Source: Phil Nel, 785-532-2165, philnel@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Michelle Hall, 785-532-6415, media@k-state.edu
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
SCOTT McCLOUD TO PRESENT TALK AT K-STATE ON STATUS OF AMERICAN COMICS
MANHATTAN -- Scott McCloud, who has both written comics and written about comics, is coming to Kansas State University. McCloud is currently touring the country -- with at least one stop in each state -- in support of his latest book, "Making Comics."
McCloud will present "Comics: A Medium in Transition" at 7 p.m. Monday, July 16, in the K-State Student Union's Little Theatre. A book signing will follow. McCloud is also the author of "Understanding Comics" and "Reinventing Comics."
"American comics are changing fast," McCloud said. "Bolstered by the literary ambitions of the 'graphic novel' movement, a flood of international influences and the growing importance of new technologies, the comics' landscape shifts regularly in surprising and increasingly unpredictable directions." He said his presentation will put all these trends into perspective in a fast-moving visual presentation.
McCloud is a leading expert on how comics work, and has lectured at such venues as Harvard, UCLA, Microsoft, Pixar and the Smithsonian.
"McCloud is the structural engineer of comics, a genre that was built on principles that, before McCloud, were vaguely understood at best," said Aaron Schwartz, graduate student in English who helped organize McCloud's presentation at K-State. "What McCloud has done is given us a common critical vocabulary, the proper tools for which to study, understand, reinvent and create not just comics, but good ones."
"McCloud's visual presentations are amazing," said Phil Nel, associate professor of English and director of the children's literature program at K-State. "In McCloud's hands, PowerPoint is like film -- a dynamic, vibrant means of telling a story. Whether you're a casual comics reader or an ardent comics fan, you'll enjoy his talk."
McCloud's lecture, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the K-State department of English, K-State Libraries, Claflin Books and Copies and the Children's and Adolescent Literature Community. More information on McCloud, his books and his trip across the country is available at http://www.scottmccloud.com