by Iain A. MacInnes
Medieval history is very much in vogue at the present time. Driven by representations of the period in various forms of popular culture, there appears to be a great appetite for all things medieval. From television (Vikings, The Name of the Rose, Knightfall) to film (The Green Knight, The King, Outlaw King) to video games (A Plague Tale: Innocence, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Medieval Dynasty), representations of the medieval world are hard to avoid.[1] And that is before we get to the more medieval-influenced forms of media that perhaps drive interest in the medieval even more than apparently “real” representations of the past. Where Game of Thrones led the way, The Witcher is now appealing to a mass global audience.[2] The forthcoming Lord of the Rings television series, films like Nimona and games like Godfall will similarly bring different varieties of medieval aesthetics to modern audiences across the globe.[3]
Another medium, perhaps more niche than the above, is that of the graphic novel. Comics set in both the medieval past and medieval-inspired worlds have gained increasing popularity in recent years, and it can be argued that these are as important as the above examples in terms of influencing modern perceptions and understanding of our medieval past. One potential reason why this is not as well-recognised is that many medieval comics are not available in English. While there do exist prominent examples of English-language medieval comics by noted authors and special releases timed to coincide with historical anniversaries (such as Crécy, Templar, Nevsky: A Hero of the People, On Dangerous Ground: Bannockburn 1314 and Agincourt 1415: A Graphic Novel), this output pales into relative insignificance when compared with that produced in continental Europe.[4] The remainder of this post will therefore consider the range of medieval comics produced for the European market, with a focus on Spain and particularly France. While some broader context for these works is provided, the main focus will be on comics of the last decade to allow consideration of increased interest in the medieval period as reflected in the comic medium.
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Tags: Agincourt 1415: A Graphic Novel, Alessandro Calore, Alex Puvilland, Alfonso Zapico, Ana Miralles, Anne Curry, Antonio Hernández Palacios, Arnaud Delalande, Éric Lambert, bande dessinée, Ben McCool, Bruno Falba, Cathares, Champs d’honneur, comics, Conor Boyle, Crécy, El capitán Trueno, El Cid, El guerrero del antifaz, El otro mar, Emilio Ruiz, En busca del Unicornio, Fabio Bono, Fiona Watson, France, France Richemond, Fred Blanchard, Fred Duval, Graeme Howard, Graphic Novels, Hawkwood: Mercenaire de la guerre de Cent Ans, Histoire dessinée de la France, History, Igor Kordey, Ils ont fait l’Histoire, Ira Dei, Jaime Calderón, Japan, Japanese manga, Je François Villon, Je suis Cathare, Jean-Charles Kraehn, Jean-Pierre Pécau, Jesús Cano de la Iglesia, Jordan Mechner, Jour J, Juan Carlos Mora, La Ballade des pendus, Lajos Farkas, L’Empire des steppes, Léo Pilipovic, Le Dernier Cathare, Le Dieu vert, Le Trône d’argile, Les Aigles décapités, Les Ombres de Constantinople, Les Reines de sang, LeUyen Pham, Luigi Critone, Makyo, manga, Manuel Gago García, Mario Guevara, medieval comics, medievalism, Middle Ages, Miguel Ambrosio Zaragoza, Nevsky: A Hero of the People, Nicolas Jarry, Notre-Dame de Londres, On Dangerous Ground: Bannockburn 1314, Oriol García i Quera, Patrice Pellerin, Rajko Milošević-Gera, Raulo Cáceres, Ronan Toulhoat, Roncevalles, Spain, tebeos, Templar, Thierry Gloris, Tommy Ohtsuka, Tout l’or de Constantinople, Uchronia, Valois, Víctor Mora, Vincent Brugeas, Warren Ellis, Will Gill, Yana
Europe
Germany
Research
The editors of Transdisciplinary Comics Studies / Comicforschung transdisziplinär, a new book series published by De Gruyter, have issued a Call for Contributions (monographs / collections; German / English). Link (04/02/2020, MdlI, German)
The current issue of Frontiers of Narrative Studies contains papers from the 2018 Tübingen Winter School “De/Recontextualizing Characters: Media Convergence and Pre-/Meta-Narrative Character Circulation”. Link (06/02/2020, MdlI, German)
There is a Call for Papers for a colloquium on religion and superheroes in Mülheim a. d. Ruhr on the 6th and 7th June 2020; the deadline for abstracts is the 31st March. Link (08/02/2020, MdlI, German)
There is a Call for Papers for a one-day symposium on diversity in animation, games, comics and illustration in Stuttgart on the 6th May 2020; the deadline for abstracts is the 23rd March. Link (19/02/2020, MdlI, English)
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Correspondents: Martin de la Iglesia (MdlI, Germany)
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Europe
Austria
Culture
The Austrian Society for Comic Research and Promotion (OeGeC) has launched “ComicMonday”, a discussion event series. Link (09/12/2019, German, MdlI)
Germany
Research
There is a Call for Papers for a workshop on “Image Sequencing in Periodicals – Comics, Photojournalism, Cinéroman, and Illustrated Film Periodicals” in Bochum on the 12th and 13th June 2020; the deadline for abstracts is the 31st January. Link (13/12/2019, English, MdlI)
The 2020 edition of the yearbook Deutsche Comicforschung has been published. Link (20/12/2019, German, MdlI)
Hungary
Culture
In 2019 more comics have been published in Hungarian than ever before. This means 426 new publications, out of which 264 were originally printed in the USA and 78 are made by Hungarian authors. This statistics does not include reprints: in 2019 both Persepolis and Maus were reprinted. (ES)
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Correspondents: Martin de la Iglesia (MdlI, Austria and German) and Eszter Szép (ES, Hungary).
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Suggestions for articles to be included in the News Review can be sent to comicsforum.newsreview@gmail.com
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