Call for Book Chapters: Film and Comic Books. Edited by Ian Gordon, Mark Jancovich, and Matthew P. McAllister Comic book characters such as Superman and Batman appeared in B movies and film serials long before the blockbuster adaptations of the 1970s and 1980s. Likewise Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, and the Hulk featured in low production value television series from the 1950s to the 1970s. In recent years film makers have adapted a plethora of comic books for the screen including Marvel's the X-Men, Spider-Man, Blade, and the Hulk, Alan Moore's From Hell and The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, and Road to Perdition and Ghost World. Production deals for comic book character-based movies have multiplied rapidly. Beyond Hollywood, Asian film makers have joined the trend with Jet Li appearing in Black Mask and Michelle Yeoh in the self-described "comic book style" Silver Hawk. It seems that more is at stake than a shift from low budget/status productions to blockbusters. Critical acclaim has flowed for many of the recent efforts and respected directors such as Sam Mendes and Ang Lee have lent their talents to films based on comic books. At the same time, particularly since the success of Maus, comic books have gained increased critical respectability even attaining the dizzy heights of favourable reviews in the New York Times and the New York Review of Books, albeit accompanied by discussions of what constitutes a comic book. We are looking for articles of between 6,000 and 8,000 words that address the changing and interrelated dynamics of film and comic book production and reception. Possible subjects might include, but are not limited to: Shifting notions of legitimacy Directors Changing nature of popular heroes/mythology Role of film in popularizing/promoting small indie comics and the transformation of such texts that may occur Impact of films on the comic book industry Role of corporate synergy (such as the DC/Warner Bros connection) Economics of production CGI and the blurring of the "real" Semiological and semiotic comparison of the texts. Fan cultures Audiences Genres and formats Specific films: Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, X-Men, Blade, From Hell, Ghost World, Black Mask etc Please address chapters/proposals by March 15, 2004 to: Ian Gordon, Email: [log in to unmask] Department of History, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences National University of Singapore 11 Arts Link, AS1 05 - 27 Singapore 117570 Tel: (65) 6874 3838 Fax: (65) 6774-2528 Notification of acceptance of chapters will be made by May 1, 2004. The Editors Ian Gordon, Associate Professor and Head Department of History, National University of Singapore Select Publications: Comic Strips and Consumer Culture (Washington: Smithsonian, 1998, Paperback edition 2002) Comics and Ideology (New York: Peter Lang, 2001) edited with Matthew McAllister and Edward Sewell "Superman on the Set: The Market, Nostalgia and Television Audiences," in Quality Popular Television: Cult TV, the Industry, and Fans (London: British Film Institute and Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003) "Advertising", and "Coca-Cola" in Encyclopedia of American Studies (New York: Grolier, 2001) "Cultural Symbols", "Culture of Consumption", "Singapore Airlines", and "War Bonds", in Encyclopedia of Advertising (Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2003) Mark Jancovich, Professor of Film Studies, University of Nottingham Select Publications: Series Editor: Inside Popular Film (with Eric Schaefer, Boston College) Manchester University Press. Quality Popular Television (edited with James Lyons) BFI, 2003. Horror: The Film Reader, Routledge, 2001. The Film Studies Reader (edited with Joanne Hollows and Peter Hutchings) Arnold, 2000. Rational Fears: American Horror in the 1950s, Manchester University Press, 1996. Approaches to Popular Film, (edited with Joanne Hollows), Manchester University Press, 1995. The Cultural Politics of the New Criticism, Cambridge University Press, 1993. Matthew P. McAllister, Associate Professor of Communication, Virginia Tech. Select Publications: Selling Survivor: The use of TV news to promote commercial entertainment. In A. N. Valdivia (Ed.), A Companion to Media Studies. Blackwell, 2003 Is commercial culture popular culture?: A question for popular communication scholars. Popular Communication, 1:1, (2003), 41-49. Television news plugola and the last episode of Seinfeld. Journal of Communication, 52:2, (2002), 383-401. Comics and Ideology, edited with Edward Sewell and Ian Gordon. Peter Lang, 2001. The Commercialization of American Culture: New Advertising, Control, And Democracy. Sage, 1996. ---- To sign off Screen-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF Screen-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]