Brunswick, GA – Dr. Jason Tondro, Assistant Professor of English, and Dr. Chris Wilhelm, Assistant Professor of History, are developing an academic panel discussion for presentation on December 13 at what promises to be one of the liveliest conferences held at the Jekyll Island Convention Center: the inaugural Jekyll Comic Con.
At the Jekyll Comic Con, Dr. Wilhelm will be presenting his work on the depiction of the swamp and marshland in comics such as Swamp Thing and Man-Thing. Dr. Tondro will be presenting some of his work on the animal superhero, part of an article he is writing for an essay collection on funny animal comics. Dr. Tondro is author of Superheroes of the Round Table: Comics Connections to Medieval and Renaissance Literature published by McFarland in 2011. A third panelist, Melissa Loucks,is a graduate student at the University of Florida, which offers a Ph.D. program in comics studies.
“I teach courses on comics every semester, as part of global issues (International Comics and Graphic Novels) and in conjunction with the American Studies degree,” Dr. Tondro said. “Last semester I attended an academic conference on comics with four of our students, held at the University of Florida in Gainesville, where we were panelists. Our students did very well, holding their own with graduate students and fulltime faculty from across the country. My hope is to have another student panel at the next University of Florida conference on comics and graphic novels in the spring.”
The Con will benefit the Wounded Warriors Project and the Shriners Hospital for Children, Dr. Tondro said. More information about the Jekyll Comic Con is available on www.facebook.com/jekyllcon2
College of Coastal Georgia
John Cornell
O: 912.279.5703
C: 912.223.9997
jcornell@ccga.edu