2013 |
 |
Julian C. Chambliss
Rollins College Email: jchambliss@rollins.edu |
CFP Comics Area SWPACA (11/15/13)
Again, sorry for the late post:
CFP-Graphic Novels and Comics SWPCA 2014
CFP-Graphic Novels and Comics SWPCA 2014
| Location: | New Mexico, United States |
| Call for Papers Date: | 2013-11-15 |
| Date Submitted: | 2013-09-17 |
| Announcement ID: | 206713 |
Call for Papers and Presentations: Graphic Novels, Comics and Popular Culture- SWPACA 2014 Southwest/American Popular Culture and American Culture Association http://southwestpca.org/ Make plans to join the Southwest PCA/ACA for our 35th annual conference, February 19-22, 2014, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Conference Center in beautiful Albuquerque, New Mexico Hyatt Regency Albuquerque 330 Tijeras NW Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA 87102 Tel: +1 505 842 1234 or 888-421-1442 The conference theme this year is: Popular and American Culture Studies: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow The area chair seeks papers/presentations on Graphic Novels and Comics and Popular Culture due on November 1st, 2013. Any aspect of Comics and Graphic Novels in Popular Culture will be considered, but particular attention will be paid to those presentations that discuss distinctive American aspects of comics and graphic novels in the context of history and the content. Answering such questions as: Why is the superhero as we know it today a uniquely American creation? Why is the birth of the comics industry tied to the Jewish American experience? Does the Americanism of comics and graphic novels have anything to say to the world today or do other styles such as manga, Bande dessinée, or fumetto have more of an impact today? Possible panel/discussion topics:
Other topics:
Please send a title and 100- to 250-word abstract by November 1st 2013. Please submit your paper title and 100- to 250-word abstract by November 1, 2013, through our database, which can be accessed at: http://conference2014.southwestpca.org/ A video tutorial for submissions is available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSITP_57txc. Please note there are monetary awards for the best graduate student papers in a variety of categories. See http://southwestpca.org/conference/graduate-student-awards The organization also has a new open access peer reviewed journal that encourages you to submit your work. See: Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy http://journaldialogue.org/ 35th Annual Conference Southwest Popular/American Culture Association February 19-22 2014 annual conference at the Hyatt Regency Hotel & Conference Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Submission Deadline: 11/1/13 Priority Registration Deadline 12/31/13 Conference Hotel: Hyatt Regency Albuquerque 330 Tijeras NW, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA 87102 Tel: +1 505 842 1234 or 888-421-1442 Rob Weiner Humanities Librarian, Texas Tech University Library rweiner5@sbcglobal.net http://southwestpca.org/ |
|
Rob Weiner
Texas Tech University Library Box 40002 Lubbock Texas 79409 Email: rob.weiner@ttu.edu Visit the website at http://southwestpca.org |
CFP Comics Arts Conference WonderCon 2014 (12/15/13)
Comics Arts Conference WonderCon 2014
| Location: | California, United States |
| Conference Date: | 2014-12-15 |
| Date Submitted: | 2013-10-28 |
| Announcement ID: | 208030 |
| 100 to 200 word abstracts for papers, presentations, and panels taking a
critical or historical perspective on comics (juxtaposed images in
sequence) are being accepted for the Comics Arts Conference, a meeting
of scholars and professionals at WonderCon 2014 in Anaheim. WonderCon
is an annual popular culture convention organized by Comic-Con
International. The CAC seeks proposals from a broad range of
disciplinary and theoretical perspectives and welcome the participation
of academic and independent scholars. The CAC is designed to bring
together comics scholars, professionals, critics, and historians to
engage in discussion of the comics medium in a forum that included the
public. Please submit all proposals to
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BZ8XV9N by December 15, 2013. For more
information, please contact Dr. Kathleen McClancy at
comicsartsconference@gmail.com. Dr. Kathleen McClancy Primary Organizer and Co-Chair Comics Arts Conference Email: comicsartsconference@gmail.com Visit the website at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BZ8XV9N |
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Hickman's Avengers
As part of the Marvel NOW! relaunching of the Avengers franchise, Jonathan Hickman offers an engaging rebirth of the Avengers team in the new Avengers title, and he comments in depth on his vision in a December 2012 interview on Newsarama at http://www.newsarama.com/10587-jonathan-hickman-brings-the-world-to-marvel-now-avengers.html.
So far. the series has been collected into two hardcover editions: Avenger's World and The Last White Event. The story thus far is reminiscent of aspects of Warren Ellis's oeuvre and offers, in part, an incorporation of Marvel's New Universe (last revived by Ellis) within the Marvel NOW! Marvel Universe. The collected editions include numbers 1 through 11 of the series and are an entertaining read, for the most part; however, the series falters a bit towards the end of volume 2 and grinds to a halt with the (apparently) unrelated and very mundane story in issue 11. Based on the ending, I'm not sure I'll pick up volume 3.
Monday, September 9, 2013
CFP Illustrated Gothic (12/31/13)
Just posted the following to the Popular Preternaturaliana blog:
Special Issue of Studies in Gothic Fiction: The Illustrated Gothic: Comics, Graphic Novels and Popular Culture
Complete details at http://popularpreternaturaliana.blogspot.com/2013/09/cfp-illustrated-gothic-spec-issue-123013.html.
Michael Torregrossa
Special Issue of Studies in Gothic Fiction: The Illustrated Gothic: Comics, Graphic Novels and Popular Culture
Complete details at http://popularpreternaturaliana.blogspot.com/2013/09/cfp-illustrated-gothic-spec-issue-123013.html.
Michael Torregrossa
CFP Tintin Conference (10/31/13)
The Adventures of Tintin (symposium)
full name / name of organization:
University College London
contact email:
Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
Tintin and Hergé
Tintin and comic book history
Tintin and detective fiction
Tintin and the adventure story
Tintin in translation
Censorship of Tintin
Tintin’s spinoffs
Tintin in adaptations
Tintin in films
Tintin fan culture
Tintin and geography
Tintin and travel
Tintin as cultural phenomenon
Travel and colonialism
Treatment of race in Tintin
Snowy as sidekick
Animal welfare
EcoTintin
Tintin and gender
Tintin and masculinity; homosocial relations
Tintin in criticism
Submission Guidelines:
1. Submission deadline for abstracts (400 words) and a short biography (150 words) for your 20-minute presentation: 31 October 2013.
2. Please do not send documents as attachments.
Kindly submit abstracts to the organizers at tintinat85@outlook.com.
CFP Comics at PCA (11/1/13)
Here's the annual CFP for PCA/ACA:
All Proposals and Abstracts Must Be Submitted Through The PCA Database.
Please submit a proposal to only one area at a time. Exceptions and rules
CALL FOR PAPERS
The Comics and Comic Art Area of the Popular Culture Association invites all comics scholars to participate in the annual meeting of the Popular Culture Association and American Culture Association. Details of the conference can be found at the conference website.
The Comics and Comic Art Area of the Popular Culture Association offers a venue for scholars from across the country to share their research and exchange ideas on the growing field of comics scholarship. Papers on all aspects of the medium are invited.
Past papers have covered mainstream, underground, and international comics; cartoons, comic strips, comic books, and graphic novels; comics in connection with film, television, and video games; writers, artists, and publishers; teaching comics at various levels; and writing and publishing comics scholarship.
This call asks for individual paper proposals or submissions for entire panels. If you are submitting a panel, please make sure to note the members of your panel. In addition to general papers, if a presenter would like to propose a special panel or roundtable discussion, please e-mail the chair so she can forward the request to the list and the Comics and Comic Art Facebook group. (All interested scholars are welcome to join the group.)
Papers should be delivered in 15-20 minutes. The PCA limits presenters to one paper given at the conference, so if you are interested in presenting a paper in the Comics and Comic Art Area, do not submit a paper to another area.
All participants are eligible for the annual Inge Award for Comics Scholarship, awarded to the top paper presented in the Comics and Comic Art Area of the PCA. Student participants are eligible for the Lent Award for Comics Scholarship, awarded to the top paper presented by a student in the Comics and Comic Art Area of the PCA.
Scholars interested in presenting a paper at the national conference should submit a 100-200 word abstract and a short introductory bio to the PCA Database.
Please send all inquires to:
Terence Wandtke
Film and Digital Media
Judson University
twandtke@judsonu.edu
Comics and Comic Art
All Proposals and Abstracts Must Be Submitted Through The PCA Database.
Please submit a proposal to only one area at a time. Exceptions and rules
CALL FOR PAPERS
Comics: Strips, Books, Graphic Novels and Everything in Between
The Comics and Comic Art Area of the Popular Culture Association invites all comics scholars to participate in the annual meeting of the Popular Culture Association and American Culture Association. Details of the conference can be found at the conference website.
The Comics and Comic Art Area of the Popular Culture Association offers a venue for scholars from across the country to share their research and exchange ideas on the growing field of comics scholarship. Papers on all aspects of the medium are invited.
Past papers have covered mainstream, underground, and international comics; cartoons, comic strips, comic books, and graphic novels; comics in connection with film, television, and video games; writers, artists, and publishers; teaching comics at various levels; and writing and publishing comics scholarship.
This call asks for individual paper proposals or submissions for entire panels. If you are submitting a panel, please make sure to note the members of your panel. In addition to general papers, if a presenter would like to propose a special panel or roundtable discussion, please e-mail the chair so she can forward the request to the list and the Comics and Comic Art Facebook group. (All interested scholars are welcome to join the group.)
Papers should be delivered in 15-20 minutes. The PCA limits presenters to one paper given at the conference, so if you are interested in presenting a paper in the Comics and Comic Art Area, do not submit a paper to another area.
All participants are eligible for the annual Inge Award for Comics Scholarship, awarded to the top paper presented in the Comics and Comic Art Area of the PCA. Student participants are eligible for the Lent Award for Comics Scholarship, awarded to the top paper presented by a student in the Comics and Comic Art Area of the PCA.
Scholars interested in presenting a paper at the national conference should submit a 100-200 word abstract and a short introductory bio to the PCA Database.
Please send all inquires to:
Terence Wandtke
Film and Digital Media
Judson University
twandtke@judsonu.edu
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Hensoniana Better Left Unfound?
I've long been a fan of Jim Henson and grew up with the Muppets and the later products of the Creature Shop as frequent companions (and babysitters), so I've been thrilled to discover Archaia's recent collaborations with The Jim Henson Company. Some of these have been good (more on those in a later post), but others have been disappointments. For example, Archaia recently published Jim Henson's Tale of Sand (2011), a hardcover graphic novel adaptation of a screenplay from the late 1960s by Jim Henson and frequent collaborator Jerry Juhl. Archaia's information on the book suggests it might make and interesting read, noting as follows:
Join us as we explore this missing piece of Jim Henson’s career in a celebration of his creative process. Discovered in the Archives of The Jim Henson Company, Tale of Sand is an original graphic novel adaptation of an unproduced, feature-length screenplay written by Jim Henson and his frequent writing partner, Jerry Juhl. Tale of Sand follows scruffy everyman Mac, who wakes up in an unfamiliar town, and is chased across the desert of the American Southwest by all manners of man and beast of unimaginable proportions. Produced under the complete supervision of Henson Company CEO Lisa Henson, Tale of Sand will allow Henson fans to recognize some of the inspirations and set pieces that appeared in later Henson Company productions.The work, rated Teen +13, has received a number of awards (listed on the book's page at Archaia's website) and been fairly well received (as reviews accessible from the website make clear). Despite this praise, I'd have difficulty recommending it to any reader. It is a very weird story--a journey or, possibly, challenge but certainly not a quest--with an odd sort of hero. (Previews can be accessed from the book's website and more from the reviews posted there.) There seems to be no narrative structure per say, and one is left unclear at the end what has been accomplished. Back to the rating, the images are violent at time and towards the end include some nudity best left unseen by younger readers. Of better value are some of the supplementary material. In addition to the comic, there is a foreword by Karen Falk, Archives Director and historian for The Jim Henson Company, that offers an introduction to Tale of Sand that situates the work within the context of the two men’s careers as entertainers and an afterword by Lisa Henson, daughter of Jim Henson and Chief Executive Officer of The Jim Henson Company, that describes the process by which Tale of Sand came to be adapted into the comics medium. Biographical sketches of Henson and Juhl are also included, by Craig Sherman, President of The Jim Henson Legacy. The work concludes with a short biography of the artist, Ramón K. Pérez, and a series of preliminary character sketches.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Thoughts on Man of Steel
I'll start off by saying that I like Superman, but DC's constant re-imaginings of the character have become tiresome. In particular I take offense with the recent film Man of Steel (see trailer below) directed by Zack Snyder and written by David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan, who also served as one the film's producers.
The production serves as (another) reboot of the franchise and is both an origin story (told, confusedly at times, in a non linear narrative) and a remake of Superman and Superman II. However, unlike its predecessors, the new film--in my opinion--has no heart (a frequent comment according to the film's entry on Wikipedia). All of the characters and their back stories are preexisting, and we don't really connect to any of them, not even our hero. Instead, we get a film that relies too much on technological wonder to impress (and I really wish there were some clips available online). The opening scenes on Krypton recall the sf worlds of George Lucas and James Cameron with their focus on weird alien creatures and fluid technology. Fight scenes on Earth are unreal (even for Superman) and resemble too much the latest video games, and it is a wonder that anyone in Metropolis survives in the end with so much of the city demolished. In addition, the message of the film seems to be subverted in the way Superman deals with his nemesis. We learn that the S-shield is a Kryptonian glyph for hope and that Jor-El intended his son to serve as a bridge between the two cultures, but [SPOILER ALERT], in the end, everything uniquely Kryptonian is destroyed and its future wiped out (again). (Though there remains [SPOILER ALERT] the odd fact that Jor-El has implanted the DNA of his entire race into his son's genetic code.) Finally and, perhaps, most troubling, the end(ing) of Zod seems to go against everything the hero has stood for these past 75 years, though I'll say no further in the interests of not spoiling things further. With all the big name people involved how could everything have turned out so bad? (There are also inconsistencies with the science of the film; if it took Clark Kent almost a decade to come into his powers how do [SPOILER ALERT] Zod and his force gain their powers so quickly [though this is also a problem with Superman II]. Likewise, [SPOILER ALERT] how could Superman's powers fade so quickly aboard Zod's vessel? Shouldn't he have 30+ years of solar radiation in reserve?) With all that said, the ending shows promise for the future of the franchise. [SPOILER ALERT] We open any new film with Lois already knowing all of Superman's secrets paving the way for a more equal partnership like that once portrayed in the pre-New-52 DCU. If only the villain could be someone more down to Earth, then, I think we might see a good film.
My reaction to the casting is less of an issue; however, only a few of the actors stood out in my mind. Amy Adams is an intriguing choice for Lois Lane, though the overweight Pete Ross and underweight Steve Lombard were disconcerting. Michael Shannon seemed to lack the gravitas of Terence Stamp's earlier Zod (though his reason for rebelling against the Science Council is truly a masterstroke of storytelling, if it is original to the film) and Antje Traue certainly lacked the sinister qualities of Ursa, Zod's associate in Superman II; likewise, Russell Crowe is no Marlon Brando, but [SPOILER ALERT] the character's haunting of the film made for an interesting touch. Moving to other father figures, Kevin Costener seemed a lackluster Jonathan Kent, but Laurence Fishbourne's portrayal of Perry White was interesting (though the earring seems a fashion faux pas). Also, I really liked Cooper Timberline, the actor playing the younger Clark Kent (see image), and felt his character's story the most appealing here. 
Why not focus on his adventures as he comes to discover his place in the world? Why not show our youth a story of overcoming trials and adversity while struggling to find one's place in the world, instead of a slug fest? Of course, Smallville has already attempted some of this but not from the perspective of a prepubescent hero. This should not be an impediment to the producers, after all they're rehashing old material anyway.
The production serves as (another) reboot of the franchise and is both an origin story (told, confusedly at times, in a non linear narrative) and a remake of Superman and Superman II. However, unlike its predecessors, the new film--in my opinion--has no heart (a frequent comment according to the film's entry on Wikipedia). All of the characters and their back stories are preexisting, and we don't really connect to any of them, not even our hero. Instead, we get a film that relies too much on technological wonder to impress (and I really wish there were some clips available online). The opening scenes on Krypton recall the sf worlds of George Lucas and James Cameron with their focus on weird alien creatures and fluid technology. Fight scenes on Earth are unreal (even for Superman) and resemble too much the latest video games, and it is a wonder that anyone in Metropolis survives in the end with so much of the city demolished. In addition, the message of the film seems to be subverted in the way Superman deals with his nemesis. We learn that the S-shield is a Kryptonian glyph for hope and that Jor-El intended his son to serve as a bridge between the two cultures, but [SPOILER ALERT], in the end, everything uniquely Kryptonian is destroyed and its future wiped out (again). (Though there remains [SPOILER ALERT] the odd fact that Jor-El has implanted the DNA of his entire race into his son's genetic code.) Finally and, perhaps, most troubling, the end(ing) of Zod seems to go against everything the hero has stood for these past 75 years, though I'll say no further in the interests of not spoiling things further. With all the big name people involved how could everything have turned out so bad? (There are also inconsistencies with the science of the film; if it took Clark Kent almost a decade to come into his powers how do [SPOILER ALERT] Zod and his force gain their powers so quickly [though this is also a problem with Superman II]. Likewise, [SPOILER ALERT] how could Superman's powers fade so quickly aboard Zod's vessel? Shouldn't he have 30+ years of solar radiation in reserve?) With all that said, the ending shows promise for the future of the franchise. [SPOILER ALERT] We open any new film with Lois already knowing all of Superman's secrets paving the way for a more equal partnership like that once portrayed in the pre-New-52 DCU. If only the villain could be someone more down to Earth, then, I think we might see a good film.
Why not focus on his adventures as he comes to discover his place in the world? Why not show our youth a story of overcoming trials and adversity while struggling to find one's place in the world, instead of a slug fest? Of course, Smallville has already attempted some of this but not from the perspective of a prepubescent hero. This should not be an impediment to the producers, after all they're rehashing old material anyway.Bill the Boy Wonder
Nobleman, Marc Tyler. Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-creator of Batman. Illus. Ty Templeton. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge, 2012. N.pag. Print. 978-1-58089-289-6
Binding Information:
Hardback
Ages: 8 - and up
Price: $17.95
From the Publisher:
This is the true story of how Batman began. Every Batman story is marked with the words "Batman created by Bob Kane." But that isn't the whole truth. A struggling writer named Bill Finger was involved from the beginning. Bill helped invent Batman, from concept to costume to character. He dreamed up Batman's haunting origins and his colorful nemeses. Despite his brilliance, Bill worked in obscurity. It was only after his death that fans went to bat for Bill, calling for acknowledgment that he was co-creator of Batman. Based on original research, Bill the Boy Wonder is the first-ever book about the unsung man behind the Dark Knight.
This book is good for your brain because it provides: Biography, character and plot development, point of view
Comics Medium Links and More annotation:
Follow-up to Nobleman’s Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman, Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-creator of Batman is a picture book biography of comic book writer Bill Finger that presents him as the originator of the essentials of the Batman character (though the name was conceived first by Bob Kane, the man usually given credit for having created Batman) and his most prolific early chronicler. Concludes with an “Author’s Note,” in which Nobelman describes some of his sources (listed more fully in the “Selected Bibliography” at the end) and writing of the book (including his discovery of Finger’s only living heir) and a brief discussion of the growth of the Batman franchise. An online companion to the book, with activities and resources for educators, can be accessed at http://www.charlesbridge.com/BilltheBoyWonder, and the publisher's page for the book (at http://www.charlesbridge.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=5655) includes links to interviews with Nobleman about the project.
Update July 31st
A flurry of posts tonight regarding recent books and a film. At some point, I need to post a (large) number of film trailers and (no doubt) a large number of calls for papers, though many of these can be accessed at Gene Kannenberg Jr.'s great site Comics Research & Such at http://comicsresearch.blogspot.com/.
Michael Torregrossa,
Blog Editor
Michael Torregrossa,
Blog Editor
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
IJoCA Spring 2013
A quick update for the day:
Totaling just over 500 pages, the latest number (15.1) of the International Journal of Comic Art has been published. Complete contents will be provided when they become available.
Totaling just over 500 pages, the latest number (15.1) of the International Journal of Comic Art has been published. Complete contents will be provided when they become available.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
CFP Smallville: Sex, Gender, and Power (6/1/13)
Here is an update to an CFP posted back in March:
Smallville Collection of Essays: Sex, Gender, and Power
Publication Date: 2013-08-13
Date Submitted: 2013-05-11
Announcement ID: 203708
CFP: Smallville
Articles are invited for an essay collection on Smallville. This collection will specifically focus on issues of gender, sex, and power in this retelling and expansion of the Superman universe(s).
Superman has held audiences’ attention since his first appearance in 1938. Since then the Man of Steel and his fellow characters have never left the audiences’ sight. Multiple reinventions and installments found a highpoint between the years 2001-2011 with the CW´s hit series which not only told the story of Superman´s teenage years for the first time, but also added new characters such as Chloe Sullivan. Moreover, including members of the Justice League and the Justice Society of America opened up the series’ universe even more and created an alternate universe in the DC realm like few Superman installments before. After its successful ten-year run, Smallville´s story is far from over and although the actors are ready to move on, their audience is not. The series’ continuation as a graphic novel leaves more room to experiment with different formatting and even more interesting storylines. Moreover, Smallville’s active fan base continues to produce fan fiction and videos online, illustrating the continuing interest in the series.
The following categories suggest possibilities but are by no means exhaustive:
• Sex and Gender in Fandom and/or Reception
• The Power of Transformation and/or Adaptation
• Romance and Desire
• Monstrosity, Sex, and Gender
• Heroism and Gender
• Villainy and Gender
• Identity, Sex, and Gender
• Representations of masculinity, femininity, and power within Smallville
What to Send:
300 - 500 word abstracts (or complete articles, if available) and CVs should be submitted by June 1, 2013. If an abstract is accepted for the collection, a full draft of the essay (5000 – 8000 words) will be required by December 1, 2013.
Abstracts and final articles should be submitted to: supernaturaltelevision@gmail.com and Nadine.Farghaly@gmx.net
Margo Collins and Nadine Farghaly
supernaturaltelevision@gmail.com and Nadine.Farghaly@gmx.net
Email: supernaturaltelevision@gmail.com, nadine.farghaly@gmx.net
Smallville Collection of Essays: Sex, Gender, and Power
Publication Date: 2013-08-13
Date Submitted: 2013-05-11
Announcement ID: 203708
CFP: Smallville
Articles are invited for an essay collection on Smallville. This collection will specifically focus on issues of gender, sex, and power in this retelling and expansion of the Superman universe(s).
Superman has held audiences’ attention since his first appearance in 1938. Since then the Man of Steel and his fellow characters have never left the audiences’ sight. Multiple reinventions and installments found a highpoint between the years 2001-2011 with the CW´s hit series which not only told the story of Superman´s teenage years for the first time, but also added new characters such as Chloe Sullivan. Moreover, including members of the Justice League and the Justice Society of America opened up the series’ universe even more and created an alternate universe in the DC realm like few Superman installments before. After its successful ten-year run, Smallville´s story is far from over and although the actors are ready to move on, their audience is not. The series’ continuation as a graphic novel leaves more room to experiment with different formatting and even more interesting storylines. Moreover, Smallville’s active fan base continues to produce fan fiction and videos online, illustrating the continuing interest in the series.
The following categories suggest possibilities but are by no means exhaustive:
• Sex and Gender in Fandom and/or Reception
• The Power of Transformation and/or Adaptation
• Romance and Desire
• Monstrosity, Sex, and Gender
• Heroism and Gender
• Villainy and Gender
• Identity, Sex, and Gender
• Representations of masculinity, femininity, and power within Smallville
What to Send:
300 - 500 word abstracts (or complete articles, if available) and CVs should be submitted by June 1, 2013. If an abstract is accepted for the collection, a full draft of the essay (5000 – 8000 words) will be required by December 1, 2013.
Abstracts and final articles should be submitted to: supernaturaltelevision@gmail.com and Nadine.Farghaly@gmx.net
Margo Collins and Nadine Farghaly
supernaturaltelevision@gmail.com and Nadine.Farghaly@gmx.net
Email: supernaturaltelevision@gmail.com, nadine.farghaly@gmx.net
CFP Female Superheroes Collection (6/1/13)
Seems I'm forever catching up. I first saw this CFP in early March.
Female Superheroes Collection of Essays
Publication Date: 2013-06-01 (in 16 days)
Date Submitted: 2013-02-07
Announcement ID: 201167
From “A” like Aquagirl to “Z” like Zatana. More than 200 female superheroes have been around for the last 70 years. It all started with Fletcher Hanks's minor character Fantomah in the 1940s Fiction House’s Jungle Comics #2 and from that moment on the seal was broken. Female superhero after superhero made their appearances on paper as well as on screen. These female superheroes were simultaneously shaping and mirroring society; with the rise of second wave feminism some of these female characters changed as well. Suddenly, they could be more self-assured and more forceful; Marvel Girl transformed from an average superhero to the very powerful Phoenix. Later on, the years 2010/2011 witnessed a huge transformation in the graphic novels realms. Marvel, DC, and other publishers reinvented their superhero franchises; new alliances and relationships were formed, former friends became enemies and lovers who had been an item for decades were suddenly reassigned to other love interests. This new development in the graphic novel universes desperately calls for a close investigation.
Times have changed since the first comics became a mass medium in the 1920s. And while fans' opinions differ greatly about the advantages and disadvantages of these reboots, it must be acknowledged that this will not only be a very exciting, but also eye-opening time for laymen and scholars alike. What kind of changes will their beloved characters have to endure? How will these new superheroes be presented? Are they still going to mimic society or are they trying to push society to the next level? How should these reinterpretations be assessed? What is gained and what is lost, not only for these superheroes, but also for popular culture?
While DC started its revamp in September 2011, Marvel started his in spring 2012. This volume would focus on the reinvention of the female superheroes, and therefore, it will be the first of its kind.
This publication aims to examine these heroines in literature, art, and other media to question issues concerning sexuality, gender, identity, social change and feminism. It will provide an interdisciplinary stage for the development of innovative and creative research and examine this vital and complex female protagonist in all her various manifestations and cultural meanings.
What to Send:
300 - 500 word abstracts (or complete articles, if available) and CVs should be submitted by June 1, 2013. If an abstract is accepted for the collection, a full draft of the essay (5000 – 8000 words) will be required by December 1, 2013.
Abstracts and final articles should be submitted to: Nadine.Farghaly@gmx.net receipt of the abstracts will be send within one week. In case you do not receive an email, please resend your proposal.
Nadine Farghaly
Nadine.Farghaly@gmx.net
Email: nadine.farghaly@gmx.net
Female Superheroes Collection of Essays
Publication Date: 2013-06-01 (in 16 days)
Date Submitted: 2013-02-07
Announcement ID: 201167
From “A” like Aquagirl to “Z” like Zatana. More than 200 female superheroes have been around for the last 70 years. It all started with Fletcher Hanks's minor character Fantomah in the 1940s Fiction House’s Jungle Comics #2 and from that moment on the seal was broken. Female superhero after superhero made their appearances on paper as well as on screen. These female superheroes were simultaneously shaping and mirroring society; with the rise of second wave feminism some of these female characters changed as well. Suddenly, they could be more self-assured and more forceful; Marvel Girl transformed from an average superhero to the very powerful Phoenix. Later on, the years 2010/2011 witnessed a huge transformation in the graphic novels realms. Marvel, DC, and other publishers reinvented their superhero franchises; new alliances and relationships were formed, former friends became enemies and lovers who had been an item for decades were suddenly reassigned to other love interests. This new development in the graphic novel universes desperately calls for a close investigation.
Times have changed since the first comics became a mass medium in the 1920s. And while fans' opinions differ greatly about the advantages and disadvantages of these reboots, it must be acknowledged that this will not only be a very exciting, but also eye-opening time for laymen and scholars alike. What kind of changes will their beloved characters have to endure? How will these new superheroes be presented? Are they still going to mimic society or are they trying to push society to the next level? How should these reinterpretations be assessed? What is gained and what is lost, not only for these superheroes, but also for popular culture?
While DC started its revamp in September 2011, Marvel started his in spring 2012. This volume would focus on the reinvention of the female superheroes, and therefore, it will be the first of its kind.
This publication aims to examine these heroines in literature, art, and other media to question issues concerning sexuality, gender, identity, social change and feminism. It will provide an interdisciplinary stage for the development of innovative and creative research and examine this vital and complex female protagonist in all her various manifestations and cultural meanings.
What to Send:
300 - 500 word abstracts (or complete articles, if available) and CVs should be submitted by June 1, 2013. If an abstract is accepted for the collection, a full draft of the essay (5000 – 8000 words) will be required by December 1, 2013.
Abstracts and final articles should be submitted to: Nadine.Farghaly@gmx.net receipt of the abstracts will be send within one week. In case you do not receive an email, please resend your proposal.
Nadine Farghaly
Nadine.Farghaly@gmx.net
Email: nadine.farghaly@gmx.net
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Batman Family Origins
Sazaklis, John. Batman: Dawn of the Dynamic Duo. Pictures by Steven E. Gordon. Colors by Eric A. Gordon. I Can Read! 2. New York: Harper-HarperCollins Children’s Books-HarperCollins, 2011. Print. 978-0-06-188520-4
A laudable combination of text and comic-book-like illustration, Batman: Dawn of the Dynamic Duo offers beginning readers an adventure featuring Batman, Robin III, and Nightwing in battle against Two-Face and his men. Serving (in part) as an introduction to Batman and his world, the book is noteworthy for its presentation of origin stories for Tim Drake (12-15) and Dick Grayson (16-17), as Robin and Nightwing, respectively, and its silent omission of Batman’s second partner Jason Todd. The story is therefore most in line with the continuity of the DC Animated Universe in making Drake and Grayson the only partners of the Dark Knight.
More Justice League for Kids
Another entry--lamentable again, I'm afraid--in the new line of Justice League products:Sonneborn, Scott. Justice League: Partners in Peril. Illus. Andy Smith. Colors by Brad Vancata. New York: HarperFestival- HarperCollins Children’s Books-HarperCollins, 2013. N.pag. Print. 978-0-06-221007-4
Kid-Friendly Origin of the Justice League
DC has begun to extend the Justice League franchise into alternate media, including a new ongoing series of children's books, of which the following is the first. Sadly. its not the best translation from the comics page:Rosen, Lucy. Justice League: Meet the Justice League. Pictures by Steven E. Gordon. Colors by Eric A. Gordon. I Can Read! 2. New York: Harper-HarperCollins Children’s Books-HarperCollins, 2013. Print. 978-0-06-221002-9
Friday, April 26, 2013
Walking Dead Collection CFP
Forever catching up it seems:
Edited Collection: The Walking Dead
Publication Date: 2013-05-25 (in 29 days)
Date Submitted: 2013-01-30
Announcement ID: 200899
Articles are invited for an edited collection on issues related to any element of The Walking Dead (either the original graphic novel or the AMC television series).
The following categories are meant to suggest possibilities but are by no means exhaustive:
• Monstrosity
• Fandom and/or Reception
• Transformation and/or Adaptation
• Gender
• Race
• Hybridity
• Zombies
• Posthumanism
• Heroism
• Villainy
• History and Memory
• Family
• Power
What to Send: 300 - 500 word abstracts (or complete articles, if available) and CVs should be submitted by May 25, 2013. If an abstract is accepted for the collection, a full draft of the essay (5000 – 8000 words) will be required by October 25, 2013.
Abstracts and final articles should be submitted to supernaturaltelevision@gmail.com. Please include “Walking Dead” in your subject line.
Dr. Margo Collins
Email: supernaturaltelevision@gmail.com
Edited Collection: The Walking Dead
Publication Date: 2013-05-25 (in 29 days)
Date Submitted: 2013-01-30
Announcement ID: 200899
Articles are invited for an edited collection on issues related to any element of The Walking Dead (either the original graphic novel or the AMC television series).
The following categories are meant to suggest possibilities but are by no means exhaustive:
• Monstrosity
• Fandom and/or Reception
• Transformation and/or Adaptation
• Gender
• Race
• Hybridity
• Zombies
• Posthumanism
• Heroism
• Villainy
• History and Memory
• Family
• Power
What to Send: 300 - 500 word abstracts (or complete articles, if available) and CVs should be submitted by May 25, 2013. If an abstract is accepted for the collection, a full draft of the essay (5000 – 8000 words) will be required by October 25, 2013.
Abstracts and final articles should be submitted to supernaturaltelevision@gmail.com. Please include “Walking Dead” in your subject line.
Dr. Margo Collins
Email: supernaturaltelevision@gmail.com
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Iron Man Collection CFP (7/15/13)
Thanks to Gene Kannenberg of Comics Research & Such for the head's up:
CFP: The Ages of Iron Man Call for Papers
Date: 2013-07-15
Date Submitted: 2013-04-14
Announcement ID: 203005
Collection: The Ages of Iron Man: Essays on the Armored Avenger in Changing Times
Edited by Joseph J. Darowski
Publisher: McFarland & Company
Please circulate and post widely
The editor of The Ages of Iron Man: Essays on the Armored Avenger in Changing Times is seeking abstracts for essays which could be included in the upcoming collection. The essays should examine the relationships between Iron Man comic books and the period of American history when those comics were published. Analysis may demonstrate how the stories found in Iron Man comic books (and the creators who produced the comics) embrace, reflect, or critique aspects of their contemporary culture. This will be a companion volume to The Ages of Superman, The Ages of Wonder Woman, The Ages of the X-Men, and The Ages of the Avengers.
Essays should focus on stories from Iron Man’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 Iron Man 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 Iron Man comic books from the 1970s with Iron Man comic books from the 1990s. Any team title or mini-series that features Iron Man prominently can be considered as source material for potential chapters. The completed essays should be approximately15 double-spaced pages.
Some possible topics for essays include, but are not limited to, the following:
An Entitled, Womanizing, Weapons Designer is Our Hero?; A Viet Nam War Superhero: Tony Stark, Industrialists, and the Cold War; Communism and The American Superhero: Tony Stark’s Early Adventures; The Mandarin: Cold War Stereotypes, and Supervillains; “The Demon in a Bottle” and Social Relevancy in Superhero Comic Books; Race Under the Armor: When James Rhodes Was Iron Man; “Doomquest”: The Changing Meaning of Heroism; Armor Wars: Weapon Proliferation and Deterrence; From Iron Man to War Machine: Rhodes’ Journey to Hero; Force Works and a New Vision of Defense; Earth X Iron Man: Tony Stark as Millennial Doomsday Prepper; “The Best Defense”: Superhero Politics and the Aggressive Defense of America; Extremis” and the Biological/Technological Hybrid; Marvel’s Civil War: Iron Man’s Quest to Control Potential Threats Post 9/11; Iron Man – Director of Shield: A Weapons Engineer Leading the Military Industrial Complex; Gender and Iron Man: Pepper Potts as Rescue
Abstracts (100-500 words) and CVs should be submitted by July 15, 2013
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: 208-496-4456
Email: darowskij@byui.edu
CFP: The Ages of Iron Man Call for Papers
Date: 2013-07-15
Date Submitted: 2013-04-14
Announcement ID: 203005
Collection: The Ages of Iron Man: Essays on the Armored Avenger in Changing Times
Edited by Joseph J. Darowski
Publisher: McFarland & Company
Please circulate and post widely
The editor of The Ages of Iron Man: Essays on the Armored Avenger in Changing Times is seeking abstracts for essays which could be included in the upcoming collection. The essays should examine the relationships between Iron Man comic books and the period of American history when those comics were published. Analysis may demonstrate how the stories found in Iron Man comic books (and the creators who produced the comics) embrace, reflect, or critique aspects of their contemporary culture. This will be a companion volume to The Ages of Superman, The Ages of Wonder Woman, The Ages of the X-Men, and The Ages of the Avengers.
Essays should focus on stories from Iron Man’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 Iron Man 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 Iron Man comic books from the 1970s with Iron Man comic books from the 1990s. Any team title or mini-series that features Iron Man prominently can be considered as source material for potential chapters. The completed essays should be approximately15 double-spaced pages.
Some possible topics for essays include, but are not limited to, the following:
An Entitled, Womanizing, Weapons Designer is Our Hero?; A Viet Nam War Superhero: Tony Stark, Industrialists, and the Cold War; Communism and The American Superhero: Tony Stark’s Early Adventures; The Mandarin: Cold War Stereotypes, and Supervillains; “The Demon in a Bottle” and Social Relevancy in Superhero Comic Books; Race Under the Armor: When James Rhodes Was Iron Man; “Doomquest”: The Changing Meaning of Heroism; Armor Wars: Weapon Proliferation and Deterrence; From Iron Man to War Machine: Rhodes’ Journey to Hero; Force Works and a New Vision of Defense; Earth X Iron Man: Tony Stark as Millennial Doomsday Prepper; “The Best Defense”: Superhero Politics and the Aggressive Defense of America; Extremis” and the Biological/Technological Hybrid; Marvel’s Civil War: Iron Man’s Quest to Control Potential Threats Post 9/11; Iron Man – Director of Shield: A Weapons Engineer Leading the Military Industrial Complex; Gender and Iron Man: Pepper Potts as Rescue
Abstracts (100-500 words) and CVs should be submitted by July 15, 2013
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: 208-496-4456
Email: darowskij@byui.edu
Sandman Essay in JPC
Out now:
The Journal of Popular Culture
Vol. 46.1, February 2013
“The Sand/wo/man: The Unstable Worlds of Gender in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman Series”
Ally Brisbin and Paul Booth
The Journal of Popular Culture
Vol. 46.1, February 2013
“The Sand/wo/man: The Unstable Worlds of Gender in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman Series”
Ally Brisbin and Paul Booth
Comics Scholarship in JPC for December 2012
Catching up:
The Journal of Popular Culture
Vol. 45.6, December 2012
“Failure to Launch: Not-So-Superheroes in Gravity’s Rainbow and Superfolks” by Megan Condis
“The Accidental Supermom: Superheroines and Maternal Performativity, 1963-1980” by Laura Mattoon D’Amore
“The Female Link: Citation and Continuity in Watchmen” by Erin M. Keating
BOOK REVIEWS
Hatfield, Charles. Hand of Fire: The Comics Art of Jack Kirby. Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 2012. Reviewed by Matthew Costello.
The Journal of Popular Culture
Vol. 45.6, December 2012
“Failure to Launch: Not-So-Superheroes in Gravity’s Rainbow and Superfolks” by Megan Condis
“The Accidental Supermom: Superheroines and Maternal Performativity, 1963-1980” by Laura Mattoon D’Amore
“The Female Link: Citation and Continuity in Watchmen” by Erin M. Keating
BOOK REVIEWS
Hatfield, Charles. Hand of Fire: The Comics Art of Jack Kirby. Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 2012. Reviewed by Matthew Costello.
Wonder Woman Documentary
A head's up from the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly:
PBS is currently airing a film called Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines. More details at http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/wonder-women/.
Trailer follows:
PBS is currently airing a film called Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines. More details at http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/wonder-women/.
Trailer follows:
Watch Coming Soon to Independent Lens: Wonder Women! on PBS. See more from Independent Lens.
Friday, March 22, 2013
More Super Buddies
The teaser embed code appears defective in the previous post, so I include a copy of the cover from Amazon below:
Super Buddies by Disney
A belated post:
Disney will release the direct-to-video film Super Buddies this August as part of its Buddies franchise. A teaser is available on the official site, but it offers little detail.
Luckily, a synopsis explains:
Disney will release the direct-to-video film Super Buddies this August as part of its Buddies franchise. A teaser is available on the official site, but it offers little detail.
Luckily, a synopsis explains:
Watch the fur fly as a new breed of super hero is born in Disney's fun-filled epic adventure.
An ordinary day at Fernfield Farms turns extraordinary when Budderball, Mudbud, B-Dawg, Buddha and Rosebud discover mysterious rings that grant them each a unique super power. Before you can say, "Buddies, assemble," the pups unleash their amazing abilities and race to the rescue when a shape-shifting bully from outer space threatens the planet. But can they succeed in kicking major tail without revealing their new secret identities?
A must-own movie event packed with laughter, action and incredible new characters, Super Buddies proves that when you use your wits and work together, you don't need super powers to be a super hero!
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Comics at ACLA 2013
A number of comics-related papers and sessions will occur at the upcoming meeting of the American Comparative Literature
Association at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Canada from 4-7
April 2013. Complete conference details and
program can be found at http://www.acla.org/acla2013/.
DC Comics at Capstone
Capstone Publishing now has a dedicated site to it's DC Comics series of chapter books at http://capstonesuperhero.com/. The site includes promotional posters with the DC trinity promoting literacy. At present, content includes books featuring Superman, Batman, and the pets of the Justice League (see trailer below), though the publisher has additional series (through its Stone Arch imprint) featuring the Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and the foes of the Justice League.
Some details on the line from Capstone's YouTube Channel:
Beware the Batman Teaser
Two new series are coming soon to DC Nation on Cartoon Network (and replacing Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Young Justice). One, Teen Titans Go! is a humorous take on the Teen Titans franchise, while the other, Beware the Batman, offers a more serious look at the Dark Knight and his world in CGI for the first time.
Smallville Collection CFP (6/1/13)
Here's another CFP for a collection on Smallville. The first, edited by Lincoln Geraghty, apperared in 2011, while the rest remain unpublished at this time.
Essay Collection: Smallville
Publication Date: 2013-06-01
Date Submitted: 2013-02-05
Announcement ID: 201106 (at H-Announce)
Articles are invited for an essay collection on Smallville.
Superman has held audiences’ attention since his first appearance in 1938. Since then the Man of Steel and his fellow characters have never left the audiences’ sight. Multiple reinventions and installments found a highpoint between the years 2001-2011 with the CW´s hit series which not only told the story of Superman´s teenage years for the first time, but also added new characters such as Chloe Sullivan. Moreover, including members of the Justice League and the Justice Society of America opened up the series’ universe even more and created an alternate universe in the DC realm like few Superman installments before. After its successful ten-year run, Smallville´s story is far from over and although the actors are ready to move on, their audience is not. The series continuation as a graphic novel leaves more room to experiment with different formatting and even more interesting storylines. Moreover, Smallville’s active fan base continues to produce fan fiction and videos online, illustrating the continuing interest in the series.
This collection will examine a variety of issues surrounding this retelling and expansion of the Superman universe(s).
The following categories suggest possibilities but are by no means exhaustive
• Fandom and/or Reception
• Transformation and/or Adaptation
• Gender
• Race
• Sexuality
• Romance and Desire
• Power
• Monstrosity
• Heroism
• Villainy
• Identify
• Visual Style and practices
• Smallville’s usage and representation of known DC Comics characters and stories
• Representations of masculinity, femininity, race, sexuality and family within Smallville
What to Send:
300 - 500 word abstracts (or complete articles, if available) and CVs should be submitted by June 1, 2013. If an abstract is accepted for the collection, a full draft of the essay (5000 – 8000 words) will be required by December 1, 2013.
Abstracts and final articles should be submitted to: supernaturaltelevision@gmail.com and Nadine.Farghaly@gmx.net
Margo Collins and Nadine Farghaly
supernaturaltelevision@gmail.com
Nadine.Farghaly@gmx.net
Essay Collection: Smallville
Publication Date: 2013-06-01
Date Submitted: 2013-02-05
Announcement ID: 201106 (at H-Announce)
Articles are invited for an essay collection on Smallville.
Superman has held audiences’ attention since his first appearance in 1938. Since then the Man of Steel and his fellow characters have never left the audiences’ sight. Multiple reinventions and installments found a highpoint between the years 2001-2011 with the CW´s hit series which not only told the story of Superman´s teenage years for the first time, but also added new characters such as Chloe Sullivan. Moreover, including members of the Justice League and the Justice Society of America opened up the series’ universe even more and created an alternate universe in the DC realm like few Superman installments before. After its successful ten-year run, Smallville´s story is far from over and although the actors are ready to move on, their audience is not. The series continuation as a graphic novel leaves more room to experiment with different formatting and even more interesting storylines. Moreover, Smallville’s active fan base continues to produce fan fiction and videos online, illustrating the continuing interest in the series.
This collection will examine a variety of issues surrounding this retelling and expansion of the Superman universe(s).
The following categories suggest possibilities but are by no means exhaustive
• Fandom and/or Reception
• Transformation and/or Adaptation
• Gender
• Race
• Sexuality
• Romance and Desire
• Power
• Monstrosity
• Heroism
• Villainy
• Identify
• Visual Style and practices
• Smallville’s usage and representation of known DC Comics characters and stories
• Representations of masculinity, femininity, race, sexuality and family within Smallville
What to Send:
300 - 500 word abstracts (or complete articles, if available) and CVs should be submitted by June 1, 2013. If an abstract is accepted for the collection, a full draft of the essay (5000 – 8000 words) will be required by December 1, 2013.
Abstracts and final articles should be submitted to: supernaturaltelevision@gmail.com and Nadine.Farghaly@gmx.net
Margo Collins and Nadine Farghaly
supernaturaltelevision@gmail.com
Nadine.Farghaly@gmx.net
2nd Global Graphic Novel Conference CFP (3/22/13; UK 9/23-25/13)
Two quick posts today in an attempt to stay current. Here's the first:
2nd Global Conference: The Graphic Novel (September 2013: Oxford, United Kingdom)
Location: United Kingdom
Conference Date: 2013-09-23
Date Submitted: 2012-12-17
Announcement ID: 199598 (at H-Announce)
2nd Global Conference
The Graphic Novel
Monday 23rd September – Wednesday 25th September 2013
Mansfield College, Oxford, United Kingdom
Call for Presentations
“Behind this mask there is more than just flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea… and ideas are bulletproof.”
(Alan Moore, V for Vendetta)
This inter- and multi-disciplinary conference aims to examine, explore and critically engage with issues in and around the production, creation and reading of all forms of comics and graphic novels. Taken as a form of pictographic narrative it has been with us since the first cave paintings and even in the 21st century remains a hugely popular, vibrant and culturally relevant means of communication whether expressed as sequential art, graphic literature, bandes dessinees, tebeos, fumetti, manga, manhwa, komiks, strips, historietas, quadrinhos, beeldverhalen, or just plain old comics. (as noted by Paul Gravett)
Whilst the form itself became established in the 19th Century it is perhaps not until the 20th century that comic book heroes like Superman (who has been around since 1938) became, not just beloved characters, but national icons. With the globalisation of publishing brands such as Marvel and DC it is no accident that there has been an increase in graphic novel adaptations and their associated merchandising. Movies such as X-men, Iron man, Watchmen and the recent Thor have grossed millions of dollars across the world and many television series have been continued off-screen in the graphic form, Buffy, Firefly and Farscape to name a few.
Of course America and Europe is not the only base of this art form and the Far East and Japan have their own traditions as well as a huge influence on graphic representations across the globe. In particular Japanese manga has influenced comics in Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, France and the United States, and have created an amazing array of reflexive appropriations and re-appropriations, in not just in comics but in anime as well.
Of equal importance in this growth and relevance of the graphic novel are the smaller and independent publishers that have produced influential works such as Maus by Art Spiegleman, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, Palestine by Joe Sacco, Epileptic by David B and even Jimmy Corrigan by Chris Ware that explore, often on a personal level, contemporary concerns such as gender, diaspora, post-colonialism, sexuality, globalisation and approaches to health, terror and identity. Further to this the techniques and styles of the graphic novel have taken further form online creating entirely web-comics and hypertexts, as in John Cei Douglas’ Lost and Found and Shelley Jackson’s Patchwork Girl, as well as forming part of larger trans-media narratives and submersive worlds, as in the True Blood franchise that invites fans to enter and participate in constructing a narrative in many varied formats and locations.
This projects invites papers that consider the place of the comic or graphic novel in both history and location and the ways that it appropriates and is appropriated by other media in the enactment of individual, social and cultural identity.
Papers, reports, work-in-progress, workshops and pre-formed panels are invited on issues related to (but not limited to) the following themes:
Just what makes a Graphic Novel so Graphic and so Novel?:
~Sources, early representations and historical contexts of the form.
~Landmarks in development, format and narratology.
~Cartoons, comics, graphic novels and artists books.
~Words, images, texture and colour and what makes a GN
~Format, layout, speech bubbles and “where the *@#% do we go from here?”
The Inner and Outer Worlds of the Graphic Novel:
~Outer and Inner spaces; Thoughts, cities, and galaxies and other representations of graphic place and space.
~ Differing temporalities, Chronotopes and “time flies”:
Intertextuality, editing and the nature of Graphic and/or Deleuzian time.
~ Graphic Superstars and Words versus Pictures: Alan Moore v Dave Gibbons (Watchmen) Neil Gaiman v Jack Kirby (Sandman).
~Performance and performativity of, in and around graphic representations.
~Transcriptions and translations: literature into pictures, films into novels and high/low graphic arts.
Identity, Meanings and Otherness:
~GN as autobiography, witnessing, diary and narrative
~Representations of disability, illness, coping and normality
~Cultural appropriations, east to west and globalisation
~National identity, cultural icons and stereo-typical villains
~Immigration, postcolonial and stories of exile
~Representing gender, sexualities and non-normative identities.
~Politics, prejudices and polemics: banned, censored and comix that are “just plain wrong”
~Other cultures, other voices, other words
To Infinity and Beyond: The Graphic Novel in the 21st Century:
~Fanzines and Slash-mags: individual identity through appropriation.
~Creator and Created: Interactions and interpolations between authors and audience.
~Hypertext, Multiple formats and inter-active narratives.
~Cross media appropriation, GN into film, gaming and merchandisng and vice versa
~Graphic Myths and visions of the future: Sandman, Hellboy, Ghost in the Shell.
~Restarting the Canon: what are the implication of the restart in universes such as Marcel and DC and do they represent the opportunity to reopen ongoing conversations?
Presentations will be accepted which deal with related areas and themes.
What to Send:
300 word abstracts should be submitted by Friday 22nd March 2013. If an abstract is accepted for the conference, a full draft paper should be submitted by Friday 21st June 2013. 300 word abstracts should be submitted to the Organising Chairs; abstracts may be in Word, WordPerfect, or RTF formats, following this order:
a) author(s), b) affiliation, c) email address, d) title of abstract, e) body of abstract, f) up to 10 keywords
E-mails should be entitled: GN2 Abstract Submission
Please use plain text (Times Roman 12) and abstain from using any special formatting, characters or emphasis (such as bold, italics or underline). We acknowledge receipt and answer to all paper proposals submitted. If you do not receive a reply from us in a week you should assume we did not receive your proposal; it might be lost in cyberspace! We suggest, then, to look for an alternative electronic route or resend.
Organising Chairs
Nadine Farghaly: Nadine.Farghaly@gmx.net
Rob Fisher: gn2@inter-disciplinary.net
The conference is part of the Education Hub series of research projects, which in turn belong to the At the Interface programmes of Inter-Disciplinary.Net. It aims to bring together people from different areas and interests to share ideas and explore discussions which are innovative and challenging. All papers accepted for and presented at this conference are eligible for publication in an ISBN eBook. Selected papers may be invited to go forward for development into a themed ISBN hard copy volume or volumes.
For further details of the conference, please visit: http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/at-the-interface/education/the-graphic-novel/call-for-papers/.
Please note: Inter-Disciplinary.Net is a not-for-profit network and we are not in a position to be able to assist with conference travel or subsistence.
Priory House
149B Wroslyn Road
Freeland, Oxfordshire OX29 8HR
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)1993 882087
Fax: +44 (0)870 4601132
Email: gn2@inter-disciplinary.net
Visit the website at http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/at-the-interface/education/the-graphic-novel/call-for-papers/
2nd Global Conference: The Graphic Novel (September 2013: Oxford, United Kingdom)
Location: United Kingdom
Conference Date: 2013-09-23
Date Submitted: 2012-12-17
Announcement ID: 199598 (at H-Announce)
2nd Global Conference
The Graphic Novel
Monday 23rd September – Wednesday 25th September 2013
Mansfield College, Oxford, United Kingdom
Call for Presentations
“Behind this mask there is more than just flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea… and ideas are bulletproof.”
(Alan Moore, V for Vendetta)
This inter- and multi-disciplinary conference aims to examine, explore and critically engage with issues in and around the production, creation and reading of all forms of comics and graphic novels. Taken as a form of pictographic narrative it has been with us since the first cave paintings and even in the 21st century remains a hugely popular, vibrant and culturally relevant means of communication whether expressed as sequential art, graphic literature, bandes dessinees, tebeos, fumetti, manga, manhwa, komiks, strips, historietas, quadrinhos, beeldverhalen, or just plain old comics. (as noted by Paul Gravett)
Whilst the form itself became established in the 19th Century it is perhaps not until the 20th century that comic book heroes like Superman (who has been around since 1938) became, not just beloved characters, but national icons. With the globalisation of publishing brands such as Marvel and DC it is no accident that there has been an increase in graphic novel adaptations and their associated merchandising. Movies such as X-men, Iron man, Watchmen and the recent Thor have grossed millions of dollars across the world and many television series have been continued off-screen in the graphic form, Buffy, Firefly and Farscape to name a few.
Of course America and Europe is not the only base of this art form and the Far East and Japan have their own traditions as well as a huge influence on graphic representations across the globe. In particular Japanese manga has influenced comics in Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, France and the United States, and have created an amazing array of reflexive appropriations and re-appropriations, in not just in comics but in anime as well.
Of equal importance in this growth and relevance of the graphic novel are the smaller and independent publishers that have produced influential works such as Maus by Art Spiegleman, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, Palestine by Joe Sacco, Epileptic by David B and even Jimmy Corrigan by Chris Ware that explore, often on a personal level, contemporary concerns such as gender, diaspora, post-colonialism, sexuality, globalisation and approaches to health, terror and identity. Further to this the techniques and styles of the graphic novel have taken further form online creating entirely web-comics and hypertexts, as in John Cei Douglas’ Lost and Found and Shelley Jackson’s Patchwork Girl, as well as forming part of larger trans-media narratives and submersive worlds, as in the True Blood franchise that invites fans to enter and participate in constructing a narrative in many varied formats and locations.
This projects invites papers that consider the place of the comic or graphic novel in both history and location and the ways that it appropriates and is appropriated by other media in the enactment of individual, social and cultural identity.
Papers, reports, work-in-progress, workshops and pre-formed panels are invited on issues related to (but not limited to) the following themes:
Just what makes a Graphic Novel so Graphic and so Novel?:
~Sources, early representations and historical contexts of the form.
~Landmarks in development, format and narratology.
~Cartoons, comics, graphic novels and artists books.
~Words, images, texture and colour and what makes a GN
~Format, layout, speech bubbles and “where the *@#% do we go from here?”
The Inner and Outer Worlds of the Graphic Novel:
~Outer and Inner spaces; Thoughts, cities, and galaxies and other representations of graphic place and space.
~ Differing temporalities, Chronotopes and “time flies”:
Intertextuality, editing and the nature of Graphic and/or Deleuzian time.
~ Graphic Superstars and Words versus Pictures: Alan Moore v Dave Gibbons (Watchmen) Neil Gaiman v Jack Kirby (Sandman).
~Performance and performativity of, in and around graphic representations.
~Transcriptions and translations: literature into pictures, films into novels and high/low graphic arts.
Identity, Meanings and Otherness:
~GN as autobiography, witnessing, diary and narrative
~Representations of disability, illness, coping and normality
~Cultural appropriations, east to west and globalisation
~National identity, cultural icons and stereo-typical villains
~Immigration, postcolonial and stories of exile
~Representing gender, sexualities and non-normative identities.
~Politics, prejudices and polemics: banned, censored and comix that are “just plain wrong”
~Other cultures, other voices, other words
To Infinity and Beyond: The Graphic Novel in the 21st Century:
~Fanzines and Slash-mags: individual identity through appropriation.
~Creator and Created: Interactions and interpolations between authors and audience.
~Hypertext, Multiple formats and inter-active narratives.
~Cross media appropriation, GN into film, gaming and merchandisng and vice versa
~Graphic Myths and visions of the future: Sandman, Hellboy, Ghost in the Shell.
~Restarting the Canon: what are the implication of the restart in universes such as Marcel and DC and do they represent the opportunity to reopen ongoing conversations?
Presentations will be accepted which deal with related areas and themes.
What to Send:
300 word abstracts should be submitted by Friday 22nd March 2013. If an abstract is accepted for the conference, a full draft paper should be submitted by Friday 21st June 2013. 300 word abstracts should be submitted to the Organising Chairs; abstracts may be in Word, WordPerfect, or RTF formats, following this order:
a) author(s), b) affiliation, c) email address, d) title of abstract, e) body of abstract, f) up to 10 keywords
E-mails should be entitled: GN2 Abstract Submission
Please use plain text (Times Roman 12) and abstain from using any special formatting, characters or emphasis (such as bold, italics or underline). We acknowledge receipt and answer to all paper proposals submitted. If you do not receive a reply from us in a week you should assume we did not receive your proposal; it might be lost in cyberspace! We suggest, then, to look for an alternative electronic route or resend.
Organising Chairs
Nadine Farghaly: Nadine.Farghaly@gmx.net
Rob Fisher: gn2@inter-disciplinary.net
The conference is part of the Education Hub series of research projects, which in turn belong to the At the Interface programmes of Inter-Disciplinary.Net. It aims to bring together people from different areas and interests to share ideas and explore discussions which are innovative and challenging. All papers accepted for and presented at this conference are eligible for publication in an ISBN eBook. Selected papers may be invited to go forward for development into a themed ISBN hard copy volume or volumes.
For further details of the conference, please visit: http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/at-the-interface/education/the-graphic-novel/call-for-papers/.
Please note: Inter-Disciplinary.Net is a not-for-profit network and we are not in a position to be able to assist with conference travel or subsistence.
Priory House
149B Wroslyn Road
Freeland, Oxfordshire OX29 8HR
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)1993 882087
Fax: +44 (0)870 4601132
Email: gn2@inter-disciplinary.net
Visit the website at http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/at-the-interface/education/the-graphic-novel/call-for-papers/
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Iron Man: Rise of Technovore
In connection with the upcoming release of Iron Man 3, Marvel is promoting a new direct-to-video anime-inspired film called Iron Man: Rise of Technovore, due out on 16 April 2013. Marvel has a detailed press release on their website (http://marvel.com/news/story/20068/iron_man_rise_of_technovore_coming_to_blu-ray_416); however, it is unclear as to whether the story is based on previous comics narratives, ties into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or is meant to stand on its own. Official trailer follows:
The film is sold as either Blu-ray or DVD with the following extras:
The film is sold as either Blu-ray or DVD with the following extras:
- Blu-ray exclusive: Conceptual Art Gallery
- Blu-ray and DVD bonus features: Two featurettes, "Tale of Technovore" and "S.H.I.E.L.D.: Protecting the Marvel Universe"
Superman: Unbound?
Expect much hype surrounding the release this summer of Warner Bros.'s Man of Steel. Warner Bros. Animation is doing their bit with the original video Superman: Unbound based on the "Brainiac" arc from phenom Geoff Johns's run on Action Comics (conveniently collected as Superman: Brainiac). With voice work by Matt Bomer as Clark Kent/Superman, the film is due out on 7 May 2013 in multiple platforms. As is standard practice with DC Universe Animated Original Movies,the Blu-ray version (single disc only this time and no digital copy) will include the bulk of the extras (feature commentary, making-of featurettes, and--though don't ask me why--a selection of related cartoons), and the DVD release getting the shaft with only a first look at the upcoming Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (also available on the Blu-ray).
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Alphas RIP
TV.com has brief report noting that Syfy has cancelled the sophomore series Alphas. Details at http://www.tv.com/news/syfy-cancels-alphas-30424/.
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