@derekrobertson's...

Marvelous free resources from Marvel Comics...

I was at a school in Falkirk recently and they were using Phoenix Wright for the Nintendo DS in their English Language class. I have long been of the opinion that games such as Phoenix Wright and other games such as Hotel Dusk: Room 215  could be used to encourage imaginative and creative language tasks in reading writing, talking and listening. Coupled with an application such as 'Comic Life' (now available for PC)then there is you have a very powerful combination to engage and motivate writing in particular.

For teachers interested in this approach you may be interested to know that Marvel Comics are offering free access to a selection of online comics featuring a variety of Super Heroes for a limited period. Along with graphic novels many of these comics not only encourage reading but they very often, if not always, offer social commentary or even explore more complex themes and issues in quite a substantial way.

Anyway, who was your favourite Super Hero? Wonder Woman was always my favourite superhero-especially when she twirled and used her golden bracelets to deflect bullets from would be assassins!

Podcast comics

A few weeks ago I pulled out 5 boxes of 2000AD comics that I had collected from 1978 to the early 1990s. I had over a thousand. The nostalgia rush was superb; Judge Dredd and the Cursed Earth, Meltdown Man, Slaine and Robo Hunter were just a few of the strips that I remembered fondly. I have recently developed an interest in graphic novels and am enjoying reading those at the moment. Anything from Tin Tin on Isle Noir to Sin City by Frank Miller gets me hooked. For those of you who have a Mac and Comic Life then you may recognise where I got my new blog heading graphic. Yeah straight out of comic life.

But now for the main purpose of this post. Just found a great comic podcast site on iTunes. Have a look at Clickwheel and see if you fancy having a look at this application of podcasting technology. There appears to be no end to the creative and emancipatory ways in which users can share their ideas and talents.

I've downloaded 'Water's Red' by Joe Alterio for the train tomorrow.