Comics Come to the Library of Congress

COMICS COME TO THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

EDITORIAL CARTOONISTS, EISNER TRIBUTE HEADLINE CONFERENCE

Tenth Annual International Comic Arts Festival (ICAF)
West Dining Room, Madison Building, Library of Congress
Thursday, October 13 – Saturday, October 15, 2005

The International Comic Arts Festival, an annual conference devoted to the study of comics, comes to the Library of Congress this October for a three-day forum of panels, keynote speeches, artist talks, and exhibitions showcasing the cutting edge in work by comic artists and scholars alike.

This year ICAF celebrates its tenth anniversary with a symposium on editorial cartooning to be held on Thursday, October 13. Special events include a roundtable featuring cartoonists Tom Toles (the Washington Post), Ann Telnaes (the New York Times Syndicate), and Kevin "KAL" Kallaugher (the Baltimore Sun); a display of original cartoon art from the Library of Congress collection; a special presentation by Herblock Archives curator Harry Katz; and a keynote address by legendary cartoonist and historian Jerry Robinson. The Editorial Cartoonists' Roundtable begins at 1:30 p.m. and the symposium concludes with the Jerry Robinson talk from 7:00 to 9:00 Thursday evening.

ICAF is also proud to present a tribute to the late comics pioneer Will Eisner, creator of The Spirit and one of the inventors of the graphic novel, on Saturday, October 15. Special events include a talk by Eisner biographer Bob Andelman; a screening of the documentary Will Eisner: The Spirit of an Artistic Pioneer; a critical roundtable on Eisner's work; and a lecture by Benjamin Herzberg, who collaborated with Eisner on his final graphic novels, Fagin the Jew and The Plot. The Eisner tribute will take place from 1:00 to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 15.

In addition, ICAF will host international comics artists Paul Grist (England) and Fang Cheng (China) and eighteen academic presentations by comic art scholars from around the world.  Paul Grist and Benjamin Herzberg will also speak at the George Washington University's Gelman Library at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, October 14.

ICAF is pleased to work in collaboration with the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division and the Caroline and Erwin Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon. Other sponsors include the Herblock Foundation, Andrews McMeel Universal, Jean Schulz, Dark Horse Comics, Image Comics, Cartoon Books, and Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash.

ICAF is free and open to the public. For more information, including schedules, sponsors, and guest biographies, please visit our official website or contact Marc Singer.

Comments

[Jon Silpayamanant]

I would go to this if only to hear Fang Cheng's presentation. This looks really exciting.

[Marc]

Thanks, Jon.

[Jon Silpayamanant]

Nothing to thank me for, Marc. I noticed that you're also a reviewer for the International Journal of Comic Art. How long have you been working/associated with the ICAF? Is the IJOCF affiliated with the ICAF at all, or are the completely separate entities?

I trust you'll give us a full report when you return? :)

[Marc]

There's no formal affiliation between IJOCA and ICAF, just a long friendship. IJOCA editor John Lent, as one of the world's top experts on international comics, has been a great friend in terms of putting us in touch with foreign cartoonists like Fang Cheng. We've started a small travel scholarship in his name, and we're proud that the fall issue of IJOCA debuts at our conference every year, but we're two separate entities.

As for my own work, I've been with ICAF since 2001, slightly less time than I've been reviewing scholarly books on comics for IJOCA (something I need to start doing again; I've been meaning to write something on Scott Bukatman's Matters of Gravity for a while now).

[Jon Silpayamanant]

I see. I keep coming across John Lent's name whenever I do searches for or info about international comics. So is the travel scholarship for presenters or for students?

I've read some interesting reviews of the Bukatman work. I'd be interested in reading your thoughts. Any plans on collecting your reviews for publication?

[Marc]

It's for graduate student presenters at ICAF, to help cover their travel expenses--not for original research abroad, unfortunately, which would be a more appropriate tribute to John but far outside our budget.

I'm still trying to collect my thoughts on Bukatman's book, but I found the two essays on superhero comics very useful--theoretically savvy but not shackled to any one approach, willing to engage in close textual analysis, attentive to social context without reducing comics to reflections of the culture, unafraid to read even the stupidest comics and coming up with some substantive insights in the process. I wish more comics scholarship followed his lead.

As for collecting my reviews for publication, I would need to write... let me see... another fifty or sixty?

[Jon Silpayamanant]

That's unfortunate (well, not for the Grad presenters) that the travel grants aren't for the researchers abroad.

unafraid to read even the stupidest comics and coming up with some substantive insights in the process.

Haha. Some of the strangest insights can be gleaned from the "bad."

I wasn't sure how many reviews you had written, or if you had any other papers (whether online or not) that you could expand into sections or chapters of a book.

Well, good luck with the Katrina dislocates. I'm not envying you your position, though I am wondering about that "cunningly expressed concluding paragraph." :)