Comics Forum

‘Chercher dans le Noir’ – the gap as motif in Caboto by Lorenzo Mattotti and Jorge Zentner, by Barbara Uhlig

There have been many attempts at arriving at a definition for the comics medium. One of the defining elements in many of these definitions is the sequential arrangement of panels, arranged spatially adjacent to each other and separated out by the empty space surrounding them, the so-called “gutter” (see for example Kunzle 1973:2, Sabin 1993:5, Haymann and Pratt 2005:423). Thus one of the constituent elements of comics is the gap. In order to be able to follow the fragmented story told in the individual images, the reader has to mentally fill in the gaps, a process Scott McCloud called ‘closure’ (67). Both narrative and temporality are created in the gutter. In other words, the gutter is the major place for meaning making. This inter-frame gap has been extensively treated in research (i.e. Barnes 2009, Low 2012, Miller 2007). R. C. Harvey demonstrated in his 2001 essay ‘Comedy at the Juncture of Word and Image’ that the same principle of closure also applies to the gap between word and image in that the reader has to link both to be able to fully understand the panel. Finally, Barbara Postema showed in her dissertation Mind the Gap that gaps can be found on every level in comics: in image, page layout, sequence, image-text combinations and the narrative itself (3). She illustrates that according to Wolfgang Iser, the gap is an integral part of all fictional narrative as it ‘is always a matter of leaving openings to draw readers on’ (Postema 2011:5). This implies that gaps are responsible for engaging the reader, who must produce inferences to construct meaning in a narrative. The prime example for this is the crime story – the reader is left trying to figure out who the murderer is by interpreting the hints provided by the text and filling in the information gaps. While in literature this procedure is often invisible, the gaps in comics are often very noticeable, like the aforementioned inter-frame and word-image gaps. However, gaps can also be used to create narratives in which the gap explicitly takes on a thematic role.

This is exactly what happens in the comic El Cosmógrafo Sebastián Caboto: Trazar un Mapamundi (1992), in which Lorenzo Mattotti and Jorge Zentner apply the logic of the gap to the story itself. It is an account on the Italian explorer Sebastian Cabot who sailed to America shortly after its discovery by Columbus. Unfortunately, our knowledge of him is very patchy, his biography ‘nebulous’ (10). While gaps are something most biographers have to deal with to a certain degree, the ones Mattotti and Zentner are confronted with are particularly large. This may have influenced their decision to not smooth them over to create one harmonious, consistent story as is often done in fictional reconstructions of the past but to put its fragmentary nature at the center of their narrative, thus using the comic’s gutter structure to reinforce their own fractured narrative.

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Posted by Comics Forum on 2013/02/25 in Guest Writers

Tags: Jorge Zentner, Lorenzo Mattotti, Scott McCloud, Spain

Image [&] Narrative #10: Depicting Boredom: On Gestures and Facial Expressions by Greice Schneider

18 Feb

In previous installments, I’ve been tackling the subject of boredom and everyday life in contemporary comics, how it plays a role in the creative process, and how it is experienced in the act of reading. It is time now to address how it can be manifested on the level of content. In this post, I will quickly outline a few possibilities on the use of facial expressions and gestures [1], so central in the dramatic development of the actions in graphic narratives, since it is not possible to rely on motion or vocal intonations.[2] But how to address graphic representation of body movements when boredom is so often associated with lack of movements, constancy and stillness?

Boredom, as a state of apathy, indifference, lack of emotion could be conveyed precisely by an absence of movement. Such a state of physical inertia is very usual in the work of Daniel Clowes, an author who devotes considerable attention to the visage, as seen, for example, in the very first page of David Boring (2000), in which the protagonist’s undisturbed facial expression is highlighted by horizontal features, such as flat eyebrows, eyes partially covered by eyelids and mouth only slightly downturned. This affectless bored expression is placed just next to the title, linking his surname to his expression, in a double panel spread that highlights his face against a dark nocturnal urban landscape.

The whole vocabulary of body movements follows the same logic. Unlike the tension of the “pregnant moment” (and an implied before and after), boredom is better conveyed by the sameness of an “ever present”, suggested, for example, by a relaxed steady posture, shoulders down, body tilting forward, hands supporting head (as an attempt to avoid falling sleep), something found in a number of covers: the fake The Wonder Book of Boredom (suggestively labeled vol. IV – Collecting Sand), by English cartoonist Glen Baxter, featuring a boy holding his head with both hands, glancing at grains on the table; Dominique Goblet’s autobiographical Faire semblant c’est mentir (2007), in a similar pose, legs crossed, holding a glass; or Arne Bellstorf’s American inspired tale of suburban melancholy Acht, Neun, Zehn (2005) , in which the teenage protagonist’s boredom is visually represented through the refusal to charge the face with any kind of affection and the choice of conveying his body as an arch – an almost continuous piece that bends down.

On the opposite extreme of absence of movement, boredom and impatience can also be conveyed by relentless movement, in the form of repetitive actions as the body resists boredom, like tapping the foot or fingers. Linhart describes a form of these small repeating and intermittent gestures as a means of defense against boredom in the assembly line, as life “kicks and resists”:

The organism resists. The muscles resist. The nerves resist. Something in the body and in the head, braces itself against repetition and nothingness. Life shows itself in more rapid movements, an arm lowered at the wrong time, a slower step, a second’s irregularity, an awkward gesture, getting ahead, slipping back, tactics at the station.

(Linhart 1981, p.17).

The representation of these rhythmic gestures poses a challenge for the fixed image, but there are a couple of recurring solutions to avoid ambiguity. The first and more economical approach is to convey multiple repetitive movements in the same panel, with the help of lines and/or “sounds”. Faire semblant c’est mentir (2007) makes use of onomatopoeia (tic tic…) to signal the repetitive insistence of young Dominique playing with scissors. This rhythmic effect is also taken into consideration when drawing the words. The same repetitive pattern appears in a sequence from Acme Novelty Library #17 (2006), in which an art teacher Chris Ware (appearing here as a character), after spending some time doodling to kill time, starts tapping his pencil over the table, yawning and supporting his head with his hand.

Another facial sign of boredom and indifference can be found in the direction of the gaze. While a look directed to a specific element (even if outside the panel) indicates interest, curiosity, attunement to the external world, a wandering look suspends the curiosity about what happens in the surroundings, shifting the attention to the inner life of the character (or absence of it). This use of unfocused eyes is very frequent in the work of Adrian Tomine. In his New York Sketches (2005); the author portrays people in public urban environments (like the subway), paying close attention to their distracted attitudes during the journey – the situation of waiting in a confined space often leading to a state of impatience. The woman on the left, for example, seems lost in thought, staring at nowhere specific. On additional side notes, Tomine acknowledges repetitive movements, revealing both character’s state of restlessness: she was “unable to sit still for more than a few minutes”, and “his mouth moved as if he was chewing”.

Of course the examples described above show only a few possibilities on how characters can perform boredom, but they already reveal the ambiguity and interesting dynamics that define it, oscillating between states of complete stillness and relentless movement.

Bibliography

Baetens, Jan. “La Main Parlante.” Image [&] Narrative. Issue 9 (2004): http://www.imageandnarrative.be/inarchive/performance/baetens_main.htm

Bellstorf, Arne. Acht, Neun, Zehn. Reprodukt, 2005. Print.

Bremond, Claude. “Pour Un Gestuaire Des Bandes Dessinées.” Langages 3.10 (1968): 94–100.

Clowes, Daniel. David Boring. New York: Pantheon Books, 2000. Print.

Goblet, Dominique. Faire Semblant C’est Mentir. Paris: L’Association, 2007. Print.

Linhart, Robert. The Assembly Line. University of Massachusetts Press, 1981. Print.

Tan, Ed. S. “The Telling Face in Comic Strip and Graphic Novel.” The Graphic Novel (2001): 212. Print.

Tomine, Adrian. Adrian Tomine: New York Sketches 2004. Buenaventura Press, 2005. Print.

Ware, Chris. Acme Novelty Library #17. ACME Novelty Library, 2006. Print.

Greice Schneider recently finished a PhD on boredom and everyday life in contemporary graphic narratives at K.U. Leuven, in Belgium. She is a founding member and a member of the editorial board of The Comics Grid. She is on the editorial board of Image [&] Narrative.

Click here to read previous instalments of the Image [&] Narrative column.

[1] – For more on gestures and comics see (Baetens 2004) (Bremond 1968) (Tan 2001).

[2] – Such an approach should avoid the temptation to universalize by identifying a constant repertory of facial expressions and gestures recognizable across the world. Although it is difficult to support the idea that a determined combination of positions can directly correspond to a specific emotion, no matter what context, it is reasonable to assume that a shared vocabulary of gestures and facial expressions often plays an important role in graphic storytelling.

Beaucoup de Femmes, Un Artiste: Focalization Cues in the Graphic Novels of Bastien Vivès by Gwen Athene Tarbox

08 Feb

1 Comment

Posted by Comics Forum on 2013/02/08 in Guest Writers, Women

Tags: bande dessinée, Bastien Vivès, France, Franco-Belgian Comics

News Review: January 2013

04 Feb

Americas

Canada

Research

The call for papers has been posted online for the New Narrative conference, taking place at the University of Toronto on the 10th May. Deadline for proposals in the 31st March. Link (English/French, WG)

United States

Business

Publishers Weekly reports that Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 7, has exceeded the 1 million copies sold mark in print format, like its preceding volume. Link (20/12/2012, English, HMS)

Torsten Adair of The Comics Beat analyses The New York Times’ bestselling graphic books list rankings of manga titles comparatively with non-graphic works in 2012. Link (30/12/2012, English, HMS)

Image publisher Eric Stephenson, having been named Comics Industry Person of the Year by The Comics Beat is interviewed by The Comics Beat on the tremendous success of Image in 2012 and reflects on the year ahead in 2013. Link (11/01/2013, English, HMS)

The Comics Beat announces and previews several new creator-owned comics slated to appear in July of 2013 from Titan Comics in digital platforms. Link (08/01/2013, English, HMS)

Torsten Adair of The Comics Beat analyses The New York Times’ bestselling graphic books list rankings comparatively with non-graphic works in 2012. Link (29/12/2012, English, HMS)

Calvin Reed reports for Publishers Weekly that Viz Media, Manga Publisher and Anime distributor, have launched simultaneous release of Japanese and English manga beginning the 21st January with Weekly Shonen Jump. Link (21/01/2013, English, HMS)

Culture

A live comics projection Carousel event will be held on the 6th February at Dixon Place in New York City, featuring the work of Dean Haspiel, Amy Herzog, Lauren Rosenwald, Jim Torok and others. Link (26/01/2013, English, HMS)

On the 20th Marchat 7 PM, the Soho Gallery of Digital Art in New York City will host a unique discussion event focused on the life, work, and impact of Frederick Wertham on comics, entitled “Surely You’re Joking, Dr. Wertham”. Panelists will include former DC president Paul Levitz, authors David Hajdu, Craig Yoe, and Sharon Packer, and former Marvel editor and author Danny Fingeroth. Link (English, HMS)

Mike Carbo’s New York Comic Book Marketplace convention has announced a new revised date for the event, the 13th April, at Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City. Link (English, HMS)

Education

Author and comics scholar Glen Downey reports on “Changing Attitudes to Comics in the Classroom” at Sequart Research and Literary Association. Link (10/01/2013, English, HMS)

Columbia University’s Rare Book & Manuscript Collection has announced a significant contribution to its graphic novel related archive in the form of the complete collection of research material assembled by author Larry Tye in the completion of his Superman biography, Superman: The High-Flying History of the World’s Most Enduring Hero. Also announced is the acquisition of six 1940’s Batman scripts from the estate of Jerry Robinson. Link (23/01/2013, English, HMS)

Law & Politics

Maren Williams of The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund reflects on the decision of Beverly James, library director in Greenville County, South Carolina, to support a ban on Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows, Neonomicon, in the face of contrary decisions from her content review committee, letters of protest from CBLDF and others. Link (07/01/2013, English, HMS)

The Comics Beat reports on The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s press release announcing that best-selling author of the Babymouse series, Jennifer Holm, will be joining the CBLDF board focusing on youth reading activities and advocacy. Link (10/01/2013, English, HMS)

Obituaries

Controversial publisher, and comic con promoter, Richard L. Olney, passed away on the 28th December 2012, at the age of 58. Olney was the founder of ORCA, Organized Readers of Comics Associated, a reader’s advocacy group. Link 1 (30/12/2012, English, HMS), Link 2 (English, HMS)

Research

The third issue of SANE journal (which publishes on sequential art narrative in education) is
available online now, featuring articles on comics in the classroom and teaching rationales. Link (English, WG)

The poster for the Michigan State University Comics Forum (1st-2nd March) has been published online. Proposal deadline is the 31st January. Link (17/01/2013, English, WG)

A call for papers has been published for the collection The Comics of Joe Sacco: Journalism in a Visual World. The volume is part of the Critical Approaches to Comics Artists, by the University of Mississippi Press. 500-1000 word abstracts are expected by the 25th March. Link (29/01/2013, English, WG)

Technology

Leslie Kaufmann of The New York Times discusses recent Scholastic Inc. figures that suggest digital reading is on the rise among children aged between 6 and 17, but that this has not necessarily translated into a desire to read more widely over time. Link (13/01/2013, English, HMS)

Asia

Japan

Culture

There is an exhibition of graduation works by students from Kyoto Seika University, Faculty of Manga, during the Kyoto Manga Anime Week. It will take place from the 2nd to the 24th February, at the Kyoto International Manga Museum. Link (Japanese, JBS)

Research

Four doctoral students of Kyoto Seika University’s Faculty of Manga’s graduate school will present their research at the Kyoto International Manga Museum, 3F, on the 20th February, between 14:30-17:45. Link (Japanese, JBS)

Five manga and anime researchers will appear on a panel presenting the first stage of the Manga & Anime Research Mapping Project, and discuss the relevance and timeliness of manga and anime research (incl. Comics Studies). The venue is the Roppongi Hills café SPACE, on the morning of the 17th February, 11:00-12:30. Link (30/01/2013, Japanese, JBS)

There is a research presentation in Fujimoto Yukari’s seminar at Meiji University, on the 2nd February, from 10:30-18:20 (with breaks) . Presentations will center on manga, animation, gaming, fandom, and TV. Link (23/01/2013, Japanese, JBS)

Singapore

Culture/Research

A forum was held on the 19th January at the Bishan Public Library to discuss the depictions of Singapore and Japan in the 1970s in Ten Sticks And One Rice and Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s Midnight Fishermen: Gegika of the 1970s. Creators of Ten Sticks And One Rice, Koh Hong Teng and Oh Yong Hwee, and comics critic, Lim Cheng Tju, were the speakers. Both books are published in Singapore. Link (English, LCT)

Europe

Austria

Culture

An exhibition titled Nippon Chinbotsu, on the eponymous manga by Tokihiko Ishihi, opens at MAK, Vienna. Link (15/01/2013, English, MdlI)

Croatia

Culture

A Walter Neugebauer retrospective is being held in Zagreb, at the museum Klovićevi dvori. Walter Neugebauer (1921-1992) was one of the first comic book authors in Croatia, and also one of the most significant authors. The retrospective opened on the 30th January and it is going to be running until the 3rd March. Link (29/01/2013, Croatian, LO)

Stjepan Sejić, the Croatian artist known by his work on Top Cow books such as Witchblade and Artifacts, has been working on his new comic book Ravine for the past 11 years. Ravine was made in collaboration with the American writer Ron Marz and it will have its debut on the 13th February. Link (20/12/2012, English, LO)

Law & Politics

Comic books have been VAT-free in Croatia until this year. However, since the 1st January 2013, a value added tax (VAT) was introduced on all the books (including comic books). There is now a 5% VAT on paper books and a 25% VAT on e-books. Link (01/01/2013, Croatian, LO)

Denmark

Culture

The Danish Comics Museum now has a new home at the Storm P. Museum. Link (16/01/2013, Danish, RPC)

Finland

Culture

There is a Mari Björklund exhibit at the Comics Center Helsinki from the 7th January to the 2nd February. Link (Finnish, RPC)

Heikki Paakanen has been awarded the PuuPää-hat prize. Link (17/01/2013, Finnish, RPC)

France

Business

Delcourt is the first French publisher to join American digital publishing specialist Comixology. Delcourt, the second most important publisher in France, plans to make its whole catalog available on the platform, starting with its translation of Image’s The Walking Dead. Other publishers may follow the example, as Comixology is looking to expand its presence in Europe. Link (01/02/2013, French, NL)

Eight of the most important comics publishers in French (Bamboo, Casterman, Dargaud, Dupuis, Fluide Glacial, Grand Angle, Jungle, Le Lombard) have announced the creation of the “48 heures de la BD”, a promotional event modeled on the American “Free Comic Book Day”, which is to take place on the 5th and 6th April. Eight different albums will be given away – 10.000 books in total will be made available – with a focus on first volumes of ongoing series. Link (22/01/2013, French, NL)

Louis Delas, the former CEO of Tintin’s publisher, Casterman, is set to create as strong comics department at his new company, L’Ecole des loisirs. L’Ecole des loisirs specializes in children books and magazines, but is looking to expand its activities and could become a significant new publisher in the field: books by Lewis Trondheim, David Chauvel, Fred Simon, David de Thuin, Bruno Heitz and Richard Marazano, some of them reprints from other publisher, are already announced. Link (26/01/2013, French, NL)

After stopping their sponsorship of the Angoulême Festival, FNAC have created a new bande dessinée prize. Link (23/01/2013, French, LTa)

Benoit Mouchart, artistic director of the Angoulême Festival, will become editorial director of bande dessinée at Casterman from March. Link (16/01/2013, French, LTa)

Yann Lidingre, author of Tintine, is the new editor of the monthly bande dessinée magazine Fluide Glacial. Link (29/01/2013, French, LTa)

Culture

Dutch cartoonist Willem wins the Grand Prize in Angoulême. Though mostly renowned for his activities as an editorial cartoonist, Willem is also a talented comics artist, who played a crucial editorial role in France in the seventies as the editor in chief of Charlie Mensuel. The choice was surrounded by some amount of controversy as a new system was devised to take into account the input of all the comics artists present at the festival, and not just previous Grand Prize winners. Link (03/02/2013, French, NL)

The prize for the best comics of the year (the “Fauve d’or”) at the Angoulême Festival has been awarded to the second volume of Quai d’Orsay. Chronique diplomatiques, by Blain and Lanzac. The two volume story, a fictionalized account of the inner workings of French foreign policy around the time of the second war in Iraq, has been a critical and popular success, making the choice fairly consensual. Other notable winners at this year’s festival include comics blogger Marion Montaigne (Tu mourras moins bête), who received the prize of the public, Frederik Peeters (Aama. Tome 2. La multitude invisible), for the best on-going series and Jon McNaught (Automne/Autumn stories) who received the prize for the best new talent. Link (03/02/2013, French, NL)

Geluck will stop drawing his character Le Chat in newspapers from the 23rd March. Link (22/01/2013, French, LTa)

Rosinski, the artist behind Thorgal, has been made an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government. Link (25/01/2013, French, LTa)

Obituaries

Jacques Sadoul passed away on the 18th January, at the age of 78. He was mostly known for his work on science-fiction – he edited several important thematic anthologies, created influential collections and wrote noteworthy studies in the field – but he also worked on comics alongside other French precursors such as Moliterni and Lacassin. His most famous book on comics L’enfer des bulles, first published in 1968, deals with eroticism and censorship in the medium. Link (***Adult content. 20/01/2013, French, NL)

Germany

Business

Book industry magazine buchreport reports comics sales in Germany for 2012. Link (09/01/2013, German, MdlI)

The current, tenth issue of anthology magazine Orang is announced to be its last. Link (24/01/2013, German, MdlI)

Comic Report reports on a new publisher, BSV Hannover, which reissues Classics Illustrated. Link (26/01/2013, German, MdlI)

Culture

Comics researcher Bernd Dolle-Weinkauff talks about Uncle Scrooge’s 65th birthday on the television programme hallo hessen. Link (02/01/2013, German, MdlI)

An exhibition of German comic artists opens on the occasion of the 11th anniversary of publisher avant-verlag at Neurotitan im Haus Schwarzenberg, Berlin. Link (11/01/2013, German, MdlI)

An exhibition on Nick Knatterton and its author Manfred Schmidt (Nick Knatterton und andere Abenteuer – Manfred Schmidt zum 100. Geburtstag) opens at Wilhelm Busch – Deutsches Museum für Karikatur und Zeichenkunst in Hanover. Link (13/01/2013, English, MdlI)

An exhibition on the Czech comic Alois Nebel opens in Berlin. Link (14/01/2013, German, MdlI)

Berlin-based tabloid B.Z. awards comic author Reinhard Kleist with its 22nd annual “Kulturpreis”. Link (18/01/2013, German, MdlI)

Scott McCloud and Chris Ware will be guests at internationales literaturfestival berlin on the 15th March. Link (29/01/2013, German, MdlI)

Research

The protestant church institution Evangelische Zentralstelle für Weltanschauungsfragen publishes a book on religion in manga (Von Geistern, Dämonen und vom Ende der Welt. Religiöse Themen in der Manga-Literatur, no. 222 in their series EZW-Texte). Link (German, MdlI)

A conference titled “Comic-Kolloquium 2013: Das Erzählen und seine Transformationen im Comic” will take place at the University of Duisburg-Essen between the 21st and the 23rd March. Link (21/01/2013, German, MdlI)

ComFor weblog announces six individual lectures on comics in different German cities. Link (31/01/2013, German, MdlI)

Greece

Culture

The dates, official guests, and exhibition of the annual festival Comicdom Con Athens have been announced. Link (English, LTs)

Education

“Writing with the incredible Mr. Escher” is a new educational program on comics, hosted by Comicdom Press at the Herakleidon Museum. Link (English, LTs)

Iceland

Culture

The Nordicomics Exhibition is at the City Library in Reykjavik between the 12th January and 10th February. Link (English, RPC)

Sweden

Business

The Swedish comics publisher Optimal Press closes after 21 years. Link (27/01/2013, Swedish, RPC)

Culture

There is an exhibition about Stockholm in Comics at the Stockholm City Museum, between the 24th January and the 5th May. Link (Swedish, RPC)

UK

Jobs

The University of Nottingham’s School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies have announced a number of doctoral studentships in areas such as Cultural, Film, and Media Studies, American/Canadian Studies, and Francophone Studies. Study to commence September 2013, and applications are due by the 13th May. See Link 1 for more details, and Link 2 for application forms. Link 1 (English, WG), Link 2 (English, WG)

The Department of Media and Communication at the University of Leicester is offering two Graduate Research Assistantships for October 2013 entry to its Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programme. The closing date for applications in the 28th February. Link (English, WG)

The New London Graduate School consortium (the universities of East London, Greenwich, London South Bank and Middlesex) are offering a fully-funded AHRC PhD studentship in Cultural Studies (commencing September 2013), alongside nine fully-funded AHRC Masters studentships in the areas such as Creative Writing; Film and Digital Media Production; Design; Fine Art; and Publishing Studies. Link (English, WG)

Research

A call for papers has been issued by Brighton and Sussex Medical School in collaboration with Brighton and Sussex University Hospital Trust for the Graphic Medicine fourth international conference on Comics and Medicine. This year’s topic is “Ethics Under Cover: Comics, Medicine, and Society” and the conference will be held from the 5^th to the 7^th of July. 300 word proposals including abstracts should be sent by the 22nd February to submissions@graphicmedicine.org. Link (English, HMS)

Berghahn Books have announced the recent publication in paperback of Laurence Grove’s Comics in French – The Bande Dessinée in Context. Link (English, WG)

* * *

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

Correspondents: Jessica Bauwens-Sugimoto (JBS, Japan), Rikke Platz Cortsen (RPC, Scandinavia), William Grady (WG, UK), Martin de la Iglesia (MdlI, Austria & Germany), Nicolas Labarre (NL, France), Hannah Means-Shannon (HMS, North America), Luka Ostojic (LO, Croatia), Lise Tannahill (LTa, France), Lida Tsene (LTs, Greece), Lim Cheng Tju (LCT, Singapore).

Click here for News Review correspondent biographies.

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

New MP3 Download: Charlie Adlard in conversation with Hugo Frey

29 Jan

Today sees the launch of another downloadable resource from Comics Forum: Charlie Adlard and Hugo Frey’s keynote conversation from Comics Forum 2012. Running to more than an hour in length, this interview covers a wide range of subjects from Charlie’s history in comics and his career, including Playing the Game (written by Doris Lessing), White Death (written by Robbie Morrison) and, of course, The Walking Dead (written by Robert Kirkman), among others. A huge thanks to Charlie and Hugo for giving up their time to take part in CF2012.

You can download the MP3 below, or from the Comics Forum 2012 archive (where you can also download the conference programme and abstracts and see reviews of the event). All downloads are free.

Charlie Adlard and Hugo Frey in Conversation (introduction by Ian Hague)

Direct download as an MP3 here (1:05:36, 60.1MB (right click and ‘Save Target As…’)).

Online streaming and alternative download formats are available here.

In the mood for more Comics Forum audio? Why not have a look at the Comics Forum 2011 archive, which includes a range of talks by top academics and artists on two of the conference themes: Graphic Medicine and Materiality & Virtuality, all available to download as MP3s for free!

IH

Comics Forum

Author Archives: Comics Forum

‘Chercher dans le Noir’ – the gap as motif in Caboto by Lorenzo Mattotti and Jorge Zentner, by Barbara Uhlig

Image [&] Narrative #10: Depicting Boredom: On Gestures and Facial Expressions by Greice Schneider

Beaucoup de Femmes, Un Artiste: Focalization Cues in the Graphic Novels of Bastien Vivès by Gwen Athene Tarbox

News Review: January 2013