This series of lectures, each with time for Q&A from comics legend, Stephen R. Bissette, will be offered via Zoom to the wider community free of charge. Presented in partnership with Jackson ConCon, Jackson College and Nostalgia, Ink.
October 13, 7 PM: Illustrating Regional Cryptozoological Lore – This lecture provides an illustrated overview of various approaches to depicting cryptids via illustration. It will feature examples from the author’s own work with New England regional folklorist Joseph A. Citro (The Vermont Monster Guide). Register here.
October 27, 7 PM: Pages, Panels, Ghosts – This lecture focuses on approaches to storytelling in the comics and graphic novel medium. Using the author’s own original short-form comics ghost stories as examples, Bissette dissects and discusses the basics of comics storytelling, including elements of page and panel composition and flow, and more. Register here.
November 10, 7 PM: A Paleo Pop™ Primer (Part 1) – This two-part illustrated lecture presents a chronological overview of prehistoric life (primarily dinosaurs) in the pop culture, from science-based paleontological reconstructions of prehistoric life forms (artists from Charles Knight to William Stout) to the wildest excesses of prehistoric-themed comics strips, comic books, science-fiction literature, and more. Register here.
December 1, 7 PM: A Paleo Pop™ Primer (Part 2) – This two-part illustrated lecture presents a chronological overview of prehistoric life (primarily dinosaurs) in the pop culture, from science-based paleontological reconstructions of prehistoric life forms (artists from Charles Knight to William Stout) to the wildest excesses of prehistoric-themed comics strips, comic books, science-fiction literature, and more. Register here.
December 8, 7 PM: Manga Before Tezuka – This lecture provides an illustrated overview of the earliest forms of manga and their evolution, up to WWII and the rise of Osamu Tezuka’s revolutionary work which completely revolutionized and codified manga in new directions. Register here.
January 11, 7 PM: Pencil Me In (Graphic Medicine) – In this lecture, we’ll explore Graphic Medicine as an autobiographical tool for self-analysis and healing, offering specific examples of various young graphic novelists using comics to discuss their own health issues. Register here.
January 25, 7 PM: Comics Prehistory – Where did the comics form come from? In this lecture, we’ll journey from prehistory to the late 19th century in an illustrated overview of the evolution of the art form, all prior to the rise of the popular comic book format. Register here.
February 8, 7 PM: Comics Technology 101 – In this illustrated overview of the various printing technologies that comics have relied upon for mass publication and distribution, we will explore the changes that arose from the beginning of print as an industry to the 21st century. Register here.
February 22, 7 PM: Early Afrofuturism & Comics – This lecture provides a historical overview of the formative concepts and creators of Afrofuturism in American pop culture, culminating in the first Afrofuturist comics of the 1960s and early 1970s. Register here.