Conference Schedule
Day One — Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm
Wednesday, 22 April 2026
08:30
Registration & Welcome Coffee
09:00
Short Introduction & Thank-you Notes
09:30
Session 1
- 1.1"Print and Cognition at the Biological Computer Lab, 1958–1976" Kevin Hamilton (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
- 1.2"Atlas Comicus: On Mapping Production and Seriality" Mathieu Li-Goyette (University of Amsterdam)
- Q&A
10:20
— Break —
10:40
Session 2
- 2.1"Comics as By-Product" David Mitchell Online (Independent, Chicago)
- 2.2"When Comics Chat: A Deep Prior for Text-Balloon Reading Order" Ioannis Siglidis (Pioneer Center for AI, Copenhagen)
- Q&A
12:00
— Lunch —
13:00
Session 3
- 3.1"Spatial Practice in Comics at the Era of GenAI, VSI and Mixed Realities" Gaëtan Le Coarer Online
- 3.2"Comics Pages as Audit Devices for Generative AI: A Gutter/Ghost Framework" Andrea Tosti Online (Lancaster University)
- 3.3"Whitewash Cartoonization: Accidental Indexicality into Cartoon Space?" Eyal Gruss Online (Holon Institute of Technology)
- Q&A
14:15
Session 4
- 4.1"Computational Contact Sheets: Synthetic Photography and the Shifting Technical Identity of Comics" Abdelalim Amine Slimani Online (Independent Artist, Casablanca)
- 4.2"Image GenAI and Writing Morphologies" Simon Grennan (University of Chester)
- Q&A
15:10
— Break —
15:30
Session 5
- 5.1"A Practitioner-Researcher's Self-Reflective Reflection on the Role of Digital Drawing Tools Used for Comics-Based Research" Yiqi Zhang (London College of Communication, UAL)
- 5.2"The Plotted Narrative: Friction, Code, and Materiality in Computational Comics" A.B Fominaya Online (Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute)
- 5.3"Riso Comics – Creating Narratives in Dialogue with the Machine" Gunnar Krantz (Malmö University)
- Q&A
Day Two — Uppsala University
Thursday, 23 April 2026
09:00
Registration & Welcome Coffee
09:30
Session 6
- 6.1"Drawing in the Glow of Generative Machines: Comics as Research Method for Speculative Futures" Lucy Perineau, Deborah Lambert & Aurore Fransolet (Université de Poitiers / Vrije Universiteit Brussel / Université libre de Bruxelles)
- 6.2"Monsters, Mercenaries and Me: Comics Research as Plaited Exegesis" Ray Whitcher (Uppsala University)
- Q&A
10:20
— Break —
10:40
Session 7
- 7.1"Comics and/as Mechanics: Intersections between Comics, Zines and Games" Hailey J Austin (Abertay University)
- 7.2"How to Talk about Technology without Talking about Technology? A Practice-Based Approach in Comics Art" Céline Pieters (University of Vienna)
- 7.3"We Have Always Been Sequential: Comics as Experimental Methodology for Language-Based Artistic Research" Thomas Ballhausen & Elena Peytchinska (University Mozarteum Salzburg / University of Applied Arts Vienna)
- Q&A
12:00
— Lunch —
13:00
Session 8
- 8.1"Speculative Autoethnography Through Comics: Reversing Big Tech's Gaze and Reclaiming the Story" Maria Ryabova Online (University of Pittsburgh)
- 8.2"Comparative Analysis of the Uses of AI in Comics between the Two Spheres of Production" Björn-Olav Dozo Online (University of Liège)
- Q&A
13:50
Session 9
- 9.1"Stretching the Tension: Alternative Comic as a Disobedient Machine" Sabine Teyssonneyre (Université de Poitiers)
- 9.2"Against the Algos: How Swedish Comic Artists Navigate an Uncertain and Evolving Labor Market in the Age of Digitalization" Robert Aman & Erik Nylander (Linköping University)
- Q&A
14:40
— Break —
15:00
Session 10
- 10.1"Digital Handmade: Towards a Media Archeology of Graphic Tablets and Software in Comics Drawing" Giorgio Busi Rizzi & Claudia Cerulo (Ghent University / Università Mercatorum)
- 10.2"Metaphorical Comics at the Interface of AI and Mental Health: Toward Patient-Centered Visual Expression" Jiahao Ji & Jingyao Cai (Kingston University)
- Q&A