I’ve been thinking about where I’m going with this blog. When I first started in March, I was very excited to post about two things I love but don’t get to talk about much: used bookstores and comics collections in libraries. But visiting bookstores and libraries right now is difficult, and it’s not likely to…
Author: spiderhouses
4 Out-of-Print Manga from the 2000s that I Desperately Want Revived Before I Turn 40
The Saiyuki hardcovers give me hope.
Mainstream Publishers are Making Comics Discussion Guides, and So Can You
For indie and small press comics publishers, the only obstacle to making a discussion guide is time.
Notes on (Translation) Notes: 4-Koma, Pop Team Epic, and the Death of Context
I still don’t know who John Frieda is.
Cleaning Up After Grad School
I graduated with my Master’s in Publishing last Saturday. This meant one major life change for me: My excuse of “I need that for my thesis” would no longer fly with my boyfriend, and I finally had to start throwing out the marketing artifacts —six promotional tote bags worth of the stuff— that was scattered across our coffee table, living room floor, bookshelves, and kitchen table.
8 Comics About How We Meet Online
I’ve been thinking a lot about the digital spaces we build for ourselves. Here are eight comics that explore how we got here and where we’re heading.
Digging Away in the Listopia Mines, or, How I Discovered My New Favorite Genre on Goodreads
The cover of Elisabeth Thomas’s Catherine House is what first caught my eye at ALA Midwinter. What got me to throw it into my tote was the very brief synopsis, less than fifty words, that managed to pack in three key phrases. “Secluded, elite university,” “rebellious undergraduate,” “truth beneath her…school’s prestige” — as it turns…
Notes on (Translation) Notes: Comedy, Josei Manga, and Genre
While it is possible to rewrite punny punchlines into something vaguely comical to English-language readers, I’m a sucker for linguistic context.
Wrestling Comic Reads for All of Us Coping with Wrestlemania 36
Did you only start watching wrestling in your mid-twenties, like me? Are you extremely bummed that you won’t be seeing Orange Cassidy vs. Minoru Suzuki in April, like me? I put together lists of pro wrestling comics over at Bookshop.org (for those looking to buy now) and Goodreads (for those adding to their #tbr shelves…
Zine Cleaning, Part 1
The first time around, my approach to this project was, “I’m running out of space, I need to get rid of stuff.” I’ve since realized that I’d been defining “space” as “storage” with no consideration of what was being stored. Magazine boxes are simply not the fairest way to display items like zines and floppies.
SpiderHouses 