Captain America and the Struggle of the Superhero

In anticipation of the upcoming film, check out:

Captain America and the Struggle of the Superhero: Critical Essays 

Edited by Robert G. Weiner
Foreword by John Shelton Lawrence; Afterword by J.M. DeMatteis

Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-3703-0
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-5340-5
26 photos, notes, bibliographies, index
243pp. softcover (7 x 10) 2009
Price: $39.95

About the Book
For more than 60 years, Captain America was one of Marvel Comics’ flagship characters, representing truth, strength, liberty, and justice. The assassination of his alter ego, Steve Rogers, rocked the comic world, leaving numerous questions about his life and death.

This book discusses topics including the representation of Nazi Germany in Captain America Comics from the 1940s to the 1960s; the creation of Captain America in light of the Jewish American experience; the relationship between Captain America and UK Marvel’s Captain Britain; the groundbreaking partnership between Captain America and African American superhero the Falcon; and the attempts made to kill the character before his "real" death.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii
Key to Abbreviations xi
Foreword by John Shelton Lawrence 1
Introduction by Robert G. Weiner 9

GENERAL HISTORY
O Captain! My Captain!
Christopher J. Hayton and David L. Albright 15

WORLD WAR II
Madmen, Morons, and Monocles: The Portrayal of the Nazis in Captain America
John E. Moser 24
The Invaders and the All-Star Squadron: Roy Thomas Revisits the Golden Age
Mark R. McDermott 36
Graphic Imagery: Jewish American Comic Book Creators’ Depictions of Class, Race, Patriotism and the Birth of the Good Captain
Nicholas Yanes 53

RACIAL ISSUES
Not Just Another Racist Honkey: A History of Racial Representation in Captain America and Related Publications
Ora C. McWilliams 66
Weakness Is a Crime: Captain America and the Eugenic Ideal in Early Twentieth-Century America
Brian E. Hack. 79

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILES
Sixty-Five Years of Guilt Over the Death of Bucky
Robert G. Weiner 90
Captain America, Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, and the Vietnam Era
Shawn Gillen 104

COMPARISONS OF CAPTAIN AMERICA WITH OTHER CHARACTERS
The Historical Value of Bronze Age Comics: Captain America and the Haunted Tank
Nicholas D. Molnar 116
The Ultimate American?
Jackson Sutliff 121
The Alpha and the Omega: Captain America and the Punisher
Cord Scott 125
Captain America and Captain Britain: Geopolitical Identity and “the Special Relationship”
Jason Dittmer 135
History of the Marvel Zombies and Colonel America among the Marvel Zombies
Mark R. McDermott 147

POLITICAL INTERPRETATIONS AND THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA
“Captain America Must Die”: The Many Afterlives of Steve Rogers
David Walton 160
Stevie’s Got a Gun: Captain America and His Problematic Use of Lethal Force
Phillip L. Cunningham 176
A Genealogy of Evil: Captain America vs. the Shadows of the National Imagined Community
Christian Steinmetz 190

LITERARY INTERPRETATIONS
The Man Behind the Mask? Models of Masculinity and the Persona of Heroes in Captain America Prose Novels
Mike S. DuBose 204

GUIDES
A Selected Webography: FanFiction
Freedonia Paschall 215
A Selected Filmographic Essay
Cord Scott and Robert G. Weiner 218
A Selected Bibliographic Essay: Academic Literature
Jason Dittmer and Robert G. Weiner 227
Afterword by J.M. DeMatteis 241
About the Contributors 245
Index 247

About the Author
Robert G. Weiner is associate humanities librarian at Texas Tech University. His works have been published in the Journal of Popular Culture, Public Library Quarterly, Journal of American Culture, International Journal of Comic Art and Popular Music and Society. He lives in Lubbock, Texas.

BenBella and The Walking Dead

Triumph of The Walking Dead: Robert Kirkman’s Zombie Epic on Page and Screen 
Edited By James Lowder
Publication Date: November 2011
$14.95
ISBN-10: 1936661136
ISBN-13: 9781936661138

DESCRIPTION
The Walking Dead gained national attention as AMC’s latest critically acclaimed drama, shattering the network’s previous premiere ratings highs and earning a second season renewal after its very first episode. But before its television debut, Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead was a comic phenomenon.
James Lowder, veteran editor and author in the horror genre and comics field, collects some of the biggest names in the zombie genre, along with other top horror and comics writers, to discuss the series on both page and screen.
Contents include:
what makes The Walking Dead so effective as a zombie narrative
the television show’s surprising optimism
Rick Grimes as Objectivist hero
The Walking Dead’s journey from comic to television series

ABOUT THE EDITOR
James Lowder has worked extensively on both sides of the editorial blotter. His credits include the bestselling, widely translated novels Prince of Lies and Knight of the Black Rose, short fiction for such anthologies as Shadows Over Baker Street and The Repentant, and comic book scripts, role-playing game material, and hundreds of reviews and articles, including essays for the BenBella titles The Unauthorized X-Men and King Kong is Back! As an editor, he's directed book lines or series for a variety of publishers and has helmed more than a dozen critically acclaimed anthologies, including Curse of the Full Moon, Hobby Games: The 100 Best, and the Books of Flesh zombie anthology series. He's been a finalist for the International Horror Guild Award and the Stoker Award, and has won five Origins Awards and a silver ENnie Award.

CONTRIBUTORS
Kyle William Bishop, Arnold T. Blumberg, Jay Bonansinga, Brendan Deneen, Craig Fischer, Kenneth Hite, Del Howison, Scott Kenemore, Jonathan Maberry, Lisa Morton, Kim Paffenroth, Brendan Riley, Matt Staggs, Kay Steiger, and Ned Vizzini

Superheroes for NeMLA 2012

Call for Papers
43rd Annual Convention
Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA)
http://www.nemla.org/convention/2012/cfp.html

March 15-18, 2012
Rochester, New York

The 43rd Annual Convention will feature approximately 350 sessions, as well as dynamic speakers and cultural events. Interested participants may submit abstracts to more than one NeMLA session; however, panelists can only present one paper (panel or seminar). Convention participants may present a paper at a panel and also present at a creative session or participate in a roundtable.

Abstract Deadline: September 30, 2011

Please include with your abstract:

Name and Affiliation
Email address
A/V requirements ($10 handling fee with registration per person; two person per panel minimum for Media Projector)



Masculinity in Superhero Comic Books and Films (listed under "Women's and Gender Studies)

With comic books becoming more mainstream thanks to numerous summer blockbuster film adaptations, this session welcomes all papers looking at ongoing portrayals of masculinity in works focused on male superheroes. Possible topics include but are not limited to adherence or subversion of masculine archetypes in superhero comic books graphic novels, and films, and the gender-bending of women taking on the names and costumes of previously male superheroes. Submit 250- to 500-word proposals to Derek McGrath (derek.mcgrath@stonybrook.edu).

European Comic Art 4.1

European Comic Art 4.1 (2011)

Introduction: Diversity and New Directions
PDF (121.8 KB)
Pages v-viii
DOI 10.3828/eca.2011.1
v-viii

Interview with Farid Boudjellal
PDF (2.4 MB)
Pages 1-28
DOI 10.3828/eca.2011.2
Author Mark McKinney
1-28

'Corsican Speak' in Two French Bandes dessinées, or How to Manipulate Communication Rules: A Pragmatic Analysis
PDF (156.0 KB)
Pages 29-38
DOI 10.3828/eca.2011.3
Author Anna Giaufret
29-38

Joann Sfar Conjures Marc Chagall: The Politics of Visual Representation in The Rabbi's Cat
PDF (179.4 KB)
Pages 39-57
DOI 10.3828/eca.2011.4
Author Fabrice Leroy
39-57

A Creative Culture Where It Is Hard to Make a Living: The Socio-Economic Situation of Comics Authors and Illustrators in Belgium
PDF (237.3 KB)
Pages 59-80
DOI 10.3828/eca.2011.5
Authors Pascal Lefèvre and Morgan Di Salvia
59-80

The OP War, Libertarian Communication and Graphic Reportage in Georgian London
PDF (1.5 MB)
Pages 81-104
DOI 10.3828/eca.2011.6
Author James Baker
81-104

Comic Art and Commitment: An Interview with Morvandiau
PDF (3.5 MB)
Pages 105-123
DOI 10.3828/eca.2011.7
Author Ann Miller
105-123

Angoulême, 2011
PDF (138.4 KB)
Pages 125-127
DOI 10.3828/eca.2011.8
Author Bart Beaty
125-127

Reviews
PDF (100.1 KB)
Pages 129-135
DOI 10.3828/eca.2011.9
129-135

Notes on Contributors
PDF (71.8 KB)
Pages 137-138
DOI 10.3828/eca.2011.10
137-138

Green Lantern and Philosophy

Green Lantern and Philosophy: No Evil Shall Escape this Book
William Irwin (Series Editor), Jane Dryden (Editor), Mark D. White (Editor)
ISBN: 978-0-470-57557-4
Paperback
304 pages
May 2011
US $17.95

DESCRIPTION:

The first look at the philosophy behind the Green Lantern comics—timed for the release of the Green Lantern movie in June 2011
The most recent Green Lantern series—Blackest Night—propelled GL to be the top-selling comic series for more than a year, the latest twist in seven decades of Green Lantern adventures. This book sheds light on the deep philosophical issues that emerge from the Green Lantern Corps's stories and characters, from what Plato's tale of the Ring of Gyges tells us about the Green Lantern ring and the desire for power to whether willpower is the most important strength to who is the greatest Green Lantern of all time.

Gives you a new perspective on Green Lantern characters, story lines, and themes
Shows what philosophical heavy hitters such as Aristotle, Descartes, and Kant can teach us about members of the Green Lantern Corp and their world
Answers your most pressing Green Lantern questions, including: What motivates Hal Jordan to be a Green Lantern? Does the Blackest Night force us to confront old male/female stereotypes? What is the basis for moral judgment in the Green Lantern Corps? Is Hal Jordan a murderer?
Whether you're a new fan or an elder from Oa, Green Lantern and Philosophy is a must-have companion.


CONTENTS:

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: No Gratitude Shall Escape.
Our Sight.

INTRODUCTION: Welcome to the Corps!

Part One Will and Emotion: The Philosophical Spectrum.

1The Blackest Night for Aristotle’s Account of Emotions (Jason Southworth).

2 Flexing the Mental Muscle: Green Lanterns and the Nature of Willpower (Mark D. White).

3 Women Are from Zamaron, Men Are from Oa (Sarah K. Donovan and Nicholas P. Richardson).

Part Two Emerald Ethics: It’s Not All Black and White.

4 Will They Let Just Anybody Join? Testing for Moral Judgment in Green Lantern Corps (Andrew Terjesen).

5 The Greatest Green Lantern: Aesthetic Admiration and the Praiseworthy Hero (Jane Dryden).

6 There Should Be No Forgiveness for Hal Jordan (Nicolas Michaud).

7 Morality, Atonement, and Guilt: Hal Jordan’s Shifting Motivations (Joseph J. Darowski).

Part Three I’m with Green Lantern: Friends and Relationships.

8 Hard-Traveling Ethics: Moral Rationalism vs. Moral Sentimentalism (Andrew Terjesen).

9. “I Despise Messiness”: The Plato-Aristotle Debate in the Troubled Friendship of Green Lantern and Green Arrow (Brett Chandler Patterson).

10 Can’t Live With ‘Em, Can’t Live Without ‘Em: Green Lantern, Relationships, and Autonomy (Jane Dryden).

Part 4. With This Ring, I Thee Swear: Power, Duty, and Law.

11 The Oaths of Soranik Natu: Can a Doctor Be a Green Lantern? (Ruth Tallman and Jason Southworth).

12 Crying for Justice: Retributivism for Those Who Worship Evil’s Might (Mark D. White).

13 Hate Crimes as Terrorism in Brother’s Keeper (Ron Novy).

14 Ring of Gyges, the Ring of the Green Lantern, and the Temptation of Power (Adam Barkman).

Part Five Don’t Tell Krona: Metaphysics, Mind and Time.

15 All For One and One For All: Mogo, the Collective, and Biological Unity (Leonard Finkelman).

16 Green Mind: The Book of Oa, the Lantern Corps, and Peirce’s Theory of Communal Mind (Paul R. Jaissle).

17 Shedding an Emerald Light on Destiny: The problem with Time Travel (Amy Kind).

Part Six Can Green Lantern Make a Boxing Glove He Can’s Lift? Powers and Limitations.

18. Another Glove? Green Lantern and the Limits of Imagination (Daniel P. Malloy).

19. “Beware my Power”: Leibniz and Green Lantern on God, Omnipotence, and Evil (Carsten Fogh Nielsen).

20. Magic and Science in the Green Lantern Mythos: Clarke’s Law, the Starheart, and Emotional Energy (Andrew Zimmerman Jones).

CONTRIBUTORS: Tales of the Philosophy Corps.

INDEX: The Book of Oa.


AUTHOR INFORMATION:

Jane Dryden is an assistant professor of philosophy at Mount Allison University.
Mark D. White is a professor in the Department of Political Science, Economics, and Philosophy at the College of Staten Island, CUNY. He coedited Batman and Philosophy and edited Watchmen and Philosophy and Iron Man and Philosophy.

William Irwin is a professor of philosophy at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He originated the philosophy and popular culture genre of books as coeditor of the bestselling The Simpsons and Philosophy and has overseen recent titles including Batman and Philosophy, House and Philosophy, and Mad Men and Philosophy.

Teaching Early Reader Comics and Graphic Novels

Teaching Early Reader Comics and Graphic Novels
Author: Katie Monnin

$23.95

ISBN 13: 978-1-936700-23-3
MH # 229

Engage even the youngest readers with Dr. Monnin’s standards-based lessons and strategic approach to teaching comics and graphic novels to early readers!

Examples from a wide variety of comics and graphic novels—including multicultural models—and recommended reading lists help teachers of grades K-6 seamlessly teach print-text and image literacies together. Teaching Early Reader Comics and Graphic Novels shows you how to address the unique needs of striving readers, connect reading and writing, teach the necessary terminology, and apply the standards to any graphic novel or comic for emerging through advanced readers.

A companion blog, www.teachinggraphicnovels.blogspot.com, offers free downloads, teaching tips, and updates on new comics and graphic novels you can use in your classroom.

Tap into the power of comics and graphic novels to engage all learners!

Downloads

Table of contents

Introduction

Sample lesson: "Example guided-reading lesson plan for teaching Big Fat Little Lit
in second- and third-grade classrooms"

Raves
“I wish I’d had this book, or a teacher who’d read this book, back when I was in school. But at least I have it now!”
–Jane Yolen, author of more than 300 books and graphic novels

"Katie Monnin is at it again! Useful, practical information on literacy and the comics form, playful literacy-building strategies, and engaging example images from excellent, age-appropriate comics and graphic novels characterize this new offering from one of the leading voices in the comics-and-literacy discourse. I share with my pre-service educators the mantra "You are the professional; the standards are the tools. You don't work for them; put them to work for you and your students!" and Monnin's standards-aware approach to literacy through comics and comics through literacy nails it. Anyone who reads Teaching Early Reader Comics and Graphic Novels will understand the best of what comics and graphic novels can offer young students."
–James Bucky Carter, award-winning comics scholar, author, and assistant professor of English education at the University of Texas at El Paso

“Dr. Katie Monnin’s passion for both graphic novels and education are inspiring. Using comics to reach out to young minds is a smart and effective way to teach foundational skills, and in Teaching Early Readers Comics and Graphic Novels, she offers the tools to do just that. The resources she offers here will not only help educate children—they'll also inspire a lifelong love of reading.”
–John Hogan, editor, GraphicNovelReporter.com

DC Comics News

USA Today offers two recent articles on upcoming changes at DC Comics:

DC Comics unleashes a new universe of superhero titles

DC Comics ready for a risky yet relevant publishing change


Further details on the re-launch can be found at DC's own blog:

The New Justice

The Smallville Chonicles

The Smallville Chronicles: Critical Essays on the Television Series
Edited by Lincoln Geraghty

List Price: $40.00
ISBN: 0-8108-8130-6
ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-8130-3
Pub Date: Sep 28, 2011
176 pages
Binding: Cloth
Availability: Not Yet Published

List Price: $40.00
ISBN: 0-8108-8131-4
ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-8131-0
Pub Date: Sep 28, 2011
176 pages
Binding: Electronic
Availability: Not Yet Published

DESCRIPTION
In 2001, yet another adaptation of the Superman comic book came to television. Lasting 10 seasons, Smallville took the traditional Superman story and turned it into an American teen action drama about Clark Kent's life at high school—before he donned the famous blue tights and red cape. Instead of depicting Superman's clashes with criminals in Metropolis, the show focused on how Clark first developed his powers and learned to cope with girls, school, and teenage angst. Although largely overlooked by critics and derided by Superman fans who regarded it as too far a departure from the comic book canon, Smallville nonetheless endeared a whole new generation of viewers. The setting, style, narrative, and cast of fresh-faced actors suggested that the Superman story was not only ready for a makeover but also still relevant for a post-9/11 American audience.

In The Smallville Chronicles: Critical Essays on the Television Series, scholars examine the multiple narratives of the Smallville universe. Addressing issues related to gender, sexuality, national identity, myth, history, and politics, these essays explore how the series uses the Superman story to comment on contemporary social issues. Additional essays investigate the complex relationship the show's audience has with the characters through blogging, fan fiction, visits to filming locations, and the creation of websites.

As the first book-length study specifically focused on the Smallville television series, this collection is an excellent text for studies in science fiction, fandom, and teen television scholarship, and it will also have general appeal to fans of the show.

CONTENTS (from Loc.gov):
Introduction: investigating Smallville / Lincoln Geraghty -- Texts and Contexts. From comic book to bildungsroman: Smallville, narrative, and the education of a young hero / Stan Beeler -- Televisual transformations: myth and social issues in Smallville / Karin Beeler -- The Kryptonite closet: silence and queer secrecy in Smallville / Jes Battis -- No flights, no tights: Smallville and the roles of special effects in television / Rayna Denison -- Audiences and meta-texts. Smallville: superhero mythos and intellectual property regimes / Ian Gordon -- Vids, vlogs, and blogs: the participatory culture of Smallville’s digital fan / Juli Stone Pitzer -- "I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore": Examining Smallville’s Canadian Cult Geography / Lincoln Geraghty -- Sacrifice or Salvation? Smallville’s Heroic Survival Amidst Changing Television Trends / Michael S. Duffy -- Index.


ABOUT THE EDITOR
Lincoln Geraghty is principal lecturer in film studies in the School of Creative Arts, Film and Media at the University of Portsmouth. He is the author or editor of several books on popular culture, including Living with Star Trek: American Culture and the Star Trek Universe (2007), Channeling the Future: Essays on Science Fiction and Fantasy Television (Scarecrow, 2009), and Directory of World Cinema: American Hollywood (2011).

The Smallville Chonicles

The Smallville Chronicles: Critical Essays on the Television Series
Edited by Lincoln Geraghty

List Price: $40.00
ISBN: 0-8108-8130-6
ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-8130-3
Pub Date: Sep 28, 2011
176 pages
Binding: Cloth
Availability: Not Yet Published

List Price: $40.00
ISBN: 0-8108-8131-4
ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-8131-0
Pub Date: Sep 28, 2011
176 pages
Binding: Electronic
Availability: Not Yet Published

DESCRIPTION
In 2001, yet another adaptation of the Superman comic book came to television. Lasting 10 seasons, Smallville took the traditional Superman story and turned it into an American teen action drama about Clark Kent's life at high school—before he donned the famous blue tights and red cape. Instead of depicting Superman's clashes with criminals in Metropolis, the show focused on how Clark first developed his powers and learned to cope with girls, school, and teenage angst. Although largely overlooked by critics and derided by Superman fans who regarded it as too far a departure from the comic book canon, Smallville nonetheless endeared a whole new generation of viewers. The setting, style, narrative, and cast of fresh-faced actors suggested that the Superman story was not only ready for a makeover but also still relevant for a post-9/11 American audience.

In The Smallville Chronicles: Critical Essays on the Television Series, scholars examine the multiple narratives of the Smallville universe. Addressing issues related to gender, sexuality, national identity, myth, history, and politics, these essays explore how the series uses the Superman story to comment on contemporary social issues. Additional essays investigate the complex relationship the show's audience has with the characters through blogging, fan fiction, visits to filming locations, and the creation of websites.

As the first book-length study specifically focused on the Smallville television series, this collection is an excellent text for studies in science fiction, fandom, and teen television scholarship, and it will also have general appeal to fans of the show.

CONTENTS (from Loc.gov):
Introduction: investigating Smallville / Lincoln Geraghty -- Texts and Contexts. From comic book to bildungsroman: Smallville, narrative, and the education of a young hero / Stan Beeler -- Televisual ransformations: myth and social issues in Smallville / Karin Beeler -- The Kryptonite closet: silence and queer secrecy in Smallville / Jes Battis -- No flights, no tights: Smallville and the roles of special effects in television / Rayna Denison -- Audiences and meta-texts. Smallville: superhero mythos and intellectual property regimes / Ian Gordon -- Vids, vlogs, and blogs: the participatory culture of Smallville’s digital fan / Juli Stone Pitzer -- "I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore": Examining Smallville’s Canadian Cult Geography / Lincoln Geraghty -- Sacrifice or Salvation? Smallville’s Heroic Survival Amidst Changing Television Trends / Michael S. Duffy -- Index.


ABOUT THE EDITOR
Lincoln Geraghty is principal lecturer in film studies in the School of Creative Arts, Film and Media at the University of Portsmouth. He is the author or editor of several books on popular culture, including Living with Star Trek: American Culture and the Star Trek Universe (2007), Channeling the Future: Essays on Science Fiction and Fantasy Television (Scarecrow, 2009), and Directory of World Cinema: American Hollywood (2011).

Thoughts on X-Men: First Class

I went to see X-Men: First Class this weekend. It is an entertaining reboot of the franchise and offers intriguing new perspectives on Professor X and Magneto, but the remaining mutants were an odd mix (though their powers were depicted convincingly). Beast was interesting (and an obvious choice), but an American Banshee (and a teenaged one at that) was off-setting. A young Havok was also an interesting choice, yet I missed the rest of the original "First Class": Cyclops, Ice Man, Angel, and Marvel Girl. Mystique starting out as X-Men offered an original take on the character (as was her relationship to Xavier), and it is interesting now to consider her arc in the original three films in light of this one.That said, the other X-Men--Darwin and Pixie--were lacking in much development and rationale for their inclusion (unless Pixie was only present as a counter for Banshee, who also flies); likewise, an American Moira MacTaggert (and an CIA opp to boot) seemed a strange choice. The villains caused similar confusion. Sebastian Shaw as a Nazi and Magneto's "Xavier" was very strange, and I cannot fathom the inclusion of Riptide and Azazel (perhaps he's here to foreshadow the origin of Nightcrawler from X2). However, the use of Emma Frost (here displaying much flesh and her secondary mutation) made sense given Shaw's presence.

Constructing Green Lantern

Out now, a companion to the upcoming film (though the copy below seems outdated). Constructing Green Lantern is a copiously illustrated guide to the making of the film and includes details on everything from story development to costume design and character development (with lots of cool-looking Green Lanterns) to world building to a section on visual effects highlighting the realization of the Green Lanterns' power effects. There are few spoilers here and little details on the actual plot of the film, which includes at least three villains: Hector Hammond, Sinestro, and Parralax.

Constructing Green Lantern: From Page to Screen
Written by Ozzy Inguanzo, Introduction by Geoff Johns

Pub Date: May 31, 2011
Format: Hardcover
Category: Performing Arts - Film - General
Publisher: Universe
Trim Size: 8-1/2 x 11
US Price: $35.00
CAN Price: $40.00
ISBN: 978-0-7893-2261-6

About This Book

From the creative group at DC Entertainment comes The Green Lantern, certain to be the hit of Summer 2011. The Art of The Green Lantern is the ultimate companion book to the movie, showcasing production ephemera including: storyboard art, character sketches, concept art, and still photos from the movie's sets. The Green Lantern will also contain observations and insights of the film by producers, art director, and various other film crew.

About the Author

Ozzy Inguanzo is Green Lantern's research and asset manager. He has been living at the epicenter of the Green Lantern movie for almost a year and a half. The filmmakers have told us that he is their resident expert on the comic books and the conceptual artwork produced for the film: from storyboards, creatures, and costumes, to environments, vehicles, and props. Geoff Johns is the Chief Creative Officer of DC Entertainment and a comic book writer. Johns is best known for his work on Superman, Green Lantern, and The Flash, and he is credited with bringing Green Lantern to its current levels of popularity.

Reviews
“A new book, Constructing Green Lantern: From Page to Screen, gives a kind of production diary that takes you through every stage of creating the movie’s weird vistas, alien landscapes and green energy constructs.” ~iO9.com

“Author Inguanzo, the films’ on-set Green Lantern expert and ‘Assets Manager,’ didn’t get the memo about writing fluffy movie tie-in books and actually wrote a detailed and intelligent production memoir, loaded with photos from the set, pre-viz art, storyboards and final composite images that at least prove that the filmmakers set out to do the character justice.” ~cartoonbrew.com

“Books like these can run the risk of becoming boring technical retellings, but Constructing avoids that problem by structuring the book to follow the plot of the film… It’s Inguanzo’s emphasis on story that makes Contructing a book you can actually sit down and read instead of just flipping through it looking for interesting bits.” ~bleedingcool.com

More Movie Trailers (Both with Vampires)

New X-Men Productions

Captain America: The First Avenger FF

Coming soon:

Green Lantern on Film

Coming soon to a theater near you:



And now on DVD and BluRay:

Comics Scholarship at NeMLA 2011

The NeMLA 2011 Convention was held last month at the Hyatt New Brunswick in New Brunswick, New Jersey, from April 7-10, 2011, and included a variety of papers and sessions of interest. The complete program (divided by days) can be accessed at: http://www.nemla.org/convention/2011/index.html.

FRIDAY, APRIL 8

4.04 Conference B
Seeing Texts and Speaking Images: Visual-Verbal Dialogues in Modernity
Chair: Mary V. Marchand, Goucher College
PAPER 3 OF 3: “Text and Image in Partnership: Narrative Intersections in Jeff Smith’s Bone”
Emily Lauer, Hunter College

6.11 Conference JK
Adoption in Contemporary Literature and Culture (Roundtable)
Chair: Nicole Furlonge, Stuart Country Day School
PAPER 1 OF 3: “The Collapse of the Reunion Fantasy in Daniel Clowes’ Wilson: An Adoption Counter Narrative”
Genie Giaimo, Northeastern University
PAPER 2 OF 3: “What is for others nature/is for us culture: Constructions of Adoption on Heroes”
Nicole Furlonge, Stuart Country Day School

8.04 Conference B
Naming and Framing: Identity Construction in Children’s Literature and Culture
Chair: Julie Cassidy, Borough of Manhattan Community College-CUNY
PAPER 2 OF 4: “Which Powerpuff Girl Are You?: Unsettling Identity Types and Redefining Conventional Girlhood”
Lisa Hager, University of Wisconsin-Waukesha

9.09 Conference G
Captions, Slogans, and Stares (Oh, My!): Image as Argument in College Writing (Roundtable)
Chair: Peter Witkowsky, Mount Saint Mary College
PAPER 6 OF 6: “Our President, the Monster: Graphic Political Arguments in the Composition Classroom”
Angela Francis, CUNY Graduate Center


SATURDAY, 9 APRIL

11.07 Conference D
Serial Narratives and Temporality
Chair: Toni Pape, Université de Montréal
“‘Make It Repeatable’: Postmodern Seriality and the Repetition of What Is Yet to Come”
Stephen Hock, Virginia Wesleyan College
“Serial Historiography: Toward an Ethics of Irreducible Elements in Narrative Histories”
Ben Bolling, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
“Aging at the Speed of Plot: The X-Men and Chronology”
Will Duffy, SUNY Buffalo
“Temporalities on Collision Course: Time, Knowledge and Temporal Critique in Damages”
Toni Pape, Université de Montréal

11.09 Conference A
Twentieth-Century Blake
Chair: Jon Gagas, Temple University
PAPER 1 OF 4: “William Blake’s Milton, Grant Morrison’s Final Crisis, and the End of the Epic Narrative”
Geoff Klock, Borough of Manhattan Community College-CUNY

14.05 Conference I
Classical Women in Modern Literature and Media
Chairs: Krishni Burns, SUNY Buffalo; William Duffy, SUNY Buffalo
PAPER 3 OF 4: “Heroes and Amazons in Y: the last man”
Luiz Guilherme, Universidade de São Paulo

15.08 Conference G
Reading the Postcolonial Other in Contemporary Film (Roundtable)
Chairs: Sophie Lavin, SUNY Stony Brook; Tracey Walters, SUNY Stony Brook
PAPER 5 OF 6: “Coming-of-Age and Cultural Revolution in Persepolis”
Rachel Graf, University of Washington


SUNDAY, APRIL 10

18.10 Regency E
What a ‘Man’’s Gotta Do: (Re)Defining Duty in Post-Feminist Action Films (Seminar)
Chair: Elizabeth Abele, SUNY Nassau Community College
PAPER 2 OF 6: “When Eleven Year-Olds Kick-Ass: Hit-Girl As Role Model Or Victim?”
Keith Friedlander, University of Ottawa
PAPER 5 OF 6: “‘I Won’t Feel a Thing’: Ironic Masculinity in Joss Whedon’s ‘Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog’”
Derek S. McGrath, SUNY Stony Brook

Comics Sessions at ALA 2011

The 22nd Annual Conference of the American Literature Association will be held later this month at The Westin Copley Place, Boston, Massachusetts, from 26-29 May 2011, and there are a number of sessions of interest. The full program and registration information can be accessed at: http://www.calstatela.edu/academic/english/ala2/american_literature_assoc_2011.html.


THURSDAY, 26 MAY
Session 5-F Expanding the Working-Class Literary Canon: Claiming New Writers, Texts, and Genres (Marriott Tufts) Organized by the Society for the Study of Working-Class Literature
Chair: Paul Lauter, Trinity College
PAPER 4 OF 4. ―Sisterhood (and Brotherhood) of the Traveling Wallet: Coming to Class Consciousness through Comics and Graphic Novels
Sara Appel, Duke University


FRIDAY, 27 MAY

Session 9-M The ―small eye poet among the Moderns (Defender 7th Floor)
Organized by the E. E. Cummings Society
Chair: Millie Kidd, Mount St. Mary‘s College
PAPER 1 OF 3. ―" 'A Foreword to Krazy': E. E. Cummings' Love of the 'Lively Art' of Krazy Kat"
April Fallon, Kentucky State University


SATURDAY, 28 MAY

Session 17-A Problems and Possibilities in Defining American Comics: A Roundtable Discussion (Essex North Center) Organized by the American Society for Comics Studies
Chair: Derek Parker Royal, University of Nebraska at Kearney
1. Alfred Bendixen, Texas A&M University
2. Peter Coogan, Institute for Comics Studies
3. David Huxley, Manchester Metropolitan University (UK), co-editor, Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics
4. M. Thomas Inge, Randolph-Macon College
5. Andrew Kunka, University of South Carolina at Sumter
6. Joan Ormrod, Manchester Metropolitan University (UK), co-editor, Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics
7. Robert Weiner, Texas Tech University
8. Joseph Witek, Stetson University

Session 18-K Negotiations of Public and Private Trauma in Comic Art (Essex Center)
Chair: Charles Henebry, Boston University‘s College of General Studies
1. ―The Graphic Memoir in a State of Exception: Transformations of the Personal in Art Spiegelman‘s In the Shadow of No Towers
Lopamudra Basu, University of Wisconsin-Stout
2. ―Emerging from Comics: The Representation of Trauma in Alissa Torres‘s American Widow
Davida Pines, Boston University‘s College of General Studies
3. ―Scene and Obscene: Graphic Approaches to Child Sexual Abuse
Jane Tolmie, Queen‘s University, Kingston, Canada

Session 19-A Comic Books as Resistance Literature (Essex Center)
Organized by Jorge Santos Chair: Derek Parker Royal, University of Nebraska at Kearney
1. ―Re-Visioning Race: Transformations of the Passing Narrative in Incognegro (2008)
Martha J. Cutter, University of Connecticut, Editor of MELUS
2. ―Feminist and Counter-Apocalyptic Resistances in the Comic Art of Sam Kieth
Tof Eklund, Full Sail University
3. ―Killer Conventions: Sandman and Comics Resisting Academic Institutionalization
Daniel Anderson, Case Western Reserve University
4. ―Peter Parker: The Amazing Everyman and Marvel Comics‘ resistance to ―Patriot Act ideologies
Jorge Santos, University of Connecticut

Session 20-A Teaching the Graphic Novel (Essex Center)
Organized by the Contemporary Literature Society Chair, Karen Weekes, The Pennsylvania State University
1. ―The Spirit of '86
Jonathan W. Gray, John Jay College CUNY
2. ―Reading Theory with the Graphic Novel
Lisette Gibson, Capital University
3. ―I Kill Giants, or, I Might Kill Readers
Jennifer Mitchell, Hunter College & CUNY Graduate Center

Session 20-N Organizing Meeting of American Society for Comics Studies
(Empire Room 7th Floor)

Comics Studies at PCA/ACA

There were a number of sessions of interest at last month's Joint Conference of the National Popular Culture & American Culture Association and the Southwest/Texas Popular Culture & American Culture Association held in San Antonio, Texas, from 4/20-23/11. Unfortunately, I cannot copy and paste from the PDF version of the program to list these sessions. The complete program can be accessed at http://pcaaca.org/conference/conf_program.php. Most of the sessions are listed under the Comics and Comic Art Area and the Graphic Novels, Comics, and Popular Culture Area.

New Book: Classics and Comics

Classics and Comics
Edited by George Kovacs and C. W. Marshall
ISBN13: 9780199734191
ISBN10: 0199734194 
Paperback, 288 pages
Oxford University Press, Jan 2011
Price: $29.95
Also available: Hardback

Description
Since at least 1939, when daily-strip caveman Alley Oop time-traveled to the Trojan War, comics have been drawing (on) material from Greek and Roman myth, literature and history. At times the connection is cosmetic-as perhaps with Wonder Woman's Amazonian heritage-and at times it is almost irrelevant-as with Hercules' starfaring adventures in the 1982 Marvel miniseries. But all of these make implicit or explicit claims about the place of classics in modern literary culture.

Classics and Comics is the first book to explore the engagement of classics with the epitome of modern popular literature, the comic book. The volume collects sixteen articles, all specially commissioned for this volume, that look at how classical content is deployed in comics and reconfigured for a modern audience. It opens with a detailed historical introduction surveying the role of classical material in comics since the 1930s. Subsequent chapters cover a broad range of topics, including the incorporation of modern theories of myth into the creation and interpretation of comic books, the appropriation of characters from classical literature and myth, and the reconfiguration of motif into a modern literary medium. Among the well-known comics considered in the collection are Frank Miller's 300 and Sin City, DC Comics' Wonder Woman, Jack Kirby's The Eternals, Neil Gaiman's Sandman, and examples of Japanese manga. The volume also includes an original 12-page "comics-essay," drawn and written by Eisner Award-winning Eric Shanower, creator of the graphic novel series Age of Bronze.

 
Table of Contents:

Preface, C.W. Marshall and George Kovacs
Acknowledgments

1. Comics and Classics: Establishing a Critical Frame, George Kovacs

Seeing the Past through Sequential Art
2. An Ancient Greek Graphic Novel (P. Oxy. XXII 2331), Gideon Nisbet
3. Sequential Narrative and the Shield of Achilles, Kyle Johnson
4. Declassicizing the classical in Japanese comics, Nicholas A. Theisen
5. Heroes Unlimited, Brett M. Rogers

Gods and Superheroes
6. The Furies, Wonder Woman, and Dream, C. W. Marshall
7. Coming up to Code: Ancient Divinities Revisited, Craig Dethloff
8. The Burden of War: From Homer to Oeming, R. Clinton Simms
9. 'Seven Thunders Utter Their Voices', Benjamin Stevens

Drawing (on) History
10. Hard-Boiled Hot Gates, Vincent Tomasso
11. Persians in Frank Miller's 300 and Greek vase-painting, Emily Fairey
12. A Dream of Augustus, Anise K. Strong
13. Francophone Romes: Antiquity in les Bandes Dessinees, Martin Dinter

The Desires of Troy
14. Twenty-First Century Troy, Eric Shanower
15. Sex and Love in Eric Shanower's Age of Bronze, Chiara Sulprizio
16. Heavy Metal Homer, Thomas E. Jenkins

A reading list of Classics in Comics
Contributors
Bibliography
Index

About the Author(s)

George Kovacs teaches at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario.

C.W. Marshall is Associate Professor of Greek and Roman Theatre at the University of British Columbia.

CFP Transitions 2: New Directions in Comics Studies (7/31/11)

Comica Symposium 2011 - Transitions 2: New Directions in Comics Studies
full name / name of organization:
Birkbeck, University of London - School of Arts
contact email:
transitions.symposium@gmail.com

Transitions 2 is a one day symposium devoted to promoting new research into comics in all their forms. Rather than restricting itself to a specific theme, the symposium will highlight research from postgraduate students and early career lecturers bringing together different perspectives and methodoogies, whether cultural, historical, or formal, thereby mapping new trends and providing a space for dialogue and further collaboration to emerge. By thinking about comics across different disciplines, the intention is to spark debate and address a wide spectrum of questions.

We welcome abstracts of 250-300 words for twenty minute papers on topics as diverse as, but not limited to:

international iterations: manga, bande dessinée, fumetti etc. – children’s comics – superheroes – non-fiction comics – the (im)materiality of comics – formalist approaches – cultural histories – adaptation/remediation – autographics –early comics – comic strips – small press – alternative comics/underground comix – comics narratologies – political comics – comics and cultural theory – audiences – comics and the archive – subjectivity in comics – graphic medicine – fan subcultures – comics as historiography – key creators...

Abstracts should be submitted by July 31 2011 to Tony, Paul and Zara at transitions.symposium@gmail.com

The first Transitions symposium was the successful opening event of Comica 2010. Dr. Roger Sabin, Reader in Popular Culture at Central St. Martins and author of Adult Comics and Comics, Comix and Graphic Novels, will once again act as respondent.

Transitions 2 will open Comica 2011, the London International Comics Festival in association with Birkbeck, University of London, Studies in Comics, and European Comic Art.