Case Study No. 1399: Unnamed Female Librarian (High School High)

High School High librarian: "You suck!"
0:34
Apparently since 1996, this is the visual I get whenever I hear the phrase. This is the delivery I am imitating when I use the phrase. Not many people get the reference.
Tags: High School High (Film) Librarian (Occupation) Jon Lovitz Tia Carrere Louise Fletcher
Added: 2 months ago
From: DelilahThePig
Views: 24

From google.com:

In the slapstick comedy "High School High" (1996), a librarian (uncredited) appears in two nonlibrary scenes.

Jon Lovitz stars as Richard Clark, an idealistic and oblivious but nonetheless effective high school teacher who accepts a position at Marion Barry High School, a prime example of an urban secondary school fiasco. The exterior and interior of the school more closely resemble a burned-out neighborhood ravaged by riots and armed conflict than a tax-supported public school.

At the opening day assembly, Richard gives a brief talk, concluding, "I see in you, the future of America." At this point, someone in the audience yells, "You suck!" The shouter, an adult, stands and gives Richard the bird with both hands. The principal's administrative assistant (Tia Carrere) informs Richard that the shouter is "the school librarian."

Later in the film, the principal announces that Richard's students achieved the "lowest scores in the country" and dismisses Richard. Leaving the school in disgrace, Richard is pushed out of the building by a security guard and is jeered loudly by students and teachers as he leaves the schoolground; the librarian, in top shouting form, reaffirms her earlier evaluation, "You suck!"

The librarian, a brunette (half bang; bouffant, probable bun), dresses moderately in both scenes and, in the second scene, wears eyeglasses on a bead lanyard. In both scenes, she has a pencil stuck in her hair. These visual characteristics, along with the administrative assistant's statement, establish her identity as a librarian.

Case Study No. 1398: Unnamed Female Librarian (EveryoneOn)

Digital Literacy - Stacy :30
0:30
Today, the Internet is a prerequisite to complete homework, search for and apply for a job, connect with family and friends and access government programs. Low-income and minority Americans disproportionately find themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide and excluded from the $8 trillion digital economy and all of its benefits. More than 80% of FORTUNE 500 companies post their job openings online only and require online applications. Fifty percent of today's jobs require technology skills, and this percentage is expected to grow to 77% in the next decade.

The EveryoneOn campaign aims to support the 62 million Americans who do not have the digital literacy skills they need to succeed and help them understand the relevance the Internet has in their lives. Whether it's finding a job, helping their children complete homework for school or accessing e-commerce, electronic medical records and connecting with distant family, it is vital that we encourage every American to take advantage of the tools they need to succeed.

By calling 1-855-EVRY1ON or vising www.everyoneon.org, users have access to a zip code search tool to find free computer and internet training classes in their area.
Tags: EveryoneON Digital Literacy Ad Council PSA
Added: 1 year ago
From: adcouncil
Views: 1,173

[scene opens in a public library, as a woman is staring at a computer screen (the footage is shown from the POV of the computer's webcam) while an African-Amercian female librarian (short dark hair, large earrings, white sweater, black blouse) stands behind her]
LIBRARIAN: So, what you wanna do is ... Have you already enrolled?
[cut to the woman slowly typing, as "This is Stacy, hair stylist, mother" appears on screen]
LIBRARIAN: You're doing fine.
[cut to another shot of the woman staring at the screen, as "First-time internet user" appears on screen]
STACY: What did that just do?
[cut to another shot of the librarian pointing at the screen, as "Her teacher" appears on screen]
STACY: Select?
LIBRARIAN: Select the drop-down menu.
[cut to another shot of the librarian instructing the woman, as "The goal: pay bills online and save (time)" appears on screen]
LIBRARIAN: You're already enrolled.
[cut to another shot of the librarian pointing at the screen]
LIBRARIAN: Example here ...
[cut to a shot of the two laughing]
LIBRARIAN: Don't panic.
[cut to another shot of the librarian instructing the woman]
LIBRARIAN: And you're ready to make your payment.
[cut to another shot of the woman typing, as "Processing ... " appears on screen]
LIBRARIAN: Submit.
[the librarian crosses her fingers, then cut to another shot of the woman smiling]
LIBRARIAN: There it is!
STACY: Oh my god!
["Transaction complete :) :)" appears on screen]
STACY: I really can't believe I did it!
[cut to a shot of the woman holding her hands over her mouth in disbelief]
STACY: That's awesome!
LIBRARIAN: Good for you!
[she laughs, then the scene fades to white, as "Get online. Find a free class near you" appears on screen]

Everyoneon dot org
1-855-EVRY1ON

---

From adcouncil.org:

CAMPAIGN SPONSOR: Connect2Compete

CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVE:
Promote the importance of digital literacy skills and increase access to free computer and Internet training classes.

BACKGROUND:
Low-income and minority Americans disproportionately find themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide and excluded from the $8 trillion digital economy and all of its benefits. More than 80% of FORTUNE 500 companies post their job openings online only and require online applications. Fifty percent of today's jobs require technology skills, and this percentage is expected to grow to 77% in the next decade.

CAMPAIGN DESCRIPTION:
The EveryoneOn campaign aims to help the millions of Americans who do not have the digital literacy skills they need to succeed and help them understand the relevance the Internet has in their lives. Whether it's finding a job, helping their children complete homework for school or accessing e-commerce, electronic medical records and connecting with distant family, it is vital that we encourage every American to take advantage of the tools they need to succeed.

By calling 1-855-EVRY1ON or visiting www.everyoneon.org, users have access to a zip code search tool to find free computer and internet training classes in their area. The website also includes information on computer basics, job searches, accessing government resources and how to connect with friends and family.

TARGET AUDIENCE:
Adults who are non- or limited internet users, with a specific focus on minorities. Consideration is also given to varying levels of digital literacy.
(English and Spanish speaking)

DID YOU KNOW:
* 1 in 5 Americans consider themselves non-users of the Internet.
* 80% of teachers give homework online.
* According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), digital literacy is one of the top three reasons Americans don't use PCs and the Internet, with 46% of non-users responding that they lack the necessary skills.

---

From nytimes.com:

Q. I know there have been a lot of discussions here about the oversaturation of some ads on TV, but I have to ask: What's up with the spot showing two women using the Internet for the first time? I see it all the time, on all channels, and at all times of day. Are there really that many people out there who have never used the Internet and who are likely to be swayed by this spot? How much is the budget for this campaign?

The whole thing flummoxes me. It just seems a waste of airtime and money, not to mention they are among the most annoying commercials I've ever seen. It's 2014 - who isn't online, especially of an age/demographic represented by the actresses?

The spot looks to be a joint venture between Connect2Compete and the Ad Council logo. Here's a link to the TV spots; I've seen Stacy and Alex and they always play together.

A. Thanks, dear reader, for your question, which I forwarded to Ellyn Fisher, a spokeswoman at the Advertising Council in New York.

The campaign is called EveryoneOn, Ms. Fisher writes in an email, "and it was developed by the Ad Council and Connect2Compete, a national nonprofit that aims to bridge the digital divide by providing high-speed, low-cost Internet, computers and free digital literacy classes to Americans."

The campaign "was created to help the 62 million people in the U.S. - one in five - who consider themselves nonusers of the Internet," Ms. Fisher says, adding: "How does this impact their lives? Digital literacy skills help people search for jobs, connect with relatives, access money savings and, over all, improve their lives."

The public service announcements "were developed pro bono by the advertising agency Y&R," Ms. Fisher says, "and are running in time and space donated by the media." The ads "direct audiences to www.everyoneon.org, where they can use a ZIP code locator tool to find free digital literacy training classes and links to best-in-class online training resources," she adds, "and, through a nationwide network of partners, the campaign offers access to digital literacy programs in more than 21,000 libraries and training centers."

Case Study No. 1397: Dan Piro

Dan Piro, Pro Wrestling Archivist!
1:10
From: WWE Magazine, Holiday 2006 (p. 14)

Archived at: http://www.w we.com/inside/news/archive/ holidaymagazine06

WWE'S SECRET VIDEO VAULT
"Company archivist Dan Piro leads us through WWE's vast tape library."

Our editors barely have enough clearance to enter Titan Tower bathrooms, let alone WWE's massive archives. So it took a few hours of pleading with the fortified library's manager, Dan Piro, to sneak this rare peek.

Q: Break it down for us. What's actually in here?
A: Our WWE footage goes back to the early '70s, with some rare stuff from the '50s. On top of that, we've purchased the libraries of WCW, ECW, the AWA, Championship Wrestling from Florida, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, Ohio Valley Wrestling, and Stamped Wrestling from Calgary. We have the most comprehensive wrestling library in North America.

Q: How many hours of couch time are we talking about?
A: We've estimated it at about 90,000 hours of footage, with only about half that footage actually ever having aired on TV. It'd take you about 8 years to watch everything straight through.

Q: So this room must be protected by laser tripwires, poisonous vipers and 10-foot thick steel security doors?
A: Well, this room IS fireproof. But just in case, we have most of our masters backed up in vaults at a place called Iron Mountain in upstate New York. It's a nuclear bombproof facilty, so when the apocalypse strikes, WWE will live on.

Q: What's the oddest clip you've got stashed in these shelves?
A: Man, there are so many. But I'd have to say it's a clip in the Championship Wrestling from Florida library. It's a music video of The Fabulous Ones, Steve Keirn & Stan Lane, dressed in bow ties, suspenders and itty-bitty trunks strutting around and performing in a music video for "Sharp Dressed Man." There's also a reel in here labeled "What Were They Thinking" that's basically a compilation of bizarre WCW stuff, including Dungeon of Doom skits with Kevin Sullivan, a clip of Mr. Wonderful with psychic Gary Spivey, and a 2 Cold Scorpio music video.

Q: Bet there must be some pretty incriminating footage of the Chairman squirreled away somewhere?
A: Honestly, Vince's entire life is pretty much on tape - going back to when he first started announcing in the '70s. There's even a section of McMahon family movies; I've seen footage of Vince in his 20s waterskiing on a lake - mundane stuff like that. If there is anything incriminating in here, I haven't seen it yet, but we still have thousands of hours of footage to sort through, so who knows?
Tags: wwe wwf world wrestling federation world wrestling entertainment librarians archivists vince mcmahon
Added: 1 month ago
From: ToonLib
Views: 46

From wwe.com:

Inside WWE's massive video vault
BY Zach Linder
June 21, 2013

WWE owns, quite simply, the largest library of professional wrestling content in the world.

Since buying out WCW in 2001, the titan of sports-entertainment has acquired the tape libraries of major promotions, including ECW, AWA, World Class Championship Wrestling, Championship Wrestling from Florida, Smoky Mountain Wrestling and many others. But who is responsible for curating this priceless collection? How is it organized and stored?

Bryan Staffaroni is WWE's Director of Media Technology. In this role, he is responsible for the massive undertaking of digitally archiving each and every match that WWE owns.

"Whether it was a WCW Nitro episode or some MSG show from back in the day - if it aired, we ingested it in that project," Staffaroni explained.

As WWE's Director of Asset Management, George Germanakos oversees the content of what is currently owned, while also keeping an eye on what independent libraries WWE might be interested in acquiring in the future.

"When someone in the company is looking for a certain piece of footage, they'll come to me," Germanakos said. "Whether it is years, dates, venues, names, whatever they need. Call my department up and we'll get that information and that footage."

Together, these two men allow the WWE Universe to consume rare wrestling footage and also provide the information needed for historical video packages seen on WWE programming today. On a rainy June day, WWEClassics.com and WWE Hall of Famer Howard Finkel were given a tour of WWE's top-secret tape library and storage facility. Join us to discover what we found inside.

A huge portion of wrestling history is guarded by a robot
"This is the digital archive robot," Staffaroni told us as we were led into a climate-controlled room housing a state-of-the-art and highly complicated large machine. "It has more than 4,000 slots inside with data tapes that we use to store footage. These tapes can hold approximately 24 hours of footage and that's just one physical tape."

We did get the opportunity to see the robot in action. Arms slid back and forth, grabbing tapes and moving them backwards. In the back, green lights indicated the drives that read the tapes.

"When media managers go to archive the high-resolution version of any type of content, it grabs one of these blank tapes, puts it in the drive and records high-res," Staffaroni explained.

When we asked for the doors to be opened so we could get up close, we were swiftly denied. Maintenance workers were tending to the machine and we were told that very few people have access to open the doors.

"The maintenance in this room is non-stop," Staffaroni continued. "It is not set to be working automatously in the background. There are people running this thing. Media managers are archiving. Our restoring engineers are constantly upgrading software, and even just mechanically tweaking this thing. There is a lot of maintenance that goes along with the digital robot."

The tape library contains 48,658 tapes
WWE's central tape room features a series of floor-to-ceiling shelves that move along a mechanical track, allowing the company to pack more than 40,000 tapes into a tiny room for easy organization and access. On our visit, we noticed that many of the lower shelves were curved and asked if the heavier items were kept on the bottom.

"You may think gravity and the weight of the tapes is weighing down the shelves and that's why they're bowed, but if you notice the bow stops at a certain height. That's because the library guys get up here like this," Staffaroni said as he began to climb the shelf.

Walking through the room, we were stunned to see ancient relics like AWA film reels and long lost footage from Jim Crockett Promotions. The room is a wrestling fan's dream.

Some footage is stored in a nuclear bomb-proof mountain
In addition to WWE's main facility in Stamford, Conn., a large portion of the company's tape library is kept at Iron Mountain in New York State's Catskill Mountains. Sixty-thousand assets, including tapes, film reels and other media are stored in this ultra-protected facility.

"It's literally a cave you walk into and there's water dripping," Staffaroni told us. "To see all of this wrestling footage just sitting there in the middle of a cave and there's this deafening silence is pretty cool."

"It's also fire protected," Germanakos added. "If there's a fire in the building, we have a gas that's released in this room. Foam fills up the room that saves a tape from fire."

That's right, your favorite WrestleMania matches could survive the devastation of a nuclear war.

Including some other minor storage facilities, WWE owns a total of more than 125,000 tapes and more than 130,000 hours of footage, including one Phantasio match!

Tapes are decaying and are being archived quickly
Some items in the archive don't have much of a lifespan remaining, so if a specific item or match is required for a project, the entire tape will be digitized just in case.

"A lot of our three-quarter-inch tapes, for example, are so old," Germanakos told us. "If we need to get footage off of it, we put the tape in the deck and just hit play. It will record the whole reel. We're not sure if we'll be able to rewind it or get anything else from that reel. It sheds."

WWE footage in the library begins at approximately 1971, but the library contains footage from other organizations as far back as the 1950s and '60s.

Footage is still being found and acquired today
"There are boxes of stuff that nobody ever went and touched," Staffaroni admitted. "We owned so much of the WCW library, but we just never opened some boxes, because we just had so much stuff."

The team has a term for that material: Hidden gems. This includes rare Andre the Giant footage that the WWE Classics on Demand service jumped for joy over.

"We had things that people had never seen on the east coast," Germanakos revealed.

Recently, WWE acquired one of the few North American organizations it had yet to own: Mid-South Wrestling, headed up by the legendary WWE Hall of Famer "Cowboy" Bill Watts. Negotiations for other acquisitions are currently underway, giving wrestling fans access to more and more content. So, while footage of the famous match in which Bruno Sammartino defeated Buddy Rogers for the WWE Championship is still lost to time, it may turn up as WWE's massive library continues to grow.

Case Study No. 1396: Peter J. Sanderson

Peter Sanderson: Marvel's first (and only?) archivist!
1:57
From the "This Week in Marvel" podcast (3/25/14)
Tags: peter sanderson marvel comics librarians archivists
Added: 1 month ago
From: ComixLibrary
Views: 9

BEN MORSE: For those who might not be familiar with your work, and your role in Marvel in the past, can you give a quick bio of yourself and introduction to your place in this giant tapestry we call Marvel?
PETER SANDERSON: Well, my place in the giant tapestry we call Marvel has actually been to keep track of the giant tapestry that is called Marvel ...
[the hosts both laugh]
PETER SANDERSON: Um, I grew up reading Marvel comics in the Silver Age, and ... In the late seventies, I moved to New York City--
BEN MORSE: Mm hmm.
PETER SANDERSON: I started meeting people, the first person ... Marvel pros I met were Chris Claremont and his first wife, who were impressed with the letters I was writing to the X-Men!
RYAN PENAGOS: Nice!
PETER SANDERSON: And from there, I got to meet other people, including the late Mark Gruenwald ...
BEN MORSE: Mm hmm.
PETER SANDERSON: Who brought me on ... Who, knowing my interest in comics history, brought me on board to work on The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.
BEN MORSE: Yes.
PETER SANDERSON: And I worked on all the different versions of that through the eighties, and ... at one point in the eighties, I was an assistant editor on books like X-Men and Star Wars.
BEN MORSE: Mm hmm.
PETER SANDERSON: And I eventually became the first Marvel archivist--
RYAN PENAGOS: Nice!
PETER SANDERSON: And for all I know, the only Marvel archivist!
[the hosts both laugh]
PETER SANDERSON: But I was in the library room, and I was in charge of the books and in keeping track of continuity, and ... Eventually, by the nineties, I was signed to write books about Marvel. I started with Marvel Universe for Abrams, and so there's something like a dozen or more books out there which I've written about Marvel--
BEN MORSE: Mm hmm.
PETER SANDERSON: Or contributed to them, or they're reprints of things like the Handbook that I've written.
BEN MORSE: Yeah ...
PETER SANDERSON: And I also wrote, like, a series called The Marvel Saga about Marvel.
BEN MORSE: Yep.
PETER SANDERSON: Which, I hope, someday they will bring back!
[the hosts both laugh]
BEN MORSE: I would love to see that!
PETER SANDERSON: So, um ... So yeah, keeping track of comics history in general and Marvel in particular, this has been my life and career and my vocation.

---

From marvel.com:

Celebrate Marvel's Golden Age on Episode 125.5 of This Week in Marvel
Published
Mar 25, 2014

Marvel historian Peter Sanderson joins Ben and Ryan for a lengthy discussion about Timely Comics during the 1940's and 50's, including stories about the creation of Captain America, the forgotten heroes of the Golden Age, Stan Lee's first job and much more!

---

From wikipedia.org:

Peter John Sanderson, Jr. (born April 25, 1952) is a comic book critic and historian, as well as an instructor/lecturer in the New York area concerning the study of graphic novels/comic books as literature.

He is best known for his work as a researcher at the two main American comics companies, DC and Marvel, where he helped to catalog the various fictional characters that comprised their respective continuities.

Biography
Sanderson was born on April 25, 1952 in Milton, Massachusetts, to Peter John Sanderson, Sr.

As a teenager, and later, at Columbia University, Sanderson's first involvement in the field was as a "letterhack," a frequent contributor to comic book letter columns. His missives impressed DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz enough for Schwartz expand the letter columns in some titles to a second, separate page (such as "Flash-Grams - Extra", "Letters To the Batcave - Extra", and "JLA Mailroom - Special Peter Sanderson Edition") to facilitate Sanderson's analysis. In the early 1980s Sanderson wrote for comic fanzines.

From there, Sanderson broke into the comic book industry proper; he was first hired by DC Comics, where he was given the task of reading every comic book published by the company since 1935. His research was used by Marv Wolfman in writing Crisis on Infinite Earths[citation needed] and by Len Wein in writing Who's Who in the DC Universe. Sanderson then went to work for Marvel as their first (and only) archivist, and contributed as a researcher on the various Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe series in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Sanderson was also the writer of the Marvel Saga and Wolverine Saga limited series. These titles did not follow the typical art-centered comic book format; instead, the two series focused on text chronicling the fictional histories of comic book characters - rather than writing new exploits of the characters - that Sanderson culled from previous titles Marvel had published over the years. The text was supplemented by individual panels excerpted from the comic books that served as Sanderson's sources.

He writes an online column entitled Comics in Context, which (in Sanderson's own words) is "a weekly series of critical essays on comics, cartoon art, and related subjects" (those "related subjects" can run the gamut from film adaptations of comic books, to other media that have been influenced by comics, such as Star Wars). The series started on July 8, 2003 on the website IGN.com, but then moved to the Kevin Smith-affiliated website Quick Stop Entertainment on June 23, 2006; according to Mr. Sanderson, the "Powers That Be" in charge of IGN's comics section began to tamper with the titles of his columns and complain about some of the topics he covered, whereby a "change of scenery" was necessary. After a seventeen-month hiatus, Comics in Context returned to the newly-rebranded A Site Called Fred on January 19, 2010.

Outside of his online writings, Sanderson has also had a number of books published (including The Marvel Vault and The Marvel Travel Guide to New York), taught the class The Graphic Novel as Literature at NYU, curated an exhibition on Stan Lee for the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art,[10] and reviews the latest in comics and comics-related material for Publishers Weekly.

Comics Bibliography
Essential Marvel Saga: Volume 1 (440 pages, January 2008, ISBN 0785127275)
Essential Marvel Saga: Volume 2 (472 pages, December 2008, ISBN 0785127283)

Books Bibliography
Marvel Universe: The Complete Encyclopedia of Marvel's Greatest Characters (256 pages, Harry N. Abrams, 1998, ISBN 0810981718)
Ultimate X-Men (Dorling Kindersley, 174 pages, 2000, ISBN 0751328855, revised second edition, X-Men: The Ultimate Guide, 192 pages, 2003, ISBN 0751346179)
Classic Marvel Super Heroes: The Story of Marvel's Mightiest (128 pages, Becker & Mayer Books, 2005, paperback, ISBN 1932855564, hardcover, ISBN 1932855327)

Essays
"The Ideal and the Strange: Order Vs. Freedom in Planetary". Keeping the World Strange: A Planetary Guide. Sequart Research & Literacy Organization, 2011. ISBN 9780578077017.
"The 1960s Batman TV Series from Comics to Screen". Gotham City 14 Miles: 14 Essays on Why the 1960s Batman TV Series Matters. Sequart Research & Literacy Organization, 2010. ISBN 9780578064611.
"Bringing Light to the World: Watchmen from Hiroshima to Manhattan". Minutes to Midnight: Twelve Essays on Watchmen. Sequart Research & Literacy Organization, 2010. ISBN 9780578060767.

Comics In Context
Comics in Context #246 (Vol. 3 #6)
Friday July 27th, 2012
Title: Spider-Man's Oedipus Complex
Description: Comics historian extraordinaire Peter Sanderson takes a look at the new cinematic take on Spider-Man ...

Comics in Context #245 (Vol. 3 #5)
Tuesday July 3rd, 2012
Title: Four From Pixar
Description: Comics historian extraordinaire Peter Sanderson takes a look at a quartet of flicks from the House of Lasseter ...

Comics in Context #244 (Vol. 3 #4)
Monday May 28th, 2012
Title: When Burton Met Barnabas
Description: Comics historian extraordinaire Peter Sanderson begins his in-depth look at Tim Burton's DARK SHADOWS ...

Comics in Context #243 (Vol. 3 #3)
Friday May 11th, 2012
Title: Avengers Annotations Assemble!
Description: Comics historian extraordinaire Peter Sanderson dives into the big screen take on Marvel's AVENGERS ...

Comics in Context #242 (Vol. 3 #2)
Monday April 30th, 2012
Title: Remembering Barnabas Collins
Description: Comics historian extraordinaire Peter Sanderson remembers DARK SHADOWS' own Barnabas Collins, actor Jonathan Frid ...

Comics in Context #241 (Vol. 3 #1)
Sunday April 22nd, 2012
Title: Cabin (in the Woods) Fever
Description: Comics historian extraordinaire Peter Sanderson returns with an in-depth look look at Joss Whedon & Drew Goddard's "Cabin in the Woods" ...

Comics in Context #240 (Vol. 2 #12)
Saturday April 10, 2010
Title: Wimpy in Love
Description: Comics historian extraordinaire Peter Sanderson returns with the penultimate chapter of his extended exploration of Popeye's sometime companion, the hamburger con man J. Wellington Wimpy...

Comics in Context #239 (Vol. 2 #11)
Thursday April 1, 2010
Title: Scrooge's Lost Horizon
Description: Comics historian extraordinaire Peter Sanderson takes a journey with Uncle Scrooge to the not-so-mythical land of Tralla La, crafted by Carl Barks ...

Comics in Context #238 (Vol. 2 #10)
Friday March 26, 2010
Title: Popeye vs. Wimpy
Description: Comics historian extraordinaire Peter Sanderson returns with his extended exploration of Popeye's sometime companion, the hamburger con man J. Wellington Wimpy ...

Comics in Context #237 (Vol. 2 #9)
Friday March 19, 2010
Title: Donald the Dad
Description: Comics historian extraordinaire Peter Sanderson dips into the comics adventures of Donald Duck and his Uncle Scrooge, crafted by Carl Barks ...

Comics in Context #236 (Vol. 2 #8)
Thursday March 11, 2010
Title: Wimpy Redeemed
Description: Comics historian extraordinaire Peter Sanderson returns with an additional look at Popeye's sometime companion, the hamburger con man J. Wellington Wimpy ...

Comics in Context #235 (Vol. 2 #7)
Thursday March 4, 2010
Title: The Chief and the King
Description: Comics historian extraordinaire Peter Sanderson returns with a look at Hanna-Barbera's king of the streets, Top Cat ...

Comics in Context #234 (Vol. 2 #6)
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Title: Diary of a Wimpy Con Man
Description: Comics historian extraordinaire Peter Sanderson returns with a look at Popeye's sometime companion, the hamburger con man J. Wellington Wimpy ...

Comics in Context #233 (Vol. 2 #5)
Thursday February 18, 2010
Title: Cunning Canines
Description: Comics historian extraordinaire Peter Sanderson returns with a look at Wes Anderson's adaptation of Roald Dahl's FANTASTIC MR. FOX and his animated predecessor, Hanna Barbera's Hokey Wolf ...

Comics in Context #232 (Vol. 2 #4)
Thursday February 11th 2010
Title: David Levine On Stage
Description: Comics historian extraordinaire Peter Sanderson returns with an exploration of the work of master caricaturist David Levine ...

Comics in Context #231 (Vol. 2 #3)
Friday February 5, 2010
Title: Killing Katnip
Description: Comics historian extraordinaire Peter Sanderson looks back on the animation voiceover career of the late Arnold Stang - voice of Top Cat and Herman - focusing on the HERMAN & KATNIP cartoons ...

Comics in Context #230 (Vol. 2 #2)
Thursday January 28, 2010
Title: The Dark Lulu Saga
Description: Comics historian extraordinaire Peter Sanderson makes his triumphant return to FRED with an article delving into the history of kiddie comics as featured in ComicArts' THE TOON TREASURY OF CLASSIC CHILDREN'S COMICS, this week looking John Stanley's comic book tales of Marge Henderson Buell's LITTLE LULU ...

Comics in Context #229 (Vol. 2 #1)
Tuesday January 19, 2010
Title: Outfoxed
Description: Comics historian extraordinaire Peter Sanderson makes his triumphant return to FRED with an article delving into the history of kiddie comics as featured in ComicArts' THE TOON TREASURY OF CLASSIC CHILDREN'S COMICS, starting with THE FOX AND THE CROW's treatment in comics & animation ...

Comics in Context #228
Thursday, July 31st, 2008
Title: The Bat Who Shot Liberty Valance
Description: Peter returns with an in-depth look at Christopher Nolan's second big screen take on Batman, THE DARK KNIGHT ...

Comics in Context #227
Friday, July 18th, 2008
Title: Sunday Morning at the Met
Description: Peter sanderson recounts Peter Coogan's presentation of the sartorial choices of superheroes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art - plus some talk of Stephen Colbert, to boot ...

Comics in Context #226
Thursday June 26, 2008
Title: Half a Decade with the Hulk
Description: Peter's back with an in-depth look at the cinematic do-over featuring everyone's favorite gamma-monster, THE INCREDIBLE HULK ...

Comics in Context #225
Wednesday June 18, 2008
Title: Getting Lucky in New York
Description: Peter takes in the Big Apple's World Science Festival and gets all super-sciencey, including encountering the real Dr. Savage ...

Comics in Context #224
Wednesday May 21, 2008
Title: My Cinco de Mayo
Description: Peter Sanderson takes in a very special superhero fashion exhibition at the Met, talks some Iron Man, and mentions a few cartoon centennials ...

Comics in Context #223
Tuesday May 6, 2008
Title: Gathering of the Tribe
Description: Peter Sanderson continues his in-depth blow-by-blow look at the New York Comic-Con, with a special panel reflecting on cons past ...

Comics in Context #222
Tuesday April 29, 2008
Title: San Diego By The Hudson
Description: Peter Sanderson takes a look at the rapidly expanding New York Comic-Con, and whether or not it's a serious challenger to the San Diego behemoth ...

Comics in Context #221
Tuesday April 15, 2008
Title: The King in Exile
Description: Peter continues his in-depth look at Mark Evanier's mighty tome KIRBY: KING OF COMICS and the man behind the legend, Jack Kirby ...

Comics in Context #220
Monday March 31, 2008
Title: The King of the Silver Age
Description: Peter continues his in-depth look at Mark Evanier's mighty tome KIRBY: KING OF COMICS and the man behind the legend, Jack Kirby ...

Comics in Context #219
Tuesday March 25, 2008
Title: Kirby at the Crossroads
Description: After a short break - and the formal release of the book - Peter returns to his in-depth look at Mark Evanier's mighty tome KIRBY: KING OF COMICS ...

Comics in Context #218
Thursday March 20, 2008
Title: From Animation Into Reality
Description: Peter turns his eye towards Disney's ENCHANTED, discusses how it's not the first time that the 2-D and 3-D worlds have crossed over, and spends SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE ...

Comics in Context #217
Friday March 14, 2008
Title: The Next Frontier
Description: Peter dives into the recent animated adaptation of Darwyn Cooke's JUSTICE LEAGUE: NEW FRONTIER, and takes an in-depth look at the original series of graphic novels that spawned it ...

Comics in Context #216
Tuesday March 4, 2008
Title: The Omega Enigma
Description: Peter continues his look back on the work of the late, great Steve Gerber, this week focusing on Gerber's OMEGA THE UNKNOWN ...

Comics in Context #215
Tuesday February 26, 2008
Title: Wauugh and Remembrance
Description: Peter continues his look back on the work of the late, great Steve Gerber, this week focusing on Howard the Duck ...

Comics in Context #214
Tuesday February 19, 2008
Title: The Essential Steve Gerber
Description: Peter looks back on the work of the late, great Steve Gerber ...

Comics in Context #213
Tuesday February 12, 2008
Title: Your Obedient Serpent
Description: Peter continues his journey into the world of online animated cartoons, this week focusing on Fleischer SUPERMANs, Fox & the Crow, TOM TERRIFIC, BEANY & CECIL, and more ...

Comics in Context #212
Tuesday February 5, 2008
Title: Finally Felix
Description: Peter's been diving into the world of online animated cartoons, this week focusing on silent FELIX THE CAT cartoons, more Winsor McCay and Koko, George Pal's PUPPETOONS, and some bizarre Columbia animated shorts ...

Comics in Context #211
Tuesday January 29, 2008
Title: The Silent Rabbit
Description: Peter takes a look at Disney's recent reclamation of their first, pre-Mickey Mouse animated star, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit ...

Comics in Context #210
Monday January 21, 2008
Title: Divorce Marvel Style
Description: Peter takes issue with Marvel's latest character upheaval - the Faustian erasure of Peter Parker's marriage to Mary Jane - and what it means to Spider-Man ...

Comics in Context #209
Tuesday January 15, 2008
Title: Down in the Dump
Description: Peter dives into MST3K alumnus Frank Conniff's CARTOON DUMP, which also features selections from animation historian Jerry Beck's "Worst Cartoons Ever Made" library ...

Comics in Context #208
Monday January 7, 2008
Title: Creative Differences
Description: Peter kicks off the new year with part 2 of his review of Mark Evanier's Jack Kirby book, KIRBY: KING OF COMICS, including a digression about the BBC documentary IN SEARCH OF STEVE DITKO ...

Comics in Context #207
Saturday December 22, 2007
Title: Royal Retrospective
Description: In this pre-Christmas column, Peter digs into an advance copy of Mark Evanier's long-awaited KIRBY: KING OF COMICS, an art book devoted to the career of the late Jack Kirby, co-creator of the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Captain America, and many more ...

Comics in Context #206
Friday December 14, 2007
Title: Blaze Of Glory
Description: Peter goes in-depth on Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's latest LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN adventure, BLACK DOSSIER ...

Comics in Context #205
Tuesday December 4, 2007
Title: Identity Theft
Description: Peter takes on Robert Zemeckis's mo-cap BEOWULF, and dives into the adaptation work of screenwriters Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary ...

Comics in Context #204
Tuesday November 27, 2007
Title: Was It A Dark And Stormy Life?
Description: Peter lines up the football and takes a crack at David Michaelis's controversial biography of PEANUTS maestro Charles Schulz ...

Comics in Context #203
Monday November 19, 2007
Title: Paradise Lost
Description: Peter wraps up (for now) his look at Danny Fingeroth's book DISGUISED AS CLARK KENT, about the effect of Jewish-American culture in originating and developing the superhero genre ...

Comics in Context #202
Monday November 12, 2007
Title: Stung
Description: In this week's column, Peter continues examining Danny Fingeroth's DISGUISED AS CLARK KENT, and also takes on Jerry Seinfeld's CG animated BEE MOVIE ...

Comics in Context #201
Monday November 5, 2007
Title: Secret Lives
Description: In this week's column, Peter continues examining Danny Fingeroth's DISGUISED AS CLARK KENT and delves into why secret identities are an important part of superhero stories ...

Comics in Context #200
Monday October 29, 2007
Title: My First Million
Description: Peter Sanderson's "Comics In Context" celebrates its 200th column with an index of what's come before, a discussion of Danny Fingeroth's new book DISGUISED AS CLARK KENT, and wraps up with the mighty John Byrne's MAN OF STEEL ...

Comics in Context #199
Monday October 22, 2007
Title: The Forgotten Ones
Description: Peter brings his six-part critique of the Neil Gaiman's new ETERNALS series to a close ...

Comics in Context #198
Monday October 15, 2007
Title: It's Not So Sprite
Description: Peter continues his critique of Jack Kirby's and Neil Gaiman's ETERNALS series ...

Comics in Context #197
Monday October 8, 2007
Title: Rude Awakenings
Description: Peter continues his critique of Jack Kirby's and Neil Gaiman's ETERNALS series ...

Comics in Context #196
Monday October 1, 2007
Title: Celestial Mechanics
Description: Peter continues his critique of Jack Kirby's and Neil Gaiman's ETERNALS series ...

Comics in Context #195
Monday September 24, 2007
Title: Deviant Behavior
Description: Peter continues his critique of Jack Kirby's and Neil Gaiman's ETERNALS series ...

Comics in Context #194
Monday September 17, 2007
Title: Eternal Verities
Description: Peter begins his critique of Jack Kirby's and Neil Gaiman's ETERNALS series ...

Comics in Context #193
Monday September 10, 2007
Title: Mystery In Montclair
Description: Peter takes a trip to the Montclair Art Museum, and scopes out some choice pieces of comic book art ...

Comics in Context #192
Monday September 3, 2007
Title: You're So Yvaine
Description: This week, Peter unreels the second part of his thoughts on the big screen adaptation of Neil Gaiman's STARDUST ...

Comics in Context #191
Monday August 27, 2007
Title: You Are My Lucky Star
Description: This week, Peter unreels his thoughts on the big screen adaptation of Neil Gaiman's STARDUST ...

Comics in Context #190
Monday August 20, 2007
Title: Pop Eye-Con
Description: Peter gets his hands on the wonderful new POPEYE cartoon collection from Warner Home Video, and lays down his appreciation of the spinach-chowing sailor man ...

Comics in Context #189
Friday August 10, 2007
Title: Woody's Woodpeccadillos
Description: It's the Woody Woodpecker show, as Peter dives into the manic bird's new DVD set ...

Comics in Context #188
Friday August 3, 2007
Title: D'OHME!
Description: Peter takes a look at the new SIMPSONS MOVIE ...

Comics in Context #187
Friday July 27, 2007
Title: All Hallows Eve
Description: Peter takes a trip to Hogwarts for the first part of his in-depth analysis of Harry Potter's final adventure ...

Comics in Context #186
Monday July 23, 2007
Title: Le Petit Chef
Description: Peter tackles Pixar's latest, RATATOUILLE ...

Comics in Context #185
Monday July 16, 2007
Title: Get Off Of My Cloud
Description: Peter declares "Clobberin' Time" in the second part of his in-depth FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER review, and also gives a shout out to the RiffTrax treatment of the first flick...

Comics in Context #184
Monday July 9, 2007
Title: Clobbered Again
Description: Peter declares "Clobberin' Time" in the first part of his FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER review ...

Comics in Context #183
Friday June 29, 2007
Title: The Quality Of Mercy
Description: Peter turns his sights on the webslinger's third big screen adventure, continuing his in-depth look at SPIDER-MAN 3 ...

Comics in Context #182
Monday June 25, 2007
Title: The Red And The Black
Description: Peter turns his sights on the webslinger's third big screen adventure, in the first part of his in-depth look at SPIDER-MAN 3 ...

Comics in Context #181
Sunday June 17, 2007
Title: Tobey Or Not Tobey
Description: In this week's "Comics in Context", Peter is on hand for the SPIDER-MAN 3 premiere in Queens, goes after critics for their poor understanding of comic books as a medium, and discusses some additions to the Stan Lee exhibit at MoCCA ...

Comics in Context #180
Friday June 8, 2007
Title: Tribute At Tribeca
Description: In this week's edition, Peter Sanderson continues his look at the Will Eisner documentary PORTRAIT OF A SEQUENTIAL ARTIST, plus gives a shout out to fellow Quick Stoppers Paul Dini, Misty Lee, and a monkey named Rashy ...

Comics in Context #179
Friday May 25, 2007
Title: Pride and Prejudice
Description: The saying goes that "any publicity is good publicity," but have recent events pushed Marvel beyond that threshold and into harmful territory? Also, Peter looks at the new Wiil Eisner documentary...

Comics in Context #178
Monday May 21, 2007
Title: The Whole World Is Watching
Description: Peter talks about the recently famous Mary Jane statuette and the new Miller ALL-STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN ...

Comics in Context #177
Friday May 11, 2007
Title: The Collector's Eye
Description: When Peter left off last week, he was being dazzled by the vast array of vintage comic books on display at Geppi's Entertainment Museum, which opened last fall at the former Camden Station building in Baltimore, Maryland. This week, he continues his look at the pop culture wonders it contains within its walls ...

Comics in Context #176
Monday May 7, 2007
Title: Birthday in Baltimore
Description: Peter takes Steve Geppi's new pop culture museum in the heart of Baltimore for a spin. Was he amazed? Check out his report on the wonders within its doors here ...

Comics in Context #175
Friday April 27, 2007
Title: My Dinner In Hell
Description: Peter gets down and dirty with Zack Snyder's cinematic adaptation of Frank Miller's 300 ...

Comics in Context #174
Monday April 23, 2007
Title: Hat Trick
Description: Peter sits down with overpriced popcorn & soda, and takes in the latest CG project from Disney, the non-Pixar MEET THE ROBINSONS ...

Comics in Context #173
Monday April 16, 2007
Title: Happy Heresies
Description: Where else can you get a column that mixes Dave Cockrum, Marshall Rogers, HAPPY FEET, and Tex Avery's "I Love To Singa"-lovin' owl?

Comics in Context #172
Friday April 6, 2007
Title: Nightcrawler's Other Self
Description: Peter takes a moment within his New York Comic-Con coverage to remember the late Dave Cockrum ...

Comics in Context #171
Friday March 30, 2007
Title: New York 2007 - Bullpen Bulletins
Description: Peter takes in the old school Marvel Bullpen panel at the New York Comic-Con, signs books, and remembers the late Marshall Rogers ...

Comics in Context #170
Friday March 23, 2007
Title: Miller's Next Move
Description: Peter's coverage of this year's New York Comic-Con continues, this time looking at Frank Miller's big screen plans for Will Eisner's THE SPIRIT ...

Comics in Context #169
Saturday March 17, 2007
Title: New York 2007 - The King Of Creation
Description: It's Saturday coverage of this year's New York Comic-Con, with BUFFY, Stephen King, Frank Miller, THE SPIRIT, Walt Simonson, and more ...

Comics in Context #168
Friday March 9, 2007
Title: O Captain! My Captain!
Description: Peter takes a look at Marvel's decision to murder Captain America, and wonders just how cold the body will become before the icon returns. He then jumps back into his NYCC coverage with notes on the Stan Lee panel, as well as that evening's Stan Lee exhibit at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art ...

Comics in Context #167
Friday March 2, 2007
Title: New York 2007 - Blogs, Bone, and Billy
Description: Peter was at last week's New York Comicon, and here's the first part of his coverage - focusing on Jeff Smith, blogging comics, and more ...

Comics in Context #166
Saturday February 24, 2007
Title: Megahero Vs. Megavillain
Description: Peter continues his commentary on Peter Coogan's book chronicling the origins of the superhero genre, returning to the subject of supervillainy ...

Comics in Context #165
Saturday February 17, 2007
Title: The Supervillain Defined
Description: Peter continues his commentary on Peter Coogan's book chronicling the origins of the superhero genre, this week focusing on supervillainy ...

Comics in Context #164
Saturday February 10, 2007
Title: Super Slayer
Description: Peter continues his commentary on Peter Coogan's book chronicling the origins of the superhero genre, this time focusing on Joss Whedon's stab-happy heroine, Buffy the Vampire Slayer ...

Comics in Context #163
Friday February 2, 2007
Title: Are They On The List?
Description: Peter continues his commentary on Peter Coogan's origins of the superheroe genre, from Superman and Batman to The Fantastic Four (and even Zatanna) ...

Comics in Context #162
Monday January 29, 2007
Title: The Superhero Defined
Description: Peter tries to pin down the prickly problem of how exactly to define the term "superhero" in this day and age ...

Comics in Context #161
Sunday January 21, 2007
Title: Walt The Auteur
Description: Peter continues his in-depth look into Mary Poppins, this time with a focus on a man named Disney ...

Comics in Context #160
Friday January 12, 2007
Title: Banks' Holiday
Description: Peter continues his in-depth look at Mary Poppins - from book to screen to stage - this time with a special look at the character of Mr. Banks ...

Comics in Context #159
Friday January 5, 2007
Title: The Da Vinci Comics Code
Description: This week, Peter continued his in-depth look at the Library of Congress' "Cartoon America" exhibition ...

Comics in Context #158
Saturday December 16, 2006
Title: Jolly Holiday
Description: Peter takes an in-depth look at Mary Poppins - from book to screen to stage - and tries to pin down one of literature's more perplexing forces of nature ...

Comics in Context #157
Friday December 8, 2006
Title: Our Nation's Cartoons
Description: This week, Peter goes in-depth on the "Cartoon America" exhibition at the Library of Congress ...

Comics in Context #156
Friday December 1, 2006
Title: Canon Fodder
Description: Peter talks Scott McCloud's MAKING COMICS tour, plus the likes of Kurtzman, Kirby, Eisner, Crumb, Panter, Ware, and more

Comics in Context #155
Friday November 17, 2006
Title: Two American Masters
Description: This week, Peter talks about Will Eisner and Jack Kirby at the "Masters of American Comics" show at the Jewish Museum in NYC.

Comics in Context #154
Saturday November 11, 2006
Title: Master Class
Description: Milt Caniff and Charles Schulz come to the fore as Peter continues his discussion of comics masters ...

Comics in Context #153
Friday October 27, 2006
Title: Top Drawers
Description: More "Masters of American Comics" with Frank King's GASOLINE ALLEY and Chester Gould's DICK TRACY, plus Roy Lichtenstein, swipe artist.

Comics in Context #152
Friday October 27, 2006
Title: "Ott Krittik" At Work
Description: Peter continues his in-depth look at the "Masters of American Comics" exhibition ...

Comics in Context #151
Friday October 20, 2006
Title: The New Old Masters
Description: Peter looks at the recent explosion of comics as fine art, as cartoon art and cartoonists exhibitions begin popping up all over the place, from the museums of New York to the halls of the U.N. and even the Library of Congress.

Comics in Context #150
Saturday October 14, 2006
Title: Remarkable
Description: Peter celebrates his 150th column with a remembrance of a good friend and comics legend, Mark Gruenwald ...

Comics in Context #149
Saturday October 7, 2006
Title: Forty Years In Shadows
Description: Taking a cue from Fred Hembeck, Peter celebrates the 40th anniversary of one of his favorite gothic soap operas, DARK SHADOWS.

Comics in Context #148
Thursday September 28, 2006
Title: Radio City Rowling
Description: This week, Peter gives a blow-by-blow account of the big Stephen King-John Irving-J. K. Rowling benefit in NYC.

Comics in Context #147
Friday September 22, 2006
Title: San Diego 2006 - Is This Trip Really Necessary?
Description: Peter wraps up his in-depth coverage of Comic-Con 2006 with Kevin Smith, Mark Evanier, Billy West, supervillains, signings, and the enigma that is Quick Stop editor Ken Plume ...

Comics in Context #146
Friday September 15, 2006
Title: San Diego 2006 - A Hall Too Small
Description: Peter's in-depth Comic-Con coverage continues with Frank Miller, Kevin Smith, and the hell that is Hall H..

Comics in Context #145
Friday September 8, 2006
Title: San Diego 2006 - Masters and Eisners
Description: Peter's in-depth look at Comic-Con 2006 continues with the Eisners and masters of American comics.

Comics in Context #144
Friday September 1, 2006
Title: San Diego 2006 - Stardust Memories
Description: Peter's in-depth look at Comic-Con 2006 continues with Neil Gaiman, STARDUST, Boreanaz, BONES, and Bruce Timm.

Comics in Context #143
Friday August 25, 2006
Title: San Diego 2006 - The Donner Party
Description: Peter's in-depth look at Comic-Con 2006 continues with a Singer surprise ...

Comics in Context #142
Friday August 18, 2006
Title: San Diego 2006 - Driven From Dreamland
Description: Peter takes in a panel on the Disney elegy DREAM ON SILLY DREAMER and comes face-to-face with a Stormtrooper.

Comics in Context #141
Sunday August 13, 2006
Title: San Diego 2006 - Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood
Description: Peter's back with a look at Mark Evanier's mini-con, Jerry Robinson, and what it could take to get Fred Hembeck to go to Comic-Con ...

Comics in Context #140
Friday August 4, 2006
Title: San Diego 2006 - Stamp of Approval
Description: Peter's back from Comic-Con, and the reports begin ...

Comics in Context #139
Friday July 28, 2006
Title: Superman Returns Twice
Description: The new big screen Man of Steel has feats of clay.

Comics in Context #138
Friday July 21, 2006
Title: Lasseter, Come Home
Description: After CARS, is John Lasseter's golden reputation tarnished?

Comics in Context #137
Friday July 14, 2006
Title: Car Toon
Description: Peter Sanderson gives Pixar's latest a spin.

Comics in Context #136
Friday July 7, 2006
Title: Before There Were Cars
Description: Peter looks into animation's past, encountering little blue coupes, silly symphonies, dancing cookies, three caballeros, and more.

Comics in Context #135
Friday June 30, 2006
Title: The Passive Aggressive Phoenix Saga
Description: Peter Sanderson wraps up his in-depth look at X-MEN: THE LAST STAND.

Comics in Context #134
Friday June 23, 2006
Title: Cineplex-Men
Description: Peter Sanderson's in-depth comic analyses find their way to Quick Stop, beginning with a look at X-MEN: THE LAST STAND, both the flick and the Chris Claremont novelization.

Comics in Context #133
Tuesday May 16, 2006
Title: Swinging Down Broadway
Description: Tarzan's big fall.

Comics in Context #132
Tuesday May 9, 2006
Title: Gallery of Glory
Description: The mighty pen.

Comics in Context #131
Monday May 1, 2006
Title: Two V Or Not Two V
Description: The Vendetta ends.

Comics in Context #130
Monday April 24, 2006
Title: V By Five
Description: Even Moore V.

Comics in Context #129
Tuesday April 18, 2006
Title: V For Visionary
Description: More on Moore.

Comics in Context #128
Monday April 10, 2006
Title: V's Supporting Players
Description: The Vendetta lives on.

Comics in Context #127
Monday April 3, 2006
Title: Professor V's School
Description: The Vendetta continues.

Comics in Context #126
Monday March 27, 2006
Title: All About Evey
Description: Peter Sanderson assumes his own Vendetta.

Comics in Context #125
Monday March 20, 2006
Title: Miller, Front and Center
Description: Frank Miller and Joe Simon at the NYCC.

Comics in Context #124
Monday March 13, 2006
Title: New York Con-Versations
Description: McFarlane, Romita, Claremont & Steranko.

Comics in Context #123
Monday March 6, 2006
Title: NY Comic-Con 2006
Description: Birth pangs of a new convention.

Comics in Context #122
Tuesday February 28, 2006
Title: Alternative Stripping
Description: Comics life outside of spandex.

Comics in Context #121
Tuesday February 21, 2006
Title: The Once & Future Kong
Description: Examining Peter Jackson's monkey business.

Comics in Context #120
Monday February 13, 2006
Title: Dog Gone
Description: Peanuts, Pa Kent and Pixar.

Comics in Context #119
Monday February 6, 2006
Title: All-Star Bats
Description: The goddamned Batman according to Frank Miller. Can redemption be found for the widely-despised All-Star title?

Comics in Context #118
Monday January 30, 2006
Title: O Other, Where Art Thou?
Description: Examining Spidey's changes and the potential outcome of Infinite Crisis.

Comics in Context #117
Monday January 23, 2006
Title: To Boop Or Not To Boop
Description: Betty's one night stand.

Comics in Context #116
Friday January 13, 2006
Title: Rhythm and Boops
Description: The Brothers Fleischer.

Comics in Context #115
Friday January 6, 2006
Title: Twelfth Night Toons
Description: Post-holiday hoo-ha.

Comics in Context #114
Friday December 16, 2005
Title: Christmas with Carl Barks
Description: Disney's Duckman cometh.

Comics in Context #113
Friday December 9, 2005
Title: First Festivus
Description: Pop-eye for the Spider-Guy.

Comics in Context #112
Friday December 2, 2005
Title: Dream of the Rabbit Fiend
Description: A bit o' Wallace & Gromit.

Comics in Context #111
Friday November 18, 2005
Title: The Enemy Within
Description: Peter's History of Violence.

Comics in Context #110
Friday November 11, 2005
Title: Chick Flick
Description: Plucking Chicken Little.

Comics in Context #109
Friday November 4, 2005
Title: Maestro Mouse
Description: Mickey Mouse-ing around.

Comics in Context #108
Friday October 28, 2005
Title: Tyger! Tyger! Burning Bright
Description: Wrapping-up Gaiman's Anansi Boys.

Comics in Context #107
Friday October 21, 2005
Title: Trickster or Treat
Description: Even more on Gaiman's Anansi Boys.

Comics in Context #106
Friday October 14, 2005
Title: Double Trouble
Description: Gaiman's Anansi Boys, part deux.

Comics in Context #105
Friday October 7, 2005
Title: Spider Boys
Description: In-depth on Gaiman's Anansi Boys

Comics in Context #104
Friday September 30, 2005
Title: Here's Looking At You, Silver
Description: Batman's Dark send-off.

Comics in Context #103
Friday September 23, 2005
Title: Saturday Morning Fever
Description: Just us Justice ducks.

Comics in Context #102
Friday September 16, 2005
Title: Highbrow Hare
Description: Wabbit's Whapsody.

Comics in Context #101
Friday September 9, 2005
Title: Classical Chuck
Description: A Looney Concerto.

Comics in Context #100
Friday September 2, 2005
Title: Centennial Cartoon Concert
Description: 100 columns and Red Hot Riding Hood.

Comics in Context #99
Friday August 26, 2005
Title: Gorilla My Dreams
Description: Jackson's Kong & Disney's Narnia.

Comics in Context #98
Friday August 19, 2005
Title: Far From Serenity
Description: In-depth on Whedon's big screen Firefly.

Comics in Context #97
Friday August 12, 2005
Title: The Eisners Without Eisner
Description: Nerd Prom, awards and midnight Potter.

Comics in Context #96
Friday August 5, 2005
Title: San Diego 2005 - Dial H for Humongous
Description: Disney, Warner Bros., Henson and Mirrormask.

Comics in Context #95
Friday July 29, 2005
Title: The Crypt, The King, and The Credit
Description: Kirby your enthusiasm.

Comics in Context #94
Friday July 22, 2005
Title: San Diego 2005 - Back to Brigadoon
Description: The fickle fate of Finger.

Comics in Context #93
Friday July 15, 2005
Title: Clobbered
Description: Fantastic Four's fantastic farce.

Comics in Context #92
Friday July 8, 2005
Title: Sin Along the Croisette
Description: Revisiting Sin City.

Comics in Context #91
Friday July 1, 2005
Title: Age Before Beauty
Description: Miyazaki's primal Howl.

Comics in Context #90
Friday June 24, 2005
Title: Plume's Paradigm
Description: Superman redux.

Comics in Context #89
Friday June 17, 2005
Title: Batman Reboots
Description: Batting Batman Begins.

Comics in Context #88
Friday June 10, 2005
Title: Face to Face
Description: Two-Face two-step, Joker and Bat-agascar.

Comics in Context #87
Friday June 3, 2005
Title: Divided Detective
Description: Deeper into Batman: Dark Detective.

Comics in Context #86
Friday May 27, 2005
Title: Sith, Six and Sex
Description: Dissecting Revenge of the Sith.

Comics in Context #85
Friday May 20, 2005
Title: Through the Looking Glass
Description: Peering into Gaiman's MirrorMask

Comics in Context #84
Friday May 13, 2005
Title: Dark Definitive
Description: Englehart's Batman returns.

Comics in Context #83
Friday May 6, 2005
Title: The Big Fat Deconstruction
Description: A return to Sin.

Comics in Context #82
Friday April 29, 2005
Title: Idles of the King
Description: Storming Spamalot.

Comics in Context #81
Friday April 22, 2005
Title: The Third Act
Description: The Sprit of comics legend Will Eisner.

Comics in Context #80
Friday April 15, 2005
Title: A Memorial In Wildwood
Description: Remembering Will Eisner.

Comics in Context #79
Friday April 8, 2005
Title: Three Knights In Sin City
Description: More Sin and a Beetle Crisis.

Comics in Context #78
Friday April 1, 2005
Title: Summoned To Sin City
Description: Peter takes on the cinematic Sin.

Comics in Context #77
Friday March 25, 2005
Title: Gone with the Steam
Description: Whedon, Sondheim and Steamboy.

Comics in Context #76
Friday March 18, 2005
Title: The Wabbit in Winter
Description: Greetings, Loonatics, Looney Tunes and Robots.

Comics in Context #75
Friday March 11, 2005
Title: The Rubber Band Theory of Cartoon Art
Description: Loonatics and Loeb's Supergirl.

Comics in Context #74
Friday March 4, 2005
Title: Warners, Wabbits and Woe
Description: Bugs and Constantine.

Comics in Context #73
Friday February 25, 2005
Title: My Comics Week
Description: Pekar's Splendor.

Comics in Context #72
Friday February 11, 2005
Title: F. O. G.
Description: Neil Gaiman and Charles Addams.

Comics in Context #71
Friday February 4, 2005
Title: Comic's Other Golden Age
Description: History, Lee, Kirby, and Ditko.

Comics in Context #70
Friday January 28, 2005
Title: Elektra Lite
Description: Assassin-ated.

Comics in Context #69
Friday January 21, 2005
Title: Present at the Creation
Description: More on the legendary Will Eisner.

Comics in Context #68
Friday January 14, 2005
Title: The Spirit of Will Eisner
Description: Remembering a legend.

Comics in Context #67
Friday January 7, 2005
Title: Catch As Cats Can
Description: Gaiman and a Goodbye to Identity Crisis.

Comics in Context #66
Friday December 17, 2004
Title: A Christmas Potpourri
Description: Polar Express, Superman, Peanuts, and a holiday blowout.

Comics in Context #65
Friday December 10, 2004
Title: Artists Alone
Description: Dark Knight, Watchmen and Sandman.

Comics in Context #64
Friday December 3, 2004
Title: Institutionalizing Comics
Description: Comics as art?

Comics in Context #63
Friday November 19, 2004
Title: Superfolks, Syndrome, Sharks, and Spinach
Description: The Incredibles, Popeye, and more.

Comics in Context #62
Friday November 12, 2004
Title: That's Incredible!
Description: Peter goes in-depth on The Incredibles

Comics in Context #61
Friday November 5, 2004
Title: After the Fall
Description: Post-Election Wrap-Up ...

Comics in Context #60
Friday October 29, 2004
Title: The Day That Time Stood Still
Description: Spiegelman's In The Shadow of No Towers and McCay's Little Nemo.

Comics in Context #59
Friday October 22, 2004
Title: Before the Fall
Description: Spiegelman's No Towers and Herriman's Krazy Kat.

Comics in Context #58
Friday October 15, 2004
Title: Crisis of Conscience
Description: Peter wraps-up his decimation of Identity Crisis

Comics in Context #57
Friday October 8, 2004
Title: As Grim as It Gets
Description: Peter tears into DC's Identity Crisis.

Comics in Context #56
Friday October 1, 2004
Title: Mind Over Meta
Description: Postmodern Space Ghost, She-Hulk, and more.

Comics in Context #55
Friday September 24, 2004
Title: The Endless Bummer
Description: Superheroes on TV continues ...

Comics in Context #54
Friday September 17, 2004
Title: Women of Wonder
Description: Superheroes on TV ...

Comics in Context #53
Friday September 10, 2004
Title: The A-Files
Description: An in-depth look at Peel & Steed ...

Comics in Context #52
Friday September 3, 2004
Title: Mod as a Hornet
Description: The Green Hornet and The Avengers' Emma Peel.

Comics in Context #51
Friday August 27, 2004
Title: What's New, Pussycat?
Description: Halle's Catwoman, Duck Dodgers, and Superman ...

Comics in Context #50
Friday August 20, 2004
Title: Summer Camp
Description: Catty about Catwoman.

Comics in Context #49
Friday August 13, 2004
Title: Gray 'n' Green
Description: The Incredible Hulk ...

Comics in Context #48
Friday August 6, 2004
Title: Small Town Kryptonian in the Big City
Description: Superman on TV.

Comics in Context #47
Friday July 30, 2004
Title: Retro Hero Retrospective
Description: Superheroes on TV ...

Comics in Context #46
Friday July 23, 2004
Title: The United States of Spider-Man
Description: Peter wraps up his in-depth look at Spider-Man 2.

Comics in Context #45
Friday July 16, 2004
Title: A Spider-Man State of Mind
Description: Peter's in-depth look at Spider-Man 2.

Comics in Context #44
Friday July 9, 2004
Title: Weavers of the Webs
Description: Peter looks at the men behind Spider-Man.

Comics in Context #43
Friday June 25, 2004
Title: Joss Whedon's Tales to Astonish
Description: Part 2 of Peter's look at Joss's X-Men.

Comics in Context #42
Friday June 18, 2004
Title: Joss Whedon's Comics & Stories
Description: X-Men, Buffy, and more.

Comics in Context #41
Friday June 11, 2004
Title: Traditions in Transition
Description: Danny Fingeroth's Superman on the Couch, Home on the Range, and Wolverine.

Comics in Context #40
Friday May 28, 2004
Title: Beasts and Beauty
Description: Shrek, Hellboy, and rediscovering Nemo.

Comics in Context #39
Friday May 21, 2004
Title: Mutants in Midlife
Description: Peter takes a look at Chris Claremont's X-Men reboot.

Comics in Context #38
Friday May 14, 2004
Title: Minor League
Description: Peter turns his eye towards Peter David's Soulsearchers & Co.

Comics in Context #37
Friday May 7, 2004
Title: High Noon for Mutants
Description: X-Men, Spider-Man, and Jess Nevins' League.

Comics in Context #36
Friday April 30, 2004
Title: From Here to Alternity
Description: Peter wraps up his in-depth look at Neil Gaiman's 1602.

Comics in Context #35
Friday April 23, 2004
Title: Finding the Patterns
Description: Peter continues his in-depth look at Neil Gaiman's 1602.

Comics in Context #34
Friday April 16, 2004
Title: Knight Makes Right
Description: Peter wraps up his in-depth look at Frank Miller's Dark Knight.

Comics in Context #33
Friday April 9, 2004
Title: A Boatload of Monsters and Miracles
Description: Peter takes a look at Gaiman's 1602 #7.

Comics in Context #32
Friday April 2, 2004
Title: The Living Legend
Description: Peter spotlights the late, great comics legend, Julius Schwartz.

Comics in Context #31
Friday March 19, 2004
Title: Knight Terrors
Description: The second part of Peter's look at Frank Miller's Dark Knight, plus a little Toy Fair ...

Comics in Context #30
Friday February 13, 2004
Title: Knight After Knight
Description: Peter goes in-depth on Frank Miller's Dark Knight.

Comics in Context #29
Friday February 6, 2004
Title: Ross's Thunderbolts
Description: Alex Ross-o-rama.

Comics in Context #28
Friday January 30, 2004
Title: Adapt and Assimilate
Description: Kuper's Metamorphosis, New X-Men, Uncle Scrooge, Jungle Book 2, Batman, and Gaiman.

Comics in Context #27
Friday January 23, 2004
Title: Old King Cole
Description: Peter takes a look at Plastic Man, Daredevil, Dini, and Zatanna.

Comics in Context #26
Friday January 16, 2004
Title: Silver and Gold
Description: Comic Book Heroes, Batman, and Mark Hamill's Comic Book: The Movie.

Comics in Context #25
Friday January 9, 2004
Title: Byrne, Baum and Bumble
Description: John Byrne's Generations, The Wizard of Oz, Will Eisner, and Gaiman's 1602.

Comics in Context #24
Tuesday December 23, 2003
Title: A Christmas Column
Description: Featuring work by Walt Kelly, Lemony Snicket, Carl Barks, Paul Dini, Charles Schulz, Dr. Seuss, Chuck Jones, and more.

Comics in Context #23
Friday December 19, 2003
Title: An Extraordinary Trio
Description: Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Book to film and back again ...

Comics in Context #22
Friday December 12, 2003
Title: Major League: Part 1
Description: Peter takes an in-depth look at Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Comics in Context #21
Friday December 5, 2003
Title: Conan, Clones, Chabon, Triplets, and Turkey
Description: Gaiman, Star Wars, and a Barbarian.

Comics in Context #20
Friday November 21, 2003
Title: This Belongs in a Museum
Description: So why don't superheroes get respect as an artform?

Comics in Context #19
Friday November 14, 2003
Title: Go West, Jung Bear
Description: Peter takes an in-depth look at Disney's Brother Bear.

Comics in Context #18
Friday November 7, 2003
Title: All About Doors and Walls
Description: Peter talks more Gaiman: Neverwhere, Wolves in the Walls, and 1602.

Comics in Context #17
Friday October 31, 2003
Title: Dream Analysis
Description: Peter takes an in-depth look at Neil Gaiman's Endless Nights.

Comics in Context #16
Friday October 24, 2003
Title: What If... There Had Been No Stan Lee?
Description: Peter concludes his look at the recent biography of "Smilin' Stan".

Comics in Context #15
Friday October 17, 2003
Title: Stan Lee and the Mystery of Creativity
Description: Peter Sanderson looks at the recent biography of "The Man"...

Comics in Context #14
Friday October 10, 2003
Title: Continuity/Discontinuity
Description: Straczynski's Supreme Power, Mark Gruenwald, and JLA / Avengers

Comics in Context #13
Friday October 3, 2003
Title: 1602 and All That
Description: A look at Neil Gaiman's 1602 and the return of Angel & Smallville.

Comics in Context #12
Friday September 26, 2003
Title: Dark Shadows Festival 2003, Part 2: Radio Days
Description: Discussing comics based on the fantasy series, and the original cast gets together for a sequel.

Comics in Context #11
Friday September 19, 2003
Title: Dark Shadows Festival 2003, Part 1: The Final Fest?
Description: A look at the 1960s supernatural drama series and its penultimate convention.

Comics in Context #10
Friday September 12, 2003
Title: San Diego 2003: Day Four: Tarantino, Tru, Tea and Tristram
Description: Kill Bill, Tru Calling, Neil Gaiman, and more.

Comics in Context #9
Friday September 5, 2003
Title: San Diego 2003: Day Three: Worlds of Whedon
Description: Joss Whedon on Buffy, Angel, Fray, and more.

Comics in Context #8
Friday August 29, 2003
Title: San Diego 2003: Day Three: Gaiman, Groening and Bradbury
Description: Neil Gaiman's 1602, The Simpsons' next season, Duck Dodgers, Teen Titans, and Ray Bradbury.

Comics in Context #7
Friday August 22, 2003
Title: San Diego 2003: Day Two: From Henson to Hamill
Description: Peter Sanderson covers Jim Henson Pictures and Neil Gaiman's MirrorMask, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Mark Hamill's Comic Book: The Movie, and more.

Comics in Context #6
Friday August 15, 2003
Title: San Diego 2003: Day Two
Description: Jack Kirby, Will Eisner, Sex, Lies & Superheroes, Harvey Pekar, and more.

Comics in Context #5
Friday August 8, 2003
Title: San Diego 2003: Day One
Description: Comics historian Peter Sanderson explores Comic-Con past and present.

Comics in Context #4
Friday August 1, 2003
Title: The Old Superfolks' Home
Description: Peter Sanderson discusses comics as art, and aging superheroes.

Comics in Context #3
Tuesday July 22, 2003
Title: The Stepford Spider-Man
Description: An examination of MTV's new Spider-Man series and the state of animation today.

Comics in Context #2
Tuesday July 15, 2003
Title: Crouching Banner, Hidden Faust
Description: Comics historian Peter Sanderson examines Ang Lee's Hulk.

Comics in Context #1
Tuesday July 8, 2003
Title: Comics Movies and Their Critics
Description: The premiere edition of our brand spanking new column by comic book historian Peter Sanderson.

---

From sequart.org:

Peter Sanderson is a comics historian and critic who has written and co-written numerous books, as well as contributing essays to several Sequart anthologies. Sanderson has three degrees in English literature from Columbia University, and has taught "Comics as Literature" at New York University. He was Marvel Comics' first archivist and an assistant editor there. Sanderson has curated or co-curated three exhibitions on comics at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in New York, worked on two documentaries about comics, and written reviews and journalistic pieces on comics for Publishers Weekly and other magazines.

---

From comicvine.com:

Peter Sanderson has been working in comics for nearly three decades. Peter has worked primarily for Marvel and DC Comics. Sanderson is best known for his worked as a writer/researcher, on Marvel's Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe, he is the only person ever to receive the title of archivist at Marvel. In preperation for DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths, Peter had to read every comic published by the company.

Peter Sanderson is a comics historian and critic, who was Marvel's first official archivist. He is the author of Dorling Kindersley's best selling X-Men: The Ultimate Guide, Mr. Sanderson was also one of the main writers of the first four versions of The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe.

---

From bleedingcool.com:

It sounds like a dream job - getting paid to read comics and take notes. Very few ever get such a chance. Peter Sanderson did, twice, first working as a research assistant for DC for a little project that turned into Crisis on Infinite Earths. From there, he would move over to Marvel, where he became Marvel's first, and to date only, official archivist. Peter can now be found at the Museum of Comic & Cartoon Art in New York or in bookstores, where he has multiple books on the history of comics, along with an upcoming book that he can't talk about yet, but we'll be sure to cover it, and speak with Peter, when he can.

Until then, Peter and I have had the chance to chat about his tenure with DC and Marvel, starting first with DC.

In preparation for Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC hired you to read all of the comics they had published to that date for research. How does one get hired for such a position?
Len Wein and Marv Wolfman asked me to do research for them by reading through all the comics relating to DC Universe continuity in the DC library. They knew me through the letters I'd written to letter columns in comics they wrote (such as Marv's Tomb of Dracula) and we had met at comic conventions in New York City. Obviously I only had to read DC comics dealing with DC Universe continuity. I didn't have to read through Bob Hope or Jerry Lewis or The Fox and the Crow!

Did you know from the beginning what the research was being used for - Crisis - or was it more vague?
Originally the research was to be used for a project called The History of the DC Universe. I don't recall when I found out about Crisis. By that point I'd moved on to working at Marvel. Marv Wolfman and George Perez eventually did a History of the DC Universe in 1986, following Crisis. You'd have to ask Marv how much he relied on my research to write History. Certainly I used the research I had done as one of the writers of DC's original Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe, which ran from 1984 to 1987.

How long did that take you to read through everything?
It took a year, with my spending three days a week at the DC library. Marv and Len originally assumed it would take only three months, but that underestimated how long it would take to read through a half century of DC Comics! At the three-month point, I think, Len took a look at the notes I was compiling and said I was doing them correctly. So it wasn't that I was slow; it was that there was so much material to go through. I think there were three different librarians during the time it took me to do the research—two women and one man!

Was there anything that truly surprised you along the way?
In terms of continuity, I don't think so. I was already knowledgeable about DC Universe history and aware of various supposed problems (like multiple versions of Atlantis, multiple future timelines, the various alternate Earths). Of course it was a comics fan's dream come true to get to read through all of these stories I'd never read before, especially the wealth of Golden Age material. I suppose one of the biggest surprises was discovering how many characters and series there were in DC's Golden Age, not just super heroes but in other genres as well, like “The Black Pirate.” It was also something of a surprise that so much of the Golden Age material was not good by contemporary standards, either in terms of writing or art. Nonetheless, it was wonderful to discover the gems in DC comics going back to the mid-1930s. It was a surprise to find the vintage material that was really good, and often little known, like early series by “Superman” creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster such as “Doctor Occult” in More Fun Comics and “Slam Bradley” and “Spy” in Detective Comics. It was also a surprise to me to see how many Golden Age artists were seemingly influenced by leading comic strip artists of the time, most notably Flash Gordon's Alex Raymond.

What areas did you find most daunting in untangling DC's continuity?
That wasn't my problem. I was just researching the stories. It was up to Marv and Len and DC to untangle continuity. Of course what Marv did in Crisis was to get rid of the parallel Earths like Earth-2, and to establish only one future timeline. So the Justice Society and Captain Marvel were now on the same Earth as the modern DC Universe super heroes. Crisis also got rid of the Kamandi/OMAC future timeline; now the DC Universe's only future timeline was the one that led to the Legion of Super-Heroes' 30th century. Of course, recent DC comics have brought back the multiverse and undone most of the changes in continuity that Crisis on Infinite Earths accomplished!

On the other hand, I did have freedom to untangle continuity when I was writing entries for the original Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. Editor Mark Gruenwald would have to approve what I wrote, but we thought alike on these matters, and I think he always approved of solutions I found to resolve continuity tangles. I also made a point of consulting the then-current writers of series, like Chris Claremont on X-Men and Frank Miller on Daredevil, when writing entries about their characters.

Case Study No. 1395: Isaac Vainio

Leeanna.me on Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines
3:55
Hi guys! I'm Leeanna, from www.leeanna.me, and this is me sharing my thoughts on "Libriomancer" by Jim C. Hines.
Tags: leeanna leeannadotme leeannac leaflette libriomancer jim c. hines fantasy science fiction science fantasy book book review book blogging blogging vlog vlogging young adult ya reading review
Added: 1 year ago
From: leeannadotme
Views: 127

[scene opens with a young woman speaking directly to the camera]
LEEANNA: Hi guys, I'm Leeanna from Leeanna Dot Me. Um, usually I talk about YA books, but today I'm gonna talk about an adult fantasy book that just ... I totally loved it. Um, fantasy was what I grew up on. Um, when I was in the library, I would always go to the science fiction and fantasy section. I never read young adult books when I was the "approrpriate" age, so that's probably why I like them so much now.
[she holds the book up to the camera]
LEEANNA: Um, so anyway, the book is "Libriomancer" by Jim C. Hines. Um, it just came out a couple weeks ago. Get your hands on it, it's fantastic! Um, especially if you are a fantasy reader or science fiction, there's a ton of stuff you're gonna recognize.
[she puts the book down]
LEEANNA: But, I knew I would love this book on page seven, and I'm gonna read a short quote ...
[she looks down and begins reading]
LEEANNA: "Libriomancy was in many ways a lazy man's magic. There were no wands, no fancy spells, no ancient incantations. No hand-waving or runes. Nothing but the words on the page, the collective belief of the readers, and the libriomancer's love of the story."
[she stops reading and looks back up at the camera]
LEEANNA: If you're a reader, I think you can relate to that ... Um, and that's why I love this book so much, because the idea of taking magic out of books and using it in real life?
[she shakes her head]
LEEANNA: I'm like, how did nobody think of this before? Um, it's just such a great idea, and I'm a little jealous that I didn't think of it, but ... y'know, then I wouldn't have gotten to read it, and love this book so much.
[she holds the book up again]
LEEANNA: Um, so our main character's Isaac, and ... y'know, I usually don't have a good time connecting with male characters. Just cause I don't, but this time, I mean I could see myself in him. Every time he got sidetracked by a new book or a new thought, and totally ignored the danger he was in, I was like yeah, that's definitely what I'd do!
[she smiles]
LEEANNA: Um, and Smudge, his pet ... Uh, Smudge is from--
[she reaches for a book on the shelf behind her]
LEEANNA: I think he's from the other ... another series Jim Hines wrote.
[she holds the book ("Goblin Quest") up to the camera]
LEEANNA: Which I haven't read yet, unfortunately, but I do own them. Um, so yeah.
[she leans in and points at the cover]
LEEANNA: Smudge is right here. So Smudge is in these books ...
[she puts the book down]
LEEANNA: Smudge totally steals the scene that he's in! Smudge is a fire-spider who doesn't talk at all in "Libriomancer" ...
[she holds up the first book again]
LEEANNA: But he totally steals every single scene he's in! I have no idea how he does it, but ... I'm not really a fan of spiders, I-I pinch 'em.
[she takes her other hand and makes a squeezing motion with two fingers]
LEEANNA: But ... Smudge, I would just love him.
[she puts the book down]
LEEANNA: I mean, how can you not love a spider who likes Jelly Bellies and chocolate-covered ants? Um, so ... I'm not really doing a review, I'm just trying to kinda share my love for this.
[she looks down at the book]
LEEANNA: I mean, I didn't wanna put this down. I was telling people at work constantly, you have to read this because there's references to this and that, and y'know, I think you'll love it.
[she pauses]
LEEANNA: Probably nobody's gonna take my recommendation, but ... I-I just, this book is just fantastic! And y'know, I had a couple of problems with it, but I would still give it five owls, just because I had such a good time reading it.
[she pauses]
LEEANNA: Um, y'know, the couple problems I had didn't detract from my enjoyment. Sometimes the magic system got a little over-complicated. Um, and sometimes I was kinda caught up in what was going on with the automatons, but y'know, it wasn't anything that took away for me, so it's a great book as far as I'm concerned and I'll definitely be re-reading it. I already wanna re-read it, and see the different things that I missed!
[she holds up the book again]
LEEANNA: Um ... and I'm trying to get people to read it, so I can talk about it with them and be like, "Oh, did you catch this or y'know, what did you think of that?"
[she puts the book down]
LEEANNA: And ... um, so y'know. Um, yeah, this is like my tenth attempt at making this video, and it's going pretty well, so I'm gonna end it there and just say--
[she holds up the book again]
LEEANNA: Read this book! Thank you, Jim C. Hines, you wrote something awesome!

---

From amazon.com:

Libriomancer: (Magic Ex Libris Book 1)
by Jim C. Hines

Isaac Vainio is a Libriomancer, a member of the secret organization founded five centuries ago by Johannes Gutenberg. Libriomancers are gifted with the ability to magically reach into books and draw forth objects. When Isaac is attacked by vampires that leaked from the pages of books into our world, he barely manages to escape. To his horror he discovers that vampires have been attacking other magic-users as well, and Gutenberg has been kidnapped.

Series: Magic Ex Libris
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: DAW Hardcover; 1 edition (August 7, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780756407391
ISBN-13: 978-0756407391

---

From jimchines.com:

Isaac Vainio has spent the past two years working at the Copper River Library in northern Michigan, secretly cataloging books for their magical potential, but forbidden from using that magic himself -- except for emergencies. Emergencies like a trio of young vampires who believe Isaac has been killing their kind and intend to return the favor.

Isaac is a libriomancer, brilliant but undisciplined, with the ability to reach into books and create objects from their pages. And attacking a libriomancer in his own library is never a good idea.

But vampires are only the beginning. This is merely the latest in a series of attacks against members of Die Swelf Portenaere, a secret organization founded five centuries ago by Johannes Gutenberg to protect the world from supernatural threats. Among the casualties is Ray Walker, Isaac's friend and mentor in magic.

Complicating matters further is the arrival of a dryad named Lena Greenwood. Lena packs a pair of wooden swords and proves to be quite adept at helping to beat down various magical threats. She also seems to be a little too interested in Isaac -- not that he minds. Yet Lena's nature could make her a greater threat than any vampire.

Along with a neurotic fire-spider named Smudge, Isaac and Lena set out to find and stop whoever is behind the attacks. But things are worse than Isaac imagined. An unknown killer of unimaginable power has been torturing and murdering humans and vampires alike. And Gutenberg, now more than six hundred years old, has mysteriously disappeared.

As Isaac searches for Gutenberg and the murderer, hoping they aren't one and the same, he uncovers dark secrets about magic's history and potential. Secrets that could destroy Die Zwelf Portenaere and loose a magical war upon the world.

If Isaac is to have any hope of preventing that war, he will have to truly master the magic of libriomancy. Assuming he doesn't lose control and wipe himself from existence first.

---

From tor.com:

Isaac Vainio is a librarian, but not like any you've ever met. He's secretly a libriomancer, a magician capable of working amazing feats through the power of the written word. In short, he can reach into a book and pull out anything he needs. Within reason. There are rules for this sort of thing, after all, as established by the Porters, the secret society founded by Johannes Gutenberg centuries ago. (Yes, that Gutenberg, he of the printing press. Who knew he was actually a sorcerer?)

Because of a few mistakes, Isaac's been retired from the field, now working to catalogue books, recording the useful and dangerous ones for future consideration or protective binding. (Do you really want people accidentally bringing through the Kellis-Amberlee virus from the Mira Grant books? I thought as much.) It's a quiet life, if somewhat unfulfilling after the excitement of field ops, but that monotony is disrupted when Isaac's attacked by vampires. Yeah, it's going to be one of those days...

Luckily, Isaac's still got his combat instincts, and he's real handy with a disruptor borrowed from Star Trek. He also has his faithful companion, the fire-spider Smudge. (Why yes, I see you waving your hand back there. Smudge escaped from Hines' own Jig the Goblin series. Good catch.) Last-minute help also comes in the form of Lena Greenwood, a motorcycle-riding nymph who can hold her own in a fight. They rout the vampires and compare notes. It seems as though the vampires are at war with the Porters, and all Hell's broken loose.

Now many of Isaac's friends and former colleagues are dead or missing, and Gutenberg himself is nowhere to be found. Isaac and Lena must make an uneasy alliance with one faction of vampires in order to get to the heart of the mystery. Who's set the vampires and Porters at each other's throats? Who's using forbidden magic to manipulate and destroy both factions? Is it really a rogue libriomancer, as Isaac fears? Or something far worse, and much more insidious?

Libriomancer, the start of Jim C. Hines' new Magic Ex Libris series, is pretty much geek porn for the urban fantasy set. It's meta-fictional and utterly awesome. In one fell swoop, Hines pays homage and tribute to the entire concept of publishing, and to all sorts of genres. He plays with words and ideas and concepts, and offers up something affectionately bizarre and absolutely delightful as a result. Welcome to a world where the hero can borrow a phaser from Star Trek, healing potions from the Narnia books, a Babel fish from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and so much more. Welcome to a world where vampires come in dozens of varieties depending on their literary source. (In the beginning, Isaac is attacked by several Sanguinarius Meyerii... otherwise known as sparklers. Yeah. Hines went there. Shamelessly.) Hands up, who now wants to be a libriomancer? Me too.

So the underlying premise is awesome. Hines' execution of the concept is top-notch and fascinating. I could just imagine him spending untold hours hashing out the details as an intellectual exercise. I'd have killed to be part of that brainstorming session. I still have a few dozen questions about how it all works and what if you did X or Y or Z, but those will have to wait...

The plot itself is fairly standard issue for urban fantasy, although Hines does a good job of keeping it from being too predictable. There's a strong element of mystery, as Isaac and his allies try to deal with vampire and Porter politics and figure out who the mystery villain is and how said villain got the power in question. There's lots of action, and an inordinate amount of fond geekery. It's everything an urban fantasy reader could want in a book.

But now we get to one of my favorite aspects of the story. As mentioned before, one of Isaac's allies is Lena Greenwood, a nymph whose origin is tied to libriomancy. (Some might remember a character much like this appearing in Hines' story in the DAW anthology, A Girl's Guide to Guns and Monsters. Close, but some changes were made.) Not only is Lena an ass-kicking heroine, she's bisexual and described as heavyset. Her girlfriend is Doctor Nidhi Shah, clearly of Indian descent. I have to give Hines two thumbs up for giving us characters who don't fit the usual mold. While Doctor Shah doesn't get a lot of screen time, Lena does and her personal arc is an intriguing one, to say the least. Her working and interpersonal relationship with Isaac makes for a thought-provoking subplot, one which seems to address the role of secondary female characters in books like this.

On one level, Libriomancer is a fairly standard sort of urban fantasy adventure. The trappings are different, but it occupies the same sort of headspace as Jim Butcher, James R. Tuck, Kevin Hearne, K.A. Stewart, or any of the other writers specializing in action over paranormal romance. On another level, this is a joyful romp through the very concept of pop culture and literature, like the streetwise distant cousin to Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next books. It's funny, it's fast-paced, it's extremely geeky, it's not afraid to take potshots at genre conventions and its own inherent weirdness, and it's a great start to a new series. I can't wait to see what comes next.

---

From google.com:

Some people would say it's a bad idea to bring a fire-spider into a public library. Those people would probably be right, but it was better than leaving him alone in the house for nine hours straight. The one time I tried, Smudge had expressed his displeasure by burning through the screen that covered his tank, burrowing into my laundry basket, and setting two weeks' worth of clothes ablaze.

The fire department had arrived in time to keep the whole place from burning. I remembered digging through the drenched, dripping mess my bedroom had become until I found Smudge huddled in a corner. With steam rising from his body, he had raced onto my shoulder and clung there as if terrified I was going to abandon him again. And then he bit my ear.

The four-inch spider was a memento of what I had left behind, one last piece of that other life. If magic were alcohol, Smudge would be both sobriety medallion and the one whiskey bottle I kept around as a reminder.

While at work, he stayed in a steel bird cage behind my desk, safely out of reach of small children. More importantly, it kept the small children safely out of Smudge's reach.

According to a series of tests I had run with an infrared thermometer, Smudge's flames could reach temperatures in excess of thirteen hundred degrees, roughly the same as your average Bunsen burner. I suspected he could get hotter, but since he only burst into flame when scared or threatened, it seemed cruel to pursue that particular research project.

Not to mention the fact that I was officially forbidden from doing magical research. My duties these days were much more straightforward.

I sighed and picked up the old bar code scanner. Age had yellowed the plastic grip, and the cord protruding from the handle was heavily reinforced with electrical tape. For the third time that afternoon, I played the red beam over the back of the latest Charlaine Harris novel.

The scanner's LED flashed green, and the computer emitted a cheerful beep as the screen populated with what should have been the details of Harris' fantasy mystery, a book our system insisted was actually The Joy of Pickling II, by Charlotte F. Pennyworth.

I tossed the useless scanner aside, cleared the record, and began manually entering the book's information into the Copper River Library database. Without the scanner, it took me a half hour to input the rest of the new books into the system.

When I finished the stack, I glanced around the library. Mrs. Trembath was two-finger typing at one of the public computer terminals, probably forwarding more inspirational cat photos to her grandchildren. Karen Beauchamp was huddled in a beanbag chair in the children's section, reading The Color Purple.

Karen's parents would be ticked to know she was reading books they hadn't personally approved. I made a mental note to save a nice, innocuous dust jacket Karen could wrap around the cover.

Aside from them, the library was empty. Traffic had been slow all afternoon, as people took advantage of the June sunshine.

I removed a fire opal pendant and set the orange stone on the center of the keyboard. The screen flickered, and a new window popped up on the screen. A simple circular logo showed an open book etched onto a medieval shield above the letters DZP.

This database had nothing to do with the Copper River Library. Having catalogued the new books for one library, it was time to do it all over again. I began with a book called Heart of Stone, a paranormal romance about a half-gorgon detective who got involved with a sexy mafia hitman. The story was nothing unusual, but the hitman wore enchanted sunglasses that allowed him to see magic and protected him from the detective's gaze. Those could be useful in the field. I entered the description and page numbers. The author also hinted that the half-gorgon's tears had aphrodisiac properties, and were potentially addictive. Something to watch for when the sequels came out.

One by one, I worked my way through the rest of the books.

Copper River was a small town, but we had the best science fiction and fantasy collection in the entire U.P. Not that Michigan's Upper Peninsula was the most populous place, but I'd match our catalog against any library in the state. I had read every one of the three thousand titles that strained the aging wooden shelves of our SF/F section.

Most of those books had been purchased through a grant from the Johannes Porter Institute for Literacy, one of the cover corporations for Die Zwelf Portenaere. That grant paid most of my salary and kept the town well-stocked in speculative fiction. All I had to do to keep it was keep cataloging new books for the Porters.

Rather, that was all I was permitted to do.

"Hey, Mister V." Karen had lowered her book. "Is something wrong with Smudge?"

I turned around just as a piece of the pea-sized obsidian gravel that lined the bottom of Smudge's cage dropped to the tile floor. Smudge was pacing quick circles, and tendrils of smoke had begun to rise from his back.

I jumped to my feet and grabbed my worn canvas backpack from beneath the desk. Doing my best to hide the cage with my body, I pulled out a bag of Jelly Bellies and dropped one in beside the ceramic water dish nested in the gravel. "What's the matter, partner?"

Smudge ignored me and the candy both. Not good.

Mrs. Trembath sniffed the air. "Is something burning?"

I searched the library, trying to figure out who or what was making Smudge nervous. Neither Karen nor Mrs. Trembath struck me as dangerous, but I trusted Smudge's judgment over my own. His warnings had saved my life three times. Four if you counted that mess with the rabid jackalope. "Furnace trouble. I'm sorry, but I'll need to close the library until I can get someone in here to check it out."

Karen was leaning halfway over the desk, searching for the source of the smoke. I grabbed a paperback and gently swatted her back. "That means you, too."

"I wish my parents would let me have a tarantula," she grumbled as I escorted her toward the door. "If you ever need someone to watch him for you-"

"You'll be the first person I call." I thought back to the last time Karen's family had been here and quickly added, "if you promise not to use him to terrorize your little brother."

"I wouldn't," she said, eyes full of twelve-year-old mischief. "But if Smudge happened to escape into the bathroom while Bryan was brushing his teeth . . ."

"Out." I gave her one final, playful thwap with the book. Unfortunately, while I was shooing Karen out the door, Mrs. Trembath had limped over to the desk.

She pointed her aluminum cane at Smudge's cage. "Isaac, your poor spider's on fire!"

"He's not-" Aw, crap. Red flames had begun to ripple over Smudge's back. I hurried over and took Mrs. Trembath's arm, but it's hard to rush an eighty-three year old grandmother. I managed to get her moving toward the door, then returned to check on Smudge.

That was a mistake. Mrs. Trembath came back moments later. She had left her cane by the door, and her wrinkled face was taut with determination as she raised trembling arms and pointed a red fire extinguisher at Smudge's cage.

"No!" I stepped in front of her as frigid air whooshed from the extinguisher's nozzle like an icy jet engine. It shouldn't hurt our books, but I had no idea what it would do to a fire-spider. I held my breath and squeezed my eyes shut. I heard books and paperwork flying behind me. The instant the stream died, I reached out blindly to yank the extinguisher away.

My eyes watered. I had to stop myself from rubbing them, which would only make the irritation worse. White powder covered my shirt and hands.

"He's still burning!"

I glanced at Smudge. As the chemicals from the fire extinguisher dispersed, Smudge's flames flared even higher, taking on an orange tinge. All eight eyes glared up at Mrs. Trembath with what I could only describe as pure arachnid loathing.

Mrs. Trembath returned to the doorway to fetch her cane, which she raised in both hands like a samurai sword. "At least put the poor thing out of his misery."

"He's not burning. He's . . . bioluminescent." I doubted Mrs. Trembath weighed more than a hundred pounds soaking wet, but she had raised five kids, and could probably take on an entire wolf pack through sheer cussedness. Unfortunately, the last time I had seen Smudge this spooked, the threat had been far worse than wolves.

"Isaac Vainio, you get out of my way and let me help that poor creature."

Magic would have ended our standoff, but I was already pushing things by keeping Smudge. Even the smallest spell could get me hauled down to Illinois to explain myself to Nicola Pallas, the Regional Master of the Porters.

Instead, I folded my arms and said, "Smudge is fine, but I really need to take care of the furnace situation."

"He's not fine, he's-"

"Are you questioning my authority?" I widened my eyes, hamming it up as much as possible. In a faux-military voice, I asked, "Are you aware that section six point two of the Copper River Library user agreement gives me the authority to revoke your library card, including internet privileges?"

She lowered her cane. "You wouldn't dare."

I leaned closer and whispered, "A librarian's gotta do what a librarian's gotta do."

We stared at one another for about five seconds before she cracked. With an amused chuckle, she jabbed a finger into my chest. "So why haven't I ever seen him glow before?"

"Diet," I said quickly. "He escaped last night and got outside. He must have gobbled down at least a dozen fireflies before I caught him." I braced myself, praying she didn't know enough about biochemistry to see through my rather weak excuse.

She backed down. "Maybe if you gave him real food instead of candy, he wouldn't have to sneak out on his own."

"He gets crickets at home." I glanced around nervously as I walked her to the door. I still didn't know what had set Smudge off, and the sooner I got Mrs. Trembath out of here, the safer she'd be.

"See you tomorrow afternoon?"

"I hope so." Through the windows, I watched her make her way to the old blue SUV she affectionately referred to as the Rusty Hippo. As she pulled away, I spotted three people approaching the library. They were dressed far too warmly for June, even in the U.P. They kept their heads down and their hands in their pockets.

I locked the door, though if Smudge was right, that probably wouldn't help. The trio stopped to study the address of the post office across the street. One reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. Her hand glittered like a disco ball in the afternoon sun as she scanned the buildings. She tugged her sleeve over her hand a second later, but that one glimpse was enough to identify them as Sanguinarius Meyerii, informally known as sparklers.

I returned to the desk. "You know, you'd be a lot more helpful if you could talk."

Smudge continued running laps, flames flickering like tiny orange banners on his back. He was never wrong about danger, but he couldn't tell you if that danger was a meteorite streaking toward the roof or an amorous moose running amuck in the parking lot.

Or a trio of vampires.

I opened the cage door. Smudge scrambled out and immediately disappeared beneath the desk. "Careful," I said. "If you burn this place down, I'm out of a job."

Familiar adrenaline pounded through my limbs as I searched through the newly catalogued books from the cart. I might be forbidden from using magic in ordinary circumstances, but this definitely qualified as extraordinary. I grabbed Ann Crispin's latest book Vulcan's Mirror, an old-school space adventure set in a mirror universe, complete with evil goatees for everyone.

I didn't have an eidetic memory, but training and natural aptitude had put me pretty darn close. I flipped to chapter eight and skimmed to the scene where a lizardlike assassin was creeping down the corridor of his alien vessel, disruptor pistol in hand.

The author had described the scene in vivid detail: the hard, sharp-cornered metal of the weapon's grip, the low heat on the assassin's palm from the power source, the metallic blue sheen of the barrel as he sighted at a red-shirted security guard . . . detail after detail, each one painting the scene in the reader's mind. Making it real.

Libriomancy was in many ways a lazy man's magic. There were no wands, no fancy spells, no ancient incantations. No hand-waving or runes. Nothing but the words on the page, the collective belief of the readers, and the libriomancer's love of the story.

Love was the key to accessing that belief and power. And this series had been one of my favorites growing up.

My fingers traced the words, feeling the roughness of the paper, the curve of the page near the spine. My mouth was dry, and my heart pounded like I was a kid about to kiss a girl for the first time.

I thought back to the days when I had gone hunting with my brother and father. The slow, steady breathing as I lined up the sights of my rifle. Take a deep breath, exhale, and slowly squeeze the trigger.

My fingers slipped through the pages into another universe. I felt the hot, humid air of the ship on my skin. I flexed my hand, watching the movement of fingers that appeared to end at the knuckles.

I reached deeper until I touched the dry, scaly skin of the killer's arm. There was no true life in that alien flesh. This was merely the manifestation of belief. Real or not, the assassin had a strong grip, and I had to tug and twist to free the weapon from his hand.

The disruptor was uncomfortably hot to the touch. It was large enough that I had to turn it sideways so it wouldn't catch on the edges of the book. As I withdrew my hand, magic and story became real. I now clutched a heavy blue-steel pistol with a thick grip and a barrel as long as my forearm. I slipped my finger through a trigger guard designed for digits the size of kielbasa and hid the weapon behind my back.

The library door slammed open, the oak frame splintering like balsa. Cold fear splashed over the excitement and wonder of magic, urging fight or flight.

Neither option was likely to work against sparklers.

I leaned against the desk, doing my best to appear unworried. "I'm sorry, the library's closed. Furnace trouble. If you could come back in the morning-"

"Isaac Vainio?"

So much for the faint hope that they weren't after me. The speaker was a teenaged girl, maybe fifteen years old. That was the age she had been turned, at any rate. She wore a bright orange hoodie and too much makeup. Short black hair poked from beneath her hood, and a red flannel scarf looped around her neck. An old backpack hung from her left shoulder. Her dull, red-black eyes never left mine.

Her companions were a burly brown-skinned man in flannel and a pale, middle-aged woman in an ankle-length raincoat. The raincoat was a bright floral pattern utterly at odds with the rage and hunger in her eyes. The man wore a Green Bay Packers cap, and looked like he had been custom carved to be a professional ass-kicker.

"That's me," I said, tapping the plastic badge clipped to my shirt pocket. White powder from the fire extinguisher mostly hid my slack-jawed photo. "What can I help you with?"

"Information and payback." She pushed back her hood and craned her head, as if searching to make sure I was alone. Her lips curled, revealing crooked teeth, and I wondered briefly if braces would have any effect on vampires. "You should be more careful in your choice of friends, Isaac."

I studied the trio more closely. I was certain I had never seen them before. Not locals, then. Relatively young, since Meyerii had only begun popping up back in 2005.

I had read pretty much every vampire book ever written in English, German, Spanish, and French. In recent years, authors had whittled away many of the more monstrous vampiric traits. More to the point, they had eliminated many weaknesses as well. Going after Meyerii with sunlight, garlic, or stakes to the heart was about as useful as trying to tickle them to death.

It took every bit of focus to shut out the voice in my head whispering that I was about to die. I reached instead for anger. "Two years, three months, and sixteen days."

Red eyes narrowed. "Take him!"

The middle-aged woman snarled. Her coat flapped sharply as she moved, too quick for me to see. Her hands clamped around my biceps and hauled me off the ground.

"That's how long it's been since I last used magic." My words were hoarse, squeezed out through fear and adrenaline. I jabbed the barrel of the gun into her side and pulled the trigger.

Green energy burned through her midsection. She dropped me, eyes wide with panic, and grabbed the hole with both hands as if trying to hold herself together. It took less than a second for the energy to devour her body, leaving nothing but a faint ozone smell in the air.

I pointed at the girl, hoping they would be so stunned by the loss of their companion that I could get off another shot. No such luck. The disruptor was ripped from my hand, and something the approximate size and power of a pickup truck flung me across the room. I slammed into the shelves and crumpled to the ground, paperbacks showering down around me.

Green Bay had tossed me into the romance section. Not much I could use here, even if the room hadn't been spinning like a bad carnival ride, preventing me from focusing. If I squinted, I might have been able to pull a claymore from one of the Scottish Highland romances, but that would do precisely nothing against these two. Where was a good invisibility cloak when you really needed it?

Green Bay twisted his hand into my shirt and lifted me one-handed, pinning me against the shelves hard enough to compress my rib cage.

"If he so much as looks at another book, rip off his arms." The girl walked over and plucked the disruptor from her companion's hand. She stabbed the barrel into my side. The metal was hot enough to burn.

"If you want a library card, you'll have to fill out one of the yellow forms," I said. Good old banter, the last refuge against terror and imminent death.

Her face was dry and filthy. She was several inches shorter than me, but the feral hunger in those red eyes made her seem bigger. "You should have left us alone, Isaac."

I tasted blood. I must have bitten my cheek when I hit the shelves. I swallowed, hoping to minimize the scent. "You realize you broke down my door, right?"

Her voice tickled the inside of my skull, like millipedes crawling through my cerebral cortex. "Tell me who among the Porters has been hunting us."

"I'm retired from the field." Even after more than two years, the words stung. "And I never hunted vampires. We leave it to you to police your own kind. The automatons take care of any rogues your masters can't handle."

Her voice grew soft, and the millipedes dug deeper. Most Meyerii didn't have psychic powers. This could be another damn hybrid. One of these days, vampiric experiments in transfusion were going to create something they couldn't handle.

"Don't lie to me, Isaac. You will give me their names."

"I'm a libriomancer. Mind tricks don't work on me. Only money." When all else fails, fall back on movie quotes.

"Dammit!" She spun away.

"You're new to the vampire thing, right?" I asked, doing my best to control my breathing. "You probably weren't around the last time your kind went toe-to-toe with the Porters. It wasn't pretty. Twenty-three rogue vampires marching down the streets of New Orleans versus one old mechanical warrior. All it took was a single automaton to reduce those vampires to twenty-three piles of dust and ash." I might have been a mere cataloguer, but I was still a member of Die Zwelf Portenaere. Killing a Porter was a death sentence. They had to know that.

She didn't look at me, but I could feel the other one shifting nervously. "I have no idea what's going on, but if I was involved, do you really think I'd let you march through my front door? That I'd allow myself to be captured so easily? That I'd be wearing a name tag?"

Her attention droppedto the plastic badge. She wiped a thumb through the powder and stared at the washed-out photo that made me look like a little vampiric myself.

If I hadn't been two years out of practice, I would have had something better than a ray gun waiting for them. Back in the days of Dracula, humans had a fighting chance against the undead. But the more they evolved from monsters into angsty, sexy superheroes, the more the odds of a human being surviving an encounter with an angry vampire shrank to nothing.

"He's got a point, Mel." Green Bay's grip loosened ever so slightly. "He doesn't look like much. He's nothing but a librarian."

"What do you mean nothing but a-"

He thumped me against the shelf without even blinking.

"He's lying," Mel insisted.

"I'm an awful liar," I said quickly. "Ask anyone."

Mel stepped back, setting the disruptor on the desk. "We'll have a reader sift through his thoughts."

Reader, slang for the different species of vampire who could absorb the thoughts and experiences of their victims. Maybe I had a few hours of life left after all. They'd have to transport me back to whatever nest they had come from - probably Detroit or Green Bay. If I could get my hands on another book, or even just make a quick phone call-

Mel opened her backpack and pulled out a large Tupperware container and a butterfly knife. "Drain him. His blood will give the reader the memories she needs."

"Hold on, you're supposed to give the prisoner time to bargain! It's traditional. I'm a libriomancer, remember? You want money? Take me to the history section and I'll give you the Hope Diamond." I turned my attention to Green Bay. "Or how about a Packers Super Bowl ring? Give me two minutes in the sports section, and it's all yours."

He followed my gaze, but Mel punched him in the shoulder.

"What's he going to do?" he asked. "Attack us with a football?"

"We are not giving the libriomancer more books." Mel jabbed her black-polished nail into Green Bay's shoulder, punctuating every word.

A lazy knock on the broken doorframe made both vampires whirl.

"Get out of here!" I shouted, trying to warn whoever it was. I grabbed Green Bay's fingers, trying to break his grip, but it was like trying to bend steel. Kicking him in the stomach was equally futile.

"The library's closed," snapped Mel.

Footsteps crunched on broken wood and glass. When I saw who had entered, my body went limp with relief.

Lena Greenwood was the least imposing heroine you'd ever see. She was several inches shorter than me, heavyset but graceful as a dancer. I didn't know her actual age, but she appeared to be in her early twenties, and was about as intimidating as a stuffed bear. A damned sexy bear, but not someone you'd expect to go toe-to-toe with your average monster.

Wisps of loose black hair framed dark eyes, a round face, and a cheerful smile, as if she had walked in on a surprise party. She wore a motorcycle jacket of black leather, the kind with slip-in plastic shields to protect the shoulders, elbows and back. The T-shirt she wore beneath was filthy, as were her jeans and the red high-top sneakers on her feet. She carried a pair of bokken: curved wooden practice swords that matched the brown shade of her skin.

"Vampires?" she asked.

I managed a nod. "They didn't want to pay their late fees."

"I thought you might be joining us," Mel snarled. To her companion, she snapped, "Make sure she's alone."

Green Bay released my shoulders and blurred across the library like the Flash. I didn't see what happened next, being busy falling down and gasping in pain, but when I looked over the vampire was pinned to the wall like an insect with one of Lena's bokken protruding from his chest.

He snarled and grabbed the hilt, trying to pull himself free. The stake-through-the-heart bit didn't work on Meyerii, but he appeared unable to break or remove Lena's weapon.

"What did you do to him?" Mel demanded.

His struggles grew more frantic as Lena turned her back on him and strode toward us. "The wood is alive," she said softly. "It put out roots."

I looked at Mel. "You still have time to run away."

Mel rushed for the disruptor. Lena lunged, swinging her remaining bokken two-handed in an overhead smash that struck the weapon before Mel could pull the trigger. Green sparks spat from the barrel, but nothing more. Mel flung the disruptor away and seized my throat, her nails piercing my skin. "I'll kill him!"

Lena rested the tip of her bokken on the floor, folding both hands over the hilt. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her lower lip was swollen. "I'm tempted to let you. What's the matter with you, Isaac? Letting a pair of vampires get the drop on you like this?"

"There were three," I corrected, my voice strained from the pressure on my windpipe. "I got one."

"With your toy gun? The gun they promptly took away from you?" She shook her head. "An entire library, and that was the best you could do? How did you ever survive in the field?"

"They kicked me out of the field, remember? Besides, I'm out of practice." But she was right. There were shields that would have protected me from the vampires' attacks, mind-control rays, and so much more.

"Shut up, both of you." Mel's gaze flicked to her partner, who continued to writhe and struggle. I imagined tiny roots punching through his body, anchoring him to the wall, and shuddered.

Movement overhead caught my eye. I forced myself to look straight at Mel, so as not to call her attention to the fire-spider slipping slowly downward from the ceiling on a silken line. Smudge dropped the last foot or so to land ever so lightly atop Mel's head like a fuzzy red and brown crown.

An angry, burning crown.

Flame whooshed through Mel's hair. She shrieked and spun, launching Smudge through the air into the computers. I grabbed the top shelf, lifted both feet, and shoved hard.

Vampires might be strong, but Mel's mass was merely human, and I had physics on my side. She stumbled back, and then Lena's bokken smashed her forearm, shattering bone.

Mel's good hand twisted into the leather of Lena's jacket. The two of them seemed to fly through the library. Mel slammed Lena to the ground by one of the spiral book racks, which toppled over with a loud crash. Mel reached for Lena's throat.

Lena grabbed the vampire's arm at the wrist and elbow, then twisted.

Undead or not, Mel could still feel pain. I winced at the loud pop that signaled a dislocated elbow. Behind them, Green Bay let out an animalistic snarl and strained to free himself. The wall behind him cracked.

I retrieved Vulcan's Mirror, skimming the pages until I reopened the magic I had used before. I picked up the disruptor with my other hand and thrust it into the book, letting the text reform the damaged weapon to its original shape and function before pulling it free once more. Not the safest move, but homicidal vampires qualified as "extenuating circumstances."

Green Bay finally broke free with an animalistic scream, taking a good chunk of the wall with him. As he staggered toward Mel and Lena, I sighted and pulled the trigger. He vanished in a flare of green energy.

Lena hauled Mel upright. "Your turn. Who ordered the attack in Dearborn?"

"What attack?" I asked. Lena lived in Dearborn, making me wonder what exactly had brought her to my library.

"Shut up, Isaac."

Mel clenched her fist and swung, connecting with Lena's jaw. From the way Mel cried out, the blow hurt her as much as it did Lena, but it was enough to let her break free. She spun toward me.

I fired one last time, and Mel vanished.

Lena picked up her remaining bokken. I had vaporized the other along with Green Bay. Keeping her back to me, she ran her fingers over the wood. "What did you do that for?"

Her flat tone took me aback. "Why did I shoot the woman who tried to cut my throat?"

"She was beaten. You didn't have to kill her."

"You ran her buddy through with one of your swords!"

"I stopped him. I would have stopped her." With a sigh, she turned to face me. "They used to be human, until magic changed them into something else. Do you think that girl truly understood what she would become?"

I picked up the butterfly knife Mel had dropped. With the immediate threat passed, I was feeling rather shaky. "I'd have more sympathy if not for the part where she tried to cut my throat."

"What did they say to you?"

"They thought someone from the Porters had been hunting vampires, and wanted me to tell them who was involved." I dropped to my knees and crawled beneath the computer desks, searching through tangled cords for any sign of Smudge. I found him hiding in a nest of blue network cables. From the smell of burnt plastic, we'd have to call the computer guy in the morning, but Smudge appeared unharmed. He scurried up onto my shoulder, searing tiny black dots on my sleeve.

"So what did you tell them?" asked Lena.

"Nothing. I'm retired, remember? Nobody tells me anything." I picked up Vulcan's Mirror again and flipped to chapter eight. I searched the inner edges for char, but this was a new release, and the pages were clean of magical decay. I dissolved the disruptor back into the text and set the book on its cart. "Thank you."

She picked up one of the overturned tables. "Any time."

I hadn't seen Lena since I moved back up north two years ago. The last I knew, she was the only dryad living in North America, and was currently serving as live-in bodyguard for Doctor Nidhi Shah, a downstate shrink who worked with a number of "unusual" clients. Myself included, back in the day.

"You mentioned another attack. What's going on, Lena?"

She returned to the doorway to check outside. "From what I can tell, the vampires have declared war on the Porters."