My Little Superheroine (Alert Nerd Family Show)
Nov 30I’ve missed a lot of the Christopher Butcher-launched kids comics discussion (though the original post is fantastic as always), but what hooked me into it this morning was Noah Bertlasky’s post on his own experiences with his son & superhero comics:
I’m always willing to sneer at superhero fans, as most folks know. But I think this maybe misses or downplays a fairly major point – kids really, really, really like superheroes. A lot. It’s not me who was foisting my old Spidey Super Stories and Super-friends comics on my kid because I desperately wanted him to read them for the sake of my overwhelming nostalgia. On the contrary, I pulled those out of the long boxes because my son was obsessed, and I figured it would be cheaper than buying new reading material. And let me tell you, by the time I’d read them fifty or sixty times out loud, any lingering nostalgia I felt for the material was killed well nigh dead.
This got me to thinking about my own experiences. As it happens, my three-year-old also loves superheroes. And she’s a girl.
Stuff We Like This Week: November 20 Edition
Nov 20
In an effort to combat our occasional…okay, okay, near-constant negativity, we give you a regular feature full of nothing but love — Stuff We Like This Week. Appearing every Friday, SWLTW will recap the things that have set our little nerdly hearts aflame within the past seven days.
This week:
Matt lurves Star Trek!
Sarah falls in love with geeky TV ladies!
Chris digs a couple of new comics!
Putting the “Glad” in “Gladiator” (Alert Nerd Family Show)
Nov 19One of the many joys associated with parenting a toddler is the opportunity to watch the same TV show, movie, or holiday special over, and over, and over.
This is frequently torture. If the US government really wanted good intel down at Gitmo, they should have screened episodes of Dora the Explorer on an infinite loop for prisoners.
In the case of Disney’s animated output, I can’t help but turn it into critical analysis. I’ve watched a lot of these movies on my own, throughout my life, at least one time; like most kids I loved my Disney flicks, and as an adult, I’ve become a fan of animation as an art form and storytelling vehicle. So suddenly, watching Peter Pan for the 9,475th time isn’t just boring; I’m finding myself dissecting these flicks, appreciating some of them anew, and finding others a bit more lacking.
Which is a long roundabout way of saying that I kinda think Hercules kicks ass.
Win A Copy Of Draw Star Wars: The Clone Wars!!! (Alert Nerd Family Show)
Nov 13Do you like Star Wars: The Clone Wars? Do you enjoy drawing, or know any kids who do? Are you into FREE STUFF???
If you answered yes to any or all of the above questions, we have got a post for you.
We’re giving away five copies of Draw Star Wars: The Clone Wars by the editors of Klutz and Lucasfilm writer (and Twitter maven) Bonnie Burton. (One of the five copies will even be autographed by Bonnie!)
From the publisher:
Draw Star Wars: The Clone Wars is filled with tips, techniques, practice space, and translucent overlays to make you a master of drawing. Start with stick figures, move onto basic shapes, and finish up with the details. Use the included double-tipped metallic-colored pencils and black marker to make 20 Clone Wars characters come to life.
Just respond in the comments with your favorite Star Wars character by November 27, 2009. We’ll pick five winners at random to win the free books!
Check out a trailer!
We’ll also spend the next few weeks occasionally looking at geek entertainment and culture from a family perspective in our Alert Nerd Family Show posts, since we know many of our readers are geeks with kids (and at least one of our writers…Jeff may have a few younglings from his days working the cantina in Mos Eisley).
So join the contest below! Have fun and good luck!
The Draw Star Wars: Clone Wars book giveaway is open to participants with a United States mailing address only (international readers can enter if they have a friend in the States who can accept their prizes by mail.)
Stuff We Like This Week: November 13 Edition
Nov 13
In an effort to combat our occasional…okay, okay, near-constant negativity, we give you a regular feature full of nothing but love — Stuff We Like This Week. Appearing every Friday, SWLTW will recap the things that have set our little nerdly hearts aflame within the past seven days.
