comics

  • Crime Comics: Fiction and Non-Fiction

    Crime comics were big in the 1940s and 50s, but when adoption of the Comics Code Authority in 1954 limited the types and severity of crime cartoonists could depict, their popularity waned. In recent decades crime comics have gained in popularity and stature as several talented creators have worked to resurrect and reinvent the genre,… Continue reading

  • Learning history from comic books

     I didn’t think I was a fan of comic books, but after reading Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, my view of comic books completely changed.”I found that the comic book format particularly makes learning history more enjoyable due to its lively pictures and brief narrative. I recently read three American history comic books that I happened… Continue reading

  • Books for Giving 2010 — Teen Books, Part 1

    Need a last-minute gift for a teenager on your holiday shopping list? Try one of the books recommended by Abby, Hayden and Jennifer, three Teen and Children’s Librarians at The Seattle Public Library, who have selected 10 of their favorite books of 2010 for teen readers of all ages and tastes. This post is the… Continue reading

  • Great graphic novels for kids

    Is your child hooked on graphic novels, comics, and manga? They are not alone! Here are some recommended titles for your young graphic fans. Stinky by Eleanor Davis Perfect for younger readers, this graphic novel has plenty of kid humor. Stinky loves his muddy, mucky, smelly swamp just the way it is, so when a kid… Continue reading

  • Wife-Approved Comics

    Growing up in my household, if you became ill my dad would bring you home a comic book. A random Archie from the grocery store.  After a time us kids even had a little collection going. But then one day I had an alarming epiphany about Archie.  The stories were always the same and the… Continue reading

  • Winsor McCay: Ahead of his time

    Have you ever looked at the art of someone like Hieronymus Bosch and wondered “What century did this guy come from?” He lived in the 15th and 16th centuries, but his art is so modern and fanciful that it almost seems out of place. Did Bosch hitch a ride in a flying saucer and visit 1940?… Continue reading

  • Comixtravaganza 3!

    In case you haven’t been paying attention, Seattle Public Library is currently hosting the third Comixtravaganza–a gracious celebration of comics, graphic novels, cartoonists, and also the comic fans! The third Comixtravaganza kicked off on January 13th, when Queen Anne Branch held a “Family Toon-in” program, an event where everyone was able to enjoy classic cartoons… Continue reading

  • Watching the Watchmen: The Superhuman Factor.

    Finally: This week is the loooong awaited premiere of the Watchmen movie based on the renowned genre-bending graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. The original, together with Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns (partial inspiration for the recent hit films), helped usher in a new “dark age” in superhero comics, one that is bleaker,… Continue reading

  • Comixtravaganza Kick-Off with David Lasky at the Ballard Branch

    The library is ringing in the new year with Comixtravaganza, our second annual free, all ages, city-wide comics festival.    Kids, teens, and adults can make their own comics, enter a drawing contest, watch classic cartoons, and lots more. We’ll provide the art supplies, the professional artists, and the free food–you bring the creativity. It all starts… Continue reading

  • La Semaine de la Bande Dessinée/The Week of the French Graphic Novel

    Do you thrill to the adventures of Tintin, intrepid boy reporter, and his fearless dog Snowy? Have you laughed out loud at the antics of Astérix and his merry band of Gauls? Or found yourself absorbed by Marjane Satrapi’s recollections of her girlhood in revolutionary Iran in her graphic memoir Persepolis? Whether you knew it… Continue reading

  • Comics 101

    As you may know, comics are a big deal in Seattle. We’re home to a number of nationally recognized cartoonists (Ellen Forney, Pete Bagge and Jim Woodring to name just a few), Fantagraphics Books and The Comics Journal. In honor of all the great cartoonists in our midst, The Seattle Public Library threw a Comixtravaganza… Continue reading

  • The Arrival: power without words

    The Arrival, by Shaun Tan, is the wordless story of a man who leaves his home and emigrates to a new country. So simple, so universal, but the reader wonders: is it history? Science fiction? Fantasy? Fable? What are these strange machines and bizarre creatures? How will the man survive in this weird new world,… Continue reading