Secret Stacks

Thomas gets saccharine for the show's farewell episode. Some gratitude, some encouragement, and some reassurance.

Sara Smith, author of the Graphic Library blog and dedicated comics advocate, tells us about how she organizes her school library’s shelves and navigates collection development in a conservative community! There are shout-outs to Katie J. McNamara, Jillian Rudes, Kelsey Bogan, and Matthew Murray, as well as references to No Flying No Tights, Booklist, Graphic Novels and Comics Roundtable, GraphicLibrary.org, and Manga In Libraries. She is a fantastic librarian to follow and always has something new and worthwhile to share.    Fresh Picks Monster Asadora Lost Lad London Wynd Grim Twig Canto Little Monsters   Find a comics shop near you Secret Stacks artwork by Severin Piehl, creator of Tove Theme song by Julie Jurgens, who blogs at Hi, Miss Julie! and is on twitter as @himissjulie

Writer/Illustrator Yehudi Mercado @ymercado shares the inspirations behind some of his many comics hitting the shelves. We talk about late friend of the show Jenny Colvin, conformity, masculinity, combining genres, being the only Jewish and Latinx kids in school, book bans, black joy, maxing out Photoshop layers, Shazam, and Miles Morales.   Jenny Colvin’s Reading Envy blog Yehudi Mercado at supermercado.pizza How Can I Stop Book Bans? The Mean Streets of South Uptown (from Jerry Craft’s New Kid)  Friends of the Furman Libraries Greenville Animal Care   Fresh Picks Sci-Fu Chunky Shazam: Thundercrack What If Miles Morales Was Thor? The Ghoul Next Door   Find a comics shop near you Secret Stacks artwork by Severin Piehl, creator of Tove Theme song by Julie Jurgens, who blogs at Hi, Miss Julie! and is on twitter as @himissjulie

Dave Scheidt @DaveScheidt and Scoot McMahon @scootcomics talk about their new graphic novel, Agents of S.L.A.M., about a super-powered wrestling adventure! We talk about writing and drawing humor and violence for a young audience, lifelong influences, creative sound effects, representation and diversity, cliffhanger reveals, and the happy accidents of their creative process.   Fresh Picks Mighty Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Cat Kid Comic Club Catwad Mr. Wolf’s Class Sci-Fu (Thomas’s SLJ review of Book 2: It Takes Two)   Find a comics shop near you Secret Stacks artwork by Severin Piehl, creator of Tove Theme song by Julie Jurgens, who blogs at Hi, Miss Julie! and is on twitter as @himissjulie

Matthew Noe @NoeTheMatt #libcomix #graphicmedicine Graphicmedicine.org American Library Association Graphic Novel Comics Round Table - accepting nominations for best graphic novels for adults and children JAMA - “Graphic Medicine - The Best of 2021”   Fresh Picks The Delicacy Mighty Thor Crude: A Memoir Dying For Attention: A Graphic Memoir of Nursing Home Care Find a comics shop near you Secret Stacks artwork by Severin Piehl, creator of Tove Theme song by Julie Jurgens, who blogs at Hi, Miss Julie! and is on twitter as @himissjulie

My guests for February 2022 are Robin Richardson and Taylor Curreysmith, the artist and writer behind House of the Queerbodies Part 1 on Kickstarter. We talk about the making of the comic, campaign rewards for libraries, Kickstarter’s imminent shift to blockchain, and challenges toward LGBTQ+ content in youth media. We also endorse a pretty choice selection of comics!   Fresh Picks Buuza Heartstopper Life of Melody The Magic Fish Mooncakes Not Simple Rainy Day Dreams Tidesong   Find a comics shop near you Secret Stacks artwork by Severin Piehl, creator of Tove Theme song by Julie Jurgens, who blogs at Hi, Miss Julie! and is on twitter as @himissjulie

Erica Friedman (@okazuyuri), lesbian icon, LGBTQ tastemaker, yuri expert, librarian, manga editor, blogger, lecturer… what can’t she do? Listen to her heartfelt takes on fandom, grassroots publishing, and empowering listeners to Do The Thing!   Okazu Blog ALC Publishing Erica on Patreon By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime and Manga (coming June 2022) Yuri Studio YouTube Channel Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Movie (Trailer) 2022 Librarians of the Year Iron Circus Comics   Fresh Picks Rose of Versailles Volume 3 (Volumes 1 and 2 getting hard to find…) I’m In Love With The Villainness (light novels) (manga) Gideon The Ninth (prose) Terra Ignota (prose series)   Find a comics shop near you Secret Stacks artwork by Severin Piehl, creator of Tove Theme song by Julie Jurgens, who blogs at Hi, Miss Julie! and is on twitter as @himissjulie

Matthew Murray, aka @MidniteLibrary on Twitter.   Book Club For Masochists - a different genre every month Manga Classics - young adult manga adaptations of classic literature Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) - stay tuned for their programs for librarians and educators Importance of self-published and crowdfunded comics in libraries Zine Union Catalog - cataloging and holdings information for zines Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table (GNCRT) Great Graphic Novels For Teens (GGNFT) Manga in Libraries webinars Glimpse Image Editor   This is How I Disappear 9781770464612 Spy x Family 9781974715466   Find a comics shop near you Secret Stacks artwork by Severin Piehl, creator of Tove Theme song by Julie Jurgens, who blogs at Hi, Miss Julie! and is on twitter as @himissjulie

Put on some headphones while you watch the skies! Seasoned comics pros Larry Hancock (“the best darned small business accountant in Canada that you’re gonna find”) and Michael Cherkas (email) describe their decades-in-the-making series The Silent Invasion. Together, they share their creative process, inspirations, convention experiences, and distinctly Torontonian tone (Torontone?). NBM blog posts about The Silent Invasion The Silent Invasion Facebook group Volume 1: Red Shadows (9781681121741) Volume 2: The Great Fear (9781681122069) Volume 3: Abductions! (9781681122557) Volume 4: Dark Matter (9781681122830) (Press release) Find a comics shop near you Secret Stacks artwork by Severin Piehl, creator of Tove Theme song by Julie Jurgens, who blogs at Hi, Miss Julie! and is on twitter as @himissjulie

We've got a BookTuber in the house! Ashley, aka BookishRealm can be found on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Goodreads. We talk about finding the next great read, interacting with publishers and viewers, and the bottomless well of energy known as Goodreads Drama. We also talk about a lot of books! We Need Diverse Books White Smoke Sugar Town Queens How publishers promote online Navigating ever-changing discovery algorithms of social media The Joker Vol. 1 9781779512017 X-Men: Hellfire Gala 9781302931155 Nuclear Family 9781949028737 Radiant Black 9781534319165 Abbott / Abbott 1973 ‎ 9781684152452 / 9781684156511 Something Is Killing The Children 9781684155583 Edelweiss NetGalley   Fresh Picks Himawari House 9781250235572 Allergic 9781338568905

The longest episode for the longest days of the year! Helen McCarthy, dubbed by some (me) as the Judi Dench of manga, has many loose threads to pull. A number of topics and links are below for your reference throughout the conversation, including Helen's peers and books. Get ready for an intellectual journey with an English scholar! Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s Supermarionation Mazinger Z / Goldorak anime addiction started by Spanish TV The first Moneypenny, Lois Ruth Maxwell Comparing Osamu Tezuka and Hayao Miyazaki Perspectives about sexual content in manga and anime Being more of a door-pusher than a gatekeeper The UK Anime Fandom Archive Parenting and engaging with kinds of content in manga and anime Christian values In The Night Kitchen & Naked Babies Helen McCarthy - A History of Manga Helen McCarthy’s website Frederik L. Schodt - “Translator, conference interpreter, and award-winning writer” Erica Friedman’s Okazu blog - “The world's oldest and most comprehensive blog on lesbian-themed Japanese cartoons, comics and related media” Ryan Holmberg - “Comics & Art Historian, Translator, Editor”   The Art of Osamu Tezuka Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation Leiji Matsumoto: Essays On The Manga and Anime Legend The Erotic Anime Movie Guide Legend of the Galactic Heroes

Snap endings, surprise twists, meaningful horror! This month’s episode features the Eisner-winning scholar Dr. Qiana Whitted. Thomas and Qiana talk about her published works, some older comics, some newer comics, upcoming virtual author visits, and the teaser trailer for The Harder They Fall. Plus lots of fresh picks! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKz5kZr8mrg  Let’s Talk Race: A Conversation With GB Tran (Sunday, June 27, 2021 @ 3:00pm EST) Meet The Author: Kwame Alexander (Thursday, July 22, 2021 @ 6:30pm EST) African-Americans and Graphic Novels: An Evening With Joel Christian Gill (Saturday, October 9, 2021 @ 6:00pm EST) Whole Lotta Picks   Comics and the U.S. South 9781617039454 EC Comics: Race, Shock, and Social Protest 9780813566313  After The Rain 9781419743559  Black Star 9781419742286 Upgrade Soul 9781620109762 Destroyer 9781684150557  Eve (collected edition not listed yet) Tales of The Talented Tenth Vol. 3 9781682750667 Run 9781419730696 Blood On The Tracks 9781949980134   Find a comics shop near you Secret Stacks logo and avatar by Severin Piehl, go read his webcomic Tove Theme song by Julie Jurgens, y’all

"We gave one group the Centers for Disease Control document for teens on HIV/AIDS, and we gave the other group the AIDS In The End Zone graphic novel. We saw better results, not surprisingly, with the graphic novel." How's that for demonstrating the power of comics?! This episode's guest is Dr. Karen Gavigan, who is and has been closely tied to research involving graphic novels. She is also the interim director of the School of Library and Information Science at the University of South Carolina. Karen and Thomas talk about her position, past research, professional organizations, and trends in young adult fiction requests, not to mention a couple of fresh picks! Will Eisner Grants For Libraries - Growth and Innovation South Carolina Library Association South Carolina Association of School Librarians North Carolina Library Association North Carolina School Media Association Virginia Library Association Social Justice Graphic Novels - a Carnegie Whitney Grant project by Kasey Garrison   Fresh Picks Showtime At The Apollo 9781419731389 Kimiko Does Cancer 9781551528199

By special request, this episode is a monologue about graphic novels in libraries. It was created for Karen Gavigan's students at Old Dominion University (Go Monarchs!), but I think there's plenty for a general audience to appreciate and dissect. We talk about the rising popularity of comics, particularly for younger readers and manga, perceived notions of quality in reading material, booktalking, professional reading, and suggestions for classroom activities. “People used to laugh at me when I said kids liked reading comics. Now everyone laughs while they count their money.” - Raina Telgemeier’s Guts is the bestselling BOOK overall in the US this week - Heidi Macdonald, Comics Beat, 2019 Streaming Anime Lifts Manga Sales - Deb Aoki, Publishers Weekly, 2021 Using Graphic Novels In The English Language Arts Classroom by William Boerman-Cornell and Jung Kim 9781350112698 Teaching Artfully by Meghan Parker 9781951038205

Welcome back, everyone! The show has undergone a bit of a format change, and kicking it off is special guest Mahnaz Dar, section editor for School Library Journal. We talk about middle grade and young adult titles, the nuts and bolts of selecting titles for review in SLJ, the nature of illustrated storytelling, rant a bit about NFTs, and of course recommend some great comics! Show Notes SLJ Best Graphic Novels 2020 The Onion: Adults Go Wild Over Latest In Children’s Picture Book Series Kimberly Parker: Most artists are not making money off NFTs and here are some graphs to prove it Vice: People's Expensive NFTs Keep Vanishing. This Is Why Mahnaz Dar: @DibblyFresh / mdar@mediasourceinc.com Fresh Picks Chunky by Yehudi Mercado 9780062972781 Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure by Hirohiko Araki Find a comics shop near you Secret Stacks logo and avatar by Severin Piehl, go read his webcomic Tove Theme song by Julie Jurgens, y’all

Life – Work – Comics! How have each of these three been affected by Covid-19 and the pandemic sweeping the globe? Kristin and Thomas are trying their best to help people and themselves. Hunker down with another podcast to make the days go by easier. We have links, recommendations, and good ol’ anecdotes from a medical and public librarian! We won’t judge your Animal Crossing town nor your bread-baking abilities! Epilogue: MLA’s Annual Conference for 2020 already happened! Indoor/Outdoor scavenger hunt for kids Fingerplays, Songs, and Stretches for storytime Pandemic Parenting How To Do A Storytime From Home Working Remotely Like a Boss Digital Resources for Small Businesses and Entrepreneurship Whatcha Got Cookin’? Breadit Virtual Weather Exploration: STEAM Learning For Families Stuck At Home? 14 Activities You Can Do Vault Comics: Buy a comics shop gift card, receive two PDF ARCs Valiant Comics: thread of free digital comics DIY Comics FAQ with G.E. Gallas Gail Simone’s Five-Day #ComicsSchool DC Comics Launches Online ‘Kids Camp’ Kristin’s Picks Not Funny Ha-Ha 9781606998397 Celebrated Summer 9781606996850 Thomas’s Picks Green Lantern: Legacy 9781401283551 Die 9781534312708 Find a comics shop near you Secret Stacks logo and avatar by Severin Piehl, go read his webcomic Tove Theme song by Julie Jurgens, y’all

Do you know a child, size 3T, who loves Spider-Man? No pressure, just asking. Have you considered sponsoring an angel tree child, either through Department of Social Services or Salvation Army? No pressure, just a thought. Can you hold up this anime transparency in front of this library chair? No press… actually, let us explain. All of this, plus piracy chat, review tropes, and our fresh picks! Banana Fish  Anime Series Leads Obsessed Japanese Tourists To NYPL Congratulations to Traci on the free Joker viewing! TRACI SAYS – “There was a lot to digest. It was definitely intense – parts that were great, some just eh.” Tucker Stone’s rant about comics reviews Ted Brandt comics piracy thread  Notorious RBG Quote: “When I’m sometimes asked when will there be enough [women on the Supreme Court] and I say, ‘When there are nine,’ people are shocked. But there’d been nine men, and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.” American Library Association’s Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table The Comics Journal’s Feature Look At Raina Telgemeier’s “Guts” Kristin’s Picks My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies 9781534308466 Gender Queer 9781549304002 Thomas’s Picks Magus of the Library 9781632368232 Little Bird: The Fight For Elder’s Hope 9781534313453 Find a comics shop near you Secret Stacks logo and avatar by Severin Piehl, go read his webcomic Tove Theme song by Julie Jurgens, y’all  

Workin’ out, nerdin’ out, gettin’ the word out! Working the ropes n’ spokes for the new season of The Swole Stacks!  Rio De Janeiro Mayor tries (and tries, and tries again) to ban Avengers: The Children’s Crusade from a book fair Cosplayer in residence Art Spiegelman: Golden age superheroes were shaped by the rise of fascism  The Far Side 2019??  Four Color Fantasies: The Gary Lee Watson Comic Book Collection at the University of South Carolina Ramona Fradon commissions still available Autostraddle – queer and nonbinary lifestyle blog Belgium Comic Expo: The Ninth Art at The Koger Center For The Arts Kristin’s Pick Grease Bats 9781684154111 Thomas’s Pick Stargazing 9781250183880 Find a comics shop near you Secret Stacks logo and avatar by Severin Piehl, go read his webcomic Tove Theme song by Julie Jurgens, y’all  

They sent us to shut it down! Kristin and Thomas deliver the Quebec Library Association‘s closing keynote. We aimed for a mixture of history, advocacy, passion, industry trends, and a few laughs along the way. What do a couple of American librarians have to share about comics? Come find out! (Note: there is a brief audio cut made during a description of EC Comics due to the recording device stopping and restarting. The missing snippet doesn’t seem to harm the overall context of the segment, but please pardon any confusion that may result there.) ABQLA Keynote Powerpoint (Google Slides) Find a comics shop near you Secret Stacks logo and avatar by Severin Piehl, go read his webcomic Tove Theme song by Julie Jurgens, y’all

This is a mini-episode recorded while waiting for John Wick 3, but there’s more content than ever! Kristin and Thomas talk about the Quebec Library Association Conference and the sessions they saw there. Does your library acknowledge use of native lands? What is the best way to utilize a religious space for community programming? Toronto and Montreal’s Comic Arts Festivals were a blast! Sometimes the best way to vacation outside of America is to sit back in a hotel bed and watch Live PD. All this and just two picks! Escape rooms with Vickie Chen and Edward Lim (thread) Violet Fox’s Cataloging Lab session (thread) Library of Congress’s “Illegal Alien” heading Toronto Comic Arts Festival’s Indigenous Lands Acknowledgment: “The Toronto Comic Arts Festival would like to acknowledge that the land on which we gather is the traditional territory of the Anishnaabe, Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation, the Haudenosaunee, and the Huron-Wendat and that Indigenous peoples have lived on and cared for this land for more than 15,000 years. This territory is covered by the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Treaty. Today, Toronto is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island. We acknowledge that settlers on the land directly benefit from the process of colonization. In recognition of our gathering on these lands for TCAF 2018, the festival has made a donation to The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund (DWF). We look forward to increasing our support and programs for Indigenous creators in the years to come.” Margo Gustina’s keynote (thread) Perry Bible Fellowship: Gnome Bubbles Montreal Comic Arts Festival Toronto Comic Arts Festival (photos and audio of various panels) Kistin’s Pick Sobriety: The Graphic Novel 9781616495572 Thomas’s Pick Kino’s Journey: The Beautiful World 9781947194359 Find a comics shop near you Secret Stacks logo and avatar by Severin Piehl, go read his webcomic Tove Theme song by Julie Jurgens, y’all