Con Fatigue!

I has it!

San Diego Here I Come!

It's been slow around the interwebs lately, as many of my steady news outlets have personnel doing the same as I: Getting ready for San Diego Comic Con! This will be my second-ever SDCC. I went back in 2002(?) as editor-in-chief of the online comics and commentary site Outcast Studios.

This year I'll be going as a panelist, joining Katie Monnin and others in an academic session on comics and writing. I'll be wearing some comics-related clothing, but I will not be in full costume this year. Maybe next year, though!

Is Sookie Stackhouse Coming to a GN Near You?

Maybe. Maybe not. But, True Blood writer Charlaine Harris says she has a trinity of graphic novels featuring vampirishy characters up her sleep as her next big project. Click here for more info.

NPR Covers Michigan Kids Drawing Comics

National Public Radio, eh? That's pretty good press.

George O'Connor Introduces the Greek Myths in Only 10 Panels

First Second graphic novelist and pretty cool dude Gorge O'Connor loves his mythology and does a great job interpreting its characters and adapting its stories. He's published several Greek God-centric graphic novels, and here he gives an overview that could be used in tons of classrooms.

Monnin Talks to InsideHigherEd.com about Comics and Literacy

Click the link embedded in this post's title to hear my friend and colleague Katie Monnin, a professor at the University of North Florida, speak on comics and education. InsideHigherEd is a website that explores issues of working and teaching in academe and also hosts job positions announcements, so you can bet it gets some good traffic. So, Katie's words should reach a large audience of hopefully receptive ears and may be the first words some visitors will have heard regarding the connections between comics and learning.

2011 Harvey Noms are Public!

Josh Elder and the Reading With Pictures anthology are up for several awards. Great to see a comics-and-literacy text get some props!

39 Graphic Novels for Kids!

Folks at School Library Journal remind that tykes like comics just as much as Spiegelman scholars with this list.

Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics Announces Themed Issue: Superheroes and Gender

Peter Coogan edits this latest edition of The Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics.

Center for Cartoon Studies Granted $225,000

The school will use the finds to develop a center named after its founder, Inky Solomon. The Inky Solomon Center will help former students develop their projects.

That's a lot of scratch and should serve notice to anyone interested in grants that comics-related projects can garner significant dough, especially when a local community understand their importance and impact.

Darryl Cunningham's Evolution Web Comic Making the Rounds

I had no idea Darryl Cunningham has created a host of science-based comics. See his latest, "Evolution" here. Heidi at The Beat reports that he has also done a comic on autism, and you may alreasy know about his Psychiatric Tales comic.

DC to Stop "Writing for Trade"

That's the term given to the practice of writing long story arcs so they can be repackaged and sold as graphic novels, more specifically the trade paperback kind of GN. ICV2 reports that DC blames the phenomenon for slowing sales of pamphlet comics.

OK, but if you're gaining sales in GN formatted comics, what's the problem?

Read what DC bigwigs think by clicking the link embedded in this post's title.

I wonder if this move will affect graphic novels sales in a significant way. My initial thought is "probably not," since we all know pamphlet comics are not exactly a growth market, and GN's were chugging right along for a while there, though they've slowed too, and we do live in a "What have you done for me lately?" world.

Shreveport, LA, Librarian Wins Great Graphic Novel Giveaway at ALA 2011!

LeVette Fuller of Shreve Memorial Library won over $25,000 worth of graphic novels for her community! Gotta love these promotionals, sponsored by Bodart, Diamond, and GraphicNovelReporter.

For me, one of the most exciting features of J. Michael Straczynski’s (JMS) run on the Amazing Spider-Man (2001-2007) was his decision to give Peter Parker a stable job. The choice of occupation was a perfect fit, in my opinion, and illustrated JMS’s understanding of the best of the character. At his core and his best, Peter Parker is defined by the drive to do good, to set things right, to see responsibility and maturity triumph in an insane world that rewards the maniacal and offers riches and multiple escape routes to the careless and thoughtless who only think about “Number 1.”

Peter’s life, after the death of Uncle Ben, has been about troping blind grandstanding and braggadocio while always trying to make a positive impact on his world (Spidey is the quipy confident; Peter the worrywart) whether as penance or simply the only way he can live with himself and his social realities. Peter’s “life world” has always made him an excellent fit for the teaching profession, so JMS made him a substitute science teacher. Brilliant!

Shortly after JMS left Spidey in 2007, I stopped reading. The events and happenings since Staczynski’s efforts to re-establish the essence and ethos of the character seem shallow and false, what with the shirking of responsibility, odd choices, and the deal with Mephisto, Marvel’s top yet-still-third tier Satan analogue who hasn’t done much since toying with the Thing and the Beyonder in Marvel Secret Wars II.

So, imagine my joy when I saw Avengers Academy guest-starring in the Amazing Spider-Man #661, complete with a cover image of Spider-Man at the chalkboard in front of the group of teen heroes (OK, the posture doesn’t represent the best of a constructivist classroom, but we can’t expect a cover artist to me 100% savvy in the was of contemporary pedagogy, can we?).

The issue finds Spidey’s new team, the Freedom Foundation, very busy with an overgrown ape and getting an assist from Hank Pym (Giant Man), the headmaster of Avengers Academy, who informs the heroes that his “core faculty” is busy tomorrow, so he needs a substitute. Peter is quick to volunteer, though Giant Man had the Thing in mind.

“Now hold on just one flippin’ second!” Peter retorts. “…I have a teacher’s license! I taught kids for a living!” he says with pride. So, he convinces Pym to let him substitute for a day.

While it is a joy for me to see Peter back in the classroom for reasons mentioned above, and it is nice to see writer Christos Gage acknowledging JMS’s contributions to the Spider-Man mythos, it is particularly interesting to see how the creative team handle the phenomenon of teaching. How intriguing is it? Enough so that I just used “particularly” as an adjective describing “interesting” even though I had to split the verb phrase to do it.

Media representations of teachers and teaching have been noticed by teacher educators. Catherine Carter, the English methods professor at my undergraduate alma mater, Western Carolina University, recently published an article on the topic in English Education in which she pointed out how misleading, if not dangerous, media messages about teaching can be for those young people considering the profession as well as for those already in the profession, who must not only gauge themselves against the impossible in reality, but also in what ad campaigns and Hollywood have construed as effective teaching. One of my doctoral mentors from the University of Virginia, Margo Figgins, has co-created a multimedia piece of scholarship exploring representations of teaching in film and warned of similar worries.

So, what does AMS #661 suggest about teaching, and is it healthy for the profession? What utility might this issue have for practicing teachers, teacher educators, pre-service teacher candidates and teacher-student relationships in general? Let us consider what the comic offers.

I have mentioned the cover, which might as well be a still from Welcome Back, Kotter or Head of the Class. The teacher is at the front of the room, holding chalk and referencing his scribble, while the class is scrunched together in a set of uncomfortable wooden desks in a sparse room. We have representations of the eager beaver, the silent but attentive, the bored jock, the bored every guy, and the jokester among the students. The eager beaver character is most eager to go to the restroom, though, as Spidey makes a silly mistake in asking the entire class who needs to use the “little super heroes room.” Where’s the hall pass? The toilet seat? I know you’re a sub, Peter, but shouldn’t you have a system in place? ;)

The cover image represents a rather media-saturated image of the student-teacher dynamic, complete with stereotypical modes of discourse, seating arrangements, students, environment, and rookie mistakes.

Inside the comic, Peter’s interaction with Hank Pym seems more about proving his worth than about a love of teaching, more about wanting to be acknowledged as an important member of his social groups than about making a difference. He is proud to have been a teacher and to have earned a license! So, when Pym says that “changes everything,” Spidey is happy, only to learn that Giant Man thinks he’ll be a good sub not only because of his credentials, but because of the mistakes he made as a teen hero too. Ever the Charlie Brown in spandex, the Spider-Man. He can’t win for losing.

His penchant for earning backhanded praise spins directly and immediately into a surely correlated aspect of his neuroses: self-doubt. A cut-away reveals Peter walking with friend Carlie. Hat is he most worried about?:

Peter: I mess up a lot, Carlie [….] It’s not a big deal…You learn from your
mistakes.

Peter: But these are at-risk kids. I could ruin their whole lives.

Carlie: Or save them.

The teacher as savior myth is clearly at work, or at least the possibility of it. Peter Parker as great white savior of kids on the fringe might bring to mind any number of films where it seems a naive white teacher gets students to learn math or literature after earning their trust and delivering a corny rap. The idea comes from Carlie, not the experienced Peter, so who is to know how Peter reacts to her attempt to comfort him? The writer gives us none of his reaction, instead cutting to the beginning of class the next day.

It should also be noted that this myth of the savior, especially the “great white savior” is complicated a bit since it is Spider-Man, not Peter Parker, who teaches the class. No one knows Spidey’s alter-ego, so he could be of any race or origin, though his students do seem to know his (Spider-Man’s, not Peter’s) history as a costumed presence in New York City.

While the “teacher as savior” utterance might offer means of exploring other instances of the concept in media and/or help pre-service teachers question their motivations and the realities of transformational pedagogy, so too can Peter’s worry inform our understanding of teaching, specifically who is worthy or qualified to teach.

Peter is worried that his mistakes make him a liability, that his proclivity for messing up means he has nothing to offer students, or, at worst, suggests he could ruin them. Teacher as “saint” is reflected in his reservations. There seems to be in popular thought the idea that a teacher needs to hide his or her past and be the perfect human being. I remember the gall my first principal felt I had for admitting to my students that “I had made mistakes before” when they asked me if I had ever smoked marijuana. We all know of instances of schools implementing policy restricting teachers from making their presidential preferences known to students, and a recent bill in Tennessee will ban homosexual teachers or those who want to explore social issues related to homosexuality from using the word “gay” in school grounds, the assumption from the bill’s sponsors most-likely being that “gay” somehow equates to “immoral” or ‘unchristian.”

I believe Peter’s brief interaction with Carlie offers much to debate and discuss for teachers and students and especially for teacher educators and their pre-service students. Who is best to teach?: The sinner or the saint? The one with troubled life experiences or the one with an easy life to date Are these binaries even possible? Why do we decide to become teachers in the first place? What drives us? How deep do the rivers of our motivations run? Do they go deeper than what the films like Dangerous Minds or Freedom Writers tell us about teaching? If not, where to go from there?

What’s more, what about our lives can damage kids? This is the other major myth to evolve from the exchange: tainted as one who can only taint. The “sinner” as negative destructive influence, as the one who can never be washed clean and can only pass along his natural depravity. The same questions as mentioned above still seem relevant. But, how often in the media is our teacher construct considered tainted, except by convention? Others taint the media-constructed teacher, not his or her life experiences. The teacher is the “rebel in the right” whereas the “establishment” only sees the troublesome rebel who must be removed. Apparently, principals ad parents prefer that someone more like the saint put all those pages back in the Anthology of American Literature. Robin Williams should keep on walking.
Despite the traditional desk layout and teacher-student proximics apparent at the beginning of Spidey’s class, the subject is on the more abstract side of the Bloom and Marzano scales. Spidey uses Socratic techniques to get the students to consider super-hero ethics.

SM: So let’s say you’e in school in your civilian identity. Some jock gives you a
wedgy in front of a bunch of hot girls and calls you “egghead”…What do
you do?

SM: You’re on a date. A bad guy robs a bank nearby…

As the students answer, another popular myth from film and television emerges: the child as genius; or, more aptly put, the “everychild” as smarter than the “everyadult.” They offer answers that seem beyond Spidey’s paradigmatic understanding of the super-hero dynamic, then they tell him how the hip new young people do it. Duh! The in-class portion of the lesson ends when Spidey is unable to adequately answer a question from a student who inquires as to what is the best use of one’s super-powers, fighting villains or helping fight disease through capitalizing on one’s abilities.

Meet the Amazing, Out-Of-Touch Spider-Man: Spectacular fogie.

As I have said before in an essay exploring concepts of education, multiculturalism, and acculturation in the X-Men comics, especially in the dynamic of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, any representation of schooling and teaching, whether it be from a Norman Rockwell painting, a film, or an advertising campaign, can help us inform our own notions of pedagogy and explore what messages are being marketed to us about teaching, teachers, and students – if we acknowledge the fact and directly, overtly, critically examine the images put before us.

What is especially interesting in comics – super-hero comics, anyway – is that overt pedagogical instances often morph into vocational education. Comics aren’t the only form of media playing with vocational education these days. Hogwarts is a school for wizards, after all. The students in the film Hero High mimic the X-Men in that they are in school to learn how to use their powers for good. But, comics offer multiple instances of not only vocational education, but on-the-job training. Pedagogy of place and pedagogy of experience often supersede the classroom dynamic. Dewey might very well love how young people learn in comics, if their field trips didn’t put them in danger of dying.

Spidey takes Avengers Academy on patrol, and soon enough the teens stop a robbery. Spidey evaluates their performance and offers critique. Students offer counter-evidence of said critique. A dialogic is created, and why shouldn’t it be? It’s an authentic instance and an authentic learning environment. And in such situations, experience matters. Spidey is able to save the children from the doubts and fears the “surprise villain” Psycho Man has instilled in them. Spider-Man fights those feelings too, along with more doubt, but overcomes them because he knows they come from external stimuli, not really from within. The issue ends on a cliffhanger, with Psycho Man turning the teens against the teacher using not fear or doubt, but by mind-controlling them through hate. It appears the teacher is about to become the student, the boys and girls will be the mothers and fathers of the man, who will die an old fogie death and make room for the new breed and culture.

One shouldn’t fault a comic book for having a comic book ending, of course. But it is interesting to examine the reasons behind why the in-class portion of the lesson was a struggle while the kids seemed to thrive in a situation that was real-life, in real-time, and concretely situated. Does this suggest a limit to the benefits of abstract, high-level thinking? A sort of proof of what Milton regaled as the benefits of active virtue? If students can’t test their philosophical opinions, what good are they? Mustn’t education have to come out from the desk, but also out from the classroom? Is a more vocational education experience better than one that is strictly academic? How does a constructivist approach fit into either or both dynamics, and how, if possible, can we blend pedagogies of experience with school building-centric curricula?

Or are we simply reading too much into yet another media construction of the student-teacher dynamic? Are we being influenced by more false truths about teaching in the final scene of the Amazing Spider-Man #661?


So, what does AMS #661 suggest about teaching, and is it healthy for the profession? What utility might this issue have for practicing teachers, teacher educators, pre-service teacher candidates and teacher-student relationships in general? It offers a unique, multimodal way “in” to discussing matters of the profession and perceptions of it. The issue is situated in the media but also strangely detached from dominant media discourses in the way that millions might see a film version of a comic, but only tens of thousands might read the source material. The comic book therefore is a media construct and may be subject to all that entails, but it might also benefit (or suffer) from the distancing effect of distribution and readership/ viewership, the insider on the outside. Teachers and students at the k-12 level and teacher educators and their pre-service teachers can mine that dynamic to get at the others regarding the phenomenon of contemporary teaching.

Featured Speaker Gig Set for Albany, October 2011!

Not sure if I've announced this, but I'll be a featured speaker at the 2011 New York State English Council event this Autumn. The focus will be on character education. Here's a link to my bio as reported by NYSEC. I'm looking forward to it!

Warren, NJ, Librarian Talks about Comics and Critical Thinking

IDW's *Code Word:Geronimo* is Death of bin Laden Story in Gn Format

Anyone not see this coming?

What's more surprising to me is that this is, apparently, the first time I've mentioned the name Osama bin Laden on this blog, which has been running since 2006.

Diamond Bookshelf Offers Summer Reading Suggestions

Holy Crap, That's a Lot of Graphic Novel Programming

The American Library Association is showing mad respect! I gotta get in on some o' dat next year!

Image Comics to Run w/ DC's Rating System

If you're interested in that sort of thing, then this is big news for you. Since the CCA is a ghost now, the bigwigs in comics companies have come up with their own ratings systems. Warner Bros Comics' system is similar to gaming rankings, I guess. I'm not much of a gamer beyond Super Mario Bros.

MOCCA Exhibit Focuses on Eisner's NY, Runs through August 14

Ugh! Too bad my "Jewish American Literature through the Graphic Novel" class won't start until a few weeks after this....

ICV2 Looks at the Current State of Kids' Comics

UTEP/Office Tour 4 Reference

Sex Ed Comics Available @ Not Your Mother's Meatloaf

That's the name of the blog you can visit by clicking the link embedded in this post's title. A couple of ladies have spear-headed an effort to produce comics on various topics related to the health and sexual well-being of young people. You can see their recent call for shorts and get PDF's of the comics they've already published online too.

You could win 20 Grand worth of Graphic Novels at ALA 2011!

The first giveaway was at the Texas Library Association. Now, Graphic Novel Reporter, Brodart, and Diamond are targeting the national American Library Association even being held in NOLA (that's :New Orleans, Louisiana" to the unhip) June 23-28. I know a lot of very cool people who are going to be there, and I just wish they could have taken me with them.

Sometimes I feel like I might be a member of all the wrong professional groups. Or maybe just not all the right ones. Anyway, here's to all those sexy librarians who will be rockin' it in the Big Easy, graphic novel style!

GNR posts "Hottest GN's" for Summer 2011

For those of you caught up on your review piles....

Meet the Graphic Novel Gurus

Mary Klucznik works in New York state's Chttenango High School and builds her graphic novel library with the help of student experts. Great idea!

Kids Using Comics in New Delhi, India, to Talk About Corruption, Social Issues...

....through something called the World Comics India Organization, a sort of Indian Comic Book Project. How quickly the U.S. can get left behind these days, eh?

3rd part of Interview Series with _Gods of Asgard_ Graphic Novelist Erik A. Evensen

First Ph.D. Program in Manga Studies coming Soon

Kyoto Seika University (Japan) expects the program to be ready by 2012.

Comics Programs Coming to Dundee U and Moscow U of Industry and Finance

DU is in Scotland and MUI&F is in Russia. Perhaps it's time for me to consider an international job market!

2nd Part of Interview w/ Erik A. Evensen Posted!

Read more about the Gods of Asgard author and his process!

2011 Eagle Awards Winners!

NYU Library *Marvels and Monsters* Exhibit focuses on Asians in Comics

From the link:

"Marvels and Monsters:
Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942-1986
May 26 - August 19, 2011

Over four decades that included some of the most turbulent times in our nation's history, science fiction author and cultural studies scholar William F. Wu painstakingly gathered an archive of comics distinguished not only by its size and reach, but by its scope: It is perhaps the world's only, and certainly the largest, collection of comic books featuring images of Asians and Asian Americans...."

Evensen Interviewed @ *Norse Mythology blog*

Part one of an interview with my friend and collaborator Erik A. Evensen has been posted at Dr. Karl E. H. Seigfried's blog on all things Norse mythology. Erik hosts questions about his book Gods of Asgard, which debuted in 2007 and is a graphic novel adaptation of the Norse myths, recently brought to the fore by Summer blockbuster Thor movie. "Brought to the thoor," you might say. :)

Anyway, check out the interview! When the next installment/s post, I'll help you to it/them as well.

Sneak Peak at Second Volume of Twilight, the GN

Me, I've replaced vampire-themed texts with Life Sucks and Fat Vampire in my YA Lit course. Students had mixed feelings about the quality of the first GN adaptation, and I remember having a hard time finding nice things to say about it when I was looking for reviews for the rationales project. For those interested, the book will hit the shelves in October of 2011.

Proof I Ain't Just Spoutin' Off @ the Mouth!

Super-Powered Word Study is a finalist for the 2011 Next Generation Indie book Awards. I'm going to blog about this more once I know what I can and can't say (and when). In the meantime, feast your eyes on this nice certificate for verification that I ain't no liar!

Sarah Lightman's Mini Documentary: Women in Comics

Some of this stuff is so "like, whoah!" Click the link embedded in this post's title to view the documentary.

Super Heroes As Characters in Famous Paintings

"Low" (art) and behold (high art). ;)

"Graphic Novels Big Draw at Mountain View Public Library"

Or so says the title to an article posted on Mountainviewpatch.com. The Mountain View of focus is in California. Thanks to facebook friends Comic Book Literacy for the link.

GEEKDAD.com Profiles Yang's Latest GN: _Level Up_

Gene Yang has another kids/adolescent-friendly graphic novel debuting in a few months. Level Up tells the story of a kid who want to live a life full of video game playing while his dad has made it clear an M.D. should be in the boy's future. Yang says it's also another example of "Pop Art," or comics' proclivity for exploring father/son relationships. Well, he doesn't use the term "pop art" exactly. I think Art Spiegelman coined that partifcular usage of the phrase....

Telegraph Article on Boys and "Long Books"

"Teachers are giving up trying to make boys read long books because they cannot get past 100 pages, new research as found."

That's the lead sentence to this article from the British newspaper, anyway. Apparently some research suggests that boys are turned off by long books -- defined in the article as 200+ pages -- simply because they are long.

It's more of the "boys can't sit still" stuff, but there are some good points about motivation and interest that come from the article as well.

The whole things reminds me of that body of "comics as a conduit" research that suggests that comics readers go on to read more and more varied literature than non-readers. The article does mention comics as a means of helping boys develop a love a reading.

Every Elfquest Comics Ever Available Online

NKU To Dabble in Awesome

According to Rich Shivener, Northern Kentucky University has chosen David Mack's Kabuki: The Alchemy for its 2011 Book Connection Program. This means that every member of the incoming freshman class will be reading and responding to a graphic novel.

Sweet!

I know LSU was considering doing this with Persepolis a few years ago, but I don't think they went through with it. I'm not sure if NKU's effort marks the first time a graphic novel has been the central text of a freshman entrance experience, but the "common text" idea is one that has become pretty popular over the last decade or so, so maybe it won't be the last.

Houston 4th-Graders Create Comic Book Depicting Harm to Classmates

An unfortunate story that the Houston Fox outlet is exploiting, but what is heartening is that so many players in the situation are being mature about things. Even the newscasters seem sincerely concerned about the story and what it might suggest about youth culture. Click the link embedded in this post's title, watch the video, and tell me if you don't feel the same.

A New Poster for my Office Door

Click the image to make it larger and legible. I try Prezis, posters, and leading by example to help my students see that teacher education shouldn't be a breeze, because the challenges of k-12 education are vast and need intelligent, motivated, progressive young educators who have been challenged to think and excell, not given hand-outs or spoon-fed their degrees and grades.

Stupid Politician Attacks Neil Gaiman

Gaiman, who is apparently a "pencil-necked little weasel" in the eyes of Minnesota Republican Matt Dean, is under fire from Dean for a $45,000 speaking fee he charged Stillwater Library last year. Gaiman says he gave the fee to charity. That's not good enough for Dean, who must be eyebrows-deep in an election campaign for douche-iest state representative.

I think he'll win. But he is a Republican in the 21st century, so the competition will be fierce.

ICV2 Covers Reaction to Action Comics #900, Wherein Superman Renounces his American Citizenship

Mike Cotton Leaves Wizard

After 11 years, Wizard writer Mike Cotton is leaving the company for other opportunities. The Beat writes, "it was commonly said that when Cotton left the Wizard ship it would be nothing but an empty hulk drifting the seas." I am one who certainly agrees with that statement, but I have to admit that it has been at least 5years since I've opened a copy of Wizard.

Here's my Mike Cotton story, and I think it says a lot about the man, who really is a fine writer. I don't know if he remembers this, but I do:

The only time I've been to SDCC was back in around 2001 or 2002. I happened by a row of tables near the Wizard booth. I remember a spinning wheel that featured give-aways, and I'm pretty sure Lou Ferrigno was nearby too. I happened to see a gentleman wearing a name tag. "Wow, that's Mike Cotton!" I mouthed silently, only to see the fellow reading my lips and display a little bit of blushing pride and humility at my awe.

Colin Upton Does Comics on Diabetes

Anyone who has or knows someone with diabetes will appreciate these autobiographical comics from Colin Upton. Heck, so will anyone seeking a sympathetic voice regarding food and weight issues in general. The Beat has a preview of "Diabetes Funnies" here.

Adam Hines Wins Another for _Duncan the Wonder Dog_

This time the graphic novel takes home the LA Times Book Prize for best GN.

Scheduled to Skype with a ELA Methods Class at NCSU

I'm hyped about my scheduled Skype with a class of middle grades pre-service educators tomorrow. That the audience will be college students from North Carolina State University makes it a little more exciting, as I am a native Old Hickory Stater. All my k-12 teaching experience took place in North Carolina as well. We'll be talking graphic novels and literacy/education, of course.

"Hamburgers for One," 2011 Eisner Nom for Best Short Story, Now Online for Free

Click the title to this post to access the 24-page sequential art narrative short story by Frank Stockton. I'm especially interested in this one because it also falls under the YA Lit category.

Heidi MacDonald calls it "the almost painful story of an awkward teen boy and his attempts to interact with his world."

ALA hosts Artist's Alley

For the first time ever, the American Library Association has hosted an artist's alley -- a place where comics creators can sit and sell their stuff while also chatting up fans -- at its national convention. New Orleans was the premiere of the happening, which surely suggests the interest in comics and literacy is still going strong among those who have been among the earliest and staunchest advocates of the sequential art form.

Kudos to my librarian friends for keeping up the great work!

"Lois Lane, Reporter" Comic

A feminist revisionist take on the mythos of Lois Lane? Just more realistic? Entertaining, for sure.

2011 Hugo Awards Noms Released!

There's the graphic novel category, of course, but several other comics are featured too.

Audrey Niffenegger's *The Night Bookmobile* Selected as "One Book, One Conference" Selection for Recent TLA

Learn more here.

Maureen Bakis Talks Comics in the Classroom

Maureen is a high school teacher at Masconomet Regional High School in Topsfield, Massachusetts, and is doing some writing for Graphic Novel Reporter.

Dorkly.com's 5 Advertisements from Watchmen...

Watchmen, that troper of tropes, proves that a troper of tropes is pretty easy to trope. I'm tropin' out on this! Trope, trope, trope....

Texas Librarian Wins $20G Worth of GN's!

At the recent Texas Library Association's state conference, Eduardo Zepeda won the "Great Graphic Novel Giveaway" prize, which contained more than 700 graphic novels. Zepeda is the librarian for Weslaco Public Library. Click here to learn more.

Another Eisner Nom 2011 Puts Work Online for Free

This time it's AdHouse's Afrodisiac that one can read gratis, following in the footsteps of Dave Kellett, who recently posted his book Literature: Unsuccessfully Competing with TV Since 1953 for free-of-charge online viewing as well.

Both titles are Eisner nominees for best humor production.

Meltzer, Gaiman Speak Out for Libraries

The American Library Association has released an image of authors advocating for libraries, and among them are Brad Meltzer and Neil Gaiman, who join Alan Moore as outspoken proponents por las bibliotecas. Click this post's title to see the poster.

Vanessa Davis' Passover Webcomic

Material for my Jewish American Literature: The Graphic Novel course just keeps popping up! :)

"Graphic Novels for Kids with Autism"

This article from Autmont.com, the website for an organization serving the Montgomery County, MD, community, lists some great graphic novels that parents recommend for kids with autism. PARENTS, I said!

George R.R. Martin Talk Comics and Reading Circa 1981

Another story of an accomplished adult who learned to read through comics! Hotcha!!

2011 Kids' Comic Convention Programming Now Up!

See what Alex Simmons and friends have brewing for the April 16 event!

Columbia, Harvard Show Love for Graphic Novels

On April 14, 2011, Columbia University will host "An Evening With Neil Gaiman" that will also feature Paul Levitz, who is a lecturer at the Ivy. Details here.

Sixteen days later, Harvard will host a series of speakers at the "Comics and Muslim Identity" event, sponsored by the institution's Center for Middle Eastern Studies.

Sequential Tart Writers Have High Praise for *Kill Shakespeare* Series

John Weaver Offers Advice for Comics in the Classroom

GNR asks high school teacher John Weaver about teaching graphic novels in the classroom. Weaver has taught Watchmen and V for Vendetta, and he is currently exploring one of my other faves, Incognegro. See the interview here.

Elementary Kids Offer Praise of Classics

Read "From the Mouth of Babes: A Word About Classics in the Comics Format" over at The Graphic Classroom blog. Video included!

Kellett's 2011 Eisner-Nominated _Literature!_ Free Online

Dave Kellett has made his recent Eisner-nominated comic Literature!...Unsuccessfully Competing Against TV Since 1953 available online. The book is a collection of strips and is nominated for "Best Humor Publication." Read it here!

Ian Gordon Puts _Comics Strips and Consumer Culture: 1890-1945_ Online For Free!

The book of comics scholarship can be yours to read and share by clicking here. It was first published in 1998 by the Smithsonian Institute. Thanks to the good doctor for allowing open access to a fine work.

Jeet Heer on Race and Comics

2011 Eisner Award Noms Released

Martha Cornog on "Why comics Make Reading Fun"

This article from the most-recent Graphic Novel Reporter update features tons of advice for parents and those interested in kids' literacy and also offers an overview of topics of import on the comics-and-literacy discussion. Highly-recommended reading.

Kelly Gallagher Talks Reading, Kids

Here's a great interview with a teacher who really gets it when it comes to reading and kids. He basically makes a pro-comics argument with every word he says.

_Tin Tin_ Racism Case *CAN* Be Heard in Belgium

Thanks to Sturge for the update on the case that Mbuto Mondondo has brought against Tin Tin in the Congo. Apparently if an image offends, it can be deemed illegal and harmful in Belgium. While I may not support the racist images in the book, I do not support the book being banned in any way. But, I'm an old-fashioned American who likes freedom of speech, not one of those hyper-lefty liberals like Lindsey Graham.

Harvard Workshops Focus on Muslim Identity in Comics

Did you know the Harvard University Center for Middle East Studies has been giving workshops on Muslim identity and comics? Me neither, but there's one coming up in late April, and it is free and open to the public!

Editors of *Icons of the American Comic Book* Seek Submissions

See the PR below: Dear Comics Scholar: Randy Duncan and I would like to invite your contribution to a new anthology we are editing for ABC-CLIO called Icons of the American Comic Book. The project will include 100 entries spanning the breadth of comics culture, including the characters, creators, titles, and other facets that have achieved iconic status with the American consciousness. For your contribution, we can offer you an honorarium: · $90 for each of the entries designated to run approximately 5,000 words · $50 for each of the entries designated to run approximately 2,750 words We are looking at an initial deadline of August 1, 2011. Our aim with Icons of the American Comic Book will be to provide fresh insights into the significance of some of the most widely known and fascinating popular culture icons of the 20th and 21st centuries. Each entry will discuss the iconic significance of its subject and should be both more detailed and more entertaining than the conventional encyclopedia entry. More than simply character or creator biographies, the entries will provide in-depth explorations of the icons as products of and an influence upon American culture, informed by scholarly research. Below is our list of entries (a strike through indicates an entry that is already assigned).

[Please contact the editors at the given e-mail address for a list of open entries]

If you are interested in contributing, please let us know what your primary as well as any secondary preferences would be, but do keep in mind that we will need your initial draft(s) by Aug. 1. Along with each entry you request include a brief statement of your qualifications to write on the subject. Please respond to msmith@wittenberg.edu Our publishers have stipulated that we should consider our primary audience to be students doing research. To that end, each entry must include a bibliography and one (or more) sidebars of 50-300 words each. (These considerations must be included within the word counts.) We’re also planning to invite some guest contributors to 1) read and comment on the draft entries, 2) contribute a sidebar, or 3) even collaborate on the entry itself on several key entries. For example, comic book writer and editor Mark Waid (Superman: Birthright) might be enticed to act as a consultant on the Superman entry. Each guest’s role will depend on your comfort and willingness to work in such an arrangement. Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you soon, Matthew J. Smith and Randy Duncan

Gene Yang joins Hamline University's MFA Program, as a Professor!

Hamline's MFAC (Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults) program is expanding to include graphic novels and comics.

Very, very cool.

For more info on Hamline University, a graduate school of liberal studies based in St. Paul, MN, click here.

Decatur, TX, Librarian Talks GN's, Rural America

Denice Herrera talks access, comics, and teen readers from the perspective of a rural librarian.

Shaun Tan Wins Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award

Which is considered the "World's Largest Children's Literature Award" by the awarding foundation. "Large" means "big money" in this case, by the way. So, Shaun, can I have a loan?

More NECAC 2011 Press!

The Providence Journal gave the conference some love, as did the student newspaper at Rhode Island College, the host site. Click here to see what RIC's The Anchor had to say.

Nice Article on NECAC 2011

A thorough and sincere look at the conference that was and hopefully will continue to be. Notice the mention of a representative from "The University of Texas." I'll take that upgrade, fo' sho'! ;)

Graphic Novel Goodness w/ Dr. Carter @UTEP Come Summer, Fall 2011

Just thought I'd share all the graphica goodness coming students' way here in the West Texas Town. This Summer I'm teaching YA Lit during the second Summer session.


I'm taking a cue from my colleague Keith Polette and "clustering" 10 graphic novels around 7 YA novels. The graphic novels include American Born Chinese; Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda; Life Sucks (which I'm going to pair with Fat Vampire), Dawn Land, Bayou volumes 1 and 2; Yummy (which will be clustered with Monster); Refresh, Refresh (which will be clustered with Last Night I Sang to the Monster and other texts); Smile; and How I Made it to 18.


My Fall 2011 line-up looks like this: one section of English Laboratory, which will once again feature Ayers' To Teach graphic novel; one section of what was once called "Drama in the Classroom" but has, due partly to my efforts, been retooled as a "Multimodal and Hybrid Forms in ELA" course; and one section of Jewish American Literature in which I get to focus on the graphic novel.


Watchmen, The Tale of One Bad Rat, and The Absolute True Story of a Part-Time Indian are on tap for "Hybrid Forms."


It was tough to narrow down the reading list for Jewish American Literature. I finally told myself I can make assignments that will allow for students to flesh out areas we're not covering in the required reading. I hardly have any super hero stuff in there, for example, but I'll have suggested titles for additional graphic novel reviews and book reviews to extend our knowledge.



So, here's the list of titles that did make it. You'll see a clear emphasis on some "contemporary masters" in here: Make me a Woman, James Sturm's America, Unstable Molecules, Hereville, Need More Love, A.D.: New Orleans after the Deluge, Ghost World, the Quitter, Maus, In the Shadow of No Towers, Fagin the Jew, The Plot, and The Contract with God Trilogy.



That's mostly Sturm, Spiegelman, and Eisner, I know. Hard to apologize for that, though. Also, The Jewish Graphic Novel: Critical Approaches will be our key textbook, with outside readings from other texts and one assignment being reviewing another scholarly or pseudo-scholarly book dealing with judaica and comics.

Nice Article on Marvel, Super-Hero Comics, Mass Media

The New York Times gives the contemporary iteration of Marvel some love.

Free Digital Comics Coming To the 'Bucks

Will that be in Slim, Colossus, Juggernaut, or Galactus, sir?

p.s. I hear you can order a Wolverine if you want just a little taste, but its not on the menu and you have to ask for it.

Inaugural Lynd Ward Prize for "Best Graphic Novel" Goes to....

Duncan the Wonder Dog, by Adam Hines. As the Beat reports:

"Named for the seminal woodcut artist who created some early American graphic novels, the prize is sponsored by the Penn State University Libraries and presented to the 'best graphic novel, fiction or non-fiction, published in the previous calendar year by a living U.S. citizen or resident.'”

Congrats to Adam! Looks like I gotta put another book on my must-read list!

Local Comics Creator Speaks to Kids, Library

Some nice photos of El Paso comics creator Julian Lawler's visit to the Anime Club at El Paso's Burgess Library. Rock on, Julian!

Ethan Heitner's "What Does a 'Failing School' Look Like?" page 1

I have no idea if this is the first in a series of pages or a one-off, but it's worth a look. Click the title to the post to see a comparison of several Queens, NY-based schools -- sharing the same building no less -- seeing differences in funding, etc.

Tweets from Japan's Super Heroes Reassure Citizens

:01 (First Second) Exec Talks Comics, Anniversary

Great article here about First Second's scope, aims and history, in which it is revealed that American Born Chinese has sold about 200,000 copies in English and other cool tidbits are discussed. Congrats on the publisher of decent-to-excellent graphic novels on its pending 5-year anniversary!

NECAC is This Weekend!

That's the New England Comics Arts in the Classroom Conference, ya'll! Woot! Woot!

"Jews and Superheroes" Cartoon from EV Comics

Thanks to Barry D for sharing this link and offering to skype with ENG 3327 next semester!

TT Prof Talks Comics, Holocaust

Katie Monnin Profiled in Florida Paper

And it looks like Katie has a new book out as well.....

You Know You Wish you Were Enrolled at UTEP Come Fall 2011!

Update from The Comic Book Project

Press Release: It's official! The Comic Book Project has come to at least one school or library in every state across the US. From Hilo, Hawaii to Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon to Miami, Florida, and everywhere in between. We'll soon feature a comic book club of the month to highlight all the creative work and literacy development. But we're not letting international borders stop us-- our latest club [is] in Mexico!

Add "Motion Poster" to your list of hybrid forms

You know about motion comics, but now there's the motion poster! Click here to learn more about this artifact associated with the new Conan the Barbarian movie.

"Comic Book Literacy" Brings the Links

If you're not facebook friends with the folks hocking the documentary Comic Book Literacy, you're missing out on tons of interesting links. It's like they have all day to comb the web to look for evidence to support their claims yet never bothered to give me a ring on the telly. ;)

Anyway, here's a link to an article from the North Bay Nugget detailing how Lynda Marshall uses comics to help teach canonical works like those from Shakespeare in here high school English classes at Widdifield Secondary School.

An excerpt from the article:

Students were sent on their Christmas break with the graphic novel version of Hamlet (which resembles a big comic book), as well as the original play.

"I told them to just read the graphic novel and we'd review the original play in class," Marshall said. "When they came back, they had read both. For the first time every student in the class understood the play, cover to cover."

There was also a big comics-and-literacy shindig at North Texas that featured a lot of good speakers. Apparently UNT gets it. Still, it might have been nice to get a call, but the UT system is different from the UNT system, so I can understand the homegrown pride.

But the student newspaper at UT-Arlington is getting in on the action. Here's a link to an article from The Shorthorn that covers the documentary that Texas-based Todd Kent is showing across the state currently. Here's another English teacher, this time at the college-level, talkin' graphica:

English assistant professor Carolyn Guertin uses comics in class to help her students create digital narratives. She believes comics should be taught to children because they help them understand information by using a more visual approach to presenting it.

“Comic books are the fastest-growing form of storytelling,” she said. “I think it’s really a good approach to making [information] understandable, and they’re fun. You can never beat the fun factor in learning. It’s very important to making it accessible.”

Finally, here's a link to a Youtube video featuring a discussion of the documentary after it had been screened.