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Digital Comics

My new issue of Knowledge Quest (the official journal of the American Association of School Librarians)  has an article on digital graphic novels, a format I haven’t though much about. There are web comics I follow (I love Unshelved), and some of them have even gone to print editions, but that seems a little different than a graphic novel. When I’ve looked at heavily illustrated books on Kindle or Nook, I haven’t been impressed. But the author discussed a very cool platform for digital comics, called ComiXology, which you probably already know about if you are a big comics reader. But if you aren’t, this might just get you hooked.

First, ComiXology started out as a tool for retailers, to help them promote print comic books, and they still have a commitment to working with retailers so they get revenue from sales of comics sold through them, so you can set up your order through this site or buy through them and still be supporting your local comic book store. I think that’s pretty cool. Second, they have created not just a catalog but a space for a community of comics lovers to discuss and review comics, and it’s free to do so, without extraneous annoying advertisements. Presumably, if you are a member you’re there to discuss and buy comics so ComiXology’s own promotions won’t bother you, and there aren’t any others. They also have free comics, a nice feature that the author of the article I read mentioned… one of them for this week is Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things #1. Third, they have some pretty great partnerships and relationships with comics publishers, including DC, Marvel, and BOOM! Studios, so there’s a wide variety of comics available and ways to access them, which I won’t go into except that there are apps, and you want more details you can read about it here.

What’s fun for me, in terms of promoting horror through a variety of media, is that if you start from ComiXology’s home page for digital comics, there’s a “Browse” tab with a drop down menu that allows you to search in a variety of ways, including series, publisher, creator, story arc, top rated, and GENRE. And one of the genres you can explore is horror. I didn’t wander around much there but just on the first page I saw 28 Days Later, 30 Days of Night, and American Vampire, all of which we’ve reviewed here. The newest issue of The Walking Dead was a featured comic, too. There’s a lot going on out there not just in the world of ebooks, but in the comics world as well, and the arguments as to whether there’s a legitimate place for digital comics will, I’m sure, continue.

After a brief look, I know I’m probably intrigued enough to download the app and try a free comic, at the very least, to see what the reading experience is like. I’d love to hear what you think about the rise of digital comics, or ComiXology!

Posted on January 29, 2012 by , Reply

Teen Read Week is here!

It kinda sneaked up on me, but Teen Read Week is here! I love that there’s a time of year to celebrate teens reading and get them involved with books and materials of all kinds in brand new ways.

This year’s theme is Picture It. That can be interpreted in so many ways! The obvious connection is to point teens to great graphic novels, or to media tie-ins to favorite television shows, movies, and video games. Although we haven’t gone in that direction for teen tie-ins here yet, there are many of these specifically aimed at teens that might lead them to related books, with you as a guide.

There are a lot of oldies out there that you can give some new life to, as well. Dracula, Frankenstein, Edgar Allan Poe- there are so many connections there I can’t even list them. From Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein to Buffy the Vampire Slayer (sorry, this list hasn’t been updated in awhile); from Jessica Abel’s fantastic graphic novel Life Sucks to the awesome iPad app Dracula: The Official Stoker Family Edition; from storyteller Syd Lieberman’s audio recording of The “Tell-Tale Heart” to Ray Bradbury’s “Usher II”… these are the things that (to paraphrase Dave Etter) create the pictures that storm inside our heads.

Whatever you decide to do or promote, have a great Teen Read Week!

Posted on October 18, 2011 by , Reply

Getting Graphic: What Kids See

I’ve been musing over a couple of experiences I’ve had in the past week, and I’d like to share them with you. First, I am sure at least some of you have followed the controversy over the, er, “sexy” portrayals of Catwoman and Starfire in the DC Comics “reboot” that has just premiered (and, according to a press release we received today, completely sold out). I won’t go into it here since other people have already done it better and more passionately, but I would like to say that even though these comic books aren’t targeted at little kids, little kids are familiar with them. My son had Iron Man sneakers in size 3T. Last year a friend gave him a Spiderman action figure for his birthday. You can’t say that superheroes are adult territory only once marketers have targeted the kids.

So it doesn’t surprise me that in the wake of all this, Michele Lee, reviewer and zombie editor for MonsterLibrarian.com, interviewed her seven year old daughter about her reaction to Starfire’s new look. And it saddens me so much that a character like Starfire, who is obviously a role model to at least one superhero loving girl, is cheapened not just for adults but also for children. What we see matters.

I want to go past this particular controversy, though, to write about something that nearly broke my heart this week. To backtrack, I am in the midst of taking a class in youth materials in libraries (yes, I have already worked as a children’s librarian and a school library media specialist, but I’ve gotta keep my certification current, and you can always learn something new). This week we’re discussing graphic novels, and I had to pick one from a list of “children’s” graphic novels to discuss. I chose and ordered the book a while back, it came, and immediately my five year old son absconded with it. The book is Ghostopolis by Doug TenNapel.

I will freely admit that my knowledge of graphic novels is limited. Someone tells me a graphic novel is for children, I think along the lines of Ook and Gluk: Kung Fu Cavemen from the Future or Dragonbreath (which are smart-alecky, occasionally gross, and imaginative).  We made it through Dragonbreath: Curse of the Were-Wiener here with no problem. My Godzilla-loving, monster-loving child couldn’t put Ghostopolis down. He couldn’t really understand it, but the images grabbed him and he asked so many questions that eventually we sat down and read it.

This is a far cry from Ook and Gluk. It’s about a terminally ill child who is accidentally transported to the afterlife before he dies and has to find a way home.  The themes in this book are not themes most elementary aged children are going to be able to understand or fully process. The artwork is phenomenal, but TenNapel’s vision of the afterlife? Not pretty. Nothing my son hasn’t seen before… after all, he’s the son of the Monster Librarian… but maybe not quite pulled together in this way.

I can tell stories about Hades to my son. He is obsessed with demons(an obsession that could end anytime, and I would be okay with it) and wants to be a mummy for Halloween. But his birthday is around the corner, and suddenly, he didn’t want to turn six, because he was afraid he would die, and he didn’t want to go to the afterlife like the boy in the story, Garth Hale (it took a long time to pry this out of him).

The impact of these images on children is tremendous. It is a huge responsibility, even more so, I think, than in books that have no images or illustrations at all. DC failed so many people by choosing to exploit Catwoman and Starfire… As parents and librarians, it’s clear we cannot just trust someone else’s interpretation as to what’s appropriate. Kirkus suggested that Dragonbreath was appropriate for ages 8-11  and that Ghostopolis was appropriate for ages 9-12. The two books aren’t even on the same planet.

I don’t know exactly what I’m trying to say here except that little pitchers don’t just have big ears. They have big eyes. They don’t necessarily respect boundaries. And what they take away from what they see is different than what we do. So the images we present them with really matter.

Posted on September 27, 2011 by , Reply
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