As I write this, it’s the first day of fall and, apparently (according to Wikipedia), I am banging on my keyboard at the exact time of day that fall is beginning. I’m right in the moment. And that’s good.

There are several reasons fall is my favorite time of year. One is that it brings an end to my summer-long nightmare of sweating profusely wherever I am and feeling out of place. Seriously, when people talk about how they love summer and all the sunshine, I wonder what planet they’re from. I hate it. If I could do this job from incredibly cold climes, like Antarctica, I’d honestly consider it. But I digress.

One other reason fall brings out the better side in me is that it means the kids are back in school. (I sound like such an old curmudgeon when I say that.) But honestly, it means a lot of places where I want to be are suddenly a lot less crowded. Let’s take my taste in movies, which seems to coincide a lot with what kids like. And now that school’s started, I blissfully can go see a matinee with very few crowds sharing the theater with me. (There are quite a few summer blockbusters still playing, and I’m ready to go see them now).

Some might call this refusing to grow up. Oh, well. I’m not ashamed to say that my DVR lineup would be hard to differentiate from a teenager’s at times (although I like to think my proclivity for political programs raises my stature a little bit).

All this talk about school starting is leading somewhere. Eric Federspiel (who runs the great blog Out from the Comic Shop—Comics in the Classroom) will be speaking at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention in Philadelphia this November, and he’s looking for ways to ensure his session is completely geared toward educators’ needs in terms of teaching comics. If you have thoughts, suggestions, topics, or ideas you’d like me to pass on to him, please let me know. And if you’re planning on attending NCTE, be sure to check out Eric’s session "Out of the Comic Shop: Using Graphic Novels in the Middle and Secondary Classroom" at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, November 20th.

While my bookshelves, movies and television habits peg me as “a kid,” I confess that until a couple of weeks ago I did not understand Twitter. I'd never used it and barely knew it at all. That’s all changed. You can now catch GNR tweeting away (and WHO came up with THAT expression?). Thanks to Cristina in the office for walking Carol and me through the ins and outs of this digital walkie talkie system (what do all those @ symbols mean again, Cristina?). I swear I’ll figure this out sooner or later. But while I’m figuring it out, we’re still posting some good stuff and keeping our readers informed about important new updates. Follow us as GNReporter.

Before I close, I wanted to mention a few comics I’m reading and loving right now. When I get time, I’ll do full reviews on the website, but because I’ve been enjoying so much worthwhile work lately, I want to get the word out as soon as possible. The first is Irredeemable, Vol. 1, by the redoubtable Mark Waid, about a superhero (think Superman-like) who turns evil (very, very evil) and starts killing civilians and superheroes alike. Like everything Waid writes, it’s incredibly good. (I’m working on interviewing Mr. Waid for the site soon so he can talk more about this series.) Next is Union Station, a reprint of Ande Parks and Eduardo Barreto’s true-crime noir about a mob massacre in 1933 that sets J. Edgar Hoover on the trail of some dangerous players. And Marjorie Liu and Kalman Andrasofszky’s softcover collection Nyx: No Way Home is now out from Marvel. I love it, and if you’re not really into traditional superhero books, I think you might love it too.

Speaking of books I love, be sure to check out my interview with Dwight Jon Zimmerman, on the site now, and read the review of The Vietnam War: A Graphic History. I see it as a great teaching book for learning about the true roots of the war and how it unfolded. I’ve been recommending it a lot lately, and I’m happy to bring some more attention to this book as an important work.

Hope you find some great new reading in our recommendations as well!

Happy reading,

John Hogan (John@bookreporter.com)

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Wasteland by Antony Johnston and Chris Mitten
A mesmerizingly original and breathtaking variation on the postapocalyptic theme, Wasteland is brutal, riveting, grueling, energetic fun. It's a comic that pushes beyond its original scope and delivers a wonderfully new experience. Reviewed by John Hogan

Beast by Marian Churchland
A young woman is hired to sculpt a statue for a mysterious shadow figure claiming to be more than half a millennium old. As she spends her weeks locked away and working, she finds herself drawn more and more to the figure she's been hired to sculpt, as frightening as he may be. Reviewed by John Hogan

Cancer Vixen by Marisa Acocella Marchetto
Marisa Acocella Marchetto recalls her successful battle against breast cancer in graphic novel form. As a work of nonfiction, it shows the many things she went through and her eventual triumph over the disease. Reviewed by Danica Davidson

The Tarot Café, Vol. 4-7 by Sang-Sun Park
The second half of the Tarot Café series shows more of Park's brilliant artwork and tells a spellbinding story. It's all in the cards. Reviewed by Danica Davidson

Millennium Prime Minister, Vol. 1 by Eiki Eiki
Minori's life is thrown into chaos when she beats a guy at a video game. After her win, he suddenly declares that he's going to marry her! That's when Minori meets Kanata, the newly elected 25-year-old prime minister of Japan. Reviewed by Snow Wildsmith

Star Wars Adventures, Vol. 1: Han Solo and the Hollow Moon of Khorya by Jeremy Barlow, Rick Lacy, and Matthew Loux
Han Solo and Chewbacca find themselves in deep water when a scam goes bad. Now, while Chewie fights for his life in a deadly battle arena, Han must pair up with an old "friend" to try to steal...from the Empire! Reviewed by Snow Wildsmith

Gunnerkrigg Court, Vol. 1: Orientation by Tom Siddell
Fantastic magic and equally fantastic science clash headlong in Thomas Siddell's webcomic-turned-graphic novel Gunnerkigg Court: Orientation, a slowly building tale of a young girl's first year at a mysterious academy. Reviewed by Collin David

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