Eva
Pirates. Pirates (and scientists) are what’s making me happy.
Snow
This week it’s Warehouse 13 for me. I had missed this previously, but now Netflix kindly put Seasons 1 and 2 up on streaming and then the Syfy channel ran a marathon of Season 3, so I’ll be caught up in a week or so, as long as my DVR doesn’t give out on me. I’m enjoying how it has the drama of Torchwood Season 1 (without the crushing depression of Season 2 and Children of Earth) and the nerdy librarian quality of the high-cheese Librarian movies which feature Noah Wylie.
Jack
I just read and loved S.H.I.E.L.D.: Architects of Forever, written by Jonathan Hickman with great art by Dustin Weaver. Did you know that Imhotep fought off an alien invasion? That Leonardo Da Vinci built a space suit that could fly him into the sun? That Galileo convinced the Pope to switch to the Gregorian calendar to erase from history the 10 days that Galactus (Devourer of Worlds) threatened the planet in 1582? You know now. This mind-bending miniseries tells the secret history of the Marvel Universe, and the ancient organization that helped to shape it. No actual knowledge of Marvel comics is necessary to enjoy this sci-fi adventure, and it might just convince readers to learn more about some of the greatest minds in human history. Wait until you find out what became of Nikola Tesla…
Allen
What made me happy was finally, at long last, reading A History of Violence. A dark tale of revenge and redemption, the comic reminds us all that the past has a funny way of catching up. A beautiful and wonderful book.
Brazos
The British TV show Misfits is making me happy. Wow, what a great program, everything that Heroes could have been. It’s mysterious, funny and really really cool. What is it with British folks and comics? I’m about halfway through the second season and I don’t want it to end!
Allen: Misfits = epic win.
Jennifer
Down here the schools don’t really let the kids dress up for Halloween. Instead, what they will do for the younger kids is allow them to dress up as a literary character, community helper, or living biography. They have to bring a book with them to back up their costume. This usually means that there is a mad run for books about superheroes, transformers, and princesses. I was really excited to hear about a kid who decided he was going to be a living biography—Nikola Tesla, Mad scientist.
Since two of us mentioned Tesla, I had to link to Kate Beaton's take.
Sadie
This isn’t exactly comic related but it is making me incredibly happy. I guess you could say that the sour patch kids are animated. I think about 2,000 of the views are from me.
Sheli
I’m happy this week because we had authors visit! Matt Phelan, Brian Biggs, and Eric Wight came by our library yesterday! They presented their books to a group of kids and drew for them too! And because Matt talked up Around the World, I’m really excited for that book. Even though it comes out next week, any kid that bought it could take it
home and read it. The elementary kids thought they were great conspirators because of this. I hadn’t read Storm in the Barn before, but picked it up because of the visit. It really deserves the praise it’s gotten.
Gail
What made me happy this week was revisiting Pascal Girard’s award winning graphic novel Bigfoot. It won the Canadian Doug Wright Award for best comic on May 7, 2011 and relates the story of a young boy in a small Quebec town facing three big problems: a love triangle, an embarrassing viral video and an elusive bigfoot monster. While my students don’t seem to engaged with Girard’s illustrations, I have to admit that I find them delightful.
Robin
First, Shortpacked did it again with this excellent take on Batman and the many Robins: Tiny Clones of Me, Assemble! Then, a friend pointed me to Dylan Meconis’s Outfoxed, a clever and slightly unsettling original fairy tale webcomic. Which in turn, just by sheer awesomeness, reminded me of how much I love Tony Cliff’s Delilah Dirk comics, and specifically his latest online Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant. I need 8 hours more a day to catch up on webcomics!
Andrew
I recently stumbled upon the Aaron Diaz’s webcomic Dresden Codak and was really blown away. It’s full of cool tech, interesting ideas, and shiny art — everything I want from a sci-fi comic. The only disappointment is that he doesn’t appear to churn the comic out as quickly as a rabid new fan might desire. My happy for the week comes from Diaz’s blog rather than from Dresden Codak proper. On Monday he posted his art and concepts for a Justice League reboot in his nifty decopunk style. I would totally read this comic if he were to write it, but then I’d be sad that it was keeping him from writing more Dresden Codak. What a complicated emotional world we live in.
Matt Morrison
Part one of a six-part Huntress mini-series came out this week. Huntress is one of my favorite superheroines and while I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, the cover and the blurb on DC Comic’s website have me filled with hope. Part of the reason I was dreading the first issue of the new Birds of Prey title was the knowledge that Helena was not part of the team. I am glad to learn there’s already plans to tie this mini into that title. Best of all, Huntress is back in her original, practical Kevlar costume instead of the ridiculous belly-baring outfit that Jim Lee designed for her.
Jennifer W.
I’ve been having a rather Alexanderine past few weeks, but what really made me happy this week was splurging to buy Ursula Vernon’s Digger in hard copy and reading the whole thing all at one go in my comfy chair. I love how it expands and refines from the crazy opening to the heartfelt ending. *sniff*
Bill
It’s been a pretty happy week indeed! To begin with, I’ve been watching Azumanga Daioh: The Animation while putting my toddler daughter to bed at night. It’s so cute to see her confused expressions as she drifts off to slumberland.
Also, I was late to the party on the “Use the force, Harry” image, but I had to choke back the water I was drinking to avoid doing a spit-take all over my computer monitor when I saw it. Angering Harry Potter, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Lord of the Rings in one fell swoop is brilliant.
Finally, I’ve rediscovered my Game Boy micro, so I’ve been replaying Golden Sun and really enjoying it. There is something calming about RPGs–and since many of them are quite text-heavy, they are a great way to secretly get kids and teens (and heck, adults!) to flex their reading muscle without knowing it.
Abby
I’m a little late on this, but I just started watching My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and it is surprisingly really enjoyable. The show was really funny and clever, without being over-the-top girly or didactic. I’ll definitely be watching more. It was nice to find a show that little kids and adults can enjoy, particularly as I’ve been revisiting some of my favorite shows from when I was little and discovering they don’t hold up.
Robin: Abby, now I just want to link to the Inception trailer made entirely out of clips from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It’s EPIC. In fact…
Hee. Heeheehee. Allen: *cough*…closet Bronie over here…*cough* Andrew: I’ve avoided MLP:FIM (do people use that acronym? I’m going for it!) because I really don’t want to ever be called a “bronie.” Allen: I’m not hardcore or anything, just a passing interesting. The animation is surprisingly good and someone from Powerpuff Girls was involved. Andrew: See, I wasn’t ashamed to be a fan of Powerpuff Girls because no one coined a silly name for it. I still have and listen to one of the Powerpuff Girls cds. Frank Black, Devo, Komeda and more singing songs about the Powerpuff Girls? It is awesome.Allen: I stopped being ashamed when PPG parodied The Big Lebowski 🙂 Jenny: Hee hee! My big brother got me into PPG years ago and now he regularly foists MLP:FIM on me (not that I mind!). There’s just enough snarky wit, ridiculousness, and attention to the animation to appease us grown-ups. I even made him a personalized bronie, cutie mark and all, for his 40th birthday card this year. I figure if he can call me an otaku then I can call him a bronie. 😛 Matt Morrison: Part of the upcoming DC Comics cartoon block that will be starting on Cartoon Network in 2013 will include shorts by the woman behind the new My Little Pony cartoons starring Supergirl, Batgirl and Wonder Girl. The title? Super Best Friends Forever. Russ: Robin, that video might possibly be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen, and I don’t follow the show! (Though it seems everyone else is these days…) Sarah: Oh, I always loved PPG! Great stuff. Bonnie: I resisted MLP:FiM for what seemed like forever, but was probably just a couple of weeks. Oddly enough, two of my teens who are just starting college (ack, not teens anymore!) pressured me to in to watching. They’re both 18-year-old techie guys and they are rapid about the show. And now, unfortunately, so am I. I can’t wait until the Halloween episode with Luna making a reappearance! So yes, embrace your inner-bronie, and start watching – I highly recommend “Suited for Success” or “Party of One.” At my anime club today, I found some girls who are also into it and we’ve talked a bit about doing a program in November.
Russ
This is sort of news is a couple of weeks old, but it STILL makes me happy. Amazon’s Kindle books now plays nice with OverDrive, which many libraries use for ebook checkout. I was able to checkout and download graphic novels for free to my android phone’s Kindle app. (Okay, they were really small, but sooo cool!)
Sarah
What’s making me happy:
Bob Shea (picture book author) sharing a real and a fake book for the Texas Literary Death Match. I love Dinosaur vs. the Potty, but I can’t stop laughing about his “next book”.
Traci
The new Walking Dead webisodes are making me totally happy this week! In preparation for the premiere of the second season (October 16! Woo!), AMC has put up webisodes explaining just how the bicycle girl came to be!
Bonnie
What am I happy about this week? Well, I am super happy that Sherman Alexie spoke at my library last night about his books and censorship. I don’t know that that’s really comics-related, but I’m still happy about it.
More along the line of comics-happiness, I just had a middle school girl request Agatha Heterodyne and the Airship City. Sometimes Girl Genius is a hard sell for me when it comes to teens, but she’s already an avid reader and told me about getting the Foglio’s autographs. It’s one of the webcomics that I follow religiously and I adore the kick-ass ladies and the humor. And seeing a teen girl following comics and having a great experience with the creators makes me think that DC is full of hooey.
Jenny
This week I’m happily browsing Anime News Network’s fall anime preview guide and keeping my fingers crossed for legal streaming services to pick up the titles that sound up my alley. I love having a new crop of shows to pick from and it gives me something to do while I wait for season four of Natsume’s Book of Friends (3 months! I can do it!).
