Talk: Building a better Batgirl - 'My So-Called Secret Identity'

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Time: 5.00pm - 6.00pm
Venue: Room JG1008, John Galsworthy building, Penrhyn Road campus, Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT1 2EE
Price: free
Speaker(s): Professor Will Brooker

A PhD induction session in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences in Autumn 2012 first inspired Professor Will Brooker to turn from the critical analysis of gender in superhero comic books towards a form of research by practice.

Working with an international and almost-entirely female team of comic book artists, including his former PhD student Dr Sarah Zaidan - and drawing on a broader group of consultants and collaborators from fandom and feminist scholarship - Professor Brooker developed My So-Called Secret Identity, an online comic with a dedicated website at www.mysocalledsecretidentity.com.

Through strategic use of social media and traditional media contacts, MSCSI attracted 1,800 Facebook fans, 750 Facebook followers, and enthusiastic reviews, features and interviews across the online and print press, from comics blogs and academic journals to The Guardian, Times Higher Education, Femina and Ms Magazine. It also raised some $4,500 in donations, which paid the artists and the site hosting, and supported a women's outreach charity.

In Autumn 2013, MSCSI issues 1 and 2 were first published in print, in association with urban feminist magazine Geeked, and sold both from an online retailer and in Foyles.

This talk will discuss the development of MSCSI and the ways in which this project explores issues from my more traditional research.

Follow Catherine Daniels, the hero of My So-Called Secret Identity, on Twitter: @cat_abi_daniels.

For further information about this event:

Contact: Claire Hayward
Email: C.Hayward@kingston.ac.uk