I
have several things to share this week.
First
up, my ebook Scratch received a four-star review at
http://akamaireader.wordpress.com/2012/03/29/review-scratch/
Thanks
for the kind words!
Second,
I was quoted in the newest issue of the scientific Journal of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society. Nothing scientific on my part I assure you. I would have
guessed that my lifetime chances of ever being quoted in a scientific
journal were more infinitesimal than some quantum particles, but I
tend to have some sort of probability-altering field at work in my
life, so...
Anyway,
it came about like this. The author of the piece, Lynne Robinson, writes for the Journal
of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society.
In every issue, in addition to abstracts and articles with titles
like A
Materiomics Approach to Spider Silk: Protein Molecules to Webs
and Tailoring
Microstructure and Properties of Hierarchical Aluminum Metal Matrix
Composites Through Friction Stir Processing
(real titles... trust me, I couldn't make this up), they try to
include a more fun and interesting piece. Lynne discovered that many
of the scientists she worked with were comics geeks (imagine that),
who were genuinely interested in the transforming some of the ideas
in comics into real life science. Things like Captain America's
shield and Iron Man's armor were of specific interest to them. She
wanted to talk about how fiction, specifically Comics and Science
Fiction, both influence and reflect the development of new
technologies. As she wrote the article she realized that she simply
didn't have the background knowledge of comics and comics history, so
she cast about to find someone who did. She contacted the PittsburghToonseum, and they recommended she talk to me.
I
spent about an hour and a half on the phone with Lynne last fall and
covered a lot of ground. She was fun to talk to and genuinely
interested in the topic. As a journalist, her style was remarkable.
She asked really very good questions and zeroed in on some of the
most important points in my sometimes rambling style of talking. I'm
really happy with the way the article turned out and proud to have
been included. There were a lot of things in the conversation that
didn't make it into the article (Doc Magnus and the Metal Men, Jack
Kirby and the New Gods and how we all carry Mother Boxes in our
pockets and have Metron Chairs at home).
Anyway,
you can read a PDF version of the article here:
And
my week didn't stop there.
Last
year I was invited to participate in writing entries for an
encyclopedia of graphic novels to be published by Salem Press. Salem
Press is primarily a publisher of reference books aimed at libraries
and universities. The two-volume collection is now available (and
it's really expensive in hardback). You can see the ad and
announcement for the collection at
http://salempress.com/Store/samples/critical_survey_gn_heroes/critical_survey_gn_heroes.htm
Out
of literally hundreds of articles they could have chosen, my piece on
Matt Wagner's Mage:
The Hero Discovered
is one of ten free sample entries available on the order page, along with pieces on Watchmen, Sandman and other more well-known books. The editors either really liked Mage or my writing. I'm kind of stupidly happy that they picked my article. The
direct link to the pdf of it is
http://salempress.com/Store/pdfs/Mage.pdf.
I
was planning on writing about Mage
in my ongoing favorite comics posts anyway. I still will, in a less
academic form than this article.
Lots
of good things this week. No wonder I'm tired.
Wayne, what a week! Congrats. Don
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