Comics crash academia

"Indiana Review," a literary journal published by IU, is currently working on its upcoming summer issue. While they normally print works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, this time they plan to give their readers something they might not expect -- a comic book.\nIR often includes visual art in its biannual issues, but this is the first time it will include an insert of comic art.\nThis particular issue, according to IR's Web site, wants comics "that explore and complicate the ways race, gender, class, national identity and sexuality collide and overlap."\nThis theme is particularly difficult, said Danit Brown, editor of IR. She said she believes it is well-suited for comic art.\n"It's been my sense that comics have done a lot of interesting work exploring margins," Brown said, "and comics have often been marginalized themselves as a legitimate art form."\nIn the comic world, much of the innovative work outside of mass market publishers like DC and Marvel is self-published and often hard to obtain. Brown said she believes including comics in "Indiana Review" will bring them to the attention of a new audience.\nOne of the new audiences for comics is the academic community where the medium has been steadily gaining respect.\nIU has a few classes focusing on comics. The History of Art department offers History of Comic Book Art. This class is taught by Professor Andrei Molotiu, who was also instrumental in assisting the staff of the "Indiana Review" in getting their project off the ground.\nMolotiu found out about the project not from the editors of "Indiana Review," but by seeing their call for submission on a comics journal Web site. Molotiu e-mailed the staff to offer his assistance, and spoke to Andrew Kenower, an intern for "Indiana Review."\n"After (Kenower) came and talked to me, we decided the kind of people we should invite to submit things, people who I thought would do a particularly good job," Molotiu said. "We wanted artists who have dealt previously with issues of marginality and cross cultural issues."\nThis past April, Molotiu organized an interdisciplinary symposium called "Comics at IU," so professors from different departments could present papers on the topic of comics. \n"We're all scattered in different departments doing what our departments require, and there isn't any kind of coherent organization for comics study courses on campus," Molotiu said.\nWith no specific organization for the study of comics, it is really student interest and a willingness to pour through course descriptions.\nMolotiu said the reason his class has been so successful for several semesters is because of consistent student enrollment. His class fills quickly.\nAlthough some students in these classes have never read comics before, many of those in the class are lifelong comic fans. \nSophomore Ray Fleischmann said he believes academic classes on comics can help redefine the genre.. \n"People are realizing that just because superheroes dominate the medium, that doesn't mean that they define it," Fleischmann said. "It's like judging the film industry just by its Steven Seagal movies. There's more to it than big muscles and spandex." \nThe significance of being published in "Indiana Review" goes far beyond getting to see a work in print. It has the potential to open a lot of doors, since other writers and publishers read these journals to see what is fresh and new in the literary world. \n"It's somewhat like a catalogue, a 'one-stop shop' for those interested in contemporary literature -- an expedient way to find out what people are doing and who is doing it." said Lea Bigelow, the business manager for "Indiana Review."\nNow comic artists can have an equal share in that exposure.\n"It shows a willingness to consider all sorts of art forms as legitimate," said junior Stephanie Morris. "Comics aren't always seen as something to be taken seriously, but they really should be"\n-- Contact staff writer Claire Blaustein at cblauste@indiana.edu.