Kalamazoo 2027 Updates

I am sorry to report that our proposed sponsored session on "The Lives and Legacies of Medieval Comics: A Commemoration of Ninety Years of Hal Foster's Prince Valiant (Hybrid)" for the 2027 International Congress on Medieval Studies did not receive enough submissions to be a viable session.

Kalamazoo 2026 Sponsored Session - Medieval Classics (Re)Illustrated

Here are the details on our sponsored session at this year's International Congress on Medieval Studies:

Medieval Classics (Re)Illustrated: A Medieval Comics Project Teamup (Hybrid)

61st International Congress on Medieval Studies

Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, Michigan)/Online through Confex

Session 369: Saturday, 16 May 2026, 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM EDT

Sangren Hall 3110 (hybrid)


Organized by Michael A. Torregrossa, Bristol Community College, and Siân Echard, University of British Columbia

Co-sponsored by Medieval Comics Project; International Arthurian Society, North American Branch (IAS/NAB); International Society for the Study of Medievalism


Presider: Rachael Warmington, Seton Hall University (rkw2111@gmail.com)



1 - What Makes a Hero? (In-Person)

Jehan Parker, Independent scholar

A focused genealogy of "hero" as an archetype in the chronology of Western Canon, seeking to explore the central question of "what makes a hero?" and grappling with the enormous and frenetic variance in the virtues embodied therein.

Jehan Parker is an independent scholar—this is their first presentation! It’s part of a larger project on the genealogy of hero mythology more broadly.



2 - Trans Thinking: Exploring the Productive Consonances between Medieval Arthurian and Contemporary Superhero Comics Storytelling through the Lens of Camelot 3000 (Remote)

Adrian McClure, Independent Scholar

The 1980s limited series Camelot 3000, with its ground-breaking transgender content, provides a useful jumping-off point to explore the myriad and mutually illuminating connections between the generic universe of contemporary superhero comics and Arthurian chivalric romance, especially with regard to gender binaries and the interrelationship of embodiment and personal identity.

Adrian McClure is an autistic independent scholar whose research focuses on the intersection of gender and religious identity in medieval literature. They published an article in Speculum on the Chanson de Roland as a multi-layered, theologically inflected text, and an article in Arthuriana's special comics issue on trans Arthurian themes in Grant Morrison's Shining Knight and Luda. They are finishing a book on the thirteenth-century Perlesvaus as a work of trauma fiction tied to the Albigensian Crusade. Their new book project explores nonbinary gender in Arthurian literature, from Chrétien de Troyes through present-day Marvel and DC comics.



3 - An Unlikely Heroine: The Challenges of Depicting Joan of Arc in Bandes Dessinées (In-Person)

Deborah L. McGrady, Univ. of Virginia

This presentation examines the representation of Joan of Arc in French comics from the 1890s through 2023 with specific attention given to how the Maid's story, her appearance and her expression are constrained by misogynistic and conservative values that hold enduring influence in the comic world.

Deborah McGrady, professor of French and Director of Medieval Studies at the University of Virginia. She published a monograph last May on Joan of Arc: The life of a French Cultural Icon. The work she is presenting today is a spinoff of that work.



4 - Hermetic Text as Metafictional Artifact: Medieval Arcana in Recent Graphic Novels (In-Person)

Andrew Hartzell, Independent Scholar

This paper will highlight contemporary graphic novels that feature arcane Medieval texts as framing devices or nested narratives. We will explore the ways in which these cartoonists retrieve and/or subvert premodern mystical genres toward postmodern ends.

Andy Hartzell is a cartoonist, designer, independent scholar and recent transplant to Kalamazoo. He’s contributed to several award-winning anthologies, and his most recent graphic novels are available through Uncivilized Books. In a previous life he designed video games, educational toys and VR experiences at Google and elsewhere.

Kalamazoo 2026 Workshop : The Medieval Comics Project Bibliographies

We're sponsoring another workshop session this year at the International Congress on Medieval Studies. Here are the details:

The Medieval Comics Project Bibliographies: Resources for Finding and Accessing Comics and Critiques (Workshop) (Virtual)

61st International Congress on Medieval Studies

Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, Michigan)/Online through Confex

Session 421: Saturday, 16 May 2026, 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM EDT

Organized by Michael A. Torregrossa, Bristol Community College, and Carl B. Sell, University of Pittsburgh

Co-sponsored by Medieval Comics Project, Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture

Workshop Leader: Michael A. Torregrossa, Bristol Community College

This workshop session will highlight the recently launched Medieval Comics Project Bibliographies (https://tinyurl.com/MedievalComicsProjectBiblios), an open-access resource devoted to spreading knowledge of comics based on medieval subjects and furthering discussion and debate of this material. Presentations will include support in finding and accessing comics themselves, a review of how to find and access criticism of this corpus, and a walkthrough of the Medieval Comics Project Bibliographies’ site and its various components devoted to specific elements of the medieval in comics and related media. Making use of the unique nature of the workshop format, time will be allowed for participants to explore the resource, ask questions, and offer feedback. 

CFP Medieval Classics (Re)Illustrated: A Medieval Comics Project Team-up (Hybrid) (9/15/2025; ICMS Kalamazoo/Online 5/14-16/2026)

Medieval Classics (Re)Illustrated: A Medieval Comics Project Team-up (Hybrid)

61st International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, MI), Thursday, 14 May, through Saturday, 16 May, 2026

Co-sponsored by Medieval Comics Project, International Arthurian Society/North American Branch, International Society for the Study of Medievalism 

Co-organized by Michael A. Torregrossa, Bristol Community College, and Siân Echard, University of British Columbia

There is a rich tradition of illustrating medieval literary texts that stretches from the Middle Ages to the present, and the comics medium has been an important contributor to this continuum. Medieval literature has long been popular with comics creators as the source for stories and characters, which have been adapted, appropriated, and/or transformed within a variety of comics published for readers of all ages across the globe. Despite the wealth of the corpus, there has been limited attention paid by medievalists to this work, with the notable exception of scholars in Beowulf Studies and Dante Studies. 

In this co-sponsored session, we seek, primarily, to unite the disciplines of Comics Studies and Medieval(ism) Studies at large to explore the history of comics adaptations, appropriations, and transformations of medieval literature for their value to our teaching and research. In addition, we hope panelists will also address how these comics can shed insight into a creator’s personal connections to the medieval past and/or their readers’ reception of the content either at their contemporary moment or as relics of our recent past. 

Possible topics for exploration might include specific texts like Book of Kells, Cantar de mio Cid, Canterbury Tales, History of the Kings of Britain, Lais of Marie de France, Le Morte Darthur, Nibelungenlied, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Song of Roland, Volsung Saga, and Yvain as well as the Arthurian and Robin Hood traditions. The work of cartoonist Jodie Troutman on Lit Brick also warrants some attention. Further insights into adaptations of Beowulf or Dante’s Commedia (which have been the subject of much prior study) would also be welcome. (Do check out expanding resource, the Medieval Comics Project Bibliographies at https://tinyurl.com/MedievalComicsProjectBiblios, for information on prior studies of medievalist comics.)

Please post paper submissions into the Confex site using the direct link https://icms.confex.com/icms/2026/prelim.cgi/Session/7242.  

Do send any questions to the organizers at comics.get.medieval@gmail.com. Submissions are due no later than 15 September 2025.

Please be aware that those accepted to the panel must register for the conference in order to present. Past registration costs can be viewed at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/registration. The International Congress on Medieval Studies does offer limited funding as travel awards and subsidized registration costs; details are available at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/awards.   

For more information about the Medieval Comics Project, do check out our website at https://medieval-comics-project.blogspot.com/ and consider signing up for our listserv, The Medieval Comics Project Discussion List, at https://groups.io/g/medieval-comixlist. 

For more information about the International Arthurian Society/North American Branch, do check out our website at https://www.international-arthurian-society-nab.org/ and consider becoming a member of our organization.

For more information about the International Society for the Study of Medievalism, do check out our website at https://medievalisms.org/ and consider signing up for our listserv (details at https://medievalisms.org/issm-listserv/). 

Call for Papers Notice for Kalamazoo and Leeds 2026

Call for Papers Kalamazoo and Leeds 2026

Dear friends of the Medieval Comics Project.

Two updates to share. 

First up, Kalamazoo 2026.

We've had much success this summer with session proposals for the 2026 International Congress on Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo and have been awarded both a panel and workshop on medieval-themed comics.

Please consider submitting a proposal and/or sharing these with your network. Submissions are due by 15 September 2025. Please use the links provided. (The ICMS does offer limited travel awards and grants for subsidized registration; details are available at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/awards.) 

Medieval Classics (Re)Illustrated: A Medieval Comics Project Teamup (hybrid): https://icms.confex.com/icms/2026/prelim.cgi/Session/7242.

Medieval literature has long been popular with comics creators as the source for stories and characters, which have been adapted, appropriated, and/or transformed within a variety of comics. In this co-sponsored session we seek, primarily, to unite the disciplines of Comics Studies and Medieval(ism) Studies at large to explore the history of comics adaptations, appropriations, and transformations of medieval literature for their value to our teaching and research. In addition, we hope panelists will also address how these comics can shed insight into a creator’s personal connections to the medieval past and/or their readers’ reception of the content.

The Medieval Comics Project Bibliographies: Resources for Finding and Accessing Comics and Critiques (A Workshop) (virtual): https://icms.confex.com/icms/2026/prelim.cgi/Session/7246.  

This workshop session will highlight the recently launched Medieval Comics Project Bibliographies (https://tinyurl.com/MedievalComicsProjectBiblios), an open-access resource devoted to spreading knowledge of comics based on medieval subjects and furthering discussion and debate of this material.

Second, Leeds 2026 (and other events).

Looking ahead a bit further, Natalie Hopwood of Leeds University has offered to organize a session on comics for the 2026 International Medieval Congress under its theme of "Temporalities". If you have ideas for papers, please forward them to me (comics.get.medieval@gmail.com) and Natalie (ennrho@leeds.ac.uk). The conference is hybrid as well.

Do also share with me (comics.get.medieval@gmail.com) any other events that you think would be of value for sharing work on comics.

Thanks for your time,

Michael

--

Michael A. Torregrossa (he/him/his)

Organizer, The Comics Get Medieval: details at https://medieval-comics-project.blogspot.com/.

Architect: The Medieval Comics Project Bibliographies: https://tinyurl.com/MedievalComicsProjectBiblios.

Founder, The Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture: https://medievalinpopularculture.blogspot.com/.

Founder, The Alliance for the Promotion of Research on the Matter of Britain: https://kingarthurforever.blogspot.com/.

Update - Saving the Day at Kalamazoo: Finding Comics for Medievalist Research and Teaching (A Workshop)

Saving the Day at Kalamazoo: Finding Comics for Medievalist Research and Teaching (A Workshop) (Virtual)

59th International Congress on Medieval Studies (you must register to attend)

Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, MI)

Virtual Session

Session 319: Friday, 10 May 2024, from 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Sponsored by Medieval Comics Project

Organized by Michael A. Torregrossa, Bristol Community College

Presider: Scott Manning, Independent Scholar

Presentation #1:

“Medieval Comics Project: The Basics”

Michael A. Torregrossa

Michael A. Torregrossa (he/him/his) is a graduate of the Medieval Studies program at the University of Connecticut (Storrs) and works as an adjunct instructor of writing and literature courses in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts. His research focuses on popular culture’s adaptation and appropriation of literary classics, including the Arthurian legends, Beowulf, and the Robin Hood story, and he has published an annotated comicsography, an article, and two encyclopedia entries on Arthurian comics. As part of his work on medieval-themed comics, Michael founded the Arthurian Comics Discussion List in 2000 and the Medieval Comics Project Discussion List in 2005. He also maintains their associated blogs: The Arthur of the Comics Project and The Medieval Comics Project. 

Michael’s profile on Academia.edu (with links to his work on medieval-themed comics).

Medieval Comics Project: The Basics

Introduction

The term medieval comics refers both to comic-like media from the medieval past (such as the Bayeux tapestry and manuscript illuminations) as well as to adaptations and appropriations of the medieval produced by creators of comics in the post-medieval world. This second group represents a fascinating form of global medievalisms featured in materials that include cartoons, comic books, comic strips, graphic albums, graphic novels, and related media (such as anime, books, collectibles, films, games, television programming, and toys) based on comics.  

My presentation will share some general links and some starting points to find and access some comics and engage with them within the larger context of the field, 

Medieval Comics Links

Sponsored Resources

The Medieval Comics Project

The Medieval Comics Project Discussion List (sign up at Groups.io)

The Arthurian Comics Project

The Arthurian Comics Discussion List (sign up at Groups.io)

Comics and Medieval Studies Survey (link to Google Form)

Monographs

Bishop, Chris, Medievalist Comics and the American Century (UP of Mississippi).

Gorgievski, Sandra, Representing the Crusades: From Medieval Imagination to Contemporary Popular Culture (McFarland).

Nokes, Richard Scott, Beowulf in Comic Books and Graphic Novels (McFarland).

Tondro, Jason, Superheroes of the Round Table: Comics Connections to Medieval and Renaissance Literature (McFarland).

Resources for Finding and Accessing Medieval Comics and Medieval Comics Scholarship

Keywords

Medieval:

Arthurian, Beowulf/Grendel, Celtic, Chaucer/Canterbury Tales, Cid, Dante/Inferno/Commedia, Joan of Arc/Jeanne d'Arc, Knight (?), Medieval/Middle Ages/Dark Ages, Norse Mythology, Robin, Roland, Vikings. 

Medievalisms:

Cervantes, Scott, Hugo, Twain, Wagner, Stoker, and Smurfs.

Library Databases

MLA International Bibliography (EBSCOhost) (best starting point)

Academic Search Complete (EBSCOhost) (useful secondary resources; also includes some reviews)

Gale Literature Resource Center (seems to draw from a different set of resources) 

Search restrictors: (comics or "graphic novels" or "comic books" or “comic strip” or cartoon or manga)

Academic Databases for Comics

Bonn Online Bibliography of Comics Research 

Comics-Specific Databases and Other Resources

Grand Comics Database (great starting resource) 

Comics Vine (good to supplement the GCD)

Lone Star Comics website (create an account to access the “Advanced Search” - most comics have some description)

Comic Book Plus (repository of out-of-copyright comics; items have limited descriptions that are searchable)

Presentation #2

“Comics and Graphic Novels in the Beowulf’s Afterlives Bibliographic Database (BABD)”

Britt Mize, Texas A&M Univ.

Britt Mize (he/him) is a Professor in the Department of English at Texas A&M University. He works on Old English poetry and poetics, Middle English drama, and (of greatest relevance here) post-1705 representations and adaptations of Beowulf. As part of this work on Beowulf, Britt has created The Beowulf’s Afterlives Bibliographic Database, which (in addition to its freestanding existence as a digital resource) has supported several traditional publications, including the book Beowulf as Children’s Literature (2021).

BABD link: beowulf.dh.tamu.edu

Beowulf as Children’s Literature (U of Toronto)

Beowulf as Children’s Literature (JSTOR)

Presentation #3

“The Medieval Comics Database Project”

Richard Scott Nokes, Troy Univ.

Richard Scott Nokes (he/him) is a professor of medieval literature at Troy University and the Senior Academic Editor for Witan Publishing. His most recent book is Beowulf in Comic Books and Graphic Novels. Scott is also the lead on a new project called The Medieval Comics Database, the focus of his presentation today. This resource includes the work of scholars from the United States as well as Vietnam, India, and Uganda.

The Medieval Comics Database

Presentation #4

“Questioning Signifiers of Authenticity in Medieval Comics for Pedagogical Use”

Elizabeth Allyn Woock, Palacký Univ.

Straddling two fields—Medieval Studies and Literature—Elizabeth Allyn Woock (she/her) is an assistant professor at Palacký University, in Olomouc, Czech Republic. Her research ranges from questions on medieval monasticism to investigating medievalisms in modern-day comic books, elements of narrative in comic books, and medievalisms in the Gothic and horror modes. She just finished a book about the poetics of medievalist spaces in comics called Medieval Spaces in Comics: Affect and Ideology, which should be out soon. She is eagerly following the development of comics as a form of scholarly communication within comics-based research.

Personal webpage: eallynwoock.com

Presentation: Finding Comics for Medievalist Research and Teaching.pptx

Presentation #5

“Finding Medievalist Comics: Using Kindle”

Carl B. Sell, Univ. of Pittsburgh

Dr. Carl B. Sell (he/him/his) is the Assistant Director of the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program at the University of Pittsburgh. His research explores appropriations of Arthurian legend narratives, characters, and themes in popular culture as an extension of the medieval adaptive tradition. He serves as a member of the advisory boards for The Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture and the Alliance for the Promotion of Research on the Matter of Britain, and he is the author of journal articles and book chapters on Arthurian topics and DC’s Aquaman.

Presentation Link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17w13gp7uqMX63N5kQmmbi-H-C-ceUw9i/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=100650849758700312253&rtpof=true&sd=true 

Amazon Kindle Store for Comics and Graphic Novels:

https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/comics-store/home?ref_=sub_ebooks_cat_5 

Comics Sessions in November at MAPACA

I'm pleased to announce the the Medieval Comics Project is sponsoring another session on medieval-themed comics at this year's meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association to be held online 10-12 November 2022. Access to the conference is through paid registration. Full details are available at MAPACA's website accessible from this link. 

Here the the session details:

Comics and Medieval Studies: Reflections on the Field in Commemoration of the 85th Anniversary of Prince Valiant

MEDIEVAL & RENAISSANCE / PANEL

Friday, November 11, 11:00 am to 12:15 pm (The Paper Nautilus)

Presentations

Comics in Medievalist Research and Teaching: Pitfalls and Possibilities

Michael A Torregrossa (Independent scholar)

Reworkings of Arthurian Legend in Comics: Positive Change and Perpetuation of Isms

Rachael Kathleen Warmington (Seton Hall University)

Horrible Hags and Villainous Vixens: Visual images of Female Villains in Medieval Comics

Diana Vecchio (Widener University)

Session chair

Scott Manning (Independent scholar)

Our Sponsored Sessions for Kalamazoo 2021

56th International Congress on Medieval Studies

Hosted online by Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Handouts, notices, call for papers, and a copy of the session agenda can also be accessed from the shared Google folder at https://tinyurl.com/Saving-the-Day-2021.

106 Tuesday, May 11, 11:00 a.m. EDT

Saving the Day for Medievalists: Accessing Medieval-Themed Comics in the Twenty-First Century I: Comics and the Classroom (A Roundtable)

Sponsor: Medieval Comics Project; Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture

Organizer: Michael A. Torregrossa, Independent Scholar

Presider: Richard Scott Nokes, Troy Univ.

Presenters:

A roundtable discussion with Dustin M. Frazier Wood, Univ. of Roehampton; Justin Wigard, Michigan State Univ.; Kara L. Maloney, Canisius College; Genevieve Pigeon, Univ. du Québec à Montréal; and Carl B. Sell, Lock Haven Univ.

Dustin M. Frazier Wood, University of Roehampton

Comics and the Canon: Medieval and Medievalist Texts in the Undergraduate Literature Classroom

Dustin M. Frazier Wood is Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Roehampton in London. He holds a PhD in English and Art History from the University of St Andrews, an MPhil in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic from the University of Cambridge, and a BA in Liberal Arts from Bethany College in West Virginia. His research focuses on medievalism in English culture c1600-c1800, with a particular emphasis on the interplay of textual and visual studies in antiquarian culture. He has published articles on Anglo-Saxonist drama and visual art, on early modern Old English translators, and on antiquarian Old English studies. His book Anglo-Saxonism and the Idea of Englishness in Eighteenth-Century Britain has just been published by Boydell and Brewer. 

Justin Wigard, Michigan State University

Arthurian Legend, Animal-Centric Illustration, and Play in David Petersen’s Mouse Guard

Justin Wigard is a PhD candidate in the Department of English at Michigan State University, where he works with and teaches popular culture, game studies, comic studies, children’s literature, and digital humanities in the literature classroom. His work covers a wide range of subjects, including the Hallmark Channel’s Garage Sale Mystery film series (co-written with fellow grad student Mitch Ploskonka); professional wrestling and Street Fighter; chronotopal representations of feminism in Marvel’s Jessica Jones; the visual rhetoric of dinosaurs in Calvin and Hobbes; monstrous motherhood in Neil Gaiman’s Coraline and Beowulf comics; and digital visualizations of early-Modern Mughal biographies. Justin’s dissertation focuses on utilizing, and developing, video games as learning tools within the classroom.

Kara Larson Maloney, Canisius College (she/her/hers)

Aquaman to Arthur: How the Round Table Lives on In the Classroom

Dr. Kara Larson Maloney is an adjunct professor of English at several Buffalo-area colleges. She received her PhD from Binghamton University in 2015, focusing on chivalry and identity in King Arthur’s court in medieval British and French texts. While her current teaching duties include convincing an 8 year old to actually do the schoolwork assigned, Dr. Maloney enjoys researching both medieval and modern Arthurian adaptations, including television, film, and graphic novels. She’s especially happy when she can bring this work into the classroom. 

Geneviève Pigeon, Université du Québec à Montréal

From Medieval Texts to Contemporary Comics: Sacred Spaces and Communication with the Other World

Geneviève Pigeon holds a Masters Degree in Medieval Literature and a PhD in Religious Studies, with a focus on Arthurian Britain and myth theories. She is a researcher with the Centre de Recherche Bretonne et Celtique (Rennes, Brest ; France), the Centre de Recherche International sur l’Imaginaire (CRI) and teaches in the Religious Studies department at Université du Québec à Montréal. She is interested in better understanding how humans use space and natural elements to create order out of chaos through popular narratives, whether they are promoted by institutions (religious, political) or not. 

Geneviève is also the owner and general director of a publishing house founded in 1986 (L’instant même).

Carl B. Sell, Lock Haven University

Medievalist Comics, ComiXology, and eReaders: Embracing Digital Accessibility and 

the Uses of eReaders in Scholarship and Teaching

Dr. Carl B. Sell is the TRIO SSS Writing Specialist at Lock Haven University. Carl’s research explores appropriations of Arthurian legend narratives, characters, and themes in popular culture as an extension of the medieval adaptive tradition. He serves as a member of the advisory boards for The Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture and the Alliance for the Promotion of Research on the Matter of Britain, and he is the author of various film and literature reviews on medievalist and scholarly blogs and his own website, as well as journal articles on Arthurian topics and DC’s Aquaman.

142 Tuesday, May 11, 3:00 p.m. EDT

Saving the Day for Medievalists: Accessing Medieval-Themed Comics in the Twenty-First Century II: Comics Scholarship (A Roundtable)

Sponsor: Medieval Comics Project; Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture

Organizer: Michael A. Torregrossa, Independent Scholar

Presider: Carl B. Sell, Lock Haven Univ.

Presenters:

A roundtable discussion with Richard Scott Nokes, Troy Univ.; Tirumular (Drew) Narayanan, Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison; Karen Casebier, Univ. of Tennessee–Chattanooga; Scott Manning, Independent Scholar; and Michael A. Torregrossa.

Richard Scott Nokes, Troy University

Beowulf in Comic Books and Graphic Novels

Dr. Richard Scott Nokes is an Associate Professor of medieval literature at Troy University. He earned his B.A. from Butler University (1992) and PhD from Wayne State University (2002). He taught English in Korea for two years, and developed the American Studies program at Klaipėda University in Lithuania. After being hired at Troy University in 2003, he won a Fulbright-Hayes award to study the Maya epic in the Guatemala highlands (2003), was a regional finalist for the White House Fellows program (2007), founded Witan Publishing (2011), and has been featured several times in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

His current book project is a study of comic book adaptations of Beowulf  His other recent book chapters and articles include a study of medieval leechbooks for Health: A History in the Oxford Philosophical Concepts series and an article on “Medieval and Public Discourse” for The Heroic Age. As Senior Academic Editor for Witan Publishing, he has edited and published a number of books on subjects ranging from an edition of Beowulf to Formal Combats in the Fourteenth Century. Most recently, he has published editions of much older works, such as Ælfric of Eynsham’s Letter to Sigeweard and Elizabeth Elstob’s “English-Saxon Homily on the Birth-day of St. Gregory.”

In addition to his academic work, his outreach into fan culture has earned him the title “Professor Awesome” among non-academics. He netcasts on “Professor Awesome and the Minions of Doom” and is co-host of the PopMedieval Podcast. His most recent popular novel, a work of whimsical horror entitled From A to Zombie, is published under the pseudonym “Professor Awesome.”

Tirumular “Drew” Narayanan, University of Wisconsin—Madison

“Tarzan the Crusader?” Visualizing the White Cross and the Raced Crescent in the Lord of the Jungle’s Comic Book and Pulp Illustration Appearances 

[no bio provided]

Karen (Casey) Casebier, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

French Arthurian Comics and the Contemporary Art of Inventio (access the handout at https://tinyurl.com/Saving-the-Day-2021)

Karen (Casey) Casebier is an Associate Professor of French at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.  Her principal area of research is the conflation of the sacred and the profane across different genres of thirteenth-century French literature, including saints’ lives, romance and the fabliaux.  Her research interests include manuscript studies, bestiaries and contemporary interpretations of Arthurian literature.  She recently published an article on representations of gender in Arthurian comics for Synergies as well as an article on resurrection motifs in Marie de France for Le Cygne.  In her copious free time, she is working on a series of unpublished, unedited miracle tales in a 14th-century manuscript branch of La Vie des pères.

Useful links:

Soleil Productions:  https://www.editions-soleil.fr/

BDthèque: https://www.bdtheque.com/

Scott Manning, Independent Scholar

Lessons Learned in Publishing Scholarship on Comic Books

Scott Manning is an independent scholar and the VP of Conference for the Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association. He is published in The Year’s Work in Medievalism and Studies in Medievalism. Scott has several forthcoming works including a chapter in The DC Universe to be published by McFarland. 

Michael A. Torregrossa, Independent Scholar (he/him/his)

What If Merlin Was Mentor to Stephen Strange?: Philip DeGuere's Dr. Strange (1978) and Marvel Comics' Matter of Britain

Michael A. Torregrossa is a graduate of the Medieval Studies program at the University of Connecticut (Storrs) and works as an adjunct instructor in English in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts. His research focuses on popular culture’s adaptation and appropriation of literary classics, including the Arthurian legend, Beowulf, Dracula, and Frankenstein.  In addition, Michael is the founder of The Alliance for the Promotion of Research on the Matter of Britain and The Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture; he also serves as editor for these organizations' various blogs and moderator of their discussion lists. Besides these activities, Michael is also active in the Northeast Popular Culture/American Culture Association and organizes sessions for their annual conference in the fall. Michael is currently Monsters and the Monstrous Area Chair for NEPCA, but he previously served as its Fantastic (Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror) Area Chair, a position he held from 2009-2018.