As many of you know my day job is teaching elementary school which is why there tends to be no mature stuff in this comic, we might use fancy vocabulary, but for the most part it’s kid friendly. I actually get a little upset when a creator takes a perfectly good all ages story and ruins it by putting in one word (just to be cool? just because they can? just to show everyone that they are edgy and “mature”?). I’ve already commented on publishers being clueless (Action Cat #2 came out this week- funny, the majority of the ads were all ages- hopefully they will reprint issue #1 in the same manner so I can put it in my classroom). Once a week I’m going to discuss comics in the classroom and how other teachers can use these powerful tools to engage students and enhance learning. Just remember “With Great Power comes great responsibility.”
Some of this comes from the panel I was part of at Indy PopCon with Jim McClain (Solution Squad) and other pieces come from years of using comics with kids and seeing how other teachers have embraced comics.
Vocabulary:
Comic Strip – Basically a joke or gag told in a specific number of panels
Comic Book – A book which tells a story using the medium of comics (panels, balloons, etc.)
Trade Paperback – A bound edition containing a number of comics, usually a complete story arc.
Graphic Novel – A bound edition usually containing one story. At the elementary level what most people consider Graphic Novels aren’t appropriate as the content is too mature.
In my Classroom: Even though it is reading, I tend to not allow my students to read comic strips in class. I prefer comic books and trade paperbacks since they build on each other and tell a complete story. I tell my students that while it is reading, there is more I can teach them through a comic book. If they want to check out and read books with comic strips at home, during their “free time” that’s fine, but during class time no comic strips (I also discourage joke books, and some other “fluff” books).
Some overall basic resources to start with…
A Parent’s Guide to the Best Kids’ Comics – I have purchased three copies of this and only have one left! This is a great resource for comics sorted by age. It also includes If you liked this recommendations so what do you get that kid who loved Bone to keep them reading?
Search the Web for good webcomics – Sadly some of the best stuff for kids is being produced independently so you need to check out the web and See what’s available. I tend to have my students reading The Dreamland Chronicles or Little Guardians (both of which are available in print also) . unfortunately not many of the comics online are in long form so they tend to be just strips. Also web creators aren’t always timely about updating their comics (like me). So kids tend to have to wait (and wait, and wait)
Your Local Comic Book Shop- I know it’s scary in there, and not all shops are created equal, but there is no harm in asking. Some shops will donate or at least give schools a discount. The more we, as educators, talk to comic shops the bigger and better their all ages sections will be.
Reading With Pictures – an online community and creator of “The Graphic Textbook” which is now going by “Reading With Pictures- Comics that Make Kids Smarter” and should be available in August -as a Kickstarter supporter I better get my copies before they are for sale to the general public (just sayin’)
I’ve started to put together a resource website for the teachers at my school about comics, it is a work in progress so keep that in mind (and it has a strong focus on STEM).
I know there are a lot more and I’ll keep adding to the list as I post more, but I’d like to keep these short, Next week when we look at some specific titles that should be in your classroom comics library!
“Excited” would not be a word I would use to describe my feelings as I prepared for “tabling” at Indy PopCon- “terrified” would probably be a better word. While I am a teacher and spend hours each day in front of an audience (i.e. my class) I’m not very good at or comfortable with just talking to people. If you have known me for a while you might have forgotten that I hide in the corners of rooms and quietly add something to a conversation when I hear them. After a while I do come out of my shell, but for the most part, I’m fine hiding out and getting a feel for the crowd… its called “being an introvert.” So here I was setting up a table at a Convention that will have thousands of people potentially tens of thousands of people what was I thinking?!?
Set up began Thursday for the people who were bringing in lots of stuff (not me). I had about 70 copies of my book, about 350 buttons, 15 prints, a banner, an old cigar box, business cards, drawing supplies and a couple of pads of paper in various sizes. It almost all fit into a large box that fit in the boot of my MINI Roadster. I showed up Thursday evening to get things ready… because I’m that way. 15 minutes later I had everything set up and Sue was asking me if I wanted to put it all away so nothing would get stolen. I took the change out of the cash box, and went to look around the Hall which was huge and at the time fairly empty.
The View from my Table
Indy PopCon is a strange beast, it seems the idea is to have a convention that embraces all forms of popular culture not just one. So as I walked around, I saw a wide variety of stuff in the booths that were setting up. The organizers had done their homework, put together a Kickstarter to help with initial funding, and visited the other new convention, the Indiana Comic-Con, which had been held months earlier with a few issues. Their communication was exemplary, keeping everyone informed. Being my first big con, I was very happy with everything I had seen so far. Still nervous, but I felt that with all the prep and changes they had made to accommodate more people it would be a fantastic success for everyone involved.
The first day of Indy PopCon coincided with the last day of school so since I had set up already I headed to school to say my goodbyes, and then head off to PopCon. I didn’t realize that there would be high school graduation ceremonies, a convention of Methodists, and the State Democratic Convention all happening around PopCon. I was in typical Con wear for me (my nifty comic Hawaiian shirt and my flying monkey fez. I arrived (early- this is the way I try to do things especially when I’m nervous) and rearranged some things sat down and started to draw. I wanted to have some samples of monkey sketch cards and a commission so the throngs of people would know what I could do. The nice thing was I was really close to some great comic creators (Little Guardians, Chris & Gin, Samantha Kyle, and Ron Braun) in case things did get weird… Hey! who brought that laser pointer?!?
FridaySaturdaySunday
I was able to complete a lot of work and avoid talking to people since most people do what I do when walking through Artist Alley the first time- they stay in the middle of the aisle and avoid eye contact. Those that stopped I talked about my comic “It started off as a biocomic and then I realized my life was boring (ha ha) so I added the evil monkey bent on world domination and his scores of clone minions that live in my basement to spice things up (ha ha).” I talk to kids much easier than adults, but since for many kids it was still a school day, it was mostly adults. Sales wise I sold mostly to my friends who stopped by to see how I was doing and be supportive (thank you all). I survived the first day without a mark on me, and actually was pleased with how things had gone. Saturday I wore my Star Trek Red Shirt, figuring that this was the day I would get pummeled with people and being new had little chance of survival. It actually was kind of nice. I made my typical jokes about this being my “Walking Dead” costume, and stuff like that. Not what I had expected, but what was great was drawing some more and talking to the friends who stopped by to check things out. Sunday I helped at a panel on Comics in the Classroom with Jim McClain and again enjoyed myself (dressed in my TARDIS fez and new TARDIS bow tie). As the con came to a close I was happy to have given it a try and enjoyed it (although I was exhausted).
A commission for some friends.
How’d I do? I “made table” which to me meant I made enough money to pay for my table space. Being my first con I was happy with the result. Some people weren’t as happy, but they had more experience, and kept comparing to other cons. Was I swamped? No. Did get to be obnoxious yelling at people to “buy my stuff”? or “Hey! Look at me!” I hope not, I said “Hi” as people passed and went into my little talk if they stopped to look at things. I was a little surprised that the posters didn’t sell at all, but that’s okay. Mostly I had fun. I learned a lot from the experience and am looking forward to taking that knowledge to the next Con, whenever and where ever it will be. Some of the things I need to consider are how many of these things do I go to- I’m not really sure right now. For right now Indy PopCon is on my calendar for next year, along with a repeat visit to the INDYpendent Show. However my current priority is to get more comic strips drawn, tell more & better stories, and be ready to make “My Geek Odyssey” issue #2 before May of 2015!
My first convention appearance has already been blogged about (The INDYpendent Show) which was a great opportunity to teach a little about comics, and get told how I needed to step up my game… So I did. The first thing I worked on was getting something else printed, more than a print. I depressingly looked at the comics I had produced recently and realized that I could put together a 16 page comic book with two years worth of comic strips. Many of my self publishing friends had given me a drop dead date for having something ready, and that date had come and gone when I finally was able to start this project. I looked around the interwebs and remembered a few publishing company names from conventions and went to Ka-Blam out of Florida. They had an online pricing tool and promised a quick turn around so I could have my books in time for the Indy PopCon (which I will blog about a little later). I realized that about a third of the comics still needed to be colored so I decided a black & white book was in my future. As I was working on getting the book laid out (fine, avoiding the scariness of laying out the book) I designed some buttons to sell also. I tried a few different ideas for a cover and decided to go with one I drew while waiting for a meeting to start, which has shaped the design of the covers for the future. Once everything was turned in, it was just waiting for the comics to arrive. As the time passed I got anxious like waiting for my first MINI, I checked the progress on the Ka-Blam website until I saw that the book had shipped. The package arrived earlier than I had anticipated, and I was very pleased with how they had turned out. I kept telling myself this was a learning experience, and I would figure out what I did wrong, and fix it for the next book- I was already thinking about the next book before the first book was in my hands.
There’s something strangely scary about seeing your work in print. For the past five years I’ve been working on this comic and it’s just been pixels on a screen. Pixels aren’t real, no matter how much I looked at the comics I published here they were always intangible. When My Geek Odyssey appeared in FTF Geocacher Magazine, it didn’t faze me since I know a lot of people to contribute to hobbiest magazines, they write, I draw- no big deal. When I opened that box and stared down at my cover, an homage to Uncanny X-Men #141, it all became real, I had actually done it. While many a Con had called me a “Professional” it never really meant anything until I held that comic in my hands thumbed through it and found the one glaring error. Then I remember the old Marvel No-Prize and decided this was another lesson I had to learn.
I’ve already got ideas for next time, and issue 1.5… my first big thing is to start getting more comic strips out. I’m planning on Tuesday & Thursday as a publishing schedule for the summer and hopefully into the school year. I’ve got a bunch of stories I’m getting ready to tell, the first one being about our trip to Joyce Kilmer National Forest in North Carolina which started today. I’m re-examining the direction of the comic and will see what path that takes me down. I’ll take some side trips on My Geek Odyssey, but hopefully you’ll enjoy reading them as much as I will enjoy making them.
Some of you may have seen my Facebook post about this earlier in the week. On Wednesday I picked up an All Ages comic from my local shop I was purchasing it for my future classroom (more on that later). The cover was cute, reflecting the content of the comic. I have purchased other all ages comics from the same creators, and my students have really loved them. So I have nothing against the comic itself and what was is “All Ages.” Then I looked at the back cover, and cringed. You see the publisher of this specific comic seemed to think that the “All Ages” audience (little kids) would also enjoy reading about a scantily clad, woman who bathes in blood.
Looks kid-friendly enough doesn’t it?
Here’s the description of the all ages comics (from Previews) “THIS is it kids! The Cross-Over EPIC Event of a lifetime! Finally, CAPTAIN ACTION CAT meets ACTION CAT and the characters from AW YEAH COMICS! There is something EVIL out there and EVIL CAT is determined to find it! Even if it means searching throughout the SILVER AGE to do it! Could this blip on the screen be the one known as DOCTOR EVIL CAT?! We bet it is! What will happen when the SILVER AGE and the AW YEAH AGE collide! What does this mean to the Time-stream? The Fate of the comic world may change forever! PLUS, a mysterious frozen souvenir from the GOLDEN AGE makes a visit! Brought to you by the EISNER and HARVEY Award winning, New York Times best-selling Famous Cartoonists-Art Baltazar & Franco! CAPTAIN ACTION CAT is based on the classic Action-Figure Adventure-toy CAPTAIN ACTION! True story.”
Here’s the description of the comic advertised on the back- “Set against the fairytale backdrop of knights and magic, Blood Queen begins with the heartbreaking plight of a royal child, teetering between life and death. Summoned to save the princess, a young woman of untold power begins a journey that will uncover secrets, reveal forbidden desires, and stoke the fires of war. Inspired by the notorious true story of the Countess Elizabeth Bathory, Blood Queen imagines the Renaissance era as a colorful nightmare of mayhem, lust, and sorcery.” I will not show the ad, but you can see it (and what one cool cartoonist dad did to it) in the link below.
To quote Sesame Street “One of these things is not like the other…” As a teacher who LOVES comic books and wants to expose my kids to great stories and reading I sadly can’t put Captain Action Cat in my classroom library because for some strange reason I like to be employed and the rather “mature” ad on the back of this all ages comic makes it impossible. I handed the comic to another teacher to use in her class as an example but warned don’t show the back cover, don’t let the kids read it, just show a page or two using your document camera. I’m rebuilding my school comic library and unfortunately, some titles just might not make the cut… that makes me sad.
So here’s my question, because this is not the first publisher to do something like this, “What are you thinking?” I know, you have sell comics, and I know it is hard to change something that has been standardized for your entire line, but c’mon. How am I supposed to promote comics in the classroom to teacher who are already skeptical when all you give me are more reasons for them to say “No”? See, I can’t fill my room with the stuff DC and Marvel produce, because for the most part they’re titles talk down to kids and are only based on cartoon shows that are tied to selling toys. Worst case they are just a weird version of fumetti with screen shots from the cartoon instead of photos. There are some great titles by regular publishers like Scholastic and Random House, but I want to make sure my kids get a variety of all ages comics. Great comics for kids that challenge them come from the independent creators and they don’t tend to produce regularly, and then when they do the publisher puts a massive advertisement on the back and a few in the actual comic to make it impossible for me to have it in my classroom.
I’m not the only one, but we shouldn’t ever have to go to such extremes:
Thanks to the co-creator of Dexter’s Digs and The Brother’s Grant for sharing that link with me, it made me feel vindicated.
Feel free to comment with your favorite All Ages title- I know I don’t know them all, and would love to get more into my new classroom.
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That leads to the announcement that I will be returning to the classroom next school year! After two years dealing with fun and frustration of working with teachers and administrators I am really looking forward to getting back to a classroom and test, and test, and test my students day in and day out. Who knows I might end up discovering that they need to know about Countess Elizabeth Bathory and I’ve missed the chance to have third graders learn something new and important. What does this mean for My Geek Odyssey? I really don’t know, but I do know that when I was in the classroom before I was able to get a comic out more regularly, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. This summer I will be working on creating a sizable buffer (I know, I know, I’ve said that before) with lots of scantily clad monkeys in every strip.
Remember I’ll be at Indy Pop Con Booth 238 stop by and say “Hi” or yell at me about being a prude who likes to be gainfully employed. I’ll have stuff for sale.
So as Fall Break comes to a close I thought I’d at least share a bit about the adventures I had this past week. For those who don’t know about Fall Break in the midwest (or at least in Indiana) there has been a short break in October for as long as I have been teaching. It started off as a time for teachers to attend workshops and conferences, but slowly (because teachers have families- and therefore need to find daycare for their kiddos) it ended up being a four day weekend, until recently. Over the past few years many people woke up to the understanding that they no longer work on a farm the idea of “balancing” the school calendar had come into vogue. Ideally the calendar would be something like 9 weeks of teaching, then a break. I did my undergraduate thesis and graduate thesis on the advantages of a “year round” calendar and it finally might become reality. Sadly opponents claim this would destroy the time honored tradition of complaining that teachers get “summers off” it could also ruin the even more sacred high school athletics schedule. So many school districts have come up with a compromise, quietly extend some of the already community approved breaks and shorten Summer “vacation” a bit. This is why many people look at me like I have three heads when I talk about going back to school in early August. So this year my school district extended Fall Break to one week (many school districts have extended it to two weeks). We also have a week at Thanksgiving since attendance during that week is awful as so many people pull their kids out to travel over the river and through the woods.
What did I do this week? If you noticed an actual comic strip was published on both Tuesday and Thursday, a tradition I hope to continue. I also tried to relax… no really. I went to a game night on Friday, attended the Kokomo-Con on Saturday, and spent a lot of the week reminding myself why I hate doing artwork for other people, even friends.
Geek-wise I played Boss Monster, Ticket to Ride and Pandemic and had a great time with each. For those who have never played any of these a quick overview of each:
Boss Monster – A chance to play the evil villain in one of those old scrolling video adventure games. You construct a dungeon, room by room, and at the end of each turn you lure heroes to their doom (you hope). It was a Kickstarter project and the gameplay is pretty easy to understand. I have a few questions on the actual sequence of some things, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out if I play it more. – I lost, this time around
Ticket to Ride – Where have you been living? a cave?!? Sorry, Ticket to Ride is a train game in which you attempt to complete routes across the country (there are many versions of this game dealing with many continents the base game is mostly the U.S> with a few side trip into Canada.) It has been around for a few years and is a lot of fun to play, especially with more than two people, when it can get challenging, and a little cut throat. I won! trouncing my opponents with a route from Miami to Los Angeles and Houston to Winnipeg worth lots of points!
Pandemic – I don’t feel so good… Pandemic is one of those games in which it is the players vs. the game. A “cooperative” game. Which is a really cool idea. In this case you are trying to stop the human race from dying off from four different diseases. Each player has a role and therefore special abilities. The problem with many cooperative games is all it takes is one simple mistake, or a bad draw and it’s over…and yes, it was over, we lost. For kids Forbidden Island has a similar game mechanic and is a little easier to grasp. in that case an island is sinking and you are trying to rescue four artifacts and escape before it plunges into the depths forever.
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I’ve been to many a comic-con- I started with Creation Conventions, then WizardWorlds, C2E2, New York Comic Con, and San Diego… and now I can say I’ve been to Kokomo-Con. Kokomo-Con does not compare with any of the other conventions I have been to, but that’s not a bad thing. It has a homey feel about that only a small convention can have. It was small, and it reminded me almost of pop culture flea market, but again not in a bad way. It was a lot of fun and I decided to go for a few reasons. First my friend Jim McClain who does Solution Squad a great comic to engage older kids in Math was going to be there and I had run out of books (silly kids & teachers “borrowing” them) and he had a new poster dealing with the four steps of problem solving which I wanted to get for the schools I work in. Then another friend of mine (from Geocaching and Lego) had posted he was going to attend, so we hung out for a bit looking at all the different things at the show. From rare collectible toys, to a fiberglass replica of the Bat-mobile. Booths stocked with comics & toys and folk art made from comics and toys. I did discover some cool things so it wasn’t at all a waste of my time. Then again, as a teacher, a lot of what I found was stuff that would be great for school. One thing I did pick up was a copy of Boss Monster, I know I’ll have a chance to play it again.
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My MINIon badge… Yes, I am expendable, and yes, this is a modified version of the “official” graphic for MTTS.
I started off the week with a long list of stuff, and after the first day decided to dump it all and do some drawing. So I spent most of the week doodling and inking (hence two comic strips getting posted). This reminded me how much I love to draw and just play with images. It reminded me why I can never do artwork for someone. You see MINI Takes The States is coming up next summer and I was playing around with the idea of creating “badges” for some of my friends who would be going. Making them official “Cecil MINIons” I did some artwork for MINI on the Mack and thought it would be fun to extend it. Unfortunately I forgot how difficult it can be to draw for someone, and not just for myself. I asked my friends to give their “MINIon Number” and I would create a badge for that. Now some of these folks I have known for years, and other are fairly new so what they got may be determined by how much time I had spent with them, or the geekiness of their MINIon number. So the person who asked for #42 was pretty easy, a monkey with a towel holding a yellow fish, others, not so much. Stupid me started with the ones I wanted to do, the fun ones. Then like any proud parent I posted them for the group to see… then the floodgates opened with requests- which drained the fun right out of the project. Then my friends started asking for tweaks to the drawing I had done, “Could you add this?” “Could you change that?” “I really want this instead.” Then they started to make requests for their friends… I have stopped working on this project for the time being. I will return to it, but not right now. I do appreciate the person who specifically asked how much I was charging for these badges, and seemed a little shocked when I said “nothing, I’m doing this for fun- it keeps me out of a straight jacket.” I know that many of my friends would help me in a heartbeat if I needed it, so it’s not like the favor will not be returned, but for now, I’m taking a break.
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Besides that I worked a little on a Lego Project- taking the “Just like Beggar’s Canyon Back Home” to the next level, and seeing how I can add some kind of motion to it. I’m about 1400 bricks into my first draft so we shall see how it turns out. Fortunately I have until March to get it done.
All in all not a bad break, kept away from schoolwork unless it connected with something I was already doing, now I just have to figure out how I’m going to get up tomorrow in time to make it to school…
A couple of years ago I decided to participate in 24 Hour Comic Day, a challenge for comic book creators to make a 24 page comic book in 24 hours, I succeeded (kind of) with time to spare. This I was not so lucky.
In 2011 I sat down at a table with a bunch of other comic creators and in about 20 hours produced a 24 page comic book about Geocaching. A comic book that due to exhaustion has never, and probably will never be published. My process is to draw in non-photo blue pencils, ink, and scan my comic. In 2011 I had decided that I would create a simple black and white comic. After completing it I then got talked into adding some spot color to my original art. For the “blueline” to work, you can’t really add other colors. I knew this, but I was tired and decided “Why not?” when I got back home I was too exhausted to fiddle with it, and have since moved on. I still have all the pages, but that’s about it.
Fast-Forward to this year- Same challenge, different location. I spent yesterday morning running around dealing with things for my school district’s “Magnet Fair.” The Magnet Fair is an opportunity for families to shop around and see what schools are offering. In a lot of cases the parents already know, but they are double checking their decision. From 1:30 to 4:00 I was helping to persuade parents that STEM would be a good choice. Actually I asked one kid a series of questions about what they really liked… and then told them they should consider another school. Then it was a quick stop back home to feed and comfort Hemi before heading out to the opposite side of town and be creative.
The 24 Comic Day event was held at Downtown Comics’ westside location and while it started at 5:00 it was recommended to get there around 4:30 to set up, I got there at 5:30… already off to a bad start, since when I first arrived there was no room at the table of creators for me. I began by just warming up for drawing with a pad on my lap. This was rectified when another a table was set up in the back.
Cecil looks over the finished pencils for upcoming strips.
As a participant part of the challenge is to start from absolutely nothing. I don’t think it’s possible to not have a kernel of an idea floating around in your head, but you should come with nothing written down. I had a few ideas: another Geocaching comic that could be sold to cachers at events, retelling the tale of Sue and my wedding from the proposal to the big day (to help the healing process), retelling the adventures of MINI Takes The States in a long form comic, or “something else.” So I started to work on a MINI Takes The States comic, since it would be pretty simple to plot out. I also decided to take the kid’s comics format used by Tiny Titans, Superman Family Adventures, and Little Hellboy. Have smaller stories that all relate and build on each other. Each story is a few pages, but the final piece links everything together. I plotted this out ending up with around 12 different mini tales and started on page 1 and hit a roadblock. After about 2/3 of the way done with the first page I just didn’t really know how to proceed. So I stopped and attempted to regroup. At this point a decided to try “something else.”
While not within the “rules of the game” I decided that I was going to use this time productively and draw, just draw. When I’m home there are always other distractions, so being locked in a comic shop for 24 hours gave me time to draw, and not do much else. I started working on some ideas that have been bouncing around in my head for a while, then I moved onto my notes for My Geek Odyssey. I always keep a running note on my iDevices giving me a place to jot down any thing that comes to mind. So I looked at this list, and started drawing. By sunrise I had penciled around 14 strips and my hand was starting to give out. I didn’t want to ruin what I had drawn so I stopped and decided I would not ink them until later. I have the advantage of having a school vacation coming up and decided that I would take care of finishing these over that break. I spent the next few hours drawing for some other projects and finally around 11:00AM decided to pack it in and go home.
So yes, I failed at the challenge, but I did get a lot done, and feel pretty good about what I have accomplished, some of it may work for the little projects I have bouncing around. WIll I try again next year? Of course. What will I do differently? A lot of things. I want to start with a single idea, worked out ahead of time (I know, breaking the rules- but this isn’t as much about the challenge anymore as it is about using 24 hours devoted specifically to creating a final product). Next- show up on time to get a seat at the table. I had a great time talking with Paul and Jeff throughout the evening, and was really productive considering my modified goal, but as one of the other participants said- he was there for “networking.” While this isn’t about networking for me, it is about a communal spirit that is hard to participate in when you are sitting at the “kids’ table.” Actually it was probably more the “adult’s table” but you get the idea- when you are separated from the main group you can be really productive, and yet miss out on some of the camaraderie of the experience. Being an introvert I’m not sure how much this is needed for me, but getting to know new people is part of the experience, part of the challenge.
A big thanks to Downtown Comics, Jeff Himes, and all the sponsors (Marcos Pizza, RAM, etc.) who helped make the 24 hours a lot of fun.
Besides the actual comic strips that you will see in time below are some of the other doodles I did.
Working on some graphics for MTTS- each MINIon has a “Badge” with their MINIon # on it… decided we needed a Darth Minion
MINIon #1701 yes, the final shirt color will be red.
Rough sketch for the MINIons on the Dragon Dragon portion of the design
Random MINIon with really really really long scarf
My history with comic books is a lengthy one, there are photos of me in third grade reading comics, so while I don’t remember my first comic, I do know I’ve been reading them for a long while. To me comics have always been a stress release. I stopped reading comics, when I first got married… you know the “honeymoon period” and got back into reading them a few years later during grad school. Since then I really haven’t stopped. Even when life wasn’t that stressful, it is always nice to escape into a world where good always triumphs over evil.
As many of you know I’m a teacher by day and last year I switched to a pseudo-teacher on special assignment kind of job which allows me to play with Lego (sometimes). I’ve spent a lot of the past year trying to create the school I would have wanted to go to as a kid. One where a geek can be a geek. I’ve been somewhat successful, but with education the way it is there’s always more to do… and that’s when they ask you to change your job. It’s just a tweak, nothing much, just work on technology training on top of curriculum development, and P.R. and interior decorating, and… You get the idea. I accepted the new challenge, so there is no one to blame but myself. So I’ve been reading a lot more comics in the little free time I have. I’m happy that Boom! is republishing Mike Kunkel’s Herobear and the Kid especially with the epilogue giving a little more back story. I’m just hoping that it will continue once they’ve gone through the first 5 issues. I’m also looking forward to starting my own MOOC dealing with Comic Books & Graphic Novels at the end of the month. But what’s really keeping me going is my local comic shop- Comic Carnival and how they take care of me. As I stray away from Marvel & DC and the hijinks they create in hopes of selling more comics(ultimate final infinity crisis of evil), everyone at the shop, especially Dan & Tim give me some wonderful recommendations that have really helped me get through some of the added stress. If you have a local shop give them a chance, the folks there are a wealth of knowledge and in most cases (everyone has a bad day) helpful and friendly. If not I would recommend getting a cat from a shelter, because everyone needs a cat as awesome as Hemi.
As for website upgrades- just another place for some stress. I was working on updating the site tonight and of course when I did, I broke something. I considered asking for help, but I did muscle through and only 2 hours later the site looks OK and hopefully I’ll have a chance to change a few things including adding a comic now and again. Especially since I signed up to do 24 hour comics day this year.
I just wanted to make this quick blog post before I dash off to sunny Southern California to enjoy all that is the San Diego Comic-Con. I’m really looking forward to all the fun that makes up the San Diego Comic-Con. The great people watching the meeting with friends, the great inspiring sessions and the Exhibit Hall that I hear is going to be the better than it ever has been. I’ll try to post a little when I’m not overwhelmed by the sheer volume of all the greatness that makes up the San Diego Comic-Con. Though I’ll probably be way too busy rubbing elbows with the stars of TV and film. That and going to all the wonderful parties and other events that happen during the week of San Diego Comic-Con. Who knows? Maybe I’ll bring back one of the many Comic-Con Exclusives from San Diego Comic-Con and let you see how wonderfully special it is, and therefore how wonderfully special I am for having it. I’ll try to think of you as you sit back watching Morgan Spurlock’s Documentary on Comic-Con, but I’ll probably forget as I bask in the awesomeness that makes up the San Diego Comic-Con.
Enough already. I’m doing a little online venting because I will once again miss out on Comic-Con this year and unfortunately almost every geek feed, merchant, webcomic, personality, and news outlet I follow has only been talking about it for the past few weeks, if not months. I know it will be a zoo. I know I would never ever consider waiting in line for any of the really big panels, but fortunately over the years I have learned if you like comic books, those panels tend to be easy to get in. I remember one year thinking I was going to wait in line and being waved in to a session with this one writer I really liked. Robert Kirkman was his name – like that’s ever going to happen again. Getting almost front row in a session by David Petersen where he talked about his process and drew. Same thing with Jeff Smith. So many cool things to see and so many great people to learn from. When I signed up to get a Professional Badge years ago I was so excited and now having it now three years, I have been to SDCC once since then. I do feel lucky I to have been three times, and really enjoyed myself. I know many people who have never been, who deserve to go more than I do. Last year I chose MINI Takes The States over Comic-Con and had a great time with so many wonderful friends, so no real big regrets. Yet every year around this time I feel the pull of the coast (which having grown up in Southern California is strange, because I ran screaming away from it and the California culture). I will come back to Comic-Con sometime, but probably not for the foreseeable future.
For those who will be enjoying Preview Night tomorrow- I am jealous, but there is nothing I can do about it, so I salute you and hope you have powers and abilities beyond those of mortal geeks so you may survive the experience. If you were able to snag a badge for any day… Yes, I’m jealous of you too. Have lots of fun, enjoy and take some time to support some of the fine comic creators who are there by buying something from them- expensive original art is a nice start. Without these comic creators, there would be no Comic in Comic-Con, plus there wouldn’t be a whole lot of these really cool movies or TV shows- that seem to have taken over the convention.
Crowds around the Lego CUUSOO unveiling at Brickworld Chicago
After some deliberation as to when we would head north and for how long- Sue Cecil, and I headed up Thursday to Brickworld Chicago. If you had told me at this time last year that I would be going to a Lego show I probably would have laughed. In the Fall of last year when I had just started my new job, I decided to to attend Brickworld Fort Wayne to learn more since both schools had spent a bazillion dollars on Lego. I then joined the IndyLUG specifically to learn more and see about creating a partnership between the schools and the AFOL (Adult Fans Of Lego) Community. On the way back I picked up my first kit (a Sopwith Camel) to see if I still could build after not touching Lego bricks since I was 12. It’s funny how jobs change your outlook on things. So after a year as a Magnet Integration Specialist I’m off to Chicago and my 4th Lego event. I decided to take this one easy and not display (I’m glad, my builds are still amateurish in comparison), just see what it’s about and decide how involved I want to get next year.
“I’m a leaf on the wind”
Unlike other Lego events I have attended this one had actual workshops and presentations not just displays. While I like looking at the creativity involved in a MOC (My Own Creation) I was really happy to learn some stuff while I was in attendance. Without even time to check my goodie bag and get my badge on I headed to my first workshop on Microbuilding. Microbuilding is where you build things in a smaller scale, a 1×2 plate is about the size of a car in this scale, and that tends to be one of many constants. Being late I missed a bit of the lecture portion and had to dive right in making a used car lot. As I look at how I want to proceed in my Lego Journey This is a type of build that really fascinates me. It requires a lot of creativity and unique uses for brick. By the time the workshop was over I had a couple ideas, a lighting system for my build and over two gallon bags of miscellaneous brick to build with. Not a bad start. More information about microbuilds can be found at the TwinLUG Website. My thoughts right now are to play around in this scale and see what I can create that might be worthy of display next year.
So after a quick bite to eat I headed to my next workshop presented by a Legoland designer. This was fascinating, but in the immortal words of Barbie, “Math class is hard!” I knew I was in trouble, not about the math, but when he said “Lego Digital Designer is a great program, but it is really difficult to use if you don’t have a mouse.” Using the school laptop without a mouse, I decided after a few valiant efforts that I would head downstairs and check out the exhibit hall.
Brickworld Chicago gives builders time to get their creations built, unlike some other shows where it seems like there is a bit of rush with only a day to put things together, here you have two. So my first trip to the exhibit hall I saw a number of empty tables, some of which remained so up until Friday night. As I looked around one thing I really liked was the variety of displays. Since I had only attended local shows previously you tend to see the same displays from the same people. It’s kind of like going to MINI car club meeting, you see the same cars and you can only say “nice car” so many times. My Flickr Page has some shots of various displays, but I know I missed a lot and some still weren’t finished when I did my final walk through Friday night. Of the displays that stuck in my mind I’d start with “The Wizard of Oz” this was massive and plotted out the entire film scene by scene. It was awesome and one of many displays that took inspiration from literature and film, There were reproductions of comic book characters and pages, scenes from Charlie and Factory, video game builds, even Herschel’s Farmhouse from the Walking Dead. TV themed builds are works of love from people who really are into a specific show. If you look at Lego online you are bound to discover the Firefly/Serenity build. When I went to Fort Wayne I dreamed of seeing this one. It is massive and completely accurate down to the Minifigs. It wasn’t at Fort Wayne, it wasn’t in Greenfield, it wasn’t at Brickworld Indy, it was in Chicago! Yes, it was impressive. Take a look at my Flickr to see some of the interesting things there (not everything)
As you wander you notice that displays tend to fall into a couple different groups- Science Fiction, Fantasy, Medieval, etc, and Trains. A great number of builds have some sort of train on them no matter what genre they are. It might be futuristic mine cars on an alien planet, it might be a steampunk train going around a fantasy city… trains seem to be a big part of Lego culture.
So Friday rolls around and I head back to attend some sessions, I had a number highlighted and ended getting to two. The first one was KidsWorld which may seem strange, but there is some logic to it. As an educator, I always like to see how other people present ideas to kids and what these experts think are the important facts that all kids should know. The room was mostly younger kids averaging somewhere around 1st or 2nd grade. THe Talk focused on building techniques specifically the three things you need for a superior build- Sturdy construction, Detail, and you have to like it. The talk focused a lot on SNOT (Studs Not On Top). I doubt I would normally hear a presenter showing a slide and asking “Where do you see the SNOT on this?” The 9 year old in me wanted to giggle. The session ended with us all heading to the Exhibit Hall and looking at various builds and seeing how they used the techniques outlined. I know I learned a lot, and now I just need to see about putting it into practice.
I then decided to look at Steampunk in Lego which was fascinating. The presentation went on to highlight many Steampunk artists that work in Lego and what they have built along with the history of Steampunk inside and outside Lego. With Lego Master Builder Academy Level 4 being Steampunk… it is definitely looking up for Lego & Stempunk although it looks like I’m going to need a lot more nets and ice cream scoops!
“We’re off to see the Wizard!”
The last session I attended was a Q&A from Lego about their support of the Lego Community. It was interesting as a newbie to see how Lego goes about rewarding the various clubs around the country and just how many clubs there are!
The day concluded with something special, the unveiling of a new kit. This happened during the Charity Auction which I attempted to participate in kind of like the one at C2E2 the prices went sky high quickly, good for the charities, but for a newcomer, I was overwhelmed. So the kits were brought out one at a time for the film crews and the audience. The first one was massive… the Sydney Opera House. The funny thing was so many people were awed, not by the build, but by the 48×48 blue baseplate it sat on. After everyone stopped there the CUUSOO set was unveiled. For those unaware of Lego CUUSOO is another way in which lego reaches out to their fan base. Enthusiasts build a creation, post pictures and try to get votes, any that get 10,000 votes are then considered to be made into a kit. There are licensing issues, and other things that may stop a kit, but it is a really cool process. So in January they should have ready to be in stores the Mars Curiosity Rover! I’m sure my vote helped.
And for me that was Brickworld Chicago. Did I miss out on things? Yes, the Pinewood Derby races, the rubberband powered dragster races, the boat races in the hotel pool, and many other activities… I also missed the public days of the show, so I could visit another thing on my Geek Bucket List, The Hall of Heroes Superhero Museum in Elkhart, IN.
Look! Up on the bookshelf!
Yes, I’m a geek, I collect Comics and have been doing so since I was a kid. I tend to stay away from many of the other Comic Book related stuff out there, unless it really jumps. I’m still kicking myself for not getting a Rocketeer Helmet when they first came out… Some people aren’t like that. One has taken his collecting to a new level by building a museum. Now years ago there was a museum in Indianapolis that focused on Comics, it had some really interesting pieces, and went bankrupt within months of opening. This one, is a little different. Hall of Heroes Superhero Museum is in a building that looks like the Hall of Justice from Superfriends. It is an amazing place for the comic book geek. Sue, Cecil, and I headed to Elkhart on the way home from Chicago for their Superman Day (Superman’s 75th Anniversary and the release of the new movie) Avoiding a bit of the rain we came in to a crowded place with kids and people dressed up. The prize of the collection is Adam West’s Batman costume, donated by Adam West. Outside of that the walls of both floors are filled with comic books, and comic book related memorabilia. Fortunately, they are divided by hero, so the Flash section was easy to find. I was very impressed and recommend if you happen to be a comic book geek to take the detour and head to the Hall of Heroes. Check out the Flickr Set of the visit While there is did pick up a Superman Robot Sculpture by Jimm Showman… I’d really like to get a few of his robots for around school.
I know, I know… where’s the comic?!? I would love to say “I’ve got one ready”, or “All I need to do it one more thing” but, I’m not quite sure how to answer that question. Right now I’m still working on stuff for school (Yes, I am a teacher, yes it is Summer vacation, but that doesn’t mean I stop working no matter what politicians and the media say about teachers). I hope to start getting back into the swing of things soon after I come back from a few conferences, get the bills paid, get the invasive honeysuckle out of the backyard, and the cat vomit cleaned up off the floor (Hemi’s fine, just hairball season). Enough with lame excuses today is Wednesday or as any comic book geek would know “New Comic Book Day!”
For the summer (forcing me to make sure I get to Comic Carnival each Wednesday) I have decided to review at least one comic in my stack for the week… I’d like to start off by talking about one all ages comic that was in my stack today- Mike Kunkel’s “Herobear and the Kid” Special #1. Originally published by Astonished Comics and now being published by Boom! the comic is a the story of Tyler (think of Chuck Jones’- Ralph Phillips“) and his toy bear that transforms into Herobear. I won’t give away any spoilers from the first arc “The Inheritance” but in my opinion it is a great all ages comic that almost any kid could really get into.
This issue starts off quickly with almost no recap of the first story arc after years of the comic being on hiatus (sound familiar?) It’s school picture day for Tyler and he has to (with the help of Herobear) stop the evil Von Klon from doing something nasty with ginormous rubber ducks… see almost no spoilers!
The one thing that I have always enjoyed about this comic is the artwork… It’s black and white with just a splash of red (Herobear’s cape), besides that the actual art is a “rough animation style” so it is extremely loose, but also helps budding artists to see some of the actual pencil work behind the finished artwork. Which is why I have used it as examples when I teach cartooning.
As many of us have experienced when a creator takes a break from a project for a long time sometimes the return effort doesn’t always meet with our expectations. Take George Lucas and episodes 1, 2 & 3, Robert Lynn Aspirin when he started back on the Myth Adventures series- while they weren’t all bad, as a fan I was expecting more and it seemed like the creators had lost some of the important pieces of the universe they had created. Mike Kunkel, after a first reading, seems to have not lost his connection with Tyler & Herobear’s world, which makes me very happy. I’m holding off on judging everything in Herobear and the Kid just because I really don’t want to dig out my old issues or break the seal on the hardcover trade I have. Upon first reading the story is solid, and similar to what I recall, the artwork is similar, although over the years, it seems that Kunkel’s style has shifted slightly and isn’t exactly as I remember. I’m one to talk looking at how my style has changed over the years.
It looks like Boom! will be reprinting the original story arc starting in August and my only hope is that Mike can keep up the regular pace of a monthly (or even bimonthly) comic- I’m getting old and waiting almost a year between issues makes me grumpy. That said- this Wednesday brought me a little joy and inspiration with Mike Kunkel’s Herobear & the Kid #1. If you have an Elementary school age kid or are a kid yourself I’d check it out at your local comic shop. “Remember your childhood and pass it on.”
