As the second half of 2001 opened, Marvel had severed ties with the Comics Code Authority and relocated to new quarters. The company was enjoying superlative reviews and sales from the one-two punch of the revitalized Amazing Spider-Man and New X-Men. President Bill Jemas was having a ball. His outsized persona seemed to enjoy tweaking […]
Regular readers know how much I love Shore Leave, the largest fan-run con, now up to 41.6. Yeah, they’d playing with the numbers since this year is a virtual con. The good news for those not in the Maryland area is that you can now attend and see what you’ve been missing. All the details […]
We’re three weeks into the summer break and I realize I am not fully divorced from the classroom. Each morning I check my two school email accounts, I’ve read professional blogs, and attended a few video sessions on tools I use. So, maybe, it’s not entirely possible to be fully on break, just the priorities […]
June was perhaps the craziest month I spent at Mighty Marvel. First, with every passing day, we were ramping up for the move. Packing had begun, the film was being gathered to be shipped to a warehouse in Yuma. Marvel was showing off its three-story booth at the Licensing Show and the convention planning was […]
Even though grades are due this coming Monday, Wednesday was really the final day of the school year for most of us. All we thought that afternoon, as the faculty and staff celebrated, was that we survived. We opened on September 3 and finished the academic year without once having to close because of Covid-19. […]
Deb and I weathered the pandemic rather easily. Our routines weren’t terribly altered. Like most people, we socially distanced, limited outings, wore a mask, etc. And as things are returning to normal, we are ditching the mask and dining at restaurants. Things are starting to feel like it’s 2019 all over again. The one substantial […]
The spring definitely felt like things were gaining momentum. There was excitement in Editorial as we got to see what J. Michael Straczynski brought to Spider-Man and in May, Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, and Tim Townsend brought fresh life to New X-Men. Joe was eager to begin promoting Mark Millar’s The Ultimates and was having […]
This has been a challenging first five months of the year from the standpoint of being a writer. Much of that has to do with the lack of time for anything substantive as I rebuild the freshmen curriculum, constantly lesson planning new units for both the college prep and honors students. Some of my free […]
I am not sure who created Teacher Appreciation Week, but I sure like the timing of it. By having it the first week of May, it reminds the administration and parents of the role we play. At this point, we’re all getting tired, certainly worried about the students who are definitely not passing the year, […]
April was a pause. We were on the cusp of releasing buzz-worthy books, the con season was being planned, we had a movie about to open, and anticipation filled the air. The pieces were all being moved on several fronts as the company prepared some figurative and literal moves. After the excitement over the previous […]