Comic Book Librarian

OK. I had this idea and submitted it to be published in a book about comics and information literacy and the rejected it. Sad face. I know I could type this out and send it to be officially published and maybe one day I'll take the ideas here and reuse them for an article, but.. that's a long process and I think this is too important to lock up for long periods of time and potentially a paywall. So I'm going to do a series of posts about how superhero comics inherently teach information literacy and how you as a librarian can tap into that and use that to advocate for comics or even help people understand information literacy. No clue how many posts there will be if I'm honest.. but here's the first. Early example of a Marvel Citation If you've ever read a lot of Marvel/DC Superhero comics especially from the 60's, 70's and 80's, you will have noticed these little boxes with editors notes in them. These small notes often told readers when ...

I've been meaning to post for a bit, but life got in the way. Sorry about that. For my return, I'm going to do the first in a series of recommendations for people who read Manga, but want to transition to American comics or just like Japanese culture and want comics about that. First up are American comic books that are seeped in Japanese culture in various ways. Some are inspired by Japanese ideas, others are from people who love and respect Japanese culture and the language and weaved it into their stories. So.. let's get started. Kabuki  by David Mack - This is an older series that has recently been re-released in "library" editions. David Mack is an extremely talented artist and has spent a good part of his life learning Japanese and Japanese culture. He used these ideas to create a cyber-punk dystopian Japan ruled by the mask wearing Noh who also employ assassins. The main character for most of the series is one said assassin, Kabuki, and her discovery of her...

Many of you have noticed that Marvel recently cancelled a ton of titles. Those would be America , Iceman , Luke Cage , Gwenpool , Hawkeye, Generation X , and Defenders. I know it's a sad time if you were a fan of any of these. It's also going to suck for patrons to discover their favorite comic is gone, but here are some recommendations to fill the void (maybe?). Harley Quinn - obvious replacement for Gwenpool since well.. they hit a lot of the same notes. Insane over the top fun with a female lead who is having too much fun. Harley also gathers up a group of people like her to form her gang. Oh bonus: Harley Quinn is openly bisexual and in a relationship with her girlfriend, Poison Ivy. The Question by Greg Rucka - an option to read if you were enjoying America, Renee Montoya is an amazing Latina Lesbian who grows a lot as a person and a hero. She comes out in Gotham Central and becomes the Question in 52 . But the 2 Question trades deal with Renee trying to uncove...

This should be a fun and interesting conversation. Let me first put a disclaimer here and be very very clear: I am not saying not to have any books of a particular type (say starring female characters.. you should have them!). I am not saying you should only have this type of book. I'm also not saying you should only recommend any type of book.. I'm merely stating some facts and perspectives that are my own. Again, you should have comics of all types with all different types of leads in your library. I'm only trying to make you aware of a different perspective. OK now on to the content and I'm going to start this out with a little history about myself so you can get an understanding of where I am coming from. When I was little, my parents made sure I knew how to read from a young age, but at some point (I don't remember which grade tbh, probably 1st or second?) our class was separated into two groups: The fast (read "good") readers and the slow ( or ...

I know I've recommended these books before, but I've been re-reading Robots in Disguise  (which becomes just Transformers  later) and reading for the first time most of More than Meets the Eye  (which becomes Transformers: Lost Light) and I have to say.. wow. These books are just so beautifully done. I've talked before about the right and wrong ways to do politics in a book. These books? They get it right. How do they do it? Well here's the thing.. both of these books take place after the war between the Autobots and Decepticons is finally over. It's done. Time to move on and build a new world. In Robots in Disguise , we follow the adventures of all the Transformers, Autobots, Decepticons and Non-Aligned Indigenous Life Forms (or NAILs) all trying to make a new life on Cybertron. There is animosity between all 3 groups Autobots and Decepticons obviously still hate each other from the 4 million year war and NAILs feel like the war destroyed their planet and th...

So I finally read Iceman 5 and 6.. and I rolled my eyes a bunch and was just generally annoyed with everything in both issues. The whole series thus far has been a train wreck and I finally figured out why I was hating it so much.. The Iceman comic is a canned with dialogue seemingly swiped word for word from various sources coming out book. Iceman as a superhero, his history, and everything else is just window dressing and to cover up that this is just a really stereotypical coming out book. It has all the tried and true staples that play out exactly as you'd expect. For those of you that haven't read a coming out novel, here is how they go: Guy struggles with and comes out to friend(s), guy comes out to family or society and is  initially rejected by one or both and eventually someone who rejected him (either family member or a member of the society) will magically love and respect him for no real reason, and guy meets perfect boyfriend who will be the perfect absolute amazin...

The question how to place comics on the shelf so they are easy to find comes up pretty regularly on various groups and discussions that I've seen. So how should one group them? Well first of all, fiction and non-fiction should definitely be separated even if they're both listed as "graphic novels" (which seems to be the catch all term most often used. I prefer comics or comic books myself). I'd make sure to mark them as fiction or non-fiction so that they're easy to distinguish and to avoid any confusion/controversy over a factual book being labeled fiction. I would also keep Manga, comic strips, funnies, cartoons, and other graphic storytelling separate. I say this for a number of reasons. First of all, they're different reading with mostly different groups reading them. Second, the books are all going to be varying in size. Manga for instance tends to be about the size of a paperback book while books with comic strips can be longer books and comic ...