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Preparations are well underway for the 127th Annual MLA Convention, to be held 5-8 January 2012 in Seattle, Washington. We of the Discussion Group on Comics and Graphic Narratives, after a very successful slate of panels at the 2011 convention in Los Angeles, are in the thick of planning for 2012—do check out our Calls for Papers for Seattle: Why Comics Are and Are Not Picture Books (deadline March 12, 2011) The Material History of Spider-Man (deadline March 5, 2011) How Seattle Changed Comics (deadline March 12, 2011) Feel free to post comments to this blog or to email Charles Hatfield @ charles[dot]hatfield[at]gmail[dot]com if youRead More →

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How Seattle Changed Comics Call for Papers for a proposed panel at the Modern Language Association (MLA) Annual Convention, 5-8 Jan. 2012, Seattle, Washington. Sponsored by the MLA Discussion Group on Comics and Graphic Narratives. The proposed session would explore how Seattle and its institutions—seminal publisher Fantagraphics; The Comics Journal; independent and minicomix scenes—have transformed contemporary comics and the cultures surrounding it. Discussion: Seattle is arguably the city that has shaped US comics the most over the past thirty years. The influence of independent publisher Fantagraphics is enormous: Fantagraphics has disseminated the work of many of the world’s most famous contemporary cartoonists, discovering and nurturingRead More →

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The Material History of Spider-Man: A 50th Anniversary Observance Call for Papers for a panel at the Modern Language Association (MLA) Annual Convention, 5-8 Jan. 2012, Seattle. This panel will be sponsored by the MLA Discussion Group on Comics and Graphic Narratives. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Spider-Man’s first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15, this session wishes to examine the histories imbricated in this iconic figure. From his Cold War origins in 1962, to his emergence as a symbol of the counterculture, to his commemoration of indelible moments in 21st-century America (e.g., Amazing Spider-Man #477—the 9/11 issue, or Amazing Spider-Man #583—the Obama issue), Spider-Man’sRead More →

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Why Comics Are and Are Not Picture Books NOTE: The deadline for this CFP has been extended to 12 March! Call for Papers for a proposed session at the Modern Language Association (MLA) Annual Convention, 5-8 Jan. 2012, Seattle, Washington. Jointly sponsored by the MLA Children’s Literature Division and the MLA Comics and Graphic Narratives Discussion Group. This panel will explore the possible relationships between comics and picture books, two imagetext genres implicated in children’s literacy learning which, despite overlapping formally and aesthetically, nonetheless stand apart socially and culturally. The potential application of picture book theory to comics, and, conversely, comics theory to picture books,Read More →

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In addition to the three panels sponsored by our Discussion Group, there are many other events on the MLA 2011 program relevant to comics studies. Notably, there are two special sessions, that is, independent panels, in the comics field: 175. Narrative Imag(in)ing and the Comics of the Hernandez Brothers Friday, Jan. 7, 8:30-9:45 a.m., Olympic III, J. W. Marriott Presiding: Jennifer Glaser, Univ. of Cincinnati 1. “Serialization, Character Dynamics, and Narrative in Gilbert Hernandez’s Love and Rockets,” Christopher Gonzalez, Ohio State Univ., Columbus 2. “Strategizing Popular Genre in the Works of the Hernandez Brothers,” Derek Parker Royal 3. “Emotion, Cognition, and Race in Los BrosRead More →

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The Modern Language Association (MLA) Discussion Group on Comics and Graphic Narratives will host its first panels ever this coming weekend, Thursday through Sunday, January 6-9, at the MLA’s 126th Annual Convention in Los Angeles. The Convention (for an overview of which, see here) will take place in downtown LA at the Convention Center and the nearby J. W. Marriott hotel. This year’s Convention boasts an unprecedented level of activity in comics studies, including the following three panels sponsored or co-sponsored by the Discussion Group on Comics and Graphic Narratives: 312. Comics and Conflict in the Middle East Friday, Jan. 7, 1:45-3:00 p.m., Room 407,Read More →