With ballroom dancing on indefinite hold, I needed something to get me out of the house, and by chance I came across a U of T continuing education course “Words and Pictures: Appreciating the Graphic Novel.”

Leave it to me to find a university level course that allows me to read comic books for credit. Tonight is the third session of 10, and we will be discussing Daredevil: Born Again by Frank Miller. It’s the most mainstream and only superhero book on the reading list, which is actually quite dense.

Understanding Comics
Tintin: Flight 714
Daredevil: Born Again
Concrete Vol. 2: Heights
Summer Blonde
Paying For It (Author Chester Brown will speaking to the class)
Love and Rockets: Esperanza
From Hell
Maus

I’ve been meaning to read many of the titles since I heard about them watching Prisoners of Gravity on TVO years ago, particularly Maus.

There are two writing assignments and each student is expected to lead a class discussion on one of the books. I have lots of time to read From Hell in preparation for leading the discussion toward the end of the course. It’s a pass / fail course and counts toward a certificate in creative writing, which I’m not planning to pursue at this time, given my problem is just sitting down and writing the damn novel.

I am hoping that taking this course will get me reading more often, whether it’s graphic novels or just plain old text, while inspiring me to get back to writing my novel.