(NB: I wrote this essay more than two weeks after the events herein described took place, to ensure that no one in my pod contracted Covid-19 in pursuit of this story. Thankfully, no one did!) Once upon a time, when Free Comic Book Day was rescheduled to August 2021, I visited my local comics retailer…
A Tale of Comics Academe in a History Department: An Interview with Professor Julian Chambliss
Professor Julian Chambliss’s true origin remains shrouded in mystery but his LinkedIn page tells us that he has been a professor at Rollins College in Florida since 2003. In an interview by Chris Rawlins, Chambliss recounted his first experience teaching with comic books in 2006. As an editor and contributor for a recent compilation of research…
Stories from Comics Academe: The Culture of Production in Marvel’s Media Franchises
On May 1, 2014, I attended Derek Johnson’s lecture, “My Hero?: The Practices and Politics of Sharing Worlds in Marvel’s Media Franchises” presented by the University of California at Irvine Humanities Collective. Johnson is a professor of Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who researches identity and hierarchy in the production of…
Stories from Comics Academe: Visualizing a Story of Cancer’s Culture
What Graphic Novels Tell Us About Cancer Care, Greedy Stories, and the Ethnographic Method On April 30, 2014, I attended a lecture at Soka University in California entitled “What Graphic Novels Tell Us About Cancer Care, Greedy Stories, and the Ethnographic Method” by Juliet McMullin, a professor of anthropology at the University of California-Riverside. Among…
An introduction to comics academia in the form of a letter to my past self
Dear Past Amanda (upon your graduation from high school), Hang on to your hat! Setting aside the fact that these are all spoilers, let me tell you what’s going to happen next: You’re going to live in a castle (what?!) and during your extensive trawling of the internet, you’ll find out about these things that are today…
STORE REVIEW: COMICS TOONS N’ TOYS
Comics Toon N’ Toys PHONE NUMBER: 714-730-2117 ADDRESS: 13542 Newport Avenue, Tustin, California 92780 On my lifelong quest to visit every comic book shop in the world, I made a special trip through SoCal traffic to visit Comics Toons N’ Toys. Taking up two store fronts, the shop offers a wide range of scintillating comics…
Store Review: Tate’s
Tate’s Phone Number: 954-748-0181 Email: emailus@tatescomics.com Address: 4566 North University Drive, Lauderhill, Florida, 33351 For reasons that elude me now, I found myself looking for something to do outside of Miami once. Am I ever glad that I stumbled upon Tate’s! They promise comics, toys, and more, but really, they deliver so much more. Not…
Store Review: G-Mart Comics
G-Mart Comics Address: 44 East Main Street, Suite 101, Champaign, Illinois 61820 Phone: (217) 356-7733 I’m not gonna lie to you: this place struck me as a bit strange. It’s inside of a nice old brick structure called the Lincoln Building in downtown Champaign. The way I found the shop was by looking for the…
Wonder Woman Travels Light, Superman Travels Light Speed With Lots of Suitcases
Urban Barbarian made this really awesome picture of steampunk Wonder Woman in the Best Hat Ever, accompanied by steampunk Superman hoisting all of his luggage on one hand. With a coy glance over her shoulder, a dismissive hand gesture, and the tilt of her head — upon which is perched the oh-so-jaunty-hat — Wonder Woman…
Store Review: Alakazam Comics
Alakazam Comics Phone: (949) 854-3744 Email: alakazamcomics@aol.com Address: 4237 Campus Drive, Suite B162, Irvine, California, 92612 USA Nestled between a bakery and a lunch place in the strip mall across the street from the University of California at Irvine, intrepid cyclists (or slightly more intrepid SoCal motorists) will find Alakazam Comics. (If you prefer more…