Some stories are just BIG. Sweeping epics, or moments in history that will be remembered for centuries. Even if they're moments that never happened, in a world that never existed. These comics are those stories.

(This post joins my recommended reading lists of of zombie comics, comics about magic, post-apocalyptic comics, comics about race and social justice, and all-ages comics. This post uses Amazon affiliate links - but we always encourage checking your local library!)

First up, Prince of Cats by Ron Wimberly, with letters by Jared K. Fletcher.

So, a hip-hop ninja Romeo and Juliet remix about Tybalt. You have never read anything like this, and it has all the passion of the story that inspired it. Reading Wimberly's afterword, I was struck again by how good of a writer he is, and the connections he drew between Kurosawa's Ran, Wu-Tang Clan, and the streets of Verona to create this book.

Do I have to say anything else to sell you this book? Really?

I didn't think so.

Me: Now he's playing an accordion in his room [instead of going to sleep]!

C-Man: A xylophone, but yes.

Me: That's what I meant.

I think someone wears me out... but at least we have similar taste in accessories. And apparently he holds still for pictures better than I do!

It's a widely held belief that all kids go through a dinosaur phase. I'm not sure if it's true, because we never reached obsession level with Boy Detective. However, he's definitely been open to a good book about giant prehistoric lizards who could crush you with one footstep. For the young reader in your life who's amused by similar thoughts, here's our list of well-written children's picture books about dinos.

A lot of writers and artists have done creative things with this topic, which has been so enjoyable for us as parents! If you're going to be asked to read it 100 times, it helps if it's a good book! However I'd be thrilled if you could suggest any dino books with people of color and/or girls as the central characters. Seriously, leave a comment, or use a passenger pigeon, whatever works! Need more diversity!

(If you're new here, here's the full list of picture book posts: friendship, dogs, pirates, bedtime, awesome girls, robots, magic, gardens, cats, superheroes, love and marriage, knights, family, science fiction, food and cooking, art and creativity, and kids' poetry books. This post uses Amazon affiliate links - but we always encourage checking your local library!)

Sammy and the Dinosaurs by Ian Whybrow, with illustrations by Adrian Reynolds. This is one of my favorite children's picture books ever, because it captures the specific quality of a child's deep love for a subject. In this case, it's Sammy's love for dinosaurs, as represented by his collection of plastic dinosaurs. This isn't about materialism or toys, it's about him knowing all of their names, and their place in his heart. Lovely book.

I was powerless against Ava Snow Battles Death.

Sure, I'm afraid of getting sucked into web series in case all my time disappears down a rabbit hole of awesome content. And yeah, I'm afraid of knowing there are sections of Kickstarter beyond comics in case all my money disappears in a similar way. And so yes, when filmmakers Zack Drisko and Arielle Davidsohn approached me for help publicizing a web series being funded on Kickstarter last fall, I wanted to plug my ears and yell "LA LA LA" so I could not hear them.

But Ava Snow is just too cool!

I'm a sucker for a passion project anyway (witness my affection for Office Ninja), and just look at this description:

"Ava Snow Battles Death" is a fantasy-horror-comedy about a knife-throwing badass named Ava Snow and the overlords from another dimension who want to steal her soul.

She's also a redhead. So I helped publicize the Kickstarter. (And gave them my allowance.) Fast forward to July, when FINALLY after a hectic few months of traveling I was able to settle down during a quiet evening and watch the three episodes up on YouTube.

My assessment? A little bit campy, a good dose of awesome, and definitely worth the wait. I love Ava's no-nonsense persona. I'm intrigued by her friend Kylee who seems so different from Ava at first glance. The first three episodes left me wanting more. And I didn't have to get a babysitter or stay up late.

So I may need to re-think my web series avoidance? In my years reviewing action movies with ass-kicking women (and girls), I have gotten SO tired of making excuses for movies. Even among my favorites, too many big budget films are kind of what I want, or a glimpse of what could have been. There's a pretty striking contrast between a woman of color Kickstarting a fan-film about Storm and the Days of Future Past story being taken away from Kitty Pryde on the big screen. Maybe I've been looking in the wrong places for the stories I really want.

If you haven't watched Ava Snow Battles Death yet, you should fix that! You can start here:

Once you watch all three episodes, the Ava Snow Battles Death website has a trailer and teaser that show additional scenes. Fingers crossed the series can keep going so we can get those future episodes.

And if you have any webseries to recommend, let me know in the comments!

Want to make me happy? Give me a secret cabal of evildoers, behind the scenes machinations, and a determined resistance fighting against seemingly overwhelming odds. Throw in some superheroes or magic powers, or not! I'm happy either way.

So here are my favorite creepy conspiracy graphic novels, joining my recommended reading lists of of zombie comics (with kick-ass female leads!), comics about magic, post-apocalyptic comics, comics about race and social justice, and all-ages comics. (Does this post use affiliate links? Yep! More about that if you're not familiar.)

Let's start with Mind the Gap by Jim McCann. Art by Rodin Esquejo with Adrian Alphona helping out. Colors by Sonia Oback, Rodin Esquejo, Arif Prianto, and Beny Maulana. Letters by David Lanphear.

Elle was attacked on a subway platform days ago, and now she's in a coma. Maybe. Maybe she was attacked? She can't quite remember now. Her mind is in some kind of dream world while her body is trapped in a hospital bed. Her parents and her brother and some of the doctors know more than they're telling, and her best friend and boyfriend are getting suspicious. Then Elle wakes up in someone else's body and things get even more complicated. Intrigue, betrayal, threats, secrets, lies, it's all here.

10 years ago this summer, I attended a first-time conference called BlogHer. I don't remember exactly how I heard about it, or how I decided to fly to a city I'd never been to before, for a conference full of people I didn't know. I had no idea what to expect. I left reading a handful of new blogs, and with a connection to what would become an online community, a massive annual conference, a support system for women running their own businesses, and a voice on the political scene.

And yes, my employer for the past 6.5 years.

This summer, I attended my 10th BlogHer conference. My room at the Hilton was decorated with images of a Smith Corona typewriter. Not the one I learned to type on, then wrote horrible teenage novels on later, but its cousin.

I thought it was funny. My journey with blogging for the last 10 years has taught me that I do NOT want to be a professional writer - a discovery that would shock my 10-22 year old self who wanted nothing else. Figuring it out, though, freed me from the feeling there was something I should get back to, something I should do differently, something I should do better. When I let it go, blogging became a lot more fun.

I don't blog about conferences well. I can't digest the high points of sessions and summarize them back out for readers. I don't take a lot of pictures of all the learning and fun that goes on so y'all can live vicariously.

But I wanted to take this occasion to give you one piece of advice related to blogging.

The closing keynote at BlogHer this year was about The Intersection of Race, Gender, Feminism and the Internet. I was blown away by the amazing women on stage, just as I knew I would be. And as I'm sitting here reflecting on the conference, I'd have the same advice for bloggers as I gave near the end of that very first conference, nervously taking the mic in the big room full of everyone:

Read blogs written by people who are different from you.

Their blogging is a gift to you, sharing their lives and experiences. Take advantage of it. If your heart is open, it will make you a better person. Hopefully that's what it's done for me, though I'll be judged by my actions, not my words in any blog post.

Need a place to start? Click on that link above for the keynote and spend some time with those women's writing.

You won't be disappointed.