During spring break at Rice University, comics weren’t confined to the margins — they were the main event. “Comics Sans Frontières: Border Defiance in Graphic Narratives” brought together an international roster of artists and scholars for four days of panels, exhibitions and workshops that positioned the graphic narrative at the heart of contemporary discourse.
Held March 20-23, the conference featured speakers from 10 countries and drew more than 570 attendees. The keynote conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Art Spiegelman packed the Moody Center for the Arts with an overflow crowd. The author of Maus was honored with Rice’s inaugural Comic Art Teaching and Study Workshop (CATS) Comics Pioneer Award, affectionately nicknamed the “Yoink!”
“After decades, the art practices and theories focused on combining words and pictures are through with being shoved into the corner,” said Christopher Sperandio, associate professor of art at Rice and event co-organizer. “The foot of comics has slid into the glass slipper of academia. And Cinderella-like, it fits.”
A tangible outcome of the conference is the publication of “Comics Sans Frontières” as volume No. 55 of the Baltic comics anthology “š!,” featuring a cover by Spiegelman and contributions from Rice faculty, students and staff. Five hundred free copies were distributed on campus, and the book is now available for international purchase through Latvian publisher kuš! Komikss.
“We managed to condense the conference into book form,” Sperandio said. “Rice comics research and practice will soon be in bookstores in 30 countries.”
Remnants of the conference remain on campus. A Moody exhibition on First Kingdom creator Jack Katz, whose archive was recently donated to Rice, is on view through Aug. 16. Meanwhile, an exhibition curated by sophomore Sofia Adams-Giron featuring classic newspaper comics is on display in Fondren Library.
“These exhibitions speak to the depth and breadth of comics history,” Sperandio said. “We’re only beginning to explore the stories they have to tell.”