Sequart Organization (; also known as Sequart Research & Literacy Organization) is an online magazine that focuses on the study of popular culture and the promotion of comic books as an art form. Sequart also publishes books and produces documentary films. It was founded in 1996 by Dr. Julian Darius. Sequart's editor-in-chief is Mike Phillips.
Through their publications, Sequart Organization bridges the gap between academia and fandom and makes scholarship on the medium accessible to the general public.
Name
The name Sequart is a
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordssequential art," itself a term which was coined by Will Eisner in his book ''
Comics and Sequential Art
''Comics and Sequential Art'' is a book by American cartoonist Will Eisner that analyzes the comics medium, published in 1985 and revised in 1990. It is based on a series of essays that appeared in ''The Spirit'' magazine, themselves based on Eis ...
''. Unlike terms such as
comic books
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
or graphic novels, which refer to a specific format, the term "sequart" refers to the medium itself, therefore including the aforementioned formats, but also
comic strips
A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...
,
manga
Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is use ...
picture books
A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...
, and even
sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
, for example in form of
Stations of the Cross
The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The stations grew out of imita ...
.
Accolades
The ''
Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...
'' named Tom Shapira's ''Curing the Postmodern Blues'' as one of 2013's Best Graphic Novels saying, "a PhD-level explication... Shapira's treatise gathers up plot threads and illuminates character motivations to reveal the tale as an attempt, in Morrison's own words, 'to turn the very basic horrors of existence into comedy and poetry.'"
In 2013,
Latino Review
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
Sequart has published several scholarly non-fiction books on subjects related to the medium. Sequart's first book, about ''
Batman Begins
''Batman Begins'' is a 2005 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan and written by Nolan and David S. Goyer. The film is based on the DC Comics character Batman, it stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman, with Michael Caine, ...
'', was the first scholarly book ever published on
Christopher Nolan
Christopher Edward Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British-American filmmaker. Known for his lucrative Hollywood blockbusters with complex storytelling, Nolan is considered a leading filmmaker of the 21st century. His films have grossed $5&n ...
's Batman movies. Published in 2005, it appeared prior to the film's release on home video, the first time an analytic book had ever been published so quickly following a movie's release. Sequart's second book was the first scholarly book about comics writer Grant Morrison.
* Beard, Jim (Ed.). ''Gotham City 14 Miles: 14 Essays on Why the 1960s Batman TV Series Matters''. (2010)
* Bensam, Richard (Ed.). ''Minutes to Midnight: Twelve Essays on Watchmen''. (2010)
* Berenato, Joseph F. (Ed.). ''New Life and New Civilizations: Exploring Star Trek Comics''. (2014)
* Berenato, Joseph F. & Rich Handley (Ed.). ''A Long Time Ago: Exploring the Star Wars Cinematic Universe'' (2015)
* Berenato, Joseph F. & Rich Handley (Ed.). ''A Galaxy Far, Far Away: Exploring Star Wars Comics'' (2016)
* Berenato, Joseph F. & Rich Handley (Ed.). ''A More Civilized Age: Exploring the Star Wars Expanded Universe'' (2017)
* Berenato, Joseph F. & Rich Handley (Ed.). '' The Sacred Scrolls: Comics on the Planet of the Apes'' (2015)
* Berenato, Joseph F. & Rich Handley (Ed.). '' Bright Eyes, Ape City: Examining the Planet of the Apes Mythos'' (2017)
* Boucher, Ian (Ed.). ''Humans and Paragons: Essays on Super-Hero Justice''. (2017)
* Callahan, Timothy. ''Grant Morrison: The Early Years''. (2007)
* Callahan, Timothy (Ed.). ''Teenagers from the Future: Essays on the Legion of Super-Heroes''. (2008)
** Darius, Julian. ''Revisionism, Radical Experimentation, and Dystopia in Keith Giffen’s Legion of Super-Heroes''. (2012)
* Carpenter, Greg. ''The British Invasion: Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, and the Invention of the Modern Comic Book Writer''. (2016)
* Darius, Julian. ''Improving the Foundations: Batman Begins from Comics to Screen''. (2005)
* Darius, Julian. ''And the Universe so Big: Understanding Batman: The Killing Joke''. (2012)
* Darius, Julian. ''The Weirdest Sci-Fi Comic Ever Made: Understanding Jack Kirby’s 2001: A Space Odyssey''. (2013)
* Darius, Julian. ''When Manga Came to America: Super-Hero Revisionism in Mai, the Psychic Girl''. (2014)
* Darius, Julian. ''Classics on Infinite Earths: The Justice League and DC Crossover Canon''. (2015)
** Darius, Julian. ''Everything and a Mini-Series for the Kitchen Sink: Understanding Infinite Crisis''. (2012)
* Darius, Julian. ''This Lightning, This Madness: Understanding Alan Moore’s Miracleman, Book One''. (2021)
* Gray, Richard. ''Moving Target: The History and Evolution of Green Arrow''. (2017)
* Hammond, S.G. (Ed.). ''The Mignolaverse: Hellboy and the Comics Art of Mike Mignola''. (2019)
* Handley, Rich & Joseph Dilworth Jr. (Ed.). ''Unauthorized Offworld Activation: Exploring the Stargate Franchise''. (2022)
* Handley, Rich & Lou Tambone (Ed.). ''Somewhere Beyond the Heavens: Exploring Battlestar Galactica''. (2019)
* Handley, Rich & Lou Tambone (Ed.). ''From Bayou to Abyss: Examining John Constantine, Hellblazer''. (2020)
* Handley, Rich & Lou Tambone (Ed.). ''Musings on Monsters: Observations on the World of Classic Horror''. (2021)
* Hernando, David. ''Why Do We Fall?: Examining Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy''. (2022)
* Klock, Geoff. ''The Future of Comics, the Future of Men: Matt Fraction’s Casanova''. (2015)
* Lindsay, Ryan K. (Ed.). ''The Devil is in the Details: Examining Matt Murdock and Daredevil''. (2013)
** Lindsay, Ryan K. ''Blind Dates and Broken Hearts: The Tragic Loves of Matthew Murdock''. (2013)
* Ludwig, Logan. ''Moving Panels: Translating Comics to Film''. (2015)
* McLean, Thomas J. ''Mutant Cinema: The X-Men Trilogy from Comics to Screen''. (2008)
* Meaney, Patrick. ''Our Sentence is Up: Seeing Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles''. (2010)
* Meaney, Patrick & Kevin Thurman. ''Warren Ellis: The Captured Ghosts Interviews''. (2013)
* Means-Shannon, Hannah. ''Meet the Magus: Magic in the Work of Alan Moore'' (2016)
* Milazzo, Melissa (Ed.). ''The World Needs Bad Men: Essays on True Detective, Season 1'' (2016)
* Milazzo, Melissa. ''Time is a Flat Circle: Examining True Detective, Season One'' (2019)
* Nevett, Chad (Ed.). ''Shot in the Face: A Savage Journey to the Heart of Transmetropolitan''. (2013)
* Powell, Jason. ''The Best There is at What He Does: Examining Chris Claremont’s X-Men''. (2016)
* Shapira, Tom. ''Curing the Postmodern Blues: Reading Grant Morrison and Chris Weston’s The Filth in the 21st Century''. (2013)
* Tambone, Lou & Joe Bongiorno (Ed.). ''The Cyberpunk Nexus: Exploring the Blade Runner Universe''. (2017)
* Thurman, Kevin & Julian Darius. ''Voyage in Noise: Warren Ellis and the Demise of Western Civilization''. (2013)
* Walker, Cody (Ed.). ''Keeping the World Strange: A Planetary Guide''. (2011)
* Walker, Cody. ''The Anatomy of Zur-en-Arrh: Understanding Grant Morrison’s Batman''. (2014)
* Weatherly, Scott. ''Judging Dredd: Examining the World of Judge Dredd''. (2021)