I was afraid of this. Once I broke the habit of posting more or less weekly, things would snowball. However, with the Baltimore Comic-Con and my two school jobs, it’s been busy, and having a wicked cold didn’t help at all.
So, the con. As usual, I caught up with the regulars who make it a point to be at the show every year. I particularly got to enjoy a lengthy chat with Mark Buckingham, who has always been a delight. And there were first-timers I got to catch up with, including Jose Marzan, Jr. and Trish Mulvihill, neither of whom I have seen in at least a decade.
The panels were plentiful, and it felt as if I was on stage with Tom King or Phillip Kennedy Johnson on most of them. It was great doing one-on-ones with both, but the highlight may have been my conversation with Barbara Friedlander. She joined DC in 1964 as a 19-year-old and was rapidly promoted to assistant editor for Jack Miller and the romance line. She wrote countless stories for those comics until she left around 1968 in the wake of the Kinney purchase of the company. We got to chat about all the personalities she worked with and got her to talk about the staffers I knew of, but never got to work with. She was lots of fun.
I also got to spend extended time chatting with my fellow MICA faculty—Jose Villarubia and Carla Speed McNeil—and even take some of my students around to make introductions and have their art reviewed.
Meantime, the quarter ended at high school on the 23rd, and interestingly, I haven’t heard from any parents since the report cards were issued. Overall, it wasn’t a bad ten weeks, as the freshmen have remained an engaged delight, and the sophomores remain a challenge, but less so compared to last year. We had a nice three-day break and eased into the second quarter. I’ll be teaching The Hobbit for the first time, which I am really looking forward to. Thankfully, I have students who are really interested in Tolkien, so that will help a lot.
And that meant I spent much of the weekend building the Kickstarter campaign for Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2026, which is shaping up nicely. I am on track to launch on November 14, so be ready to help me spread the word.
Yesterday, we held our annual Open House, and over 200 families came to check us out. For hours, I repeated my standard patter about the English department and our offerings. Interestingly, there weren’t as many questions as commonly heard, although the most amusing was, “Do you still teach cursive?” Given that the faculty and staff are in attendance along with dozens of school volunteers, we’re thankfully given today off.
The only other recent creative work I have managed was researching and writing an essay on The Phantom for someone’s book; details to follow. But I love the character and enjoyed immersing myself once more in his legacy.
What We’re Watching
We devoured and very much enjoyed the third season of The Diplomat, which may be the best political show in years. Deborah Cahn cut her teeth on The West Wing, and it shows in the plotting and characterization, brought to life by a stellar cast. We also liked the fall finale for High Potential and have found joy in Family Law, which we finally started. We also sampled the first episode of House of Guiness and haven’t made up our minds on this yet. Other series get worked in as time allows.
On my own, I finished Gen V and thought it resolved things very nicely, while also setting up the fifth and final season of The Boys. I’ll miss this show, should it really be at an end. I then turned my attentions to Sandman season two, which, I think, nicely condenses the source material with strong performances, notably Esmé Creed-Miles as Delirium.
What I’m Reading
I have begun Marie Benedict’s The First Ladies for the faculty book club, and it’s an interesting read, although I don’t love the writing. I just don’t know that much about Mary Bethune, who is an important person from the era. I am also listening to Embers of the Hands, a nonfiction look at the everyday lives of the Vikings. I recently completedThe Silver Arrow a YA novel from Lev Grossman, which was entertaining, along with a big stack of graphic novels, some of which were for review over at ComicMix.
#Tags: Baltimore Comic-Con, Barbara Friedlander, ComicMix, Deborah Cahn, Family Law, Gen V, High Potential, House of Guinness, Jose Marzan Jr., Jose Villarubia, Kickstarter, Mark Buckingham, MICA, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, The Diplomat, The First Ladies, The Hobbit, The Sandman, The SIlver arrow, Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2026, Tom King, Trish Mulvihill