Excitement! Movie Night Announcement

In light of the release of The Dark Knight Rises and all the hub-bub surrounding it, I have decided that as our special end-of-first-year treat, we will be watching Batman Begins followed by The Dark Knight!  Because, you know....Batman.

Update: Arkham Asylum

Since we still have the materials to use Arkham Asylum for a discussion, and nobody was able to attend our first try at it, we will be adding AA to the 2012-2013 list.  Hopefully, things will turn out better this time around.  Because BATMAN!

I came to this decision using the polling tool on our Facebook page, and plan to continue using polling in the future.  I am no longer going to be posting updates for Graphic Content through my personal Facebook, so it is important that everyone use the page and participate!  I am also going to begin posting our meetings as events through the page, which should automatically invite all members.  This way, everyone knows far in advance the time and date of the meeting.

Review: Ethel and Ernest

A touchingly written and lovingly drawn tale detailing the lives of the author's parents from first meeting to final breath.  

Quickies: American Vampire, Uncle Sam, and Laika

Unfortunately, I've been so busy lately that I haven't really gotten a good chance to write a solid review, even though I've read some real cracker-jack comics.    That sucks!  So follow along below and I'll give you a quick guide to some of the books I've been lost in.

In the past few years, vampires have been more popular than ever, with a never ending stream of books, movies, and tv shows emerging to capture the hearts of all types of vamp lovers, from swooning teenaged girls to hardcore horror fans.  In such an era, it it genuinely rare for a vampire story to arise different enough to catch me off guard.  American Vampire is one such story.  Swinging back and forth from the old west to 1920s Hollywood, AV captures the imagination with rough riding desperados and sleek starlets.  Scott Snyder is great, and it doesn't hurt that Stephen King is on board either!  It's crunchy, and doesn't bull any punches.  AV  (volume 1) is a great set up for an exciting ongoing story line. 

Questions: Arkham Asylum

Intense!  Gritty violence, psychological trauma, and beautiful art collide in the fun house that ain't so fun.  Dig deep as we the readers discover the sordid history of Arkham and the Batman discovers that sometimes, sickness is a place called home.

Announcement: New Books

Hey gang.  I know that during our last meeting, I let you look through several choices and pick which ones you would like to read.  I wanted to give you the power to choose, and to really know that you guys are an integral part of this club.  I lead the discussions, but your opinions matter.

Unfortunately, due to funding issues and the question of repurposing our comics after the discussions, we have had to order different books than the ones you chose.  When I began this club, I fully intended for teenagers to attend as well as adults.  Things didn't work out that way, which is why the books I gave you to choose from this round were a bit more adult.  However, it has been decided that once we are done discussing our books, they will then be used for high school discussions.  This means no sex, nudity, or over the top violence, no matter how good the writing or message.  We all know how easy it is to upset even just one parent who could cause an uproar.  Also, due to the cost of printing comics, ordering so many at a timje, and the fact that almost 10 of our books have not been returned over the course of this year, I have been asked not to order books that cost (with our discount) over $12.00.

All of this together meant that I needed to completely re-pick our books.  I'm sorry.

But! The books I did get are also awesome.  Never fear faithful readers, you are in good hands.  Right now we have only order 4 books, as an experimental stage until we figure out where we are going to get our permanent funding.  So, in 4 month's time, we may be able to have more options.  Either way, the books are great, so no worries :)

So, without further ado, here are our first four books for the new year!:

Questions: Persepolis

The story of a girl, her country,and the people of her country, all tied up together with the complexity of family and home.  How do war, tradition, religion, family, and freedom shape us all?  Marjane Satrapi shares their effects on her, as an intellectual young lady growing up in the midst of revolution and war.