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] )