New Academic Journal: European Comic Art

European Comic Art is a new academic journal on comics, published by Liverpool UP. The journal's website describes it better than I can (especially since I haven't seen a copy yet):

European Comic Art will be the first English-language scholarly publication devoted to the study of European-language graphic novels, comic strips, comic books and caricature. Published in association with the American Bande Dessinée Society and the International Bande Dessinée Society, European Comic Art builds on existing scholarship in French-language comic art and will be able to draw on the scholarly activities undertaken by both organisations. However, our editorial board and consultative committee bring expertise on a wider European area of comic art production and the journal will emphasise coverage of work from across Europe, including Eastern Europe.

Given the contents of the first issue, including its roster of contributing scholars, this journal should become an essential resource. Get your library to order a subscription, pronto!

• Introduction - Laurence Grove, Mark McKinney, Ann Miller, and Hugo Frey ... 0
• Bande dessinee and the Cinematograph: Visual narrative in 1895 - Lance Rickman ... 1
• De Luca and Hamlet: Thinking outside the box - Paul Gravett ... 21
• Family History and Social History: Etienne Davodeau's reportage of reality in Les Mauvaises gens - Clare Tufts ... 37
• Autobiographical Innovations: Edmond Baudoin's Eloge de la poussière - Matthew Screech ... 57
• A Few Words about The System of Comics and More... - Thierry Groensteen ... 87
• News and Reviews - edited by Hugo Frey ... 95
• Artwork by Tanitoc

The first issue of European Comic Art is now available. For more information, see the journal's website.

Superheroes: The Secret Origin of Revisions

Author Peter Coogan has posted this message on the Comics Scholars Discussion List:

I'm looking to get my book, "Superhero: The Secret Origin of a Genre" reissued. If anyone saw any errors in it, could you email? I know I have to correct the number of Sherlock Holmes stories that refer to Moriarty (Thanks to Peter Sanderson for spotting that), but if there's anything else, I'd appreciate knowing about it.

If you have suggestions, you can email him at coomics @ hotmail.com. Check out our own information on Superheroes: The Secret Origin of a Genre here.

Our Thoughts on Superheroes are World-Famous in Dubai

"Man and Uber Man" is a fairly lengthy think-piece on superheroes, published on July 2 in the 4Men section of Gulf News, a newspaper out of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Nitin Nair, the researcher, asked some interesting questions and ended up using a lot of what I'd said. I'm in pretty good company too; he also spoke with Douglas Wolk (whose Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean I still need to add to ComicsResearch.org) and Gotham Chopra, the chief creative officer of Virgin Comics (and son of mega-selling author Deepak Chopra).

Note: At present, the article's first three paragraphs appear to have come from an unrelated piece, The actual article starts "For a minute, let's assume that you grew up without having known the world of superheroes."

Our New Mailbox is Ready!

Hey, Boys & Girls! Have you ever wanted to send something to ComicsResearch.org but were unable to find our address? That's because we didn't really have one - until now! This last month of silence saw us moving our entire research library to a new, more permanent location. Apart from giving us severe back pains, it's also given us the opportunity to set up a post office box. Yes, this website has finally embraced nineteenth-century communications technology!

From now on, feel free to drop us a line (or a book for review or donation) at:

Gene Kannenberg, Jr., Director
ComicsResearch.org
P.O. Box 3104
Albany NY 12203
U.S.A.

To those of you who have contacted us recently: We're making our way through the backlog and will be with you as soon as we can. Speaking of which, watch this space for upcoming reviews of several essay collections from the fine folks at BenBella Books!

Pictured: Funny Animals (Presents The Merry Mailman), vol. 14, no. 90, April, 1955; via Scott Shaw!'s delightful Oddball Comics. And you can learn more about the Mailman's television career at TV Party.