Americas

Canada

Research

Benjamin Woo, at the University in Calgary, is currently conducting a study of working conditions in comics. He is currently seeking those involved with comics creation to complete a survey. Link (English, WG)

The annual conference of the Canadian Society for the Study of Comics invites proposals for papers on any and all aspects of comics, graphic narrative, picture books, and textual-visual arts. The conference will be held in collaboration with the Toronto Comics Arts Festival, at the Toronto Reference Library, between the 9th and 11th May 2014. Abstracts are due by the 10th February 2014. Link (English, WG)

United States 

Business

Walking Dead #115 (an anniversary issue featuring 10 covers), alongside Batman #24 (an oversized issue), and Infinity #4 took the in top three spots for Diamond Comic Distributors 100 best-selling comics for October 2013. Link (11/11/2013, English, MB & EG)

Diamond Comics also released their 100 top-selling graphic novels. Batman Volume 3: Death of the Family and its companion novel, The Joker: Death of the Family, held the first and third spots respectively, while Marvel’s Avengers: Endless Wartime was in the second spot. Link (11/11/2013, English, MB & EG)

Education

The Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon, administered by the Library of Congress, is accepting applications for its graduate fellowship, for the 2014-2015 academic year. The deadline for applications is the 14th February 2014. Link (English, WG)

The Comics Journal report on the opening of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum at Ohio State University. Link (20/11/2013, English, WG)

Obituaries

Bill Schelly of The Comics Journal remembers Nick Candy who passed away at the age of 93. Candy practiced a classical approach in portraying his characters – both inside and on the cover of such comics as DC’s Aquaman, Batman, and Bat Lash. Link (06/11/2013, English, MB)

Research

The University of California, Santa Barbara, will be hosting a conference entitled “Composition: Making Meaning through Design”, an interdisciplinary study of material texts ranging from graphic novels to e-books. Proposals for the conference are due by the 15th January, for the conference that takes place on the 15th and 16th May 2014. Link (16/11/2013, English, MB & EG)

There is a call for papers for the fifth annual Comics & Medicine conference. The theme this year is “From Private Lives to Public Health.” The conference is scheduled to take place at the John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, between the 26th and the 28th June 2014. 300-word proposals are due by the 14th February 2014. Link (English, MB & EG)

“Cripping” the Comic Con, a conference now in its second year, has released a call for papers for its April 2014 gathering at Syracuse University, New York. The conference aims to be accessible for individuals regardless of their academic credentials. Submissions which discuss the representations of disability across popular culture mediums and genres are due by the 13th January 2014. Link (12/11/2013, English, MB & EG)

Comic-Con International has announced that WonderCon Anaheim 2014 will be held between the 18th and 20th April.  Proposals for papers and panels are being accepted until the 15th December. Link (English, WG)

Salem Press has released a call for contributors for its collection of essays entitled “Critical Insights: The American Comic Book.” Each of the essays  should be between 4,000 and 5,000 words in length, and each should be written for the general reader. Link (20/11/2013, English, EG)

Case Western University has announced a call for papers for its July 2014 conference entitled “Evil Incarnate: Manifestations of Villains and Villainy.” Although this conference is not specific to comic books, relevant discussions of the medium are welcome. Link (26/11/2013, English, EG)

Undead in the West II: They Just Keep Coming, edited by Cynthia Miller and A. Bowdoin Van Riper, has recently been published through Scarecrow Press. The collection examines undead Westerns in comics and graphic novels, amongst other things. Link 1 (English, WG), Link 2 (English, WG)

Following on from their work in the Undead in the West collections, editors Cynthia Miller and A. Bowdoin Van Riper seek submissions for the proposed collection, “The Horrors of War: The Living, the Undead, and the Battlefield.” The collection will focus on ghosts, zombies, vampires, etc. in fictional war narratives across media (including comics), and abstracts are due by the 20th December. Link (22/11/2013, English, WG)

Asia

Japan

Culture

Yoshihiro Yonezawa Memorial Library will hold a talk on the 7th December. Yukari Shiina and Masato Hara will discuss the Gaiman Awards (gai from gaikoku [foreign] and man from manga), an award for foreign works that are available in Japanese translation. Link (Japanese, JBS)

The Institut Francais in Kansai is holding its fifth bande dessinée lecture on the 7th December. The theme this time is the depiction of sexuality, with Xavier Gillard as a lecturer. Link (Japanese, JBS)

Education

Professor Keiko Takemiya, a renowned manga artist and member of the group of revolutionary 1970s shojo manga artists called “The Magnificent 49’ers”, was elected as the new President of Kyoto Seika University. This is a post she will assume at the start of the new academic year, April 2014. Link (21/11/2013, English, JBS)

Research

The symposium, Anime Studies Now, will be held on the 20th December at Kyoto International Manga Museum. Scholars from Japan, Malaysia, Turkey, and the U.S. will be presenting their research, and two experts, prof. Nobuyuki Tsugata from Kyoto Seika University, and Mr. Yasunori Oya from Kyoto International Manga Museum will comment. Link (Japanese, JBS)

Singapore

Culture

The e-book of the Lianhe Zaobao cartoon exhibition has just been released (news of the exhibition was reported in August). Link (English, LCT)

Europe 

Austria

Culture

Scott McCloud was one of the speakers at the literature festival “Erich Fried Tage” in Vienna on the 9th November. Link (01/11/2013, German, MdlI)

A Nicolas Mahler exhibition takes place at Karikaturmuseum Krems from the 29th November to the 23rd March 2014. Link (11/11/2013, German, MdlI)

France

Business

The satirical magazine Siné Mensuel has encountered financial difficulties and has launched an appeal to make up for the shortfall. Link 1 (07/11/2013, French, LTa), Link 2 (French, LTa)

The director of a planned Blake & Mortimer film adaptation is no longer working on the project, due to lack of funds. Link (19/11/2013, French, LTa)

Culture

Frederik Peeters’ Blue Pills is being adapted for the Franco-German TV channel ARTE. Link (01/11/2013, French, LTa)

A Smurfs album has been published in Breton. Link (30/10/2013, French, LTa)

Germany

Culture

The exhibition “Mucha Manga Mystery” explores Alphonse Mucha’s influence on subsequent graphic design, including manga. It will be shown from the 5th December to the 2nd March 2014 at the Bröhan Museum in Berlin. Link (25/11/2013, German, MdlI)

Research

New issues of the yearbooks Deutsche Comicforschung and Comic-Jahrbuch have been published. Link (18/11/2013, German, MdlI)

Ireland

Research

There is a call for papers for the conference The First World War in European Children’s Literature: 1970-2014. The event is concerned with the subject of the First World War in late-twentieth and twenty-first century literature for children and young adults. The event will take place in Dublin on the 27th June 2014, with abstracts due by the 31st January. Link (20/11/2013, English, WG)

Spain

Culture

A selection of works by underground artist Miguel Angel Martin is exhibited as part of the Independent Film Festival in Madrid 2013 (22nd – 30th November). Link (Spanish, EC)

GRAF took place in Madrid on the 29th and 30th November. This encounter between artists, readers and publishers focused on independent creation, self-publishing, crowd-funding and the relation between comics and other arts. There was a very dynamic, vibrant and inspiring atmosphere, with round tables, discussions and exhibitions. Link (Spanish, EC)

6th Comic Week took place at Tarragona between the 17th and the 24th November. Exhibitions and conferences were moderated by celebrated Spanish artists and critics. Link (14/11/2013, Spanish, EC)

UK   

Culture

There is a call for entries into Myriad Editions’ First Graphic Novel Competition. The biennial competition seeks to publish a graphic novel-in-progress, and is open to all cartoonists, writers and artists who have not previously published a full-length graphic work. The deadline for entries is the 3rd March 2014. Link (English, WG)

The winners of the British Comic Awards were announced at this year’s Thought Bubble festival. Link (23/11/2013, English, WG)

Forbidden Planet review Thought Bubble, Leeds 2013. Link (29/11/2013, English, WG)

Downthetubes report on Dundee Comics Day, which took place at the University of Dundee on the 26th and 27th October. Link (02/11/2013, English, WG)

Education

There are a number of funded places on offer at the University of Glasgow to pursue a PhD in the French department. Research proposals that consider bande dessinée are welcome. Link (English, WG)

Obituary

Downthetubes offer an obituary of Bob Bartholomew, editor of Eagle between 1962 and 1969, who died on the 9th October at the age of 90. Link (07/11/2013, English, WG)

Research

There is a call for papers for the conference, “Heroes and Monsters: Extra-ordinary Tales of Learning and Teaching in the Arts and Humanities.” The conference is concerned with how monsters can unnerve and innervate those working in arts and humanities higher education. The conference will take place at The Lowry, Manchester, between the 2nd and 4th June 2014. Link (English, WG)

A review of the conference Transitions 4, which took place on the 26th October at Birkbeck, London, has been published online by the conference organisers. Link (13/11/2013, English, WG)

Oceania

Australia

Culture

The winner of the Lord Mayor’s Creative Writing Award in the category of Graphic Short Story was David Blumenstein, for “The Bolt Report.” Creators shortlisted for the award include Scarlette Baccini, Timothy Newport, Chris Rodgers and Edwin Tan. The awards were created to encourage creativity and promote Melbourne’s status as a UNESCO City of Literature. Link (English, AM)

Research

The University of Adelaide has released a call for papers for its upcoming symposium, Inkers and Thinkers: The Evolution of Comics, to be held on the 4th April 2014. Abstracts of 300-500 words will be accepted until the 20th December. There is no conference booking fee. Link (English, AM)

Technology

Kickstarter has launched in Australia. The popular crowd-funding site now accepts Australian-based projects, providing creators with a new platform in which to fund, produce and market their comics. Link (English, AM)

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News Editor: Will Grady (comicsforumnews@hotmail.co.uk)

Correspondents: Jessica Bauwens-Sugimoto (JBS, Japan), Michele Brittany (MB, North America), Esther Claudio (EC, Spain), Eric Garneau (EG, North America), William Grady (WG, UK), Martin de la Iglesia (MdlI, Austria & Germany), Amy Maynard (AM, Australia), Lise Tannahill (LTa, France), Lim Cheng Tju (LCT, Singapore).

Click here for News Review correspondent biographies.

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Suggestions for articles to be included in the News Review can be sent to Will Grady at the email address above.