CFP Superhero-Con Symposium (10/17/2026; PCEA 4/10/2027)

Superhero-Con Symposium

deadline for submissions:
April 10, 2027

full name / name of organization:
Pennsylvania College English Association

contact email:
pceaconference2027@gmail.com

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2026/07/10/superhero-con-symposium



The rise of the superhero is one of the most significant cultural developments of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Since the debut of Superman in Action Comics #1 (April 18, 1938), superheroes have evolved from colorful comic-book figures into powerful global symbols that shape conversations about politics, morality, identity, technology, gender, race, mythology, trauma, and resistance. What began with the imaginative vision of Jerry Siegel (writer) and Joe Shuster (artist) has expanded into a worldwide phenomenon spanning comics, film, television, literature, gaming, digital media, and academic discourse.



The Superhero Symposium: Exploring the Cultural Significance of Heroes Across Texts and Cultures invites scholars, educators, students, artists, and fans to explore the enduring significance of heroes and superheroes across texts and cultures. This interdisciplinary symposium seeks to examine how heroes, especially superheroes, reflect societal anxieties and aspirations while simultaneously redefining concepts of justice, power, humanity, and even heroism itself. We welcome proposals (250-300 words) that engage with superheroes and other heroes through literary criticism, cultural studies, rhetoric, philosophy, psychology, media studies, mythology, history, pedagogy, gender studies, political theory, or related disciplines.



Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• The evolution of the superhero genre
• Heroes/superheroes and mythology
• Race, gender, and representation in comics and film
• Trauma, identity, and the dual self
• Heroes/superheroes as political or ideological symbols
• Fan culture and participatory media
• Adaptation from comic page to screen
• Ethics, vigilantism, and justice
• Global heroes/superheroes and transnational narratives
• Teaching heroes/superheroes in the classroom

Along with presentations on our super theme, the symposium also welcomes traditional papers, roundtable discussions, creative presentations and readings, as well as multimedia projects. Join us as we examine the stories and symbols that continue to shape modern culture and redefine what it means to be heroic.



Proposal Due Date: Saturday, 17 October 2026



Proposal Email: pceaconference2027@gmail.com



PCEA Website for Conference Information: Home | pcea-online v2



Last updated July 10, 2026

CFP Superhero Project: 10th Global Meeting (3/31/2026; East Sussex, UK 9/4-6/2026)

REMINDER: SUPERVILLAINS & ANTI-HEROES (The Superhero Project: 10th Global Meeting )

deadline for submissions:
March 31, 2026

full name / name of organization:
The Superhero Project

contact email:
t.caeners@superheroproject.net

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2026/01/14/reminder-supervillains-anti-heroes-the-superhero-project-10th-global-meeting

CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS

The Superhero Project: 10th Global Meeting

SUPERVILLAINS & ANTI-HEROES

Friday 4th to Sunday 6th September 2026

The View Hotel, Eastbourne, East Sussex, United Kingdom



“I don’t want to kill you! What would I do without you? Go back to ripping off mob dealers? No, no, no! No. You… you… complete… me.” – The Joker (The Dark Knight, 2008)



Superheroes may be defined by their powers, their never-ending battles and their distinct identities, but they are measured against the threats and challenges presented by their foes… the supervillains. Be they megalomaniacal billionaires (Lex Luthor), universe-threatening Titans (Thanos, Galactus), mad clowns (The Joker), sentient AI (Brainiac) or gigantic monsters (Starro The Conqueror), they constantly test the superhero’s mettle via nefarious deeds and ceaseless schemes for world domination.



Essential to superhero narratives and discourse within the genre, supervillains have become increasingly nuanced characters, often providing a lens to deconstruct the superhero (does Batman inadvertently attract his flamboyant villains?) while in some cases, traversing from villainy to heroism (the MCU’s Loki).



Alongside this, the Modern Age of Comics, now in its fifth decade, has seen the superhero defined by a substantial increase in anti-heroic traits, sparked by The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen in the mid-1980’s. Today, anti-heroes are a prominent and highly popular part of superhero landscape via the likes of The Punisher, Harley Quinn, Deadpool, The Boys and Agatha Harkness, while on the big screen, the genre’s most prominent characters embrace anti-heroic traits as they become ever-more aligned with action hero tropes.



For its milestone 10th anniversary edition, The Superhero Project invites exploration and discussion of the challenges, opportunities, successes and failures of supervillains and anti-heroes throughout the entire range of topics covered by the superhero discourse across all media (comics, TV, Film, theme parks, video games…).



Indicative themes for exploration include:

Villains and Anti-heroes in comics
Villains and Anti-heroes in film, television and video games
Subversion, Parody and Pastiche through anti-heroes and villains
Gender and villains / anti-heroes
Origin Stories and / of villains and anti-heroes
Villains and anti-heroes as elements/functions in world building
Explorations of the relationship between superheroes and villains/anti-heroes
Explorations of relationships among villains/anti-heroes
Transmedial negotiations of villains and anti-heroes
Multiversal negotiations of villain and anti-hero characters
Costumes and Iconography of villains and anti-heroes
Identity construction of and though villains and anti-heroes
Depiction and Functionalisation of Villains and anti-heroes in Theme Parks
Villains and anti-hero cosplay



BONUS STRANDS! 2026 marks the fortieth anniversaries of WATCHMEN and THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, both seminal texts which immediately prompted a sea change in the tone of superhero narratives and potently infused the genre with antiheroic traits which still dominate the genre to this day, across mediums. We welcome papers exploring the impact and legacy of these two vastly influential works.



WHAT TO SEND

300 word abstracts should be submitted by Tuesday 31 March, 2026 to the following email addresses: t.caeners@superheroproject.net and m.j.laird@superheroproject.net.



Emails should be entitled: SUPER X Abstract Submission.



All other Superhero Project enquires should be sent to t.caeners@superheroproject.net.



Abstracts should be submitted simultaneously to both emails, abstracts should be in MS Word formats with the following information and in this order: a) author(s), b) affiliation as you would like it to appear in the programme, c) email address, d) title of proposal, e) body of proposal, f) up to 10 keywords.



Accepted proposals will be notified by Monday 13th April 2026.



We acknowledge receipt and answer to all proposals submitted. If you do not receive a reply from us in a week, you should assume we did not receive your proposal. If this is the case, please do resent to both email addresses. If you have any questions, the team will be only too happy to assist.



Danny Graydon (Founder and President) d.graydon@superheroproject.net

Dr Torsten Caeners (Vice President) t.caeners@superheroproject.net

Mikayla J. Laird (Information Manager) m.j.laird@superheroproject.net



Last updated March 2, 2026

CFP NeMLA 2026 Roundtable - Villains Reborn: Redemption and (Re)Generation of Comic Book Antagonists (9/30/2025; NeMLA Pittsburgh 3/5-8/2025)

NeMLA 2026 Roundtable - Villains Reborn: Redemption and (Re)Generation of Comic Book Antagonists

deadline for submissions:
September 30, 2025

full name / name of organization:
Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA) | Sydney Nelson and Josie Kochendorfer

contact email:
lvfx@iup.edu

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/06/17/nemla-2026-roundtable-villains-reborn-redemption-and-regeneration-of-comic-book

From brainwashed assassins to complicated anti-heroes to villains on a redemption arc, comic books, films, television, and novels frequently present readers with complicated antagonists-turned-superheroes, many of which become beloved characters. Through varied processes of regeneration, former antagonists remake themselves into superheroes in fascinating and often unexpected ways.

This roundtable seeks to engage with comic antagonists-turned-superheroes, exploring how such characters are regenerated, what regeneration reveals that a ‘traditional’ superhero origin story may not, and why we find these characters or stories so compelling. We also welcome scholarship on characters who eventually revert to villainy, are disingenuous heroes, or otherwise act in ‘non-heroic’ ways after becoming a hero.

Proposals might engage with or go beyond the following questions: Why do former antagonists turn to heroism? Is heroism and villainy a binary? How do antagonists-turned-heroes comment on our past history or present reality? How might this regeneration offer opportunities for positive or negative representation around race, disability, mental illness, etc.? How does the regenerative process absolve or fail to absolve characters of past transgressions? And who decides their absolution?

Proposals should focus on superhero comics, television, and/or films and might consider individual characters, teams, story arcs, and/or historical references.



This roundtable will be held during the 2026 NeMLA Conference taking place March 5-8, 2026 in Pittsburgh, PA and will be in-person only. This roundtable format will be somewhat informal 5-10 minute presentations with time for discussion and debate.

Submit abstracts of no more than 300 words and a short biography via the NeMLA site at https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/21763 no later than September 30, 2025.

Please contact Sydney Nelson (lvfx@iup.edu) or Josie Kochendorfer (bpsdc@iup.edu) with any questions.


Last updated June 18, 2025

CFP Comics Arts Conference San Diego 2025 (2/1/2025; San Diego 7/24-27/2025)

 

Comics Arts Conference San Diego

deadline for submissions: 

February 1, 2025

full name / name of organization: 

Comics Arts Conference

contact email: 

comicsartsconference@gmail.com

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2024/12/27/comics-arts-conference-san-diego.

The Comics Arts Conference is now accepting 100 to 200 word abstracts for papers, presentations, and panels taking a critical or historical perspective on comics (juxtaposed images in sequence) for a meeting of scholars and professionals at Comic-Con International, in San Diego, CA, July 24–27, 2025.  We seek proposals from a broad range of disciplinary and theoretical perspectives and welcome the participation of academic and independent scholars.  We also encourage the involvement of professionals from all areas of the comics industry, including creators, editors, publishers, retailers, distributors, and journalists.  The CAC is presently scheduled to take place in person and does not accept virtual presentations.  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 includes the public.  Proposals are due February 1, 2025, to our online submission portal at  https://forms.gle/Udbe4uYkczpofd8U8 or via email.  For more information, please contact Kathleen McClancy at comicsartsconference@gmail.com or see our website at https://comicsartsconference.wp.txstate.edu.

categories

american

cultural studies and historical approaches

general announcements

popular culture

twentieth century and beyond

Last updated January 2, 2025

CFP Graphic Novels, Comics, and Popular Culture Area (10/31/2022; SWPACA 2/22-25/2023)

Call for Papers

Graphic Novels, Comics, and Popular Culture

Southwest Popular / American Culture Association (SWPACA)

44th Annual Conference, February 22-25, 2023

Marriott Albuquerque

Albuquerque, New Mexico

http://www.southwestpca.org

Submissions open on August 15, 2022

Proposal submission deadline: October 31, 2022



Proposals for papers and panels are now being accepted for the 44th annual SWPACA conference. One of the nation’s largest interdisciplinary academic conferences, SWPACA offers nearly 70 subject areas, each typically featuring multiple panels. For a full list of subject areas, area descriptions, and Area Chairs, please visit http://southwestpca.org/conference/call-for-papers/



The area chair seeks presentation proposals on formal, cultural, historical, and theoretical dimensions of sequential art in all its forms (comics, graphic novels, anime, etc.).



Presentations may focus on a single work, put works into productive conversation with one another, or investigate relationships between works of sequential art and their transmedia adaptations; in the latter case, however, significant emphasis should be placed on sequential art – those proposals focusing too much on film, television, gaming, or other formats will not be read favorably.



Authors may also submit field-provoking critical literature reviews intended to reframe scholarly discussion around major disciplinary themes or questions, works of sequential art history or historiography, ethnographic work concerning sequential art audiences, studies of the sequential art industry’s political economy, or investigations into new forms of sequential art storytelling, consumption, distribution, or marketing.



All proposals must be submitted through the conference’s database at http://register.southwestpca.org/southwestpca



For details on using the submission database and on the application process in general, please see the Proposal Submission FAQs and Tips page at http://southwestpca.org/conference/faqs-and-tips/



Individual proposals for 15-minute papers must include an abstract of approximately 200-500 words. Including a brief bio in the body of the proposal form is encouraged, but not required.



For information on how to submit a proposal for a roundtable or a multi-paper panel, please view the above FAQs and Tips page.



The deadline for submissions is October 31, 2022.



SWPACA offers monetary awards for the best graduate student papers in a variety of categories. Submissions of accepted, full papers are due January 1, 2023. SWPACA also offers travel fellowships for undergraduate and graduate students. For more information, visit http://southwestpca.org/conference/graduate-student-awards/



Registration and travel information for the conference will be available at http://southwestpca.org/conference/conference-registration-information/

For 2023, we are excited to be at a new venue, the Marriott Albuquerque (2101 Louisiana Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110), which boasts free parking and close proximity to dining, shopping, and other delights.



In addition, please check out the organization’s peer-reviewed, scholarly journal, Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy, at http://journaldialogue.org/



If you have any questions about the Graphic Novels, Comics, and Popular Culture area, please contact its Area Chair, Rob Peaslee (Texas Tech University, robert.peaslee@ttu.edu). If you have general questions about the conference, please contact us at support@southwestpca.org, and a member of the executive team will get back to you.



We look forward to receiving your submissions!