Just Giblets

Something pretty remarkable happened in comics a couple of months ago: two Marvel comics dudes… part of the X-Men franchise, no less, shared a kiss. A romantic kiss. Rictor and Shatterstar, the former debuting in the New Mutants, the latter first showing up in the 90′s Rob Leifield embarrassment, X-Force, shared a special, subtextual relationship briefly, just before the both disappeared into limbo around ten years ago. Rictor returned in the pages of Peter David’s X-Factor, one of my favorite superhero reads each month. There were some passing mentions of his possible relationship with Shatterstar, but nothing very distinct. David surprised me by bringing Shatterstar back into the comic recently, and stunned my by having Rictor and Shatterstar share a kiss at the end of a recent issue. There’s some pretty hefty significance to this, ,and I applaud the way it was casually slipped into a story without making a big deal out of it.

There’s more to the story, but I’ll let interested parties check it out over at the Daily Loaf. I’ll just leave you with the image, and the dubiously-named Strong Guy’s apt summation of the kiss.

Shatterstar and Rictor reunited

Friends and acquaintances of mine know that I buy comics; superhero comics, and a lot of them. I read primarily DC and Marvel comics, and have since around 1969. Recently I was talking to Scot about all the superhero movies, how popular they all are, and how i don’t really like most of them. That’s when it hit me. I’m not really a comics fan. I am intrigued by stories of women with super powers. When written well (which isn’t all that often) women with superpowers are fascinating. They should not behave like super men with breasts. They should have a different way of looking at the world, even when they’re fighting crime. At least I think so. Here is the list of my 20 favorite superheroines form the Marvel universe.

1. 

   Invisible Woman

   Invisible Woman – Marvel’s first superheroine was basically a plot device to be kidnapped and threatened so the men could rescue her for the first 10 or so years of her existence. Originally she could just turn invisible, but fairly soon afterwards, she discovered (though the help of her scientist husband, of course) that she could control an incredibly powerful invisible force powered by her strength of will. The glue that keeps the Fantastic Four together, what makes Susan Storm Richard so fascinating for me is the fact that first and foremost she is a mother. The fact that she has super powers and fights evil is not what defines her. When written well, she exhibits this dichotomy in complex and fascinating ways. It’s too bad she’s written poorly so often.

2. 

   Medusa

   Medusa – Medusa also made her debut in the pages of the Fantastic Four, as the female version of that super team’s villainous counterpart, the Frightful Four. She was everything that Susan Storm was not: vicious, unrestrained, wild, physical. However we soon learned she had amnesia, and was in fact queen of the Inhumans, a strange, hidden people genetically bred by the alien Kree. As Queen it is Medusa’s role to be the voice of her husband and King, Black Bolt, whose destructively powerful voice must be ever kept silence. Medusa’s power is her living hair which she uses in amazing and sometimes deadly ways. Medusa has seen resurgence in popularity lately, and she has been well-written in most of her recent appearances. In addition to her striking physical appearance and power, Medusa is a fascinating character because she is the Queen of a people, who follow a King who cannot speak. She interprets his every gesture and mood, yet recently, when her King was taken and kidnapped, she was forced to lead on her own, overcoming great obstacles and successfully rescuing her husband. She is strong-willed and passionate and a talented diplomat.

3. 

   Moondragon

   Moondragon – Here’s a complex character who suffered a brief period of villainy by writers who couldn’t figure out how an arrogant, powerful woman who thought herself superior to those around her could be a hero. As a child, Heather Douglas was involved in a car accident caused by the mad Titan Thanos that killed both her parents. Young Heather was rescued by Titan’s ruler, Mentor, and transported to Saturn’s moon to be trained to master both her body and her mind. Her perceived superiority became her undoing, allowing a powerful mental parasite, the Dragon of the Moon, to take hold in her mind and corrupt her. Through her struggle with the Dragon of the Moon, we see that Moondragon is in fact a deeply heroic character who struggles every day to be the best she can be, and through her fear of failure, overcompensates by trying to be perfect. Her recent relationship with Quasar, one of the few gay relationships in comics has brought out a more gentle side of Moondragon, and although her apparent death at the hands of Ultron was disappointing, recent developments show she may be on her way back to the pages of comics. Moondragon’s struggle with heroism and abrasive personality make her one of the most fascinating heroes in comics.

4. 

   Mantis

   Mantis – Mantis’ origins are actually tied to Moondragon’s through the manipulations of the alien plant-race called The Cotati. Both Mantis and Moondragon shared similar training in the ways of the body and mind to prepare them for the possibility of becoming the Celestial Madonna, a human who would mate with a Cotati to bear the savior of the universe. Despite maintaining absolute mastery of her body, and a mental prowess that manifested as a mysterious empathic nature, her very human nature made Mantis flawed and fascinating. After her ascension to near-godhood as the Celestial Madonna, she gained an affinity with plant life along with her green-tinged hue. Her recent appearances find her being labeled a mentat, with telepathic and precognitive powers. It remains to be seen whether she maintains her godlike abilities of control over plantlife. Mantis remains mysterious, but her warmth and humor have come to the surface during her time as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

5. 

   Clea

   Clea – Clea comes from the Dark Dimension where Dormammu, a powerful, tyrannical mystic rules with an iron fist. Dormammu and his sister Umar are two of the Faltine, a race of extra-dimensional energy-based beings in semi-human form. Clea is the daughter of Umar and a human disciple of Dormammu named Orini. During one of Dormammu’s attempts to take over Earth, Clea came to the aid of Dr. Strange, Sorceror Supreme, and became his disciple, learning the mystic arts, and also his lover. Later Clea rallied the people of the Dark Dimension into rising up against Umar, and their faith in her caused the “Flames of Regency” to appear around Clea’s head. The Flames of Regency made Clea powerful enough to defeat and banish Umar and her father Orini from the Dark Dimension, and Clea took the throne. Subsequently Clea and Strange exchanged vows and became one according to the laws of the Dark Dimension. Clea hasn’t been seen in comics in recent years, her evolution from powerless alcolyte, frequently kidnapped and threatened in her first appearances gave way to a intelligent, passionate, self-sacrificing, and powerful mystic, ultimately ruling the Dark Dimension for a time.

6. 

   Marrina

   Marrina – Marrina was a member of the Canadian team Alpha Flight, and an honorary member of the Avengers. She is a part of the alien species called the Plodex, a barbaric race who seed other planets with eggs that imprint upon the first life form they encounter. The egg that contained Marrina was submerged in the Atlantic Ocean, which accounts for her amphibious nature, but was found by a fisherman whose wife was the first being she encountered. Raised in a small village in the Maritimes, Marrina grew up to be a sweet, warm young woman. But during an early mission with Canada’s Alpha Flight, she learned that her race was a deadly, monstrous one, and her genetic make-up caused her to occasionally succumb to vicious savagery. After marrying the Namor, the Sub Mariner, Marrina became pregnant, and her Plodex genes reacted to this by transforming her into an enormous sea serpent that caused incredible amounts of destruction. To save lives, Namor was forced to slay his own wife with a mystic sword. However, unknown to Namor and Marrina’s friends, she reverted to her humanoid form and was found by the villainous Master, who kept the comatose Marrina prisoner. Marrina’s amphibious nature allows her to exist underwater as easily as on land. Her Plodex nature gives her lithe form great strength and resilience, as well as devastating claws that secret a paralyzing poison. She can move at incredible speed on land, and especially in the water, even to the point of creating enormous waterspouts which can propel her kilometers inland as a means of transportation. Marrina’s sweet-natured personality and innate goodness, ever at war with her savage heritage make her a fascinating character to explore.

7. 

   Jocasta

   Jocasta – Jocasta is a robotic heroine whose brain patterns were based on the Avenger known as the Wasp. Jocasta was created by the lfe-hating robot Ultron to be his bride. Yet along with the Wasp’s brain patterns came part of her personality, including her innate goodness causing Jocasta to turn against Ultron and siding with the heroic super team, the Avengers. During her time with the Avengers, Jocasta exhibited some of the wit and warmth of the Wasp, but was more introverted and unsure of her place among humans. Jocasta’s body is composed of titanium steel with remarkable superhuman strength, speed, stamina, and reflexes. She has a variety of abilities, including energy projection and manipulation, hyper-intelligence and perception and superhuman cybernetic analytical capabilities. Jocasta has recently returned to comics as a member of the Avengers full-time. I am looking forward to her regular appearances and seeing how they examine her personality with the recent death of the Wasp, and being a teammate with the Wasp’s ex-husband Hank Pym.

8. 

   Firebird

   Firebird – Bonita Juarez was a Roman Catholic Missionary in New Mexico when an encounter with a radioactive meteorite gave her the ability to generate and control flame. She has served as a member of the Southwestern team, The Rangers, and eventually and Avengers West Coast. In one of her most notable appearances, during a brief time where she changed her name to La Espirita, she saved Hank Pym from committing suicide. The two grew very close, and she was able to direct him on a new, affirming path, helping him to overcome several failings from his past. On a subsequent mission with the Avengers, she discovered that she is immortal, and poisons and radiations have no effect on her. She is also immune to demonic possession, can survive in the vacuum of space, and has a limited form of precognition. While these aspects of her power have never been fully explored, it has given her a unique outlook on her life given her faith as a catholic. She even helped Thor, the Asgardian god of thunder, to better understand the importance of the bonds he develops with mortals. What makes Firebird’s character so fascinating to me is her devout faith and how she reconciles that with her super-heroics.

9. 

   Valkyrie

   Valkyrie – Valkyrie is both the name and the designation of the Norse Goddess Brunnhilde, leader of the Valkyries, the Choosers of the Slain who bring fallen heroes to Valhalla. For many years Brunnhilde’s soul was forced to exist within the body of a mortal woman, Barbara Norriss. Much of Valkyrie’s tenure as one of the Defenders was while she was in Barbara’s body. While she still possessed great strength and unparalleled battle skills, those abilities were a pale reflection of what she was capable of once she was finally reunited with her true, Asgardian body. In addition to the exponential increase of strength, Brunnhilde regained her quasi-mystical powers of sensing the advance of death that is the nature of all Valkyries. Valkyrie went through some pretty confusing times before she regained her true form and all of her memories, and it was during this time that I grew to love her conflicted character. Once she regained her true form and the memories that went with it, her personality changed considerably, but she remained a fascinating character, a goddess with the power to face death and live.

10. 

    Karma

    Karma – Karma (Xian Coy Manh) is a mutant who came to America from Viet Nam among the exodus after the war where her father was part of the South Vietnamese army. During their journey, her father was killed by Thai pirates, and she and her mother were both raped before her mother died as well. Xian was forced to mature quickly as she became the sole provider for her two younger siblings, her twin brother having been rescued years earlier by their crime-lord Uncle Nguyen. Upon arriving in the States, Nguyen tried to force Xian to work for him the way her twin brother did, and kidnapped her two younger siblings to try and force her. Using her psionic ability to possess others, she took control of Spider-Man in an attempt to rescue her siblings. Ultimately, Xian was able to free her younger siblings, but in the process was forced to combat her twin brother and essentially psychically absorbing him in to her psyche. From there Xian was placed in Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Children where she became one of the founding members of the New Mutants, the training ground for the next generation of X-Men. Karma is an interesting character as she is defined both by her strict Catholic upbringing and her emerging lesbianism. She is generally soft-spoken and kind but is courageous and dogged in her determination, having frequently to go up against impossible odds to protect her family.

11. 

    The Scarlet Witch

    The Scarlet Witch – Wanda Maximoff is the mutant daughter of X-Men villain Magneto. She and her twin brother Pietro were raised by gypsies in Eastern Europe before falling in with their as-yet-unknown father Magneto, and his band of evil mutants. Wanda and Pietro turned their lives around by becoming members of the Avengers and learning about heroism from Captain America himself. It was with the Avengers that Wanda fell in love with and married the android the Vision, studied under the witch Agatha Harkness to learn true witchcraft to augment her mutant powers to affect probabilities, and mature out from behind her brother’s over-protective shadow to become a fierce, courageous heroine in her own right. Years ago the Scarlet Witch topped by list of favorite superheroines because of her fiercely strong will that was often expressed in impatience and ferocity against those who wished her ill, or were just ignorant, exposing their prejudices against either mutants, or the fact that she was married to an android. I blame writer John Byrne for the beginnings of the systematic destruction of her character, as he altered her powers, made her go insane, then destroyed her husband and two children, laying an unstable groundwork that later writers would occasionally pick up on. Kurt Busiek, a writer I generally like, furthered her descent in my eyes by having her behave in ways I felt were out of character, and current Marvel star-writer Brian Michael Bendis put the final nails in her coffin by turning her into a crazy villain with the power to alter reality (he picked this up from Byrne’s storyline) and had her kill her friends and depower millions of mutants. It is only for her long history that she is still on this list at all, although she has recently returned to the pages of the Avengers and I remain hopeful that she will become a fascinating character again.

12. 

    Jean Grey

    Jean Grey – One of the founding members of the X-Men, Jean Grey, known originally as Marvel Girl, then as Phoenix, was a telepath and telekinetic of unparalleled power. During a mission where she had to pilot a space shuttle back to earth to save her beloved friends, her body was ravaged to near death when she passed through intense solar radiation. She was saved by a cosmic entity known as the Phoenix, who took Jean’s form and life while allowing her original body to recuperate. During that time, the Phoenix, whose powers manifested as the ultimate expression of telepathy and telekinesis, to the point of godhood, went insane and destroyed a world. During the resulting struggle with the Shiar and the X-Men, it was Jean’s capacity of heroism and self-sacrifice that allowed the Phoenix to apparently allow itself to be destroyed, saving the world. Jean later returned (in a story that was a cheap as it was poorly written) and became a mainstay of the X-Men again. Since then her power levels have fluctuated, with the Phoenix force returning time and time again as it’s legendary namesake would suggest. Jean’s fiery ferocity was tempered by a warmth and level-headedness, making her an intriguing character to read.

13. 

    Sif

    Sif – The Lady Sif; accomplished warrior, Asgardian goddess, but most of all, Thor’s girlfriend. I first started to like Sif during a time where she wore a gauzy, feminine dress with a mini-skirt that seemed oh-so incongruous for a warrior. Sure she was capable with a sword, but she usually just fretted about Thor, pined that he loved Earth so much that he was never in Asgard (read: loved humanity more than her) or was threatened by the villain (usually Loki) so Thor would become enraged. I think I first grew to admire Sif during Thor #189-190, when Thor succumbed to the touch of Hela, goddess of death. Sif argued with the ice-hearted goddess, explaining to Hela about love, and finally offering herself in Thor’s place. Sif’s pleas touched Hela’s heart and she spared Thor. It was one of Thor’s most important battles, and for a change, Sif won it for him. Since then Sif has been portrayed as more of a warrior, and I especially enjoy the stories that show Sif among humans.

14. 

    Snowbird

    Snowbird – Snowbird is the daughter of the Inuit goddess Nelvanna and a mortal man. She was conceived to battle the “Great Beasts” of Canada. To do this, she utilizes a series of supernatural abilities, most notably the ability to take the form of any animal, real or mythical, that his native to Canada. Some of her other abilities include flight, mystical senses, super strength, and a limited precognitive ability. During her earlier appearances she was tied to Canada geographically, and moving beyond its borders caused her to wither. This limitation has vanished since her first death and resurrection, where it was revealed she was able to celluarly regenerate. It was definitely Snowbird’s otherworldly appearance that first drew me to her. Her pale blonde here and empty black eyes, coupled with her jagged white and blue cloak were really cool. I also enjoyed the inherent contradiction of her god-like wisdom and her youthful inexperience. Her recent appearances as part of the “God-Squad” where she teams up with Hercules and other gods to battle the alien Skrull god have been nice to see.

15. 

    Gamora

    Gamora – The last of her species, Gamora was saved as a child by the Mad-Titan Thanos.  He raised her and trained her to be a weapon mand assassinate The Magus, an evil, alternate version of Warlock.  Thanos trained her in a deadly form of martial arts, and she soon picked up the nickname, “The deadliest woman in the galaxy.”  As a tean she was beaten and raped by a gang of interstellar thugs.  Thanos found her, killed her attackers, and saved her life by cybernetically augmenting her to superhuman levels.  While she ultimately failed to assassinate the Magus, she did help Warlock to defeat him before the two turnied on her former savior Thanos.  For a time she became romantically linked to Warlock and helped him protect the Inifinity Gems, becoming herself the caretaker of the Time Gem.  After parting ways with Warlock, Gamora decided to reestablish her reputation as the deadliest woman in the galaxy.  She led a band of women warriors called the Graces and became involved with the earth-hero Nova, saving the galaxy from the Annhilation Wave.  Now Gamora is a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, reluctantly reunited with her past lover Warlock, and her former ally Drax the Destoyer.

16. 

    Diamondback

    Diamondback – Rachel Leighton started her career as a supervillain associated with the Serpent Society.  This brought her into conflict with Captain America several times.  She was instantly smitten with the nobel hero and despite the fact that they fought on opposite sides of the law, Diamondback eventually left the Serpent Society and tried her hand at superheroics spending time with Captain America both as an ally in crimefighting and as a girlfriend.  The Serpent Society, assuming Rachel had betrayed their secrets to Captain America, kidnapped her and put her on trial.  She was rescued by Captain America and cut her ties with the Society.  She did retain her friendship with her ex-teammates Black Mamba and the Asp, with whom she formed BAD Girls, Inc. The trio shared a few adventures before disbanding.  Rachel’s relationship with Captain America eventually cooled, and Rachel found herself working on both sides of the law for a time.  Recently she became a member of one of  the government’s Avengers: Initiative teams.  As Diamondback, Rachel is an exceptionally skilled fighter, and is preternaturally skilled at pitching small objects.  She uses a variety of diamond shaped throwing weapons that are filled with various substances such as nitric acid, plastic explosives, or tear gas.

17. 

    Kitty Pryde

    Kitty Pryde – Katherine Pryde was a teenaged mutant discovered by Professor Xavier and the X-Men and invited to attend their School for Gifted Youngsters.  She was also approached by Emma Frost, the White Queen, to attend the Massachusetts Academy another school for mutants run by a one of the high court of the Hellfire Club.  Kitty instantly bonded with Storm, who was traveling with Professor Xavier, and went to Westchester, NY to learn with the X-Men.  At first she was kept from combat situations as she finished her schooling and learned how to use her powers effectively, but it wasn’t long before she was an active member of the team, using various codenames including Sprite, Ariel and Shadowcat.  Kitty acquitted herself well with the X-Men, eventually embarking on a relationship with Colossus.  She was briefly reassigned to the New Mutants, the X-Men’s junior team, much to her irate chagrin, but quickly proved to Professor Xavier that she deserved her place on the main team.  She shared a dark adventure with Wolverine in Japan where she spent time possessed by a demon, the Ninja Ogun.  This experience left her with ninja skills in addition to her mutant ability to phase through solid objects.  When Kitty phases through electronic devices she disrupts them.  Kitty also possesses a genius level of intelligence.  Kitty spent a lengthy period with the British team of mutants, Excalibur, before returning to the X-Men for Joss Whedon’s run on the series.  Kitty was last seen fused to a deadly “bullet” traveling through space.  She managed to save the earth by phasing the bullet through the planet, but has not been found since and is presumed lost.

18. 

    Martyr

    Quasar/Martyr (Phyla-Vell) – Phyla-Vell is the second artificially created offspring of the Kree hero Captain Marvel, who died of cancer before she was born.  Phyla came into existence after her brother Genis-Vell re-created the universe.  After helping to restore Genis’ sanity with the help of the mother Elysius, Phyla entered a relationship with Moondragon and the two traveled the stars.  Phylla was next seen during the Annhilation War when Thanos uses the pair to lure Drax the Destoyer (Moondragon’s father) into the conflict.  During the final conflict, Annihilus destroyed Wendell Vaughn’s (the original Quasar) mortal form and usurped the quantum bands from him.  Phyla manages to wrest the bands away from Annihilus and helps Nova to ultimately destroy him.  Phyla decides to honor Wendell’s memory by continuing on as the new Quasar.  Phyla and Moondragon are reunited and spend their time together helping the galaxy recover from the War.  During this time they bcome involved with the galactic struggle against the Phalanx.  During this struggle Phulla discovered her self-worth and heroism while Moondragon succumbed again to the Dragon of the Moon, physically beoming a dragon before falling before the deadly wrath of Ultron.  Feeling lost after Moondragon’s death and the subsequent defeat of both the Phalanx and Ultron, Quasar joins up with the Guardians of the Galaxy.  Phyla, along with Drax the Destoyer, entered the land of the dead to find Moondragon, and while there she strikes a deal with the Dragon of the Moon in exchange for Moondragon’s life.  Phyla emerged from this conflict with new abilities, a new look and a new codename, Martyr.  Phyla is superhumanly strong, and acts as an energy sponge, absorbing energy and firing it in the form of energy blasts.  During her time as Quasar she was in possession of the Quantum Bands.  Her new role as Martyr has found her with new unknown powers and acting as the avatar for Oblivion.

19. 

    Photon

    Photon - Monica Rambeau is a former police officer who accidentally gained the superhuman ability to transform herself into energy and back at will.  She joined the Avengers as a trainee with the name Captain Marvel, so she could learn how to use her powers.  She became a protege of Captain America’s, rising quickly through the ranks of the Avengers until she bacame their leader.  After seriously injuring herself in a battle with Leviathan (the transformed Marrina) she took a leave of absence and found herself in comics limbo because most writers didn’t like to write her due to her vast powers.  When she did emerge again, it was as leader of a new team called Nextwave.  Her return also featured a change in attitude and personality from an earnest do-gooder to a bad-ass, angry black woman.  What has remained constant is her desire to do good and her powerful abilities.  Moinca is able to transform herself into any form of energy within the electromagnetic spectrum.

20. 

    Polaris

    Polaris – Lorna Dane appeared in the early issues of the X-Men as Iceman’s girlfriend, but it was sooned revealed that she herself was a mutant as well; a mutant with the power to control magnetism.  The X-Men’s arch villain Magneto claims to be Lorna’s father and kidnaps her, but she is rescued by the X-Men and joins with them, eventually turning her romantic attentions to Havok much to Iceman’s disappointment.  After a battle with Krakoa the Living Island that sees the formation of the New X-Men, Lorna and Havok retire from the team to pursue more scientific endeavors.  However the two are continually drawn back to the X-men to face a variety of challenges.  When the government agent Val Cooper forms X-Factor, Havok and Polaris are founding members.  During this time, Lorna becomes a mainstay of the team and the government’s secret weapon against a possible attack from Magneto.  During this time Havok and Polaris ended their romantic relationship and Lorna leaves the team to travel with Magneto to Genosha in order to keep an eye on him.  When the Sentinels destroyed Genosha, the trauma left Lorna emotinally scarred and metnally unstable.  Lorna is currently reunited with Havok romantically and the two are in space fighting alongside the Starjammers.

Last night, the golden pony came to Springfield, MA and pooped out a lovely evening for Michael and  I  me. (Thanks, Max.) We’re here for the Massachusetts Library Association annual conference and Michael, being Michael, lined up a truly stupendous array of guests to speak. So, last night we spent the late night hours closing down the hotel bar with:

• Michael Cunningham – dashing, elegant, hilarious author of The Hours and A Home at the End of the World, of which I personally hand sold hundreds of copies when I worked at Books & Company in the early nineties
• Thrity Umrigar – a surprisingly frisky Indian novelist and memoirist who wrote The Space Between Us and more recently The Weight of Heaven
• Lynda Barry – the iconic cartoonist and author who, among her many achievements, inspired the best musical theatre song of the 21st century (so far)
• Barbara Hoffert – Library Journal book review editor, super-smarty, and uncanny Tracy Wright lookalike
• Our awesome publishing friends Talia Scherer and Virginia Stanley

I am so lucky that my husband is so fearless and is such a big dreamer. He gave me the wonderful gift of the opportunity to chat with Lynda and Thrity about menopause and to smoke with Talia and Michael Cunningham in the rain. Does that rock or what?

As y’all know, I am the Web Services Manager for the Boston Public Library. I make a decent salary, which is good cause the city is a pretty expensive place to live. And we have to live in the city if we work for the city. Residency requirement.

Y’all also probably know that the whole world is facing a budget crisis. And what gets hit first in governmental belt-tightening? Not the police or fire departments, of course. “Non-essential” services like those the library provides.

So, we’ve been doing a lot of financial naval-gazing of late at work and I was reminded of this Unshelved comic strip by Bill Barnes and “Gene Ambaum” (not his real name).

Well, I decided to add up just how much my time is worth. I took the Boston city budget for FY 2008 and figured out what percentage went to the library. (That’s 1.6%.) Then I took the state budget, and since I’m generous, figured out how much went to all libraries in the state. (0.1%. I felt okay about using the figure for all librarys because a. It’s a really small amount and b. I wasn’t going to figure out how much sales tax I paid, so I figure it evens out.)

Next, I figured out how much I made from BPL after taxes. I divided that up by the number of hours I’m meant to work in a year to arrive at an hourly monetary value for my expertise. Next, I figured out how much I paid in city property and excise taxes. I also figured out how much I paid in state taxes from both my sources of income in FY 2008. ( I also teach a course at Simmons College.)

Well, what do you know? According to my figures, if we ran things by the amount of money a person puts into “the pot”, I am entitled to 70 minutes of my time a year. I would be entitled to a much smaller portion of the president’s time a year and a bit more of an entry-level librarians’ time. But I think it all evens out to about 70 minutes of staff time overall.

Now, of course, I am not recommending that we cut service off after any period of time per person. That’s crazy talk. But I do hear a lot of unusual, personal suggestions for changes in service from the same few individuals. Ironically, some of those individuals don’t even live in the city. Guess how much time I’d get if I lived in, say, Cambridge? About nine minutes.

What I guess I’m saying is that I hope people are ready to face the fact that their concerns are part of a larger collective. We pay taxes in order to fuel collective goals, not to make sure our tiny piece of ground is cared for according to our specific terms.

Anyway, food for thought.

I got a new haircut. Yeah, it’s a “fo-mo” or “faux-hawk” or whatever you want to call it. But despite its passé and perhaps cheesy status, it looks good on me.

My officemate/geek-crush Michael Klein follows an online comic strip called Laugh-Out-Loud Cats by Adam Koford. It’s pretty brilliant, looking like Pogo or The Katzenjammer Kids, but with hobo kitties speaking dialogue like a lolcat.

A day after he saw my new haircut, Michael K. send Michael C. and me the latest Koford comic with a note that read, “Look! It’s you guys!” Indeed, it is.

The Graveyard Book is Neil Gaiman’s latest work for children coming out in September. Now I don’t remember what it was like to be 10 or 11, but his man in his forties loved this novel. No one writes books with appeal to all ages as well as Neil Gaiman. Borrowing a concept from Kipling’s The Jungle Book, which tells the story of an orphan raised in the jungle, The Graveyard Book features a toddler who wanders out of the house and into the graveyard after his family is brutally murdered, and is raised by the spirits and others beings who live there.

Young Bod (short for Nobody) is adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Owens, a kindly couple who died childless, and watched over by Silas, a mysterious and powerful being who is neither alive nor dead. Bod learns the secrets of the graveyard, and things no living beings know. As he grows up, he begins to encounter the living from time to time, and a curiosity is sparked. All the while, Jack, the man who murdered his family, is hoping to correct his failure by finding and finishing of Bod as well.

Gaiman populates The Graveyard Book with all the sorts of mystical and fantastic creatures he is known for. Silas’ wonderful, Eastern European substitute guardian Miss Luprescu is surely my favorite, but from ghouls to witches and other denizens of the dead, there is something to astound and capture everyone’s imagination. Watch for this one when it’s published in September.

Of course, friends of mine will know I’ve got a long-standing admiration for Mr. Gaiman, and about a month ago, while attending BookExpo America in Los Angeles, I was able to meet and hang out with Mr. Gaiman not once, but twice!  The second time I even was so bold as to ask to have my picture taken with him.  It was a geeky thing to do, and I’m smiling way too hard in the photo, but at least I hvae it.  I’ve been reading Neil’s work since the 80′s when he broke into comics at DC with the Black Orchid miniseries.  Shortly after that Neil began what has become arguably his most popular work, The Sandman.  His work as a novelist began with the riotously fun Good Omens, co-written by Terry Pratchett.  He has since hit the NYT bestsellers’ list on his own with the titles American Gods and The Anansi Boys.   He has done screenplay work for such films as PRINCESS MONONOKE, MIRRORMASK, and BEOWULF.  His young adult novel Coraline has been adapted for the screen and is due out later this year.

As you may or may not know, I am in Los Angeles at the BookExpo America conference.  It’s my favorite professional conference that I attend, as it’s all about the publishing industry and books.  You get to meet and listen to tons of authors (if you so choose) and pick up tons of free books (if you so choose.)  I was really excited because I was finally (after 20 + years of admiration) going to see Neil Gaiman speak as part of a Children’s author breakfast along with Eoin Colfer, Sherman Alexie and Judy Blume.  The panel was terrific and Neil was a wonderful speaker.

So several hours later, I was in the HarperCollins booth with two colleagues for a meeting with our Library Marketing reps, the wonderful Virginia Stanley and Bobby Brinson.  We were chatting about various things (like the delicious cupcakes that HarperCollins were passing out) and hadn’t started the meeting yet, when I glanced over my shoulder and who should I see but… you guessed it, Neil Gaiman.  Well, I think I gasped when I turned back to the others and blurted out, “Oh my God, Neil Gaiman is here.”  Well, without even blinking, Virginia grabbed my arm and said, “Let me introduce you to him.”  And sure enough, a few minutes later, we were chatting.  It’s weird, I’m not usually “star-struck” when meeting authors, actors, filmmakers, etc.  I’ve gotten quite used to it through Chlotrudis and all that, but this was very different.  My heart was racing a little and I think I babbled (although Viriginia said I cam across very intelligent and composed if a little excited).  We chatted about him coming to Boston, about Black Orchid, his first work in comics, and then he offered to sign my book on the spot.  It was a lovely meeting; many, many thanks to Virginia.  He was just darling.

Karina Longworth at SPOUT reviews IRON MAN.  IRONMAN makes us hard is the title of this fantastic review.  Go take a look.

Hi. It’s Michael. Yeah, it’s been awhile. I’m the kind of person who sometimes forgets to take a moment and enjoy life because I’m too busy living it. There are pros and cons to that, but here, on a lovely spring day in Wellfleet (home of the famous Wellfleet oyster) I’ve decided to reflect upon the past month or so and say hello. It has been a particularly hectic few weeks and there’s more to come in the rest of April and May.

The craze began with the lead up to the 14th Annual Chlotrudis Awards. If you’re reading this, I trust you know about the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film. For those of you who don’t, you just need to know that it’s a film society that I started up about 14 years ago to teach audiences to view films actively. This past March 30 we celebrated out 14th annual awards ceremony at the Brattle Theatre with special guest Alberta Watson in attendance. We presented Alberta with an award for her career-so-far, and she was a delightful guest. Lots of fun to hang out with, very down-to-earth, passionate about the Chlotrudis-cause, and she gave a moving and heartfelt speech to boot. We gave out a host of awards, including Best Movie to ONCE, Best Short Film to Maria Gigante for GIRLS ROOM, and our own very special Buried Treasure Award (for a film that made less than $250,000 at the domestic box office and we feel deserves another look) to 12:08 EAST OF BUCHAREST. Also receiving a new awards called The Cat’s Meow, was board member extraordinnaire, Bruce Kingsley, without whom Chlotrudis might have dissolved during difficult times last year. (Maria, Alberta, and Bruce are pictured left). And on top of all that, we performed not one, but two fabulous musical numbers. Hopefully they will be online soon, as will pictures from the awards.

Preparing for the awards is a massive undertaking, and one that pretty much consumes my life for weeks prior to the event. Fortunately, in recent years, friends and fellow Board members have stepped up and removed much of the burden from me. Beth, Allison, Scot… there’s no way this thing would happen without you.

Shifting into work mode, anyone who has read the paper or listened to WBUR in the past six months or so know that there are big, disruptive things afoot at the Boston Public Library. This is not my forum to talk about work, but let me just say about the BPL in general, it takes up a lot of my time, both actual and mental. On the broader subject of librarianship and careers, let me mention last week’s trip to San Francisco to attend the annual spring meeting of the International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC). This was my first trip to ICOLC, which has been meeting for about 15 years, and for my job as Regional Administrator of the Boston Regional Library System, ICOLC is actually pretty relevant. Like any conference, there are moments where you wonder why you’re there, but overall, I learned some stuff, networked with a lot of great people, and really gained a valuable perspective about possibilities in my job. So while there was an emphasis on negotiating with vendors for consortial database licensing, I did get to generate some lively discussion on my favorite library topic du jour, using open source solutions in libraries. I’m still amazed at the resistance to even consider this among librarians, but it’s changing.

The trip to San Francisco wasn’t all work however, as I got to meet an online pal for the first time. Chriso is one nifty fella. He’s the drummer for a very hip band; he’s a total superhero comic book geek; he’s warm, friendly and a super host; and he’s adorable as all get out. We got together a couple of times and he showed me some different SF neighborhoods, including the Armory building where he works, the Mission District, the Castro, Moby Dick, and a couple of cool comic book stores where we spent a lot of money. We also shared some way fun conversation about the high points of the Legion of Superheroes (where I discovered that he’s my long lost comic-twin) and muxtape. Hey, you nice boys out in SF… he’s single. (I used the picture Chris took of of us because it came out better than the ones I took.)

Of course, when you’re out for nearly a week, returning to work can be hellish; and it was, but only for one day before I conveniently took off for a long weekend with my peeps (that’s hubby Scottie, and our best friends Gianna and Sarah) to Wellfleet on Cape Cod. Those of you who know me well know that the Cape (and particularly Provincetown) has been taking on a great significance in my life and may have a great impact on my future plans. Any chance to go to the Cape is a welcome one, so when a friend of Gianna’s offered us her vacation condo, we jumped at the chance. The four of us travel incredibly well together, and we’ve got a beautiful weekend to do it. True, we did spend a frightful 40 minutes or so meandering along backroads in South Shore suburbs after getting a little lost trying to find Route 93, but we took care of that and made our way to Wellfleet on Friday night. Saturday was a beautiful day, where we remarked on that oh-so Cape quality of light. It’s unique and just stunning. We spent the afternoon in P-Town, grabbing lunch, strolling and doing some shopping (both couples making some fun impulse puchases at M.G. Leather. Then we sent some time on Herring Cove Beach (we were not nude, as it was not nude sunbathing weather!) before returning home for tacos and a mini-David Lynch film festival. (We watched the European pilot for ‘Twin Peaks,’ which was pretty lame in our opinion, and Mulholland Drive.) And now it’s Sunday. What will we do today? It’s another beautiful day. We’ve got lots of movies to watch (like GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA and FOUL PLAY!) and an extra day off tomorrow. Of course, Gianna and Sarah aren’t awake yet, so we’ll just have to wait and see.

Then it’s back home and the next couple of big events. Next week is the Independent Film Festival of Boston, which happens to coincide with both my mother’s birthday and my friend Mameve’s book release, just to make things even more hectic. And the week after that is the Massachusetts Library Association’s annual conference, which Gianna and I run. Maybe I’ll be able to take another moment to relax when that’s over.

With the success of such movies as SPIDER-MAN, BATMAN, and THE X-MEN, and television shows such as “Heroes” and “So You Want To Be a Superhero,” it’s no surprise that an influx of novels about superheroes has appeared, much to this comic book geek’s delight. The first of the genre that I have embraced is Austin Grossman’s Soon I Will Be Invincible. Grossman is clearly familiar with the superhero world in comics, and he uses that world as the setting for his novel. There are two points-of-view in Invincible, bouncing back and forth between the villainous Dr. Impossible, and the newest member of the crime-stopping Champions, Fatale.

Grossman does a great job getting into Dr. Impossible’s head. After coming so close to conquering the world so many times, sent to prison, escaping, and repeating the cycle again and again, it’s interesting to see what motivates this super-genius to keep going. It seems that super-villainy is just hard-wired into his head. He’s got one more idea up his sleeve, and when the opportunity presents itself, he does the expected: busts our of prison, rebuilds his weapons and tries to take over the world.

Having disbanded a few years ago, the Champions come together again due to the mysterious disappearance of the best and brightest of their members, CoreFire. He was the most powerful of them all, unbeatable and charismatic, so when he seems to be missing for real, the Champions, Blackwolf – the Ultimate Crimefighter; Damsel – First Lady of Power; Elphin – Warrior Princess; Feral – Savage Street Fighter; Mister Mystic – Man of Mystery; and Rainbow Triumph – Teen Idol with an Attitude, feel duty bound to reunite and solve the mystery. To their ranks, they add a couple of newcomers; Lily, a mysterious, superpowered outcast from the future, and Fatale – the Next Generation of Warfare. It’s understandable that Grossman choses Fatale to be the readers’ entry into the superhero world. She’s new to the game, having received her powers after a freak accident destroyed most of her body and being transformed by new technology into a cyborg agent. Fatale is thrust into the glamorous world of the superhero elite all the while feeling she must constantly prove herself just to stand among them.

While the book is an entertaining read, and I do recommend it, I think the problem with using Fatale as one of our narrators is that when the finale arrives, and she is not a part of it, the reader is left on the outside looking in, when it would have been nice to have our point of view in the midst of the action. It’s like being sidelined for the big finish, and it’s a little distracting. Still, Grossman’s world is certainly representative of our own if it were populated by men and women with extraordinary powers.