Third anniversary: best of the blog

Noblemania launched three years ago today. Here are some of my favorite posts of the past three years, organized by category. (For each subsequent anniversary on which I’m still blogging, I will share my favorite posts of that previous year.) These aren't necessarily the posts with the most comments or most links pointed toward. They're just ones I feel best illustrate why I blog in the first place.

research

• for the first time in print, the truth about the death of the father of Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman
• the first "new" photo in decades of Bill Finger, secret co-creator of Batman
• the first published images of the building in which Superman was created
• the "Easter eggs" (hidden elements) of Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman
• original interviews with two men who saved the Boys of Steel in the 1970s
• the truth about Hitler banning Superman
• a (deliberate?) false Finger fact in DC Comics's 75th anniversary book
• tracking down the former homes of Batman's uncredited co-creator Bill Finger
• the link between Bill Finger, uncredited co-creator of Batman, and Abraham Lincoln
• the Bobstacle and the Billain: who is responsible for denying credit to Bill Finger, secret co-creator of Batman?
• Boys of Steal: how meek comic book pioneers Siegel, Shuster, and Finger were all thieves
• Superman's creators vs. Superman's publisher: both sides

speaking

• my 10 most memorable school visit moments
• Siegel, Shuster, and Obama: being in swing state Ohio on Election Day
• four school talks a day for 10 weekdays in a row
• a full house (and live blog) for my Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman talk at NYC's 92nd Street Y
• a Southern school visit and book festival and heroes vs. superheroes

promotion

• a New York City promotional experiment that led to conflict
• Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman makes the front page of USA Today
• the Superman-themed race that is only one-sixth of a mile
• pitching a book event to a grocery store and an airship company

publishing

• we live in the Golden Age of Picture Book Biography
• is it moral to be paid to write about other people's lives?
• the importance of teaching about lesser-known people
• a risk of writing about living people
• how libraries decide where to shelve picture book biographies

miscellaneous

• how to show Superman on a book cover when you're not allowed to show Superman
• the boy who said he found the most valuable comic book in history
• the three book covers of Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman
• funny search terms that led people to my blog
• what made me cry in kindergarten