Comics Unmasked: Call for short reviews and reports

By John Freeman on April 27, 2014

The Jamie Hewlett designed poster for Comics Unmasked at the British Library. © Jamie Hewlett 2014

As we’ve reported earlier, Comics Unmasked: Art and Anarchy in the UK is an exhibition opening at the British Library on 2nd May 2014 and it will remain open until 19th August 2014. It’s the UK’s largest ever exhibition of mainstream and underground comics, showcasing works that uncompromisingly address politics, gender, violence, sexuality and altered states. It explores the full anarchic range of the medium with works that challenge categorisation, preconceptions and the status quo, alongside original scripts, preparatory sketches and final artwork that demystify the creative process.

There will also be a series of comics-themed events related to the exhibiton. The whole list of events is here on the British Library web site and we’ve also included them on our own British comics calendar.

Now, The Comics Grid – Britain’s leading academic comics study blog has announced it is interested in encouraging the critical reception of the exhibition and its related events.

This is a call for the blog, not the journal. The reviews/reports need not be in “academic style”, so everyone who’s going to see the exhibit is welcome to submit their thoughts.

“We are making a public call to receive short reviews and/or reports of the exhibition and/or any of its related events, which will be published on this blog on a first come, first served basis, previous editorial approval,” says the Comics Grid’s Editor-in-Chief, Dr Ernesto Priego.

“All contributions are subject to minor copyediting. Contributions should be between 500 and 1,000 words.

“Our intention is to publish all entries, as long as they follow our commenting policy. All contributions will be published with a Creative Commons Attribution license. We regret we are unable to pay for contributions.”

• Please submit your contribution via this online form. (Link: http://bit.ly/1j3lk1z). This call for contributions will be open until 30 August 2014.

• This call was originally published on the blog here http://blog.comicsgrid.com/2014/04/comics-unmasked-call-exhibition-reviews-event-reports/

• The Comics Grid: Journal of Comics Scholarship www.comicsgrid.com

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.