Comics Forum web site seeks editors

By John Freeman on September 1, 2015

The Comics Forum is seeking to appoint three or more individuals to the roles of Articles Editors, News Editors, and Reviews Editors on the Comics Forum website.

Comics Forum was established in 2009 as part of Leeds’ annual sequential art festival Thought Bubble, which takes place at various venues across the city every November. Taking the festival’s emphasis upon the educational value of comics as its starting point, Comics Forum aims to increase the visibility and accessibility of comics scholarship through an academic conference that brings together scholars, artists and fans in a spirit of mutual cooperation and development.

Each of the roles is outlined below:

Articles Editor

The articles editor will:

Actively source articles for the Comics Forum website (by attending conferences, staying up to date with developments in comics scholarship, approaching possible contributors)
Edit guest articles (with a keen eye for textual organisation, argument, and structure)
Be engaged in ongoing communication with guest contributors
Format and publish articles on our website (WordPress), liaising with the other website & social media editors

News Editor

The Comics Forum News Review is a monthly roundup of articles relevant to comics scholarship from around the internet, sourced by an established body of international comics scholars from across the continents of Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania (see http://comicsforum.org/category/news-review/for reference).

The responsibilities of a News Editor include the collating of news reports from a range of international correspondents (these arrive on the last day of a given month), editing these reports into a News Review post, and publishing it on the Comics Forum website on the fourth day of the following month. Secondary to this, the News Editor is responsible for the development of the News Review as and when possible, including sourcing and expanding its pre-existing body of correspondents that feed into the News Review.

Reviews Editor

The reviews editor will:

Actively source texts to review and reviewers for the Comics Forum website (by staying up to date with developments in comics scholarship, approaching possible contributors, developing and maintaining good relationships with publishers)
Edit reviews (with a keen eye for textual organisation, argument, and structure)
Be engaged in ongoing communication with reviewers
Format and publish articles on our website (WordPress), liaising with the other website & social media editors

All three roles require:

Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
A strong knowledge of English
Meticulous proofreading
Academic writing skills
Deadline driven
Knowledge of comics scholarship (and willingness to stay up-to-date)
Reasonably tech-savvy (You’ll be working with Word, WordPress, and social media)
Strong organisational skills
Previous editorial experience is desirable but not essential

All roles are voluntary positions.

• To apply for one of these roles, please email your CV (including publications if possible) and a cover letter to comicsforum@hotmail.co.uk. The deadline for applications is the 25th September 2015

• Check out the Comics Forum web site at: www.comicsforum.org

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.