The Graphic Novel and Comic Conference: COMICS: CULTURES & GENRES Manchester Metropolitan University 13-14 April 2010\ Deadline: January 15, 2010 Comics and graphic novels enjoy a paradoxical relationship with mainstream culture. Their narratives and characters are familiar to mass audiences through their adaptations in film, television and other mass media. However comics' texts are rarely known or read outside comic book cultures. In recent years comics have instigated themselves into the public consciousness due, to a number of diverse circumstances such as the narrative possibilities they offer in an increasingly complex transmedia landscape. This conference aims to explore the intersections between comic books, graphic novels, their audiences and the ways they reflect the cultures and subcultures that produce them. The conference themes reflect the scope and aims of Routledge's new journal, The Journal of Comics and Graphic Novels, edited by David Huxley and Joan Ormrod, (first issue July 2010). Abstracts of up to 250 words are invited around (but are not confined to) the following issues Key issues in comics including, but not limited to: Genres(horror, romance, superheroes, autobiography, experimental etc) Underground/alternative comics Censorship Online comics Political and topical issues Fans and audiences (subcultures, gender, subcultural production) Comics production and distribution systems Representing famous people in comics (American Presidents, sports heroes, film stars, iconic figures from history ) Abstracts should be sent to David Huxley ([log in to unmask]) and Joan Ormrod ([log in to unmask] )