Jack Phoenix - Maximizing the Impact of Comics in Your Library

MAXIMIZING THE IMPACT OF COMICS IN YOUR LIBRARY

Graphic Novels, Manga, and More

Jack Phoenix

Copyright 2020 by Jack Phoenix

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Phoenix, Jack, author.

Title: Maximizing the impact of comics in your library : graphic novels, manga, and more / Jack Phoenix.

Description: Santa Barbara, California : Libraries Unlimited, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019056103 (print) | LCCN 2019056104 (ebook) | ISBN 9781440868856 (paperback) acid-free paper | ISBN 9781440868863 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: LibrariesSpecial collectionsComic books, strips, etc. | LibrariesSpecial collectionsGraphic novels. | LibrariesActivity programsUnited States.

Classification: LCC Z692.G7 P48 2020 (print) | LCC Z692.G7 (ebook) | DDC 026.7415dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019056103

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019056104

ISBN: 978-1-4408-6885-6 (paperback)

978-1-4408-6886-3 (ebook)

24 23 22 21 20 1 2 3 4 5

This book is also available as an eBook.

Libraries Unlimited

An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC

ABC-CLIO, LLC

147 Castilian Drive

Santa Barbara, California 93117

www.abc-clio.com

This book is printed on acid-free paper

Manufactured in the United States of America

Dedicated to

My mother, who bought for me my first comic book from a drugstore spinner rack.

My grandmother, who helped me cultivate my comic book habit for years after.

My husbeast, who supports my comic book addiction even still.

And to the London Public Library in London, Ohio, my first library home.

Contents

Foreword

Sina Grace

I almost dont know what to write here because Jack Phoenix did all the heavy lifting. The history and necessity of comic books/graphic novels in libraries is masterfully detailed in the pages following. He did an absolutely aces job of taking a very complicated subject that others would fail at tackling with big words and run-on sentences and he made it a fun read. What Jack couldnt do, however, is get down to the personal of it all.

My first memories at the Santa Monica library involve me scouring through Astrid Lindgrens work, hoping to find books that could match the awe and wonder I felt when reading the illustrated versions of Pippi Longstocking . Aside from Mad Magazine (which may be an imaginary memorymore on that in some other book), I dont recall there being any graphic novels or collected editions at the public library. For me personally, this wasnt a huge problem as the comic store (Hi De Ho Comics) was located literally across the street from the library, so when I reached an age where I didnt want to read books, I could mosey over to Hi De Ho. The library lost me right at peak middle grade years. Jack gets into the nitty-gritty of the symbiotic relationship between nonprofit and for-profit businesses, but suffice to say, I had a positive opinion of both, but assumed they were to remain separate.

While comics and graphic novels have had a tenuous relationship with legitimacy in the book market and library system, there is without a doubt a positive correlation between literacy and kids who read comics. Again, because Jack so succinctly details all the facts, I get to focus on the personal. When I was in sixth grade, a lonely kid who enjoyed drawing Spider-Mans clone Ben Reilly over playing basketball, I spent countless lunch breaks re-reading Stephen Kings Creepshow collection, a comic book so divine and horrifying its a tragedy that it was out of print for so long. The city library still didnt have many offerings in the graphic novel department, and I was so exhausted from the Shilohs and Shabanus of literature, that I still yearned for the accomplishment one feels from finishing a book, and I was too old for Goosebumps to scratch that itch. All this is to say, I was a middle grade reader without many options beyond the handful of meager comic book offerings and my go-to selection of Lois Duncan novels.

Thanks to the efforts of Raina Telgemeier, Jeff Smith, and so many more, serialized graphic novels have found their way to YA readers hearts. Maus , Persepolis , Diary of a Teenage Girl , and others, have taught tastemakers that comics is a space for high art. Manga has been accepted and appreciated by American readers (and theyre also super easy to organize). Much like the embrace of digital technology, the tides have changed for how comics are perceived in libraries and bookstores, and its time for everyone to do their part by making sure that the comics section doesnt look like the ghettoized cluttered corner no one wants to go in. I can imagine the plethora of excuses each and every librarian has but were nine steps ahead of you. This book will give you the vocabulary, the glossary, the index, and the source code to better understand, appreciate, and maximize a comic book section in any library.

Maybe nows a good time to talk about my personal opinion of Jacks work in Maximizing the Impact of Comics in Your Library . While Ive spent the last few paragraphs detailing my love and history of comic books and libraries, its been with the utmost awareness that you, dear reader, may lack your own history with the above. In a way that only a chief librarian could handle, this book accomplishes the near-impossible: it explains the history of comics and its relationship with pop culture, organizes a means for figuring out how to sift through tens of thousands of superhero yarns for the most valuable books to stock in every county, and does all of this in a way that feels conversational and never didactic. This is no easy task, and as someone with an extensive history in comics, Ive got to say that this book truly does cover it all.

I personally owe a great debt to the libraries of America. My Iceman series at Marvelone that followed an openly gay male protagonist fighting his way through Manhattan while sorting out his personal lifewas cancelled because of low direct market sales (direct market, a phrase youll learn a lot about in this book). Had it not been for librarians embracing the book in its collected edition form, and putting it on shelves for YA reading or for LGBTQ+ selects, the series would not have been picked up for a revival in 2018. Now, more than ever, comic books need libraries for survival.

Sina Grace is a writer and illustrator living in Los Angeles. Hes best known for his work on the iconic Iceman series for Marvel Comics, as well as his graphic memoir at Image Comics.

Acknowledgments

I would like to offer a very sincere and hardy thank you to the following for their assistance and support of this book: My editors Jessica Gribble and Barbara Ittner for all their editing prowess, their wisdom, and for providing me with this opportunity, as well as everyone at Libraries Unlimited and ABC-CLIO; Tom Gaadt and the staff at Cartoon Books for enthusiastically supporting me and providing images; Jack Baur who probably should have been the one writing this book; Valentino Zullo whose input and assistance were invaluable; Cindy Orr and Tish Lowry for their encouragement and support, for this could not have happened without them; Becky Spratford for being an inspiration; Ashley Dallacqua and David Kohl for the information and encouragement; Amie Wright, Tina Coleman, and every member of the GNCRT for being such wonderful resources; Brad Ricca for the publishing advice; the staffs of Carol and Johns Comic Shop and The Laughing Ogre for supporting my comic habit; Alice Son and Clare Kindt for guidance; Christian Wildgoose for helping me to include his work; the staff of the London Public Library for helping me grow; the staff of the Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library for cheering me on; Michael Ritchie for the valuable cataloging information; all the librarian experts on comics who have come before me, including Michael Pawuk, David Serchay, Steve Weiner, Randall Scott, Robert Weiner, Francisca Goldsmith, Matthew Wood, and anyone Im missing; Dr. Miriam Matteson for overseeing my project on comics in grad school; DC Comics, Judd Winnick, Terry Moore, Gene Ambaum, and Pat Coleman for permitting me to use their material; all my contributors, including Karen Green, Hope Larson, Mark Waid, Tony Isabella, Raina Telgemeier, Andrew Tadman, Bryn Wolanski, Jessica Lee, Lucas McKeever, John Dudas, Chloe Ramos, Rachael Bild, Carolyn Paplham, Violet Jaffe, Sean Gilmartin, Natalie DeJonghe, Shivon, Megan Zagorski, Sina Grace, and anyone I may have missed; and my wonderful husband, who supported me during this process by bringing me food and letting me go on and on about what was currently happening in the world of comics.