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Archie Comics’ openly gay character Kevin Keller gets his first kiss in August—and provokes the ire of a Riverdale mom, whose reaction Veronica catches on video. Archie writer and artist Dan Parent discusses the storyline at USA Today, and Archie co-CEO Jon Goldwater notes that the remarkable thing about Kevin’s kiss is not that he [...]
Archie Comics’ openly gay character Kevin Keller gets his first kiss in August—and provokes the ire of a Riverdale mom, whose reaction Veronica catches on video. Archie writer and artist Dan Parent discusses the storyline at USA Today, and Archie co-CEO Jon Goldwater notes that the remarkable thing about Kevin’s kiss is not that he [...]
The saga of Lego Ninjago continues—no, really!—as our little interlocking-block warriors face off against the evil Stone Warriors in Lego Ninjago, vol. 7: Stone Cold, out this Wednesday in finer bookstores everywhere. Here’s a preview to get …
from graphic novel guest blogger, Francisca Goldsmith: The Empathy Muscle Vance and Berger practice storytelling and visual art in a manner that brings immediacy to history and universality to distinctly detailed fictional characters. The influences of politics, economics and individual chance all have as much bearing on what we can and do make of ourselves [...]
If you like to wait for trade paperbacks, this week’s list is a treasure trove of titles! The fifth trade for Mega Man comes out this week from Archie Comics. BOOM! Studios has two for the adventurer and cat lover with the collection of Adventure Time: Marceline and the Scream Queens and Garfield, and IDW [...]
Dave Roman discusses his new release, Astronaut Academy: Re-Entry, the sequel to his first Astronaut Academy book. Here’s a sample to get you started: I pitched “Astronaut Academy” to First Second as two books, because a futuristic space station school is filled with endless possibilities. Book 1 establishes a world where people (like characters in [...]
We have a treat for you today: A preview of Odd Duck, written by Cecil Castellucci and illustrated by Sara Varon, out this month from First Second. Castellucci is well known for her young adult work, which includes the Minx graphic novel The Plain Janes (illustrated by Jim Rugg) and the hybrid graphic novel The [...]
High school is all about tribes, so the story of Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong, the new graphic novel out this week from writer Prudence Shen and Faith Erin Hicks (published by the inimitable First Second), will ring true to a lot of readers: It pits the robotics team against the cheerleaders. Life is never [...]
It’s been a while since we have done one of these, so there’s quite a bit to read here. Let’s start with two stories I had a hand in: I talked to Uglydolls co-creator David Horvath and artist Ian McGinty about Uglydolls in general and the comic version they are producing for Viz, and I [...]
Today is Free Comic Book Day, the national holiday that celebrates all things sequential. Check the official website for a list of comic book stores that will be offering special FCBD comics to all comers today—and the site also has a list of the comics. And to tide you over, here are a series of [...]
Philippe Coudray’s Benjamin Bear in Bright Ideas! Is laugh-out-loud funny.
Last time we discussed the many charms of Faith Erin Hicks’s Friends with Boys, recognized this year as one of the Great Graphic Novels for Teens Top Ten for 2013. Readers who relish Hicks’s story of family, hauntings, and navigating a new school should turn to these recommendations for their next title. Anya’s Ghost by [...]
This slick biography of President Barack Obama is more inspirational than informational, presenting a smoothed-out view of his rise to the Oval Office. Obama: The Historic Election of America’s 44th President By Agnieszka Biskup Illustrated by Seitu Hayden Capstone Press Let me start by saying that this is a biographical graphic novel that is clearly [...]
This year’s nominees for the Will Eisner Comics Industry Awards have been announced, and it’s quite a varied lineup. Last year’s judges (ahem) increased the number of young reader categories from two to three, and this year’s judges have continued that practice, which opens up the nominations to a wider range of books. Best Publication [...]
Lerner Publishing Group’s My Boyfriend is a Monster series has two popular publishing trends covered: Graphic novels and post-Twilight YA paranormal romance. The series of standalone, black-and-white, hardcover graphic novels by different creative teams all feature fast-paced, rather light melodramas in which a teenage girl falls for a boy who’s not quite human (but close [...]
We have a special treat for you today: An exclusive preview of the last collection of Art Baltazar and Franco’s Tiny Titans series. Tiny Titans: Aw Yeah Titans collects issues #45-50 of the Eisner award-winning series in a 128-page, comic book-sized paperback priced at a kid-friendly $12.99. Here’s the blurb: It’s the final TINY TITANS [...]
Our fifth title from the YALSA Hub Reading Challenge is Friends with Boys by Faith Erin Hicks. Friends with Boys was highlighted as a Great Graphic Novels for Teens Top Ten title for 2013 . As a quick refresher, the Great Graphic Novels for Teens Selection list showcases titles “recommended for those ages 12-18, meet [...]
The recent removal of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis from some classrooms in the Chicago Public schools attracted a lot of attention. Although it first appeared that all the books were being removed, it turned out that the school district had had second thoughts about teaching it to seventh-graders, largely because of a single page depicting torture. [...]
The fairies conspire to throw a surprise party in the latest volume of Disney Fairies, Tinker Bell and the Most Precious Gift, but the guest of honor goes astray. These books are fun for Disney Fairies fans and stand well on their own; this one is out …
We have had our discussion of the graphic history of the atomic bomb, Trinity, and now we’re suggesting more for your nonfiction graphic novel junkies. Curious about science, politics, history, and genius? Check out these titles. Anne Frank: The Anne Frank House Authorized Graphic Biography by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón Why? For those who enjoyed the [...]
