February 16, 2013

The Good Comics for Kids 2012 Gift Guide

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It’s holiday time, and our bloggers have you covered with suggestions for everything from stocking stuffers to gifts for nieces and nephews to that One Big Thing you know the comics fan in your life would like.

I’ll start things off with some ideas for books that really feel like something special. When I was growing [...]

Review of the Day: Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales (One Dead Spy & Big Bad Ironclad) by Nathan Hale

Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: One Dead Spy
Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: Big Bad Ironclad!
By Nathan Hale
Amulet (an imprint of Abrams)
$12.95
ISBN: 978-1-419700396-6
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0395-9
Ages 9-12
On shelves now
If you should find that you share your name with a Revolutionary War Hero you have various ways of making use of that fact. You could join Revolutionary War re-enactors [...]

Top 20 Star Wars Graphic Novels, Part 4 of 4

Lastly, below are my top five Star Wars graphic novels/series published by Dark Horse Comics—they are in no particular order except for the last three – which are my personal top picks. Dark Horse Comics has done a phenomenal job with the Star Wars license, and though the acquisition of Star Wars by Disney Studios [...]

Top 20 Star Wars Graphic Novels, Part 3 of 4

As we anticipate the future of Star Wars under Disney, let’s continue our series on my top 20 Star Wars graphic novels published by Dark Horse Comics.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
10) Star Wars: Darth Maul. 2001. 96 pp. 978-1-56971-542-0.

When The Phantom Menace came out, fans wanted to see more [...]

Why a Classic Is a Classic

A starred review today, from our graphic novel guest blogger, Francisca Goldsmith:
Sequential art has been the go-to format for creators and adaptors, bowdlerizers and clever clogs who rework, or try to rework, classics. Disney-sponsored Scrooge McDuck, Posy Simmonds’ Gemma Bovery, published-for-classroom Manga Shakespeare, and Will Eisner’s repurposing of Moby Dick give only the beginning of [...]

Top 20 Star Wars Graphic Novels, Part 2 of 4

As we’re looking forward to the future of Star Wars now that it’s a part of Disney, let’s continue our look at the best Dark Horse Comics Star Wars graphic novels – either stand alone stories or series published by the company over the last 22 years. Dark Horse has done a phenomenal job with [...]

Top 20 Star Wars Graphic Novels, Part 1 of 4

Ever since the news broke out on October 30th about Walt Disney’s acquisition of George Lucas’ Lucasfilm company Star Wars, there’s also begun speculation about the future of Star Wars license at Dark Horse Comics, where it’s been a staple of their line of comic books since 1991. Will Star Wars be published now by [...]

Preview: Smurf Soup!

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How about a little pre-holiday silliness to start off your weekend? The Smurfs: Smurf Soup, the 13th volume of Peyo’s Smurfs comic to be published by Papercutz, came out this past week. Let’s take a look!

Links: Mirka Meets a Meteorite—and more!

Kid Beowulf

This won’t be out until next May, but it sounds intriguing: Writer Chris Northrop and artist Jeff Stokeley are working on The Reason for Dragons, a coming-of-age story about a teenager who has an encounter with a knight—who lives in his garage.
Barry Deutsch talks about Hereville: How Mirka Met A Meteorite, and how it [...]

Preview: The Three Stooges, vol. 2

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The folks at Papercutz love a good laugh, and who better to provide it than the Three Stooges? Here’s a look at their second volume of new Three Stooges comics, written by George Gladir and Stefan Petrucha and illustrated by Stan Goldberg. Gladir and Goldberg are old Archie hands, while Petrucha writes a number of [...]

Reading is a Superpower! Comic Books, Graphic Novels, & Literacy

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Tuesday, December 4, 2012, 3:00 – 4:00 PM ET This webcast will feature a report on the 10-school pilot program ABDO led with elementary students and staff in a California district, using their Marvel Age comic books and graphic novels, eBooks, and teachers guides in a weeks-long “comic con” with the kids creating their own superheroes and stories based on the books. Archive is now available!

Preview: Ninjago 5: Kingdom of the Snakes

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Who would have thought that one of the best selling graphic novels, for children or adults, would be about Lego ninja warriors? Well, anyone who thought it through, I guess. Here’s a peek at the latest book in the series, Ninjago 5: Kingdom of t…

Kickstart the Halloween Treats

Thanks to Hurricane Sandy we missed Halloween here in New York City. So please enjoy this post from our regular graphic novel guest blogger, Francisca Goldsmith, exactly one week later than planned:
Batton Lash studied with Will Eisner and Harvey Kurtzman, but has gone on to create a unified field of their master teachings of good [...]

Review: Upside Down

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Here’s another review by our newest writer, Michael May—that’s him over on the right!

Upside Down: A Vampire Tale
By Jess Smart Smiley
Top Shelf
It’s tough not to be a hypocrite when it comes to raising or teaching kids. “Do as I say, not as I do” may work when they’re very young, but children soon start to [...]

Preview: Geronimo Stilton: We’ll Always Have Paris

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From the title, you might think that Geronimo Stilton: We’ll Always Have Paris is a take on Casablanca, but it’s actually about the building of the Eiffel Tower. As usual, the cats try to mess things up for their own purposes, and Geronimo and his posse have to travel back in time to stop [...]

Common Core Comics

It’s hard to believe that November is knocking on the door and the school year is well underway.  (If it wasn’t for Hurricane Sandy, I’d be thinking about elections, Thanksgiving, and yes… the Winter Holidays!) Of course, what my thoughts are constantly busy with are the buzzwords “Common Core” that are being chirped up and [...]

Interview: Jess Smart Smiley on Upside Down

Top Shelf Comix has carved a niche in the kids’ comics market by publishing high quality series that are both quirky and sweet like Andy Runton’s Owly, James Kochalka’s Johnny Boo and more. Now, Top Shelf has a new addition to their kids’ comics family: Upside Down: A Vampire Tale by Jess Smart Smiley introduces [...]

Review: Hereville 2

Readers who missed the first volume of Hereville should run out and find a copy, but even so, it won’t be a problem picking up this sequel and jumping right into Mirka’s latest adventure.  This volume gives readers enough background knowledge of the first story so that they don’t feel lost, and it will make [...]

Preview: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew

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The first volume of Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew debuts from Papercutz on October 30, and we have a sneak preview for you. Like the prose chapter books of the same name, this graphic novel features Nancy and her familiar friends from the series as eight-year-olds, so it’s pitched at a younger audience than [...]

Preview: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew

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The first volume of Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew debuts from Papercutz on October 30, and we have a sneak preview for you. Like the prose chapter books of the same name, this graphic novel features Nancy and her familiar friends from the series as eight-year-olds, so it’s pitched at a younger audience than [...]