New Journal to Study Comics & Graphic Novels

Via Joe Gordon at FPI we learn about the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics. Published by Routledge, with a planned two issues a year, the Journal intends:

to become a central platform for the academic debates around comics, comic strips, graphic novels and all forms of sequential art in terms of history and theory and to welcome and encourage new and groundbreaking approaches to the field.

The first issue is available free online here. The published papers include one by Paul Gravett titled “From Iky Mo to Lord Horror: representations of Jews in British comics.” Other papers cover the sexual identity of superheroes, comics as cultural resistance, the absence of black supervillains and nationalism.

The next issue will be on the subject of “Gender and Superheroes”. We are pleased to see that the call for papers lists Superheroes!: Capes and Crusaders in Comics and Films by Roz Kaveney as potential research material. We suspect that Jonathan Clements may have written relevant material as well.