Will Fertman
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willfertman.com
Will Fertman
@willfertman.com
1K followers 3.1K following 1.3K posts
Father and author of The Deaf Baby Instruction Manual, available for pre-order now from Bloomsbury Academic: https://is.gd/0FoT5z

All opinions are my own. More opinions at:
https://willfertman.com - https://buttondown.com/will_fertman
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willfertman.com
First meeting of comics club at my son's school was a blast! Him and a group of classmates met to read and discuss favorites, discover new books, and draw their own.

Super-grateful to CSD Fremont's head librarian Joanne for making this possible! #deafkids #kidscomics #library
A simple 3-panel comic strip, drawn by a child, in pencil on white paper. Panel 1: A stick figure jumps from a trampoline. The word "Jump" appears above. Panel 2: The figure rises from the trampoline. The words "Boing" and "Wee" appear around the figure. Panel 3 The figure is isolated, high in the air, with a bird passing by. The figure says "Helo" to the bird.
January 13, 2026 at 7:46 PM
willfertman.com
"Don't believe those crackpot lies about people who worship differently, or whose skin is a different color, or whose parents came from another country."
Single page public service announcement comic circa 1950 or so. Title: Batman and Robin Stand Up for Sportsmanship! Batman and Robin are in their batmobile when they spot an argument on a football field. They rush to the field where a group of mostly-white athletes are arguing about the inclusion of a Black player. Batman defuses the argument with an eloquent lecture on anti-racist patriotism. Narration: Ever on the alert for signs of crime, Batman and Robin, famed fighters for justice, spot a dangerous new menace. Batman: "Look Robin, some real trouble on that football field--and it needs our attention!" Robin: "Check, Batman!" White footballer 1: "Gosh, it's Batman and Robin!" Batman: "Hold on, what's going on here?" White footballer 2 (Dan): "Aw, we don't want this guy around here, he don't belong! He ain't a real American." White footballer 1: "Speak for yourself, Dan!" White footballer 1: "A lot of us don't agree with you. Hank's a good player--and he belongs on the same team as everybody else." Batman: "Right! It's the one who thinks otherwise who's not the real American. He's harming his country when he speaks and acts that way. Don't believe those crackpot lies about people who worship differently, or whose skin is a different color, or whose parents came from another country. Remember our American heritage of freedom and equality! Don't weaken our country! A nation divided by prejudice is like a football team without teamwork! So get together--work and play in harmony--and you'll have a successful team!"
January 12, 2026 at 6:56 PM
willfertman.com
Still not scary.
Still image from the movie Terrifier 2 (2022.) David Howard Thorton portrays Art the Clown, a slasher with bad teeth and a long nose. Film still from Clown (2014.) Andy Powers as Kent, a man turning into a demonic clown, with sharp, bloodstained teeth.
January 6, 2026 at 9:26 PM
willfertman.com
Unpopular opinion: clowns aren't that scary.
Film still of Tim Curry as Pennywise the Clown from the TV series It (1990.) A red-wigged clown lunges at the camera. Film still of Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise the Clown from the movie It (2017.) A grinning clown with an exaggerated forehead stares at the camera. Cover image from from Batman: The Killing Joke (1988.) Villain the Joker grins as he focuses a camera at the viewer with a splatter of blood in the background. Promotional image from the movie Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988.) A distorted puppet-like clown holds a wacky ray-gun and stares menacingly out at the viewer.
January 6, 2026 at 9:20 PM
willfertman.com
I’m new at this, so I don‘t know how Amazon ranking works, but this is good, right?
www.amazon.com/gp/new-relea...
Image of an Amazon page, “Hearing Problems, New Releases” showing The Deaf Baby Instruction Manual as #1.
January 2, 2026 at 6:37 AM
willfertman.com
I really appreciate your work. I’m actually composing my next newsletter right now. Thank you for making something so simple, reliable and not creepy!
Snapshot of a computer screen showing the composer interface for the Buttondown newsletter software. Assorted half-finished text along with a large image of the cover of The Choking Doberman by Jan Harold Brunvand, showing a big black attack dog with an obstructed airway.
December 30, 2025 at 10:25 PM
willfertman.com
Still image from the film Weapons (2025.) A close-up of a crazed man in a convenience store with bulging eyes and blood streaming down his face.
December 26, 2025 at 3:10 AM
willfertman.com
”Come find me dad! Come find me!”
An upturned box on the floor of a messy children’s room, littered with stuffed Pokemon
December 25, 2025 at 4:28 AM
willfertman.com
As for me...
The "Batman Slaps Robin" meme. An aggrieved Batman slaps Robin, the boy wonder, with their dialog replaced by funny captions. Robin: "Applesauce..." Batman: "Sour cream!"
December 16, 2025 at 2:24 PM
willfertman.com
Sharpies for marking up cardboard, plastic, balloons, etc.:
Photograph of a child drawing in a cardboard shoebox, taken from over his shoulder. The box has the words "DNA on" written on it, along with two double-helix strands of DNA.
December 14, 2025 at 4:20 PM
willfertman.com
Long-neck staplers for making books and zines:
Simple children's book made from folded, stapled copier paper. The cover reads, "Dragons vs Unicorns." Interior of a simple book made by a child out of folded, stapled copier paper. First page shows two stick-ish figures talking. "What's up?" "Hi, Bob." Second page shows two dragons talking while flying outside of a castle talking. "Meanwhile..." "What's up?" "Hi, Bob."
December 14, 2025 at 4:20 PM
willfertman.com
Box cutters for easy cardboard modification:
A child in a simple cardboard box robot costume. A large box with arm-holes for the torso, a small box with eye-holes for the head.
December 14, 2025 at 4:20 PM
willfertman.com
Dropping the younger one off at the de Young for an #ASL interpreted tour of the manga exhibit with his class. Can’t beat a good Deaf school for this stuff.
A child wearing a bright yellow hat squats in front of a large brownish building, the de Young museum. The words “de Young” are faintly visible hammered into the surface of the building itself.
December 11, 2025 at 5:50 PM
willfertman.com
“Dad, where are the Google eyes? I want to put them on my hair.”

#homunculus
Image of a small ball of human hair with googly eyes attached to it, held in a father’s hand.
December 10, 2025 at 3:52 AM
willfertman.com
Quick q. for @drewmagary.bsky.social. My 11 year-old secretly stole this book from me and read the whole thing directly after purchase. What are my options here?
Photo of the book “The Postmortal” by Drew Magary, a green cover with a cartoon drawing of skeletal Death impaled by his own scythe. The book is battered and has a Half Price Books sticker on it listing a price of $8.99.
November 20, 2025 at 5:51 AM
willfertman.com
View from the reading chair. (I’m the reading chair.)
Photo of an elementary-age child reading a comic book on his parent’s lap, taken from the parent’s perspective—over the shoulder and through a mop of blond hair.
November 19, 2025 at 4:09 AM
willfertman.com
Working the outreach table at my son’s school. Giving the ol’ ASL a workout.
Photo of a middle aged bozo sitting at a table in a gym decorated in orange and black. His arms rest on a black t-shirt with the words California School for the Deaf partly visible.
November 11, 2025 at 7:33 PM
willfertman.com
Yep. University of California reports that as of 2022, 48% of undergrads experienced food insecurity. regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/regmeet/mar2...
Figure from UC Berkeley's Basic Needs Annual Report. Text: Figure 1: Undergraduate food and housing insecurity, 2018-2024. Food Insecurity: 2018—47%, 2020—39%, 2022—43%, 2024—48%, 2025 goals 24 %. Housing Insecurity: 2020—7%, 2022—8%, 2024—7%, 2025 goals—3.5%
November 11, 2025 at 12:44 AM
willfertman.com
His books are filled with implied details, unspoken motivations, and characters who don't always tell the truth or know what the real situation is. It encourages kids to do detective work, put themselves in other's shoes, and fill in all kinds of gaps.
Illustration from the children's book I Want My Hat Back. On a nearly blank page, a large brown bear sits on a pile of crushed weeds, staring out towards the reader. On his head he wears a small conical red hat.
November 7, 2025 at 11:44 PM
willfertman.com
Have I mentioned my love of Jon Klassen lately? I think he's Edward Gorey's natural successor and one of the best children's book authors of our time. But what I LOVE about reading his books to #deafkids is how they cultivate theory of mind...
Illustration from the children's book I Want My Hat Back. On a nearly blank page, a large brown bear and a small brown rabbit stare out at the reader. The rabbit is wearing a conical red heat and is partly hidden behind a large weed.
November 7, 2025 at 11:44 PM
willfertman.com
Happy Halloween to all who celebrate (me.)
November 1, 2025 at 1:48 AM
willfertman.com
Hell of a Parthian shot on the back of Nikki Giovanni’s last book.
Poem on the back cover of Nikki Giovanni’s 2024 poetry collection, The New Book Vines My mother died 13 or 14 years Ago I took the flowers Home And put most in Water The gift of life They sit in the window In the sunnyside Of my bedroom And the roots Have taken hold Sometimes a leaf Will yellow And I pull it off It is dead And there must be Room For a new leaf Things that are dead Cannot be saved My mother will always Live in my heart All nazis must be picked And thrown away
October 31, 2025 at 7:50 PM
willfertman.com
I was going to say, I peeked at your website and saw the bluejay mural you did for Lexington—it looked very De’VIA!
Photo detail of a larger mural. A vividly- colored painting of two blue jays perched in a tree with a young Asian girl—the girl and the birds are roughly the same size. The girl is signing I LOVE YOU / ILY in ASL. The branches of the tree also spell out SOAR in the manual alphabet. The clouds in the background form swirls of red, orange and yellow.
October 27, 2025 at 3:36 PM
willfertman.com
green ghost
A candid photo of a figure draped in a long green blanket standing in the corner of a wood-paneled room with a Yosemite poster in the wall.
October 26, 2025 at 12:40 AM
willfertman.com
Wow! I cannot do justice to the gorgeous landscape or the kind, caring educators and parents I met in Wyoming. #deafed is not easy out there but they have some incredibly dedicated folks in the “Equal Rights“ state.
Photograph of the sun shining through a nearly bare tree against a grassy landscape with mountains in the background. Casper, Wyoming.
October 20, 2025 at 10:01 PM