Morpheus promotes reading

June 15, 2003 9:56 PM

Sandman READ posterAnyone passing through libraries will have seen the series of READ posters, starring any number of actors, sports stars, musicians, and other celebrities. Everyone from Alex Baldwin to WWF wresllers to Yoda have been so honored.

Now you can add a comic character to that list. Neil Gaiman's creation of Morpheus, the Sandman, is now available as a poster. The artwork is by P Craig Russell, who was the artist for an issue of Sandman.
posted by dragonmage (20 comments total)

Its also fascinating to run down the list of the people and the individual books they are promoting. "Weird Al" promoting Hawking's "A Brief History of Time". Cindy Crawford and "The Hobbit". Coolio and "Frankenstein". Dr. Ruth and "Curious George". Mel Gibson and "1984". Nicholas Cage and "Siddhartha"; Stephen Hawking and "Marylin Monroe". Tim Allen and "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". You can check out (and purchase online) any of the posters at ALA READ poster list.
posted by dragonmage at 9:57 PM on June 15, 2003

I'm not familiar with this Sandman fellow, but you'd think the ALA would know better than to alphabetize celebrities by their first names.
posted by Frank Grimes at 10:08 PM on June 15, 2003

So they're using people you won't find in books to encourage people to read?

*shrug*
posted by Space Coyote at 10:14 PM on June 15, 2003

Oh come on, Space Coyote. I'd rather have celebrities endorsing reading than selling cell phones or something. Besides, what are you implying- that characters usually unrecognizable unless labelled as characters from a book be used to attrach a kid's attention? The only character in a book I think a kid would recognize these days without any textual clue would be Harry Potter or any other character made visual by being thrust into the Hollywood vein.

As for Sandman, I'd like to think this is a clue that libraries should start putting more interest in actually having comic books available to the public.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 10:31 PM on June 15, 2003

I have this one hanging on the wall above my bed:
http://alastore.ala.org/catalog/img/pgraphic1-234.gif

I wake up to LL every morning. It is a wonderful experience.
posted by romanb at 10:32 PM on June 15, 2003

Yeah, Space Coyote, I'm a little confused by your apathy - I mean, if you only used literary figures, wouldn't you essentially be preaching to the choir? Any kid who would recognize Jay Gatsby or Dorian Gray wouldn't need to be encouraged to read, after all.
posted by jonson at 10:49 PM on June 15, 2003

>I'd like to think this is a clue that libraries should start putting more interest in actually having comic books available to the public.

Many do. I was exposed to Sandman and Elfquest thanks to the liberal buying policies of the Chicago Suburban Library System.

Now if they actually bound these things in something other than glossy paper...

Actually, I believe the Elfquest books were custom bound in cardboard with the cover glued to the front. Its not pretty, but they will outlast the standard Sandman TPBs.
posted by skallas at 10:58 PM on June 15, 2003

Would have been nice if the bloody thing was big enough to see before I thought about buying it...
posted by Samizdata at 11:07 PM on June 15, 2003

Oh, and they need a Bruce Campbell poster too...
posted by Samizdata at 11:10 PM on June 15, 2003

I can't help but thinking some of those people did that as part of a community service bit for a reduced sentence.

Also. I have decided that only those people who look at ease in these photos actually read on a regular basis.
posted by Dagobert at 12:52 AM on June 16, 2003

And for those of you who can't stand comics with pseudointellectual cross-referencing, there's the entire DC Universe as well.
posted by Katemonkey at 1:38 AM on June 16, 2003

coool, i'm getting one (or two), along with the dc poster as well. :)
posted by poopy at 5:52 AM on June 16, 2003

Could the alec baldwin one be any more sexual?
posted by swerdloff at 8:56 AM on June 16, 2003

My friend pointed out to me that at our local library, all of the African American celebrities are promoting children's books (the always fun game of spot-the-racism). On the full list, it looks like 6 out of 13 are. I'd like to draw some conclusion, but I am too lazy to calculate the percentages for the entire list. Anyone?
posted by emyd at 9:21 AM on June 16, 2003

p.s. swerdloff: no.
posted by emyd at 9:23 AM on June 16, 2003

um, is it just me, or is the computer interface design on the Bill Gates poster rather reminiscent of a Mac?
posted by synapse at 9:54 AM on June 16, 2003

I really miss the sandman comic.
posted by quibx at 10:32 AM on June 16, 2003

"a phrase on this poster is a cliche you hang on your wall"
posted by Peter H at 1:36 PM on June 16, 2003

Well, quibx, wait until September and you can get some new Sandman stuff, in case you didn't know. DC's got a site for it here.
posted by syrcharles at 4:15 PM on June 16, 2003

I'd like to draw some conclusion, but I am too lazy to calculate the percentages for the entire list. Anyone?

From what I can gather, the celebrities generally choose their own book. Given that these posters are kind of aimed at children, children's books tend to be a natural choice. If you pay attention, you will be that many of the white celebs also have children's books, and many of the minority celebs have adult lit.
posted by kayjay at 9:28 PM on June 16, 2003