< comics:resource >
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMIC ART Vol. 5, #1, Spring 2003
($30.00 per year from John A. Lent/IJOCA / 669 Ferne Blvd. / Drexel Hill, PA / 19026 USA. Web:
www.comicsresearch.org/ijoca)
The International Journal of Comic Art is, as near as I can figure, an academic publication for those who don't like academic publications. In fact, its own description reads thusly: "International and multidisciplinary in scope,
IJOCA aims to publish scholarly and readable research on any aspect of comic art, defined as comic books, newspaper and magazine strips, caricature, gag and political cartoons, humorous art, animation, and humor or cartoon magazines."
The result of such a commendable goal is an amazing collection of information. This issue weighs in at 426 pages and easily satisfies the above aims. Contributors include editor Lent, Ana Merino, Leonard Rifas, Bart Beaty, Maurice Horn, Gene Kannenberg and a host of others. This issue contains so much information, in fact, that I am forced to admit that I haven't even finished it yet. But I've read enough to recommend it.
Some of what you'll find in this volume: interviews with Fantagraphics publishers Gary Groth and Kim Thompson (these are entertaining, informative and conversational); "Swedish Comics and Comics in Sweden" (a history by Fredrik Strömberg); two overviews of comic art in Malaysia; a fascinating look at the connections between "British Girls, American Superhero Comics and Identity" (interesting questions and theories regarding roles and rebellion); and a summary of the Library of Congress panel "9-11 Comic Book Artists and Illustrators" that focused on the industry's response to the events of September 11, 2001.
The previous paragraph only covers what I've managed to read thus far. Other topics include: comics in Swahili and their connection to Asterix; Chantal Montellier; Uchida Shungiku; Tezuka Osamu; modernism and Chris Ware; William Faulkner adaptations; Kalimán (race and identity in Mexican comics); political cartooning in Indonesia; editorial cartoonist Clay Bennett; Malaysian cartoonist Rejab Had; fascism in comics; and, well, I could go on.
As I mentioned earlier, it's an astounding collection of information. This volume deals with comics in East Africa, Indonesia, Sweden, Mexico, Malaysia, Singapore, England and the United States.
Anyone with a serious interest in the artform or its historical and social relevancy should be reading this journal. I have tremendous respect for Dr. Lent and his contributors for producing such a work and I wish them many years of success.
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