And now for the student’s perspective. SuperMOOC 2 is geared toward adults but high school student Quinn Hurley has a special — and particularly enthusiastic — perspective on the course.
By QUINN HURLEY
Hi all! Thank you for taking your time out of reading comics and venturing onto this article!
My name is Quinn Hurley: I’m a high school student at Yorktown High School, a resident of Muncie, Ind., a comic book lover, an intern at Alter Ego Comics in Muncie and most importantly for you -– and the purpose of this article — a participant of SuperMOOC 2: Social Issues Through Comic Books.
The purpose of this article is to get a look at the SuperMOOC through the perspective of a high schooler. Basically, I’m going to write after each lesson and tell you what I thought was cool, my favorite parts, what I thought of the books and interviews, etc. So I do hope that you will continue to read because my opinion is a golden one (at least in my mind.)
A little back story on me: I learned to read from comics! I think that this is a growing sensation for children nowadays, as their parents grew up reading comics and what better way to teach their children how to read than show them words on a page with super cool artwork?!
I am lucky, as my Dad was a fan of comics and superheroes as a child, and growing up in the ‘90s I had access to some of the best superhero cartoons ever made! My Saturday mornings were spent with “Batman: The Animated Series” and Power Rangers (of which if you know me, I have not let either go).
When I first started to read comics I read the ones that were inspired by shows like “Batman: The Animated Series” or “Justice League.” Slowly, I grew up and started to pursue comics that were not as geared towards children — then I read Charlie Huston and David Finch’s Moon Knight series and in the second issue he cut off someone’s face… I’ve never left comics since.
It was not until I met Christy Blanch and Jason Pierce (who co-own the utopia on earth known as Alter Ego Comics) that I delved deeper into the vast universe of comics where I find myself today. No longer am I simply picking up the stories put out by Marvel and DC, but reading books from everyone from Boom! to Avatar to Image — and I couldn’t be happier.
To show just how good my taste in comics (and the comic culture) is, I will tell you: my favorite superhero is Rocket Raccoon, my favorite villain is Taskmaster, my favorite book I am reading currently is Jonathan Hickman’s God is Dead, and the greatest superhero movie made thus far is “Dredd” (2012).
This article is one of the many marvelous things I get to do through my internship … the rest of the time is spent taking out trash, selling comics, and pestering the powers that be to get a Taskmaster solo series under way.
Again, thank you for reading and I hope you join me next time after the first lesson of SuperMOOC 2: Social Issues Through Comic Books.
Talk to you droinks later,
Quinn
SuperMOOC 2 starts Monday, so sign up now! Spread the word, and share this on Twitter and Facebook! And follow us on Twitter @SuperMOOC2 and @13th_Dimension! On Facebook, join the SuperMOOC 2 group here and Like 13th Dimension here!
