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News Review: February 2015

Americas

United States

Culture

The New-York Historical Society has awarded its annual American History Book Prize to Jill Lepore’s  The Secret History of Wonder WomanLink (17/02/2015, English, WG)

The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum will celebrate women’s history month and their international holdings with the opening of World of Shojo Manga! Mirrors of Girls’ Desires. The exhibition takes place between the 28th March and the 5th July. Link (English, WG)

Research

The MLA Discussion Group on Comics and Graphic Narratives has published a call for papers for three panels at next year’s MLA Convention in Austin, Texas (7th to the 10th January 2016). The panels are Satire and the Editorial Cartoon, Latina/o Comics, and Charlie Hebdo and its Publics. Link (14/02/2015, English, WG)

Scholars Kathryn La Barre, Carol Tilley, and John Walsh are collaborating on a digital archive analysing comics readership from 1961-1973. Link (03/02/2015, English, WG)

Asia

Japan

Culture

Yonezawa Yoshihiro Memorial Library is showing the exhibition “Mihara Jun, Revival Festival” between the 8th February and the 31st May. Link (Japanese, JBS)

Education

The works of students graduating from Kyoto Seika University’s Faculty of Manga and Graduate School of Manga will be exhibited at the Kyoto International Manga Museum during Anime Week (18th to the 22nd February). During this period, access to the museum is free. Link (Japanese, JBS)

Europe

Austria

Culture

Nextcomic Festival is going to take place in Linz from the 19th until the 27th March; guests include Anke Feuchtenberger and Nicolas Mahler. Link (19/02/2015, German, MdlI)

Belgium

Obituary

Belgian artist Géri, known for his work on Tintin magazine, has died aged 80. Link 1 (05/02/2015, French, LTa), Link 2 (05/02/2015, French, LTa)

France

Culture

Joann Sfar, creator of The Rabbi’s Cat, has began publishing columns and illustrations in the French edition of the Huffington Post. Link 1 (05/02/2015, French, LTa), Link 2 (05/02/2015, French, LTa)

Obituary

Jacques Kamb, cartoonist for the newspaper L’Humanité and bande dessinée artist for Pif Gadget, has died at 81. Link (06/02/2015, French, LTa)

Germany

Culture

Scott McCloud is going to present his latest comic, The Sculptor, in Berlin and Leipzig from the 11th-13th March. Link (05/02/2015, German, MdlI)

Guests at Leipzig Book Fair and the simultaneous comic festival, The Millionaires Club, from the 12th until the 15th March, include Achdé, Judith Park, and Sascha Hommer. Link (12/02/2015, German, MdlI)

Comicfestival München is going to take place from the 4th until the 7th June 2015. Guest country is the UK; guest artists include Frank Quitely, Don Rosa, and Bryan Talbot. Link (19/02/2015, German, MdlI)

An exhibition on Atze and Mosaik is shown in Leipzig from the 24th February until the 18th March. Link (23/02/2015, German, MdlI)

Brigitte Helbling and Sarah Burrini are going to talk about contemporary comics and their production in Stuttgart on the 14th April. Link (26/02/2015, German, MdlI)

Research

There is a Call for Papers for the second issue of Closure. Kieler e-Journal für Comicforschung; the deadline is the 11th March. Link (08/02/2015, German, MdlI)

Greece

Culture

The Athens Comics Library, the first comics library in Athens Greece, is now open. Link (15/02/2015, Greek, LTs)

Hungary

Culture

The Hungarian comic artist and designer Zorro the Bianco’s exhibition, Are You In Our Story?, was opened as part of the LGBT History Month on the 18th February at Roham Bár, Budapest. Zorro’s work was featured in the 2014 campaign film of the LGBT History Month. Link 1 (Hungarian, ES), Link 2 (Hungarian, ES)

Netherlands

Research

The inaugural Amsterdam Comics international conference, Comics Interaction, will take place between the 1st and 3rd July in Amsterdam. Abstracts are due by the 17th April. Link (English, WG)

Portugal

Culture

On the 19th February the Latvian magazine S! published an issue inspired by the book Livro do Desassossego by Fernando Pessoa. The issue includes some comic works from 17 portuguese authors and an introduction by Marcos Farrajota. Link (26/02/2015, English, RR)

Spain

Culture

The winners of the 2015 prizes of the AACE (Asociación de autores de comic de España -Spanish Comics Authors Association) have been announced. Link (11/02/2015, Spanish, EdRC)

The third edition of KBOOM!, an event about comics and self-publishing, will take place in Espai Jove La Fontana (Barcelona) on the 14th and 15th March. Link (24/02/2015, Spanish, EdRC)

The IVAM (Institut Valencià d’Art Modern -The Valencian Institute of Modern Art) is hosting an exhibition by Francesc Ruiz about Valencian comics, from the 19th February until the 30th August. The Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia will also celebrate a seminar parallel to the exhibition from the 4th to the 6th March. Link (22/02/2015, Spanish, EdRC)

A crowfunding project is looking for contributions to produce a documentary about the comics industry in Spain. Link (20/02/2015, Spanish, EdRC)

Sweden

Research

There is a call for papers for a conference regarding the Future in Comics. The event will take place in Stockholm between the 3rd and 5th September, and abstracts are due by the 15th April. Link (English, WG)

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

Correspondents: Jessica Bauwens-Sugimoto (JBS, Japan),  Enrique del Rey Cabero (EdRC, Spain), Martin de la Iglesia (MdlI, Austria & Germany), Renatta Rafaella (RR, Portugal), Eszter Szép (ES, Hungary), Lise Tannahill (LTa, Belgium & France), Lida Tsene (LTs, Greece).

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 2015/03/04 in News Review

 

The Bi-Monthly ComFor Update: February 2015 by Lukas R. A. Wilde

Welcome to 2015’s first column of the German Society for Comics Studies (ComFor). Regardless that ComFor will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, due to holiday breaks and such you’d expect a relatively slow start for comic studies – with the biggest events comprised only of the traditional “must-read” lists and surveys on 2014’s works (you’ll find wonderful compilations of German and international “Top-X” lists on Christian Maiwald’s comic infopage Dreimalalles.info, including ComFor members’ own thoughts on interesting reads). Quite to the contrary, however, the last two months proved to be pretty eventful. I feel obliged to mention the shocking incidents at Charlie Hebdo first; not only because they overshadowed January, but also because they raised a lot of questions regarding the relation of cartoons and comics to politics – a topic that has been critical to some of ComFor’s previous annual conferences. While German scholars were as shocked and speechless as everyone else, some will try to think about a way to honor the contributors to Charlie Hebdo not only as victims but artists.

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Posted by on 2015/02/23 in ComFor Updates

 

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News Review: January 2015

Americas

Canada

Research

Twelve-Cent Archie, by Bart Beaty, has now been published through Rutgers University Press. Link (English, WG)

United States

Business

DC and Marvel top the charts for the Top 100 Comics for the month of December based on total unit sales invoiced for the month. Batman #37 finished first for DC, and was followed by Amazing Spider-Man #11 and Shield #1 in second and third respectively. Link (English, MB)

Image’s Saga Volume 4 hit number 1 for the Top 100 Graphic Novels for December, with Marvels’ Captain America Peggy Carter Agent of Shield #1 in second, and Just the Tips from Image taking the third spot. Link (English, MB)

Diamond Comics reported the Top 100 Comics for 2014 and Marvel almost completely shut out the top ten slots. The top three spots went to Amazing Spider-Man #1 (Marvel), Walking Dead #132 (Image), and Rocket Raccoon #1 (Marvel). Link (English, MB)

All four volumes of Saga placed in the top ten slots for the Top 100 Graphic Novels for 2014. Saga Volume 3 (Image), Saga Volume 1 (Image), and Walking Dead Volume 20: All Out War Part 1 (Image) took first through third respectively. Link (English, MB)

Diamond Comics provided a year-end reporting of unit and dollar shares and top comic book publishers by retail market and unit market share. Link (English, MB)

Research

Central Michigan University’s Third Annual ComiConference will be  held on the 3rd March. Link (English, WG)

The Journal of Comics and Culture, a new peer-reviewed academic journal to be published by Pace University Press, has announced its first call for papers. Abstracts of 500 words are due by the 15th February. Link (06/01/2015, English, WG)

The new issue of the International Journal of Comic Art (vol.16, no.2) is now shipping. Link (05/01/2015, English, WG)

The Comics Arts Conference is now accepting proposals for its 2015 meeting at Comic-Con, taking place between the 9th and 12th July. Submissions are due by the 1st March. Link (English, WG)

There is a call for papers for the conference, Comics in Medicine & Teaching: Rethinking Comics as a Therapeutic and Educational Tool. The event will take place at the University of Nebraska between the 9th and 10th April, and proposals are due by the 23rd February. Link (26/01/2015, English, WG)

Asian Comics, by John A. Lent, has now been published through the University Press of Mississippi. Link (English, WG)

A second edition of The Power of Comics, authored by Randy Duncan, Matthew J. Smith and Paul Levitz, has been published by Bloomsbury. Link (English, WG)

Asia

Japan

Business

The (domestic) market for Japanese manga boomed to about 28.13 billion Japanese yen in 2014, over a quarter of the total book market. Link (23/01/2015, Japanese, JBS)

Culture

Yonezawa Yoshihiro Memorial Library is showing the exhibition “Mihara Jun, Revival Festival” from February until the 31st May. Link (Japanese, JBS)

The Exhibition “Black Jack Stories; Doctors’ Choice”, show medical professionals’ perspectives on Tezuka Osamu’s classic Black Jack, at Kyoto International Manga Museum from the 28th February until the 10th May. Link (English, JBS)

Education

The work of students graduating from Kyoto Seika University’s Faculty of Manga and Graduate School of Manga will be exhibited at the Kyoto International Manga Museum during Anime Week (between the 18th and 22nd February). During this period, access to the museum is free. Link (Japanese, JBS)

Law & Politics

A manga published on the website of Japan’s Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry caused commotion on social media by suggesting that the solution to the aging population crisis that the country faces is for young people to get married and have more children. Link (20/01/2015, Japanese, JBS)

Europe

France

Business

Bande dessinées from publishers Flammarion, Gallimard and Les Humanoïdes Associés are now available on digital comics platform ComiXology. Link (29/01/2015, French, LTa)

Culture

There is no date set for the publication of the next issue of Charlie HebdoLink (31/01/2015, French, LTa)

The release date of the next Asterix album has been announced at Angoulême: it will be released on the 22nd October. Link (30/01/2015, French, LTa)

Akira author Katsuhiro Otomo has been awarded this year’s Grand Prix at Angoulême. Link (29/01/2015, English, LTa)

Germany

Culture

This year, the Christoph Martin Wieland translator award will be given to a comics translator for the first time. Link (08/01/2015, German, MdlI)

The festival, Comicinvasion Berlin, is going to take place on the 18th and 19th April; sponsors are sought for a new artists’ award. Link (19/01/2015, German, MdlI)

An exhibition of emerging comic artists is going to be shown in Mannheim from the 7th February until the 8th March. Link (29/01/2015, German, MdlI)

Research

The Winter School Mediality and Multimodality across Media, which took place in Tübingen from the 28th until the 30th January, included several presentations on comics. Link (15/01/2015, English, MdlI)

A call for papers for a workshop on Mediality and Materiality in Contemporary Comics, which is going to take place in Tübingen from the 24th until the 26th April, has been published. The deadline for submissions is the 15th March. Link (16/01/2015, English, MdlI)

Alev Gönc gave a lecture on WWI and WWII in comics at University of Erlangen-Nuremberg on the 29th January. Link (26/01/2015, German, MdlI)

Portugal

Culture

The municipality of Odemira is organising the 9th edition of BDTECA, that consists of a series of activities related to comics. These include exhibitions, fairs and a contest. The event began on the 12th January with the launch of the annual comics contest, and will end in March. Link (02/01/2015, Portuguese, RR)

The Bookstore Europa-América in Lisbon is hosting an exhibition by the Portuguese comic author Fernando Relvas. The exhibition can be visited until the 6th February and visitors to the exhibition can buy some original comic panels from the author. Link (21/01/2015, Portuguese, RR)

Spain

Business

The publishing house Caramba!, which specialises in humour comics, will now continue working under the publishing house Astiberri. Link (16/01/2015, Spanish, EdRC)

The web Mangaland has published figures about manga sales in Spain. Link (11/01/2015, Spanish, EdRC)

The web Guía del comic has published figures about comic sales in Spain. Link (21/01/2015, Spanish, EdRC)

The website, Whakoom, has published a report about the state and future of digital comics. Link (19/01/2015, Spanish, EdRC)

Culture

Paco Roca, Miguel Gallardo, Zinni Quiros and Ángels Gónzalez Sinde discussed the Oxfam project, Viñetas de Vida: dibujantes on tour, which sent some comic artists to international development projects to later portray their experiences in the form of a comic. Link (14/01/2015, Spanish, EdRC)

The Spanish satirical on-line magazine Orgullo y Satisfacción has published a free special issue after the Charlie Hebdo killings. Link (09/01/2015, Spanish, EdRC)

Switzerland

Culture

The 25th Fumetto festival in Lucerne will take place from the 7th until the 15th March. Link (12/01/2015, German, MdlI)

UK

Culture

On the 7th March 2015 the University of Dundee is hosting the event, Comics, So What?, which seeks to engage the public in the appreciation of comics and graphic novels, and to draw attention to Comics Studies in the UK. Link (English, WG)

Education

The Centre for Language and Communication Research (CLCR) at Cardiff University is seeking applications for one Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) three-year PhD studentship to commence on the 1st October 2015. Although the list of areas covered does not specifically mention comics and graphic novels, Down The Tubes report that the CLCR welcomes applications in this area. Applications are due by the 9th March. Link (24/01/2015, English, WG)

Research

The latest issue of European Comic Art (vol.7, no.2) has now been published. Link (English, WG)

Oceania

Australia

Culture

Melbourne comics creator Katie Parrish has been made the art director of literary journal The Lifted BrowLink (English, ALM)

The Ledger Awards are accepting nominations for the 2015 ballot. The Ledger Awards will also be compiling “The Ledger Annual”, an anthology that celebrates the best novice comics creators in Australia. Link (English, ALM)

Applications have now opened for residencies at the Comic Art Workshop, which will be in Maria Island, Tasmania, from the 1st to the 14th of November. The workshop directors are Pat Grant and Dr Elizabeth MacFarlane, with Leela Corman and Tom Hart leading the classes. Link (English, ALM)

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

Correspondents: Jessica Bauwens-Sugimoto (JBS, Japan), Michele Brittany (MB, North America), Enrique del Rey Cabero (EdRC, Spain), William Grady (WG, UK), Martin de la Iglesia (MdlI, Germany & Switzerland), Amy Louise Maynard (ALM, Australia), Renatta Rafaella (RR, Portugal), Lise Tannahill (LTa, France).

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 2015/02/04 in News Review

 

The Architecture in Comics by Renata Rafaela Pascoal

At first sight, the relationship that architecture has with comics seems to be obvious and inarguable. According to Frank Lloyd Wright ‘architecture is life; or at least it is life itself taking form and therefore it is the truest record of life as it was lived in the world yesterday, as it is lived today or ever will be lived’ (Baker 2008, 117).

As comics is a medium that usually portrays human life through its characters, the representation of architecture will help the reader/viewer to understand the characteristics of the characters, since architecture is an interface created by Man to make the world fit to his needs and routines. However, the relationship that architecture has with comics is not limited to obvious representations of it in comics; it is also present in depictions of its creative process and even in the similarity between the experiences of the comics reader and the user of architecture. According to Buchet (2013), the architect can be compared to a strip cartoonist: when he draws a museum or even an airport terminal, there is an implicit narrative that the visitor reads when attending these places.

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Posted by on 2015/01/23 in Guest Writers

 

Manga Studies #6: Takeuchi Osamu and Manga Expression pt. 2: The Historiographic Basis of Manga Formalism by Nicholas Theisen

In part one, I showed how the manga artist Tezuka Osamu and his body of work function as more than a mere object of analysis within manga studies but as a totalizing discourse upon which a number of larger critical concerns are projected. This has the rather odd effect of rendering “Tezuka” a milieu which can absorb even those critiques which seek to overcome a Tezuka-centric purview as to what manga might be in both historical and formal terms. I used the critical writings of Takeuchi Osamu not to evaluate them as such but to demonstrate the discursive mechanics of this totalizing absorption. In part two below, I will once again use Takeuchi’s critical oeuvre to examine, in addition to how the critic’s own personal predilections can become subsumed into seemingly objective claims, the assumptions underlying manga formalism: how manga fit with other media, how manga is understood as children’s literature, and how manga is treated as, if not entirely presumed to be, a predominantly postwar phenomenon.

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Posted by on 2015/01/09 in Guest Writers, Manga Studies

 

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