Here is the complete listing of sessions from Comic Art & Comics Area at this week's meeting of the Popular Culture Association. I am grateful to Nicole Freim, area chair, for the information. The full program for the conference can be accessed at
http://pcaaca.org/conference/conf_program.php.
Comic
Art &Comics -- Panels 2012
All
sessions are in Simmons Room – Number denotes panel number in program
1036 Wed.
4/11 1:15 – 2:45 p.m. Comics and Traditions
Chair: Chris Bolster
“Epic
Reinterpretation in The Life and Times of Martha Washington,” Oriana Gatta,
Georgia State University
“Did the
Greeks Wear Tights? : An Analysis of the Homeric Hero Odysseus in Batman,” Emma
Zieske, The College of Wooster
“Everyday
they're Shuffling: Humanity in The Walking
Dead,” Peter Pijanowski, West Chester University
“Garfield as
Trickster: The Existential Implications of a World Without Garfield,”
Christopher
Bolster, Western Connecticut State University
1160 Wed.
4/11 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. Teaching with Comics Chair: Robert Watkins
“Where are
the Superheroes? Academia’s Dichotomous Study of Comic Book Literature,” Gian
Pagnucci, Indiana University of Pennsylvania & Mr. Alex
Romagnoli
“The Bias
Visual Literacy, a New Generation, and Comics in the Classroom,” Sarah Bryski,
Susquehanna University
“Sequential
Quintilian and Graphic Freire: Combining Critical Pedagogy and Ancient Rhetoric
to Teach Comics as Multimodality,” Robert Watkins, Iowa State University
1146 Wed.
4/11 4:45 – 6:15 p.m. Sexuality and Gender in Comics
Chair: John Ronan
“Pixie Dust
and Crime: A Revision of the Puer Aeternus in Gosho Aoyama’s Detective
Conan,” Mimi Okabe, Brock University
“Zap Bang:
Sex and Sexuality in American Underground Comix,” John Ronan, University of Florida
1048 Wed.
4/11 8:15 – 9:45 p.m. Roundtable: Fanculture and Feminism:
The Female Superhero in DC's New 52 Moderator: Sarah
Maitland - University of Rhode Island
Discussants:
Jessica
McCall
Dianne
Evanochko,
2170 Thurs.
4/12 8:00 – 9:30 a.m. Genre Conventions and Restrictions
Chair: Natalie Pendergast
“Retroactive
Continuity and Revisionary Ratios,” Brian Land, Delaware County Community
College
“Sterling’s
Sidekicks – Audience Creation and the Rise of the Sidekick in Early Superhero
Comics,” Lance Eaton, North Shore Community College
“Melodrama,
Romance, and the Celebrity of Superheroes,” Ben Grisanti, DePaul University
“The
“Arranged” Marriages of Superman, Spiderman and Archie,” Natalie Pendergast, University of Toronto
2290 Thurs.
4/12 9:45 – 11:15 a.m. Representations of Minorities Chair: Joseph Darowski
“White Masks
and Black Hats: The Prevention of Cross-racial Identification Due to Othering
of Chromatic Characters in the Comic Book Narrative.,” Rejena Saulsberry,
University of Arkansas at Monticello
“Translating
Otherness: Stereotypes, Doublespeak and Dead Puerto Rican Superhombres,” Luis Saenz de Viguera Erkiaga, Merrimack College
“Iron Man: A Study in Orientalism and
Hegemony,” Aiden Bryant
“The
Non-Metphorical Use of Minorities in The Uncanny X-Men,” Joseph Darowski,
Brigham Young University-Idaho
2342 Thurs.
4/12 11:30 – 1:00 p.m. Uses of the Comic Medium
Chair: Colin Beineke
“How to
Create Comics (and Community) in New Delhi,” Jeremy Stoll, Indiana University
“Stylish
Vixen, Not Sexy Victim: Marisa Acocella Marchetto’s Cancer Vixen as a Counter to the Sexualization of Breast Cancer,”
Lindsey Hanlon, Boston College
‘The cursed,
the impious, the unnatural technique!’: Depicting the Lovecraftian Unnamable in
Comics,” Colin Beineke, Arkansas State
University
2006 Thurs.
4/12 1:15 – 2:45 p.m. 21st Century Comics
Chair: James Morton
“Digital
Comics: Rating the Container, not the Comic,” Lorena O'English, Washington
State University
“Comic Book's
99%: Revisting A Bill of Rights for
Comics Creators,” Ora McWilliams, University of Kansas
“Watching Watchmen: The Reading of Motion
Comics,” Fred Wright, Ursuline College
“The Nintendo
Generation versus the World: The Esotericism of Scott Pilgrim”
James Morton
2326 Thurs.
4/12 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. The Title Tells the Tale
Chair: Terrence Wandtke
“Do You Like
Lime?”: Embracing Dionysius in Alan Moore’s Swamp
Thing,” Michael Smith, James Madison University
“Text and
Subtext in Claremont and Byrne’s Iron Fist,” Chris York, Pine Technical
College
“Analyzing
the Joker: Projected Wounds in Batman:
The Killing Joke,” Valentino Zullo,
Bowling Green State University
“The
“Retro-Futurism” of Dean Motter’s Mister X:Crime Comics’ City of the Past and
the Future,” Terrence Wandtke, Judson
University
2092 Thurs.
4/12 4:45 – 6:15 p.m. Comics and Social Commentary
Chair: Bryan Vizzini
“Displacing
the Shojo: Consumerist Culture,
Temporal Insecurity and Cultural Nostalgia in Junko Mizuno's Cinderalla,” Francesca Mastrangelo,
Rollins College
“The Sky is
the Killer of Us All: Personification and De-Humanization in Enemy Ace,” Jason Tondro, University of California
Riverside
“Transmedial
Theatricality: V for Vendetta and the Occupy Movement,” Kane Anderson - UC
Santa Barbara
"Lightning
Comics' Tod Holton, Super Green Beret: Images of American Exceptionalism in
Vietnam," Bryan Vizzini, West Texas
A&M University
2392 Thurs.
4/12 8:15 – 9:45 p.m. Film Screening: White Scripts and Black Supermen: Black Masculinities in Comic Books
(Producer/Director:
Jonathan Gayles, 52 minutes, 2011)
White Scripts and Black Supermen:
Black Masculinities in Comic Books analyzes representations of Black masculinity in comic books over
a 40 year period. In a serious, lively
and humorous manner, the film examines the degree to which Black superheroes
generally adhered to and were burdened by stereotypes about Black
men. However, we also witness how some images shifted – oftentimes
clumsily - to reflect the changing times.
It features
commentary by scholars and cultural critics (Jelani Cobb, Mark Anthony Neal,
Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua) producers, writers and artists (Dwayne McDuffie,
Reginald Hudlin, John Jennings). They provide tools for critiquing all
media as they introduce and analyze the leading comic book superheroes Black
Panther, the Falcon, John Stewart (the Green Lantern), Luke Cage, and Black
Lightening and some of the commentators discuss how they looked to Black
superheroes for a sense of empowerment during childhood.
3158 Fri.
4/13 8:00 – 9:30 a.m. Historical Perspectives I Chair:
Darren Harris-Fain
“Image of
African Americans in Syndicated Cartoon Strips,” William Foster
“The
‘Atrocities of the Color Supplements’: The Cultural Rhetoric of Attacks on
Early, Turn-of the-Twentieth Century Comic Strips,” Kerry Soper, Brigham Young
University
"Harold
Gray, Little Orphan Annie, and the Early Graphic Novel," Darren Harris-Fain, Auburn University at
Montgomery
3160 Fri.
4/13 9:45 – 11:15 a.m. Historical Perspectives II Chair:
Paul Malone
“The
Wolverton Bible and Other Visions,” Lawrence Rodman, Independent Artist
“Fresh Off
the Boat: The Americanization ProcessIn Anya’s Ghost and American Born
Chinese,” Forrest Helvie, Indiana University
of Pennsylvania
“Spiegelman,
The Cartoon,” Maxwell Foxman, New York University
“Great White
Hope of the German Comic,” or “Eternal Insiders’ Tip”?: 20 Years of Peter
Puck’s Satirical Comic Rudi,” Paul
Malone, University of Waterloo
3286 Fri.
4/13 11:30 – 1:00 p.m. The Comics Get Medieval 2012: A
Celebration of Medieval-Themed Comics in Commemoration of the 75th Anniversary
of Prince Valiant Chair: Michael A. Torregrossa
“Integrating
Ideologies: Monarchy and Democracy in Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant”
Nathan A.
Breen, College of Lake County,
“Excalibur as
Science Object: Democratizing the Power behind the Arthurian Throne in Camelot 3000” Michelle Braun, Mount Royal University
“The Myth of
the Death of the Hero: Eternal Return in Arthurian Literature and Neil Gaiman’s
Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?”
Hannah
Means-Shannon, Georgian Court University
3176 Fri.
4/13 1:15 – 2:45 p.m. Intersections of Comics and Film Chair: Nicole Freim
“Stand-up
Comedy: Chester Brown's Paying for It
and Humour,” Dominick Grace, Brescia University College
“The Effects
of Superhero Sagas on Our Gendered Selves,” Hillary Pennell
“Evil as
Depicted in Batman's Villains,” Carol Madere, Southeastern Louisiana
University
“Which Web
Will Stick?: Hollywood’s Twisted Visions of Comics,” Nicole Freim, University of Wisconsin
Milwaukee
3074 Fri.
4/13 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. Comic Books and American Cultural
History I Chair: Matthew Pustz
“Agent of
Change: The Evolution and Enculturation of Nick Fury,” Philip G. Payne & Paul S. Spaeth,
ppayne@sbu.edu
“ ‘Duel. I’ll
Give You a DUEL’: Intimacy and History in Megan Kelso’s Alexander Hamilton Trilogy,”
Alison Mandaville, Pacific Lutheran University
“ ‘Dreams May
End, But Love Never Does’: Marriage and Materialism in American Romance Comics,
1947-1954,” Jeanne Gardner
3280 Fri.
4/13 4:45 – 6:15 p.m. Special Guest Speaker: Denis Kitchen
Please join
us for a session with Denis Kitchen, an underground cartoonist and
publisher. He founded Kitchen Sink
Press and launched the underground newspaper The Bugle-American. He
syndicated comic strips to numerous college and underground newspapers,
publishing his own work and work by artists such as Jim Mitchell, Trina
Robbins, and Bruce Walthers. Kitchen is
also the founder of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, a non-profit
organization that protects the rights of comics creators, publishers, and
retailers. Although his publishing
company has closed, Kitchen is currently working with Boom! Studios to release
old Kitchen Sink Press titles.
Fri. 4/13 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. Comic
Art & Comics Area Dinner
Please join
the Comic Art & Comics area for a group dinner. We will meet in the hotel lobby and head to a
nearby restaurant for dinner, conversation, and probably a little comics
geekery. Presenters in our area,
spouses, friends, and anyone interested in the field of comics are all welcome. Please notify area chair Nicole Freim at
nfreim@gmail.com if you would like to attend (for reservation count) and check
with her at the conference for exact location.
4016 Sat.
4/14 8:00 – 9:30 a.m. Comic Books and American Cultural
History II Chair: Matthew Pustz
“Transformers
and Monkey Kings: Gene Yang’s American
Born Chinese and the Quest for Identity,”
Todd S. Munson
“The
Militarism of American Superheroes After 9/11,”
A. David Lewis
“From Hiroshima to Katrina: The Journalism of John Hersey and Josh Neufeld,” Amy
Nyberg, Seton Hall University
“ ‘Paralysis
and Stagnation and Drift’: America’s Malaise as Demonstrated in Comic Books of
the 1970s,” Matthew Pustz
4104 Sat.
4/14 9:45 – 11:15 a.m. Structure and Rhetoric
Chair: Susan Kirtley
“Reading
Outside the Box: Space, Time, and Hypertext in Jason Shiga's Meanwhile,” Karl
Mohn, Independent Scholar
“Making Sense
of Fragments: Narrative Structure in Comics,” Barbara Postema, Ryerson University
“The Rhetoric
of the Paratext in Marvel Comics' Amazing
Spider-Man,” Gene Kannenberg, Jr., Independent Scholar /
ComicsResearch.org
“Pedagogy,
Power, and Persuasion: Invitational Rhetoric in What It Is,” Susan Kirtley, Portland State University
4110 Sat.
4/14 11:30 – 12:00 p.m. Comic Art
& Comics Special Session: The Institute for Korvac Studies
Please join
us for a special discussion on the current state of Korvac scholarship
led by the most noted Korvac-ologists in the country. This year will
feature an additional focus on characters who, like Korvac, have not received
the attention they deserve. There will be a chance for an open forum to
discuss the special impact little-known characters have on their respective
universes. We will also discuss the
triumphant return of Korvac and present the coveted Korvie award.
Discussants:
Kane Anderson, Randy Duncan, Ora McWilliams
Sat. 4/14 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Comic
Art & Comics: Area Meeting -- Chair:
Nicole Freim
This session
covers area business, including future conferences, recruiting judges for the
Inge award, and information on The
International Journal of ComicArt.
We will also have the presentation of the Inge and Lent Awards and
discussion of calls for papers for new books.
The meeting is open to all presenters and anyone interested in our area.
4010 Sat. 4/14 1:15
– 2:45 p.m. Boston Area
Cartoonists Roundtable
Moderator:
Kent Worcester, Marymount Manhattan College, kworcester@mmm.edu
Dan Mazur
Shelli
Paroline
Liz Prince
Nick
Thorkelson
Dan Wasserman
Maris Wicks
This
roundtable will feature Boston area cartoonists discussing their work in a
scholarly context, particularly the state of cartooning and the medium’s
distinctive characteristics. The audience will also have a chance to ask
questions of the participants.
4064 Sat.
4/14 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. On the Scholarship of Religion and
Comic Books – Using, Expanding, and Maximizing the Intersection
Chair: A. David Lewis
“Pedagogical
Pop Culture: Using Comic Books to Teach Religion,” Jacob Rennaker, Claremont Graduate University
“Grant
Morrison’s Supergods and the Ironic and the Tragic,” Andrew Tripp, Boston
University
“Embracing
the Mutant Bible: Comics and the Supernatural World of Everyday
Evangelicalism,”
Andrew Coates, Duke University
4062 Sat.
4/14 4:45 – 6:15 p.m. On the Scholarship of Religion and
Comic Books – Christ, Superman, and the Bible Chair: A. David Lewis
“Christ in
Comics: Imagination, Incarnation, Iconoclasm,” Daniel Clark, Cedarville
University
“Superman as
Christ, Christ as Superman: Christian Comic Book Apologetics,”
Kate Netzler
Burch, Indiana University
“Reading with
X-Ray Vision: How the Eyes of Superman Influence our
Interpretation
of the Bible,“ Nicholaus Pumphrey, Claremont Graduate University
Jeff Lemire's critically-acclaimed Animal Man series, part of DC's the new 52, is a bold reinterpretation of the Animal Man character that links him firmly with the supernatural/horror cohort of the new DC Universe that also includes Alec Holland/Swamp Thing (staring in Swamp Thing) and John Constantine (featured in Justice League Dark), characters newly reintroduced into the post-Flashpoint, mainstream DC Universe. In the new series, Buddy Baker (a.k.a. Animal Man) and his young daughter are presented (similar to Swamp Thing and his relationship to the Green) as aspects of the Red, a personification of animal life, and, because the girl (rather like Swamp Thing's daughter Tefe in the old DCU) is an avatar of the Red, the pair must do battle with the Rot, personification of decay, in order for her to achieve her destiny. As their connection to the Red is heightened, the pair display a variety of incredible powers, and Buddy's now manifest in grotesque warp-spams (akin perhaps to the Irish mythological figure Cuchulain) that transform him into bizarre human-animal creatures.
