Andrew Deman

I specialize in the comics medium (graphic novels, comics, manga, etc) and professional communications. Despite being born, raised, and (mostly) educated two hours from the sub-tundra in Thunder Bay, Ontario, I am deeply enamoured with the life of good books, good art, and exceptional international foods that the Waterloo community and the University in particular provides for me. Having an enriching space to cultivate my research and teaching amongst open-minded people that I value and admire is everything to me and I equally delight in raising my children in such a space/culture/community. As a scholar, I find myself drawn to emerging fields, texts, and authors, with a philosophy that takes “if it moves you, its art” as the first step. The second step is figuring out how and why. As an instructor, my class is built around the presumption that everyone deserves to feel safe and everyone deserves to feel valued, in that order. 

The content that follows may only represent a portion of the Faculty member’s work.

 Books

Chris Claremont. Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 2025.

The Claremont Run: Subverting Gender in the X-Men. Austin: UTexasP, 2023.

The Margins of Comics: The Construction of Women, Minorities, and the Geek in Graphic Narrative. Toronto: Nuada Press, 2015.

Chapters

“A Storm of Passion: Sexual Agency and Symbolic Capital in the X-Men’s Storm.” Supersex: Sexuality, Fantasy, and the Superhero. Ed. Anna Peppard. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2020.

"Oh Well": Julie Doucet and the (Counter) Discourse of Conquest." Canadian Graphic: Picturing Life Narratives. Ed. Candida Rifkind & Linda Warley. Waterloo: WLU Press, 2016.

“The Intervening ‘I’: Phoebe Gloeckner’s Comics Memoir and the Destruction of Visual Pleasure.”  American Visual Memoir after the 1970s: Gender, Sexuality and Visibility in the Post-Civil Rights Era.  Ed. Mihaela H. Precup.  Bucharest: U Press, 2010, pp. 155-166.

Articles

“The True North: Superman and Symbolic Patriation in We Stand on Guard.” In process for The Canadian Review of Comparative Literature. Forthcoming.

“‘Iyashikei’ healing manga comforts readers with attention to small joys.” The Conversation, 1 Oct 2024.

“Vanities.” ComicsXF, 12 Jul 2022.

"Youth-oriented comics with LGBTQ+ positive characters are busting binaries." The Conversation, 16 May 2022, theconversation.com/youth-oriented-comics-with-lgbtq-positive-characters-are-busting-binaries-181996.

(With Matthew Poulter) “‘Cowboy Bebop’: Groundbreaking anime series earns a Netflix remake for iconic artistic fusion.” The Conversation, 15 Nov. 2021.

“Busting Loose: Ms. Marvel and Post-Rape Trauma in X-Men Comics.” Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, vol. 11, no. 4, 2020, pp. 1-13.

(With Laura Grafton) "Harley Quinn's Sexuality: A Tale of Three Lusts." The Middle Spaces, 21 Apr. 2020, themiddlespaces.com/2020/04/21/harley-quinns-sexuality/.

“How a Canadian Superhero Brought Queer Representation to Marvel Comics.” The Conversation, 27 Jan. 2020.

“Ever to Ashes: The Unadaptable Nature of the Dark Phoenix Saga.” Sequart Organization, 7 June, 2019

“How an X-men Writer Inspired Binge-Worthy, Character-Driven TV.” Salon. 24 Feb. 2019.

“Titan on TV: The Life-Changing Magic of F@#k Batman!” The Conversation 12 Sept. 2018.

“Harry Potter and the Surprisingly Poignant Literary Theme.” Salon. 28 Feb. 2018.

“Star Wars is colonial fantasy: How our future imaginings are limited by our past.” The Conversation, 2 Feb. 2018.

“A team divided: Who is the hero of Justice League?” The Conversation, 5 Feb. 2018, theconversation.com/a-team-divided-who-is-the-hero-of-justice-league-87996.

“Lost Girls.” Critical Survey of Graphic Novels. Ed. Bart Beaty. Pasadena: Salem Press, 2012, pp. 212-213.

“Acts of Cruelty: A Review of Chris Ware’s Acme Novelty Library.” English Studies Forum, vol. 3, no. 2, 2007.

“Visual Minorities: Self/Other Encounters in Visual Literature.”  TRANSverse: A Comparative Studies Journal vol. 6, no. 1, 2006, pp. 9-18.

“Octavia Butler and the Feminist Voice in American SF.” Femspec 6.2 (2005): 6-14.

ENGL 108A: The Superhero

ENGL 108P: Popular Potter

ENGL 109: Introduction to Academic Writing

ENGL 119: Communications in Mathematics and Computer Science

ENGL 208A: Forms of Fantasy

ENGL 208B: Science Fiction

ENGL 232: Graphic Narrative

ENGL 262/EASIA 262R: Manga

ENGL 378: Professional Communications in Statistics and Actuarial Science

ARTS 140: Information and Analysis [Topic: Collective Intelligence in Media Formats]

ARTS 140: Information and Analysis [Topic: The Study of Comics]

HHUM 218/SMF 218: Sexual Health and Well-being in Comics

SMF 200: Special Topics in Sexualities, Relationships, or Families [Topic: Graphic Sexuality]

Grants

SSHRC IDG (2025-2029)

SSHRC IDRG (2018-2020)

Fellowships

Jack Gray Graduate Fellowship (2006)

UW Graduate Merit Scholarship (2004-2007)

UW Faculty of Arts Graduate Scholarship (2006)

UW Graduate Entrance Scholarship (2003)

Lakehead University Entrance Scholarship (2000)

Awards

Eisner Award for Best Academic/Scholarly Work for The Claremont Run: Subverting Gender in the X-Men (2024)

Warren G. Ober Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Graduate Student in the Faculty of Arts (2008)

UW Graduate Creative Writing Award (x4) (2004-2006)

Isaak Book Prize (awarded annually to Lakehead University’s top graduate student in the English Department (2003)