Two articles in Fall/Winter 2016 IJOCA

Two articles I finished last year have been published in the Fall/Winter 2016 issue of the International Journal of Comic Art: "A Collaborative Journey: Malcolm Wyte, Troubador Press, and the Founding of the Cartoon Art Museum, San Francisco," and "How the French Kickstarted the Acceptance of Comics as an Art Form: the Books and Exhibitions of Maurice Horn" (pages 61-155) The IJOCA does not publish articles on-line. They are posted on Academia.edu, and IJOCA articles sometimes appear in the JSTOR database.

Thanks to the following people who shared their stories with me: Maurice Horn, Brian Walker, Rick Marcshall, Denis Kitchen, Paul Gravett, Art Spiegelman, Carol Tilley, Trina Robbins, and Steve Leialoha. Malcolm Whyte, Jenny Robb, Andrew Farago, and Mark Bode. Also, thanks to Brian, Randy Duncan, Matt Smith, and Marc Greenberg for their advice throughout these projects. 

The article about Maurice Horn, French scholarship, his publications, and the 1967 exhibition at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs will be the topic of my upcoming presentations at WonderCon and the Popular Culture Association's National Convention.

cover of the Fall/Winter 2016 issue of the IJOCA.

Conference schedule 2017

After a hiatus, I've scheduled speaking slots a few upcoming conferences:

San Diego Comics Fest, Feb 17-19. Print Magazine's Michael Dooley and I will talk about the art of Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, and Jules Feiffer, particularly about the way that exhibitions of their original art keep their legacy alive with fans old and new.

Comic Arts Conference at WonderCon (Anaheim, CA), March 31-April 2. 50th Anniversary of the Bande Dessinee et Figuration (1967) Exhibition at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris. 

Popular Culture Association National Conference (San Diego, CA), April 11-15. 50th Anniversary of the Bande Dessinee et Figuration (1967) Exhibition at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris. 

Comic Arts Conference at San Diego Comic-Con International, July 20-23. Exhibitions of Will Eisner and Jack Kirby.

"From Panels to Frames: Comic Art in Museums"

I'm happy to announce that I will be editing a collection of essays, comics, reviews, and other materials about comic art in museums for the University Press of Mississippi. My UPM editor, Vijay Shah said "Museums, exhibitions, and exhibition catalogs have played a great part in the development of comics scholarship. By bringing this "low art" into the presence of "high art," a good deal has been learned about both. This matter has hardly been studied at all, and a good many people involved in it have been overlooked or forgotten."

Cover art illustration by Will Eisner. Originally created for the Museum of Cartoon Art.

So far, contributors include: Brian Walker, Dr. Thomas Inge, Benoit Crucifix, Jaqueline Berndt, Michael Dooley, Charles Hatfield, Diana Green, Trina Robbins, Karen Green Jonah Kinigstein, Denis Kitchen, Leslie Jones, Kenneth Baker, John Lent, and Mark Badger. Interviews with artists Gary Panter, Art Spiegelman, and Carol Tyler will be included. More to come.

If all goes as planned, publication is expected spring 2018. Thanks to Brian Walker, Denis Kitchen and Carl Gropper for allowing me to use this perfect Will Eisner illustration for my cover.

New Article: The Books and Exhibitions of Maurice Horn

Poster for 1967 exhibition, courtesy of Maurice Horn.

"How the French Kickstarted the Acceptance of Comics as Art in the US: the Books and Exhibitions of Maurice Horn" will be published in the Fall 2016 issue of the International Journal of Comic Art, and is currently available on Academia.edu.

Overview of the career of the French/American comics pioneer Maurice Horn. Discussion of the French interest in US comics, and the exhibitions Bande dessinée et figuration narrative (Paris 1967), AAARGH!: a Celebration of Comics (London 1970), and 75 Years of the Comics (NY 1971). Books discussed are A History of the Comic Strip (1968), World Encyclopedia of Comics (1976), Women in the Comics (1977), and several others. Includes a short history of American comics in France, and the 1960's groups, Club Bande Dessinée, and SOCERLID, that championed the idea of comics as "the ninth art" through their exhibitions and publications. Horn was a contributing member of these groups, moving on in the 1970's to edit an important string of comics reference books.

Article includes interviews with Maurice Horn, Rick Marschall, John Lent, Brian Walker, Denis Kitchen, Trina Robbins, Steve Leialoha, and Art Spiegelman.