Photos From My Panel Appearance with Scott McCloud

DECATUR, GA - 9/17/08 (Photos by Gary W. Meek, Copyright 2008 Agnes Scott College)
There I am (above) with comics genius Scott McCloud at Agnes Scott College's panel on The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, which was the common reading for incoming freshmen. I was asked to be on the panel to talk about the adaptation of Persepolis from graphic novel to animated feature film. Scott is talking about Persepolis while I sit idly by, hoping I don't come off like a dumbass while waiting for my turn to speak. Seriously, though, as a comics fan and as a writer, to get to be on a panel with Scott McCloud was very cool.

Here (above), I'm pretending like I know what I'm talking about while describing a scene I particularly enjoyed in the book and in the film. I was very impressed by how the filmmakers, one of whom was Satrapi, the author and artist of the book, were able to let go of the narrative form inherent to the source material - a comic book - to fully take advantage of the medium of animation. The scene pictured above is from the sequence in the book where teenage Marjane goes through a growth spurt. It was represented very differently in the movie, but the overall effect was the same. Well done.

Here are the panel participants in a staged post-panel photo opportunity. We're all hanging out by the ashtray - but no one is smoking, except for my shoes. I always think it's appropriate to wear my flame-adorned Chuck Taylors at public speaking engagements (like I've had so many).

-EB