Remembering John Lent, part 9: Michelle A. Amazeen and his academic biography

Two pieces discussing John's professional life and history are posted today. "Remembering comics scholar John A. Lent, 1936-2026", Bart Beaty, TCJ May 26, 2026  https://www.tcj.com/remembering-comics-scholar-john-a-lent-1936-2026/ and Dr. Amazeen's work below. Also online is another article from China sent in by his wife Xu Ying - https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/1tj4a0ybt-GpGw2kcn_y4Q

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I last saw John on March 12, 2026 when I was in Philadelphia for a book talk. We had lunch, for which he insisted on paying. Although he walked with a cane, his mind was as sharp as ever. I was shocked to learn the news of his passing when I was visiting Janet Wasko in Eugene, Oregon last week.

John was born into a coal mining family in a small western Pennsylvania town. He worked as a gas station attendant, bar tender, and factory guard. While working in that factory, he won a college scholarship that paid for his tuition and provided a consistent summer job, changing the trajectory of his life. Yet, John never forgot where he came from. He kept a photo on his desk of the outhouse from his childhood home to remind him of his roots.

His first book was about the poor relations the Newhouse publishing empire had with its labor unions. While it cost him his PhD he was pursuing at Syracuse University (he later finished his PhD at University of Iowa), it exemplified the concern he had with media institutions, ownership, and power imbalances; an interest that would persist throughout his career. He was troubled by who was benefitting from institutional structures (generally not the little guy) and dedicated his life to critical communication scholarship: scrutinizing the prevailing communication institutions – their operations and outputs – analyzing their strengths and problems, with the goal of identifying practices and policies that prioritize the public good over corporate interests.

John was a member of my dissertation committee in 2012. We wound up collaborating on the sequel to his 1995 book, A Different Road Taken: Profiles in CriticalCommunication. The new volume, Key Thinkers in Critical Communication Scholarship: From the Pioneers to the Next Generation, was published in 2015. We included a chapter profiling his life and career as a critical communication scholar. His biographical sketch from our book is copied below. I am making available the full chapter about John Lent here.

May he rest in peace.

Michelle A. Amazeen | May 26, 2026

 

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John A. Lent taught at the college/university level for 51 years, beginning in 1960, including stints as the organizer of the first journalism courses at De La Salle College in Manila (1964–1965); founder and coordinator of the first mass communications program in Malaysia at Universiti Sains Malaysia (1972–1974); Rogers Distinguished Chair at University of Western Ontario (2000); visiting professor at Shanghai University, Communication University of China, Jilin College of the Arts Animation School, and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. In the United States he taught in West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, before joining the Temple University faculty, where he was full professor from 1976 to 2011. He has lectured, often as keynote speaker, at universities, conferences, and other meetings in 63 countries. In his adult life he has also worked as a factory guard and printer in Pennsylvania, a gas station attendant in Wyoming, and supervisor of an archeological excavation in Canada.

Lent received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from Ohio University in 1958 and 1960, respectively, and a PhD in communications from the University of Iowa in 1972. He has also studied formally at Syracuse University, Guadalajara Summer School in Mexico, the University of Oslo, Sophia University in Tokyo, and India.

In his research, Lent has endeavored to be independent, comprehensive, socially relevant, and critical (the latter on issues such as cultural imperialism, media ownership, press freedom, women and media, New International Information Order, the impact of new information technology, the transnationalization of communication, and the transfer of conventional social science theory and methodologies to the Third World). He thinks of himself as a research “gap filler,” studying areas that are devoid of research and stimulating others to pursue those topics. Thus Lent has pioneered the study of mass communication and popular culture in Asia, since 1964, and the Caribbean, since 1968, comic art and animation, and development communication. Among the 78 books and monographs he has authored or edited are the first books on Asian newspapers, Asian broadcasting, Asian film, Asian popular culture, Asian animation, Asian comics, Asian cartooning, Caribbean mass communications, Caribbean popular culture, African cartooning, Latin American cartooning, and publisher S. I. Newhouse. Lent also compiled the earliest bibliographies on Asian mass communications (two volumes), comic art (ten volumes), women and mass communications (two volumes), and Caribbean mass communications (two volumes). He has also authored about 200 book chapters and entries, and at least 900 articles and book reviews.

Lent’s gap-filling is reflected in the number of associations, groups, and journals that he has founded, and then presided over, published, and edited. Among these are Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei Studies Group of Association for Asian Studies (chair, 1976–1982), Berita (editor, 1975–2001), Comic Art Working Group of IAMCR (chair, 1984– present), Witty World International Cartoon Magazine (managing editor, 1986–2001), Asian Cinema Studies Society (chair, 1994–2012), Asian Cinema (publisher-editor, 1994–2012), International Journal of Comic Art (publisher-editor, 1999–present), Asian Popular Culture section of Popular Culture Association (chair, 1995–present), Asian Research Center for Animation and Comic Art (chair, 2006), Asian Youth Animation and Comics Competition (co-organizer, 2007–present), and Asia-Pacific Animation and Comics Association (2008–present).

Among his other professional activities, Lent has been a consultant to different educational and governmental groups, has served on international cartoon and animation competition juries in the United States (Pulitzer Prize, two years), Korea, Cuba, Cyprus, Slovakia, Poland, Brazil, Colombia, Canada, Ukraine, Mexico, Serbia, Kenya, Italy, Iran, China, and elsewhere, and has been a member of many association and editorial boards, including the Popular Culture Association, Comics Journal, Journal of Asian Pacific Communication, Crossroads, Human Rights Quarterly, Jurnal Komunikasi, Asian Thought and Society, FECO News, Americana, Cartoonists Rights Network International, ImageText: Interdisciplinary Comics Studies, Feng Zikai Research Institute, Media Asia, Asian Mass Communication and Information Research Center, Bucheon Cartoon Information Center Library, Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival, Mechademia, and others.

Lent’s awards include a Fulbright scholarship; induction into the top honorary societies in English, journalism, and history; scholarships/awards in his name in the Popular Culture Association, International Comic Arts Forum, and Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei Studies Group; a festischrift; the first lifetime achievement award of the Asian Media and Information Centre (Singapore; Premio John Buscema Amarel Cómic Award, Spain; Popular Culture Association Presidents’ Award; Calicomix Diplome de Honor, Colombia; and others.

Remembering John Lent, part 8

John A. Lent with his book Asian Comics (2015) at the Art and Design International Conference (AnDIC) in Malaysia in 2016.  

 

 Thank you John Lent

 ”Thank you very much, Muliyadi.  With that amount, I have to stay alive for five more years.  [...] I appreciate your loyalty and friendship.  John”. 

Those were the words of John A. Lent in an email sent to me on Thursday June 24, 2021 at 12.20 am, after receiving a remittance of USD300 from me as payment to continue the subscription to the International Journal of Comic Art (IJOCA) which was founded and published by him.  Unexpectedly, his words came true when he passed away on Saturday, May 16, 2026 at the age of 90.

In 1991, two Mass Communication lecturers of Mara Institute of Technology (ITM) namely, Sankaran Ramanathan and Mohd. Hamdan Adnan introduced me to John Lent who was visiting Malaysia.  It was one of the most important moments in my journey as a lecturer and researcher of comics and cartoons as the friendship with John Lent paved a way for me to global cartoons and actively being involved in research on the art form.

In 1997, while doing my PhD research entitled Malay Editorial Cartoons: The Development of Style and Critical Humour at the Cartoon and Caricature Studies Centre, University of Kent, at Canterbury, in the United Kingdom, John Lent invited me to contribute an essay on “The History of Malaysian Editorial Cartoons” to the Southeast Asian Journal of Social Science (National University of Singapore, Vol.25 No. 1 1997) that he was editing, focusing on the subject of Cartooning and Comic Art in Southeast Asia.  John Lent’s invitation gave me an opportunity and a platform to publish the early findings of my research.   

That invitation was the beginning of many other projects and collaborations with him, including the book entitled Animation in Asia and the Pacific (London: John Libbey, 2001), the Society of Animation Studies conference in Australia (1999), essays in the International Journal of Comic Art (IJOCA), the book entitled Transnationalism in East and Southeast Asian Comics Art (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022 edited by him, Wendy Siuyi Wong and Benjamin Wai-ming Ng) and many more.  John Lent was a great supporter of my career and I am enormously indebted to him.

In 2016, while still teaching at the Faculty of Art and Design, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), as the Chairman of the Art and Design International Conference (AnDIC) organized by the faculty, we were able to to invite John Lent to deliver the keynote at the conference entitled ”Cyberology Relative to Themes and Issues of an Art Form Upstart-Comic Art” at the Concorde Hotel in Shah Alam, Malaysia on October 10, 2016.  It was indeed an honour to me and the faculty that he had agreed to come to the event as well as meeting with some local comic artists and cartoonists.    

John Lent was a role model who continously encouraged and inspired me to write and research.  His works have always been references for me as well as for my students, especially those who are doing research in visual culture, comics and cartoons.  He inspired us on the potential and the future of comics and cartoons as an art form as well as a field of study. 

John Lent was a very reverend and humble person who was very approachable especially in discussing academic matters related to comic art, the world of cartooning and media studies. He was a role model and inspiration for others. His passing is a loss to the world of comics and cartoons and his contributions to the field of study will always be remembered.  Thank you John!

 I send sincere condolences to his family and friends.

 Muliyadi Mahamood

Former Professor of Cartoon Studies

Faculty of Art and Design

Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)

MALAYSIA.

 

John A. Lent

To:  me · Thu, 24 Jun 2021 at 12:20 am

Message Body

Thank you very much, Muliyadi. With that amount,

I have to stay alive for five more years. 😏I will

change your address.

I appreciate your loyalty and friendship. John

 

669 Ferne Blvd.

Drexel Hill, PA, 19026 USA
http://www.ijoca.net/

 A copy of an email sent by John Lent to me on Jun 24, 2021. 

John Lent with me while visiting an exhibition of Malaysian cartoons at the National Art Gallery in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2012.

 

John Lent with me and some other Asian comic scholars, from left Lim Cheng Tju (Singapore), Karl Ian Cheng Chua (The Philippines) and Hikmat Darmawan (Indonesia) at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2018.

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 I was fortunate enough to know and work with John for only a short period of time, but it was something I will always consider a significant honor. As a new comics scholar, the work he did in the comics world felt almost mythic. However, even more special was the fact that he had the rare quality of genuinely embodying that myth up close as well as from a distance. I have no doubt that he will be missed and remembered as long as we continue to study comics. 

 Grace Wright Hulme

Grace updated IJOCA's index for its 25th anniversary 

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"Blistering blue bibliographies! What's wrong with this engine?!?" On back roads in Africa, John Lent generally used a modified engine and gapped his spark plugs slighly smaller to prevent spark blowout under high cylinder pressures.

 Car Tuning in Africa - the lost InterGalactic Journal of Comic Art page by Gene Kannenberg Jr, Rusty Witek and Darko Macan.

Remembering John Lent, part 7: John Lent's Pioneering Contributions to SEA Comics Studies by ct lim

by ct lim  

When I first met John Lent in 1992 in Singapore, he told me a story. How he decided to do his postgraduate studies to escape the draft. “is that the Vietnam War, John?” “No, but it was after the Korean War.” 


In 1992, John was 56 years old. I was 20 years old. This year, I will only be 54 years old. And John is still older than me now when I first met him!


Many tributes have poured in since the news of John’s passing broke. If you have read them, you would come to a conclusion (and there could be many conclusions or beginnings for a life as rich as John’s) that Asia and the Third World were his focus and, in many ways, his method. 


A  search will turn up many articles, chapters and books he wrote and edited about Asian mass communications, press freedom, cinema, animation, cartoons, comic strips and comics. Narrowing that and you have specific regions and countries like East Asia, South Asia, North Asia and where I am from, Southeast Asia. 


A sampling: https://independent.academia.edu/JOHNLENT


Many of his earlier books on comics and cartoons (published in the 1990s) were on Asia in general. But his connections with Southeast Asia went back to his early years of university teaching in the 1970s. Having taught in the Philippines and Malaysia, he wrote critically about the mass communications and press freedom in these countries and also Singapore. He described the mass media in these countries as ‘development journalism’, which meant “government say so” journalism, resulting in authoritarian media policies. This incurred the wrath of the Singapore government in the 1970s and John was labelled as one of those troublemaker academics from overseas who sniped from a safe distance and far from the borders of Singapore. John was named in the Singapore newspapers, which if you think about it, it’s ironic. They sort of proved John’s point about development journalism. 


Thus, he told me he was afraid he would not be able to come through the Singapore customs in 1992, when we met. That was the year he did his Southeast Asian trip to countries like Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines to meet artists, editors and publishers. This was also around the time he met Lat and Muliyadi Mahamood of Malaysia, I found out later. Lat shared that John invited him to many places, conferences and events; Muliyadi said John has helped him a lot academically.


From this 1992 tour, John wrote many articles about Southeast Asian cartoons and comic strips that appeared in various journals. He interviewed me and I interviewed him for BigO. But we got something more from him too. I introduced him to Michael Cheah, the editor / publisher of BigO and Mike was interested to meet John because Mike used to be a reporter for the Singapore Monitor and he has read John’s stuff before. Long story short, we got John to write about Asian and SEA comics for BigO. Mike passed away from heart problems a few years ago. 


The 1990s, in my mind, was the start of a number of dedicated volumes that John put out on Southeast Asian comics and cartoons. He has been editing Berita, a periodical on Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei studies, but one of the first specialized edited volumes on Southeast Asian cartooning appeared in Southeast Asian Journal of Social Science Volume 25, Number 1 (1997). I contributed an article on ’Singapore Political Cartooning’, which was based on the history honors dissertation I wrote just the year before. Enough has been said about John giving young aspiring scholars their first chance. But I didn’t become an academic, I became a history teacher instead. I would repeat this joke to Ian Gordon after a few drinks. If I had done my honors dissertation on the history of Singapore cinema or music, I would have more of an academic career. Whether I succeed or fail in that field is a different story. But I focused on comics, and since the late 1990s, I was just known as the guy who wrote about comics, the ‘cartoon guy’ who was not to be taken seriously by the academic elite in Singapore universities. I should have written for Asian Cinema (also started and edited by John at one point) instead of the International Journal of Comic Art. Maybe I should blame John for this. But a friendship of 34 years? Nah, I would not trade anything for that. 


An example of that friendship was when I was asked to put together a special issue on SEA comics for SPAFA (SEAMEO Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts) journal in 2007 and when I approached John, he gamely wrote the lead article. 


Two other SEA volumes followed in the 2000s and John has always made a point to include me - Southeast Asian Cartoon Art: History, Trends and Problems and Transnationalism in East and Southeast Asian Comics Art. The former’s chapter on Singapore Chinese cartoons was based on my master’s thesis and the latter was the result of a symposium John put together with Benjamin Ng and Wendy Wong at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2018. On specific SEA countries, John wrote The First One Hundred Years of Philippine Komiks and Cartoons, which was an extension of an article he wrote in Comic Book Artist Vol 2 No 4 (2004). The book is still much referred to today. 


A preview of the Comic Book Artist article is here: https://issuu.com/twomorrows/docs/cbav2-4preview/18


But an older but more complete article on the Philippines is here: https://archium.ateneo.edu/phstudies/vol46/iss2/5/


(it is not a coincidence that when Ian Gordon and I decided to meet on the evening of 18 May in Singapore to drink a toast to John, we gravitated to a Philippines pub) 


Of course, one should not forget the post retirement (John retired from Temple University in 2011) monumental volumes of the 2010s to present - the University of Mississippi Press’ Asian Comics, Comics Art in China, Asian Political Cartoons and Comics Art in Korea. One more on the Caribbean is akan datang (coming soon). 


I did not always agree with John. But I think he would not want it any other way. The last time I saw him in 2018 in Hong Kong, I jokingly said what he was doing (traveling all over the world) was not great for his carbon footprint. Of course, it was great he was still up and about, lots of energy and flying all over and giving us a chance to meet him. But I was worried that all that flying was not good for his health. I would rather fly to America to see him if I could. Still, whenever I hear he is in the vicinity, I would fly to meet him, like in 2016 when I flew to Kuala Lumpur over the weekend. We just hung out for 2 days and it was a good trip. We met up with Muliyadi and we went to interview Nora Abdullah, a pioneer female Malay artist who drew comics in the 1950s. The interview appeared in the International Journal of Comic Art (where else?). Nora has since passed. 


My main disagreement with John is his approach. It is great that he would sweep in into any place and quickly suss out the cartoonists, the artists, the editors, the publishers, the translators and even the fixers. Of course, all these required weeks or months of prep beforehand to set up the meetings. But John’s time in these places were short and he interviewed whoever he could find, and visited offices and studios in a matter of days, sometimes less than a week. I think he would admit there is a flaw or very clear limitations of such a parachute method. You are on a SWAT / commando / SAS mission, to the dirty and get in and out when the job is done. John would maintain contact with those he met, but whatever he saw, heard, read or bought would be a snapshot of that place’s comics at that particular point in time. You can only generalize to a very limited extent. But perhaps due to his training in the social sciences (mass communications), John leans towards making generalizations. He would also conflate the information from his interviews. For example, he would interview an artist in the 1990s and later in the 2010s. He would put the quotes from the two interviews together, and it reads like it is from a recent interview conducted. You will only know if you read the endnotes or if you have read John’s earlier articles which used the same quotes. This is not an idle criticism of John’s work, but it is coming from a place that has looked at John’s writing critically and engaging and thinking about it to improve the field of comics studies. Or at least comics studies in SEA. 


Nothing changes the fact that what John did was very important because often he was the first to document the cartoon or comic scene of that particular. He would welcome other writers and scholars to continue the work and he would generously share his contacts. I have asked him several times for leads when I visit a new place. No questions asked. John was in the business of knowledge sharing and creation. This generosity cannot be overstated. 


In many ways, my response to John’s approach and trips was to extend and expand beyond what he had done. I have visited Indonesia many times, different cities, met many artists, some repeat visits, some are my good friends of over 15 years. And the first thing I will say is there is no such thing as Indonesian comics. There are comics from Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Malang, Semarang, Solo, Jogjakarta and there are all different with some similarities, but the context and the market are different. And these are the cities in Java. (West, Central and East) There are also comics from Sumatra like Medan and so on. And when I described the comics from say, Bali (an island on its own), it is my impression of comics Bali at that particular point in time. Someone visiting Bali at a different time could have a very different experience and view of the comics. 


On a few occasions, when I disagreed with some things which were published in IJOCA, John would encourage me to write a letter and he would publish it. It did not matter if the article in contention was written by him or not. He wanted that exchange and discourse. Tell me I am wrong and I will stand corrected. 


There is probably more I can say but it has taken me a week to write this. Like how I met Fusami Ogi in 2000 through John when he put together a comics panel at IAMCR in Singapore and both of us presented. I would meet Fusami again in 2002 in Toronto at PCA, again under the aegis of John. I would be involved with the projects of Fusami and her group of women manga profs and Japan has shown much more interest in SEA comics than North American or European comics scholars. 


Except John Lent.  

Remembering John Lent, part 6

 

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 I never met John Lent. I have no stories to tell about him. I have nothing relevant to add to the contributions of those, friends and family, close to him. That is why, besides being saddened by the awful news, writing something in his memory was not my intention. I meant to write nothing that is, until I remembered how much I admired him as a defender of cartoonists' rights. More than that, how much I admired him as a defender of freedom of speech, against corporations, against dictators, against the powerful who, everyday, everywhere, stifle us by any means available to them: by the use of force, or, simply, denying cartoonists a forum to publish their satire and criticisms, including editorial policies which lead to self-censorship. 

The disappearance of John Lent's voice in his "Editor's Notes" and other features in IJOCA will be sorely missed. We all know the sorry state the world is right now. To the best of my knowledge, I see no one replacing him in this sea of conformity and hate we are living in...
 

Domingos Isabelinho

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 As the editor of the International Journal of Comic Art, John Lent provided a venue for comics scholarship when there were few other options. IJOCA became one of the pillars of the newly emergent field of comics studies, and much of what came after rests on his work. John published my first academic article, as he did for so many other scholars, and he continued to support us throughout our careers. He was a role model for passionate, engaged scholarship, setting an example for us all.

There’s one story from the early years of IJOCA that will always stick with me. A graduate student contributor (unaware that John always favored a muscular interpretation of academic fair use) requested permission from DC Comics to reprint four panels from their comics. The company denied his request, likely because the article addressed the comics’ response to allegations of Batman and Robin’s homosexuality in the 1950s. 

John, unwilling to risk the new journal’s future on a legal challenge, found a novel way to register his protest while keeping the lawyers at bay: he ran a large blank box where the images would have appeared, with the caption “DC Comics would not grant permission for the use of this four-panel series.”

That wasn’t the end of John’s objections. The story of DC’s denial ran in The Comics Journal and Lingua Franca before getting picked up by the Advocate. Long before anyone had heard of the Streisand Effect, John was making sure that DC’s attempts to censor our scholarship would backfire. I’ve always admired that response and the lessons that it taught me about working in academia, or any other institution: Don’t comply in advance, and always make the bastards do their own dirty work.

I’ve had many occasions to tell that story to other scholars, most recently at a comics conference in May. I didn’t know it at the time, but John was already in the hospital. He’s gone now, but the story lives on. So does the work he leaves behind, the many friends and scholars he mentored along the way, and the field that would not exist in its present form without him.

Marc Singer

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 RIP John A. Lent

John was a super human who played major role in getting comics studies on a steady footing in academia. He was also a very generous man. He will be very much missed.

I will post a few images I drew almost 20 years ago of John appearing within various images from old-style Japanese manga history. These were done for the Interplanetary Journal of Comic Art (IPJoCA) , a festschrift in honor of John Lent on his 70th birthday  put together by Michael Rhode in 2006.

Figure 1. Newly discovered 12th century picture scroll pre-dating the Choju Giga (John being chased by a rabbit and frogs. A Chojugiga "Scroll of frolicking animals”parody.)

Figure 2.“Bubbles” from Toba-e Akubi-dome Paato tsu (1720) by Takahara Satchusai. (John blowing speech balloons)

Figure 3. “The Other Side of the Person Who Preaches Prohibition of Alcohol as Seen by a Cartoonist” (ca. 1920) by Futokibara Seiki. (John as the artist and first manga historian Hosokibara Seiki)

Figure 4. Shimaga Keizo’s 1940 comic strip Neko-nana Sensei. (A parody of a popular Shimada Keizo strip, Neko-shichi sensei strip, in which the protagonist expresses anti-American sentiment. An angry John Lent appears in the final panel.)

Figure 5. Untitled 1956 cartoon by Oshima Ko from his weekly strip Sennin Mura.(John appearing in a redrawn version of one of Kojima Kou's Sennin Mura strips. In it the running character blurs into a seeries of speed or movement lines. In panel 3, John Lent yells the character, "Hey! Stop!". In panel four, as the character has stops, the movement lines all fall like sticks to the ground.)

Bonus image an illustration I sent to John celebrating his 70th birthday.

 Ronald Stewart

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John's bookshelf of his books and publication. Photo by Xu Ying.

 

 

Memorial service for John Lent on May 26

 From his son, Shahnon Lent:

If you wish to send condolences or flowers, the memorial service is being held at Ruffenach Funeral Homes on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, from 6-8 p.m. Their address is 4900 Township Line Road, Drexel Hill, PA 19026.

Remembering John Lent, part 5: In Cuba with Marlene Pohle (2000)

 

 

It´s certainly not easy to think a Cartoon-and Comic World without our dear friend John Lent. We from FECO will also publish articles and caricatures from here and there with John. In IJOCA Vol 20, N° 2 Fall/ Winter 2018 appeared a sequence from different meetings I wrote, also illustrated with caricatures, and all had something to do with John: "A Cartoonist Chronicler of Cartoonists´Confabs," According to that I send you my sketch from Cuba 2000, a story that John liked very much to repeat each time we met. Big hugs and my condolences also to his family. 

Marlene Pohle
FECO Vice president general

CUBA 2000 -- Second Dedeté Biennial in Havana: “A Cuban Story with Police Included”

by Marlene Pohle

excerpted from "A Cartoonist Chronicler of Cartoonists’ Confabs," IJOCA 18:1 2018 

When in the Spring of 2000 we were invited as members of the jury for the 2nd Biennial Dedeté, in Havana, Cuba was just coming out of the Special Period. The expectations that preceded this visit to our dreamed Cuba of the Revolution with all its problems and its yearnings, was enormous, but several months passed until our presence on the island was confirmed. Those were years when, in addition to the bureaucratic apparatus, Internet technology was not as diversified as it is today. Especially, since in the building of the newspaper Juventud Rebelde was the only fax machine, that depended on a single telephone number. Email and all the other current media were not available.

 Many guests were invited from different countries; some of us as jury members.There were from Cuba and Latin America: Caridad Blanco, Picho, Jape, Tomy, Pilozo, Ruz, Osmani Simanca, Jorge Ocampo, Andrea Rodríguez and Martha Barragán. Furthermore, Willem Rasing and Peter Nieuwendijk from Netherlands, Marlene Pohle from Germany/Argentina, John A. Lent from U.S., Brian Bagnall from Germany. The organizing committee was formed by Ares, Garrincha, and Lauzán. We can not forget our drivers Santos and Abel, who rushed us with a nice “Que se va la guagua!” (The bus is going!).

 

We visited some interesting exhibitions. In this way, we met Tomy, or Tomy Rodriguez, one of the most prestigious Cuban artists of the moment. He died a few years ago. It was very interesting to hear his comments, obviously very Latin American, about his own works and those he made with his students. In the 1990s, when Cuba lacked everything, he went with his students to find discarded material, cardboard, metal pieces, old fabrics, acrylics, etc. to carry out their works. With this he showed that what matters is the idea and the desire to create, no matter what you work with. 

Some days were dedicated to lectures with the editors of different humor periodicals from Latin America, Spain, Italy, U.S., and FECONEWS. Another day was dedicated to a visit to the Museo del Humor de San Antonio de los Baños, a traditional and important institution with many rooms and an interesting heritage in cartoons. This museum and the biennial already occupy an important space in the world of cartooning.

The most incredible story happened to us one night when, before going to sleep in our “Social Club,” we sat in the patio next to an empty and abandoned pool, in the moonlight to chat and drink beer and a bottle of gin brought by our Dutch colleagues. We were Andrea Rodríguez, Peter and Peggy Nieuwendijk, John A. Lent, Willem Rasing, Jorge Ocampo, another of our Dutch friends, and me. A Cuban girl attended our table, the only one occupied, by the way.

Some drank more than others, as often happens, and after midnight we went to sleep. I shared the room with Andrea, who quickly fell into the arms of Morpheus and never woke up until the next day

I was also asleep when a knock on the window woke me up scared. I did not know where I was, what was happening, nothing!

The two giant policemen only told me that both Ocampo and the girl were going to be transferred to the police station. But why??? Then I got to see Ocampo half drunk sitting on a bench. The girl cried. Neither she nor Ocampo could get a word out to clarify the situation. At the same time I had to translate to John what was happening, when in reality, nothing was happening except the surreal situation of us being under the Cuban moon in a deserted courtyard, the girl crying, Ocampo drunk, the police trying to finish the story, John in shorts and barefoot, and I trying to know what happened. I asked myself, I can not believe that this is happening to me, to be in Havana in the midst of a conflict with the police of our discussed Fidel. After many sobs, I could understand that the girl was scared because Ocampo had some words with her; we do not know which ones.
 

When I managed to reason (Andrea, as I said, was asleep), I realized that it was John who was asking me for help. “Marlene, please, help!! There are two armed policemen and I do not understand anything! Could you come to translate?” Because of the fright, I do not remember if I put on a pair of pants or a skirt and I went out to the terrace where apparently a drama was being developed, of which we did not understand anything. I saw that John did not care about the clothes because he was dressed in shorts and barefoot. There was the waitress who had served us, in a sea of tears, so much that she could not articulate a word and therefore we did not know what was happening. I started to talk with the policemen, two burly guys as tall as I had not seen any Cuban before. Or was it the amount of clothing and weapons that made them so gigantic?

A phone! We have to call one of the Cubans, Ares or Garrincha! I resolved while I translated to John. But alas! The only phone in that building was in a phone box that, of course, at that time had a huge padlock. Where in this neighborhood is there a phone? Someone told us that about two blocks down the avenue there is a kiosk that will surely be open and will have a telephone. I rummaged through my papers and saw that I had Ares‘ phone number. Salvation!

At that moment, we saw with desperation that the policemen took both the girl and Ocampo. John and I imagined all the possible horrors regarding the fate of our Colombian colleague and the Cuban girl. I could, however, ask them which police section they were taking them to. I think I remember that they said “the 35.” So, just as we were, with improvised clothes and John, always barefoot, we walked down the avenue of coconut trees zigzagging in case a coconut fell on us, until we found the kiosk.

It was open and they lent us the phone! I was able to communicate with Ares‘s wife and I apologized for this call at two in the morning, but she told me not to worry about that. I will never forget this kindness; that she would take care of us and that we go to sleep. We did that; we went back under the coconut trees and went to sleep not without some anxiety. In my room Andrea was still asleep and I do not know if John washed his feet. In the morning at breakfast we told the story. The Dutch looked at us incredulous and the girl -- without tears -- served us coffee. We did not see Ocampo, but when our Cuban colleagues and friends came, they told us they had already arranged everything. Without details. We did not ask for anything either.

 

Remembering John Lent, part 4

Rifas' IGJOCA contribution, updated

 

 I want to write something in memory of John Lent. (This is not it.) I'm about to take a ten-day trip. I hope it will not be too late to add something when I get back.

 I met John in Budapest, thanks to Joe Szabo, and a few days later, as scheduled, presented a paper on his panel in Lake Bled, Yugoslavia. It was at a Communications conference, and since both he and I were part of the academic field of Communications Research, I want to talk about how in that context (in particular, American Communications Research) his work was so unusual in focusing both on global communications and on popular communication.

Amazing to think that with his enormous contributions to comics scholarship, where he not only blazed a trail but paved the foundations, he had other scholarly interests. Asian cinema? Who could have time to read so many subtitles?

One consolation I have is remembering an email exchange in which I told him that an interviewer had asked me about which comics scholars had inspired me, and I had answered simply "John Lent." When inspiring people are gone, it's a nice thing to know that you had told them how you feel about them. I'll take this as a reminder to send more fan mail.

In my review of his book Asian Comics, I called him "a supremely knowledgeable guide to Asian comics, but also a smooth and organized writer": Lent’s 'Asian Comics' a supremely knowledgeable guide - International Examiner. What a massive research effort! And that was just one volume of his astoundingly productive scholarly career.

In the great scheme of things, this planet may not amount to much, but what a gift to have been able to share it with John Lent.

I send condolences.

And since who knows what tomorrow brings, yes, you may post this. 

Leonard Rifas 

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I never had the pleasure of meeting John Lent in person, but he had an impact on me from afar. Many of my first publishing opportunities were podcast and book reviews in IJOCA. They not only helped give me some publication lines on my CV; they also gave me a sense of the field. Some of the first conferences as a young graduate student studying comics were influenced by Lent in some way (the PCA/ACA and ICAF). I am now a member of ICAF's executive committee and am proud that the Lent Award continues to recognize cutting-edge graduate student scholarship in comics studies. I am grateful for John Lent's contributions to the field and to the opportunities he created for others, like me, to enter into it.

condolences,

Maite Urcaregui, PhD

she/they

Assistant Professor

Department of English & Comparative Literature

San José State University

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John Lent was a long-time supporter and director of CARTOONISTS RIGHTS and I believe was in touch with Robert "Bro" Russell, our founder from the very beginning. His body of research as a cartoon and comics scholar is world-renowned, and he was always at work on yet another new book, or the latest volume of the International Journal of Comic Art. His expertise, most especially on Asian cartoonists, was a well of wisdom from which I was happy to draw.

I was only ever in his company once, at the beginning of my time with Bro's organization but in the ensuing decade of travel would often meet counterparts in related fields who, even if no-one else, had heard John speak about cartoons at some conference or other, charmed by his "Père Noël" demeanor.

This gentle manner masked a fierce commitment to free expression. It was very apparent in these latter years that John despaired of the direction in which his country was headed.

Our board of directors is greatly diminished without him, and we send sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all the many colleagues around the world who cherished him as a collaborator and mentor.

Terry Anderson, Executive Director, Cartoonists Rights

--------------------

John's value for comics studies is of course enormous. I cannot even imagine the comics field without the IJOCA and the bibliographies he started. But I will especially remember him as an ever curious and supportive grandfather figure. One anecdote can illustrate this: in 2008, after a paper about Bitterkomix I presented at ICAF in Chicago, a critical voice from the audience wanted to know circulation figures of the comics I showed. When this person started to doubt the legitimacy of studying comics with a very small readership, John immediately jumped in to say that he had been in South Africa with me and that circulation figures could never represent the true importance of Bitterkomix in the country. For me, this reaction shows who John was: as a traveler, he had acquired first hand knowledge about many comics cultures worldwide, and as a colleague, he was always supportive and interested.

Gert Meesters, University of Lille, France

-----------------------

I never met John Lent in person, nor did I ever meet him virtually over video. Our connection existed only through written correspondence by email: I was in Cairo, and he was in the United States. It was Mike Rhode who first put us in touch when I contacted him to ask about the possibility of publishing my article, “The Oriental Superheroes,” in IJOCA.

From the very beginning, John represented a side of the publishing world that I had rarely encountered: one that could be generous, humane, and reassuring rather than stressful, rigid, or intimidating. At the time, I was working on the article under immense emotional pressure. My dear grandmother was seriously ill and hospitalized, and it was extremely difficult for me to focus on academic work under such painful circumstances.

When I shared this personal situation with John, he responded with remarkable kindness. He told me that he admired my ability to persevere despite what was happening in my life, and he reassured me that I should not worry about the submission deadline. He said he was interested in my article, and that even if it did not make it into the current issue, it would still have a place in the next one. His words gave me a sense of calm at a time when very little in my life felt calm.

A few days later, my grandmother passed away, which understandably delayed my work further. I wrote to John immediately to explain that I was still trying to finish the article, but that I was in a very difficult situation after losing a beloved family member. Once again, John responded with warmth and compassion. He offered his sincere condolences, acknowledged my willingness to continue working despite my grief, and reassured me that the delay was completely fine, especially since he was traveling at the time and would not be working on the article until the following week.

That is something I will never forget.

Although John knew me only through email, it felt as though he stood by me and offered me a hand at a deeply critical moment. His kindness did not make me take the work less seriously; on the contrary, it made me want to give the article everything I had. I worked on it day and night, with even more care and determination than before, hoping it would become a piece that would make my grandmother proud and reassure me, somehow, that her passing would not hinder the success she had always wanted to see me achieve.

After I submitted the article, I did not hear from John for about a month, so I emailed him to ask about the status of my manuscript. The next day, he replied: “Your paper was accepted. Congratulations!”

That message remains one of the dearest academic memories of my life. It arrived at a time of grief and made that grief a little easier to bear. I remember saying, with all sincerity, “God bless you, John.”

Since then, I have shared this story in many academic circles. I wished that every editor-in-chief could hear it and learn from it. Yes, deadlines matter. Yes, scholarly standards matter. But making room for the real circumstances of people’s lives is an act of humanity. It is the kind of kindness that people remember long after the formal process is over.

When I heard about John’s accident, hospitalization, and the fact that he remained unconscious for some time, I was devastated. I hoped deeply that he would recover, and that I might one day have the chance to meet him, thank him in person, and perhaps work with him again. Sadly, fate did not allow this.

Yet I had been praying for John long before his accident and recent passing. I had been praying for him since my grandmother’s passing in 2021, because of the comfort and compassion he offered me then. Praying now for his soul to rest in peace feels like the continuation of a ritual that began years ago.

May your soul rest in peace, John. Please know that there are people who will carry the story of your kindness wherever they go. IJOCA is not only associated with your name and legacy; for me, it will always also be associated with your humanity, compassion, and commitment to building a scholarly community grounded in care.

Noran Amin, PhD

Assistant Professor of English 

Department of English Language and Literature

Faculty of Arts, Cairo University, Egypt

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I don’t remember exactly when I first met John. He was in Cuba as a jury member for the first biennial cartoon competition hosted by DDT, the famous humor magazine. It was 1998, I think.

From day one, he was El Profesor. His presence was impossible to miss in a crowd, but what truly made him unforgettable were his warmth, his paternal spirit, and his disarming laugh. He was kind, calm, and endlessly helpful to everyone—cartoonists, staff members, their families. And somehow, amid all that, he still found time to interview creators, gather information, and ask thoughtful questions. He seemed tireless.

I learned so much from him and from his publications.

Over the years, I saw him three or four more times—in Cuba, Canada, and at his home in Philly. Every meeting felt like picking up an old friendship exactly where we had left off.

The comics world has lost a devoted scholar.

I have lost a dear friend.

We will miss you terribly, John.

Garrincha

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I was fortunate to know Dr. John Lent through my father, Suresh Sawant, an Indian cartoonist who worked closely with Dr. Lent on IJOCA. My father always spoke highly of Dr. Lent and greatly admired him. I later had the privilege of knowing Dr. Lent personally after coming to the U.S. for higher studies. During one winter break, Dr. Lent and his wife, Xu, warmly invited me to stay with them in Pennsylvania, and I will always remember their extraordinary kindness, generosity, and gracious hospitality.

From shared family meals and heartfelt conversations to the genuine care they showed in making me feel completely at home, those moments remain among the most cherished memories of my life. Dr. Lent was especially proud of his home library, which reflected his lifelong passion for cartoons and journalism, as well as his remarkable dedication to scholarship and learning.

Over the years, we stayed in touch through occasional phone calls, often speaking about life and his health. He always listened with patience, warmth, and sincerity. He was one of the kindest and most wholehearted individuals I have ever known

I feel deeply humbled and truly fortunate to have known Dr. John Lent. He will be profoundly missed.

Sonal Sawant Centofante

------------------------

Thank you, John, for your foundational contributions to comics studies. I hope you know the extent of your work's influence and how long it will be remembered.  

Jennie S Law