We’ve never experienced “buzz” so literally in re: graphic novels as at this year’s BEA in Los Angeles. Well be standing there stealing totes from a booth and we’ll overhear “And this is our new graphic novel…” from some earnest booth worker at a book publisher who never published GNs before. As opposed to the first BEA we covered for the Pulse back in 2002, where GNs were segregated to a few isolated booths, they are EVERYWHERE here…in Diamond Alley, at Random House, at FSG, at Perseus, at the giant DC booth, on posters, in panels….they are truly mainstream.

In news items, We chatted with Chris Oliveros who gave us galleys of new books from Rutu Modan, Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie, and Guy Delisle. He mentioned that the response to WHAT IT IS by Lynda Barry has been overwhelming with the book already sold out of its first printing and a second on its way.

NEWSY BITS: Dan Nadel dropped word that he’ll be debuting a new comic by director Michel Gondry at next week’s MoCCA before dashing off to catch a plane…at Last Gasp editor Colin Turner filled us in on some of the manga books they have coming out, including Tokyo Zombie as well as a new book by Junko Mizuno…at Quirk Books they were touting a new GN adaptation of THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which is being adapted into a motion picture by David Fincher due out later this year.

Wait, back to the floor…more later…