{"id":48420,"date":"2013-11-18T10:30:18","date_gmt":"2013-11-18T15:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=48420"},"modified":"2013-11-16T19:03:17","modified_gmt":"2013-11-17T00:03:17","slug":"librarians-libraries-in-comic-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=48420","title":{"rendered":"Librarians & Libraries in Comic Books"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Mychal R. Ludwig, Head Editor, INALJ New Mexico<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Librarians & Libraries in Comic Books\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"MychalLudwig\"<\/a>LIS workers of all categories are quite commonly utilized in fictional settings, as main and supporting characters, as well as for incidental run-ins with those primary persons.<\/p>\n

How exactly are those info-professionals portrayed, in both personality and in comportment? Does it depend on the medium, whether in film or novel, or sequential art? Are secondary characters more likely to be shown as negative librarian stereotypes than primary protagonists?<\/p>\n

Selecting my current obsession of comic books as a vehicle for exploring this topic, I\u2019ve gone though my own back-issue and trade collection and included an encouragingly diverse set of librarians and other info-workers.<\/p>\n

Buffy the Vampire Slayer<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Buffy<\/a>

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Retreat. VOL. 6. Page 27. Panel 6. March 2010.<\/p><\/div>\n

Giles is the librarian\/mentor of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in both the television and comic book series. Although portrayed somewhat stereotypically, British and dressed librarian-casual, he is a prime example of \u201cmore than meets the eye\u201d, which is a rather positive personality trait in my opinion.<\/p>\n

Ms. Marvel<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Ms.<\/a>

Ms. Marvel. Binary. Page 3. Panels 3 & 4. March 2007.<\/p><\/div>\n

Here in a one-shot issue of Marvel Comics Ms. Marvel, this public librarian, a completely incidental character, is shown in perhaps the most stereotypical, and some would say, negative way possible. Shelving, older, a Caucasian woman, with a tight bun, glasses, and a skirt; if only she told the boys to \u201cshhh\u201d then it\u2019d be complete.\u00a0 I think we\u2019d all agree this is the most enduring image of the librarian, unfortunately or not.<\/p>\n

My Little Pony<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>

My Little Pony: Micro-Series. Featuring Twilight Sparkle. Issue #1. Page 5, Panels 1 & 2. February 2013.<\/p><\/div>\n

Here\u2019s a two-for-one that\u2019ll please all Bronies. The archivist of the magical kingdom of Equestria, and Ponyville graduate student and librarian Twilight Sparkle. While initially show in the traditional older-women-with-glasses-and-attitude mode, the archivist ends up changing into a happier, more satisfied pony. Perhaps this is a criticism of the old librarian trope? I\u2019m not sure.<\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>

My Little Pony: Micro-Series. Featuring Twilight Sparkle. Issue #1. Page 8, Panels 3-4. February 2013.<\/p><\/div>\n

Twilight Sparkle, here showing the still grumbling archivist that she understand how to read a title and shelve a book, represents a youthful, intelligent, loyal, and friendly pony, presenting an incredibly positive perception of a librarian, professional or not (she sort of just inherits a library).<\/p>\n

Sex Criminals<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Sex<\/a>

Sex Criminals. Issue #1. Page 25, Panels 1-4. September 2013.<\/p><\/div>\n

In the quite adult comic Sex Criminals, our main character works at a public library, which is being closed by a city in obvious financial trouble. She takes on a personal mission to buy or obtain as many of the library\u2019s books as possible, storing them in her house in a perhaps misguided attempt to save the library. Here we see here first fall in love with libraries as a young women.<\/p>\n

\"Sex<\/a>

Sex Criminals. Issue #1. Page 28, Panel 4. September 2013.<\/p><\/div>\n

Again in Sex Criminals, our main protagonist meets our other protagonist. I\u2019ve included this because I love hearing people say \u201cliberry\u201d or \u201clibarry\u201d. I\u2019d have to say, this librarian is quite a progressive modern person, not at all the typical old crone that we often see.<\/p>\n

Six-Gun Gorilla<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Six<\/a>

Six-Gun Gorilla. Issue #1. Page 4, Panel 4. June 2013.<\/p><\/div>\n

In the sci-fi story of Six-Gun Gorilla, our protagonist is a public librarian obsessed with fiction in a world that devours violent reality-TV. While he seems anachronistic and a bit of a traditionalist, he serves as an interesting critique of his societies obsession with realism and the here-and-now. And what\u2019s better than a futuristic librarian fighting with a cowboy gorilla with six-shooters?<\/p>\n

The Walking Dead<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The Walking Dead. Vol. 4: The Heart\u2019s Desire. Page 39, Panel 6. 2012.<\/p><\/div>\n

Ah, The Walking Dead. In both the comic books and in the television show, our survivors inhabit a somewhat abandoned prison. Within it they find the prison library, full of books, magazines, DVDs, and all sorts of things they hadn\u2019t thought or cared about while out fending off walkers. The sudden realization by that they missed enjoying the fiction that the library offered, or by others, the information offered, really leads me to ponder quite often about the role of information, libraries, and librarians in a post-apocalyptic world. I\u2019d read a book or comic book series that revolved around a librarian who provided survivors with vital information.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d love to hear everyone else\u2019s opinion about LIS workers as portrayed in comics, or any other medium you might favor. Which characters are you partial to? What stories would you like to read or watch?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Mychal R. Ludwig, Head Editor, INALJ New Mexico\u00a0 Librarians & Libraries in Comic Books\u00a0 LIS workers of all categories are quite commonly utilized in fictional settings, as main and supporting characters, as well as for incidental run-ins with those primary persons. How exactly are those info-professionals portrayed, in both personality and in comportment? Does…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[69,3592,5715,5709,5710,3635,5711,5714,3990,5713,5712,5548],"class_list":["post-48420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-article","tag-blog","tag-buffy-the-vampire-slayer","tag-comic-books","tag-graphic-novels","tag-inalj-new-mexico","tag-ms-marvel","tag-my-little-pony","tag-mychal-ludwig","tag-sex-criminals","tag-six-gun-gorilla","tag-the-walking-dead"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-cAY","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48420\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}