Comic-Con 2013

The CAC's poster session gives attendees the opportunity to interact directly with presenters.

Comic-Con Group -- In collaboration with the founders of San Diego Comic- Con, the San Diego State University Library's Comic Arts Committee is helping preserve and promote San Diego's rich comics, science fiction, and popular arts culture. Markel D. Tumlin, Anna Culbertson, Pamela Jackson, Michael Lapins, and Wil Weston (San Diego State University) will present on the committee's current projects and activities and SDSU's commitment to collecting and preserving the cultural heritage of Comic-Con, highlighting the Comic-Con Kids grant project and the recent acquisition of Comic-Con co-founder Richard Alf's personal papers. Revolutionary Comics Group Jacob Holt (Henderson State University) examines X-Men's Magneto as a Darwinist and a Civil Rights leader. Mark A. Havstad (Havstad Water and Energy Company) identifies the key traits lacking in extant heroes and heroines that make them scientifically and globally incapable of dealing with challenges like global climate change, religious and fundamentalist worldviews, and widespread poverty. Teaching with Comics Group Nicole Rehnberg (California State University, Fullerton) argues that fairy tale comics can assist students in learning how narratives work by decoding new retellings of familiar stories. Barbara Glaeser (California State University, Fullerton) offers several strategies for using comics to engage reluctant readers and writers and low-achieving students that can be used both in the classroom and at home. Michael Kersulov (Indiana University) discusses his findings on how autobiographical graphic novels and other pictorial memoirs can be and have been used in secondary schools as a way to promote traditional and visual literacy. Postmodern Comics Group Kyle Eveleth (University of Kentucky) examines the ways in which the structural elements of Watchmen's narrative both strengthen and subvert its content to upset "normal" (mimetic) conceptions of time. Paul Cheng (University of California, Riverside) focuses on how Chris Ware's work manipulates the formal techniques of comics to create a "meta-comic" that both celebrates and satirizes the medium, in addition to his often-devastating critiques of social life. Joyce C. Havstad (University of California, San Diego) compares panels from Asterios Polyp with pages from several iconic works of postmodernist literature, showing how Mazzucchelli employs techniques more commonly associated with written novels while adapting these techniques to suit the medium of graphic novels, with implications for both media at large. Comics off the Page Group Lesley Farmer (California State University Long Beach) explores how to teach preservice librarians and education technologists the concepts of information architecture through the use of comic arts. Mara Wood and Allen Thomas (University of Central Arkansas) present the results of their study on how well readers' abilities to connect to and become part of the stories they read are predicted by their frequency of comic book reading. Eric Bruce (Western Oregon University) applies Dynamic Systems Theory, which proposes that decision making is shaped by the interaction of individual, task, and environment, to the world of Batman, considering how the unique characteristics of Batman's character and environment shape his plan of action.

Comics and Transformation Group -- Julie Humphrey (University of California, Santa Barbara) critiques how geek fashion has become a marker of sex appeal and intelligence through popular culture and gender studies. Benjamin J. Villarreal (Columbia University) examines Lee Bermejo's Batman: Noel as a retelling of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, asking if Bermejo's adaptation qualifies as part of a lost 19th-century literary genre because of its source material.

Comics and Psychology Group -- Brian Lott (Henderson State University) looks into the psychological aspects of the Black Widow, asking what cognitive processes are involved in her behavior and how well these fictional representations reflect real-life manifestations. Benjamin Graves (Henderson State University) uses Alfred Adler's theories of individual psychology to examine the links between Ant-Man's size manipulation and his inferiority issues. Tiffany Pitcock (Henderson State University) determines if the "birth" order of the Robins affects their characterizations and relationships with Batman and with one another as pseudo- siblings. Halee Smith (Henderson State University) asks if Bruce Banner's refusal to accept his alter-ego the Hulk as an angry facet of himself is a Freudian defense mechanism or a case of dissociative identity disorder. Samantha Hunter (Henderson State University) investigates if the X-Men's Jean Grey qualifies for posttraumatic stress disorder, how the repression of her memories affects her ability to cope, how her childhood resulted in her choice to join the X-Men, and how Xavier has helped her mental stability over the years.