CFP Essays on the Punisher (expired)

A final expired call for the night. This is also on a much-needed topic. I wish them luck in finalizing the project.

Essays on the Punisher
https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2017/11/06/essays-on-the-punisher

deadline for submissions:
January 31, 2018

full name / name of organization:
Texas Tech University

contact email:
rob.weiner@ttu.edu



The Punisher: Judge, Jury, and Executioner

Edited by Matthew McEinry, Alicia Goodman, Ryan Cassidy, and Robert G. Weiner


With Netflix’s The Punisher being released in November 2017, it is apparent that a character like the Punisher has a certain kind of widespread appeal. The Punisher was played with great acclaim in Netflix’s Daredevil Season 2 by Jon Bernthal. There were, however, three previous Punisher movies of varying quality dating back to 1989. None of the previous Punisher films did blockbuster business, although 2004’s The Punisher and The Punisher War Zone (2008) were successful on home video.

Created by Gerry Conway, John Romita, and Ross Andru (with help from Stan Lee) in 1974, The Punisher appeared at a time when the idea of vengeance was permeating our popular culture with films like Death Wish and the Dirty Harry series. The character first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #129, but quickly grew to be a favorite among fans and eventually earned his own series, which continues to the present day. The Punisher is judge, jury, and executioner and is considered by many of the heroes in the Marvel Universe to be morally questionable if not outright villainous.

The editors of this volume seek original essays on the character of the Punisher in his various iterations in popular culture, including the Netflix series, films, video games, animated series, and, of course, the comics. We seek tight essays of around 3,000-4,500 that explain why the Punisher continues to be a popular character.


Possible topics include:

• The Punisher in Vietnam
• Why the three previous Punisher Films failed to garner blockbuster status, but did well on video?
• What is the morality of the Punisher? Is the Punisher justified in his crusade against criminals?
• Punisher fan films like Dirty Laundry and what do they tell us about the character?
• Netflix’s version of the Punisher
• The Punisher in kid-friendly shows like Super Hero Squad.
• The modern Punisher in the comics
• How has the character evolved over the years?
• How did the different writers (Garth Ennis, Chuck Dixon, Steven Grant, Greg Rucka, Archie Goodwin, and Mike Baron) envision the character?
• The Punisher in Marvel’s Civil War.
• The Punisher’s relationship to the rest of the Marvel Universe and specific characters e.g., Daredevil, Spider-Man, Captain America, Wolverine, and Nick Fury.
• Is the Punisher a villain or a hero?
• The Punisher in the Ultimate Universe
• The Punisher in video games
• What is the Punisher’s relationship to police, the military, S.H.E.I.L.D., etc.?
• Analysis of the Black Widow/Punisher animated film.
• 1980s Punisher stories that avoided the Comics Code
• What does the continued popularity of the character say about humanity?
• The Punisher and feminism (female characters in the series)

These are only a few of the topics related to the Punisher. Please send a 200-300 word abstract to alicia.goodman@ttu.edu and matthew.mceniry@ttu.edu by January 31, 2018.


Please note: We plan to shop this volume around for peer review after it is completed. Acceptance of abstract does not necessarily [sic]

CFP Unmasking Masculinity: Superheroes and Defeating the Power of Patriarchy (expired)

With apologies once again. Here is a further expired call.

Unmasking Masculinity: Superheroes and Defeating the Power of Patriarchy
https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2018/04/11/unmasking-masculinity-superheroes-and-defeating-the-power-of-patriarchy

deadline for submissions:
May 7, 2018

full name / name of organization:
Sean Parson

contact email:
Sean.parson@nau.edu



We are seeking 300-500 word abstracts by May 7th, 2018 for possible inclusion into an edited collection seeking to explore the complex relationship between masculinity, toxic masculinity, gender, queerness, and superhero narratives. Over the last few years there have been books that that explore issues of feminism, gender, and sexuality within comic books but rarely have they engaged with the way the genre shapes and is shaped by contemporary conceptions of masculinity. This project is meant to fill that absence focusing on the construction of the masculinity in comics, as well as engage with critical works that deconstruct toxic version of masculinity or offer queerer, trans, and feminist counter-narratives of the concept.


While superheroes have historically been understood as a “male” genre, focusing primarily on militarism, violence, and traditional gender roles and tropes to move narratives forward, in recent years, there have been a slate of critical and feminist superhero series that have shaped the conversation around gender within the genre. While the inclusion of feminist and female perspectives is essential for the genre, and long overdue, there has been less of a focus on version of masculinity portrayed within the genre and the ways in which counter-narratives of masculinity have, or could, be developed. At a time when concepts like, toxic masculinity, are no longer merely academic phrases, but popularly understood concepts, its time to deconstruct masculinity as it appears on the page, the screen, the TV


This edited book will be peer reviewed and will be submitted, although this contract won’t be secured until all abstracts are chosen. We are interested not only in the present controversies and debates within the field of masculinity but also in expanding the debate and discussion on the topics of superheroes to engage beyond traditional conversations of masculinity to include queer and trans perspectives. Possible topics might include:

• Abelism 
• Animal activism
• Body image 
• Comic Studies
• Communication 
• Critical Race theory 
• Emotional labor 
• Feminist Theory
• Friendships 
• Film Analysis and theory 
• History of Gender in comics 
• Intersectionality 
• Marxist Analysis
• Marriage 
• Media Studies 
• Militarism 
• Notions of becoming
• Queer Theory 
• Post/Trans humanism 
•  Sexuality
• Social Reproduction 
• Television 
• Trans issues in comics 
• Violence

Please direct any questions and 300-500 word abstracts along with a 150 word bio to Dr. JL Schatz (debate@binghamton.edu) and Dr. Sean Parson (sean.parson@nau.edu) by May 7th, 2018. Final pieces will be approximately 5,000 to 7,000 words.


We will notify authors of their acceptance no later than May 21st, 2018.

CFP Edited Collection: BOOM! #*@&! Splat: Comics and Violence (expired)

Sorry. Yet another missed call.

Edited Collection: BOOM! #*@&! Splat: Comics and Violence
https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2018/04/11/edited-collection-boom-splat-comics-and-violence

deadline for submissions:
May 31, 2018

full name / name of organization:
Jo Davis-McElligatt, PhD & Jim Coby, PhD

contact email:
joannacdavis@gmail.com



BOOM! #*@&! Splat: Comics and Violence

In the introduction to Seduction of the Innocent, Frederic Wertham suggested that “chronic stimulation, temptation and seduction by comic books [...] are contributing factors to many children’s maladjustment” (10). Anxious that children would be forever corrupted by the content of comics, Wertham identified representations and structures of violence as among his primary objections to comics narrative: “Here is violence galore, violence in the beginning, in the middle, and at the end” (8). Though anxieties regarding representations of violence in comics have largely fallen to the wayside, thematic and symbolic visual depictions of violence remain central to the comics form. From Captain America punching his way into the American consciousness to Phoebe Gloeckner’s depictions of sexual abuse, violence is an integral aspect of the comic medium. Though scholars such as Hillary Chute, Harriet Earle, and Martin Barker have addressed specific trends and/or themes related to violence in comics, such as war, trauma, horror comics, no sustained scholarly inquiry has yet to address this issue.

Our collection, in taking an inclusive and wide-ranging approach to both violence and comics, seeks to understand how the confluence of words and images might ask readers to consider violence in ways unique to the medium. We welcome scholarship from academics of comics and other fields alike. A notable academic press has expressed enthusiastic interest in this project.

Potential avenues for exploration include:

• Form and structure elements (i.e., symbolia, jagged speech balloons, emanata)
• Receptions of violence in comics genres (e.g., horror, superhero, war, and adventure)
• Cultural production and contexts
• Cartoon and slapstick violence (e.g., Krazy Kat, Calvin and Hobbes)
• Comics and war/witness (e.g., Joe Sacco, Marjane Satrapi, Art Spiegelman)
• Physical and psychological family violence (e.g. Alison Bechdel, Craig Thompson, Will Eisner)
• Sexual violence (e.g., Phoebe Gloeckner, Justin Green)
• Superhero violence (e.g., Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Jack Kirby, Marvel/DC)
• History and violence (e.g., John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, & Nate Powell, Keiji Nakazawa, Chester Brown)
• The grotesque and/or bizarre (e.g., Daniel Clowes, Jason, Charles Burns)
• Pedagogical approaches to teaching violence in comics

Interested parties should submit bio of 150-200 words and an abstract of approximately 300-500 words to Joanna Davis-McElligatt (jcdmce@louisiana.edu) and Jim Coby (james.coby@uah.edu) by May 31. Contributors will be notified no later than July 30. Completed essay drafts (4000-5000 words) will be due December 15th, 2018.