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CFP: Heroes edited collection Investigating Heroes: Truth, Justice and Quality TV (Deadline 01/09/2008) Editor Dr David Simmons Heroes has proven to be one of the breakout Television hits of 2006/2007. In a climate in which many examples of 'Quality' genre television have found themselves facing cancellation in spite of their devoted fan base/s, Heroes appears to have managed to establish a foothold in the contemporary TV landscape, being commissioned for both a second and third series (alongside a host of merchandise). Part of the show's appeal seems to lie in its ability to straddle the divide between the demands of genre and mainstream audiences by employing superhero/comic book trappings in an ostensibly realistic milieu. Indeed, to put it simply comic book fans can recognise and appreciate the references and self-referential nature of the show while a more mainstream audience is able to engage with the broader concept of 'ordinary' people dealing with the extraordinary circumstances. As a result it is possible to suggest that Heroes (like the X-Files, Buffy and, most recently, Lost) has transcended the limitations of its genre in terms of audience demographics to become that rare thing, a cult show that receives both high ratings and critical genre acclaim. Investigating Heroes: Truth, Justice and Quality TV seeks to explore the important issues surrounding Heroes, in terms of its content, marketing and reception. In particular, the book will investigate the show's fusion of 'cultish' and mainstream trappings into a cohesive and successful whole. It will look at how Heroes has managed to combine supposedly' lowbrow' elements (comic books, superheroes) with a Quality TV form that prizes factors such as moral ambiguity, depth of characterisation and liberalism. Finally it will analyse what this blending process suggests about the current hybrid state of genre and Quality television. While we have a number of confirmed contributors already I am currently soliciting abstracts of 350 - 500 words for essays to be included alongside these in an upcoming volume to be published as part of I.B.Taurus' Investigating Cult TV series. Possible topics of discussion might include: Heroes and the superhero - Connections to Comic books/graphic novels in terms of stories, characters, presentation. Links to other revisionist comic book texts e.g. Watchmen, Unbreakable, X-Men etc. The involvement or lack thereof of comic book writers/artists (Tim Sale, Jeph Loeb etc). Use of heroic archetypes, Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung etc Heroes and representation - The nuclear/non-nuclear family unit. Fathers. Race: the shows depiction of both white and non-white, ethnic 'superhero's' and its nomination for an 'image award' by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Depictions of Female sexuality. Crisis in masculinity. Homo-sociality. Heroes and ideology - The threat of the 'nuclear' destruction of New York and its links to 9/11. The Company and its connection to the contemporary 'war on terror'. Evolutionist/Darwinist theories. Heroes and 'Quality TV' - Serial Narrative. The hybridising of cult, genre and Mainstream TV. Heroes as a multi-media experience; web comics, graphic novels, novels. Heroes fandom. Final essays should be approximately 6,000 to 8,000 words, referenced in MLA endnote style. Please attach a short biography or a resume with your abstract, and email to David.Simmons_at_Northampton.ac.uk With the word "Heroes" somewhere in the subject line I look forward to reading your abstracts -- Iain Robert Smith Institute of Film and Television School of American and Canadian Studies University of Nottingham University Park NG7 2RD Head of Communications, MeCCSA Post-Graduate Network website: http://www.meccsa.org.uk/pgn/ Articles Editor, Scope: An Online Journal of Film and Television Studies website: http://www.scope.nottingham.ac.uk/