Comic-Con 2016

Adam Golub (California State University, Fullerton) discusses strategies for teaching comics as literature in the university classroom. Deanna Heikkinen (Los Angeles Valley College) shares the lessons that she learned using superhero comics to teach a humanities course on 20th-century America. Michelle Lewis (Los Angeles Valley College) explains he she integrated Mendoza the Jew: Boxing, Manliness, and Nationalism, A Graphic History into the Western Civilization curriculum to teach historical techniques. These presentations are designed for teachers and a general audience interested in the changing views and uses of comics in American society.

The same qualities that make Batman one of the most famous characters in the world also make him an excellent vehicle for teaching a variety of topics and reaching students. Batman is the superhero with no superpowers, with a tragic origin that evokes feelings and understanding from anyone who reads it, and a character that occupies an environment that, while a bit bizarre at times, usually feels like it could be real. This session provides an exploration of using Batman to teach arts and science at the university level. Panelists discuss the relevance of Batman and the Bat-family in conveying concepts of psychology, kinesiology and neuroscience to undergraduates. E. Paul Zehr (Becoming Batman), Travis Langley (Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight), Chris Yogerst (University of Wisconsin), Hannah Means-Shannon (Dark Horse Comics), Michael Uslan (The Dark Knight trilogy), and Paul Levitz (DC Comics) discuss and dissect the role of the Caped Crusader on campus.

Emily Rauber Rodriguez (University of Southern California) uses the Star Wars: Shattered Empire miniseries as a case study of how licensed comics negotiate a curious transmedia space between adaptation, sequel, and promotion. Jeremiah Massengale (University of the Cumberlands) uses letters from readers to analyze the impact of a nine-day storyline about death and loss in the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip. Julia Round (Bournemouth University) uses the letters pages in Misty comic books to demonstrate how the comic, employing the dominant discourses of the horror genre, supported creativity, diversity, and community within the readership.

Comic-Con offers students of popular culture an amazing venue to study how culture is marketed to and practiced by its fans. Robin Holloway (Wake Forest University), Thaddeus Kimm (Wittenberg University), Alexandra Jenkins (Texas A&M University-Texarkana), Jodie McKaughan (Radford University), Joan Miller (University of Southern California, Annenberg), Morgan Mitchell (Wittenberg University), Glen Stamp (Ball State University), Alix Watson (Ball State University), and Stephanie Webb (University of Denver) present initial findings from a week-long ethnographic field study of the intersection of fan practice at the nexus of cultural marketing and fan culture that is Comic-Con 2016. Matthew J. Smith (Wittenberg University) moderates.

The 21st anniversary trivia showdown matches Len Wein's (creator, Wolverine, Swamp Thing) Purple Prose team against the fan Black Ink Irregulars, who include Derek McCaw (Fanboy Planet podcast) and Peter S. Svensson (comics journalist). Questions written by Tom Galloway (Suicide Squid) will focus on characters and events having a n5th or n0th anniversary, such as the Batman TV show, Captain America, Aquaman, Fantastic Four, Black Panther, and many more. Trash talk will focus on being funny!