Greg Carpenter
Lipscomb Online
Assistant Professor
Biography
Greg Carpenter grew up in rural northeast Arkansas where he spent summer evenings outside, listening to the St. Louis Cardinals on the radio, and winter evenings inside, watching whatever was on ABC—the only television affiliate within range of the pole antenna next to his family’s house. After receiving his Ph.D. in English from the University of Mississippi, he began to make up for lost time by catching up on a century’s worth of pop culture. He has written for RogerEbert.com and PopMatters, and for two years he wrote a weekly column for Sequart.org that primarily focused on comic books but often strayed into film, television, music, theater, history, and politics. He is the author of The British Invasion, an analysis of three comic book writers—Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison—and he’s currently co-writing a book for McFarland on the superhero genre.
Academic Degrees
Ph.D. in English, The University of Mississippi
M.A. in English, The University of Missouri
B.A. in English, Arkansas State University
Academic Department
Lipscomb Online
- LUEG Engagements: Creativity
- LULT Reading, Watching, and Participating in the Story
- EN University Writing
- Comics
- Film
- Shakespeare
- American Drama
- Screenwriting
Books
- American Superheroes and the Complications of American Exceptionalism, co-author with Forrest Helvie. McFarland, 2022 (forthcoming).
- The British Invasion: Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, and the Invention of the Modern Comic Book Writer. Sequart Organization, 2016.
Dissertation
- Divided Manhood: Masculine Identity in the plays of Tennessee Williams and August Wilson
Essays (print)
- “’Stop! I’m a family man! I’ve got a wife! A daughter! A little—girrrrl!’: Prefiguring the Patriarch in Tennessee Williams’s No About Nightingales.” Tennessee Williams: A Casebook. Ed. Robert F. Gross. New York, Garland Press, 2001: 13-31.
- “A Streetcar Named Wildfire: Tennessee Williams’s Fulfillment of Paulding’s The Lion of the West.” Publications of the Mississippi Philological Association (1996): 13-17.
Selected Essays (Web)
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“Look Away, Dixie Land: Reflections on Life in the South, Racist Iconography, and Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing.” Chaz’s Journal. RogerEbert.com 27 Jul. 2015.
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“Roger Ebert and the Golden Age of American Film Criticism.” Chaz’s Journal. RogerEbert.com 9 Jul. 2015.
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“Charles M. Schulz and Peanuts: The Longest Jazz Solo in History.” Sequart 15 Dec. 2014.
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“When Vultures Weep: Reflections on Robin Williams and the Alchemy of Joy.” Sequart 18 Aug. 2014.
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“Marlon Brando and the Problems with Collective Cartooning.” Sequart 11 Aug. 2014.
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“A Father’s Day Post-Morten: Maleficent, Gender, and Fairy Tale Romance.” Sequart 16 Jun. 2014.
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“If a Bell Chimes at Midnight, Does it Make a Sound?: Orson Welles’s Chimes at Midnight.” Sequart 26 May 2014.
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“The Foucault Gospel: Grant Morrison, French Philosophy, and One Mangy Coyote.” Sequart 10 Feb. 2014.
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“On Canons, Consensus, and Comics.” Sequart 6 Jan. 2014.
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“Romantic Reflections in ‘A Glass of Water.’: Morrison and McKean Unplugged." Sequart 28 Feb. 2013.
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“Peeking from Behind the Sofa: The 25th Anniversary of Violent Cases.” Sequart 21 Dec. 2012.
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“O Captain! My Captain! Going Where No Octogenarian has Gone Before.” PopMatters 15 Dec. 2011.
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“We Can Be Heroes: Talking Supergods with Grant Morrison.” PopMatters 28 July 2011.
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“Have a Counter-Cultural Christmas: Misfits, Outlaws, and Marxists in Television Christmas Specials.” PopMatters 24 Dec. 2010.
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“And Here’s to You Mr. Robinson: Jerry Robinson: Ambassador of Comics.” PopMatters 26 Oct. 2010.
Book Reviews (Selected)
- Rev. of The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. PopMatters 9 Jun. 2013.
- Rev. of Neil Gaiman and Philosophy. Ed. Tracy L. Bealer, Rachel Luria, and Wayne Yuen. PopMatters 10 Sep. 2012.
- Rev. of Bruce Springsteen, Cultural Studies, and the Runaway American Dream. Ed. Kenneth Womack, Jerry Zolten, and Mark Bernhard. PopMatters 12 Jun. 2012.
- Rev. of The Annotated Sandman by Neil Gaiman. Ed. Leslie Klinger. PopMatters 8 Mar. 2012.
- Rev. of Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY, and the Lost Story of 1970 by David Browne. PopMatters 14 July 2011.
- Rev. of Stephen King on the Small Screen by Mark Browning. PopMatters, 31 May 2011.
- Rev. of Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King. PopMatters, 24 Nov. 2010.
- Rev. of Freedom Summer by Bruce Watson. PopMatters. 27 Aug. 2010.
- Rev. of Southern Women Playwrights: New Essays in Literary History and Criticism, ed. Robert L. McDonald and Linda Rohrer Paige. Arkansas Review 34.1 (2003): 53-54.
Reference Publications
- “Miracleman.” Critical Survey of Graphic Novels. Ed. Bart Beaty and Stephen Weiner. Pasadena: Salem Press, 2012.
- “Sandman.” Critical Survey of Graphic Novels. Ed. Bart Beaty and Stephen Weiner. Pasadena: Salem Press, 2012.
- “Swamp Thing.” Critical Survey of Graphic Novels. Ed. Bart Beaty and Stephen Weiner. Pasadena: Salem Press, 2012.
- “Stephen King.” Critical Survey of Short Fiction. Ed. Charles E. May. Pasadena: Salem Press, 2012.
- “Flash Gordon.” The Thirties in America. Ed. Thomas Tandy Lewis. Pasadena: Salem Press, 2011.
- “Boris Karloff.” The Thirties in America. Ed. Thomas Tandy Lewis. Pasadena: Salem Press, 2011.
- “Two Trains Running.” Masterplots, Fourth Edition. Ed. Laurence W. Mazzeno. Pasadena: Salem Press, 2011.
- “Eric Bogosian.” Critical Survey of Drama, Second Revised Edition. Ed. Carl Rollyson. Pasadena: Salem Press, 2003.
- Graduate School Fellowship, University of Mississippi
- Who's Who Among Students in America's Colleges and Universities
- Best Actor, Theatre Department, Arkansas State University
- Freshman Writing Prize, First Place, Arkansas State University
- Academic Distinction Scholarship, undergraduate
- Rotary Club Scholarship
- Pipeliners Voluntary Fund Scholarship
- Delivered pre-show talk on A Midsummer Night’s Dream for The Nashville Shakespeare Festival, multiple dates, summer 2018.
- “A Picture’s Worth 1000 Words: Telling Stories with Comics.” Solo lecture, Southern Literary Festival. University of Tennessee-Martin. Martin, 6 Apr. 2018.
- “Classic Comics: How it all Began.” Co-presenter with Brian Costello, Southern Festival of Books. Nashville, 14 Oct. 2017.
- Southern Festival of Books. “Pictures and Thousands of Words: Storytelling Through Graphic Novels.” Moderator of panel with Janet Lee and Kristen Radtke. Nashville, 14 Oct. 2017.
- Nashville Shakespeare Festival. “Talking Shakespeare” lectures on Antony and Cleopatra and The Winter’s Tale. Nashville, multiple dates, summer 2017.
- Nashville Shakespeare Festival. “Talking Shakespeare” lecture on Romeo and Juliet. Nashville, Jan. 2017.
- Nashville Writer’s Conference/Nashville Film Festival: Moderator of “Writing Faith-Based Content” panel featuring Chad and Carey Hayes et al. Nashville, 21 Apr. 2016.
- Led talkback following Blackbird Theatre’s performance of The Crucible at Lipscomb University, 2016.
- “Marvel vs. DC: The Battle for Super Cinema & TV.” Featured panelist with Kevin Maguire, Wizard World’s Nashville Comic Con. Nashville. 28 Sep. 2014.
- Led talkbacks following two of Circle Players’ performances of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, one at HCA Tristar and the other at Lipscomb University, 2013.
- “Peeking from Behind Sofas: Neil Gaiman’s Violent Cases.” Popular Culture Association of the South. Nashville. 28 Sep. 2012.
- Introduced and moderated a master class by cartoonist Eric Powell, Southern Literary Festival, Lipscomb University, Nashville, 2012.
- “Stephen King and the Modern American Short Story.” College English Association, St. Petersburg. Mar. 2011.
- Southern Festival of Books: Moderator of session on Southern literature with Joseph Millichap. Nashville, Oct. 2009.
- Southern Festival of Books: Moderator of session on science fiction with Timothy Zahn. Nashville, Oct. 2007.
- Co-hosted panel discussion on African Americans in the media as part of Black History Month, Lipscomb University, 2005.
- “Have a Counter-Cultural Christmas: Misfits, Outlaws, and Marxists in Children’s Television Christmas Specials.” Tennessee Philological Association, Nashville. Feb. 2005.
- “The Chimes They Are a Changing” The Intersection of Politics and Literature in Orson Welles’s Chimes at Midnight.” Tennessee Philological Association, Columbus. Feb. 2004.
- “Searching for the Intimate Man: The Intersection of Race and Masculinity in Tennessee Williams’s Plays.” College English Association, Memphis. Apr. 2001.
- Co-directed discussion on Toni Morrison’s Beloved as part of Conversations Series, Lipscomb University, 2000.
- “Pittsburgh Southerners: August Wilson’s Addition to the ‘Southern Man.’” South Central Modern Language Association, Memphis. Oct. 1999.
- “Masculist Transformation in August Wilson’s Seven Guitars.” Edward Albee-Prince William Sound Theater Conference, Valdez, Alaska. Aug. 1998.
- “Tennessee Williams and August Wilson: Dislocated, Lost, and Searching for Home.” The Mississippi Delta’s Tennessee Williams Festival, Clarksdale. Oct. 1996.
- “Looking Back to See the Future: August Wilson’s Unique View of the 1960s in Two Trains Running.” The William Inge Festival, Independence, Kansas. April 1996.
- “A Streetcar Named Wildfire: Tennessee Williams’s Fulfillment of Paulding’s The Lion of the West.” Mississippi Philological Association, Greenwood. Jan. 1996.