Department of English

Academic Specialty:

Teaching and research specializations: Comics and graphic novels, film history, film theory, experimental and art cinema.

Education:

• B.A. in English, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1985
• M.A. in English, University of Illinois, 1989
• Ph.D. in English, University of Illinois, 1998

Selected Publications:

Eddie Campbell and the Map of Comics. With Charles Hatfield. Under contract with the University Press of Mississippi.

“Comics and Film,” in The Routledge Companion to Comics Studies, edited by Aaron Meskin, Frank Bramlett, and Roy T. Cooke (Routledge, 2016).

“Crystal’s Face,” in Comic Book Apocalypse: The Graphic World of Jack Kirby, edited by Charles Hatfield and Ben Saunders (IDW Publishing, 2015).

“Provocation Through Polyphony: Kyle Baker’s Nat Turner,” in The Blacker the Ink: Constructions of Black Identity in Comics and Sequential Art, edited by Frances Gateward and John Jennings (Rutgers University Press, 2015).

Foreword to Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, The From Hell Companion (Top Shelf Productions, 2013), 5-8. With Charles Hatfield.

Aspettando Alec 1, Aspettando Alec 2, Aspettando Alec 3 (Waiting for Alec 1, 2, 3; 001 Edizioni, 2012). With Charles Hatfield. [Italian translations of Thought Balloonist articles Hatfield and I wrote about Eddie Campbell; pamphlets given to the first Italian readers of Campbell’s Alec: The Years Have Pants.]

Contributor, “Story Notes,” The Complete Carl Barks Library (Fantagraphics, 2011- ).

“Meaninglessness: Cause and Desire in The Birds, Shaun of the Dead and The Walking Dead,” in Triumph of the Living Dead: Robert Kirkman’s Zombie Epic on Page and Screen, ed. James Lowder (BenBella Books, 2011).

“Teeth, Sticks and Bricks: Calligraphy, Graphic Focalization and Narrative Braiding in Eddie Campbell’s Alec.” With Charles Hatfield. SubStance 40.1 (2011): 70-93.

Reviews of Herge: The Man who Created Tintin by Pierre Assouline, God of Comics: Osamu Tezuka and the Creation of Post-World War II Manga by Natsu Onoda Power, and Looking for Calvin and Hobbes by Nevin Martell, Children’s Literature Association Quarterly 35.3 (Fall 2010), 320-324.

“Worlds Within Worlds: Audiences, Jargon, and North American Comics Discourse,” Transatlantica 1: 2010.

Selected Presentations:

Participant, “Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition: How a Coalition of Advocates Defended the Students’ Right to Read and Attained Unexpected Results” Workshop. National Council of Teachers of English conference, Atlanta GA, November 17, 2016.

Public interview with Seth, Cartoon Crossroads Columbus Conference, Columbus, OH, October 14, 2016.

Co-chair and Presenter (with Ben Towle), “Creatures Imagined and Real.” HeroesCon 2016, Charlotte NC, June 18, 2016. 

Public interview with James Sturm. In conjunction with the exhibit At the Junction of Words & Pictures: The Tenth Anniversary of the Center for Cartoon Studies. Turchin Center, Appalachian State University, January 27, 2016. 

Public interview with Robert Clough, Beth Hetland, and Rio Aubry Taylor. In conjunction with the exhibit At the Junction ofWords & Pictures: The Tenth Anniversary of the Center for Cartoon Studies. Turchin Center, Appalachian State University, November 11, 2015.

Public interview with Jen Vaughn. In conjunction with the exhibit At the Junction of Words & Pictures: The Tenth Anniversary of the Center for Cartoon Studies. Turchin Center, Appalachian State University, November 6, 2015.

Public interview with Andrew David Cox. Turchin Center, Appalachian State University, October 21, 2015.

Public interview with Scott McCloud. Small Press Expo, Bethesda, MD, September 20, 2015.

Co-Chair (with Ben Towle) and presenter, “At the Junction of Words & Pictures: The Tenth Anniversary of the Center for Cartoon Studies,” HeroesCon 2014, Charlotte NC, June 18, 2015.

Participant, Global Studies Roundtable on Charlie Hebdo and Terrorism, Belk Library, Appalachian State University, January 26, 2015. 

“Killer’s Lament: Neorealism and Beyond in World Cinema and Intercultural Comics.” Invited presentation, Multicultural program, St. Louis Community College-Forest Park, October 10, 2014.

“Fredric Wertham and the Censorship of Comics.” Banned Book Event, English Department, Appalachian State University, September 22, 2014.

Co-Presenter (with Ben Towle), “Graphic Novel Workshop,” The High Country Festival of the Book, Watauga County Public Library, Boone, NC, June 28, 2014.

Co-Chair (with Ben Towle) and presenter, “Comics Regulation, Comics Censorship: Past and Present,” HeroesCon 2014, Charlotte NC, June 21, 2014.

“The Sketcher Versus the Photograph: Adaptation and Skepticism in Eddie Campbell’s The Black Diamond Detective Agency.” With Charles Hatfield. Festival of Cartoon Art, The Ohio State University, November 15, 2013.

“Dark as it Gets: For Rob Clough and Ken Parille.” Durham Independent Comics Expo, Supergraphix Art Studio, Durham, NC, November 9, 2013.

Co-Chair (with Ben Towle) and presenter, “’And Brainiac on Xylophone’: On the Intersection(s) of Comics and Music,” HeroesCon 2013, Charlotte NC, June 8, 2013.

“The Illegitimate Sons on Superman: DIY Publishing and the Rutland Halloween Parade,” Modern Language Association Conference, Boston. MA, January 5, 2013.

Public interview with Chris Ware, Mix 2012 Conference, Columbus College of Art and Design, Columbus, OH, October 5, 2012.

“Epic Dissipation, or Bacchus’ Subversion of the Superhero.” With Charles Hatfield. Mix 2012 Conference, Columbus College of Art and Design, Columbus, OH, October 5, 2012.

Respondent, “The Auteur Theory of Comics” panel, Comic Arts Conference, San Diego Comic Con, July 14, 2012.

Co-Chair (with Ben Towle) and presenter, “Echoes of ’82,” HeroesCon 2012, Charlotte NC, June 23, 2012.

“Digging Deeper: Arguments for Teaching Fewer Graphic Novels,” Sequential SmArt Conference, Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA, May 19, 2012.

Invited keynote speaker and panelist, “Comics, Creativity and Culture: International and Interdisciplinary Perspectives,” University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, October 7, 2011.

“From Hell: Local Narrative, Transnational Collaboration.” With Charles Hatfield. International Comic Arts Forum, Center for Cartoon Studies, White River, VT, September 29, 2011.

Chair, “Images of the Body,” Small Press Expo, Bethesda, MD, September 11, 2011.

Co-Chair (with Ben Towle) and presenter, “Master of Screaming Metal: A Tribute to Moebius,” HeroesCon 2011, Charlotte NC, June 4, 2011.

Public interview with Gail Simone, Fanaticon 2, The Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC, May 21, 2011.

“’The Gift-Wrapped Brick’: Herriman’s Krazy Kat as Imagined Precursor to Eddie Campbell’s Alec.” With Charles Hatfield. Festival of Cartoon Art, The Ohio State University, October 14, 2010.

Co-Chair (with Ben Towle) and presenter, “Defective Comics: A Celebration of Superhero Oddness,” HeroesCon 2010, Charlotte NC, June 6, 2010.

Presenter (“How to Read a Comic Book”) and public interview with comics artist Jackson Guice, Fanaticon, The Asheville Art Museum, Asheville, NC, May 15, 2010.

 “Teeth and Bricks: Narrative Braiding in Eddie Campbell’s Alec Graphic Novels.” With Charles Hatfield. Conference of the International Society for the Study of Narrative, Case Western University, April 9, 2010. 

Selected Online Writing:

"It is the Bad Time," The Comics Journal (TCJ), August 2, 2016.

“Tributes to Richard Thompson." TCJ, August 1, 2016. (Part of a celebration of newspaper cartoonist Thompson.)

“Providence: Lovecraft, Sexual Violence, and the Body of the Other.” TCJ, February 3, 2016. 

“Hawkeye Supercut." TCJ, July 1, 2015. 

“Connor Willumsen’s Treasure Island." TCJ, July 23, 2014. 

“Pascal Girard’s Petty Theft.” TCJ, June 5, 2014.

“A Mad Look at Toes: A Tribute to Al Feldstein.” TCJ, May 5, 2014. (Part of a celebration of Mad editor Feldstein.)

“My Friend Dave." TCJ, October 25, 2013. 

“Paul Joins the Scouts." TCJ, July 19, 2013. 

“One Life, Many Books: Michel Rabagliati’s Paul." TCJ, June 3, 2013.

“My Back Pages." TCJ, February 4, 2013.

“The Lives of Insects: On Photography and Comics." TCJ, December 3, 2012.

“Spain Rodriguez: Tributes." TCJ, November 29, 2012. (Part of a celebration of underground cartoonist Spain.)

“Night and Day: Notes on Building Stories." TCJ, October 17, 2012. 

“Devils and Machines: On Jonah Hex and All Star Western." TCJ, August 8, 2012. 

“The Ballad of Axe-Faced Anne: Comics, Criticism, Context." TCJ, February 6, 2012. 

“Kirby: Attention Paid." TCJ, November 21, 2011. 

“Pluto and Doubling." TCJ, October 3, 2011.

Selected Projects:

Guest Curator, exhibit At the Junction of Words & Pictures: The Tenth Anniversary of the Center for Cartoon Studies. Turchin Center, Appalachian State University, October 2, 2015-February 6, 2016.

Member, Editorial Board, Comic Culture series, Rutgers University Press, September 2010-present.

Judge, 2010 Eisner Awards.