Back to School: "Gender Through Comic Books" at Ball State University

A few days ago, comic writer Mark Waid posted an entry to his blog about a Ball State University course that combines comics with higher eduction (two things I'm interested in) in the form of a new, massive open online course (abbreviated as MOOC, which sounds too much like "mook" for me) titled "Gender Through Comic Books".  This course, which runs from April 2 through May 10, 2013, will be taught online and features open registration - with no enrollment cost.

This already is a pretty tempting offer, but it turns out that Waid and a number of other comic book creators will be involved, through interviews, in this course as well.  Waid mentions the likes of Brian Michael Bendis, Terry Moore, Brian K. Vaughn, Jonathan Hickman, Scott Snyder as well as others.

Here's the official solicitation info from the Ball State course page:

Gender Through Comics: A Super MOOC is a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) coming Spring 2013 that examines how comic books can be used to explore questions of gender identity, stereotypes, and roles. This highly engaging learning experience is designed for college-age and lifelong learners.

The course, led by Christina Blanch of Ball State University, uses a study of comic books incorporating highly interactive video lectures, online discussions between students, and real-time socially driven interviews. Interviews with the comic industry's biggest names such as Terry Moore, Brian K Vaughan, Mark Waid, as well as others address questions of gender representations and constructions involving both men and women.

Aaaand I'm sold.  I signed up for the course and will be taking it along with, apparently, over a thousand other people.  I'm not sure what the course will involve as far as texts, schedules or grading, but I'm excited to see what it's going to offer.  I've even got a student page at Ball State's webpage!

It's a bit sparse right now.  But I'll personalize it soon and add a link for, I don't know, Franks and Beans or something.

This is an exciting opportunity for anyone who enjoys comics, women's studies or new educational advancements.  The course is taught by Christina Blanch as part, it looks like, of a doctoral program at Ball State, so hopefully this thing gets her a PhD in something or other.  I'll post updates on the blog as the class meets - or, if you'd like, you can take the class with me and hundreds of other friends.  Just go to https://www.canvas.net/courses/gender-through-comic-books and sign up!  It's quick and easy, and it should be an interesting experience.  Kudos to Blanch and Ball State for coordinating this course and offering it to the general public.

Oh, and they got Stan Lee to narrate their YouTube ad.

Thing sketchbook, part 11

The legend of the Thing sketchbook continues to grow.  The trip to Comic-Con brought the numbers up quite a bit.  Now I've got five more sketches to show and others waiting in the wings.  Hope you enjoy!

Antonio Crespo - Pittsburgh Comicon 2012

I've worked with Antonio on a couple projects to date and have chatted with him online, but I was able to meet him in person at the Pittsburgh Comicon this past April.  Tony showed up on the Sunday and deftly grabbed an empty table to set up shop.  I think he made more in a few hours selling his prints than I made in the entire day!  He was also nice enough to add this beauty to the sketchbook.  A full body shot!  I don't have too many of those, and I certainly don't have many that live up to this level of detail or skill.

Tim Seeley - XCon Myrtle Beach 2012

Hack/Slash introduced me to writer/artist Tim Seeley, but he's taken on a number of different projects in the past few years.  I saw him once again at XCon in Myrtle Beach, and I was finally able to add a Thing sketch from him this year.  He took the artist's challenge and quite nicely cleaned up some of the bleed through from the previous sketch.  As always, the blue eyes are a nice touch.

Jonathan Hickman - XCon Myrtle Beach 2012

Jonathan Hickman is currently nearing the end of his successful run on Fantastic Four and FF, so of course, given the chance, I had to get him to add something to a sketchbook starring the FF's strongman.  Hickman is better known for his writing, but he's also a heck of an artist.  This is one of the more unique images in the book, and it's one of my favorite as well.

Ben Edlund - Comic-Con International 2012

According to Ben Edlund, this is the first time he's ever drawn the Thing.  That means I love this even more!  Edlund is best known as the creator of the Tick, but he's had a great number of successes outside of the comic industry as well, including involvement in Firefly, Venture Bros., and most recently the show Supernatural.  He's also one of my industry heroes, so it was so incredibly satisfying to add a Thing sketch by him into the book.  As if this isn't jealousy-inducing enough, I also got a Tick sketch on a backing board.  What a great haul!  And yes, he shouted "Look I'm a monster!" as he wrote the words. Awesome.

Bob Polio - Comic-Con International 2012

Bob Polio is the art director for New England Comics, publisher of the Tick comic - and he has been since the book's inception.  He added this classic cigar-smokin' Thing to the sketchbook almost immediately after Ben Edlund drew his version.  Bob's also a baseball historian of sorts who loves the old Boston Braves.  We chatted baseball at length during the show - and as anyone who knows me understands, once I get started, it's tough for me to hit the brakes.  I was glad to meet a fellow fan of both the Tick and baseball.


Okay, that's five, so we'll take a break.  But there are more to come!  So you can rest easy, America.