Library Update

The Library Saga keeps on rolling. I sent the librarian my recommendations list and a handout for their first meeting (which I'll get to momentarily), and I'm working on some of the other handouts for the class (which I'll get to, again, momentarily). I'm not totally sure what I'll be presenting, really (except for a bunch of Free Comic Book Day comics courtesy of the awesome folks over at Stand-Up Comics), but I'll be giving recommendations and information as best I can.

So, when it came down to it, I split up my book recommendations into "all-ages" and "teens/advanced readers." I gave the librarian a larger list than was on the handout (didn't want to overwhelm the kids), and I left manga off...for the time being (that'll be my next recommendation). Here's my list of recommendations, indexed by appropriateness (all-ages, and the 10-12-and-up crowd), with the ones on the kids' handout marked in red.
All-Ages

• Amelia Rules
  
• Baby Mouse
  
• Batman Adventures
  
• Bone
  
• Fantastic Four: Franklin Richards
  
• Justice League Unlimited
  
• Leave it to Chance
  
• Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century
  
• Marvel Adventures: Iron Man
  
• Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man
  
• Marvel Adventures: The Avengers
  
• Mouse Guard
  
• Owly
  
• Power Pack
  
• Shazam: The Monster Society of Evil
  
• Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane
  
• Superman Adventures
  
• Teen Titans Go!

Which breaks down to:

• 12 superhero comics
• 6 Marvel, 6 DC
• 6 non-superhero comics
• 4 comics with specifically female protagonists
• 10 comics related to other-media properties

Teens/Advanced Readers

• Batgirl: Year One
  
• Batman: Haunted Knight
  
• Blue Beetle
  
• Confessions of a Blabbermouth
  
• Fantastic Four Vol. 1: Imaginauts
  
• Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin
  
• Kimmie66
  
• Marvel Team-Up Vol. 1: The Golden Child
  
• Re-Gifters
  
• Runaways
  
• Scott Pilgrim
  
• Superman: For All Seasons
  
• Superman: Up, Up, and Away
  
• The Plain Janes
  
• Ultimate Spider-Man
  
• Wonder Woman Vol. 1: Gods and Mortals
  
• X-Men: First Class
  
• X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga

Which breaks down to:

• 13 superhero comics
• 7 Marvel, 6 DC
• 6 non-superhero comics
• 6 comics with specifically female protagonists
• 8(ish) comics related to other-media properties

I also basically gave a blanket recommendation for the Essential and Showcase lines.
I'll be bringing more to the table when I do the presentation, and I'll be sending along some manga recommendations as well, so keep the reviews and comments coming :).

Other stuff I'll be doing for this event include an overview of terminology (paging Scott McCloud) and jobs associated with comics (%&$#ing tracers), comic-related and kid-friendly websites and blogs (Comic Book Resources/Comics Should Be Good, maybe?), and a description of the process of making a comic, from idea to finished product. I think I've got a decent handle on most of that, though advice and recommendations would be great.

One thing, though: I can give a run-down on just about every job associated with comics, from penciller to letterer to colorist, but I'm a little fuzzy on how work is split up among editors. I know there's managing editors and EICs and whatnot, and somehow continuity policing and story coordination and copy correction and deciding what books come out, and when, is all part of the "editorial" province, but I'm not totally clear on who does what. Anyone a little more informed on the process? I may even drop an e-mail off to the DC offices later tonight if I find that it's a real sticking point.

Happy (Belated) 2nd Bloggiversary, Comics Should Be Good!

I'm going to do something a little different for the people over at Comics Should Be Good. Usually I fill these short little posts with links to all my favorite posts, but there's two years worth of content over there, and the vast majority of it is indexed by tags.

No, instead, I'm going to thank the Comics Should Be Good guys, for inspiring me to start this here Fortress of Soliloquy. Way back in June 2005, I had just recently discovered comic blogs. I mean, I'd been reading Newsarama and Comic Book Resources and the Superman Homepage regularly for quite some time, and I started reading The Fourth Rail a few months prior. But that late spring and early summer, I started finding actual honest-to-goodness comic blogs, and I liked what I saw. The Absorbascon and Suspension of Disbelief were some of the first ones I checked regularly.

And Comics Should Be Good. I liked Comics Should Be Good for their clever terms (like "Paternalistic Continuity") and their humor, and of course, for the then-fledgling "Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed." But when it came to "mature" comics, specifically of the "Identity Crisis" sort, I didn't like them. In fact, I disagreed pretty vehemently. I've changed my views quite a bit since then (not the least of which because of this), but at the time I felt like I was the only person in the whole of comic fandom who liked reading in comics what I could watch in Law & Order. And that became my fourth post: a defense of "mature" comics storytelling and an attempt to debunk the notion that this was a new development in superhero comics, basically directed at the CSBG crew. There was a period of time where I felt a kind of rivalry toward Brian Cronin; you know, that kind of polite resentment where you respect someone and like some of their work, but really, really don't like what they have to say? Like that.

It didn't last long. What can I say? Brian's a fantastic guy and a better blogger than I'll ever be. Plus, he taught me how to truncate my posts. Eventually, I learned to stop worrying and love Comics Should Be Good. And I was reminded through this that I could disagree with someone and still enjoy what they have to say.

But Brian Cronin's not the only member of the Comics Should Be Good crew. If I ever stop being dead to Greg Burgas, perhaps he'll accept my saying that I think he's one of the most consistently entertaining people in comic blogging. I frequently disagree with his reviews, but he's a fine writer, whether at CSBG or at that other blog of his which I read frequently. Plus, we share the musical love that dare not speak its name.

And there's the rest, and I feel like a heel saying that. But, I don't check the bylines before I read the individual posts, so anything I say about Greg Hatcher, Bill Reed, Harvey Jerkwater, and Chris Burton's contributions to the blog would be somewhat less than sincere. Suffice it to say that CSBG is one of the best blogs around, and they therefore are among the best bloggers around. By the time their third Bloggiversary rolls around, I'll have something more substantial to say.

And Comics Should Be Good is one of the best blogs around. It has great commentary, good reviews, and awesome features like the aforementioned Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed to the always entertaining Judging Books By Their Covers to more recent features like Watching the River Flow and Snark-Free Corner. But you know that already. If you're reading my blog for the comic content, you already know about and frequently visit Comics Should Be Good.

Happy Bloggiversary, guys, and thanks for the inspiration. Keep up the good work.