An Important Date in Shakespearean History

Yesterday, June 29, was the anniversary of the date when the Globe Theatre burnt down in 1613. The wooden building and thatched roof went up in flames after a cannon misfired while being used as a sound effect during a performance of Henry XIII. The Globe was rebuilt the following year, though it was later closed down by the Puritans in 1642. The theatre became famous for its association with William Shakespeare; his playing company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men (later known as the King’s Men), built it in 1598, and many of his plays were performed there.

For more information on Shakespeare, check out Shakespeare For Beginners. It’s a good place to start learning more about the popular playwright’s famous works for those intimidated by the originals, though nothing beats seeing a performance in person.

In Memory of Gene Colan: September 1, 1926 – June 23, 2011

The comic book world mourns the loss of Gene Colan, the prolific comic-book artist responsible for bringing to life some of the most landmark comic book characters of all time (Tomb of Dracula, Howard the Duck, Iron Man and Dare Devil). Colan passed away at 11pm on June 23 after losing his battle to liver disease. Right up until the end Gene was doing work for fans until he became too weak to do so. In 2009, Gene illustrated the Captain America issue 601, titled “Red, White and Blue-Blood,” which won the 2010 Eisner Award for best single issue. Gene has done work on many of the iconic superheroes over the past decades and worked with comic publishers from Dark Horse and Marvel to DC and Eclipse.


Longtime colleague and friend Clifford Meth has posted a very touching eulogy to Gene on his blog and has also posted Gene’s last interview. In his eulogy Meth writes:

“I knew this day would come but it came too quickly. It's been a rare pleasure working with Gene. He knew who he was—how valuable his contributions to the world of comic art have been—how prized it remains by so many. Yet he never felt less than grateful to anyone who’d even read a single panel that he’d drawn.”

Gene’s family has also decided to set up a scholarship at the Joe Kubert School. To find out more about how to donate, please visit Gene’s own blog.

Celebrating Olympic Day

Every year on June 23, hundreds of thousands of people all over the world celebrate Olympic Day by participating in competitions, runs, educational programming, and all kinds of other activities. The U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) has been working to assist communities across the country with their celebrations. Their goal was to ensure that at least one of the 10,000 Olympians and Paralympians in the U.S. would be able to attend each event to share their experiences. Olympic Day encourages fitness and mass participation in sports, along with promoting ideals like fair play, perseverance, respect, and sportsmanship.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved Olympic Day in January of 1948 as a way to commemorate June 23, 1894, the date when the IOC was established through the work of Pierre de Coubertin to revive the Olympic Games of ancient Greece. The National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of nine countries held ceremonies for the first Olympic Day, but today people from more than 160 countries are taking part in Olympic Day events.

To brush up on your knowledge of the Olympic Games before the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, take a look at The Olympics For Beginners. It’s a great way to learn more about the history of your favorite sporting events.

Coffee House Publisher and Founder to Retire

The publisher of Coffee House Press, Allan Kornblum, has announced that he is retiring from the company, which he founded back in 1973. Associate publisher Chris Fischbach will be taking over for him as publisher. Kornblum is now in the process of writing a memoir as he finishes working on fundraising projects and systems cleanup for the company. In an interview with the Twin Cities Daily Planet, Kornblum affirmed that Fischbach is the right person to carry on his vision for the company and suggested that “other baby boomer founders should explore ways to let a new generation lead, while continuing to contribute.”

In 2000, Coffee House published Bonnie Morris’s Girl Reel, a memoir focusing on her love for film and desire to see images of strong women represented onscreen. Morris is also the author of Women’s History For Beginners, which will be available in February 2012 in both print and e-book form.

Happy Birthday, Sartre!

Today, join us in celebrating the birthday of Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre, French existentialist and one of the greatest philosophers of the twentieth century. He heavily influenced authors, artists, and political thinkers worldwide.

Not only was Sartre a famous philosopher, he was also a novelist, playwright, political activist, and more. His areas of study were diverse and included phenomenology, ontology, ethics, Marxism, and anarchism. Sartre frequently associated with other well-known writers and artists, such as Albert Camus, Pablo Picasso, and Simone de Beauvoir, with whom he maintained a lifelong relationship. He wrote a wide variety of plays, screenplays, stories, and novels (for example, Nausea), philosophic essays (Being and Nothingness, Critique of Dialectical Reason), and critical essays (Saint Genet).

Sartre coined the term “existentialism” to describe ideas based on the work of philosophers Kierkegaard and Nietzsche in the previous century. Part of this philosophy was the belief that “existence precedes essence.” Sartre argued that it is our freedom, not human nature, that determines our actions. He also explored the idea of “bad faith,” his term for self-deception, and nothingness, or non-being, which he believed was a way to gain freedom.

To learn more about Sartre and his philosophies in a fun way, check out Sartre For Beginners. For even more information, you can also read Existentialism or Philosophy For Beginners or some of our other comic book-style volumes on well-known philosophers.

Understanding Austen

Miranda Seymour has an excellent article in the New York Times today which discusses the importance and approachability of Jane Austen’s work.  The article is a book review on the surface; Seymour gives her impressions of two recent releases by Austen scholars, A Jane Austen Education by William Deresiewicz, and Why Jane Austen? by Rachel M. Brownstein.  However, by discussing the distinct viewpoints on Austen that Deresiewicz and Brownstein put forth in their books, Seymour teases out similarities between the two and the distinct challenges facing those who are first approaching Austen’s writing.  

“The truth is that young readers don’t easily attach themselves to Austen,” Seymour says.  A Jane Austen Education starts with Deresiewicz revealing his initial distaste for Austen and her contemporaries.  Unable to see Austen’s craft or the importance of the her characters’ behavior, Deresiewicz saw only, “nothing more than a lot of chitchat among a bunch of commonplace characters in a country village.”  In Why Jane Austen? Brownstein takes and even more skeptical stance, saying, “Students are best introduced to Austen’s novels by being informed, for example, that the title ‘Mr. Knightley of Donwell Abbey’ conceals the code words ‘knightly’ and ‘donewell.’ ”

Neither author can be said to have understated the value of Austen’s work.  Both authors maintain that the works are crucial reading.  The challenge for new readers seems to be easing into the books with enough explanation to get a good sense of what the story means, without getting so much explanation as to feel patronized.  It seems a good primer on Jane Austen is needed.  Look for Jane Austen For Beginners in 2012.