TCJ Interviews Walter Biggins, Departing Comics Guru for UP Mississippi

Here's a great interview from a month or so ago that features a guy who really know where comics scholarship has been, where it is going, and where it ought to go. Must-read stuff for anyone trying to get a grasp on comics and academia. I can't recommend this strongly enough.

Forthcoming Articles/ Appearances

It's been a slow week for the type of news I try to cover here, which suits me fine as I'm grading finals and doing averages this week while also attending to some annual medical stuffs.

But, to keep the posts current, here's some news:

This fall I have an article co-authored with Katie Monnin and Brian Kelley appearing in the award-winning journal Inland. Inland serves Washington state and Idaho NCTE chapters. You may recall that I was a speaker at the Idaho Council of Teachers of English a year or so ago. The article considers "visualizing and visually representing," two of the 6 English Language Arts defined by NCTE/IRA and illustrates how the use of comics and graphic novels in the classroom attend to them and to many of the NCTE/IRA standards. Look for the article in Inland some time in September 2010.

Then, in November, see another co-authored article of mine on blogging, American Born Chinese, and special needs students. California English teacher Cheryl Gomes and I teamed up for this one, which is slated to appear in a volume of English Journal which focuses on revisioning disability.

I also have two other big projects underway that I need to tell you about, both of which have been alluded to in this blog as of late, but I'll keep you waiting on these details. :)

Speaking of one of those projects, though, you can learn a little about what it might be by searching the NCTE Annual Convention Program once it is available on line. At the November convention, I'll be joining a group of teachers and teacher educators to talk about censorship issues regarding schools, libraries, and graphica.

Comics White Paper Reveals Stats

Milton Griepp has released his "status of the industry" white paper. According to his figures, graphic novels sales no longer account for the sole area of publishing seeing gains. In fact, sales have declined 6% for 2009.

Now, with past years' showing growth of 12 and 15% , that's not necessarily a sign that graphic novels are a "fading trend." After all, we are in a national recession. Though, GN sales did decline more than general book sales, which fell 3%. Again, though, no need to sound any alarms. Watchmen sales have dropped off since they hit a high point (even becoming Amazon's #1 seller for a while) along with the release of the movie, so the declining numbers are a bit skewed.

Further, there are signs that point to good numbers in future quarters/years, such as the Twilight graphic novel and possibilities that Kick-Ass movie-goers might spur sales of the graphic novel version of that title.

One very interesting tidbit to come from the report: "sales of of Kids and YA-related graphic novels were up over 50%....." Looks like publishers' efforts to hit that k-12 market hard now that so many of us are talking about comics and education are paying off.

Ooligan Press's Classroom Publishing Guide Available!

Ooligan Press has released Classroom Publishing: A Practical Guide for Teachers, 2nd edition. The main website can be accessed in this post's title, and the press has a title-specific blog here.

What's this have to do with comics and education? My past exploits as a secondary teacher are detailed along with many other familiar names. My section deals with making and publishing comics, of course. :)

I have an advance copy, and I have to say, while I was a little dubious when I was being interviewed for the project a while back, I really do think the book is a good resource for current and future teachers. I'm thinking about adding it to some of my classes and suggesting it to colleagues. It is thorough, chocked-full of real-life examples, and takes on a broad definition of publishing appropriate to "best practice" thinking.

MLA is Messing with My Money and My Emotions

Is Laurie N. Taylor's chapter in MLA's recent publication Teaching the Graphic Novel going to help solidify her as a major presence in comics studies? Has Charles Hatfield started quoting from actual education and literacy professors' works to make his points about comics and education/literacy? Are many humanities professors in the edited collection doing the same, or simply using the "I said it, so that makes it so" mantra regarding pedagogy that so many in the humanities seem to accept as valid? How does my own piddly little chapter on teaching Watchmen stack up with the other chapters in this edited collection?

I'd love to tell you, but I can't.

Why? Because MLA decided not to complete its obligations to its contributors to this text right away, as is customary and considered professionally polite. Instead, MLA sent some contributors their copies of this text, as per contract obligations, but not others. There was such a back-order for the book, the organization decided to go with the money over their integrity, sending all available copies to those who paid for it BEFORE honoring their contracts to contributors.

This, in the academic world, is poor form. Contributors should get their copies BEFORE anyone else, or at least have their copies sent at the same time as orders begin being filled.
How did they choose who would get the copies and who would have to wait? Was it based alphabetically? By rank? By trying to decide who would balk at the notion least or who wouldn't have the balls to complain (see my previous post) at such an act? I will probably never know those answers, but I have to tell you, it has been a banner 18 months or so regarding me feeling disappointed in many of my professional organizations:

NCTE cancelled a contract for what would have been my second book. A keynote speaker at a CEE conference called for the removal of all visual aids in the English classroom. I have received peer evaluations from an IRA journal where the reviewers suggested I didn't tell them enough about my identity in the article, even though the journal's guidelines specifically call for removing all instances of one's identity. The same journals have been publishing articles on graphic novels, but my work hasn't been cited in any of them. I've received a vague, standard-issue rejection letter from an NCTE journal that claims to be peer reviewed but offered no specific evidence of being such in the letter I received.

And now this.

What's worse, MLA representatives have NO IDEA of when I will get my copies. Here I am, trying to put together my annual performance review, and I don't even have physical evidence of my chapter's inclusion. I do have a PDF copy of the page proofs and can show the online table of contents for the book, thank goodness. But, what if I was in a department that required physical evidence of the text? My performance review is due next week. I doubt I'll have my copy by then.

Some of you may not realize this, but sometimes professors get raises or merit pay increases based on the prestige and number of their publications per year. So, if I was in a department that needed physical evidence of my chapter's inclusion in the text, there is a strong possibility that I would not be able to get credit for this publication for this past year, the year of its appearance. That could theoretically mean I would not gain as high a merit score and therefor possibly not be rewarded with as high a pay increase as I could have been.

So, MLA could be messing with my money. And when you mess with my money, you mess with my emotions. (Biggie Smalls, right?)

One would think the Modern Language Association, comprised mostly of academics, would take such situations into account, especially since they were the ones who decided on the December 31, 2009 publication date.

I am incensed about their decision not to honor all contributor contracts at the same time. I'm angered that it was even considered as a viable option, that someone in the MLA thought that MLA was big enough that they didn't have to follow professional protocol or that they were powerful enough that members wouldn't dare complain.

(Again, to explain for some readers: Academics pretty much HAVE to be members of professional organizations. Not being involved suggests a lack of responsibility and presence within intellectual communities. Depending on one's field, one needs to be associated with certain organizations. On top of this, there is often the unstated notion that one needs to "be quiet until one is tenured" when it comes to wrongdoings within organizations. After all, the organizations you're a part of will probably host the members who will do your "outside evaluations" as a scholar that will determine if you're tenured.)

Thank goodness for CEE and ALAN, organizations with which I've had no major frustrations since becoming a member.

Before ending this rant, I do want to make it clear that the contributors and editor of Teaching the Graphic Novel were not responsible for this poorly thought-out decision. Further, I am in full control of my faculties and know there's the possibility of professional fall-out from posting something like this. Frankly, if the profession's organizations can't do better, I'm not sure if I need to be involved in them at all. I have my goals: have an impact on my field (check. Education scholars almost have to acknowledge graphic novels now, partly due to my efforts), and help prepare the best future English teachers I possibly can (in progress). But, as a nontenured professor, it doesn't feel like I have much voice in how certain decisions are made -- except through my blog -- for now.

Want To Publish A Comic?

Jason Thibault has a rather comprehensive list of submission policies for comics and manga publishers the world over. Click this post's title, and thanks, Comics Reporter, for the lead!