See My "Comics" Entry in the Massive *Encyclopedia of Adolescence*

Edited by Roger J.R. Levesque of the University of Indiana, this impressive tome (3363 pages!) covers a range of topics pertinent to the development of adolescents and features my "Comics" entry on pages 460-468. What makes this encyclopedia unique is that not only were experts invited to talk about their areas of interest, as with many such texts, but were asked to highlight their own work in the area.

I'm honored to be included in such a worthy, if not expensive ($2050.00) project that will make a great resource for educators and researchers everywhere. It's a library purchase, to be sure, but a great contribution to adolescent literacy studies and all other areas of interest to those who study young people and their habits and behaviors. It just published and is available online as well. Get on the phone with those campus librarians, people! ;)

Editors of *Icons of the American Comic Book* Seek Submissions

See the PR below: Dear Comics Scholar: Randy Duncan and I would like to invite your contribution to a new anthology we are editing for ABC-CLIO called Icons of the American Comic Book. The project will include 100 entries spanning the breadth of comics culture, including the characters, creators, titles, and other facets that have achieved iconic status with the American consciousness. For your contribution, we can offer you an honorarium: · $90 for each of the entries designated to run approximately 5,000 words · $50 for each of the entries designated to run approximately 2,750 words We are looking at an initial deadline of August 1, 2011. Our aim with Icons of the American Comic Book will be to provide fresh insights into the significance of some of the most widely known and fascinating popular culture icons of the 20th and 21st centuries. Each entry will discuss the iconic significance of its subject and should be both more detailed and more entertaining than the conventional encyclopedia entry. More than simply character or creator biographies, the entries will provide in-depth explorations of the icons as products of and an influence upon American culture, informed by scholarly research. Below is our list of entries (a strike through indicates an entry that is already assigned).

[Please contact the editors at the given e-mail address for a list of open entries]

If you are interested in contributing, please let us know what your primary as well as any secondary preferences would be, but do keep in mind that we will need your initial draft(s) by Aug. 1. Along with each entry you request include a brief statement of your qualifications to write on the subject. Please respond to msmith@wittenberg.edu Our publishers have stipulated that we should consider our primary audience to be students doing research. To that end, each entry must include a bibliography and one (or more) sidebars of 50-300 words each. (These considerations must be included within the word counts.) We’re also planning to invite some guest contributors to 1) read and comment on the draft entries, 2) contribute a sidebar, or 3) even collaborate on the entry itself on several key entries. For example, comic book writer and editor Mark Waid (Superman: Birthright) might be enticed to act as a consultant on the Superman entry. Each guest’s role will depend on your comfort and willingness to work in such an arrangement. Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you soon, Matthew J. Smith and Randy Duncan

Go Look!: Greenwood _Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels_

Just published, the Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels (Greenwood) is a pricey but very worthy addition to comics scholars' and librarians' shelves. It features 330 entries from many of the world's leading comics scholars. I wrote entries for Blue Beetle, Chris Claremont, who for a long time was my favorite comics writer (he still ranks near the top) and Classics Illustrated and, having received my copies a week or so ago, am very happy with the quality of the final two-volumed product and will use it as a point of reference in my own work and with my students.