HAIKU & THE HULK!

[Ryan Goble]

This week, we’ll have more short MC POP ditties and introduce the Ning group feature. It looks like Ning is doing some redesign, so we all have slime green duct tape slapped across the header of our homepage. I guess it is cool as it prods you to invite friends but methinks it will need some aesthetic changes after Teach, Think, Play.

Speaking of green, those of you who saw I Love You, Man this weekend had a chance to catch the original TV hulk, Lou Ferigno on the big screen. While I did happen to see that film I also made a new green acquaintance - Mini-Hulk. He’s a featured in the Mini-Marvels comic series. They have published this title for ten years but I was hipped to the series a month ago when I saw this awesome Wolverine cover on display at Forbidden Planet here in NYC:

With all the rage about Watchmen and its send up of the superhero genre, these Mini-Marvels fall on the other end of the self-reflexivity spectrum as a cute genre parody. I think the series if great for kids of all ages. On a basic level you can use them to engage kids in reading and as a springboard to discuss and explore adolescent issues. On a higher level, Mini-Marvels, like Watchmen, is worthy of study if you’re interested in looking carefully at parody and genre conventions in a literature class.

TANGENT: John C. Weaver teaches Watchmen and made a blog post about it. Hopefully, he’ll add a hyperlink to the article about his teaching so we can read more about his work!

Anyway, in the Mini-Marvel collection I was reading Black Bolt, leader of the superhero group The Illuminators decided to exile Hulk to another planet by sending him on a mission in a sabotaged spacecraft. Why, you ask? Because – well, they didn’t like him – after all, these are kid superheroes. Unfortunately, they forgot that that Hulk’s alter ego, Dr. Bruce Banner, is a genius who just happened to be capable of repairing the broken spaceship and returning to Earth. Upon his return he drops ANGRY HAIKU!

Awesome cartoon pasted here, as always, for educational use only!

This sequence made me laugh so loud because who hasn’t watched students (and adults) struggle with the syllable structure of Haiku.

If you enjoy poetry and popular culture, don’t forget to check out the visual poetry wiki page, this poetic post, and please join the newly created “Poetry People” MC pop group.

I’m trying to roll out new groups for people to join. These clusters allow folks with similar interests (usually by teaching discipline or pop genre) to communicate around the topics and resources they use to make curriculum pop. When you’re in a group it allows for more flexibility then the regular interface since you can broadcast messages to everyone in that group.

If you like a group
Where Poetry People are
Quickly, click, join now!

Ryan- not so Basho - Goble

[Kelly Farrow]

One of my teachers just today was looking for haiku for 4th grade! I'll share this comic w/ her for sure and have also ordered the Mini Marvels for my library collection! Ryan is the man. :)

[James Bucky Carter]

Wow, and the artist chose to draw the characters with all five fingers, instead of the cartoony-style staple 4-fingered hands. Maybe to make it easier for them to do the counting? Lol. Anyway, great post!

[Ryan Goble]

Wait bad pun coming...oh, you were counting digits too! I wasn't even looking that close - double lol...glad you dug it.

[Manal Grant]

Comic page hysterical! Love it! (I did exactly the same thing, counting syllables on my fingers...). Will be doing haiku in Japanese class, so this was particularly hilarious.

[Pam Goble]

Anything visual is terrific. My kids(7th and 8th graders) are walking around with Watchmen and Twilight.I will have to get this, too. Thanks!

[Ryan Goble]

Gee, anything for you mom!

RRG:)