This was the last week, week 6, of the Gender Through Comic Books Massive Open Online Course, offered by Ball State U. It. Was. Awesome. If this instructor, Christy Blanch, does any more classes like this, I'm so there. There were over 7000 students enrolled in the course, though most of them were not vocal in the forums. There was a solid group of people who were active in the discussions and that really made the class. The various points of view were tremendously interesting.

One of the best parts was the interviews with industry pros, where we were able to watch live streaming interviews every week, and tweet questions to the guest. We heard from Steve Wacker, Sana Amanat and Kelly Sue DeConnick (all three together); Mark Waid, Terry Moore, Gail Simone (technical difficulties made this one recorded instead of live), Scott Snyder, and Brian K. Vaughan. The interviews were really fantastic, and since our syllabus contained readings that were from those pros, we were hearing things straight from them, and able to ask questions based on those readings.

Additionally, we had articles that were topical but not comics, things of a more scholarly bent. It made me a little bitter that there were no classes like this when I was in college, for credit. This really was a fantastic class, and I highly recommend Christina Blanch as an instructor -- if you get a chance to take a class from her, online, or in the classroom, I suggest you jump at the chance.

I saw a mention online about a massive open online course (MOOC) for Gender Through Comic Books (beginning April 2), and it sounded interesting so I signed up. After getting the syllabus of required materials (available from Comixology with a discount), I read the first week's required reading: Strangers in Paradise Volume 1 & 2, and Rachel Rising #1. I hadn't read SiP before and was intrigued enough by the first two volumes that I'll probably get more of them. Rachel Rising I'd never even heard of, and after the first one I will have to get more, just to see how things go for her. (My husband suggested reading a wiki about it, but where's the fun in that?) There's a lot of books I haven't read on the syllabus, so the course will broaden my education on a couple of levels. Who knows, maybe I'll find a new series to follow.

I love action figures and I love comic villainesses, but loving the wicked girls best of all means that if I want figures, I'll have to make my own. With short-packed female figures that are already scarce. *sigh* But I really want a Dansen Macabre. I've never modified figures; should be an interesting education.