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A report on the BCCS Comics Day and Tea Party by Paul Fisher Davies

The British Consortium of Comics Scholars emerged from an initially nameless reading group founded in 2012, in which a group of scholars in the South-East, mostly engaged in part-time PhD studies, gathered to discuss graphic narrative theory every few weeks, circulating venues between Brighton University, Sussex University and Central St Martins. What we shared was an interest in the practical nature of comics creation, its station in the world of discourse; and most of us were pursuing practice-based PhDs, or we ourselves created comics as well as being scholars of the medium.

Nicola Streeten was a key driver in moving forward this first BCCS symposium, which sought to celebrate those two strands of our interests — scholarship and creation of comics — by structuring a day, Saturday 30 May 2015, which would progress from research-led in the morning, through to creator-led in the later afternoon, and which would bring together comics scholars and creators, as well as being open to interested members of the public. All attendees were encouraged to draw (and write, and photograph) their notes and reactions to the day, and pages were left blank in the programmes for this very purpose.

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Manga Studies #9: Studying Garo, the magazine by Léopold Dahan

The monthly manga magazine Garo (published by Seirindō 1964–2002) has gained a certain visibility outside of Japan throughout the past few years: more and more of its authors have been translated and recognized, exhibitions are being held [1] and articles released, even in non-specialized magazines.[2] While Garo authors and their work attract increasing attention outside of Japan, the magazine itself doesn’t seem to be a popular topic within manga studies despite – or precisely because of – its link to the so-called “alternative manga” (Asagawa 2015), the 1960s counterculture, the rise of a new readership and its role as an aesthetic forerunner during its first decade of existence. Bearing this in mind, this column will try to give an overview of the sources currently available on the magazine itself, identify those which can be used as proper academic references and demonstrate the possibilities afforded by studying the magazine itself, going beyond the focus on its authors.

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Posted by on 2015/07/13 in Guest Writers, Manga Studies

 

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News Review: June 2015

Americas

Canada

Research

There is a call for contributions to the collection, New manga, Manfra, Franga: Varied and Reciprocal Influences between Manga and “BD”. Proposals are due by the 10th October. Link (25/06/2015, English, WG)

United States

Research

There is a call for papers for a book on Mad magazine, which is seeking scholarly examinations of the magazine, its humour, its artists, its cultural and political impact, and its influence. Proposals are due by the 15th September. Link (English, WG)

There is a call for papers for an edited collection on the comics of Julie Doucet and Gabrielle Bell. Proposals are due by the 15th August. Link (14/06/2015, English, WG)

Postcolonial Comics: Texts, Events, Identities, edited by Binita Mehta, and Pia Mukherji, has been published through Routledge. Link (English, WG)

There is a call for papers for a collection entitled, Sacred Texts and Comics: Religion, Faith, and Graphic Narratives. Proposals are due by the 21st August. Link (26/06/2015, English, WG)

Asia

Japan

Culture

The Hagio Moto exhibition, “Silver Ship & Blue Sea”, is running until the 14th July at Kyoto International Manga Museum. Hagio is among the most prominent of the “Magnificent 49’ers”, a shojo manga artist group that emerged in the 1970s. During this exhibition, 26 original art works are on display. Link (English, JBS)

The exhibition “Manga and War”, at Kyoto International Manga Museum, runs until the 6th September, and covers six themes, including the “atomic bomb”, “Manchurai”, and more. Link (English, JBS)

Until the 10th October, Yonezawa Yonehiro Memorial Library is showing the “Akatsuka Characters — The Secrets of Their Birth”. Akatsuka Fujio, while lesser known overseas than Tezuka, is one of the “Gods of Manga”. Link (Japanese, JBS)

Europe

Austria

Culture

A book on comic collectors by Alex Jakubowski and Sandra Mann was published. Link (German, MdlI)

Belgium

Business

An original Tintin illustration dating from 1938 has sold at auction in Brussels for €380,000 euros. The illustration was a cover illustration for the pre-publication of King Ottakar’s Sceptre in Le Petit Vingtième; it was originally valued at 400-450,000 euros. Link (30/06/2015, French, LTa)

A Dutch court has ruled that Moulinsart, the company which manages the publishing and licensing of Tintin, does not own all Tintin copyright. Moulinsart are known for aggressively pursuing any unlicensed use of Tintin imagery. The case hinges on a 1942 document that shows Hergé gave all rights to Tintin publisher Casterman. Moulinsart are appealing. Link (English, LTa)

Germany

Culture

A comics exhibition titled “Gestrandet & verwurzelt” was shown in Munich until the 16th June as part of Munich Comic Festival. Link (05/06/2015, German, MdlI)

During Munich Comic Festival, the Peng! comic awards went to Roy Thomas, Jirō Taniguchi, David Füleki, and Barbara Yelin, among others. Link (09/06/2015, English, MdlI)

The anime and manga convention, Animagic, is going to take place in Bonn from the 31st July until the 2nd August; guests include Christina Plaka, Tetsuya Tsutsui, and Nobuhiro Watsuki. Link (German, MdlI)

The Christoph Martin Wieland translator award goes to Ulrich Pröfrock for his translation of Quai d’Orsay by Christophe Blains and Abel Lanzac. Link (11/06/2015, German, MdlI)

An exhibition of cartoons and comics by Ralph Ruthe, Joscha Sauer and Flix is going to be shown in Oberhausen from the 19th June 2015 until the 17th January 2016. Link (22/06/2015, German, MdlI)

Research

Alexander Dunst gave a talk on “reading comics” in Göttingen on the 11th June. Link (German, MdlI)

An interview with Alexander Dunst about his research group “hybrid narrativity” at Paderborn and Potsdam has been published at Dreimalalles. Link (10/06/2015, German, MdlI)

A recording of the panel discussion on comics research at Munich Comic Festival from the 7th June is available. Link (18/06/2015, German, MdlI)

The proceedings of last year’s conference on comic translation and adaptation in Hildesheim have been published as a book. Link (German, MdlI)

A conference on storyboards took place in Berlin on the 3rd and 4th July. Link (29/06/2015, German, MdlI)

Hungary

Culture

The exhibition, “Holocaust in Comic Books”, organised by the Israeli Cultural Institute, in Budapest, features works by Miriam Katin, Michel Kichka, Rutu Modan, Sid Jacobson, and Ernie Colón. Link (Hungarian, ES)

Portugal

Culture

The Clube Português de Banda Desenhada (Portuguese Club of Comics) has been revived. The club was founded in June 1976, but has remained largely inactive for the last 15 years. The club aims to organise comic auctions, workshops, exhibitions, seminars, book launches and courses. Link (Portuguese, RR)

Education

The Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa will be hosting a course about the relationship between Comics and Cinema. The course, which begins on the 6th July and ends on the 15th July, is taught by Ana Cabral Martins and Hugo Almeida. Link (Portuguese, RR)

Spain

Culture

The 9th edition of the FNAC- Ediciones Salamandra Graphic Novel Prize has been held. Works will be accepted until the 27th November. Link (28/05/2015, Spanish, EdRC)

The Metrópoli Comic Con will be celebrated in Gijón from the 2nd to the 5th July. Some of the invited authors include Kurt Busiek, Bob Layton, Carlos Pacheco and Steve Englehart. Link (15/06/2015, Spanish, EdRC)

An exhibition with originals from The Encyclopedia of Early Earth, by Isabel Greenberg, can be seen at Panta Rhei, Madrid, from the 5th June to the 30th August. Link (06/06/2015, Spanish, EdRC)

The association ACDCómic has published its list of the best works published in Spain in the second half of 2014. Link (01/06/2015, Spanish, EdRC)

Research

An anthology of essays about Marvel’s X-Men has been published by Alpha Decay entitled, Hijos del átomo. Once visiones sobre la Patrulla-X (Children of the atom. Eleven visions of the X-Men). Link (15/06/2015, Spanish, EdRC)

UK

Research

Remembered Reading: Memory, Comics and Post-War Constructions of British Girlhood, by Mel Gibson, has been published by Leuven University Press. Link (English, WG)

Comics, the Holocaust and Hiroshima, by Jane L. Chapman, Dan Ellin, and Adam Sherif, has been published by Palgrave Macmillan. Link (English, WG)

*                    *                    *

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

Correspondents: Jessica Bauwens-Sugimoto (JBS, Japan), Enrique del Rey Cabero (EdRC, Spain), William Grady (WG, UK), Martin de la Iglesia (MdlI, Austria & Germany), Renatta Rafaella (RR, Portugal), Eszter Szép (ES, Hungary), Lise Tannahill (LTa, Belgium)

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.

 
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Posted by on 2015/07/04 in News Review

 

The Bi-Monthly ComFor Update for June 2015 by Laura Oehme

As Stephan Packard stated in his last update, the abundance of comics-related events, publications, and exhibitions has become overwhelming. As a member of the ComFor online editing board, I know first-hand how much we are struggling to keep up with the numerous announcements of upcoming events that are received almost daily. This, of course, is not only a good sign for the future of comics studies, but also hints at the fact that the public perception of comics continues to grow.

I would like to start off this month’s column by congratulating Stephan Packard for receiving the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize 2015. The prize is awarded each year by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The ComFor’s much-valued President received the prize on May 5th in Berlin and is, after Daniel Stein, only the second comics scholar to receive it yet.

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Posted by on 2015/06/26 in ComFor Updates

 

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Comics Forum 2015

Comics Forum CFP

Click here to download a PDF of the call for papers.

Comics Forum 2015 is supported by: Thought Bubble, the University of Chichester, Dr Mel Gibson, the Applied Comics Network and Molakoe.

 
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Posted by on 2015/06/21 in Comics Forum 2015