Call for Papers: Companion to International Comics Studies (Intellect Books)

Edited by Julia Round, Shambhavi Singh and Eszter Szép 

Deadline for chapter proposals: 31 January 2026 

Deadline for first draft chapters: 1 April 2027 

Comics and their scholarship have made great gains over the last few decades, but the landscape is still uneven, with the majority of scholarship focusing on a minority of countries and titles. This project aims to produce a truly international collection on comics studies, with chapters covering the comics industries and collectives in places that we do not hear all that much about in English language scholarship. We hope to have around 40 chapters of up to 5,000 words, each focusing on the comics industry or collectives in a comparatively underexplored country, region, or culture. This will create a networked view of comics practices across places and cultures. We welcome proposals from students or early career scholars, as well as from comics creators or event organisers. What is important is that you know about the comics industry or collectives in a culture that you can shine a light on.  

Our ideal chapter format would be made up of an introduction/background to the comics industry of a region or culture, followed by a case study that can be used to tell us something about the medium. We invite you to respond to some of the following prompts when writing this background: 

• What are the challenges facing the comics industry in this culture?

• What are the dominant themes and styles? 

• What are the common publishing and circulation practices - where are comics sold and bought? 

• Do fandom communities exist – if so, who and where?

• Have there been pivotal moments that shaped the comics landscape?

• How do comics creators make their money? 

You do not need to respond to all these questions, but we suggest you engage with at least two or three in your discussion. 

Your chapter should also include a single case study or a few close examples that you will use to make a point about comics. For example, your culture might have an industry based heavily on self-publishing, and so the materials used to make comics could be very varied. This would be a good subject for discussion using a group of examples. Or your culture might have a traditional art style that your chosen example uses or develops. Or maybe your selected comic highlights or comments on specific cultural practices in its style or themes, or uses these to depict a pivotal historical event. 

Your title should be titled to reflect this, for example: ‘Comics in Ireland: At War with the Empire (Gerry Hunt, 2012) and Representing History’. Or, your chapter might focus on the role of events and communities, for example ‘Comics in Central Europe: The role of Zines and Zine Fairs in Strengthening Communities and Resistance’. Or you might focus on how a particular theme has been developed in comics from your culture, such as ‘South East Asian Comics and the Depiction of Madness as a Response to Systemic Oppression’.

We welcome chapters from PhD students and early career researchers, or scholars based in the countries they’re writing about. We also invite proposals from event organisers, creators, enthusiasts or those involved with comics outside academia. Prior academic publishing experience is not needed. We will give feedback on your proposal to help you develop your chapter and are willing to use translations if needed. A rough timeline for the project is: Proposals due by 31 Jan 2026. Feedback and acceptances sent out by 30 April 2026. First drafts due by 30 April 2027. Feedback for contributors sent out by 30 September 2027. Revised chapters due 31 January 2028. Publication in 2028/29. There is no fee, but contributors will receive either an ebook or hard copy and will be able to purchase discounted hard copies. 

If interested please submit your proposal via the following google form: https://forms.gle/b11DaVK7kxg4Hfkj8 by 31 January 2026. Your proposal should include a title, a summary of the background to the industry in your chosen region that includes responses to some of the above prompts (200 words), a summary of the case study or examples you would write about (100 words), and your short biography (100 words). We are also open to including some chapters in comics format - if you have an idea for this please email us at DrJuliaRound@gmail.com, shambhavi990@gmail.com, EszterSzep@gmail.com before the proposal deadline to discuss. Other questions or queries should also be sent to the editors by email. Proposals should be written in English. We will not accept proposals or chapters that have used Generative AI in any form but you may use online translation software such as Google Translate.