Editors: Jim Iaccino, Cory Barker, and Myc Wiatrowski
In just two years on the air, the CW’s Arrow has garnered both fan and critical acclaim for its ambitious storytelling, well-produced action sequences, and solid performances. Arrow’s stories and characters offer opportunities for discussions of justice and vigilantism, masculinity, dual identities, and aesthetics. Furthermore, the series has thrived in adapting DC Comics stories and characters to television, but also in translating the spirit and stylistic flourishes of comics to the televisual medium. Arrow therefore also raises important questions about media franchising, adaptation, medium specificity, and industry trends. As a young series, very little has been written about Arrow in academic circles. This collection of essays seeks to provide the opening large-scale investigation into the CW series and examine Arrow from multiple perspectives and disciplines.
Potential topics for discussion include, but are not limited to:
- Representations of masculinity, femininity, race, sexuality, class, and family within Arrow
- Explorations of justice, violence, the greater good, and morality within Arrow
- Examinations of secret (and dual) identities, teamwork, and secret keeping within Arrow
- Deceptions of a “realistic” superhero story and the slow introduction of more fantastical elements within Arrow
- Arrow’s narrative techniques, including the preponderance of flashbacks and serialization
- Arrow’s fight choreography and action set pieces
- Chapters discussing individual episodes or story arcs within Arrow
- Chapters discussing particular character arcs or relationships (Oliver-Felicity, Oliver-Slade, Thea-Roy, etc.) within Arrow
- Arrow as an adaptation of the pre-existing Green Arrow stories and its employment of characters and arcs from the larger DC Comics universe
- Evolution of the Arrow figure from the Smallville series to the current show
- Arrow as part of the recent push for superhero series on television (including comparisons between Arrow and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Arrow and The Flash)
- Critical reception to Arrow
- Arrow themes in popular culture
- Fan readings, productions, and activities related to and about Arrow
This collection is under contract with McFarland, so all that remains is securing the contributions in a timely fashion for a planned text publication in late 2015-early 2016.
The deadline for proposals of 500 words is August 31, 2014. Please email your abstract and a brief bio to jiaccino@thechicagoschool.edu. Please put “Arrow Abstract” in the subject line. If an abstract is selected for the collection, full essays of 5,000-7,000 words will be due by December 1, 2014.
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