[ecrea] CFP: Special issue of Slayage on The Avengers/Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Please find below the call for papers for a special issue of /Slayage. /

*“A Part of Something Bigger”: Critical Approaches to /Agents of 
S.H.I.E.L.D./ and /The Avengers/*

*A Special Issue of /Slayage: The Journal of the Whedon Studies 
Association/*

*Co-Editors: Erin Giannini and Eve Bennett*

/Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.///The Avengers/ represent something of an 
anomaly in the Whedonverse/Mutant Enemy canon; while each Whedonverse 
series is a co-production (eg: /Angel/: Mutant Enemy/Greenwalt 
Productions; /Buffy the Vampire Slayer/: Mutant Enemy/Kuzui 
Enterprises), only the properties co-produced with Marvel primarily 
feature characters neither created nor developed by Whedon and company; 
indeed, many come with massive (and occasionally contradictory) 
backstories developed by numerous writers over decades and across media. 
Given the films’ and series’ status as the most recent output from 
Mutant Enemy, as well as the series’ status as a Mutant Enemy—but not 
Joss Whedon—production, there are numerous, and thus far untapped, 
directions through which both the film and series can be examined. This 
includes the particular differences in “vision” between the 
collaborative but unified styles and narratives of Mutant Enemy and more 
diffuse and multiply-authored, but not always collaborative, Marvel 
Studio productions (despite attempts at said unification through the 
creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe).

Proposals may include, but are not restricted to:


  * The positioning (or not) of the film and the series as part of the
    Whedonverse
  * /Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D./as a “family affair”: Jed Whedon, and
    Maurissa and Kevin Tancharoen; the “absence” of Joss Whedon//
  * “A lot of filing, giving things names”: The power of names in
    /Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.///The Avengers/; Alphonsus MacKenzie as
    “namer” of humans (Fitz as “Turbo”) and Inhumans (“Tremors”/”Yo-Yo”).
  * The ethics of war
  * Ethics/responsibility of science and technology
  * The use of artificial intelligence and technology in sustaining or
    creating life
  * Modes of leadership: The Avengers/Nick Fury, Coulson vs. Gonzales
    (season 2)
  * Adaptation: from comics to film and television (eg, Daisy
    Johnson/Quake; Calvin Zabo/Mr. Hyde)
  * Who owns the show? Questions of auteurship and authoring within the
    MCU//Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D./
  * Narrative and visual styles/visions of Mutant Enemy and Marvel (see,
    as per example: Hammer studios/Universal for horror in the early
    20^th century; AIP as the B-movie studio).
  * The Framework arc (season 4) as contemporary political commentary
  * /Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D./ and /The Avengers/ positioning with science
    fiction film and television
  * Issues of gender and representation with the film and the series
  * Transmediality and transmedia texts in /Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D./
    (e.g., “Slingshot” web series/references to the Marvel Cinematic
    Universe)
  * The existence (or lack) of Whedon tropes—dialogue, chosen families,
    etc.—within /The Avengers/ or /Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D./
  * Intersections between Marvel and Mutant Enemy
  * References in character and narrative in Mutant Enemy’s earlier
    series to Marvel properties (e.g., Kitty Pryde as inspiration for
    Buffy, Xander’s reference to the gathering of the Scoobies as
    “Avengers Assemble” [“The Freshman” 4.1])
  * A bigger canvas? Whedon’s shift (return) to film
  * The limitations/benefits of /Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D./’s positioning
    on a “Big Three” network (ABC), in relation to both earlier Mutant
    Enemy series (on netlets and Fox) as well as the broader Marvel
    television universe (on Netflix)
  * /Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D./and the broader Marvel television
    universe/MCU compared with DC’s dominance of the CW/DCU
  * /Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D./as adjunct to the MCU; e.g., season 4 as
    expansion of /Age of Ultron/’s storyline
  * Marvel’s treatment of writers/directors (Edgar Wright/Jon
    Favreau/Joss Whedon) compared or contrasted with Mutant Enemy (Jane
    Espenson/Marti Noxon, Drew Goddard, etc)

Please send a 200-300 word proposal and a short bio by July 15, 2018 to 
Erin Giannini (*(egiannini37 /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(egiannini37 /at/ gmail.com)>*) 
and Eve Bennett (*(eve.bennett /at/ univ-paris3.fr) 
<mailto:(eve.bennett /at/ univ-paris3.fr)>*). Decisions will be made, and 
everyone will be notified, by August 1, 2018. If your proposal is 
accepted please note that a first draft will be due by September 30, 2018.


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