Ok, I know. You all want to know who won the contest. I guess it's time to announce the winners of the first ever Bloggity Contest (though probably not the last)...
First up, thanks again to my celebrity panel of judges who helped me to slim down the list of winners. And an even bigger thanks to the ever generous Larry Young who provided four more copies of the book and a page of original artwork as prizes. He also provided the original copy I was giving away, so this whole thing is really a Larry Young provided deal.
I decided to limit the prizes to five: four winners who will receive the trade and one grand prize winner who will receive both the trade and the page of original artwork. Without further ado, and in no particular order, here are the four first prize winners.
First up is Jay Smith whose irony and sarcasm tinged entry appealed to the judges:
From the moment some concerned citizen's group first convinced some congressman to sponsor a bill to limit the availability of comics to children, it was settled. By both popular and governmental decree, comics are such an effective learning tool that they need careful monitoring to control what is being taught.
Jay's entry gave us a touch of the history of comic books as he made his point.
Next up is John Parkin, whose entry provided the judges with wonderful visualizations:
I know a consultant who uses comic books to help corporate speakers improve presentations. He recommends the speaker read comics out loud and mimic the characters. This helps speakers learn to use their voices to convey emotions. The most common question he receives is, "Do you have the next issue?"
The mere thought of corporate speakers reading "The Hulk" aloud left one of our judges with the giggles.
Our third winner is Erin Schadt, who made the connection between visual learning via films versus visual learning through comics:
For most students a visual connection to information cements the transfer of knowledge. Educators almost got it right when they began showing films and movies in class; however, not only do comics demand more active participation, but they are also more interesting than classics such as "Electricity: Friend or Foe?"
After reading this, one of our judges wanted to hunt down the mentioned film. The idea of comics being a visual medium that you have to work at a little was a common theme among entries.
Our fourth winner's entry was picked as the best by one of the four judges. Kelly Brown provides us with an anecdote of the effectiveness of comic books in improving reading:
A janitor at my school owes his literacy to comic books. While in the military he was given comic books to read to improve from a 3rd grade reading level. After reading comic books for 2 years he was reading at a college level. His lieutenant gave them to him.
Several other entries also mentioned using comic books to improve reading skills in adults, including people learning English as a second language.
And the Grand Prize, a Colonia trade and this page of original artwork from Colonia, goes to Nick Leggatt, whose entry was picked as best by three of the four judges, and was ranked number two by the fourth judge. I also liked it best by a tiny margin. So congrats to Nick, who gets the artwork and the trade!
Reading X-Men as a kid made me want to learn about cultures and languages. Reading the quasi-science mumbo-jumbo in Justice League made me want to understand real science. Reading Spider-Man led me to study the powers of spiders. You can study hard, but you learn when you least expect it.
A thanks to all our contestants, and I hope you all enjoy Colonia as much as I do.
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