Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Batman’s Shrink & Other Scholars Enlighten New York Comic Con


Batman’s Shrink & Other Scholars Enlighten New York Comic Con
Comics scholars convene at this week’s New York Comic Con to teach convention-goers and have fun too. In addition to all the cosplay, comic book creator signings, and entertainment news panels, New York Comic Con is home to a number of professional panels as well. A good portion of these professional talks will be under the umbrella of the Comics Studies Conference. Organized by the Institute for Comics Studies, the CSC serves to promote the study, understanding, recognition, and cultural legitimacy of comics and support the discussion and dissemination of this study and understanding.  The Comics Studies Conference, organized by scholars like Peter Coogan and Stanford Carpenter, represents the Institute for Comics Studies’ mission to promote the study, understanding, recognition, and cultural legitimacy of comics and to support the discussion and dissemination of this study and understanding via public venues.
CSC co-organizer Travis Langley, author of the hit book BATMAN AND PSYCHOLOGY: A DARK AND STORMY KNIGHT, is a Special Guest at NYCC this year, in the literary category shared by Spotlight Guests Anne Rice and Kim Harrison. “It is a terrific book,” legendary comic book writer Dennis O’Neil says of Batman and Psychology. Bat-Films executive producer Michael Uslan calls it, “scholarly and insightful… a fascinating, entertaining, and educational read.”
Comics Studies Conference NYCC 2012 Schedule
Date: Thursday, October 11
Location: 1A07
4:00-5:00 pm: The Origins of Leaping Tall Buildings: Finding New Ways to Document the Creators Behind the Comics. Hannah Means-Shannon (Georgian Court University) leads a discussion with the creators of Leaping Tall Buildings: the Origins of American Comics artist Christopher Irving, photographer Seth Kushner and designer Eric Skillman on the strategies they developed to create this unique and significant book on American comics for scholars and fans. Moderator: Stanford Carpenter.
5:15-6:15 pm: Power and Sexuality in Comics. Cameron McKee (UC-Berkeley) argues that Tom of Finland’s subversion of heterosexual spaces in Kake constructs an iconic gay identity. Sam Cannon (UT-Austin) shows how the sequential artistry in Los Penitentes intersects with (homo)sexuality and political power. Evan Johnson (UT-Dallas) explores the sublimination of female power in the Marvel Universe. Moderator: Stanford Carpenter.
6:30-7:30 pm: Constructing and Reconstructing the Superhero. Forrest Helvie (Norwalk CC) discusses how the conventional hero of Transcendentalists and Gothic writers contributed to superheroes like Batman. David Lewis (Boston University) explains why superheroes never really die and the “superhero afterlife subgenre.” Rachelanne Smith (CSU-Sacramento) discusses how South Park’s Coon character clarifies society’s need for the altruistic hero. Moderator: Travis Langley.
Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight
by Dr. Travis Langley
(Wiley & Sons Publishing, 2012)
“Simply speaking, this is my pick for the best book of 2012.” – FindYourGeek.com
Batman is one of the most compelling and enduring characters to come from the Golden Age of Comics, and interest in his story has only increased through countless incarnations since his first appearance in Detective Comics #27 in 1939. Why does this superhero without superpowers fascinate us? What does that fascination say about us? Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight (Wiley; Paperback; $17.95; 978-1-1181-6765-6/ Also available in digital and audio forms) explores these and other intriguing questions about the masked vigilante, including: Does Batman have PTSD?  Why does he fight crime? Why as a vigilante? Why the mask, the bat, and the underage partner? Why are his most intimate relationships with “bad girls” he ought to lock up? And why won't he kill that homicidal, green-haired clown?


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