WonderCon Anaheim 2013

From a performance studies perspective, Maria Patrice Amon (University of California, Irvine) argues that cosplaying is the ultimate embodiment of Scott McCloud's assertion of universal identification with characters through the simplification of the cartoon image. Rooted in contemporary comic and Foucauldian theory, Cameron McKee (University of California, Berkeley) argues that Tom of Finland's comics were seminal to the emergence of a radical gay identity pre-Stonewall through the AIDS crisis. Christine Ferguson argues that Batman illustrates the superpower of S&M and, in the process of exploring the submissive side of Batman, demonstrates the importance of aftercare, bonding, and how not to call the Commissioner down.

Karma Waltonen (University of California, Davis) argues that the form and content of David Mazzucchelli's masterwork Asterios Polyp are wedded in such a medium-specific way that it resists adaptation completely, and, through the relationship between form and content, it serves as a unique example of the medium. John Rodzvilla (Emerson College) discusses how Wallace Wood's unpublished handout of "22 panels that always work" has influenced the pacing and layout of comics over the last 30 years in everything from superhero stories to independent graphic novels. Michael J. Muniz (Liberty University) presents a philosophical introspection on the fourth wall as a device to manifest narrative worlds that, when broken, becomes more transparent and even metaphysically malleable to the reader.

Harvey Award-winning independent voice and CAC special guest Matt Kindt (Mind Mgmt) discusses his approach to making comics with CAC co-chair Travis Langley (Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight). They will discuss Kindt's use of sequential artistry in his works and the creative process in formulating elements like character and plot as well as the way he draws on his background in book production to design the physical books.