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Wednesday, April 23, 2014

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's Free Comic Book Day!

The Blagg-Huey Library on the Denton campus of TWU, in conjunction
with Free Comic Book Day 2014, is pleased to welcome speaker
Jonathan Evans on Thursday, May 1st, 2014.  The first 150 in atten-
dance will receive a free comic book courtesy of Madness Comics & 
Games in Denton, Texas.  Graphic by Sean Spear.

On Free Comic Book Day (FCBD)--since 2002 an annual international celebration held on the first Saturday in May--participating comic book shops (and some libraries) around the world give away books to promote interest in the comic and graphic novel formats.  Publishers produce special edition comics specifically for these giveaways, and a wide variety of comics is made available--from traditional comic fare like Archie and Disney to superheroes from Marvel and DC, manga from Tokyopop, and work from independent publishers.

In the spirit of FCBD, all are invited to join us on Thursday, May 1st at 3:00 p.m. in the Joyce Thompson Lecture Hall (Room 101) on the first floor of the Blagg-Huey Library as we welcome Jonathan Evans, Ph.D. candidate in the TWU Department of English, Speech, & Foreign Languages for a 45-minute presentation on comic books and academia.  150 comic books will be given away, one per person, on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last. Graciously donated by Madness Comics & Games, these comics will include The New 52: Futures End from DC Comics; Avatar, Hellboy, Juice Squeezers from Dark Horse Comics; Guardians of the Galaxy and various other titles from Marvel Comics; Grimm Fairy Tales from Zenescope Entertainment; and V Wars from IDW.  A total of 57 comic book titles are being released for FCBD (for a full list of FCBD titles and additional event information, visit www.freecomicbookday.com.) Interested in an issue that the library is not giving out?  Head over to Madness (located at 111 E. University, Suite 112, Denton, Texas) on Saturday, May 3rd, 2014.

Did you know the TWU Libraries collections contain graphic novels?  Not all graphic novels and comic books are about superheroes.  The medium spans all genres--including biography, fantasy, manga, memoir, science fiction, horror, history, science, mystery and adaptations of literature. Furthermore, comic books are no longer strictly for recreational reading.  Faculty members and students at universities across the country are turning to graphic novels for research and scholarship in subject areas including the arts, advertising, sociology, popular culture and history.  The format provides popular representations of stereotypes, archetypes, national interests, gender roles and cultures.  In addition, comics can be used by elementary school teachers and parents to engage reluctant readers and promote literacy.


The best way to find graphic novels in the library is to do a search for graphic novel (singular) in TWUniversal.  We also have comic strip books and books about comics (search for comic books.)  Most of our graphic novels are located in the Children’s Collection, but that doesn’t mean they are just for children!


~Allison Osborn

1 comment:

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