I've been working recently on assessing the history of medieval comics scholarship. Here are the details based on the various meetings of The International Association for Robin Hood Studies based at The University of Rochester. I had access to all of the programs but that for 2007 and 2011 (to be held July 8-10).
Playing with Transgression: Cultural Transformations of Robin Hood
at The University of Rochester
16-18 October 1997
"Robin Hood and Green Arrow: Outlaw Bowmen in the Modern Urban Landscape"
Sarah Beach (Los Angeles, CA)
(Published in Robin Hood in Popular Culture: Violence, Transgression, and Justice, ed. Thomas Hahn [D. S. Brewer, 2000])
Robin Hood: Past and Present, Local and Global
The Second International Conference of Robin Hood Studies
Nottingham, 14th - 18th July, 1999
‘"Begone, Knave! Robbery is out of Fashion Hereabouts!": Robin Hood in 1950s Comic Books’
Allen W. Wright
The Third Biennial Robin Hood Conference
The University of Western Ontario
May 31-June 2, 2001
"The Archer Explodes: Green Arrow, Social(ist) Justice, and the Reinvention of
the Playboy Comic Book Adventurer,1970-1986"
Jonathan Stover (UWO)
IMAGES OF ROBIN HOOD
Fifth Biennial Meeting of the International Association for Robin Hood Studies
September 29 to October 2, 2005
University of Delaware (Newark, Delaware)
Robin Hood Comic Books From the 1970s to the Present
Allen Wright, Mohawk College
ROBIN HOOD: MEDIA CREATURE
The Seventh Biennial Conference of the International Association for Robin Hood Studies
October 22-25, 2009
University of Rochester, Rochester, NY (USA)
“Investigating the Robin Hood/Green Arrow Identity Crisis”
Jeff Kirchoff (Bowling Green State University)
“Spin-Offs and Stand-Alones: The Co-Dependency of Robin Hood Comics”
John H. Chandler (University of Rochester)
“The Secret Origin of Robin Hood” (?)
Allen W. Wright (Independent Scholar)
Friday, May 13, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Medieval Comics at PCA/ACA
There were a number of papers of interest at last month's Joint Conference of the National Popular Culture & American Culture Association and the Southwest/Texas Popular Culture & American Culture Association held in San Antonio, Texas, from 4/20-23/11. They included the following:
Session 6115: Graphic Novels, Comics, and Popular Culture: Alan Moore
Paper 2 of 4: Socializing the Heroic Psyche: Organized Outsiders in the Irish Finn Cycle and Alan Moore's Top Ten
Hannah Means-Shannon (Georgian Court University)
This study investigates the alternative heroic society of super-powered policemen of Alan Moore’s Top Ten in comparison to earlier mythological “outsider” motifs found in the Irish Finn Cycle. Both outsider groups are formed as microcosms of society as a whole founded upon inverse principles, valuing qualities which in “mainstream” society function as indicators of difference. The development of characters in Top Ten also suggests the development of necessary “insider” qualities such as community loyalty and the support of community goals. In order for a cohesive alternate society to function, a balance must be struck between the potential power and violence of the psyche and the potential unity and collectivising aspects of the social ego consciousness. Using the psychoanalytical writings of Carl Jung and Erich Neumann as well as scholarship on the “warband” literature of the Irish Finn Cycle, this study will illustrate the traditional and ongoing concern in heroic literature for the inherent conflict between the organized, collective aspects of an ego-based society and the less controlled but empowering aspects of the psyche-driven individual.
Session 8076: Arthurian Legends: Women in Arthuriana
Paper 1 of 4: Frailty Thy Name is Woman: An Examination of Arthurian Women in Modern Comics and Graphic Novels
Jody Helme-Day (Wayne State University)
The legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table have experienced renewed interest in the past two decades, with several books, plays, and movies created. One of the most innovative genres used to retell the tales has been comic books and graphic novels. The King and his Knights, and their code of chivalry and moral and physical strength, have been integrated into well-known super hero comics such as Spider Man and Batman, or they have been re-situated into whole new stories with more modern scenes and situations, such as Camelot 3000. The women of the legends have found their way into these comics as well, and just as modern writers have carried over the traditional, glorious depictions of the men, they have also kept those of the women: the weakness of Guinevere, the evil sensuality of Morgan and Nimue, and the danger a woman represents to a man if he is distracted by her charms, or if she does not play the required role in a world of male warriors. The authors of these comics are held by the constraints of the legends themselves, as there is no room for female power if an Arthurian tale is to be told in a recognizable way, but the exaggerated depiction of the female Arthurian characters suggests a latent anxiety about female power that has not changed since Malory’s time.
Session 9486: Comic Art and Comics: Comics and Some Old Fashioned Ideas
Paper 2 of 4: Holding Out for a Hero: The Recasting of the Renaissance Epic Hero as a Contemporary Comic Superhero
Cheyenne Matthews (Independent Scholar)
Despite the division of literature into such categories as classical, Renaissance, or modern periods, the use of conventions, characters, and themes is cyclical, with the same myths and archetypes appearing in different manifestations through the ages. The evolution of one such archetype can be traced from the Renaissance epic hero to the contemporary comic book superhero, which both exhibit traits of heightened morality, mental fortitude, and exceptional strength while combating oppressive influences. Although these exemplary figures serve a dual purpose of entertainment and instruction to reinforce a value system threatened by an unstable, oppositional society, they communicate markedly divergent messages regarding sociopolitical institutions and ideological elitism. Providing a distinct correlation between vastly different time periods, this paper will analyze these messages by using Joseph Campbell’s comparative mythology and Soren Kierkegaard’s philosophy of morality and its “double danger” to examine the reconstitution of the epic poem as serialized comics and their multimedia spin-offs, the recasting of the Renaissance epic heroes of Torquato Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered as modern superheroes in Stan Lee’s X-Men, and the convergence of these archetypes and themes in Neil Gaiman’s graphic novel Marvel 1602.
Paper 3 of 4: Medieval Literature, Modern Comics
Tom Miller (McMaster University)
Session 6175: Graphic Novels, Comics, and Popular Culture: Teaching With Comics and Graphic Novels
Paper 1 of 4: Teaching Medieval and Renaissance Literature and Culture through the Comic/Graphic Novel
Christina Angel (Metropolitan State College of Denver)
In the field of Medieval and Renaissance studies, it is often difficult to engage students in new and meaningful ways, particularly since the traditional method of teaching these subjects often provides no relevance to the average student (one can practically hear the “but it’s boring” lament right here). This paper explores the various ways we can reinvigorate the study of the English Middle Ages and Renaissance via engagement with the graphic novel. Opening from a discussion of Moore and Lloyd’s V for Vendetta as segue into the early modern space of Shakespearean intrigue and Jacobean politics, the essay further explores uses of Gaiman’s Sandman and Gareth Hinds’ Beowulf series, for example, as gateways to literary discovery. My general assertion is that students will come to appreciate (or even adore) this area of literature if they are provided relevance and a reason to read within and around it.
Session 7659: Anime Manga: Cross-Cultural Themes in Anime & Manga
Paper 3 of 3: Narukami: The Depiction of the Norse god Thor in Matantei Loki
Traci Cohen (CSU Sacramento)
Thor is easily the most recognizable character in Norse mythology. Even if someone has no familiarity with mythology they will know the image of Thor. In America that image is based on the Marvel comic book The Mighty Thor. Eastern countries, such as Japan have also integrated Thor into their popular culture. In Matantei Loki (Mythical Detective Loki), a manga about Norse gods being sent to modern day Japan, by Sakura Kinoshita there is an emphasis on traits within Thor that coincide with the samurai value system. Because Kinoshita had these traits to work with in the character of Thor she is able to appropriate the epitome of Norse culture, Thor, and place him within a Japanese background without forfeiting his basic nature.
In my paper I am discussing the character of Narugami (Narugami is the human name of the god Thor) in Kionshita’s work and how, although he has been give Japanese characteristics, Narugami still retains a connection to the god Thor off of which he was based. I look at both Thor and Narugami in their relation to the samurai code as laid out in Yamamoto Tsunetomo’s Hagakure. The specific values I look at are loyalty, bravery, simplicity, truthfulness and politeness. Ultimately, through Narugami Kinoshita is reworking and, in some cases, mocking these traditional values in the modern world.
Session 7646: Medieval Popular Culture: Medievalism and the Modern
Paper 3 of 4: Red Days, Black Knights: The Middle Ages in American Containment Culture
Peter Lee (Independent Scholar)
My proposed topic examines the European Middle Ages as presented in American comic books after the Second World War. With the onset of the Cold War and descent of the Iron Curtain, American comic books, film, magazines, and other mediums of popular culture reinforced the United States as the leader of the Free World. Stories set in the Middle Ages underscored various facets of American culture; in re-imagining the past, creators infused American myths and enlightenment into the Dark Ages. Such themes included the “Horatio Alger” motif of untitled youths working their way up a chivalric ladder, an affirmation of Christian values over other faiths, and a demonization of a barbaric other in contrast to Anglo-Saxon heroes. While some of these themes stemmed from the Middle Ages itself, as well as later historical novels, creators adapted these tales to reflect American standards in the postwar decade. In infusing the Middle Ages with these stories, creators implied the longevity, legitimacy, and superiority of American values over that of their communist antagonists.
Session 6115: Graphic Novels, Comics, and Popular Culture: Alan Moore
Paper 2 of 4: Socializing the Heroic Psyche: Organized Outsiders in the Irish Finn Cycle and Alan Moore's Top Ten
Hannah Means-Shannon (Georgian Court University)
This study investigates the alternative heroic society of super-powered policemen of Alan Moore’s Top Ten in comparison to earlier mythological “outsider” motifs found in the Irish Finn Cycle. Both outsider groups are formed as microcosms of society as a whole founded upon inverse principles, valuing qualities which in “mainstream” society function as indicators of difference. The development of characters in Top Ten also suggests the development of necessary “insider” qualities such as community loyalty and the support of community goals. In order for a cohesive alternate society to function, a balance must be struck between the potential power and violence of the psyche and the potential unity and collectivising aspects of the social ego consciousness. Using the psychoanalytical writings of Carl Jung and Erich Neumann as well as scholarship on the “warband” literature of the Irish Finn Cycle, this study will illustrate the traditional and ongoing concern in heroic literature for the inherent conflict between the organized, collective aspects of an ego-based society and the less controlled but empowering aspects of the psyche-driven individual.
Session 8076: Arthurian Legends: Women in Arthuriana
Paper 1 of 4: Frailty Thy Name is Woman: An Examination of Arthurian Women in Modern Comics and Graphic Novels
Jody Helme-Day (Wayne State University)
The legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table have experienced renewed interest in the past two decades, with several books, plays, and movies created. One of the most innovative genres used to retell the tales has been comic books and graphic novels. The King and his Knights, and their code of chivalry and moral and physical strength, have been integrated into well-known super hero comics such as Spider Man and Batman, or they have been re-situated into whole new stories with more modern scenes and situations, such as Camelot 3000. The women of the legends have found their way into these comics as well, and just as modern writers have carried over the traditional, glorious depictions of the men, they have also kept those of the women: the weakness of Guinevere, the evil sensuality of Morgan and Nimue, and the danger a woman represents to a man if he is distracted by her charms, or if she does not play the required role in a world of male warriors. The authors of these comics are held by the constraints of the legends themselves, as there is no room for female power if an Arthurian tale is to be told in a recognizable way, but the exaggerated depiction of the female Arthurian characters suggests a latent anxiety about female power that has not changed since Malory’s time.
Session 9486: Comic Art and Comics: Comics and Some Old Fashioned Ideas
Paper 2 of 4: Holding Out for a Hero: The Recasting of the Renaissance Epic Hero as a Contemporary Comic Superhero
Cheyenne Matthews (Independent Scholar)
Despite the division of literature into such categories as classical, Renaissance, or modern periods, the use of conventions, characters, and themes is cyclical, with the same myths and archetypes appearing in different manifestations through the ages. The evolution of one such archetype can be traced from the Renaissance epic hero to the contemporary comic book superhero, which both exhibit traits of heightened morality, mental fortitude, and exceptional strength while combating oppressive influences. Although these exemplary figures serve a dual purpose of entertainment and instruction to reinforce a value system threatened by an unstable, oppositional society, they communicate markedly divergent messages regarding sociopolitical institutions and ideological elitism. Providing a distinct correlation between vastly different time periods, this paper will analyze these messages by using Joseph Campbell’s comparative mythology and Soren Kierkegaard’s philosophy of morality and its “double danger” to examine the reconstitution of the epic poem as serialized comics and their multimedia spin-offs, the recasting of the Renaissance epic heroes of Torquato Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered as modern superheroes in Stan Lee’s X-Men, and the convergence of these archetypes and themes in Neil Gaiman’s graphic novel Marvel 1602.
Paper 3 of 4: Medieval Literature, Modern Comics
Tom Miller (McMaster University)
Session 6175: Graphic Novels, Comics, and Popular Culture: Teaching With Comics and Graphic Novels
Paper 1 of 4: Teaching Medieval and Renaissance Literature and Culture through the Comic/Graphic Novel
Christina Angel (Metropolitan State College of Denver)
In the field of Medieval and Renaissance studies, it is often difficult to engage students in new and meaningful ways, particularly since the traditional method of teaching these subjects often provides no relevance to the average student (one can practically hear the “but it’s boring” lament right here). This paper explores the various ways we can reinvigorate the study of the English Middle Ages and Renaissance via engagement with the graphic novel. Opening from a discussion of Moore and Lloyd’s V for Vendetta as segue into the early modern space of Shakespearean intrigue and Jacobean politics, the essay further explores uses of Gaiman’s Sandman and Gareth Hinds’ Beowulf series, for example, as gateways to literary discovery. My general assertion is that students will come to appreciate (or even adore) this area of literature if they are provided relevance and a reason to read within and around it.
Session 7659: Anime Manga: Cross-Cultural Themes in Anime & Manga
Paper 3 of 3: Narukami: The Depiction of the Norse god Thor in Matantei Loki
Traci Cohen (CSU Sacramento)
Thor is easily the most recognizable character in Norse mythology. Even if someone has no familiarity with mythology they will know the image of Thor. In America that image is based on the Marvel comic book The Mighty Thor. Eastern countries, such as Japan have also integrated Thor into their popular culture. In Matantei Loki (Mythical Detective Loki), a manga about Norse gods being sent to modern day Japan, by Sakura Kinoshita there is an emphasis on traits within Thor that coincide with the samurai value system. Because Kinoshita had these traits to work with in the character of Thor she is able to appropriate the epitome of Norse culture, Thor, and place him within a Japanese background without forfeiting his basic nature.
In my paper I am discussing the character of Narugami (Narugami is the human name of the god Thor) in Kionshita’s work and how, although he has been give Japanese characteristics, Narugami still retains a connection to the god Thor off of which he was based. I look at both Thor and Narugami in their relation to the samurai code as laid out in Yamamoto Tsunetomo’s Hagakure. The specific values I look at are loyalty, bravery, simplicity, truthfulness and politeness. Ultimately, through Narugami Kinoshita is reworking and, in some cases, mocking these traditional values in the modern world.
Session 7646: Medieval Popular Culture: Medievalism and the Modern
Paper 3 of 4: Red Days, Black Knights: The Middle Ages in American Containment Culture
Peter Lee (Independent Scholar)
My proposed topic examines the European Middle Ages as presented in American comic books after the Second World War. With the onset of the Cold War and descent of the Iron Curtain, American comic books, film, magazines, and other mediums of popular culture reinforced the United States as the leader of the Free World. Stories set in the Middle Ages underscored various facets of American culture; in re-imagining the past, creators infused American myths and enlightenment into the Dark Ages. Such themes included the “Horatio Alger” motif of untitled youths working their way up a chivalric ladder, an affirmation of Christian values over other faiths, and a demonization of a barbaric other in contrast to Anglo-Saxon heroes. While some of these themes stemmed from the Middle Ages itself, as well as later historical novels, creators adapted these tales to reflect American standards in the postwar decade. In infusing the Middle Ages with these stories, creators implied the longevity, legitimacy, and superiority of American values over that of their communist antagonists.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Comics Get Medieval 2012 Call for Papers
THE COMICS GET MEDIEVAL 2012:
A CELEBRATION OF MEDIEVAL-THEMED COMICS IN
COMMEMORATION OF THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF PRINCE VALIANT
CALL FOR PAPERS (PCA: BOSTON, MA 4/4-7/12)
SPECIAL SESSIONS OF THE COMICS & COMIC ART AREA
ORGANIZED BY MICHAEL A. TORREGROSSA AND JASON TONDRO
PROPOSALS DUE TO ORGANIZERS BY 1 DECEMBER 2011
Celebrating our sixth year in 2012, proposals are now being considered for inclusion at “The Comics Get Medieval 2012,” a series of panels and roundtables sponsored by The Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages and to be hosted by the Comics & Comic Art Area of the Popular Culture Association (PCA) for the 2012 Joint Conference of the National Popular Culture and American Culture Associations to be held from 4-7 April 2012 in Boston, Massachusetts.
The goal of these sessions is to foster communication between medievalists, comics scholars, and specialists in popular culture studies in general. The organizers define “medieval comics” as any aspect of the comics medium (panel cartoons, comic strips, comics books, comics albums, band dessinée, graphic novels, manga, webcomics, comics to film/film to comics, etc.) that feature medieval themes either in stories set during the Middle Ages or in stories presenting some element of the medieval in the post-medieval era. We are also interested in papers looking at medieval comics from a pedagogical perspective.
Completed papers should be delivered in 15-20 minutes (depending on the number of presenters).
All proposals will also be considered for inclusion in an essay collection to be edited by the panel organizers beginning in late 2011/early 2012. (Individuals only interested in submitting for the collection should also send proposals by 1 December 2011 deadline and indicate their preference in the email.)
In addition, a select list of potential topics and a bibliographic guide to medieval comics will appear as part of THE MEDIEVAL COMICS PROJECT web site available at http://MedievalComicsProject.org and THE ARTHUR OF THE COMICS website available at http://Arthur-of-the-Comics.org, both organized by the Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages.
No later that 1 December 2011, interested individuals (who must be members of PCA or ACA or join for 2012) should submit full contact information (name, address, phone/cell, and email), titles, and abstracts of 300-500 words to the sessions’ organizers, who will then forward them to area chair.
Address all inquiries and proposals to the organizers at the following address:
Medieval.Comics.Project@gmail.com and include “Comics Get Medieval 2012” in the subject line.
A CELEBRATION OF MEDIEVAL-THEMED COMICS IN
COMMEMORATION OF THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF PRINCE VALIANT
CALL FOR PAPERS (PCA: BOSTON, MA 4/4-7/12)
SPECIAL SESSIONS OF THE COMICS & COMIC ART AREA
ORGANIZED BY MICHAEL A. TORREGROSSA AND JASON TONDRO
PROPOSALS DUE TO ORGANIZERS BY 1 DECEMBER 2011
Celebrating our sixth year in 2012, proposals are now being considered for inclusion at “The Comics Get Medieval 2012,” a series of panels and roundtables sponsored by The Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages and to be hosted by the Comics & Comic Art Area of the Popular Culture Association (PCA) for the 2012 Joint Conference of the National Popular Culture and American Culture Associations to be held from 4-7 April 2012 in Boston, Massachusetts.
The goal of these sessions is to foster communication between medievalists, comics scholars, and specialists in popular culture studies in general. The organizers define “medieval comics” as any aspect of the comics medium (panel cartoons, comic strips, comics books, comics albums, band dessinée, graphic novels, manga, webcomics, comics to film/film to comics, etc.) that feature medieval themes either in stories set during the Middle Ages or in stories presenting some element of the medieval in the post-medieval era. We are also interested in papers looking at medieval comics from a pedagogical perspective.
Completed papers should be delivered in 15-20 minutes (depending on the number of presenters).
All proposals will also be considered for inclusion in an essay collection to be edited by the panel organizers beginning in late 2011/early 2012. (Individuals only interested in submitting for the collection should also send proposals by 1 December 2011 deadline and indicate their preference in the email.)
In addition, a select list of potential topics and a bibliographic guide to medieval comics will appear as part of THE MEDIEVAL COMICS PROJECT web site available at http://MedievalComicsProject.org and THE ARTHUR OF THE COMICS website available at http://Arthur-of-the-Comics.org, both organized by the Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages.
No later that 1 December 2011, interested individuals (who must be members of PCA or ACA or join for 2012) should submit full contact information (name, address, phone/cell, and email), titles, and abstracts of 300-500 words to the sessions’ organizers, who will then forward them to area chair.
Address all inquiries and proposals to the organizers at the following address:
Medieval.Comics.Project@gmail.com and include “Comics Get Medieval 2012” in the subject line.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Suter's "From Jusuheru to Jannu"
The following article is now available to all viewers as part of a sample issue of Mechademia on Project Muse:
Rebecca Suter. "From Jusuheru to Jannu: Girl Knights and Christian Witches in the Work of Miuchi Suzue." Mechademia 4 (2009): 241-256.
Suter, a professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Sydney, offers a summary and discussion of Suzue's two-part manga Shirayuri no kishi (1975, Knight of the White Lily), a manga adaptation of the life of Joan of Arc. She also presents some interesting comments on the representations of warrior women in manga.
Rebecca Suter. "From Jusuheru to Jannu: Girl Knights and Christian Witches in the Work of Miuchi Suzue." Mechademia 4 (2009): 241-256.
Suter, a professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Sydney, offers a summary and discussion of Suzue's two-part manga Shirayuri no kishi (1975, Knight of the White Lily), a manga adaptation of the life of Joan of Arc. She also presents some interesting comments on the representations of warrior women in manga.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Medieval Comics Papers at Plymouth State
Last weekend there were several medievalism-themed papers at Plymouth State University's annual Medieval and Renaissance Forum. My session included two on medieval comics. Details as follow:
SATURDAY, 16 APRIL
3:00-4:20 Session 7
Medieval Roots, Modern Dreams Rounds 303
Moderator: Arthur Fried, Plymouth State University
2) Print Warfare and Foxe’s The Book of Martyrs: Woodcuts as an Early Modern Precursor to 20th-21st Century Comics, Forrest C. Helvie, Norwalk Community College
3) Prince Valiant and Beyond: (Re-)Assessing the Corpus of Medieval-Themed Comics, Michael A. Torregrossa, Independent Scholar
SATURDAY, 16 APRIL
3:00-4:20 Session 7
Medieval Roots, Modern Dreams Rounds 303
Moderator: Arthur Fried, Plymouth State University
2) Print Warfare and Foxe’s The Book of Martyrs: Woodcuts as an Early Modern Precursor to 20th-21st Century Comics, Forrest C. Helvie, Norwalk Community College
3) Prince Valiant and Beyond: (Re-)Assessing the Corpus of Medieval-Themed Comics, Michael A. Torregrossa, Independent Scholar
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Vikings on Film Contents
McFarland has at last posted the contents for Kevin J. Harty's latest collection The Vikings on Film: Essays on Depictions of the Nordic Middle Ages. Complete details can be accessed at McFarland's website.
Relevant contents are as follows:
Silly Vikings: Eichinger, Hickox, and Lorenz’s Anglo-German-Irish Production of Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant (1997) 56
JOSEPH M. SULLIVAN
Time Out of Joint: Why a Gaul Fought the Normans in Astérix and the Vikings (2005) 165
ANDREW B. R. ELLIOTT
Additional chapters that offer surveys on Vikings in film also look promising.
Relevant contents are as follows:
Silly Vikings: Eichinger, Hickox, and Lorenz’s Anglo-German-Irish Production of Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant (1997) 56
JOSEPH M. SULLIVAN
Time Out of Joint: Why a Gaul Fought the Normans in Astérix and the Vikings (2005) 165
ANDREW B. R. ELLIOTT
Additional chapters that offer surveys on Vikings in film also look promising.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Kalamazoo 2012 Proposals
1. The Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages has proposed the following session for the 47th International Congress on Medieval Studies to be held from 10-13 May 2012. Interested parties should contact the Society at Popular.Culture.and.the.Middle.Ages@gmail.com (please note "Comics Get Medieval at Kalamazoo 2012" in the subject line). An official call for papers will be distributed this summer upon notification of acceptance from the Congress's organizing committee.
The Comics Get Medieval at Kalamazoo: New Perspectives for Incorporating Comics into Medieval Studies Teaching and Research (Roundtable)
The Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages proposes this session in an effort to continue and expand upon the conversations initiated in our previous sessions at the Congress (in 2004 and 2008) on the potential uses of the comics in Medieval Studies teaching and research. In prior sessions, we have touched upon both the variety and vitality of the corpus of medieval-themed comics, medievalisms that have been in existence since at least the early part of the twentieth century and that continue to flourish in both the comics (in all its varied forms) and comics-related media, like adaptations into film and television, to this day. A number of characters and series celebrate significant anniversaries in 2012 (for example, Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant will be 75; Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby’s Thor 50; Roy Thomas and John Buscema’s Dane Whitman, the modern-day Black Knight, 45; Dik Browne’s Hägar the Horrible and Kirby’s Etrigan 40; and Mike W. Barr and Brian Bolland’s Camelot 3000 30), and we believe this is an ideal time to revisit this material at the Congress, a venue that has long been amiable to the furtherance of discussion of and debate on—goals we have adopted—representations of the medieval in popular culture.
Unlike other forms of medievalism, like film and Tolkieniana, that receive multiple sessions at conferences, like the Congress, each year, medieval-themed comics remain neglected and in need of much further research. Despite the vitality of these long-running series and other comics with medieval themes, the corpus of medieval comics as a whole has largely been ignored (though with a few notable exceptions) by medievalists except as curiosities, a pattern replicated largely in other academic disciplines. However, due to the interdisciplinary nature of Medieval Studies, our field (especially given the welcomeness many medievalists have for medievalisms) is ideally suited to tap into the high potentiality of the corpus for both teaching about the medieval to audiences of all ages, from children to adults, and, like other forms of medievalism, for understanding, through the processes of adaptation and appropriation, the contemporary reception of the medieval in popular culture. The general neglect of the corpus suggests that most medievalists are wary of studying these types of texts, and, in an effort to combat this apparent distrust, we endeavor in this session to create an environment where medievalists, perhaps familiar with some of more celebrated texts, can learn more about these works of popular medievalism. It is our intent that the papers presented at this roundtable will offer new possibilities to access this corpus so we may all come to a greater appreciation of its contents and contexts.
2. The Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages in association with The Alliance for the Promotion of Research on the Villains of the Matter of Britain and The Institute for the Advancement of Scholarship on the Magic-Wielding Figures of Visual Electronic Multimedia has proposed the following session for the 47th International Congress on Medieval Studies to be held from 10-13 May 2012. Interested parties should contact the Society at Popular.Culture.and.the.Middle.Ages@gmail.com (please note "Are You From Camelot 2012" in the subject line). An official call for papers will be distributed this summer upon notification of acceptance from the Congress's organizing committee.
Are You From Camelot? Recent Arthurian Film, Television, and Electronic Games as Innovators of the Arthurian Tradition and Their Impact (Roundtable)
The Comics Get Medieval at Kalamazoo: New Perspectives for Incorporating Comics into Medieval Studies Teaching and Research (Roundtable)
The Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages proposes this session in an effort to continue and expand upon the conversations initiated in our previous sessions at the Congress (in 2004 and 2008) on the potential uses of the comics in Medieval Studies teaching and research. In prior sessions, we have touched upon both the variety and vitality of the corpus of medieval-themed comics, medievalisms that have been in existence since at least the early part of the twentieth century and that continue to flourish in both the comics (in all its varied forms) and comics-related media, like adaptations into film and television, to this day. A number of characters and series celebrate significant anniversaries in 2012 (for example, Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant will be 75; Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby’s Thor 50; Roy Thomas and John Buscema’s Dane Whitman, the modern-day Black Knight, 45; Dik Browne’s Hägar the Horrible and Kirby’s Etrigan 40; and Mike W. Barr and Brian Bolland’s Camelot 3000 30), and we believe this is an ideal time to revisit this material at the Congress, a venue that has long been amiable to the furtherance of discussion of and debate on—goals we have adopted—representations of the medieval in popular culture.
Unlike other forms of medievalism, like film and Tolkieniana, that receive multiple sessions at conferences, like the Congress, each year, medieval-themed comics remain neglected and in need of much further research. Despite the vitality of these long-running series and other comics with medieval themes, the corpus of medieval comics as a whole has largely been ignored (though with a few notable exceptions) by medievalists except as curiosities, a pattern replicated largely in other academic disciplines. However, due to the interdisciplinary nature of Medieval Studies, our field (especially given the welcomeness many medievalists have for medievalisms) is ideally suited to tap into the high potentiality of the corpus for both teaching about the medieval to audiences of all ages, from children to adults, and, like other forms of medievalism, for understanding, through the processes of adaptation and appropriation, the contemporary reception of the medieval in popular culture. The general neglect of the corpus suggests that most medievalists are wary of studying these types of texts, and, in an effort to combat this apparent distrust, we endeavor in this session to create an environment where medievalists, perhaps familiar with some of more celebrated texts, can learn more about these works of popular medievalism. It is our intent that the papers presented at this roundtable will offer new possibilities to access this corpus so we may all come to a greater appreciation of its contents and contexts.
2. The Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages in association with The Alliance for the Promotion of Research on the Villains of the Matter of Britain and The Institute for the Advancement of Scholarship on the Magic-Wielding Figures of Visual Electronic Multimedia has proposed the following session for the 47th International Congress on Medieval Studies to be held from 10-13 May 2012. Interested parties should contact the Society at Popular.Culture.and.the.Middle.Ages@gmail.com (please note "Are You From Camelot 2012" in the subject line). An official call for papers will be distributed this summer upon notification of acceptance from the Congress's organizing committee.
Are You From Camelot? Recent Arthurian Film, Television, and Electronic Games as Innovators of the Arthurian Tradition and Their Impact (Roundtable)
Friday, February 18, 2011
Hannah Means-Shannon's Seeing double: the transforming personalities of Alan Moore's Promethea and the Ulster Cycle's Cuchulain
The latest number of the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics includes the following essay:
Means-Shannon, Hannah. “Seeing Double: The Transforming Personalities of Alan Moore's Promethea and the Ulster Cycle's Cuchulain.” Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics 1.2 (2010): 93-104.
Abstract
The article can be downloaded free of charge through the end of this month.
Means-Shannon, Hannah. “Seeing Double: The Transforming Personalities of Alan Moore's Promethea and the Ulster Cycle's Cuchulain.” Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics 1.2 (2010): 93-104.
Abstract
This article explores the physical and psychic transformation of Sophie-Promethea®, of Alan Moore's Promethea, and Cuchulain, of the Irish Ulster Cycle, into dual heroic identities, illustrating the psychological concerns present in the texts. This heroic process of establishing a dual identity dramatizes the creation of a balance between the conscious ego and the unconscious psyche, a pattern of individuation put forward by theorist Carl Jung and subsequently explored by Erich Neumann and James Hillman. The plot structure of the texts, as well as elements of visual/descriptive detail concerning transformation support this comparative examination and confirm a concern for an attempted resolution between conflicting psychological aspects of the heroic individual. This study highlights both the heroic failure of Cuchulain to attain this desired resolution and Moore's creation of a new paradigm for potential synthesis between the worlds of the ego and the psyche as illustrated through his character, Promethea®.
The article can be downloaded free of charge through the end of this month.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Listserv Updates (Cross-Posted)
It is with deep regret that I write to inform readers of the demise of the following listservs sponsored by the Society: The Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages Discussion List, The Medieval Studies at the Movies Discussion List and The Medieval Comics Project Discussion List. The three have been disbanded due to lack of interest by the members. Archives for these lists will remain online for the time being, but further items of interest on these topics can be found instead on the various blogs currently sponsored by the Society, including Studies of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages and The Medieval Comics Project Blog.
Michael A. Torregrossa
Blog and Listserv Editor
Co-Founder
PS. The Medieval Comics Project Discussion List was, unfortunately, never very active and should have probably been put down much sooner. I do hope that this blog will be a welcome addition to furthering the study of medieval-themed comics.
Michael A. Torregrossa
Blog and Listserv Editor
Co-Founder
PS. The Medieval Comics Project Discussion List was, unfortunately, never very active and should have probably been put down much sooner. I do hope that this blog will be a welcome addition to furthering the study of medieval-themed comics.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Comics Get Medieval 2011 Update
A belated update on the status of The Comics Get Medieval 2011 sessions for the upcoming Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association's annual meeting this spring:
The session has been cancelled due to lack of interest.
Please consider submitting a proposal for The Comics Get Medieval 2012 sessions to convene at PCA/ACA in Boston and (pending approval) at Kalamazoo. 2012 is the 75th anniversary of Prince Valiant, and it would be great to make ourselves visible as we commemorate this landmark event.
Michael Torregrossa
Blog and Listserv Editor
Co-Founder
The session has been cancelled due to lack of interest.
Please consider submitting a proposal for The Comics Get Medieval 2012 sessions to convene at PCA/ACA in Boston and (pending approval) at Kalamazoo. 2012 is the 75th anniversary of Prince Valiant, and it would be great to make ourselves visible as we commemorate this landmark event.
Michael Torregrossa
Blog and Listserv Editor
Co-Founder
King Arthur Forever Returns
The Society is pleased to announce the relaunch of KingArthurForever.org as a blog dedicated to study and debate of the representations of the Matter of Britain in post-medieval popular culture produced from the close of the Middle Ages through tomorrow.
Friday, December 31, 2010
New Scholarship on Beowulf Comics
Anglo-Saxon Culture and the Modern Imagination
Edited by David Clark and Nicholas Perkins
Details
First Published: 21 Oct 2010
13 Digit ISBN: 9781843842514
Pages: 302
Size: 23.4 x 15.6
Binding: Hardback
Imprint: D.S.Brewer
Series: Medievalism
Subject: Medieval Literature
BIC Class: DSBB
Britain's pre-Conquest past and its culture continues to fascinate modern writers and artists. From Henry Sweet's Anglo-Saxon Reader to Seamus Heaney's Beowulf, and from high modernism to the musclebound heroes of comic book and Hollywood, Anglo-Saxon England has been a powerful and often unexpected source of inspiration, antagonism, and reflection. The essays here engage with the ways in which the Anglo-Saxons and their literature have been received, confronted, and re-envisioned in the modern imagination. They offer fresh insights on established figures, such as W.H. Auden, J.R.R. Tolkien, and David Jones, and on contemporary writers such as Geoffrey Hill, Peter Reading, P.D. James, and Heaney. They explore the interaction between text, image and landscape in medieval and modern books, the recasting of mythic figures such as Wayland Smith, and the metamorphosis of Beowulf into Grendel - as a novel and as grand opera. The early medieval emerges not simply as a site of nostalgia or anxiety in modern revisions, but instead provides a vital arena for creativity, pleasure, and artistic experiment.
Contents (from WorldCAT):
Introduction / Nicholas Perkins and David Clark --
From Heorot to Hollywood : Beowulf in its third millennium / Chris Jones --
Priming the poets : the making of Henry Sweet's Anglo-Saxon reader / Mark Atherton --
Owed to both sides : W.H. Auden's double debt to the literature of the North / Heather O'Donoghue --
Writing for an Anglo-Saxon audience in the twentieth century : J.R.R. Tolkien's Old English chronicles / Maria Artamonova --
Wounded men and wounded trees : David Jones and the Anglo-Saxon culture tangle / Anna Johnson --
Basil Bunting, Briggflatts, Lindisfarne, and Anglo-Saxon interlace / Clare A. Lees --
Boom : seeing Beowulf in pictures and print / Siân Echard -- [comments and images (in full color) from Gareth Hinds's Beowulf]
Window in the wall : looking for grand opera in John Gardner's Grendel / Allen J. Frantzen --
Re-placing masculinity : the DC Comics Beowulf series and its context, 1975-6 / Catherine A.M. Clarke --
P.D. James reads Beowulf / John Halbrooks --
Ban Welondes : Wayland Smith in popular culture / Maria Sachiko Cecire --
Overlord of the M5 : the superlative structure of sovereignty in Geoffrey Hill's Mercian Hymns / Hannah J. Crawforth --
The absent Anglo-Saxon past in Ted Hughes's Elmet / Joshua Davies --
Resurrecting Saxon things : Peter Reading, "species decline", and Old English poetry / Rebecca Anne Barr.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Thor: Myth to Marvel--Coming Soon from Continuum
Thor: Myth to Marvel
by Martin Arnold
Imprint: Continuum
Pub. date: 21 Jul 2011
ISBN: 9781441135421
256 Pages, paperback
World rights
Translation Rights Available
$29.95
An exploration of how the legend of Thor has been adopted, adapted and transformed through history.
Description
The myths of the Norse god Thor were preserved in the Icelandic Eddas, set down in the early Middle Ages. The bane of giants and trolls, Thor was worshipped as the last line of defence against all that threatened early Nordic society.
Thor’s significance persisted long after the Christian conversion and, in the mid-eighteenth century, Thor resumed a symbolic prominence among northern countries. Admired and adopted in Scandinavia and Germany, he became central to the rhetoric of national romanticism and to more belligerent assertions of nationalism.
Resurrected in the latter part of the twentieth century in Marvel Magazine, Thor was further transformed into an articulation both of an anxious male sexuality and of a parallel nervousness regarding American foreign policy.
Martin Arnold explores the extraordinary regard in which Thor has been held since medieval times and considers why and how his myth has been adopted, adapted and transformed.
Table of Contents
Introduction:Reverberations throughout History \ 1. The Giant Killer: Thor in Old Norse Mythology \ 2. Damnation and Resurrection: Thor from the Christian Conversion to the Enlightenment \ 3. The Romancing of Thor \ 4. Distant Thunder: Thor and the Nationalists \ 5. The God of War: Thor and the Fascists \ 6. Marvellous Thor \ Appendix \ Bibliography \ Index
Author(s)
Martin Arnold is Professor of Scandinavian Literature at Hull University. He is the author of The Vikings (Continuum, 2006).
by Martin Arnold
Imprint: Continuum
Pub. date: 21 Jul 2011
ISBN: 9781441135421
256 Pages, paperback
World rights
Translation Rights Available
$29.95
An exploration of how the legend of Thor has been adopted, adapted and transformed through history.
Description
The myths of the Norse god Thor were preserved in the Icelandic Eddas, set down in the early Middle Ages. The bane of giants and trolls, Thor was worshipped as the last line of defence against all that threatened early Nordic society.
Thor’s significance persisted long after the Christian conversion and, in the mid-eighteenth century, Thor resumed a symbolic prominence among northern countries. Admired and adopted in Scandinavia and Germany, he became central to the rhetoric of national romanticism and to more belligerent assertions of nationalism.
Resurrected in the latter part of the twentieth century in Marvel Magazine, Thor was further transformed into an articulation both of an anxious male sexuality and of a parallel nervousness regarding American foreign policy.
Martin Arnold explores the extraordinary regard in which Thor has been held since medieval times and considers why and how his myth has been adopted, adapted and transformed.
Table of Contents
Introduction:Reverberations throughout History \ 1. The Giant Killer: Thor in Old Norse Mythology \ 2. Damnation and Resurrection: Thor from the Christian Conversion to the Enlightenment \ 3. The Romancing of Thor \ 4. Distant Thunder: Thor and the Nationalists \ 5. The God of War: Thor and the Fascists \ 6. Marvellous Thor \ Appendix \ Bibliography \ Index
Author(s)
Martin Arnold is Professor of Scandinavian Literature at Hull University. He is the author of The Vikings (Continuum, 2006).
Vikings Comics on Film Coming Soon from McFarland
Edited by Kevin J. Harty
ISBN 978-0-7864-6044-1
illustrations, filmography, bibliography, index
softcover (7 x 10) 2011
Price: $38.00
Not Yet Published, Available Spring/Summer 2011
Description
Factual and fanciful tales of the Nordic warriors known as Vikings have proven irresistible to filmmakers for nearly a century. Diverse, prominent actors from Kirk Douglas, Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier to Tim Robbins and John Cleese, and noted directors, including Richard Fleischer, Clive Donner and Terry Jones, have all lent their talents to Viking-related films. These fourteen essays on films dealing with the Viking era discuss American, British and European productions. Analyzed in detail are such films as The Vikings (1958), The Long Ships (1964), Alfred the Great (1969), Erik the Viking (1989) and Outlander (2008), as well as a pair of comic-strip adaptations, the live-action Prince Valiant (1997) and the animated Asterix and the Vikings (2006). A comprehensive filmography is also included.
About the Author
Kevin J. Harty is professor and chair of English at La Salle University in Philadelphia and associate editor of Arthuriana, the official journal of the North American Branch of the International Arthurian Society, of which he is the vice president. He is the author or editor of eleven books on film and medieval studies.
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