Interference Archive's Our Comics, Ourselves ongoing art exhibit is a powerful reminder of how comics have always been an expression of personal issues from many viewpoints.
WOW! Talk about historic finds! DC Comics just tweeted this historic photo from a comics industry Christmas party from 70 years ago. While there is a slight Shining view to it (is that Hank Kanalz I see in the back?), it's also an amazing view into the Golden Age. After it was tweeted DC Comics was kind enough to send me a high res scan which I am sharing with you so all the comics historians out there can pour over it. There is a handwritten guest list as well, but its provenance isn't known so I am not posting it.
So, you know how when you are totally in love with a series and you pre-order the next volume as soon as possible and then just kinda drop everything to read it when it comes through the door? Please tell me I am not the only person like this.
Anyway, here are some books that fall in that category. I read these most of these day they came out. I'm just slow to talk about them.
The Last Apprentice: Curse of the Bane by Joseph Delaney.
Ok, I didn't preorder this. But I totally pre-reserved it at the library. If anything, this book is scarier, creepier, and grosser than the first one. And possibly even better.
Thomas Ward and the Spook are off to Priestown (which, as you can imagine, is a town full of Priests, and they're never fans of Spooks). The Bane is an evil thing that crushes its victims flat and is starting to control the minds of the people living near its prison, in the catacombs underneath the church. Thomas and the Spook need to finish it once and for all, but the Spook has tried, and failed before.
Oh, and they're going to be hanged for being Spooks. All in a days work!
Regarding the Bathrooms: A Privy to the Pastby Kate Klise
Ok, once again, something I pre-reserved. I only have so much bookshelf space people!
The kid's in Sam N's class are back. It's summer, and they've all found jobs. Marriages are on the rocks, international crime rings seemingly have ties to Geyser Creek and deep secrets of the past are uncovered. Probably the best book in this series since the first one.
The Sisters Grimm: Once Upon a Crime by Michael Buckley
When we last saw Sabrina, Daphne, Puck & Co., Puck's wings had been torn off and he was dying. SO! The family makes its way to New York City, the heart of the Faerie Kingdom so Puck can get well...
It turns out that Veronica Grimm (before she went missing) was a hero here. Sabrina is NOT HAPPY to find this out. She is angrier than ever. Then, King Oberon is found poisoned and an innocent Faerie is blamed. Sabrina wants out of the game, and Grandma Grimm lets her quit, but now Daphne won't talk to her...
This is one of my favorites in the series. The change of locale and new cast of characters keeps the scenario from getting repetitive and old. Also, it's not often that you see the cast of
A Midsummer Night's Dream making fractured appearances in children's literature. Where it's funnier if you're familiar with the play, it still works for people who haven't read or seen it (and I think most of the target audience falls into this category).
I also love the introduction of the Godfathers. More Mafia than turning pumpkins into coaches, they're brilliant. As is Bluebeard as a Wall Street financier. Once again, all jokes that younger readers aren't going to fully understand, but it's not only for adults.
The changing and evolving relationship between Sabrina and Daphne is one of the best, and most subtle, parts of this series, and this is a good volume (if less subtle) in that regard.
And yes, I've already pre-ordered
Magic and Other MisdemeanorsClarice Bean, Don't Look Now by Lauren Child
This hasn't even been published in the US yet, but Amazon will obtain a UK copy for you.
Clarice has some bigger worries in this latest installment (and more pages in which to explore them! yippee!) It's still zany and fun and silly and everything you love about Clarice, but also deeper and older. Betty moves away and everyone's cranky and she's so worried and anxious about everything that she's not sleeping anymore, which isn't helping with school. There's a new girl, Clem, and everyone seems to love her, but Clarice doesn't trust her at all.
There's still a lot of Ruby, a lot more of Marcie (as she's back from France) and less of Minal Cricket. A must read for Clarice fans.
Now Reading: An Abundance of Katherines
Just Finished: Jack of Fables: The (Nearly) Great Escape, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Madame Chiang Kai-shek: China's Eternal First Lady, Gossip Girl, Communism: A History, Troll Bridge: A Rock'n' Roll Fairy Tale, Socialism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
Instead of dealing with my backlog, here's a post about a book I just now-this-minute read.
Please Write in This Book by Mary Amato is a fun, lighthearted book about a class journal gone wrong.
Mrs. Wurtz leaves a blank notebook in the Writer's Corner for her students to find, with the rules to have fun and to sign your name to what you write. Feelings get hurt and rumors spread (but this is a kid's book, so it's mainly about how bad various people's feet stink) and the book almost gets taken away.
The entire story is just what has been written in the book, so various prospectives are told on class events and some are just alluded to. I think there may have been a lot more tears than just the ones mentioned.
We learn some lessons about teamwork and how not to solve problems and how easy it is to accidentally hurt feelings. Mainly though, it's fun to read the different fonts and see the different pictures the kids have drawn to compliment their writing, and even if Lizzy thinks he's mean, Luke (rhymes with puke) is pretty funny.
Fans of
Regarding the Fountain and the others in that series will like this.
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 1/29/2016
Interference Archive's Our Comics, Ourselves ongoing art exhibit is a powerful reminder of how comics have always been an expression of personal issues from many viewpoints.
WOW! Talk about historic finds! DC Comics just tweeted this historic photo from a comics industry Christmas party from 70 years ago. While there is a slight Shining view to it (is that Hank Kanalz I see in the back?), it's also an amazing view into the Golden Age. After it was tweeted DC Comics was kind enough to send me a high res scan which I am sharing with you so all the comics historians out there can pour over it. There is a handwritten guest list as well, but its provenance isn't known so I am not posting it.
By: Jennie,
on 5/23/2007
I’m glad to hear that an Archive team was put together. I hope they manage to find the CCA archives somewhere in there!
http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2014/04/where-are-the-archives-of-the-comics-code-authority/
This is wonderful! Thanks for posting the smaller scan. I understand the full-resolution version is too big to post here, but is there a link to somewhere else that it can be found?
Their fashion is incredible – suits for the men and elegant outfits with hats for the ladies. They look like they’re having a great time.
I’m not sure what the hubub is about the ” lost” 1939 96-page WORLD’S FAIR comic. There are other copies around, and DC even reprinted the entire issue in the Archives: http://www.comics.org/issue/297576/ .
Heidi M. wrote: “The men of DC must have invited all of their mothers, girlfriends and wives. Or maybe some of them even worked in comics during the War years?”
Yes, a lot of women were hired as writers and artists during WWII. When the men came back, most of them lost their jobs, which happened in every industry.
I’d imagine that some of DC’s young male employees were still in uniform at this point (only four months after Japan’s surrender).
Wow! Kudos to DC for this. And for sharing here!
This was right after DC and All-American Merged operations completely after a split for a year.