Art and Story

EARLY LITERACY, BABY!!

This morning, as other mornings, I brewed a strong cup of coffee that I strained through my teeth* and fired up the weekly podcast from the guys over at Art and Story. In an act of enthusiastic, shameless other-promotion I'd like to redirect you, dear readers, to not only their website which is chock-full of pithy goodness but also towards the Kids Read Comics! event hosted somewhere really cool** in Michigan.

* the coffee sock isn't working so great

** Dearborn, that would be

Ohmigod even Roger Langridge will be there.

Kids Read Comics! fulfills a moral imperative and valuable social niche: assertion that comics (and by extension, graphic novels) are a legitimate (and savory) artistic and literary art form......that is hella fun. Emphasizing comics and the love of the art form instead of including all the usual fare of other ComiCons (costumes, pictures with Eric Estrada, with an emphasis on commerce) allows kids to learn about this art form, meet artists and writers, and have a great time. And actually it's an all-ages event geared towards inclusion of kids (awesome!!). All of these people putting on the show are volunteering their time, efforts and energy for the greater good, folks (a bit hyperbolic? still it's true). Workshops galore!

Believe me if I could be there I would; I shall accompany them in spirit.

But really....I would love to go, and I think Jerzy, Kevin and Mark (the helmsmen of Art and Story) do a bang-up job of community involvement, outreach and much-needed mayhem (not to mention lots of invaluable insight and information about illustration, art, life, and the biz).

Hats off, gents!

Maybe next year, Faith Erin Hicks and Carla Speed McNeil will join the fracas. Sara Turner will be there though so yahoo!

Man.....I wish I could go. We need something like this in Eugene. Or Portland. Hell, anywhere in Oregon!