We’ve had a lot of luck with records. Some of the songs that have made our names a household word – like “slop-bucket” – are the little series of animal songs that we’ve been writing. – Michael Flanders, introduction to “The Gnu,” At the Drop of a Hat (1960) As Michael Flanders says, the animal songs made…
If you follow The Niblings (via Twitter or Facebook), you’ll know that two of us – Betsy Bird (Fuse #8) and Julie Walker Danielson (Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast) – have co-written a new book, Wild Things!: Acts of Mischief in Children’s Literature. It’s out today! It’s great! Go get it! Oh, I should probably tell you…
This blog made its debut four years ago this month –Â on July 23, 2010 –Â and it’s still here. Looking back over the past year’s worth of blog posts, I notice a few trends. The blog has retained its focus on children’s literature and comics but has also devoted more time to academia and activism. Academia…
… Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! – Emma Lazarus, “The New Colossus” (the poem on the Statue of Liberty) As alleged patriots devise ways to…
And now, my final daily report from the 2014 Comic-Con!  (Earlier reports: Sat., Fri., Thurs., & Weds.)  Today, Trina Robbins, Paul Pope, Dav Pilkey, Rachel Renée Russell, and some Outlander photos (by special request)! Chatting with Trina Robbins For this morning’s signing, I was with Trina Robbins, who – I am pleased to report – sold all copies of her latest book,…
Hello, and welcome to today’s tiny sliver of what Comic-Con is like. In each of my day’s reports, I’m giving you but one person’s glimpse into this vast enterprise, the attendance of which tends to be around 50,000 people. If you were here, your focus might be different than mine. Or if you did attend this year’s Comic-Con,…
And… my third report from Comic-Con!  (A little later than I’d planned because I didn’t get back from the Eisners until around 11 that night… and I’ve gotta sleep, too, ya know!) Strange Currencies While doing my morning “signing” at the Fantagraphics display, I had an interesting conversation with a woman passing by the booth (her…
Welcome to day 2 of my unashamedly idiosyncratic coverage of the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con. Let’s start with a little cosplay, shall we? Cosplay! One could spend all day photographing people in their costumes. I didn’t. These (above) are just a few I happened to catch. Instead, I went to panels, such as: Charles Schulz…
The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;– – William Wordsworth, “The World Is Too Much With Us” (1802) SHARKNADO GO SHARK YOURSELF! – promotional material for Sharknado 2: The Second One (2014) Greetings! I’m here at Comic-Con in San Diego, delivering a glimpse of the goings-on for…
To me, making a tape is like writing a letter –Â there’s a lot of erasing and rethinking and starting again […] A good compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do. You’ve got to kick it off with a corker, to hold the attention […], and then you’ve got to up it a notch,…
