CFP Superheroes of the Squared Circle - Chapter Contributors (7/15/2026)

Superheroes of the Squared Circle - Chapter Contributors

deadline for submissions:
July 15, 2026

full name / name of organization:
Forrest C. Helvie / CT State Community College

contact email:
forrest.helvie@ctstate.edu

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2026/06/12/superheroes-of-the-squared-circle-chapter-contributors



CALL FOR CONTRIBUTORS

Superheroes of the Squared Circle:

The Intersection of Comics and Professional Wrestling

An Edited Academic Collection for McFarland & Co. Publishing

Editor: Forrest C. Helvie, Ph.D.

Connecticut State Community College

About the Project

Professional wrestling and superhero comics have more in common than audiences might expect. Both rely on serialized storytelling, larger-than-life characters, clearly defined heroes and villains, and a shared grammar of spectacle and myth. Yet despite their obvious kinship, few sustained academic studies have examined the two forms side by side.

Superheroes of the Squared Circle aims to fill that gap. This edited collection will bring together essays that explore the rich connections between professional wrestling and superhero media — including comics, film, and television — from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. Contributors might examine narrative structure, character archetypes, cultural significance, performance, identity, or any number of other angles. The goal is a volume that is rigorous without being inaccessible, and that will appeal to both scholars and serious fans of either (or both) forms.

Topics of Interest

Essays may address, but are not limited to, the following:

• The history of professional wrestling and its parallels with superhero narrative traditions
• Kayfabe and comic book continuity: shared logics of suspension of disbelief
• Heels, babyfaces, and the villain-hero binary across wrestling and comics
• Wrestlers and their superhero analogs (e.g., Hulk Hogan and Superman; the nWo and the Punisher)
• Lucha libre and its intersections with Latin American superhero and comics traditions
• Japanese puroresu, manga, and anime: shared themes of perseverance, honor, and the heroic struggle
• Gender and representation in wrestling and superhero media
• Race, ethnicity, and identity in the ring and on the page
• The evolution of both forms in the streaming era (WWE on Netflix; the MCU, DCU, and The Boys)
• The crowd as character: audience, kayfabe, and participatory culture
• Wrestling's influence on superhero comics, film, and television — and vice versa
• Disability, body politics, and the superhero/wrestling ideal
• Comics adaptations of wrestling figures and promotions

Submission Guidelines

Interested contributors are invited to submit a proposal consisting of:A 250–300 word abstract describing the essay's argument, methodology, and significance
A brief contributor biography (100 words or fewer), including name and institutional affiliation (if applicable)

Accepted essays should be approximately 6,000–7,000 words (excluding references) and formatted according to the Chicago Manual of Style (author-date system).

Co-authored essays are welcome. AI co-created or fully AI-generated work will not be accepted.

Contributors will be responsible for securing reproduction permissions for any images used in their chapters. The editor will provide guidance on fair-use standards and publisher image specifications.

Proposed Timeline

• Abstract Deadline: July 15th, 2026
• Contributor Notifications: August 1st, 2026
• First Drafts Due: October 15, 2026
• Final Drafts Due: December 15, 2026
• Manuscript Delivered to Publisher: Jan/Feb 2027

About the Editor

Forrest C. Helvie, Ph.D. is a Full Professor of English at Connecticut State Community College and an experienced editor of academic collections in comics and popular culture studies. He has written about comics for Marvel.com, Newsarama, Sequart, and Popverse, and is the editor of How to Review and Analyze Comics (Sequart, 2021) and Superheroes and American Exceptionalism (McFarland, forthcoming 2026). He holds a Ph.D. in English Literature and teaches composition at the college level.

How to Submit

Please send abstracts and contributor bios to:

Forrest C. Helvie, Ph.D.

forrest.helvie@ctstate.edu

Please use the subject line: Squared Circle Submission — [Your Last Name]

Questions about the project are welcome. The editor is committed to building a diverse contributor pool that reflects the global reach of both professional wrestling and superhero media, and actively encourages submissions from scholars working in international, cross-cultural, and underrepresented perspectives.



Last updated June 12, 2026

CFP Rise and Fall of Comics and Cartoons, and the Popularity of Graphic Novels in India (7/20/2026)

Rise and Fall of Comics and Cartoons, and the Popularity of Graphic Novels in India

deadline for submissions:
July 20, 2026

full name / name of organization:
Mahatma Gandhi Central Univeristy

contact email:
deepak@mgcub.ac.in

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2026/06/18/rise-and-fall-of-comics-and-cartoons-and-the-popularity-of-graphic-novels-in-india

Indian comics, cartoons and graphic novels occupy a unique and dynamic space within the country's literary, visual, and cultural traditions of storytelling, especially among children. Earlier, cartooning was a Western monopoly, when Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Tom and Jerry were household names, which was later challenged by Japan’s Doraemon, Shin Chan, Kochikame, and Pokemon. India, until 1990, was a new but promising market, where most children preferred comics like Chacha Chaudhary, Tenali Raman, Akbar-Birbal, and Nagraj, as cable TV was not within reach of common people. By the mid-nineties, cable began reaching the common man, and the rise of cartoons and the decline of comics in India began with the launch of several cartoon channels, including Cartoon Network, Pogo, Nickelodeon, Hungama, Disney, Sony Yay, and Animax. These channels' established duopoly of West and Japan in Animation, and then entered Indian series like Chota Bheem and Motu-Patlu, which instantly captured the whole audience. As a result, several channels shut down operations, and now only two cartoon shows, Chota Bheem and Motu-Patlu, are shown all day, which further harms the Indian cartoon industry, as nothing new is created. Second, it limited children's options to only these two cartoons. Third, creating cartoon characters is costly, and most of their sources are in the West, which is already facing losses, resulting in a decline in the cartoon industry, especially after TikTok and Reels. In between, China has already emerged as a dominant player in the international market and captured the space left by Western and Japanese series with their Kung-Fu Panda series. As a result, China is gaining market share as Ne-Zha 2 breaks all previous earnings records.

By bringing diverse perspectives from across disciplines, this book aims to foster critical dialogue on the significance of Indian comics, cartoons, and graphic novels as both entertainment and cultural texts. Through this book, we understand how these genres illuminate the complexities of the past, present, and future, expanding the possibilities of storytelling in contemporary India.

Themes:

• The Evolution of Popular Visual Culture in India
• Rise and Fall of Comics
• Superheroes and common men
• Western and Japanese Cartoons in India
• History and Transformation of Japanese Cartoons
• Development of Chinese Cartoon Movies
• Sudden Rise Indian Cartoon
• Boom of Cartoon TV Channels
• Decline of the Indian Cartoon Industry
• Beginning of Graphic Novels
• Future of Cartoons and Graphic Novels

Kindly send an Abstract of 250 words at deepak@mgcub.ac.in by July 20, 2026

Bibliography

Dudrah, R. K., & Varughese, E. D. (2020). Graphic novels and visual cultures in South Asia. Routledge.

Jha, S., Gusain, A., & Krishnan, A. R. (2026). Documenting lives: Comics, representation, and activism across cultures. Springer.

Nayar, P. K. (2016). The Indian graphic novel: Nation, history and critique. Routledge.

Varughese, E. D. (2018). Visuality and identity in post-millennial Indian graphic narratives. Springer.





Whataspp Group:

https://chat.whatsapp.com/IdoPsvoCaL0L7RebTopJ9g


Last updated June 26, 2026

CFP Anthropocene Anxiety in Graphic Narratives (9/14/2025)

Anthropocene Anxiety in Graphic Narratives (An Edited Volume)

deadline for submissions: 

September 14, 2025

full name / name of organization: 

Arpan Mitra and Dr. Bidisha Kantha

contact email: 

framingclimatecrisis@gmail.com

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/07/14/anthropocene-anxiety-in-graphic-narratives-an-edited-volume

Editors: Arpan Mitra (Ph.D. Research Scholar, St. Xavier’s University) and Dr. Bidisha Kantha (Assistant Professor of English, Xavier Law School, St.  Xavier’s University, Kolkata)

Publisher: DeGruyter Brill has expressed initial interest in this collection

We inhabit an era defined by the Anthropocene—a geological epoch marked by humanity’s irreversible planetary impact. This reality has precipitated a distinct psychological condition: "Anthropocene Anxiety" (Albrecht, "Solastalgia" 95; Lertzman 42). Unlike conventional eco-concern, this anxiety embodies an existential crisis rooted in temporal dissonance: the collision between human experiential timescales and the vast, often imperceptible, geological timescales of environmental consequence (Nixon 2; Morton 1–5). It manifests as paralyzing awareness of crossed ecological thresholds, the dual identity of victim/perpetrator, and the tension between individual helplessness and systemic urgency.

            Graphic narratives (comics, graphic novels, manga, bandes dessinées) have emerged as uniquely potent media for exploring this condition. Their visual-textual hybridity enables simultaneous depiction of microscopic damage (e.g., microplastics) and macroscopic shifts (e.g., glacial melt), creating an "aesthetic of scale" (Demos 17) that mirrors the cognitive challenge of grasping planetary crisis. The sequential architecture—panels, gutters, and layout—formally embodies the intersection of "slow violence" (Nixon 2–10) and sudden catastrophe. Crucially, the participatory "closure" required in reading comics—where readers actively construct narrative continuity between panels—mirrors the cognitive and ethical work needed to process fragmented environmental realities and envision pathways forward (Chute 12–15; Postema 45–68). Comics thus function not merely as representations but as training grounds for Anthropocene thought and action.

            This edited collection on representation of “Anthropocene Anxiety”incomics and other graphic narratives, seeks to establish comics as indispensable sites for analysing contemporary environmental consciousness. It aims to bridge Comics Studies, Environmental Humanities, Climate Psychology, and Environmental Justice scholarship, offering innovative frameworks for academics and actionable insights for educators, therapists, artists, and activists.

            Building on foundational comics theory (Scott McCloud; Hillary L. Chute; Barbara Postema) and ecocriticism (Lawrence Buell; Rob Nixon), this collection advances scholarship through interdisciplinary synthesis:

• Affective Ecocriticism & Climate Psychology: Integrating emotion in environmental narrative (Alexa Weik von Mossner; Glenn Albrecht, Earth Emotions) with research on eco-grief, solastalgia, and climate anxiety (Renee Lertzman; Caroline Hickman et al.; American Psychological Association).
• Multispecies Studies & Extinction Studies: Exploring more-than-human entanglement, loss, and agency (Thom van Dooren; Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing; Robin Wall Kimmerer).
• Visual Culture & Anthropocene Critique: Engaging counter-hegemonic strategies for visualizing hyperobjects (Timothy Morton) and systemic crisis (T.J. Demos; Nicholas Mirzoeff).
• Environmental Justice & Decolonial Ecologies: Centring frontline, Indigenous, and Global South perspectives challenging Western Anthropocene narratives (Kyle Powys Whyte; Leanne Betasamosake Simpson; Andreas Malm; Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang).

We invite chapters that move beyond thematic analysis to leverage medium-specific affordances:

• How do panel transitions/gutters model environmental temporalities (slow/fast catastrophe)?
• How do layout, colour, and visual metaphor make the invisible (CO₂, extinction, toxicity) visceral?
• How does reader "closure" become ethical engagement with crisis?

            While eco-comics scholarship exists, no volume systematically analyses comics’ formal capacity to mediate Anthropocene Anxiety through their unique structure. We seek chapters (7,000–8,000 words) offering original, theoretically grounded analyses. Contributions should engage with 1–2 primary texts and cite recent scholarship (post-2015).

            To advance this inquiry, we propose five interconnected thematic frameworks exploring how comics formalize ecological crisis through their visual grammar. Contributors are invited to anchor their analyses in one of the following dimensions:

Section I: Theoretical Foundations of Eco-Visuality

• How do comics formalize Anthropocene Anxiety (temporal dissonance, solastalgia, pre-traumatic stress) via sequence, scale, and reader engagement?
• Comics as sites of "environmental testimony" (extending Hillary L. Chute): Visualizing the invisible (toxins, extinction) and ethical witness.
• Integrating affective ecocriticism (Alexa Weik von Mossner) and multispecies frameworks (Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing; Thom van Dooren).

Section II: Manifestations: Formalizing Crisis

• Catastrophe & Apocalypse: Visualizing collapse (rising seas, ruins). Formal techniques: fragmented panels, overwhelming splash pages, toxic colour palettes. Balancing slow violence (Rob Nixon) with sudden disaster.
• Extinction & Absence: Visualizing the Sixth Mass Extinction, "shifting baselines" (Daniel Pauly), and ecological grief. Strategies for depicting loss/haunting.
• Toxicity & Alienation: Visualizing "toxic discourse" (Lawrence Buell) in landscapes (sacrifice zones, industrial decay). Environmental illness, injustice, and psychological alienation.
• Intergenerational Trauma & Future Dread: Depicting burden on future generations; techniques for uncertainty, despair/hope tension, inherited crisis.

Section III: Global Perspectives: Justice, Knowledge, Resistance

• Global South & Climate Justice: Comics from frontline regions (Bangladesh, Pacific Islands, Amazon, Africa). Visualizing environmental racism, neo-colonial extraction, resistance, and the psychological toll of disproportionate impact.
• Indigenous Temporalities & Knowledges: Works by Indigenous artists. Visualizing cyclical/deep time, Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), resistance, ecological grief/healing. Challenging Western narratives.
• Postcolonial Ecologies: Visualizing colonial legacies in environmental degradation; resource extraction; decolonial futures.

Section IV: Genre Engagements: Narrative Strategies

• Superheroes: Limits of individual heroism vs. systemic collapse; environmental powers/corruption; wish fulfilment vs. critique.
• Memoir/Autobiography: Personalizing the planetary; visualizing eco-consciousness, illness, activism; trauma/testimony balance.
• Science Fiction/Speculative: World-building environmental futures (dystopian/utopian/adaptive); socio-ecological transformation; justice.
• Comics Journalism/Documentary: Visualizing data/testimony; ethics of crisis representation; advocacy strategies.

Section V: Applications: Pedagogy, Therapy, Agency

• Pedagogy: Using comics in environmental education (K–12 to adult); balancing honesty with psychological safety; fostering agency/critical hope.
• Young Adult Narratives: How YA climate comics help adolescents process anxiety, build identity, and visualize action.
• Therapeutic Frameworks: Comics as bibliotherapy for climate anxiety/eco-grief; facilitating processing; building resilience/community.

Submission Guidelines

Contributors should submit chapter proposals of 500-700 words addressing four key components. First, proposals must articulate a central argument and theoretical framework, drawing from relevant fields including ecocriticism, climate psychology, comics formalism, or decolonial studies. Second, authors should identify their primary graphic narrative(s) for analysis with appropriate rationale. Third, proposals must demonstrate contribution to one of five thematic sections. Fourth, engagement with recent scholarship from 2015 onwards is required.

            Proposals must emphasize medium-specific analysis examining elements such as panel transitions, visual metaphor, and reader closure. Authors should address how comics uniquely mediate Anthropocene Anxiety through their formal properties. A 150-word biographical note must accompany each proposal.

            Submissions should be sent to framingclimatecrisis@gmail.com by September 14th, 2025. Contributors will receive notification of acceptance by September 25, 2025. Full chapters are due February 15, 2026, followed by peer review and final revisions. Direct queries to mitra.arpan2023@gmail.com.

"The struggle is to make the crisis visible" (Nixon 17). Graphic narratives offer unparalleled tools for this struggle. We welcome your innovative scholarship.

Works Cited

Albrecht, Glenn. Earth Emotions: New Words for a New World. Cornell UP, 2019.

---. "Solastalgia: A New Concept in Human Health and Identity." PAN: Philosophy Activism Nature, no. 3, 2005, pp. 41–55.

American Psychological Association. Mental Health and Our Changing Climate. APA, 2017.

Buell, Lawrence. Writing for an Endangered World. Harvard UP, 2001.
Chute, Hillary L. Disaster Drawn: Visual Witness, Comics, and Documentary Form. Harvard UP, 2016.

Demos, T.J. Against the Anthropocene: Visual Culture and Environment Today. Sternberg Press, 2017.

Hickman, Caroline, et al. "Climate Anxiety in Children and Young People..." The Lancet Planetary Health, vol. 5, no. 12, 2021, pp. e863–e873.

Kimmerer, Robin Wall. Braiding Sweetgrass. Milkweed Editions, 2013.

Lertzman, Renee. Environmental Melancholia. Routledge, 2015.

Malm, Andreas. Fossil Capital. Verso, 2016.

McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics. HarperPerennial, 1994.

Mirzoeff, Nicholas. "It’s Not the Anthropocene..." After Extinction, U of Minnesota P, 2018.

Morton, Timothy. Hyperobjects. U of Minnesota P, 2013.

Nixon, Rob. Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor. Harvard UP, 2011.

Pauly, Daniel. "Anecdotes and the Shifting Baseline..." Trends in Ecology & Evolution, vol. 10, no. 10, 1995, p. 430.

Postema, Barbara. Narrative Structure in Comics. RIT Press, 2013.

Simpson, Leanne Betasamosake. As We Have Always Done. U of Minnesota P, 2017.

Tsing, Anna Lowenhaupt. The Mushroom at the End of the World. Princeton UP, 2015.

Tuck, Eve, and K. Wayne Yang. "Decolonization is Not a Metaphor." Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, vol. 1, no. 1, 2012, pp. 1–40.

van Dooren, Thom. Flight Ways. Columbia UP, 2014.

Weik von Mossner, Alexa. Affective Ecologies. Ohio State UP, 2017.

Whyte, Kyle Powys. "Indigenous Climate Change Studies..." English Language Notes, vol. 55, 2017, pp. 153–62.

Last updated July 17, 2025

CFP Children's Literature and Graphic Narrative (10/1/2025)

Children's Literature and Graphic Narrative

deadline for submissions:
October 1, 2025

full name / name of organization:
Routledge

contact email:
ahalsall@yorku.ca

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/07/08/childrens-literature-and-graphic-narrative

In recent years, publishers and children’s book professionals have registered a new enthusiasm for comic and graphic narrative forms. Graphic narratives as children’s literature offer an exciting new type of text for children and youth, providing important insights into the interests and capabilities of these youngsters as readers and as potential agents of change. Curiously, children’s literature criticism has tended to ignore or, at best, marginalize comics and graphic narratives for young people. This “blind spot” in children’s literature and comics criticism, as Charles Hatfield has called it on a number of occasions, is now being addressed.

This reference text, Children's Literature and Graphic Narrative, will be a part of Routledge’s exciting new series, Introductions to YA and Children’s Literature. This volume, aimed at graduates / undergraduates new to the field as well as scholars of children’s literature and graphic narrative, will balance foundational information about these two fields and key topics with new developments and trends related to children’s literature and graphic narrative, broadly described.

Please consider submitting a proposal!

Chapter-length submissions may consider issues such as the following but are not limited by these suggestions:

• Format / target audience / length;
• The blend of word and image / different illustrative traditions;
• The lived experiences of childhood(s) and youth;
• Politics / politics of childhood / political activism / social justice;
• Race and ethnicity / diverse youth stories / immigration stories / migrant comics, refugee stories / postcolonial comics;
• Climate change / climate activism;
• Ideas of disability (physical, emotional, educational, etc.) / mental health;
• Indigenous comics; comics and Indigeneity;
• Adaptations / transmedial storytelling;
• Genres (superheroes; science fiction; romance; funny animal stories, etc.);
• Manga, shōnen (boys’ manga) and shōjo (girls’ manga); Tokyopop;
• Sex and sexuality / intersectionality / girlhood / boyhood / LGBTQ+ / queerness, etc.;
• Class and labor;
• Censorship / book bans;
• Comic book prizes and awards;
• Digital comics for kids;
• Series

Please send a 300-word proposal and 50-word short bio (as MS Word documents) by 1 October 2025 to Alison Halsall at ahalsall@yorku.ca. All submissions will be acknowledged.

Full chapter length academic submissions: approximately 15-18 pages double-spaced, 12-point font, addressing both a scholarly and an advanced general reader.

Contributors’ first drafts will be due by 1 February 2026, and final drafts by 1 April 2026 for a possible summer 2027 publication date.

Contributors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce images in their article and must pay permission costs. Permissions must be cleared before publication. Please send low-resolution images (small .jpegs) in separate attachments. If the article is accepted, high-quality images will be required.



Last updated July 14, 2025

CFP Critical Readings on the Silver Surfer (1/31/2026)

Critical Readings on the Silver Surfer

deadline for submissions:
January 31, 2026

full name / name of organization:
Mike Lemon and Rob Weiner

contact email:
mike.lemon@ttu.edu

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/07/08/critical-readings-on-the-silver-surfer

Since his debut in Fantastic Four #48, the Silver Surfer has become an integral part of Marvel Comic’s sprawling universe. In his six-decade existence, the character has been featured in merchandise and Marvel’s transmedia properties, including cartoons, movies, video games, and podcasts.

While there exists a smattering of academic research on the Silver Surfer, this edited collection welcomes differing perspectives on this character. We welcome contributions from different disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives, including comics studies, film and media studies, communication, theology, literary criticism, and so on.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• Silver Surfer’s role in Marvel’s space operas.
• Silver Surfer as a messianic figure.
• Silver Surfer as colonizer, post-colonial figure, or something in between.
• Surfer as “Other.”
• His relationship with other characters (Galactus, Heralds of Galactus, Fantastic Four, Thanos, Thor, Hulk, Dr. Doom, symbiotes, etc.).
• His relationship with different superhero teams (Fantastic Four, Defenders, Guardians of the Galaxy, etc.).
• His portrayal by creative teams (Lee/Kirby, Lee/Moebius, Straczynski/Ribic, Slott/Allred, etc.).
• Stand-alone graphic novels
• AU Surfer (Fantastic Four: First Steps/Shaballa, Ultimates, What If?, Marvel Zombies, DC/Marvel crossovers, etc.).
• Surfer’s transmedia portrayals (Animated Series, Films, Video Games, Novels, etc.).

Interested contributors are requested to submit their proposals (250–400-word abstract, 100–150-word bio, and 5-6 key words) to Rob Weiner (rob.weiner@ttu.edu) and Mike Lemon (mike.lemon@ttu.edu) by January 31st, 2026.



Last updated July 8, 2025

CFP Avengers Disassembled: The Marvel Cinematic Universe Post-Endgame (4/1/2025)

Avengers Disassembled: The Marvel Cinematic Universe Post-Endgame

deadline for submissions:
April 1, 2025

full name / name of organization:
Dr Terence McSweeney, Dr Stuart Joy, Dr Adam Vaughan, Southampton Solent University

contact email:
terence.mcsweeney@solent.ac.uk

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/01/03/avengers-disassembled-the-marvel-cinematic-universe-post-endgame. 

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is the most financially successful franchise in film history. Between 2008 and 2019 not only did it become a commercial behemoth, redefining the landscape of blockbuster cinema, but also a cultural phenomenon, delighting fans all around the globe. Yet post-Avengers: Endgame (2019) and the conclusion of “The Infinity Saga,” the MCU has struggled to maintain the same level of success and no longer resonates with audiences the way it once did. The MCU, and the wider superhero genre, has faced mounting criticism from fans, critics and even notable industry professionals on a wide range of issues. This decline has sparked critical debate across the industry: has the MCU suffered from franchise burn out? Has the MCU become overly reliant on nostalgia and fan service? Has Martin Scorsese’s criticism of the MCU as “theme park” cinema been proven true? Has the MCU “gone woke” and what impact has this had on the films and TV shows produced?

This edited collection will explore the coordinates of this shifting landscape by charting film and television productions of the MCU post-Avengers: Endgame. Accordingly, the editors seek dynamic and vibrant essays on the MCU phenomenon for publication in a book currently entitled Avengers Disassembled: The Marvel Cinematic Universe Post-Endgame and invite proposals for essays of approximately 7000 words.

We welcome proposals on

individual films and televisions shows

films and TV shows grouped together by a particular theme (representation, industrial, cultural etc.)

characters that span multiple films and television shows

issues that the MCU has faced (narrative, technological, critical, cultural)

Films and Television Shows to be included in the collection

Films: Black Widow (2021), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), Eternals (2021), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2023), Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), The Marvels (2023), Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), Captain America: Brave New World (2025).

TV Shows: WandaVision (2021), The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021), Loki (2021-23), Hawkeye (2021), Moon Knight (2022), Ms. Marvel (2022), She Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022), Secret Invasion (2023), What If… (2022-4), Echo (2024), Agatha All Along (2024), Daredevil: Born Again (2025), Ironheart (2025).

About Us

The volume is edited by

Terence McSweeney, the author of Avengers Assemble! Critical Perspectives on the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Wallflower, 2018) and the award-winning Black Panther: Interrogating a Cultural Phenomenon (Mississippi University Press, 2021). Terence’s new book will be published by Bloomsbury in 2025 and is entitled Battleground: Culture Wars in Trump Era American Film.

Stuart Joy, the author of The Traumatic Screen: The Films of Christopher Nolan (Intellect, 2020) and co-editor of The Cinema of Christopher Nolan: Imagining the Impossible (Wallflower, 2015).

Adam Vaughan, the author of Doing Documentary, Becoming Subjects: Performance and Performativity in Contemporary Nonfiction (Edinburgh University Press, 2025) and has published chapters and articles on subjects such as LGBTQIA+ representation in contemporary American film, migration in European documentary, and the sex scene in nonfiction film.

Terence and Stuart have previously edited three collections together: James Bond Will Return Critical Perspectives on the 007 Film Franchise (Wallflower Press, 2024: with Claire Hines), Contemporary American Cinema: The Science Fiction Film (Routledge, 2022) and Through the Black Mirror: Reflections on ‘the Side Effects’ of the Digital Age (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019).

Deadlines 

The deadline for proposals will be 1st April 2025

Draft chapters of 7,000 - 8,000 words are due on or before 1st September 2025

Final versions in early 2026

Please send 500-word proposals (including a provisional title), along with a CV, to Terence McSweeney (terence.mcsweeney@solent.ac.uk), Stuart Joy (stuart.joy@solent.ac.uk) and Adam Vaughan (adam.vaughan@solent.ac.uk) by 1stApril 2025.  Queries are welcome should there be questions about appropriate submission topics, perspectives and dates. Please note that invitation to submit a full essay does not guarantee inclusion in the volume.


Last updated January 6, 2025