Americas

United States 

Business

DC Comics and Marvel take top spots of total unit sales of products invoiced during the month of November according to Diamond News. Batman #25, Harley Quinn #0 and Amazing X-Men #1 took first, second and third position respectively. Link (English, MB)

Diamond News reported on the top 100 graphic novels for the month of November, based on total unit sales of products invoiced throughout the month. Image’s Walking Dead: March to War Vol 19 was in the top spot, while Viz Media’s Yu-Gi-Oh! 5DS Vol 5, and DC Comics’ Fairest In All The Land were second and third respectively. Link (English, MB)

Culture

The Comics Journal reviews Small Press Fest 2013, which took place in Seattle, Washington between the 29th and 30th November. Link (06/12/2013, English, WG)

Former North American correspondent for the Comics Forum News Review, Hannah Means-Shannon, has recently been announced as the editor-in-chief over at Bleeding Cool. Link (10/12/2013, English, WG)

Education

The Columbia University Libraries’ Rare Book & Manuscript Library has acquired the archives of Dennis Kitchen’s Kitchen Sink Press, which published underground comics from 1969 to 1999. The collection not only includes comics from notable pioneers – Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, Robert Crumb, and Art Spiegelman – but chronicles the industry’s cultural history via correspondence, original art, mock-ups, and editorial files. Link (18/12/2013, English, MB)

Professor Benjamin Saunders, of the University of Oregon, was interviewed by The Comics Reporter regarding the $200,000 donated towards his Comics & Cartoon Studies program. Link (09/12/2013, English, WG)

Research

The Ages of Wonder Woman: Essay on the Amazon Princess in Changing Times, edited by Joseph J. Darowski, was released by McFarland Publishers in December. The essays contextualise Wonder Woman during pivotal periods, from her inception in the 1940s during World War II, to reconciling her identity along nationalistic lines. Link (English, MB)

Naomi Grossman has been announced as the keynote speaker for the 2014 “Cripping” the Comic Con, which takes place at Syracuse University in April. Link (English, WG)

There is a call for papers for an edited collection entitled “Graphic Treatment: Zombies, Medicine, and Comics,” which will examine zombies in comics and graphic novels through the lens of medical discourse. Abstracts are due by the 10th February. Link (20/12/2013, English, WG)

There is a call for papers for an edited collection entitled “Post-9/11 Literature and Media.” The editor seeks submissions that look beyond more obvious 9/11 texts, with studies into comics welcome. Abstracts are due by the 31st January. Link (21/12/2013, English, WG)

The Visual Language of Comics: Introduction to the Structure and Cognition of Sequential Images by Neil Cohn has now been published in the UK and Europe through Bloomsbury, and will be published in North America in late January. Link (English, WG)

ImageTexT Volume 7, Issue 1, a special issue entitled “The Worlds of the Hernandez Brothers,” has recently been published. Link (English, WG)

There is a call for papers for a special issue of ImageTexT entitled, “A Comic of Her Own: Women Writing, Reading, and Embodying in Comics.” Submissions are due by the 15th February. Link (04/12/2013, English, WG)

The open access journal, Synæsthesia, invites submissions for a special upcoming themed edition of the journal (Vol. 2, No. 3) specifically focused on comic book superheroes. Link (10/12/2013, English, WG)

The MLA Discussion Group on Comics and Graphic Narratives have published complete descriptions, with abstracts, of the three panels that will be hosted at the Modern Language Association’s Annual Convention. The panels Transnational Comics (Link 1), Comics and Fine Art (Link 2), and Collaboration in Comics (Link 3), will take place at the event in Chicago between the 9th and 12th January. Link 1 (02/01/2014, English, WG), Link 2 (02/01/2014, English, WG), Link 3 (02/01/2014, English, WG)

Asia

Taiwan

Culture

A comic exhibition, A Parallel Tale: Taipei in 80s x Hong Kong in 90s, organised by the Hong Kong Arts Centre, opened in Taipei. It showcases five artists from Taiwan and five artists from Hong Kong, and is there until the 9th February. Link (English, LCT)

Europe 

Belgium

Business

The Belgian National Football Association (URBSFA) is considering filing a complaint against publisher TJ Editions for copyright infringement. TJ Editions have published an album, Rêve Bresilien, featuring the Belgian national football team. However, URBSFA have signed an exclusive deal with another publisher, Joker Editions, to issue albums featuring the national team. Link (23/12/2013, French, LTa)

France

Law & Politics

A French court has dismissed the case brought by Sylvie Uderzo, daughter of Astérix creator Albert, for “abuse of weakness” by her father’s entourage. The case is part of a long-running dispute between father and daughter which stems from Albert’s 2008 sale of his 40% stake in Editions Albert-René (publishers of the Astérix series) to Hachette. Sylvie Uderzo is appealing the decision. Link 1 (11/12/2013, French, LTa), Link 2 (11/12/2013, French, LTa)

Germany

Culture

The group exhibition, „comicleben_comiclife“, of six German-language individuals working in comics (including Marko Djurdjevic, Ulli Lust and Dietrich Grünewald) takes place at MKG Hamburg from the 20th December 2013 to the 4th May 2014. Link (12/12/2013, German, MdlI)

A comic festival takes place at Kassel from the 15th to the 19th January. Guests include Kai Pfeiffer, Ulli Lust and Peer Meter. Link (23/12/2013, German, MdlI)

A Nick Knatterton exhibition takes place in Bremen until the 22nd March. Link (30/12/2013, German, MdlI)

Research

The call for papers for the 9th conference of the German Society for Comics Studies – Drawing Borders, Crossing Boundaries (Grenzen ziehen, Grenzen überschreiten) – is now online. The deadline for proposals is the 31st March, and the conference will take place in Berlin from the 25th to the 28th September. Link (31/12/2013, English, MdlI)

Poland

Research

There is a call for papers for the conference, Word & Image Crossovers: An International and Interdisciplinary Conference, which will take place between the 29th and 30th September at the Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Link (English, WG)

Portugal

Education

During January, three courses/workshops on comics will take place in Lisbon. “How to Read Comics”, “How to read Illustration” and “Experimental Comics” are the titles of the courses that will be taught by Pedro Moura. They are being organised by the LEBD (Laboratory of Comics Studies) and Oficina do Cego. Link (Portuguese, RR)

From the 24th February until the 26th May, the CIEBA (Fine Arts Research Center of the Faculdade de Belas-Artes da Universidade de Lisboa) will host the Laboratory on Illustration and Comics. It aims to promote methodologies of research, conception and concretisation, focusing on the similarities between illustration and comics. Registration is open until the 18th February. Link (Portuguese, RR)

Romania

Culture

The third edition of the European Comic Con took place in Bucharest between the 7th November, and the 5th December. It featured the work of comic book artists from France, Belgium, Germany, The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. Link (Romanian, MP)

The traveling collaborative exhibition project “comiXconnection” arrived in Romania on the 13th December. It features the work of independent comic book artists from Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Hungary, and Romania; and will run until the 30th January. Link (English, MP)

Switzerland

Business

Genevan publisher Atrabile is facing significant financial difficulties. An association, Friends of Atrabile, has been created. Link (19/12/2013, French, LTa)

UK

Culture

The Comics Journal reviews Thought Bubble, Leeds 2013. Link (05/12/2013, English, WG)

Education

There are a number of AHRC funded PhD studentships available at the University of Dundee. Applications and research proposals relating to Comics Studies are welcome, and the deadline is the 20th January. Link (English, WG)

Research

There is a call for papers for the symposium Communities of Experience? A Symposium on Autobiographical Comics by Jewish Women. Abstracts are due by 15th May for the event which takes place in London on the 12th November. Link (23/12/2013, English, WG)

Oceania

Australia

Culture

Nominations for the 2013 Ledger Awards have been announced. The Ledger Awards, named after the reputed cartoonist Peter Ledger, were created to recognise excellence in the Australian comic book industry. More information about the judging process and nominees can be found in the following link. Link (English, ALM)

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

Correspondents: Michele Brittany (MB, North America), William Grady (WG, UK), Martin de la Iglesia (MdlI, Germany), Amy Louise Maynard (ALM, Australia), Mihaela Precup (MP, Romania), Renatta Rafaella (RR, Portugal) Lise Tannahill (LTa, Belgium, France, Switzerland), Lim Cheng Tju (LCT, Taiwan).

Click here for News Review correspondent biographies.

Click here to see the News Review archive.

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