Some exciting news to share from the University of Hertfordshire – come September we’re going to be starting a Master’s degree in Digital Comics. Follow that link for the full details of the course but essentially, if you’re familiar with all the kinds of comic you’ll find at E-merl, that’s what I’m going to be covering on the course. So everything from webcomics and webtoons through to the more out-there infinite canvas and hypercomic experiments will be on the table (or screen or tablet or whatever). Want to read some official blurb? Okay, here you go:
Digital Comics are a direct way to find an audience for your imagination, whether through webcomics, webtoons, hypercomics or traditional comic publication. Students will explore the design skills needed to visualise engaging characters, worlds, panels and pages. They will develop their storytelling skills and examine the new possibilities for comics offered by digital display. In parallel with their creative practice, students will investigate the commercial practices behind the publication and dissemination of successful work.
Exciting! The course will be a practice-based MA taught by me and running with both full-time (one year) and part-time (two year) routes, with students able to attend either on campus or remotely. Here’s the link to the official website again. If you’re interested in joining the course, please apply! And if you’re up for helping to spread the word then re-posting that link and the above blurb would be much appreciated.
In other semi-related news, one of those bits of research I mentioned in my last post has at last bubbled to the surface – Studies in Comics issue 14.1 is now out, and serves as a special issue all about the wider world of comics and the digital. I’ve contributed a chapter to the issue based on my Comics Strike Back paper that considers how print comics might make use of the techniques and adaptations of the form found in three popular digital formats. Hopefully of interest to those with a curiosity about that sort of thing.