Librarians in Comics

It's National Library Week, so all this week I'll be posting items relating to libraries and comics.

First up, a brief look at librarians who also do work in comics:

Jim Ottaviani writes comics about science, including Two-Fisted Science, Dignifying Science, Suspended in Language, and the forthcoming Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards. When he's not writing comics, Jim spends his time as the mastermind behind the Deep Blue institutional repository initiative at the University of Michigan Library.

Sara Ryan has written a couple of comic stories, including the Eisner-nominated "Me and Edith Head." She recently turned in the draft of the second young adult novel, and bides her professional time as a School Corps Librarian for the Multnomah County Library in Portland, Oregon.

The Pseudonymous Gene Ambaum, writer of the popular online comic strip Unshelved, is a real-life librarian in his real life.

And Maggie Thompson, editor of the long-running Comics Buyer's Guide, is a librarian by training, but at some point she got sidetracked into a career writing about comics.

Those are all the librarians I can think of; are there any I'm missing?

Quick GN Reviews

Runaways, vol. 3: The Good Die Young
by Brian K. Vaughan, Adrian Alphona & Craig Yeung
The first 'season' of Runaways comes to a close as the titular kids face off against their evil super-villain parents and try to uncover the traitor in their midst. Vaughan provides a good mixture of action and teen-angst, and the art works very well for the most part. The only real problem is with the coloring: in places it is too dark and muddy and the detail is lost; not really the fault of the colorist, as she was coloring for a book that was originally glossy paper and this digest is on a non-glossy stock that absorbs ink differently and doesn't show as much definition and contrast. Not much more to say, except that this series continues to be an enjoyable page-turner, and I'm really looking forward to the next collection.
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)


Amazing Agent Luna, vol. 1
by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir, & Carmela "Shiei" Doneza
Born in a laboratory and raised to be a super-spy, at just fifteen-years-old Luna is one of the top secret agents in the world. But she has never been socialized to the real world, so her handlers decide to send her to a regular high school as a student (while they pose as her parents!) No sooner does Luna start as the new girl at school (and all the problems that provides) than who should show up as another new student but Jonah, the son of Luna's evil arch-nemesis, Count Heinrich von Brucken! DeFilippis & Weir manage to pull of the nearly impossible, writing a manga-esque comic that feels right but is not a cheap rip-off, helped in no small part by the confident artwork of Shiei. I ended up liking this a lot more than I thought I would, and can't wait to read more.
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)


Owly: The Way Home & The Bittersweet Summer
by Andy Runton
At this point you've probably read many good things about Andy Runton's Owly, and I'm pleased to say that they're all true. This is a wonderful comic. Owly is a cartoon owl who likes to make friends and help his fellow woodland creatures. In the first story Owly helps a little worm find his way home after having been washed away in a storm. The second story find Owly befriending a couple of hummingbirds. The stories are more gentle really than exciting, but they're charmin and adorable, and I mean that in the best way possible. The stories are mostly wordless, and Runton shows an incredible economy of storytelling and a mastery of cartooning that lts him tell his stories effectively. Add Owly to your list of must-read books that celebrate the comics form.
Rating: 4.5 (of 5)