Agenda

  • Logistics etc
  • Presentations

Logistics:

Presentations:

  • Matthew presented character drawings from his art comic, which is a fantastical autobiographic story of a young man living with his grandfather who’s memory and health are failing. Though based in the realities of his grandfather’s experience of internment and the legacy of family abuse, it also includes superheros and villains.
    • He also pitched a scholarly comic to process through a summer research job he will be doing. He will be using math to study data for a chemistry lab on campus.
  • Alisa presented a contrasting comics collage comparing a Japanese manga ___ Pun Pun and a translated French comic On Loving Women. She compares the depictions of sex. Both comics use anthropomorphized animals, but they contrast wildly in tone and approach.
  • Hanae presented an artist interview about Alisa. She described how Alisa moved away from art that was meant to impress toward a more personal and playful style (like Puppie). As her art has grown more free, so has her confidence as an artist.
    • She then presented a collage of two manga, one a samurai story, one a child’s story about a little girl. Both are stories of single dads, but set in different eras of Japan. Both stories show children learning lessons from their fathers, but the contrast is in the presence of violence and safety and softness.
  • Devon presented a story on a recent run of Captain America: Steve Rogers. In this run, Cap works for Hydra, the fascist Nazi stand-in organization for the Jewish-made series. Fans started a petition to end this storyline gathering over 10K signatures. A piece of this series was included in Free Comic Book Day, which caused even more controversy.
  • Courtney presented the story of X-Men and its origins. She describes Stan Lee’s method for differentiating X-men from other Marvel series: XMen were born naturally with their powers, whereas others like Spiderman got theirs through radiation exposure.
  • Megan R presented a scholarly collage about media in comics. The collage tracks for instance the rise of comics in the movies, the rise of high budget adaptations, or their integration in the videogame industry.
  • Meghan and Natalie presented a scholarly collage to prepare for their comic about health care and the current proposed Republican healthcare bill.
    • They then presented their prototype of the comic, which explores how a young woman deals with discovering she’s become pregnant in the age of TrumpCare. It also follows a man with depression, a trans man just starting to go on hormone treatment. All come together in the end.
  • Julia presented her story about the comic Hawkeye. The comic emerged following the popularity of Avengers and the Hawkeye character. The books were produced slowly, largely due to the experimental approach to art and coloring used throughout the series.
    • She then presented her finalized Rhetorical Analysis of Wicked + Divine and its exploration of youth/celebrity culture.
  • Jacob E presented his finalized Rhetorical Analysis of the comic Animocity, which explores the way human and animal are melded to explore ugly sides of human nature.
  • Marcus T presented his article on local comics culture about the WWU Queer Con. He discusses behind the scenes aspects of the con, including his role on the art team, logo design, program design, and all the other complex visual arts work involved in putting on the event. He also discusses the even through the eyes of first timers.
    • He then gave an elevator pitch for a scholarly comic inspired by his philosophy major. He proposes making a comics adaptation of DeCartes’ Meditations, which is often an entry-level text for philosophy students.
  • Brendan presented the finalized version of his Why Comics statement. He discusses the lack of queer representation in his favorite genre, fantasy. He discusses the value of the comics medium for representing queer characters outside the typical fantasy uber-locale of medieval Europe.
  • Sandra presented her finalized Rhetorical Analysis of Material, and the way colors are used to differentiate characters and express mood.
    • She then gave an elevator pitch for an academic comic about skin care. It would offer guidance to teens on how to have healthy skin.
  • Rock presented his finalized research project about Watchmen. His research explored the biographies and careers of its creators Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Also explores the representation of trauma in the medium, both at a human level and at a national form.
  • Natalie presented an elevator pitch for a scholarly comic about the uterus and the experience of having a period. It’s intended to fight stigma, but also educate about the real facts of birth control.