EVENTS > CONFERENCES > 2024 > FRAMING THE UNREAL
Exploring Graphic/Visual
Science
Fiction and
Fantasy
Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy - 11-15 November 2024
An international conference presented by
EARLY CAREER SCHOLARS AWARDS 2024
We are pleased to announce the winners of the first Early Career Scholars Awards of the ICLA Research Committee on Comics Studies and Graphic Narrative.
In the SF (Science Fiction) category:
Honourable Mentions:
Genesis Hepburn: Entering the Whirlpool: Modernist Precursors of Contemporary Artificial-Intelligence Narratives
Valentina Romanzi: Animals and care in post-apocalyptic video games
Winner:
James Macaronas: “I feel! I anger! I fight!”: Exclaiming the human in Jack Kirby’s The New Gods.
The awarded paper stands out as a remarkable contribution to the field of science fiction studies, particularly for its innovative focus on the lesser-known works of the renowned comics artist, Jack Kirby. By shedding light on these often-overlooked aspects of Kirby's oeuvre, the author not only expands the understanding of his creative legacy but also provides a compelling foundation for an overarching interpretation of his artistic journey.
This paper is distinguished by its engaging writing and structure, seamlessly guiding the reader through a nuanced exploration of Kirby's works. The author demonstrates a remarkable command of secondary literature, skillfully situating their argument within the broader scholarly conversation while maintaining originality and depth.
The meticulous balance between textual analysis and visual examination is another key strength of this work. By giving equal and thoughtful attention to Kirby's imagery and narrative elements, the author underscores the interconnectedness of text and image in his artistic output. Furthermore, their careful selection of visual materials not only enriches the analysis but also enhances the audience's engagement.
Finally, the paper’s effective presentation at the conference reflects the author’s dedication and talent. Delivered with clarity, insight, and enthusiasm, the presentation brought the research to life for the audience, leaving a lasting impression. The choice of accompanying images further amplified the impact of the talk, demonstrating a keen understanding of how to communicate complex ideas in an accessible and compelling manner.
For these reasons, the paper is deserving of recognition at the Early Career Scholars Award for its originality, scholarly rigor, and exemplary communication of research.
In the F (Fantasy and the Fantastic) category:
Honourable Mentions:
Simona Bartolotta: Who Fears the Sematic Void? Junji Itō and the Horror of Hollow Human Shapes
Elisha Schuett: Decolonizing The Sandman: House of Whispers, Nalo Hopkinson, and the Remediation of Colonial Perspectives in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman
Winner:
Jindřich Pastorek: In Folklore We Flourish: Supernatural Experience as a Preservative Strategy in the Graphic Novel Adaptation (2021) of Ramsey Campbell’s “The Inhabitant of the Lake”
This essay stands out for its originality and academic rigor, making it a deserving candidate for the Early Career Scholars Award. It begins with solid theoretical foundations, skillfully applying them to the analysis of a non-US comic that is neither universally known nor widely read. This choice not only expands the scope of scholarship but also demonstrates the author's dedication to shedding light on overlooked yet significant works in the genre.
The essay is enriched by a robust secondary bibliography, which situates the comic within a nuanced cultural and scholarly context, while the well-structured narrative leads the reader seamlessly through the theoretical discussion, interpretation, and thoughtfully drawn conclusions. The author's clear prose ensures accessibility, guiding readers to grasp the intricacies of the analysis without losing sight of its depth.
Moreover, the insights presented are remarkably compelling, offering a fresh perspective on the comic while laying the groundwork for potential application to other works within the genre. This transferability underscores the broader relevance of the findings, enhancing the essay's scholarly value.
By bringing attention to a less familiar comic, the essay highlights the importance of diversifying academic inquiry and offers an enriching addition to the field of Comic Studies. Its originality, intellectual curiosity, and scholarly impact make it a strong contender for recognition at the contest.
The Conference Scientific Committee, 7 April 2025
CONFERENCE STARTS IN
Andrew Milner, in Locating Science Fiction, argued that “the category SF applies [...] across a whole range of forms, from the novel and short story to pulp fiction and the comic book, from radio serial and television series to drama and film, from examinable set text to rock album”. One might legitimately add video games, toys, and role-playing games to this list, so that we may envision a multi-media continuum through which the SF imagination spread all over the world.
Fantasy seems to be endowed with a similar power to infiltrate (one might even say “invade”) many different media. Moreover, the interaction and hybridization of SF and F has proved to be an increasingly relevant trend, that has produced remarkable comics asking for academic attention in a framework that is aware of the whole SF context and the studies devoted to the fantastic in general.
Academia has paid little attention to science fiction and fantasy in comics. But the growing corpus of graphic narrative secondary literature continually offers more materials concerning SF/F comics, which are undoubtedly a vast territory for textual exploration. One might e.g. consider the diffusion of superhero comics, which—be they of DC Comics or Marvel descent—have always incorporated typically SF/F elements in their stories (Superman being, as we all know, an alien from planet Krypton, and Doctor Strange being a sorcerer).
It is thus high time to devote a large-scale event to the discussion of SF/F in comics; therefore, the ICLA Research Committee on Comics Studies and Graphic narrative has decided to celebrate its 20th anniversary by organizing a conference to be held at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Italy. We look forward to receiving panel and presentation proposals along, but not limited to, these lines of research:
• Critical/theoretical approaches. How should SF/F comics be analyzed? What “traditional” critical methodologies focusing on purely verbal literature could be applied to comics? Do we need specific instruments or literary analytical tools? How might conversations like Afrofuturism and Techno-Orientalism play out in such discourses?
• Transmediality and comics: adaptations, remediations, rewritings, and other intertextual retellings.
• Feminist, Gender, Ethnic, and Environmental Studies in science fiction and their impact on comics. How do we address the questions of race, class, gender, and the environment? Is this an opportunity to disentangle critical strains in science fiction and fantasy studies?
• Unearthing the future and the past: the history of SF/F comics, methodological questions of historiography, comics archaeology, literary and historical traces.
• Video games and SF/F: new horizons of SF/F imagination.
• Canonical issues: locating the key figures of SF/F comics (panels on authors / series / characters / places).
• Hybridization and slipstream: superheroes, supernatural detectives in SFnal contexts, Lovecraftiana, postmodernist comics, analyses of the works of Moore, Morrison, Gaiman, and similar creators.
• SF/F politics: does the unreal have a political agenda? What current issues does it draw our attention to or alert us to in the real?
• Graphic migrations: SF/F comics translations, transnational diffusion, adaptation to different national contexts, Afro-futurism, and similar issues.
• Serial issues: collective vs. individual authorship, publishing policies, continuity / discontinuity, reboots and retcons, or related topics.
The event will be held in dual mode in presence / online.
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SUBMISSIONS
Proposals (in English, Spanish, or Italian) should be submitted (preferably in a .doc, .docx, or .rtf file) including email addresses and 200-word bios for all presenters.
• For panels (by April 15, 2024) include a general introduction (200 words) and a 300-word abstract for each presentation.
• For standalone presentations (by May 31, 2024) include a 400-word abstract.
Send your proposals to framingtheunreal@comics-studies.com copying the conference organizers in: Angelo Piepoli, Umberto Rossi, Davide Carnevale, and Alessandro Scarsella [angelo.piepoli@gmail.com, umbertorossi_000@fastwebnet.it, davide.carnevale@uniroma1.it, alescarsella@unive.it].
