Department of English
PhD, University of Waterloo
MA, Lakehead University
BA Honours, Lakehead University
Biography
I specialize in the comics medium. My research is published in Femspec, Critical Survey of Graphic Novels, American Visual Memoir After the 1970s, English Studies Forum, TRANSverse, Canadian Graphic (winner of the 2017 Gabrielle Roy prize), and in my recent book The Margins of Comics (available from Nuada Press). I also served as a featured expert for the ten part comics documentary series INK: Alter Egos Exposed, and I am the Past President of the Canadian Society for the Study of Comics (CSSC).
When not working, I can be found chasing after my children, shouting “be careful.”
Publications
The content that follows may only represent a portion of the Faculty member’s work.
Books
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.
Articles
"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 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/.
"Busting Loose: Ms. Marvel and Post-Rape Trauma in X-Men Comics." Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics 11.4 (2020): 412-424.
“Star Wars is colonial fantasy: How our future imaginings are limited by our past.” The Conversation, 2 Feb. 2018, theconversation.com/star-wars-is-colonial-fantasy-how-our-future-imaginings-are-limited-by-our-past-88752.
“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.
“Octavia Butler and the Feminist Voice in American SF.” Femspec 6.2 (2005): 6-14.
Courses taught
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, fellowships and awards
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)
Professional, administrative and community service
The content that follows may only represent a portion of the Faculty member’s work.
Professional
President, Canadian Society for the Study of Comics (CSSC) (2014-2016)