sjsu comics lecturewho's afraid f comic books: getting to know and love your gn collection
TRANSCRIPT
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For SJSU, LIBR 265-10Materials for Young Adults
May 3rd 2013
Getting to Know – and Love –
Your GN Collection
Jack Baur, Berkeley Public Library
Amanda Jacobs Foust, Marin County Free Library
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Who Are We?
• Amanda Jacobs Foust
• E-Services Librarian at
Marin County Free
Library
• Frequent Presenter on
comics and graphic
novels in libraries
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Who Are We?
• Teen Services Librarian,
Berkeley Public Library
• President of BAYA: The
Bay Area Young Adult
Librarians 2010 – 2013
• Co-Author of the
inaugural chapter of
“Graphic Novels” for 8th
edition of Genreflecting
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Who Was I?
Me at 13 with Jeff Smith, the creator of Bone!
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Some things never change…
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What About Manga?!
Naruto by Masashi KishimotoKimi ni Todoke by Karuho Shiina
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FORM, not Genre!
Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
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Comics Are...
…created by an alchemy of Text and Image
Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
May 18th, 2013
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How Comics Work
Your imagination fills in the space between the panels
http://jackcomics.livejournal.com/25328.html?thread=5360
May 18th, 2013
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Pick the Graphic Novel!
Sandman #19
24 pages
Winner of the World Fantasy Award
Dream Country
Collects Sandman #17-20
160 pages
Absolute Sandman v.1
Collects Sandman #1-20, plus extras
612 pages
May 18th, 2013
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A Very Long Quote…
“Just to be polite, he followed up by inquiring, ‘Oh, yes? Which comics have you written?’ So I mentioned a few titles, which he nodded at perfunctorily; and I concluded, ‘I also did this thing called Sandman.’ At that point he became excited and said, ‘Hang on, I know who you are. You’re Neil Gaiman!’ I admitted that I was. ‘My God, man, you don’t write comics,’ he said. ‘You write graphic novels!’
“He meant it as a compliment, I suppose. But all of a sudden I felt like someone who’d been informed that she wasn’t actually a hooker; that in fact she was a lady of the evening. This editor had obviously heard positive things about Sandman; but he was so stuck on the idea that comics are juvenile he couldn’t deal with something good being done as a comic book. He needed to put Sandman in a box to make it respectable.“
- Neil Gaiman
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What’s in a Name?
Graphic novels… comic books… graphica…
“sequential art”… comix… manga…
Astonishing X-Men, John Cassaday
May 18th, 2013
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Brief History of Comics, Part 1
May 3rd 2013May 3rd 2013
• 1930’s – First comic books!
• 1940’s – Wide readership,
massive sales, diverse
content.
• 1950’s – Senate Hearings on
Juvenile Delinquency and
the Comics Code
May 18th, 2013
Action Comics #1, Joel Shuster
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Comics Code
Crime Suspenstories, Johnny Craig The Spirit, Will Eisner
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Comics Code
May 3rd 2013
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Brief History of Comics, Part 2
May 3rd 2013
• 1960’s and 70’s –
Superheroes and the
Underground
• 1980’s – “Comics Grow
Up”
• 1990’s – Market
Explosion
• 2000’s – Media Blitz,
Publishing Crisis
Batmen: The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller
Watchmen, Dave Gibbons
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Superheroes and Genre Ghettos
It’s a Bird…, Teddy Kristiansen
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Comics in Libraries Today
• ALA Graphic Novel
Pavilion
• Acceptance of GN
Collections in Teen,
Children’s, and Adult
• Comics are an
established art form
across all audiences
and genres for most
publishers
Sandman, Kevin Nowlan
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Who Reads Comics Today?
May 3rd 2013
Smile, Raina Telgemeier
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Why Comics?
• Comics ARE
reading!
• Visual
Literacy
• Circulation
A Wrinkle in Time, Hope Larson
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Comics and Reluctant Readers
May 3rd 2013
The Incredible Hulk, Marie Severin
•Text informed by
image
•Media saturation
•Unique stories
BUT… that is hardly the only reason we
have them!
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Top Circ-ers at BPL
May 3rd 2013May 3rd 2013
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Who Publishes Comics?
THE “BIG TWO”
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Who Publishes Comics?
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Who Publishes Comics?
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Catalogging
741.5
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Organization
May 3rd 2013
• I like to separate my manga from my Western GNs for a
number of reasons…
• …but the processing department hates the extra stickers!
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Damage
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Uncooperative Staff
Bookhunter, Jason Shiga
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Challenges
May 3rd 2013
Usagi Yojimbo, Stan Sakai
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Ratings
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Selection: Online Resources
May 3rd 2013
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Selection: Print Sources
May 3rd 2013
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Your Greatest Ally
May 3rd 2013
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Comic Conventions and Shows
May 3rd 2013
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Programming and Outreach
• Free Comic Book Day
• Comics Book Group
• Comics Creation/Remix Projects
May 3rd 2013
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THANK YOU!
Jack Baur, Berkeley Public Library
Amanda Jacobs Foust, Marin County Free Library
May 3rd, 2013