Finally: Understanding Comics

Sometimes I can’t decide where to write a post – here is one such. It belongs both places, so now here it is!

Comparative Geeks

Life being what it’s been, it’s taken me a while to finally finish reading Understanding Comics, by Scott McCloud. This had been recommended to me by several reliable sources, like GuestGeekBrian, and KazuKibuishi. And how long it took me to get to and read it should be no comment on this book either for how important it is nor how good it is.

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Because it is quite simply one of the best, most important books I have ever read.

In short, this 1992 book attempts to explore the art form of comics at the very core. What it is about comics that make them comics, and not just drawings, or picture books, or illustrated literature, or really any other medium or thing – they are their own thing, described in the singular and plural as “comics.”

Along the way, he argues against any thought that comics…

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Science Fiction Today – Libraries (The Sunday Re-Blog)

Comparative Geeks

LLast week we lined up Health Care and Immunization, and this week it’s Knowledge and Libraries. A couple of sets of things that go hand-in-hand as we look at the future. And while Holly and I might be outsiders looking in at the world of health care, there’s an inside-track when it comes to libraries: I am a librarian. So I have to try to make this post not about that…

What this post is about is the fact that libraries don’t always appear prominently in Science Fiction – though they feature prominently in Fantasy. Often there are other ways the information is kept or passed on in Science Fiction – the sorts of things Holly talked about yesterday with Knowledge. In  a world where all of human knowledge is at our fingertips… what does the future of libraries look like?

Libraries in Fantasy

“Libraries really are wonderful. They’re…

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Long Running Media Franchises and Trends: Do Geeks Get Burn-Out? – The Sunday Re-Blog!

Great post – what do you think about burnout for the things you enjoy? I put a lot of thought into it… hence my really long comment!

Comparative Geeks

I’ve noticed that I get sick of long running franchises (and even entire genres) a lot more quickly than most of my geeky friends seem to. I’ve always known that there was a point at which I would just be “done” with something and not be able to tolerate watching, reading, or even really hearing much about it anymore. The first time it happened to me was with He-Man and She-Ra back in the 80s. As much as I loved them, I Just. Couldn’t. Take. Anymore.

In fairness, that might have had to do with how often they were on and how many different stations were running the SAME EPISODES. My siblings are quite a bit younger than I am, and if they were left to their own devices, we would have watched the same four episodes 8 hours a day, 7 days a week. There’s only so many…

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Science Fiction Today – Books for the Sunday Re-Blog

Here’s one of our A to Z Challenge posts this year, in the theme Science Fiction Today! I thought this one fit in well with the theme here on the blog.

Comparative Geeks

BBooks are still such an important part of not only how we get information, but how we get to experience all the various stories that people have to tell. At the same time the way that we read books has changed. The invention of the printing press made such a significant impact on just having access to reading and now we have the ability for anyone to have books.

This has made almost a different issue of the number of books that can be housed in one location. Libraries create a place to be able to borrow books instead of owning, but there is something about owning books that is really nice. Now we have all sorts of e-readers and tablets that can hold hundreds of books at one time and even add the ability to have interactive elements. This is already a huge step forward in how books are…

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Amulet – All Caught Up for the Sunday Re-Blog!

The second of my long, note-filled posts about the series Amulet and its graphic novelist, Kazu Kibuishi. I guess the possessive goes the other way, and Amulet belongs to him… Either way! More on the craft of graphic noveling.

Comparative Geeks

From https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20578979-amulet-vol-6 From https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20578979-amulet-vol-6

So after Holly and I started reading Amulet, Holly wrote an initial review. When we were about halfway through reading, I got to chance to see the author, Kazu Kibuishi, presenting live about his process. Now that I have read through Volume 6, and am now officially all caught up with all there is thus far, I thought I would add a bit to the discussion.

I don’t want to add too many details because, like Holly, I don’t want to spoil you – I want you to read these. They’re great. And knowing more now as I do, I think they’re even better – as they were developed entirely as Graphic Novels, as a form – not printed as comics and then bound together. I had mentioned in my previous post that I had more I could write about that, and about Kazu’s process…

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