Scholarship is usually a dirty word for most comic book fans. That isn’t stopping the folks over at Sequart, however, as they have now formed their own research and literary organization:
“While comic books and graphic novels have increasingly been taken seriously in recent years,” according to organization founder Julian Darius, “we still have a long way to go. To many people, comics are still silly kids’ stuff or something that spurs hit movies. This organization intends to study the medium and make it accessible to new readers.”
The organization maintains its extensive website, Sequart.org, and will be launching a line of books on comics in the coming months.
And what books will those exactly be I hear you asking? Click on the jump to find out. Here you go:
The first book will be Grant Morrison: The Early Years by Timothy Callahan. It studies the popular writer’s revolutionary early period, including Zenith, Arkham Asylum, Animal Man, Batman: Gothic, and Doom Patrol. The book examines all five works in detail, drawing out their running and evolving themes. Using plain language, Callahan opens up Morrison’s sometimes difficult texts and expands the reader’s appreciation of their significance, creating a study accessible to both Grant Morrison aficionados and those new to his work. An extended interview with Morrison on his early career rounds out the volume.
The book has already created a stir online and was a hit at the New York Comic-Con in February 2007.
[snip]
The second book of the line will be Mutant Cinema: The X-Men Trilogy from Comics to Screen by Hollywood insider Thomas J. McLean. The book offers the definitive study of the three X-Men films, directed by Bryan Singer and Brett Ratner. It contains scene-by-scene examinations of all three films, including notes on scenes cut from the films. The book also examines their sometimes controversial development process, their prequel comics (which featured exclusive content), their popular and critical reception, and more.
[snip, snip]
The line’s third book will be The DC Canon: Classic Stories of the DC Universe by organization founder Julian Darius. It is scheduled to be available in late July.
A fourth volume is planned for the fourth quarter of this year, and work is underway on four volumes for 2008.
All great news. But guys, you’ve gotta fix your site. It looks awful in Firefox.
May 17th, 2007 at 11:12 am
And don’t forget this one, for which I’ve already submitted my contribution.
May 17th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Congrats to Sequart and Julian! I’ve been lurking there for a few years, and found that its a great, but somewhat silent, place.
May 17th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
Sequart’s got a bunch of cool things in the pipeline, and I think you’ll all really like my Grant Morrison book, which should be available by the end of the month on the Sequart.org website. Keep your eyes peeled.
I agree about the format of the site, though. Apparently it looks good on Explorer, but I, too, have Firefox. They are aware of the problem.
And, yeah–Matthew Elmslie wrote a really cool Legion essay for a book that’s coming out next year. I’ve got 20 writers working on that book, and it’s looking to become a great book just in time for the Legion’s 50th Anniversary. I spent Tuesday afternoon talking to Paul Levitz in preparation for my contribution to the book, and he had some interesting things to say about his approach to the Legion. But you’ll have to wait until next year to read more about it…
May 18th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
And, the Grant Morrison book is now available:
Grant Morrison: The Early Years