We’re kicking things off this week with Sean’s post, Heroines, Assemble! on fun new animated series BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD… and a few of its problems with the portrayal of female superheroes.

As people have noticed, the site was recently infested by an endemic malware problem. After trying a bug-swatting based approach for a while, it became apparent that this approach was too reactive, and allowed for malware to persist until discovered, which is basically bad.

Because our site is very large, rooting it out instance-by-instance was becoming prohibitive, so what Betty has done is create a local (to her machine) mirror of the site which can be checked against the production (live, on the internets) version, and discrepancies may be assumed to be malware.

Unfortunately, Dreamhost’s backups left something to be desired, so some of the extensively modified php files which were responsible for look-and-feel have gone missing and need to be recreated. The good news is that this shouldn’t be too hard; bad news is that we’re going to be discovering missing php files for a while.

We apologise whole-heartedly for the mess, and would appreciate your assistance in getting the site back on its feet. In particular, if you have civicrm experience and would like to help, please contact Betty at sturdyandserviceable@gmail.com .

If you notice any issues not listed below, please let us know.

Known Problems:

- Forums users’ icons have been deleted, and will need to be re-uploaded by the users

- Blogs have had their themes deleted – all the content is there, but possibly inaccessible. Blog owners can fix this by logging in and installing a new theme. Some links/categories may be messed up in the process.

- Several links on the front page are broken.

- Sub-domains (xxxx.girl-wonder.org) should be unaffected.

Once again, we apologize for the problems, and thank you for your patience.

National Public Radio’s comics blogger, Glen Weldon, includes Girl-Wonder.org in his post discussing the recent decision to add bike shorts to Supergirl’s costume.

The comics community rallied, and thanks to generous donations of money and equipment, Karen was able to replace some of her art supplies and find a new place to live. Her gratitude and determination are recorded on Planet Karen, but she is still unable to replace many of her possessions.

Girl-Wonder.org is delighted to announce a fundraising auction for Karen, thanks to the generous donations of the comics community. The auction runs until 30th March, and includes items as diverse as an “incredibly wordy” Wonderella giftset, handbags, jewellery, an original Phil Noto Black Widow Sketch, and the original artwork of this post-fire Planet Karen strip.

For more information, please contact Karen Healey at karen.healey@girl-wonder.org.

The apartment above her own caught fire on Sunday night, and while firefighters fought the blaze for three hours, tragically, the occupant was killed. Karen is physically fine, but most of her possessions, including books, clothes and drawing supplies, are ruined beyond repair. The apartment itself has suffered so much structural damage that she’s also been made effectively homeless. (See this comic for an account in her own words.)

Karen is a valuable part of the webcomics community. If you can, please consider making a contribution to her Paypal account to help out. Just head to http://planetkaren.girl-wonder.org/ and hit the “Donation” button in the right-hand column. Every donation, whatever its size, really counts!

Girl-Wonder.org, the organization that hosts Planet Karen, is also planning a fundraising auction on Karen’s behalf. If you have items you think you’d like to donate, please contact Karen Healey at karen.healey@girl-wonder.org for details.

Sequential Smarts is intended as a resource for anyone interested in using comics in education. Sequential Smarts is an interactive blog. Readers, regardless of their formal education experience, are encouraged to submit reviews of comics they’ve used or are considering using for educational purposes.

Using these reviews, the blog will become a resource for educators looking for books which would engage struggling readers, clear up difficult concepts, or just get them reading.

“With the growing popularity and variety of graphic novels, more and more educators are turning to comics to engage their students,” said blog contributor Jessica Plummer. “But with this sudden flooding of the market, picking out the useful classroom tools can be a tricky proposition.”

Both blog contributors are themselves experienced educators. Elena Kamenetzky has tutored ESL and remedial reading students in Minnesota with AmeriCorps, and currently teaches English in Japan through the JET program. One of her lesson plans was named the August 2006 America Learns National Strategy of the Month.

Jessica Plummer has both taught and tutored at elementary, middle, and high school levels. She currently works in academic publishing, keeping her eye on what kids are reading.

The blog can be found at http://girl-wonder.org/sequentialsmarts. For additional information on Sequential Smarts or information on submitting a review, please contact the contributors at sequentialsmarts@girl-wonder.org.

As such, we are proud to announce that Girl-Wonder.org blogger Rachel Edidin will be serving as editor for the upcoming graphic novel The Last Dragon, written by bestselling author Jane Yolen! As reported by Publisher’s Weekly:

“Yolen hopes the book will attract “fantasy lovers, romantics, graphic novel fans, and I hope my fans as well”—and says that while she’s uncomfortable breaking down reading skills and interests by gender, “I think girls read across the genres more than boys and will probably respond more quickly to The Last Dragon because of the romantic elements and because the main character, and the real hero, is a girl. But I hope that boys will also find a story of an uncomfortable male hero who learns to love something besides himself.”

The “action-fantasy” GN will be released by Dark Horse Comics in 2010.

We’re especially proud of our most recent projects, the Female Friendly Comic Book Store Map and the Convention Anti-Harassment Project. Both are great resources for fans and comics professionals to combine their love of comics with activism, education, and promotion. CAHP in particular is a great resource to help con directors make their cons safer for attendees.

But we’re not resting on our laurels. In the future, we hope to:

· Establish an independent store with Girl-Wonder.org exclusive merchandise

· Publish a Girl-Wonder.org calendar

· Establish a scholarship fund for aspiring female comic creators

However, none of this could be achieved without the dedication of our board and forum moderation team. While they’ve done their best to maintain the site, all of the board members have had to balance both their real life duties and their Girl-Wonder.org duties.

And speaking frankly, it’s been hard. All of us are working full-time either as students, seeking higher degrees, or in professional fields. Balancing Board duties and other concerns leaves many of us exhausted and overtaxed. And we’re all volunteers; not one cent of our funds goes to pay the Board. Girl-Wonder.org is a labor of passion and love.

So though we want to reach these future goals as soon as possible, we can’t do it without help from other dedicated passionate individuals. We want to keep these goals alive, and every little bit helps. Currently, we are taking volunteers for the moderation team and our different committees: incorporation, promotion, and merchandising. Even if all you can commit is to moderating a forum or helping out with a forum redesign, that puts us a little bit closer to our goals. We can use you. For more information, please contact Karen Healey at karen.healey@girl-wonder.org

If you want to voluneer and you’re not sure for what, email me anyway! There is something you can do to help.

-Karen Healey, Girl-Wonder.org Board President

Ellyn described the comic as being focused on “self-discovery, and also with punching monsters.” Piffer, on the other hand, frequently describes the work as, “The Dark Crystal meets Dazed and Confused.”

“The main character, Sophie, is charismatic and charming, but tends to be self-absorbed, and has a gift for getting herself into situations that are completely over her head,” Ellyn said.

Piffer and Ellyn met at a community arts center about a year and a half ago, Ellyn said. After discovering they shared a mutual love of comics, Piffer suggested the two collaborate on a work.

Ellyn studied animation at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, and now focuses on illustration and freelance comics work; several of her pieces have been published in the Vancouver Review. Her website can be found at http://laura.purplethistle.ca/. “Tales” is Piffer’s first published work.

In keeping with our expressed mission of promoting and supporting women in comics, Girl-Wonder.org is proud to host “Astonishing Tales” alongside our other webcomics, such as “Planet Karen” by Karen Ellis, “The Tower” by Saki Miyamoto and Brendon Bennetts, and Andrea M. Bell’s “Mistress.”