Revolution Evolution: American Comics

This panel discussion, in conjunction with the exhibition Spain: Rock, Roll, Rumbles, Rebels and Revolution, gives an historic context to the Manuel “Spain” Rodriguez retrospective in light of how comics have gone from underground to mainstream media today.

Donald Jackson, panel moderator, has freelanced in comics and taught comic book creation since 2003. In 2009, Jackson received a research fellowship from Buffalo State College to create his website and e-book Cognitive Comic: A Constructivist Approach to Sequential Art.

John Bobey has written and produced projects for Bill Maher, Dana Carvey and David Letterman and created the critically acclaimed series Help Wanted to The Learning Channel (TLC). From there earned the head writer position, then senior writer, at CNN Headline News for Glenn Beck. He has also written for a number of national magazines, contributed humor pieces to both The Huffington Post and McSweeney’s, and is currently at work developing a screenplay, television pilot and a pair of graphic novels. He is based in New York City.

John Jennings is an Associate Professor of Visual Studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He is an accomplished designer, curator, illustrator, cartoonist, and award-winning graphic novelist. He is also co-author of the graphic novel The Hole: Consumer Culture, and co-curator of Out of Sequence: Underrepresented Voices in American Comics.

Michael R. Lavin is a reference librarian at the University at Buffalo’s Lockwood Library and serves as an adjunct instructor in the Department of Library and Information Studies, where he co-teaches a graduate course for teachers and librarians entitled Introduction to Comic Books and Graphic Novels. He is a past recipient of the American Library Association's BRASS/Gale Research Award for Excellence in Business Librarianship and the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Librarianship.