Dont Miss Jeff Smith, Professors, etc. on this Canadian Telecast

Click here to see Jeff Smith and others answer questions on comics/graphic novels, the classroom, and learning. Or, just scroll down. Listen to a woman call comics "quick, easy" and suggest the idiotic idea that the visual elements of comics take away from students' ability to use their imaginations. Jeff Smith's reaction is priceless. He reminds us of the complexity of process as well as reminds us that comics evoke reader response.



We (cartoonists, comics scholars, and comics-and-literacy advocates) fight SOOOO much ignorance, even from otherwise "educated" people. Thank goodness we get a mix of ideas here.

Eh? More like "Yeh!"

Did Willed Ignorance cost *Essex County* To Lose Award?

Or was it just regular ignorance? The Beat has the write-up of how the graphic novel was summarily dismissed by the judges of Canada's Top Five competition without much consideration of its actual content.

Note the "qualifications" of the judges.

The Vancouver Sun Reports that Bill Vander Zalm Learned to Read Through Comics

From the article, which also mentions Michael Bitz:

Archie, Donald Duck and Superman opened the doors to a language and a culture the young boy, who emigrated from the Netherlands after the Second World War, knew nothing about.

“Comic books were a way of escaping into another world, like TV,” said Vander Zalm.

“They helped me learn to communicate and to make friends. Those were big things.”

Vander Zalm is a former premier in Canada.

Oh, Canada (Council of Learning)!

Another paper has picked up the CCL report on comics and male literacy. This article from Epoch Times follows an article from the Vancouver Star that made the rounds a few days ago.

Thank You, Canada!

...and thanks to Frank W. Baker for drawing my attention to this study about comics, literacy, and their potential intersections among male readers.