Reader in Popular Culture

Research Interests

Cultural history, Cultural Studies, and Subcultural Studies. Specialisms: Comics, graphic novels, and manga. Marginalised and underground literature/graphics/film. Punk and counter-culture. Comedy. TV crime drama. The 19^th century entertainment industry (music hall, penny press, etc.). Cultural theory, especially postmodernism in history.

Current Research

Currently working on two books: one about comic books in the 19^th century and the character ‘Ally Sloper’, for the University Press of Mississippi; and one about American TV cop shows (Kojak, The Wire, etc.) for McFarland Press.

Previous books include Comics, Comix and Graphic Novels (Phaidon), Adult Comics: An Introduction (Routledge), The Lasting of the Mohicans (as co-author, Uni Press of Mississippi); and Punk Rock: So What? (as Ed, Routledge) and Below Critical Radar (as Co-Ed, Codex), and The Movie Book (as Co-Ed, Phaidon).

Editorial Board positions on academic journals include: 

•  Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, Routledge, UK (also Consulting Ed)
•  Studies in Comics, Intellect, UK (also Consulting Ed)
•  European Comic Art, University of Liverpool, UK.
•  SIGNS: Studies in Graphic Narratives, University of Pisa et al, Italy.
•  ImageText, University of Florida, USA.
•  Image and Narrative, University of Leuven, Belgium.
•  Journal of Punk and Post-Punk, Intellect, UK (also Consulting Ed).

Selected Outputs and Achievements

Selected academic essays (last 5 years):

• 2011: ‘The Wire: Dramatising the Crisis in Journalism’, journal article, Journalism Studies, vol 12, no 2, April 2011 (Routledge, ISSN: 10.1080/1461670X.2010.493741).
• 2010: ‘Comics’, chapter in book, The Media: An Introduction, Pearson, 3^rd edition (ISBN: 978-1-4058-4036-1).
• 2009: ‘Ally Sloper On Stage’, journal article, European Comic Art, vol 2, no2, autumn 2009 (Uni Liverpool Press, ISSN: 1754-3739).
• 2009: ‘Ally Sloper: First Comics Superstar?’, chapter in book, A Comics Studies Reader, Uni Press of Mississippi (ISBN: 978-1-60473-108-8).
• 2009: ‘Who Loves Ya, David Simon?’, journal article, as co-author, in Darkmatter, online journal, as part of The Wire Files, at: http://www.darkmatter101.org/site/2009/05/29/who-loves-ya-david-simon/
• 2008: ‘The Face of Fear’, chapter in book, If Looks Could Kill, Koenig Books (ISBN: 978-3-86560-462-0).
• 2008: ‘Terry Gilliam’, chapter in book, Sub/versions: Cultural Status, Genre and Critique, Cambridge Scholars Publishing (ISBN: 1-84718-372-7)
• 2007: 'Gonzo Journalism: Ralph Steadman', journal article, Journalism Studies, vol 8, no 5, October 2007 (Routledge, ISSN - 1461-670X).
• 2006: ‘A Very American Fable: the Making of a Mohicans Adaptation’, as co-author, chapter in book, Nineteenth-Century American Fiction on Screen , Cambridge University Press (ISBN - 9780521842211).
• 2006: ‘Barefoot Gen in the US and UK: Activist Comic, Graphic Novel, Manga’, chapter in book, Reading Manga: Local and Global perceptions of Japanese Comics University of Leipzig Press (ISBN - 3865831230).

Selected conferences (last 2 years)

• 2011 – ‘Wokker: Notes on a Surrealist Comic Strip’, Surrealism, Science Fiction and Comics, The Courtauld Institute.
• 2010 – Keynote: ‘Doonesbury: the Politics of an Anti-War Strip’ (with Prof Martin Barker), International Conference on Comics and Graphic Novels, Manchester Metropolitan Uni.
• 2010 – ‘Birth of the Comedy Critic’, International Comedy Conference, Uni of Salford/Manchester Metropolitan Uni. 
• 2010 – ‘The Wire in the context of TV Crime Drama’ (with Jane Gibb), The Wire as Social Science Fiction? Leeds Uni/Leeds Town Hall.
• 2010 – ‘Tootsie Sloper: Pioneering Female Character’, Comics Forum: Women in Comics, Leeds (sponsored by Glasgow Uni, Chichester Uni et al).
• 2009 – Keynote: ‘Mavericks and Zinesters: “Comics Scholarship” before Comics Scholarship’, Comics Forum, Leeds.
• 2009 – ‘Ally Sloper and Music Hall’, Instruction, Amusement and Spectacle: Popular Shows and Exhibitions, 1800-1914, Exeter Uni.

Selected exhibitions

Ally Sloper collection exhibited at Tate Britain as part of Rude Britannia, 2010.  

Research students

Currently supervising 6 PhDs at UAL; 1 at London Consortium. Previous completions: 2.

Contact:

r.sabin@csm.arts.ac.uk