CANCELLED: "Secret Origins of the Graphic Novel" at East Line Books, Clifton Park NY

Due to circumstances beyond my or East Line Books' control, this event has been cancelled. We hope to re-schedule it for sometime in late July or August. As soon as we find a new date, I'll be sure to post it here.

"Secret Origins of the Graphic Novel" at East Line Books, Clifton Park NY

NOTE:
Due to circumstances beyond my or East Line Books' control,
this event has been CANCELLED. See above for more information.

For those of you who might find yourself in or around New York's Capital Region next week and are looking for something to do, might I suggest this presentation? Big, big "Thank You!" to Robyn Ringler of East Line Books for the invitation!

"Secret Origins of the Graphic Novel"
A presentation by Gene Kannenberg, Jr.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 6:30pm
East Line Books, Clifton Park, New York

Graphic novels are everywhere, from libraries to bookstores to the New York Times Book Review, and with good reason. There's something for everyone's taste, including history, memoir, humor, politics, science fiction & fantasy, and yes, superheroes. But how did we get from Superman to Maus, from Little Lulu to Persepolis, from Crime Does Not Pay to Road to Perdition?

Gene Kannenberg, Jr. traces the path from pulp to Pulitzer in this heavily illustrated talk. With stops in the U.S. Senate in the 1950s, Berkeley in the 1960s, New York in the 1980s, and more, "Secret origins of the Graphic Novel" opens the world of drawn books to readers of all ages.

A respected comics historian, Gene Kannenberg, Jr. is the director of ComicsResearch.org and the author of 500 Essential Graphic Novels (Collins Design, 2008). He has lectured and written widely about comic art, with essays appearing in publications including The Comics Journal, Studies in American Humor, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Hogan's Alley. He lives in Albany, New York.

East Line Books is located in Old Village Plaza, 1714 Route 9, Clifton Park, NY 12065 (one block north of Rt. 146 on Rt. 9 across from Snyder's Restaurant, between Clifton Park Pizza and Captain's Treasures). For further information, call Robyn Ringler at East Line Books: 518 371-4151.

PS: You can download a PDF of the flyer pictured above by making the clicky here.

Image credit: Abdazign.

Wizard World University-Chicago and Philadephia (Comic Book Convention Conference Series )

The Institute for Comics Studies is soliciting proposals for presentations, book talks, slide talks, roundtables, professional focus discussion panels, workshops and other panels centered around comics or comics related areas of study for Wizard World University-Philadelphia and Wizard World University-Chicago, the academic tracks of Wizard World Comic Book Conventions.

Panels that include participation by comics industry professionals are especially encouraged. ICS will provide assistance with recruiting professionals for participation in WWU panels.

Wizard World University represents the Institute for Comics Studies’ mission to promote the study, understanding, and cultural legitimacy of comics and to support the discussion and dissemination of this study and understanding via public venues.

Proposals deadline: May 21st, 2009 (Chicago), or June 6th (Philadelphia).

Submit your 100-200 word abstract with the words "Wizard World University-Chicago" in the subject line to hamiwill[at]gmail.com.

Submit proposals for WWU-Philadelphia to:
http://www.hsu.edu/form.aspx?ekfrm=40054

Today is FREE COMIC BOOK DAY!

Comics shops across the USA & Canada celebrate their beloved art form today by giving away comic books for free. Free, I tells ya! If you haven't visited a comic book store in a while - or ever - here's your chance to catch up on what you've been missing.

If you're not sure where your closest participating comics shop might be, the Free Comic Book Day website has a handy "FCBD Shop Locator" - enter your ZIP code and you'll get a list of shops near you. (USA shops only.)

The website also has a list of the 40 different FCBD comics you can choose from. (Note: Not all shops will have every title, and some titles will probably go fast!) Most shops will let you have one title, but several will offer multiple titles. Shop early, and shop often.

To get you started, here's a small sampler of the books on offer - twelve of the forty book in total. See you at the comics shop!

Craig Yoe Talks about Joe Shuster's Fetish Art on Yesterday's "Fresh Air"

On last night's broadcast of "Fresh Air," NPR's Terry Gross interviewed my pal Craig Yoe, author of the new book Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman’s Co-Creator Joe Shuster. I got a peek at the book a few months back at the New York Comic Con, and it looks great! I can't wait to get a copy of my own. Much of this work has laid "undiscovered" for decades; Craig's done a great service by presenting and discussing this work, showing us another side of the artist who's best-known (possibly only known) to the general public for having created, with Jerry Siegel, that obscure comic book character Superman.

Listen to Terry Gross' interview with Craig Yoe here.

I've heard rumblings from a (very) few comics fans who lament the book's existence, saying that it sullies Joe Shuster's memory. I couldn't disagree more; the book adds to our knowledge of Shuster, revealing where his opportunities lay once DC Comics had no more use for his services and showing us how his art "matured" (in more than one sense) after he drew the Man of Steel. I've also heard fans say that the art in this book will "overshadow" his work on Superman. Honestly, could that really happen? Will people now remember only this work and forget his co-creation of Superman? Hardly. Or, to put it another way, it's simply inconceivable.

For more information on the book, check out ComicsResearch.org's feature page for Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman’s co-creator Joe Shuster. We also have info on some of Craig's other books, like Clean Cartoonists' Dirty Drawings and Modern Arf: Artists + Models: The Naked Truth. And no, Craig doesn't just write books with nekkid ladies in them - check out his website for a complete list. Obviously, I need to add - and OWN - the rest of his books!

Addendum: As everyone who's met him or read his book-blog knows, Craig Yoe is one of those shy, retiring types, never one to toot his own horn without painful prodding. I'm not sure who was holding a gun to his head, but somehow he was convinced to create an image promoting his radio appearance:
Very clever, Craig! But I know your secret. You stole - er, appropriated - that face from the original version of your new book's cover.Image credits: Top - cover to Secret Identity, probably Copyright © 2009 Abrams ComicArts. Middle: Copyright © 2009 Craig Yoe. Bottom: A "yoe-toe-shopped" mash-up of the two by moi.

University Press of Mississippi: Website Super Sale (ends July 15, 2009)

University Press of Mississippi, which has published more books about comics than any other academic publisher in the USA, currently is running a large sale for web-only purchases. Not every title is on sale, but a goodly number are, at 20% to 85% Off. The sale ends July 15th.

Luckily for comics scholars, UP Miss provides a breakdown of sale titles by subject. So click here for their list of discounted books on comic art.

Also: Check out UP Miss's blog. (But no tags?!? I will speak to them about this. srsly.)

CFP: El Paso in the Comics II: The Southwest in the Comics (grad. conference: Aug. 20; Feb. 23, 2010)

Posted on behalf of James Bucky Carter, University of Texas at El Paso.

El Paso in the Comics II:
The Southwest in the Comics

Graduate students in all fields of study are invited to submit 200-word abstracts to the second-annual El Paso in the Comics conference and event, to be held on the campus of the University of Texas at El Paso, February 23, 2010.Papers on all aspects of comics scholarship, theory, and pedagogy will be given attention, but those that deal with issues related to artists, creators, characters and/or themes associated with the American Southwest and/or Hispanic/Chicano culture in comics will be given top priority.

Abstracts should include name, e-mail, affiliation (university and program), proposed paper title and 200-word description. Presentations should run no more than 20 minutes.

Send abstract to:

Dr. James B. Carter
Re: El Paso in the Comics Conference
113 Hudspeth Hall
UTEP English Department
500 W. University Ave.
El Paso, TX 79912

Or electronically to: Jbcarter2[@]utep.edu.

The deadline for abstracts is August 20, 2009.

The academic portion of the event will take place in the morning. A creators' roundtable will follow in the mid-afternoon, featuring the many local studios and creators of the El Paso/Juarez region discussing their work with members of the community. The evening will wrap up with a keynote speech by celebrated comics artist and writer Jaime Hernandez of Love and Rockets fame.

CFP: Jewish Comics [journal issue; October 2, 2009]

[Synchronicity Dep't: I'm currently reading Danny Fingeroth's Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero.]

JEWISH COMICS:
SPECIAL ISSUE OF THE JOURNAL SHOFAR

The scholarship surrounding comics and “graphic novels” has proliferated over the past several years, as has studies focusing on particular comics themes or visual texts created by certain ethnic communities. Indeed, over the past three years alone there have been at least six critical studies investigating the links between comics and Jewishness. Given this emergent field of inquiry, Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies will devote a special issue to Jewish comics (slotted for Summer 2010). The scope of this volume will take in the theoretical, literary, and historical contexts of graphic narrative and its links to Jewish identity and discourse. Possible topics could include, but are certainly not limited to:

• The ways in which comics have articulated the American Jewish experience
• Comics and the Holocaust, as expressed in such narratives as Maus, Auschwitz, I Was a Child of the Holocaust, We Are on Our Own, Mendel’s Daughter: A Memoir, and Yossel: April 19, 1943
• The contributions of Jews in the history of comic strips and comic books
• Images of Israel in the works of Joe Sacco, Rutu Modan, Ari Folman, Miriam Libicki, and the Dimona Comix Group
• Jewish identity through superheroes and villains, from Superman to The Spirit to Shaloman
• The form of the contemporary “graphic novel” by Jewish writers/artists such as Kim Deitch, Joann Sfar, Miss Lasko-Gross, Ben Katchor, and Aline Kominisky-Crumb
• Graphic adaptations of Jewish texts and legends
• Immigration and ethnic urban landscapes in the works of comics artists such as Will Eisner and Ben Katchor
• Comics, the Diaspora, and Jewish internationalism
• Jewish identity and world conflict, from the world wars to 9/11
• Jewish autobiographic comics (e.g., Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor and Will Eisner’s autobiographic fiction) as well as graphic biographies of such figures as Franz Kafka, Emma Goldman, Houdini, and Anne Frank
• Representations of the Jewish gangster in comics
• The uses of the golem and its relation to the superhero

All essay submissions should be between 5,000 and 8,000 words, including notes. Contributors should format submissions based on the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, and use footnotes. Authors will be responsible for securing copyright permission for all images used. Address all inquiries, and submit all completed manuscripts, to the guest editor, Derek Parker Royal at Derek_Royal[at]tamu-commerce.edu. Please include the words “Jewish Comics” in the subject heading.

Deadline for final manuscript submission is October 2, 2009.

Shofar is published for the Midwest Jewish Studies Association, the Western Jewish Studies Association, and the Jewish Studies Program of Purdue University by the Purdue University Press. For more information on the journal, please visit http://www.cla.purdue.edu/jewish-studies/shofar/.

Update 04/21/2009: You also can download a pdf of this call for papers.

Conference: Academic Perspectives on Comics, Manga & Graphic Novels - Sweden, April 16-18:

Academic Perspectives on Comics, Manga & Graphic Novels
as Intercultural & Intermedial Phenomena
The Forum for Intermedial Studies
Växjö University, Sweden
April 16-18 2009

Check the conference website for lots of information, including abstracts as well as a PDF of the Preliminary programme. The keynote speakers will be Paul Gravett (United Kingdom), Thierry Groensteen (France), and Helena Magnusson (Sweden).

This reminder courtesy of Fredrik Strömberg, who notes that this will be "the first major academic conference on comics in Sweden."

Does anyone have a spare plane ticket to Europe they're willing to donate? :-)

Image Credit: A.K. Westin

Latest Additions and Revisions to Our Bibliography (Lots!)

Long time, no update! But that doesn't mean we haven't been busy. Here are the latest new and revised ComicsResearch.org bibliography entries. As always, we've also been correcting old links and adding new ones throughout the website. If you have suggestions or would like to contribute reviews, please let us know.

New Entries:

A Comics Studies Reader. Edited by Jeet Heer and Kent Worcester. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2008.

Clean Cartoonists' Dirty Drawings. By Craig Yoe. Last Gasp, 2007.

David Cronenberg's A History of Violence. By Bart Beaty. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008.

Erotic Comics 2: A Graphic History from the Liberated '70s to the Internet. By Tim Pilcher, with Gene Kannenberg, Jr. Introduction by Alan Moore. NY: Abrams, 2009.

From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books. By Arie Kaplan. Foreword by Harvey Pekar and JT Waldman. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 2008.

I Fumetti. By Carlo della Corte. Enciclopedia Popolare Mondadori. [Milano]: Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1961.

India's Immortal Comic Books: Gods, Kings, and Other Heroes. By Karline McLain. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2009.

Little Sammy Sneeze: The Complete Color Sunday Comics 1904-1905. By Winsor McCay; edited by Peter Maresca. Sunday Press Books, 2007.

The Rough Guide to Graphic Novels. By Danny Fingeroth. Rough Guides / Penguin, 2008.

Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography. By David Michaelis. New York: Harper, 2007.

Watchmen: Portraits. By Clay Enos. London: Titan Books, 2009.

Watchmen: The Art of the Film. By Peter Aperlo. London: Titan Books, 2009.

Watchmen: The Official Film Companion. By Peter Aperlo. London: Titan Books, 2009.

Watchmen and Philosophy: A Rorschach Test. Edited by Mark D. Wright. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2009.

Revised Entries:

500 Essential Graphic Novels: The Ultimate Guide. By Gene Kannenberg, Jr. NY: Collins Design, 2008.

Arguing Comics: Literary Masters on a Popular Medium. Edited by Jeet Heer and Kent Worcester. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2004.

Dark Knights: The New Comics in Context. By Greg S. McCue, with Clive Bloom. London & Boulder, CO: Pluto Press, 1993.

Erotic Comics: A Graphic History from Tijuana Bibles to Zap Comix. By Tim Pilcher, with Gene Kannenberg, Jr. Introduction by Aline Kominsky Crumb. NY: Abrams, 2008.

The Essential Guide to World Comics. By Tim Pilcher and Brad Brooks. Foreword by Dave Gibbons. London: Collins & Brown, 2005.

Funny Ladies: The New Yorker's Greatest Women Cartoonists And Their Cartoons. By Liza Donnelly. Prometheus Books, 2005.

Garry Trudeau: Doonesbury and the Aesthetics of Satire. By Kerry D. Soper. University Press of Mississippi, 2008.

Illuminating Letters: Typography and Literary Interpretation. Edited by Paul Gutjahr and Megan L. Benton. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2001.

Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed! Will Eisner, Stan Lee, Neil Gaiman and More! By Arie Kaplan. Chicago Review Press, 2006.

Print: America's Graphic Design Magazine 42.6 (November/December 1988): "Comics: A Special Issue."

Splat Boom Pow! The Influence of Cartoons in Contemporary Art. Ed. Valerie Cassel. Houston TX: Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, 2003.

Press Release: India's Immortal Comic Books: Gods, Kings, and Other Heroes, by Karline McLain

[Note: For more information on this book, see
ComicsResearch.org's information page for India's Immortal Comic Books.]

A pioneering study of Indian comic book culture.

Combining entertainment and education, India's most beloved comic book series, Amar Chitra Katha, or "Immortal Picture Stories," is also an important cultural institution that has helped define, for several generations of readers, what it means to be Hindu and Indian. Karline McLain worked in the ACK production offices and had many conversations with Anant Rai, founder and publisher, and with artists, writers, and readers about why the comics are so popular and what messages they convey. In this intriguing study, she explores the making of the comic books and the kinds of editorial and ideological choices that go into their production.

"The Rama comic book features a muscular, bare-chested, blue-tinged hero on its cover, posed with bow and arrow drawn. A beautiful, fair-skinned woman with long dark tresses watches with wonder as Rama, the hero, takes aim. ... [Although] in many ways akin to American comic book superheroes such as Superman and Captain America, Rama is not your average fictitious superhero. He is a god in human form, and the Rama comic book is a Hindu devotional story told through the comic book medium." - from the Introduction

"[O]riginal both in content and in the kinds of sources that are brought to bear on the subject ... Students of popular culture, contemporary religion, and anthropology will all learn a great deal from McLain's study." - Lisa Trivedi, Hamilton College

"I’ve never taught an introductory Hinduism class without finding that for many Hindu students, Amar Chitra Katha had taught the course long before me. It’s a formidable canon, and like every 'Bible' it’s not just inspirational but, on reflection, controversial. In this absorbing study, Karline McLain takes the comics seriously, showing us the faces behind the pages and tracing the global impact of this culturally crucial medium and text." - John Stratton Hawley, Barnard College, Columbia University

Karline McLain is Assistant Professor of Religion at Bucknell University.
India's Immortal Comic Books is published in association with the American Institute of Indian Studies.

CFP: History of Books for Children and Young Adults, Bedford UK: April 17; June 16

Note the specific mention of comics and graphic novels.

The History of Books
for Children and Young Adults
University of Bedfordshire, Polhill Campus, Bedford UK
16th June 2009

The University of Bedfordshire is hosting a forthcoming one-day conference on the history of books for children and young adults to be held on the 16th June 2009 at the Polhill Campus, Bedford. The Hockliffe archive comprises works of fiction and non-fiction for children from the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These include a wide range of literary genres, from fables and fairy tales, through periodicals and instruction books, to poetry and fiction, as well as books on games and pastimes, natural science, history, mathematics, geography and travel (amongst others).

We do not, however, wish to restrict papers to work on books actually in the collection, although papers on these are of course very welcome, but instead we wish to use the conference as an occasion to celebrate the long and vibrant history of publications aimed at children and young adults, and the increasingly multi-disciplinary areas of research with which this has been associated. We therefore welcome contributions that centre on the following very broad topics and themes:

• Academic approaches to children’s, young adult (YA) and crossover literature.
• The history of children's book illustration, including work on picture books, comics and graphic novels.
• The representation of children and childhood in fiction and non-fiction.
• Multi-disciplinary work in the fields of childhood and youth studies.
• The history of instruction books for children, from bible stories and hymns, through books on history, geography and travel, to natural science and mathematics.
• Children's oral culture, including folklore, myths and legends.
• Pedagogic theory and practice, from ABC books, to postgraduate courses on children’s literature and culture and creative writing for young and YA readers.
• The history of children's play and leisure, including research on toys, games, and sports.
• Multi-media childhoods, including work on the history of children's television, film and computer games.

Please note that proposed papers from postgraduate students are welcome.

The day's proceedings will end with readings by one or more contemporary children's writers (please check the conference website for updates on this).

Other related topics and themes will be considered for inclusion in the conference programme. Please submit a 250 word abstract, accompanied by contact details and a brief biography, to be received by 17th April 2009, to the following address:

The Hockliffe Conference
c/o Dr Clare Walsh
Division of Performing Arts & English
University of Bedfordshire
Polhill Avenue
Bedford
MK41 9EA
Or by email to: hockliffe [at] beds.ac.uk

Exhibit Announcement: True Stories by Phillip Marsden

For an exhibit showing later this year. Posted on behalf of the Riverside Gallery.

True Stories by Phillip Marsden
Exhibition at the Riverside Gallery, Richmond UK
12 September - 28 November 2009

A retrospective look at cartoon and comic strip works from the last five years, including Clam & Elgar, Aesop's Fables, the collaborative Blackout and the occasional True Stories series, chronicling curious instances from the artist's daily life, presented here in its entirety for the first time.

More information:

Riverside Gallery's exhibition page
The Arts Service at Orleans House Gallery, Riverside, Twickenham, TW1 3DJ
PhillipMarsden.com

Image credit: Cartoon by Phillip Marsden, from exhibition page.

"So, What's the Big Deal about WATCHMEN?"

Several months ago, a friend asked me about WATCHMEN. She'd read the graphic novel and liked it, but she wasn't utterly blown away like she thought she'd be, and she wanted to know what I thought about the book. I sat down to "write a quick email" in reply, and I came up for breath a little shy of 1000 words later.

I've been wanting to polish this up into a "proper" essay, replete with links and images a-plenty; but alas, I am not possessed of Doctor Manhattan's unique way with time. So I've decided to just "go wild" and post a plain vanilla, barely-polished version of that original email. Will it veer off topic? Yes. Are its ideas under-developed? Of course. Are all of its ideas original? No, but I only steal from the best. Does it just peter-out at the end? Aye. Will its unfinished state embarrass me? Heck no. Do I want to say more about all of this? You bet. And I hope to, right here, eventually. Until then, I give you, off the top of my balding, decidedly un-Moore-like head...

"So, What's the Big Deal
about WATCHMEN?"

Actually, I can understand this point of view. The hype -- the hagiographical zeal -- that surrounds Watchmen can't help but set up nigh-impossibly high expectations for new readers today. But...

Part of the situation is that when Watchmen appeared, 22-ish years ago, nothing quite like it had been done before. Since then, people have ripped it off -- er, paid it homage -- a zillion times. Plus, the type of psychological nuances that Watchmen contains are lots more common today, or at least the attempt is. So characterization-wise, it can't help but seem somewhat less amazing now than it was back in the day. Plus, lots of comics today try to envision "what effect superheroes would have on the 'real' world." Again, when Watchmen came out this sort of thing practically didn't exist.

But there are two other parts which, to me, make Watchmen still stand out.

I'm a form / process geek, and formally Watchmen kicks freakin' ass. Page design, cover design, series design, panel arrangement, transitions, narrative / thematic cross-cutting -- all this stuff is still done with more precision, care, and effect than any Watchmen -wannabes ever accomplished. Because Alan Moore is a genius when it comes to stuff like this - most of that formal stuff is in his script, although Gibbons contributes enormously. Check out the "Fearful Symmetry" chapter. Look at the first page and the last page, then the second page and the penultimate page, etc.... The layouts mirror each other, and the narrative and themes do a bit, as well, page vs. page, panel vs. panel.

It's stuff like this that you can do in comics but you can't do in any other medium in the same way.

The other biggie is that plot is so not the totality of Watchmen. In fact, I find it practically secondary to the larger experience. (I think Moore did too - viz. the admittedly derivative SF ending.) For me, it's the fact that Watchmen creates an entire world, a mythology, a history, all in 12 chapters. It gives you a narrative density that "regular" superhero comics might begin to approach after a decade or three.

It helps, of course, that most of the characters are analogues of previous heroes. On one level they're extremely thinly veiled analogues to heroes from Charlton comics; but on a deeper level, they resonate with lots of (super)hero archetypes (just as the Charlton heroes do). The Comedian is sort of Captain America and the Punisher at the same time; Nightowl is Batman-ish; Silk Spectre is like Phantom Lady or numerous other "good girl" super heroines of the 40s; Rorschach is a "dark avenger," but with the moral compass of Ayn Rand; etc.

But most important, for me, is all the extra material at the end of each chapter. There's where you learn about history and world cultural development and politics and so much else about this world: information that opens up the story so that it's not just a superhero / whodunit / mad scientist story. If you just read the comics narrative without the back-up material, you'll get a very good superhero story, excellently presented, sure. But without the extra material, I'm convinced that today we wouldn't be talking about Watchmen as much more than a "Yeah, that was a pretty interesting" book.

It's these latter qualities that make me believe that pretty much any Watchmen adaptation will fall far short of what the original is all about. I've always said that pretty much the only way I could conceive of an adaptation working would be to make it a TV miniseries, or maybe a series of DVDs. Each episode would have a regular narrative section, but then rounding out the hour (or appearing as bonus dvd features) would be things like documentaries, news programs, talk shows, etc.: TV-type things that expand the world just like the print-type things that expand the world in the book. You can try to do some of this type of stuff in one movie with flashbacks, montages, etc., but there's no way that you could get an analogous depth and the breadth of that world in even a 3-hour movie.

Of course, I can't think of a single film adaptation of a novel that manages to convey completely the richness of its source material. Or a comics adaptation of a film, or a book. Or a book of a comic. You get the idea. Anyone who expects an adaptation to "live up to" the original -- to include everything, in exactly the same way, with exactly the same weight and emphasis -- is playing a sucker's game. No adaptation into another medium can ever be 100% faithful to its source; it's physically, aesthetically, impossible. Nor is it wise. Film has its strengths and weaknesses, as does prose, as does poetry, as does theater, as does comics.

I don't expect that Watchmen the film will reduplicate the experience of reading the Watchmen the comic. From all the hype, I know that it at least will mimic the "look" of the comic as much as it possibly can. (Except for the heroes' costumes. Most of them should look dumpier -- but movie audiences wouldn't stand for that. Or maybe that should read "movie executives.") I would like to see a film that treats its source intelligently (not just reverently) and utilizes all the tools of cinema in ways as innovative as Moore & Gibbons did the tools of comics. I doubt that could happen, though, no matter the passion of the people behind and in front of the camera. If it were too avant-garde, I doubt any major studio would have allowed it through to completion, not with so much $$$$ riding on it.

But we'll see – Friday night, I expect...

Image Credit: Milhouse knows the score. Screen-grab from The Simpsons.

Deadline Extended: 2009 International Comic Arts Forum (April 3; Oct. 15-17)

ICAF 2009
The 14th Annual International Comic Arts Forum
October 15-17, 2009
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago

ICAF, the International Comic Arts Forum, invites scholarly paper proposals for its fourteenth annual meeting, to be held at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, from Thursday, October 9, through Saturday, October 11, 2009.

The deadline to submit proposals HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO April 3, 2009. Proposals will be refereed via blind review.

ICAF welcomes original proposals from diverse disciplines and theoretical perspectives on any aspect of comics or cartooning, including comic strips, comic books, albums, graphic novels, manga, webcomics, political cartoons, gag cartoons, and caricature. Studies of aesthetics, production, distribution, reception, and social, ideological, and historical significance are all equally welcome, as are studies that address larger theoretical issues linked to comics or cartooning, for example in image/text studies or new media theory. In keeping with its mission, ICAF is particularly interested in studies that reflect an international perspective.

PROPOSAL GUIDELINES: For its refereed presentations, ICAF prefers argumentative, thesis-driven papers that are clearly linked to larger critical, artistic, or cultural issues; we strive to avoid presentations that are merely summative or survey-like in character. We can accept only original papers that have not been presented or accepted for publication elsewhere. Presenters should assume an audience versed in comics and the fundamentals of comics studies. Where possible, papers should be illustrated by relevant images. In all cases, presentations should be timed to finish within the strict limit of twenty (20) minutes (that is, roughly eight to nine typed, double-spaced pages). Proposals should not exceed 300 words.

AUDIOVISUAL EQUIPMENT: ICAF's preferred format for the display of images is MS PowerPoint. Regretfully, we cannot accommodate non-digital media such as transparencies, slides, or VHS tapes. Presenters should bring their PowerPoint or other electronic files on a USB key or CD, not just on the hard drive of a portable computer. We cannot guarantee the compatibility of our equipment with presenters' individual laptops.

REVIEW PROCESS: All proposals will be subject to blind review by the ICAF Executive Committee, with preference given to proposals that observe the above standards. The final number of papers accepted will depend on the needs of the conference program. Due to high interest in the conference, in recent years ICAF has typically been able to accept only one third to one half of the proposals it has received.

SEND ABSTRACTS (with complete contact information) by April 3, 2009, to Prof. Cécile Danehy, ICAF Academic Director, via email at <cdanehy [at] wheatoncollege.edu>.

Receipt of proposals will be acknowledged immediately; if you do not receive acknowledgment within three days of sending your proposal, please resubmit. Applicants should expect to receive confirmation of acceptance or rejection by April 17, 2009.

Image Credit: The ICAF logo, by Gerrit de Jager.

Applications Sought for the 2009 John A. Lent Scholarship in Comics Studies (May 1)

2009 John A. Lent Scholarship
in Comics Studies

Students of comics!

ICAF, the International Comic Arts Forum (website), is proud to hold each year the John A. Lent Scholarship in Comics Studies competition. The Lent Scholarship, named for pioneering teacher and researcher Dr. John A. Lent, is offered to encourage student research into comic art. ICAF awards the Lent Scholarship to a current student who has authored, or is in the process of authoring, a substantial research-based writing project about comics. (Preference is given to master’s theses and doctoral dissertations, but all students of comics are encouraged to apply.) The Scholarship was established in 2005.

The Scholarship is subject to the condition that the recipient present a half-hour talk, based on her or his research, during ICAF. The award consists of up to US$500 in kind to offset the cost of travel to and/or accommodations at the conference. A commemorative letter and plaque are also awarded. No cash is awarded.

Applicants must be students, or must show acceptance into an academic program, at the time of application. For example, applicants for ICAF 2009 must show proof of student status for the academic year 2008-2009, or proof that they have been accepted into an academic program beginning in academic year 2009-2010.

The Scholarship competition is adjudicated by a three-person committee chosen from among the members of ICAF’s Executive Committee. Applications should consist of the following written materials, sent electronically in PDF form:

• A self-contained excerpt from the project in question, not to exceed twenty (20) double-spaced pages of typescript.
• A brief cover letter, introducing the applicant and explaining the nature of the project.
• The applicant’s professional resume.
• A brief letter of reference, on school letterhead, from a teacher or academic advisor (preferably thesis director), establishing the applicant’s student status and speaking to her/his qualifications as a researcher and presenter.

PLEASE NOTE that applications for the Lent Scholarship are handled entirely separately from ICAF’s general Call for Proposals (which can be viewed here). Students who submit abstracts to the general CFP are welcome to apply separately for the Lent Award.

Send inquiries and application materials via email to Ana Merino of the ICAF Executive Committee, at ana.merino [at] dartmouth.edu. The deadline for 2009 submissions is May 1, 2009.

Image Credit: Photo of Prof. Lent from the website of The International Journal of Comic Art, one of his myriad contributions not just to comics scholarship but to scholarship and international understanding in general.