Sequart Organization
 | |
| Abbreviation | Sequart |
|---|---|
| Motto | "Advancing Comics as Art" |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Purpose | Comics Studies |
| Headquarters | Edwardsville, Illinois |
President & CEO | Dr. Julian Darius |
| Website |
sequart |
Sequart Organization (also known as Sequart Research & Literacy Organization) is an online magazine that focuses on "the study of popular culture and the promotion of comic books as a legitimate artform".[1] Furthermore, Sequart also publishes books and produces documentary films. It was founded in 1996 by Dr. Julian Darius, who is still its president.[2] Sequart's editor-in-chief is Mike Phillips.
Through their publications, Sequart Organization bridges the gap between academia and fandom and makes scholarship on the medium accessible to the general public.
Name
The name Sequart is a portmonteau of "sequential art," itself a term which was coined by Will Eisner in his book Comics and Sequential Art.[3] Unlike terms such as comic books or graphic novels, which refer to a specific format, the term "sequart" refers to the medium itself, therefore including the aforementioned formats, but also comic strips, manga, illustrated fiction, picture books, and even sculpture, for example in form of Stations of the Cross.[4]
Accolades
The Village Voice named Tom Shapira's Curing the Postmodern Blues as one of 2013's Best Graphic Novels saying, "a PhD-level explication... Shapira's treatise gathers up plot threads and illuminates character motivations to reveal the tale as an attempt, in Morrison's own words, 'to turn the very basic horrors of existence into comedy and poetry.'"[5]
Books
Sequart has published several scholarly non-fiction books on subjects related to the medium.[6] Sequart's first book, about Batman Begins, was the first scholarly book ever published on Christopher Nolan's Batman movies. Published in 2005, it appeared prior to the film's release on home video, the first time an analytic book had ever been published so quickly following a movie's release. Sequart's second book was the first scholarly book about comics writer Grant Morrison.
- Beard, Jim (Ed.). Gotham City 14 Miles: 14 Essays on Why the 1960s Batman TV Series Matters. (2011)
- Bensam, Richard (Ed.). Minutes to Midnight: Twelve Essays on Watchmen. (2011)
- Berenato, Joseph F. (Ed.). New Life and New Civilizations: Exploring Star Trek Comics. (2014)
- Callahan, Timothy. Grant Morrison: The Early Years. (2011)
- Callahan, Timothy (Ed.). Teenagers from the Future: Essays on the Legion of Super-Heroes. (2011)
- Darius, Julian. Revisionism, Radical Experimentation, and Dystopia in Keith Giffen’s Legion of Super-Heroes. (2012)
- Darius, Julian. Improving the Foundations: Batman Begins from Comics to Screen. (2011)
- Darius, Julian. And the Universe so Big: Understanding Batman: The Killing Joke. (2012)
- Darius, Julian. The Weirdest Sci-Fi Comic Ever Made: Understanding Jack Kirby’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. (2013)
- Darius, Julian. Classics on Infinite Earths: The Justice League and DC Crossover Canon. (2015)
- Darius, Julian. Everything and a Mini-Series for the Kitchen Sink: Understanding Infinite Crisis. (2012)
- Darius, Julian. When Manga Came to America: Super-Hero Revisionism in Mai, the Psychic Girl. (2014)
- Darius, Julian. This Lightning, This Madness: Understanding Alan Moore’s Miracleman, Book One. (2015)
- Klock, Geoff. The Future of Comics, the Future of Men: Matt Fraction’s Casanova. (2015)
- Lindsay, Ryan K. (Ed.). The Devil is in the Details: Examining Matt Murdock and Daredevil. (2013)
- Lindsay, Ryan K. Blind Dates and Broken Hearts: The Tragic Loves of Matthew Murdock. (2013)
- Ludwig, Logan. Moving Panels: Translating Comics to Film. (2015)
- McLean, Thomas J. Mutant Cinema: The X-Men Trilogy from Comics to Screen. (2011)
- Meaney, Patrick. Our Sentence is Up: Seeing Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles. (2011)
- Meaney, Patrick & Kevin Thurman. Warren Ellis: The Captured Ghosts Interviews. (2013)
- Nevett, Chad (Ed.). Shot in the Face: A Savage Journey to the Heart of Transmetropolitan. (2013)
- Shapira, Tom. Curing the Postmodern Blues: Reading Grant Morrison and Chris Weston’s The Filth in the 21st Century. (2013)
- Thurman, Kevin & Julian Darius. Voyage in Noise: Warren Ellis and the Demise of Western Civilization. (2013)
- Walker, Cody (Ed.). Keeping the World Strange: A Planetary Guide. (2011)
- Walker, Cody. The Anatomy of Zur-en-Arrh: Understanding Grant Morrison’s Batman. (2014)
Films
Sequart Organization produces documentary films on subjects related to comic books and graphic novels.[7]
- Grant Morrison: Talking with Gods (2010)
- Warren Ellis: Captured Ghosts (2012)
- Comics in Focus: Chris Claremont's X-Men (2014)
- The Image Revolution (2014)
- Diagram for Delinquents (2014)
- She Makes Comics (2014)
References
- ↑ http://sequart.org/about-us/
- ↑ http://sequart.org/author/julian-darius/
- ↑ Eisner, Will (1994). Comics and Sequential Art. Tamarac, Florida: Poorhouse Press. p. 5. ISBN 0961472812.
- ↑ http://sequart.org/magazine/648/the-sequart-manifesto/
- ↑ Baker, R.C. "2013's Best Graphic Novels". www.villagevoice.com. The Village Voice. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
- ↑ http://sequart.org/books/
- ↑ http://sequart.org/movies/