Of course, there would have been no conference without those who pre-
sented their research findings. This one was a real treat for many reasons, includ-
ing the fact that it was one of the very first in the United States to be devoted
solely to French-language comics. The presentations were outstanding, and
most of their authors traveled from far away to participate in the conference:
Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, and from elsewhere
in the United States (Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachussetts, Michigan). I offer
my warmest thanks to Dominique Le Duc, François Le Roy, and Randy Scott,
who made fascinating presentations on important topics and who contrib-
uted greatly to the discussion and debate. I also owe an enormous debt to the
contributors to this book: Baru, Bart Beaty, Cécile Vernier Danehy, Hugo Frey,
Pascal Lef èvre, Fabrice Leroy, Amanda Macdonald, Ann Miller, and Clare Tufts.
They invested much careful thought and effort in reworking their conference
presentations to produce book chapters. The kind patience, good humor, and
collegiality of all have been fabulous and made my editorial tasks far easier.
The anonymous readers of the manuscript provided helpful advice. I
also thank Seetha Srinivasan at the University Press of Mississippi, whose
interest in, and support of, this project have been exemplary. I offer my grate-
ful thanks to Walter Biggins, Anne Stascavage, Mary Cicora, and all the staff
at the Press, who have helped bring this project to fruition.
I thank the cartoonists and publishers who generously agreed to let us
reproduce the artwork in this book.
Finally, I thank my family, who have helped out in ways too many to
tell. My parents introduced me to bandes dessinées long before I could have
read them in French: the copies of Astérix, Tintin, and Lucky Luke stories
in English translation that I, my brother and my sisters read countless times
are now in tatters—a testimony to the pleasure that we derived from them
while we were growing up (I also enjoyed Rupert, the Bash Street Kids, Donald
Duck, and Mickey Mouse). My parents-in-law have been very supportive of
my continuing interest in bandes dessinées and have helped out during many
comics-related expeditions to Lille, Brussels, Paris, and Angoulême. As I have
worked on this project I have often consulted the BDM that they gave me.
Valérie carried much of the weight of this project from beginning to end. She
provided a great deal of help with the conference. Her intellectual contribu-
tion to my research and writing has always been crucial. Her encouragement
has been essential to the completion of this volume. I also thank Louise, for her
patience and for the inspiration that she has given me. I wish her a long and
happy time with the bandes dessinées that she loves, and shares with others.
xii
Editor’s Acknowledgments