The goodness of Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is something of a treasure to libraries, and not just because of the incredible books he writes. He is a strong advocate for fiction and reading which is very evident in his recent lecture 'Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming' 
It is no wonder with quotes like "Google can bring you back 100,000 answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one" that Mr Gaiman is beloved by librarians the world over :)  

The following are my top 5 Neil Gaiman recommendations. This was a pretty difficult list to narrow down, but these are my personal favourites - I'd love to hear which are yours!

Number 5
I'm going to cheat a little and link both The Sandman comic series and the various Death comic mini-series together, as they are after all connected. The Sandman comics were amongst the first I read when I was getting back into the whole comic scene in the mid 90's, and it is easy to see why they are considered classics in the genre.
The series centres around Morpheus, also known as Dream from The Endless, and he and his siblings Death, Destiny, Destruction, Desire, Delirum and Despair take us on a series of unbelievable exploits. The series has a very mythological feel to it, as do many of Mr Gaiman's works. I'll always have a soft spot for Death, who is always so much fun to cosplay, and the deluxe edition of her tales are well worth checking out.

Number 4
Mr Gaiman is a very diverse author and writes for ALL ages. He has many titles for kids under his belt, from the super cute Chu series of picture books to the rather spooky Coraline (I still look at buttons and shudder). But my favourite of these is the wonderful Fortunately, the milk.
Mum is away and Dad is in charge, and he's forgotten the milk for breakfast! Luckily he has some rather marvellous adventures getting it. Such a fun story to share with the littles (or not so littlies) in your life.

Number 3
From the very creepy beginning of The graveyard book where a small toddler manages to survive his entire family being murdered by a mysterious assassin, I was hooked. Bod (Nobody) Owens ends up being raised by the spooks at the nearby graveyard, a crazy assortment of characters. This was one book that stayed with me long after I finished it, in the very best way possible. I'm not sure how you can be creepy but heart-warming at the same time, but this book somehow manages it.

Number 2
Unbeknownst to me, I already owned a Neil Gaiman book long before I was even a fan. Another of my all time favourite authors is Terry Pratchett, and I own many of his books, including Good Omens: the nice and accurate prophecies of Agnes Nutter, a witch, which a little later down the track I realised was a collaboration with that same comic guy I really liked :)
In this fantasy comedy about the impending end of the world, Aziraphale the angel, and Crowley the demon are on a mission to find the (rather nice) 11 year old Antichrist and avert Armageddon.

And in my top spot - Number 1
Stardust is probably the only book I own in any format I can get it. I have the exact hard copy as pictured above. I have the stunning 4 part graphic novel set, beautifully illustrated by Charles Vess. I have the DVD of the movie adaptation (the book is better, lets face it, it usually is - but the movie is pretty lovely). To me this has the same magical timeless quality of The Princess Bride.
Tristran Thorn sees a falling star, and sets out to retrieve it in order to win the heart of his supposed one true love. He is not the only one questing to retrieve the star, and a fantastical adventure ensues. This book makes it not only on my top five Gaiman list, but also on my overall top five book list!

So those are my personal favourites, and I have missed so many wonderful titles I also loved off this list - the novels American gods (hopefully soon to be a TV series) The ocean at the end of the lane and Neverwhere, the stunningly beautiful The sleeper and the spindle (he retells the classics like no one else), his recent short story collection Trigger warning: short fictions and disturbances....I could seriously go on! Thanks Mr Gaiman for letting us share in your daydreams, they are indeed a magical (and sometimes very spooky) place :)

Fangirls (And Boys) Unite: Armageddon Is Here

Just say the word Armageddon to any science fiction fan in New Zealand and Australia and they will know exactly what you are talking about.

The Armageddon Expo is the event that fans of all ages look forward and the ongoing success is all down to creator, founder and god-like organiser Bill Geradts who started Armageddon 18 years ago because he was (and is) a Doctor Who fan.

Talk about an awesome job, doing something you love and sharing it with others.

As usual the Auckland event is being held this weekend, because what is Labour Weekend without a little Armageddon.

Personally I can't wait.

It's a chance to see some of my favourite actors from my favourite shows; Ben Browder, Ben Browder, Ben Browder.  And yes I have a thing and and yes I'm really looking forward to seeing him and you would too if you had ever watched Farscape or Stargate SG-1.  It is also a chance to met up with some of my twitter like-minded friends; some for the first time - which is kind of nerve wracking and awesome.

Even more awesome is that Auckland Libraries will be having a booth at this year's event.  So if you happen to be there why not pop on in and check us out.  You can even borrow a book or graphic novel while you're there and we will also be live-tweeting the event.  Now how is that for service.

For those who can't attend why not check out some if not all of the following.

The Hobbit : an unexpected journey : chronicles : creatures & characters

The second Hobbit movie is due for release just in time for Christmas but until then why not check out the above title which looks at each of the characters in detail and is filled with a array of behind-the-scenes photos.

Farscape. [7], The war for the uncharted territories. Part one [graphic novel]

Someone did a Farscape comic?

How did I not know this?

Somehow I feel like I am letting down the entire fangirl community by not knowing about this sooner.  Still never mind I know now and am off busy placing holds on the entire series.

As you do.

Doctor who : the doctor's lives and times.

November the 23rd is the 50th anniversary of the very first broadcast of Doctor Who.

So of course it is only natural that you just have to check out as many books and comics on Doctor Who that you can possibly find.

Well it is if your me.

The legend of Korra.

If you haven't heard of this show then you soon will.  The Legend of Korra has been getting rave reviews since it started screening in the United States last year with accolades calling it the "smartest cartoon on TV" and representing "some of the highest quality fantasy".

Intrigued?

Once upon a time.

Imagine if fairy tales and fairy tale characters were real.  And imagine again these characters living amongst us with no memory of who they really are.

If this sounds like your kind of thing, then Once Upon A Time is the show for you.

It also features the wonderful Robert Carlyle which is reason enough to watch it.

Author interview: Richard Fairgray, comic book guy

Welcome to the first ever instalment of our local author interviews pages. We're celebrating the best of what's being written (and/or drawn) in our super city of Auckland. And it's about time. 

In celebration of Comic Book Month, our first profile is North Shore comic book writer and artist Richard Fairgray, creator of Blastosaurus, I Fight Crime (under the pseudonym Mary-Ann Cotton) and many more. See http://blastosaurus.com/ for a full list...

Richard is unusual in an artist, given that he's legally blind. He only has a tiny bit of sight left in one eye. It's meant he's always seen things in two dimensions, just like a comic book image...However, the world of his comics is a slightly skewed vision.

His best-known work, Blastosaurus, stars a mutated triceratops with human intelligence whose parents are killed by three likewise mutated raptors. All four have been transported into the future through a time tunnel - to Freak Out City. Our saurian hero may look fearsome, but he fights for the good guys, becoming a policeman who specialises in stopping the damage his fellow dinosaurs love to cause. In Richard's own words: "He's a 6' tall, mutant triceratops with a gun from the future and a mission of vengeance. But he mostly gets relegated to doing publicity work for the police department. Yes, he fights raptors and killer robots and he time-travelled, but at the heart of it all he's an ordinary man who just happens to be shaped like a dinosaur."

Can't wait to read it now? We have the graphic novels in our library. See Welcome to Freak Out City and Exhibit B.

There's also plenty more to come. Richard has just finished the script for issue 24 of the Blastosaurus comic, and has ideas for at least another 30. Most of his works are collaborations between himself and friends, including his wife Tara, a colourist, and Terry Jones (not the ex-Monty Python one). They get together in a room and bat ideas back and forth until the pages are filled, or until they go mad.

"Yes, he fights Raptors and killer robots and he time travelled but at the heart of it all he's an ordinary man who just happens to be shaped like a dinosaur."

Richard regularly jets around the world to comic book conventions and to work with other collaborators, but he's happy enough staying on the Shore. First, because you meet some crraaaaazy people at conventions (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIJ-ssh46J8). And because it lets Richard have control over his own creations.

A deal with American Original, a noted US comic company, didn't go according to plan, so production is definitely back in New Zealand. Richard doesn't elaborate on the reasons, but now says: "I'm always happy to talk with publishers about any of our myriad other books but Blastosaurus will...well, the phrase 'cold dead hands' springs to mind."

Despite this, Richard's comics aren't "New Zealand comics" - for him, it's all about originality, not trying to push a barrow with a big kiwi on it. To other wannabe graphic novelists, he says: "I think why people like our books is that we aren't drawing from a self-filling well. I talk to too many would-be writers who say they only read comic books and I think it shows in the work. People should be reading everything, watching everything, listening to everything before they decide they only like one medium."

I ask: "Do you think Blastosaurus is any weirder than a lot of stuff on the market?"

Richard doesn't have to think about it.

"I'd prefer to think of him as more interesting." 

Why is Supergirl in a miniskirt? My thoughts on women in comic books.

Now before I get angry comments from comic book enthusiasts. I will openly admit that I'm not ultimate nerd level on comic books. I do however work in a library so everyone just be cool.

I was browsing the library shelves the other day in the adult comic book section and I noticed that almost every depiction of women on the cover of the comic books was borderline ridiculous. Everywhere I looked there were cartoon boobies, cartoon thighs and cartoon butts. I couldn't help but wonder why the hell they're all dressed like that, I mean is it really necessary for Supergirl to be in a miniskirt? 

First of all let's talk about practicality. Say you're hypothetically fighting an evil Nazi spymaster as Wonder Woman often did. Are you really going to wear high heels? Of course not! You've got a job to do, ain't nobody got time for that! Don't even get me started on her playsuit. There is no amount of fashion tape in the world that's going to keep those knockers in. I guess my real question is this: Are women in comic books just there to be sexualised or do they have a real purpose? 

I will say that from my experience a lot of female characters in comic books are tough and intelligent women and we are defiantly moving away from them being just the love interests and side kicks but isn't it time that we were at least a little realistic about what a woman actually is? Can't we have female super heroes who are  intelligent and awesome without being ridiculously over sexualised? I'm all for a bit of leg meat now and again but there comes a point when they're just there for the sake of their bodies and nothing else. 

Now I'm not necessarily pointing fault at libraries for this even though we are the ones stocking these books so yeah, I'll admit it's partially on us but I really don't think there are a huge amount of books available that feature women who aren't nearly naked.

I'd love to see more comic books featuring women who are a tad more practically dressed while being smart and generally kicking ass. Either that or we need a little more of this: