|   
       (?) Adventures in Reading Starring: The Amazing Spider-Man. 
      (New York: Marvel Comics, 1992?) "Developed in conjunction with the 
      Baltimore City Literacy Corporation" and advertised in Library 
      Journal. I'd say the odds are great that at some point a library is 
      shown somewhere in the story, given the pattern of such one-shot comics. I 
      haven't actually seen this story myself. 
      Bates, Cary. "Who Is Invading Central City?" [1st story] 
      Adventure Comics #465 Oct. 1979 (NY: DC). The librarian thinks 
      the Flash (incognito) is "a strange man" because he insists that he can 
      listen to all of the audio tapes in stock in the 33 min. he has the room 
      signed out for ("I'm a fast listener"). The drawing of the interior and 
      exterior of the library is rather dull, IMHO. 
      On page 63 of Mike Benton's Science-Fiction Comics: The 
      Illustrated History (Dallas: Taylor, 1992), he mentions that superhero 
      "Captain Comet" (DC Comics) was a "mild-mannered librarian" in his secret 
      identity, a fact ommitted in his profile in DC Who's Who. 
      Burns, Charles. "Doomed Marriage (?)" [3rd story]. In His Skin 
      Deep: Tales of Doomed Romance [edited by Art Spiegelman and R. 
      Sikoryak] (New York: Penguin, 1992). A lesbian love story! The central 
      character, not getting satisfaction (no explanation necessary ;) at home, 
      goes to the library to do some pleasurable reading. She befriends the 
      librarian who is courteous, helpful and friendly. She also looks like the 
      stereotypical librarian (kinda old, a woman, bifocals), but...later on, 
      when the husband tries to kill the central charac- ter, the librarian 
      saves the day, shooting him and freeing the central charac- ter who 
      realizes she loves the librarian. There's even a lesbian kiss. Now how 
      often are lesbian librarians represented anywhere? 
      Batman: A Word to the Wise. (NY: DC). Literacy promotion 
      Batman comic shows a branch of the Toronto Public Library and has a 
      librarian in it [at least they showed diversity by making her disabled; 
      where are the men? 8( ]. I think it's a lame attempt that shows why not 
      everyone is cut out to make educational/social issues comics. (For a 
      fantastic example, BTW, check out the semi-autobiographical To the 
      heart of the storm; it's a "normal" comic, but gives powerful messages 
      about racism in our midst. It's available from one of the libraries in 
      Montreal. For a good example of bad messages in a fairly good format, 
      check out Chick publications - tracts available all over the bloody 
      place). 
      Cadillacs and Dinosaurs Book 1 (3rd story). Reprinted from 
      Xenozoic Tales. No librarians in this one, but one of the main 
      characters, a female scientist is taken by the adventurer Jake to a place 
      that has a library in it. The people living there are uncomfortable with 
      her being there. Towards the end, it is discovered that their fear is due 
      to their concern that, once again, the knowledge of the weapon of 
      destruction that caused the world's devastation (which the reader knows is 
      the atomic bomb) will be learned again. They try to destroy the library in 
      a flood, but Jake helps the scientist save it by clo- sing its steel 
      doors. 
      Claremont, Chris. "Slaughter on 10th Avenue." Marvel Team-up 
      #83 July 1979. (NY: Marvel). Here, superhero "Spider-Man" can't think 
      of where to find S.H.I.E.L.D. (kinda like CIA) HQ, until he remembers how 
      highly the city editor rec- commended the woman at "the morgue" (what a 
      dreaded name for a LIBRARY!). Good portrayal coming up, right? Hardly! She 
      is showed as unattractive (nothing new), arrogant and rude. She does 
      unrealistically remember the exact page number of the phone book he needs. 
      Gee, I wish library school taught us how to do that. 8) 
      Conway, Gerry. "Reprise." Justice League of America #182 
      Sept. 1980 (NY: DC). A former felon (Felix Faust) tries his hand at 
      being a librarian, only to get possessed by the spirit of an evil sorcerer 
      whose essence had been trans- ferred to a book in his castle. It is not 
      explained why a seemingly ordinary library (Star City Public) has a 
      special curator or acquires century-old books. 
      DC Comics. Reproduction of a pro-library comic ad in their 
      Greatest Stories Ever Told (New York: DC Comics 1990), pg. 321. The 
      message is don't read Green Arrow comics OR the book Robin 
      Hood. If you like one, you'll like the other, too. So, read them both. 
      A sophisticated approach, compared to what I read in Newsletter on 
      Intellectual Freedom about the trading of comics for "real stories" 
      initiated by American libraries. 
      Eisner, Will. "Mortal Combat." [3rd story]. In His Invisible 
      People. (Princeton: Kitchen Sink Press, 1992). Though, it is an 
      anthology, all three stories have a common theme. The title refers to the 
      way that in modern urban society most of us are "invisible" - nameless, 
      faceless, unknown - to most of the people around us (neighbours, workplace 
      associates, schoolmates). People like the homeless and the poor are easily 
      forgotten and ignored. Some would say that Jews are invi- sible (because 
      they are a minority) and others would say that librarians are invisible 
      (people don't acknowledge us until they really need us...at five minutes 
      to closing, yet 8) Eisner combines these metaphors by telling a doomed 
      love story about 2 Jewish librarians who are made even more invisible by 
      taking care of their ailing, opposite sex parent. When her father dies, 
      she seeks romance in a male librarian (so few of these shown) who falls in 
      love with her, but can't abandon his mother. She tries to adjust, but the 
      jealous mother makes life difficult, until, over the edge she causes an 
      explosion (or was it an accident?) that has negative consequences (can't 
      remember who lived or died, except the son lived, but was 
      crippled). 
      The Evergreen State College Library Calendiary : featuring Lynda 
      Barry's look at other libraries. (Olympia, Wash. : Evergreen State 
      College Library, 1985). 
      (?) "The Girl Who Didn't Believe in Superman". (197?) Reprinted in 
      Superman and Batman Annual (London: Brow, Watson, 1974, 5th 
      story). Superhero "Superman" discovers with his X-ray vision that 
      Alice's blindness is the result of a piece of glass embedded behind her 
      optic nerve. Since only he can see the glass, Superman (who is licensed to 
      practice medicine) decides to operate himself. First though, he goes to 
      the hospital's medical library, where he learns "everything about eye 
      operations" in a few minutes. No medical librarian is shown. 
      Grant, Joseph W. Adventures of the Incredible Librarian = 
      Aventuras de la Bibliotecaria Increible (Tempe, AZ : Preservation 
      Graphics, 1990.) "Sampler, April 1990." 
      Hall, Allison. "Batgirl Was a Librarian." Canadian Library 
      Journal 49 (Oct. 1, 1992): 345-3??. Strictly speaking, not a 
      source, but has a good overview of our image and does (briefly) talk about 
      Batgirl. Also shows Allie in her Batgirl costume. (How many librarians 
      dress up as other librarians on Halloween? "Who are you supposed to be?" 
      "Melville Dewey, of course!" "Who the hell's that?"). 
      Handman, Gary. Bibiotoons: A Mischievous Meander through the 
      Stacks and Beyond. (Jefferson: McFarland, 1990). Some likable stuff 
      (like LC thought baloons for the "Oz" characters) and some stuff that's 
      too long or not funny. 
      Hartman, Tim. The Amazing Adventures of Super Bard. 
      (published in cooperation with the Dept. of University Relations, 
      University of Pittsburgh, 1989). "Mild-mannered prof" Stern Rosencrantz 
      looks at an old volume of Shakes- peare's plays at the Hillman Library and 
      encounters Puck (a faerie) who trans- forms him into superpowered Super 
      Bard. SB tries to "save Pittsburgh from ma- laise and the summer of 
      terror." 
      Hope, L. Agent Street. OH #7 (May 1994), pgs. 39-52 Reprinted 
      in Sanford Berman and James P. Dansky (eds.) Alternative Library 
      Literature, 1994/1995 (Jefferson: McFarland, 1996), pgs. 45-58. An 
      anarchist falls for Emerald Street, a lesbian librarian. Great line to a 
      patron looking for the 'c' section: "before invitro births". 
      Lee, Richard. "You Can Tell Your Kid Will Grow Up to Be a 
      Librarian when...": Cartoons about the Profession. (Jefferson: 
      McFarland, 1992). Some likable stuff (like prison library: "due in 1-10 
      yrs.") and some stuff that's too long ("My Story") or not that 
      funny. 
      Lee, Stan "New York Public Library" (My Friend Irma) D.D. 5 p. in 
      My Friend Irma, no. 11 (Oct. 1951) Begins: Where ya going, Oima? Al 
      told Irma he'd marry ... 
      The Librarian. No. 1 (July 1988)- (Scottsdale, AZ : 
      Preservation Comics) 
      Librarians for Social Change, no. 9 L f S C Comix : in 
      this issue, the history of LfSC woman, unexpurgated. (Brighton, Sussex : 
      Librarians for Social Change, 1974). 
      Library Comix. (Olympia, Wash. : Evergreen State College, 
      1987). 
      Maggin, Elliot "Who Stole the Gift from Nowhere?" (Robin) story 9 p. 
      in Batman, no. 245 NOTES: Library story. 
      Milligan, Peter. "The library of souls." Detective Comics 
      #643 April 1992. (NY: DC). A library whodunnit. This was mentioned in 
      American Libraries. A renegade male librarian starts killing people 
      and classifying the bodies according to DDC. Superhero Batman solves the 
      murders with the assistance of a librarian. Hmmm, why didn't he just go to 
      Batgirl. She was a librarian, too. 
      Speaking of Batgirl, after the Joker shot her, she took a less 
      active role. Now she provides what we'd call free reference services 
      (usually in-depth and difficult stuff) to some superheroes under the name 
      Oracle. Why didn't they just call her "SuperLibrarian"? (also see Peterson 
      entry below). 
      Moore, John Francis. "Harvest of a Quiet Eye." Doom 2099 #13 
      Jan. 1994 (NY: Marvel). Reprinted in _Best of Marvel 1994_. Brother 
      Theodore, a librarian of a small Byzantine monastery, whose job is to keep 
      the collection hidden from outsiders, is killed by supervillain "Necrotek" 
      while trying to access information from a database. Superpowered "Doom" 
      performs a successful database search ("cross reference visual search name 
      and variations: nekrotek) which provides him with the spell needed to 
      defeat Necrotek. 
      Peterson, Scott. "A Little Knowledge". Showcase 94 #12 (1st 
      story) Dec. 1994 (NY: DC). Oracle defends herself from vengeful 
      stalkers. Pg. 13 recounts her life story: "[after her spine was shattered] 
      I worked with what I had. From my days as Gotham's head librarian I knew 
      how to find out whatever I needed. If I could do that for citizens, I 
      could do it for colleges, non-profit corporations, private investigators 
      and superheroes. Having been blessed with photographic recall, I studied a 
      dozen newspapers, four dozen magazines and... the computer bulletin 
      boards...Nowadays, I can do so much more as Oracle than I ever could do as 
      Batgirl. There's nothing I can't find out. No problem I can't 
      solve. 
      "Quiet in the Library" (Li'l Wise Guy) 1 p. in Atomic Mouse, 
      no. 34 (Jan. 1960) Begins: Pssst, Tommy! 
      Spiegelman, Art. "Words, Worth a Thousand." New Yorker Feb. 
      20-27, 1995, p. 196-199. History and description of the New York Public 
      Library Picture Collection, started in 1915 by library clerk Romana 
      Javitz. 
      W. S. "Cold Fish Ladder: A Possible Origin of Marty the Dog!" In 
      Alternative Library Literature 1986/1987, Sanford Berman and James 
      P. Dansky (eds.) [reprinted from Gosky Comics]. Proposes that 
      Morty was a disatisfied librarian who gave up the job to be a dog - an 
      easier occupation. Among some disagreeable statements are "That guy 
      [librarian] looks like he has an easy job", "in the front row [in a 
      library school classroom]...were the people who wanted to be librarians 
      since they were small children!...geeks", "Only the bibliogeeks in the 
      first row survived [library school]" and "The [library school] professor 
      liked books more than people". 
      Sacco, Joe. "Voyage to the End of the Library." Yahoo #3 
      (April 1990). Re- printed in Alternative Library Literature 
      1992/1993 pgs. 30-38. Critique of library policy, user demand, 
      workload and similar library topics, as told from the fictional library 
      page-narrator's point of view. Funny, but at times, too harsh. I 
      personally was offended by his stereotyping of science-fiction 
      readers. 
      Sturm & Dikkers. Kimberly Crotchet, Librarian of Tomorrow 
      (1988) 
      Van Horn, Penny. The Librarian (Seattle: Fantagraphics, 
      1992). Reviewed in journal Libraries and Popular Culture. This 
      story is about a librarian who is a cruel landlord on the side. The story 
      is almost completely focused on his seedy life outside the library, making 
      one question the appropriateness of the title. 
      Walters, Rocky. Howard Stern: The Unauthorized Lampoon #1 
      (Vineland, NJ: Concept Comics, 1994), pg. 10. Stern sneaks into the 
      public library after-hours to deface a book by gluing his photo over 
      Marconi's picture under the caption "Inventor of Radio". 
      Wise, Ronnie W. and April Stewart. "Literacy Southern Style." In 
      Archie and His Friends Help Raise Literacy Awareness in 
      Mississippi. (Mamaroneck, NY: Archie Comic Publications, 1994). In 
      this first story, Veronica Lodge takes her friends to Mississippi to learn 
      about what they can do to help people improve their literacy. Among the 
      sights they visit is the Cleveland Depot, which "has been transformed into 
      a division of the local library system" and is the headquarters of the 
      local literacy council. 
       
      That's it, folks. Not much, but it's the only list I've seen (maybe 
        I just don't do research that well 8) . If anyone doesn't have 
        access to these sources, I might have them at home and can photocopy the 
        requisite pages for .25 US/pg (.09 US/pg if I can use the university's 
        copier). I plan to purchase whatever I don't have, but some of it's hard 
        to come by. 8( 
      Compiled by: 
        Steven M. Bergson 
      With the acknowledged assistance of Chris Dodge and Sanford Berman 
      (both of Hennepin County (MN) Public Library), Kivi Shapiro (University of 
      Western Ontario), Norman Stevens (Molesworth Institute) and Randall W. 
      Scott (Michigan State University Libraries). 
      
 
  |