'Nuff Said: American Graphic Media

Carbonerdious, a new documentary about the intersection of culture and identity is an exciting development. To me this resonate with my exploration of the kaleidoscopic nature of culture linked to comics.  Looking forward to seeing this completed. 

I'm presenting at Doctor Who: Walking in Eternity , the 50th Anniversary conference exploring the impact of this iconic science fiction franchise.  I'm drawn to Doctor Who as an extension of my research into superheroes. As you probably know, the superhero is a uniquely U.S. contribution to the comic medium. Created in 1938, comics as a medium were well established around the world, but the superhero genre was something new.  Created at a time of U.S. global ascendency, the genre evolved and expanded rapidly.   As John Shelton Lawrence and Robert Jewett argue in The Myth of the American Superhero the American mono myth derives from “tales of redemption” that secularise Judaeo-Christian dramas of community redemption that have arisen in the United States. For U.S. audiences, Doctor Who could be understood as a hero whose adventures and outlook corresponded to the struggle of communal redemption associated with the superhero tradition, but relat...

What makes the Arkham franchise so successful?  The answer is easy, the producers concentrate on what is the most iconic about Batman and return to it over and over again.  I risk repeating myself, but this is a point worth noting.  This semester I'm doing the first run of a new course inspired by my constant musing about the intersection between the real and imagine city in comics.  My Comic Book City course leans heavily on first identifying the major theoretical arguments linked to urban development in the United States. Then we chart how those ideas are integrated into the comic medium. The creators working on Batman need not understand the theory, they nonetheless must engage with them.  Moreover, those that successful do so, essential tap a node societal investment, they will draw attention and generate engagement.

Mark Waid has gotten a bit of criticism and praise for his advocacy for digital comics.  My mantra, as always, is that comics are the kaleidoscopic point.  A space where broader sociocultural trends come together. On the page the process is layered and intriguing.  The system around comic book publication also offer similar insights. Comic book are artifacts of modern urban industrial experience.  Thus, the turn toward digital in comics is merely a microcosm of the broader transformation from an urban industrial to suburban service economy. This presentation lays out Waid's argument for why digital comics make sense.  Moreover, he gives us some insights into the monetary impact of his efforts.  There is no question there will continue to be a turn toward digital publication. The question is who will benefit from that transformation.

E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) 2013 is the showcase event for the videogame industry.  I situate videogame within the sphere of the comic narrative, indeed I have long defined comic broadly, writing  and thinking about comics and related media as a way to acknowledge the cultural fusion inherent to our contemporary experience.   Since 2011, I have used two phrases to try to identify and clarify the process linked to comics.  My assertion is that comic books are an urban topic, thus I see comics narratives as spaces where actual events and imagine circumstances linked to urban life come together in a fictive, yet evolving narrative.  This cross narrative urban bleed draws from multiple socioeconomic and culture sources to create a kaleidoscopic point -- a space to process and reprocess societal ideas about urban life. Intrinsic to kaleidoscopic point is the assumption of the malleability in the modern urban experience. This idea of constant c...

  Batman is an enduring franchise.  The iconic nature of character intersects with problem associated with urban life and culture.  The success of the Christopher Nolan's trilogy has been matched by Batman: Arkham City video game developed by Rocksteady Studios .  Since 2008, the Arkham games have given players the chance to live the gritty Batman existence. The Rocksteady franchise has stylized versions of iconic characters, but the game play is engrossing.   The success of the Arkham City series standout in a game landscape full of failed tie-in games and lackluster original content.  The key to Rocksteady's success is that the developers recognizes the core ideas behind the source material and caters to a highly specialize customer's expectation. The Arkham City series routinely calls into questions perceptions linked identity, gender, and community. As has been noted in The Video Game Theory Reader (2003), the relations...

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Everyday at MegaCon started with the adventure of parking. To be honest, I thought the parking and shuttle service worked fine coming in (I tried to arrive early everyday), going out there was always a line and I walked back. Still, taking the bus in was cool because it helped to create a sense of community. Granted, I don't think very many people on the bus would be willing to articulate it that way, but that is what happen. You wanna feel loved? Dress up at MegaCon and people will love you. If you do a good job they will scream, they will ask to take your picture, they will celebrate your accomplishment and they won't care who you are or where you came from. It starts the second you get out of the car. Despite this truth, MegaCon is not divorce from larger issues of identity. Indeed, academics have written about the sublimation and distortion associated with costuming in fandom. A quick search will lead you to that literature. Indeed, identity always plays in the back...