Comic Book Librarian

I had originally planned to just list several books I think you should buy here, but upon thinking about it I'm going to revise this idea a bit. I want to instead provide a recommendation for selections and how to evaluate books about comics and then provide a list with ideas of why the books are included. I think this is a time when it's more important to explain the whys than just list a definitive list. And there are several reasons for this.  First of all, some of the really good books are just not affordable or practical for a library or they are out of print or may even go out of print by the time you read this. Second of all, it is more important in some ways to talk about the reasons behind a book being in a collection than just telling you what to get. Third, I obviously have not read all the books out there, I don't have the time, and I come at this as a hardcore comic history buff and what fascinated me may not work for your average patron. Fourth, I'm not r...

Marvel has quite a few shows in the works. I'm going to try to do recommendations for the ones we know are coming. Obviously the shows themselves may not last or even happen as planned, but here's what we've got. Inhumans: Inhumans  by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee - seriously this is the definitive Inhumans work. It's beautiful written and handled. Every character gets a chance to shine. This series really focuses on who the Inhumans are as characters and their society as the Inhumans must deal with a threat from within and from without at the same time with surprising results. There is really no other Inhumans story that captures them as well or comes close to this. Cloak & Dagger: This is a harder one. Going off what I'm seeing from the trailer, the Cloak and Dagger comics are nothing like the show will be. The show seems to be more about teen angst and a Romeo & Juliet type story with the government after them. The comic, however, is about two runaways who ...

I'm sure you've noticed that I kind of bounce around. I'm sorry, but as this is pretty totally a one sided conversation, I have to hit topics when I think of them and when I'm interested to expound on them rather than just when I'm scheduled to do so. I'm sure this makes for more interesting reading or so I tell myself. Again though if there is something you want me to talk about, please let me know. If you're not aware, there has been a recent sort of call to arms and outrage about comic books tackling political issues particularly at Marvel and DC. Some have claimed that certain writers and comics have become little more than political rants with little trappings of story. Others have decided that anything with the slightest reference to politics or religion is an absolute war against a political opponent. And let's just be open here while some of this is true, some of it is pure hogwash. For example, the recent Steve Trevor one-shot released to ...

I'm obviously addicted to DC Super Hero Girls. As I've said previously, I've pretty much consumed everything that is DC Super Hero Girls up until this point. So here's a review on the newest book, Katana at Super Hero High  by the always amazing and talented Lisa Yee. This is the 4th book in the series after Wonder Woman, Supergirl, and Batgirl all got their own books and this one is finally a breath of fresh air of newness. The first 3 books all focus on the concept of a new girl coming to school, struggling to fit in and accepting her place at this elite new school. There were slight variations on the theme, but that's basically it. Wonder Woman and Supergirl felt very similar as they both dealt with similar issues and Batgirl had slightly different perspective, but it still felt like we've tread over this material before. With Katana, we've finally got a new perspective. Katana is not the new girl at school, she's established with friends from the pre...

I just finished reading this, so that's why I'm going to get this out there now. DC Super Hero Girls is a line of dolls, action figures, lego figures, cosplay items, comics, books, a few movies, and soon to be animated TV show (there are already animated shorts on Youtube, but this is going to be a full on show). I've been a huge fan from the beginning. I have a full line of the dolls including the San Diego Comic Con Exclusive Katana from last year and all the books and comics thus far. I've been generally loving everything. But this story had me stop for a number of reasons and we'll get into that in a bit. Generally though DC Super Hero Girls is a fun action packed and girl friendly series. The few male superheroes help, but they don't save the day by any means. The girls always do it and do it with fun and flare. The dolls are awesome and the books, while a tad repetitive thus far, have been fun. The comic has often used ties to the Youtube shorts, but branc...