.

Got kids?  Nieces? Nephews?  Students?  Or just love reading something fun and not too heavy-handed?  Here are some new titles you might enjoy!

(But first, the serious boilerplate:)

So, here’s what caught my eye.  Please comment below, and please feel free to mention titles I may have marginalized or overlooked.  My tastes are eclectic, but there’s stuff which doesn’t interest me, or doesn’t evoke much of a response.  I respect everyone who manages to publish something, but with some 400 graphic novel titles a month, I have to be selective.

CAVEAT:  As I discovered while doing the publisher posts, that some titles have been canceled or postponed.  The titles below, the information is subject to change.  Some may already be out and on sale, some may be vaporous.  Covers and text are supplied by the publishers.

Oh, and the advisory:  I am employed as a bookseller.  Nothing I say here or anywhere else online has any connection to my employer.  I know my employer can take umbrage at any association people may make between my private and professional activities, so I’m careful to let Lions Mane Jellyfish be.

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Betty & Veronica: Best Friends Forever

Dan Parent

Trade paperback, $9.99

9781879794764, 1879794764

Author Bio: Dan Parent (born 1964 in St. Albans, Vermont) is an American comic book artist and writer best known for his work for Archie Comics. A graduate of the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art, Parent began working for Archie immediately after graduation. His writing of the Love Showdown series from 1994 received widespread attention. Parent has also illustrated Felix the Cat, Barbie, Disney Adventures, and a wide variety of other titles.

Summary: Betty & Veronica’s very first full-length graphic novel story is another major step forward for the Archie book line! A follow-up to the successful full color Betty & Veronica: Storybook graphic novel collection of fun fairy-tale sendups—Best Friends Forever should continue to gain ground with girls in bookstores and libraries.

Features an engaging story celebrating the power of friendship featuring the most famous BFFs in all of comics in an all-out reality show friendship competition!

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Hades: Lord of the Dead

George O’Connor

Hardcover, $16.99

9781596437616, 1596437618

Author Bio: GEORGE O’CONNOR is the author of several picture books, including the New York Times bestseller Kapow!, Kersplash, and Sally and the Some-thing. He has written and illustrated multiple graphic novels for First Second.  He is also a lifelong mythology buff.

Summary: Volume 4 of Olympians, Hades: Lord of the Dead, tells the story of the great God of the Underworld, and one of the most famous of all Greek myths: Hades’ abduction of Persephone, and her mother, Demeter’s, revenge.

In OLYMPIANS, O’Connor draws from primary documents to reconstruct and retell classic Greek myths. But these stories aren’t sedate, scholarly works. They’re action-packed, fast-paced, high-drama adventures with monsters, romance, and not a few huge explosions. O’Connor’s vibrant, kinetic art brings ancient tales to undeniable life, in a perfect fusion of super-hero aesthetics and ancient Greek mythology.

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Dance Class 1: So You Think You Can Hip-Hop

Béka, Crip

ISBN:    1-59707-254-0
ISBN 13:    978-1-59707-254-0
Trade Cloth, $9.99

In this new dance based series, Julie, Lucy and Alia are BFF’s who share one passion: dance! Between programs in ballet and modern dance, they also slip in classes on many other styles including hip-hop, a class run by the hunk KT, who’s got all three competing for his attention. As they prepare for the ballet “Sleeping Beauty,” they’d love to see him play Prince Charming. Any of the millions of girls with a love for dance and taking classes will find this new gag-filled series irresistible!

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Strawberry Shortcake: Pineapple Predicament and Other Stories

Georgia Ball, Tanya Roberts, Amy Mebberson
ISBN:    1-936340-57-7
ISBN 13:    978-1-936340-57-6
Trade Paper, $6.99

Returning to comics after 25 years! This digest edition collects stories from the hit comic including- “The Pineapple Predicament”, “The Sour Truth” and more!
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My Best Friend’s a Booger

Tyler Kirkham, Rian Kirkham, John Starr

ISBN:    1-926914-36-8
ISBN 13:    978-1-926914-36-7
Trade Paper, $6.95

Who would have ever thought you could have a booger as your best friend? Well, if your imagination is anything like Skyler Grayson’’s, the possibilities are endless! At a time when Skyler is feeling really down and all alone, he finds his greatest friend in, you guessed it – a sneeze!

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How to Draw Your Own Graphic Novel

by Frank Lee

Library Set ISBN: 9781448866021  $151.50

Library bindings: $25.25   Paperback bindings: $12.30

Readers who love to get sucked into the fantastic world of a really good graphic novel will be thrilled to learn they can actually create their very own. The many steps in creating a vibrant graphic novel are thoroughly explained in this wonderful series. Readers are introduced to the basics of graphic novels and the elements that go into making a great one from characters to plot to designing the perfect, eye-catching cover. Step-by-step instructions explain how to draw the most amazing hero and most evil villain. Wonderful explanatory illustrations accompany the text.
—–
Penciling, Inking, and Coloring Your Graphic Novel
ISBN:    1-4488-6435-6
ISBN 13:    978-1-4488-6435-5
Price:    $25.25
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Creating the Cover for Your Graphic Novel
ISBN:    1-4488-6457-7
ISBN 13:    978-1-4488-6457-7
Price:    $12.30
—–
Penciling, Inking, and Coloring Your Graphic Novel
ISBN:    1-4488-6455-0
ISBN 13:    978-1-4488-6455-3
Price:    $12.30
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Creating the Cover for Your Graphic Novel
ISBN:    1-4488-6436-4
ISBN 13:    978-1-4488-6436-2
Price:    $25.25
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Telling the Story in Your Graphic Novel
ISBN:    1-4488-6434-8
ISBN 13:    978-1-4488-6434-8
Price:    $25.25
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Drawing Action in Your Graphic Novel
ISBN:    1-4488-6477-1
ISBN 13:    978-1-4488-6477-5
Price:    $25.25
—–
Telling the Story in Your Graphic Novel
ISBN:    1-4488-6453-4
ISBN 13:    978-1-4488-6453-9
Price:    $12.30
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Drawing Action in Your Graphic Novel
ISBN:    1-4488-6451-8
ISBN 13:    978-1-4488-6451-5
Price:    $12.30
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Everyday Life in Ancient China

Kirsten C. Holm

Paperback Book  $10.60

ISBN: 978-1-4488-6395-2

Life in Ancient China was vastly different from life in the heavily-populated, industrialized China of today. Most of the people in Ancient China farmed and worked the land for food. This fascinating volume gives readers a glimpse into the daily activities of a farmer in Ancient China, while accessible language also supplies information about the government, education, technology, and culture of this rich civilization.

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Silver Dragon Presents: Tales of Adventure – Real Pirates

Joe Brusha

ISBN:    0-9830404-2-7
ISBN 13:    978-0-9830404-2-2
Trade Paper, $9.99

Far off lands, exotic and mysterious places, adventure on the high seas…these are things that capture the imagination, and are everyday occurrences in the life of a pirate. The first book in Silver Dragon’’s Tales of Adventure series explores the exciting and danger-filled lives of the pirates that have sailed and terrorized the seven seas. Black Beard, Henry Morgan, and Captain Kidd are just a few of the real-life pirates that are featured in this groundbreaking, all-ages graphic novel.
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Richie Rich Digest, Volume 1

Buddy Scalera, Iwan Nazif

ISBN:    1-936340-58-5
ISBN 13:    978-1-936340-58-3

Trade Paper, $6.99

A mix of James Bond and Indiana Jones with the bank account of Donald Trump, Richie Rich is an altruistic adventurer who travels the world helping the less fortunate. After 20 years away from comics, Richie Rich returns with all new adventures!

WELCOME TO RICH RESCUE:
Richie arrives at the newly-constructed, cutting-edge tech RICH RESCUE operations building! After a brief tour with Professor Keenbean, a distress call sends the team into action!

THE BOON UNDER THE BAY:
After learning of a long lost pirate’s treasure buried deep beneath the waters of the pacific south coast, Richie and the gang investigate, only to learn that there are other interested parties privy to the prizes. Facing off with an enemy known as The Googol, as well as the villain’s army of modern day pirates (complete with a highly advanced octopus submarine that they can not only pilot, but use as a weapon), the team will have to retrieve the treasure and best the bad guys, all before they run out of oxygen!

OF DEMISE AND MEN (Sid Jacobson):
A classic adventure from Richie Rich creator Sid Jacobson! A day of excitement at the Funland Amusement Park takes a turn when Richie’s cousin Reggie is kidnapped! Can Richie and the gang thwart the kidnappers, or will these dastardly villains make off with a million dollars?

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Blackbeard: Legend of the Pyrate King

Mario Guevara, Greg Hale, Jamie Nash, Eduardo Sanchez, Robert Place Napton

ISBN:    1-60690-083-8
ISBN 13:    978-1-60690-083-3

Trade Cloth, $29.99

Producers Eduardo (writer of The Blair Witch Project) Sanchez and Gregg (Producer of The Blair Witch Project) Hale are joined by Robert Napton and Jamie Nash to present the ultimate adventure tale of a bygone age, when pyrates ruled the waters! Beginning with his childhood through to his bitter end, Blackbeard’s legacy has never been explored as deeply and illustrated as beautifully by Mario Guevara than now!
Also contains biographical information on Blackbeard and a complete cover gallery.

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The Dare Detectives, Volume 1: The Snowpea Plot

Ben Caldwell

ISBN:    1-936393-41-7
ISBN 13:    978-1-936393-41-1
Trade Cloth, $24.95

Reformed crook Maria Dare has assembled a team of misfits to crack the world’s weirdest cases! They have brains … they have guts … but they don’t have a clue! And in their first adventure. The Dare Detectives are finished! Rent’s due and their license is suspended, but Dare’s going-out-of-business festivities are interrupted by Madame Bleu – whose abominable snowmen pets are on a chef-stealing, radio-robbing, snowpea-swiping crime wave! Dare races against the clock to hunt down Madame Bleu with the help of corrupt cops and Chinatown’s old crime boss. But can these bunglers really prevent the most audacious – and inexplicably convoluted – crime of the century?
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Billy Fog, Volume 1: The Gift of Trouble Sight

Guillaume Bianco
ISBN:    1-936393-39-5
ISBN 13:    978-1-936393-39-8
Trade Cloth, $24.95

Like some other kids his age, Billy Fog has to wear glasses. But Billy has the gift of Trouble Sight, so when he takes his glasses off, he sees all the things that other kids can’t—ghosts and ghouls, vampires and monsters, a world of darkness and danger and above all the thing that kids aren’t supposed to see: death. Is Trouble Sight a gift, then, or a curse? A new kind of graphic novel—part storybook, part fable, part gazetteer and bestiary of the horrible and fantastic, inspired by the likes of Tim Burton and Lemony Snicket.

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Spera, Volume 1

Josh Tierney, Kyla Vanderklugt, Hwei Lin Lim, Emily Carroll, Olivier Pichard, Afu Chan

ISBN:    1-936393-30-1
ISBN 13:    978-1-936393-30-5
Trade Cloth, $19.95

Lono’s life as a princess consisted of sitting, reading, and dreaming—until the day Pira, princess of a neighboring kingdom, arrived with news of a waking nightmare! With the help of Pira’s best friend—a fire spirit in the form of a dog named Yonder—the princesses now find themselves in a race against evil. The goal: Spera, a magical realm of which the princesses had only ever heard the tallest tales. The prize: their very lives!
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Fraggle Rock Classics, Volume 1

Stan Kay, Marie Severin, Jake Myler, Rebecca Taylor

ISBN:    1-936393-22-0
ISBN 13:    978-1-936393-22-0
Trade Paper, $9.95

Archaia Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company are proud to present a new reprinting of the original Fraggle Rock comic book series, which first debuted in 1985. Look back into the history of your favorite Fraggles with stories such as “The Magic Time Machine,” “The Trouble With Being #1,” “The Monster That Could Be Anything” and “The Doozer Who Wanted to Be a Fraggle.” Digitally remastered and beautifully bound in softcover for a new generation of Fraggle Rock fans, this series will make you want to dance your cares away—’80s style!
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The Dark Crystal

Brian Holguin, Alex Sheikman, Brian Froud,Lisa Henson

ISBN:    1-936393-00-X
ISBN 13:    978-1-936393-00-8
Trade Cloth, $19.95

Part one of a three-part graphic novel series delving into the origins of the Skeksis, Mystics, Gelflings, the world of Thra and the Dark Crystal itself. Spanning a time period from thousands of years ago to right up to the start of the original film, this graphic novel epic will tell the definitive origin of Dark Crystal, under the supervision of The Jim Henson Company and The Dark Crystal concept designer Brian Froud.

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Treasure Chest

ISBN:    1-4507-2379-9
ISBN 13:    978-1-4507-2379-4
Trade Paper, $15.99

Bluewater brings back the classic comic book series that started in 1946. Its inspirational stories of sports and folk heroes, saints, school kids, history, science and similar topics were drawn by artists that included such prominent figures as EC’s Reed Crandall, Graham Ingels and Joe Orlando, Marvel Comics’ Joe Sinnott, and DC Comics’ Murphy Anderson and Jim Mooney. Other features included literary adaptations and such typical comics fare as funny animal humor strips.

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The Flying Beaver Brothers and the Fishy Business

Maxwell Eaton

978-0-375-86448-3  , Trade Paperback, $6.99

978-0-375-96448-0  Library Binding, $12.99

The Flying Beaver Brothers are back, and this time they’re hot on the trail of another eco-villain: Fish Stix  Environmental Manufacturing. When Fish Stix sets up shop, most of the islanders are thrilled. After all, Fish Stix are the most popular, best-selling sticks around AND they’re good for the environment! But this eco-friendly facade is just a cover for a nefarious plot involving dirty money, fish who walk on dry land, and a great big smoking volcano. It’s up to the dauntless beaver brothers to set things right—and they better do it fast or the island’s forests are history! Now if only Bub can stop napping and they can all make enough pancakes to save the day. . . .

This second installment to Max Eaton’s new graphic series ups the ante in terms of both action and humor. The Flying Beaver Brothers are poised to take off as beloved comicbook heros.

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Ralph Filmore: Paranormal Investigator

ISBN:    1-926914-31-7
ISBN 13:    978-1-926914-31-2
Trade Paper, $14.95

Vampires, Aliens, Ghosts and Zombies… BEWARE! There’s a new hero in town and his name is Ralph Filmore! Ralph Filmore is just your average, everyday 13-year-old Paranormal Investigator. He may be the youngest, and possibly the world’s greatest paranormal private eye. Ralph hunts down and challenges all things strange and bizarre on a daily basis. He unwittingly solves “out of this world” mysteries (literally). But he’s still the shortest kid in the 8th grade, still gets picked on by bullies, and still has to be in bed by 9 PM. More often than not, Ralph’s serious obsession for paranormal phenomena gets him into heaps of trouble. With his best friends and partners in slime, Booker and Tav, his trusty robotic supercomputer Z, and his ghostly canine companion Specter, Ralph protects the people of Earth from extraterrestrial and supernatural threats.

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How the Elephant Got His Trunk: The Graphic Novel

Rudyard Kipling, Pedro Rodríguez, B. A. Hoena

ISBN:    1-4342-3880-6
ISBN 13:    978-1-4342-3880-1

Trade Paper, $4.95

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First Base Blues

Anita Yasuda, Steve Harpster

ISBN:    1-4342-3863-6
ISBN 13:    978-1-4342-3863-4

Trade Paper, $5.95

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Okay… continuing on with Fall previews, we move to one of the Big Six pubishers.  No, not comics, the mainstream Big Six, the ones which dominate American and English bookselling.  Macmillan is part of of the Holtzbrinck Group, and includes such marques as Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Henry Holt, St. Martin’s, Tor, Scientific American, and, of particular interest to comics fans, First Second Books.

First Second has always produced graphic novel books of exquisite quality (of a variety of criteria), and their Fall catalog is amazing!

So amazing, that Macmillan is offering a FREE e-book sampler! (That cover images is from Stan Nicholls’ Orcs: Forged for War.)

Have you ever asked yourself what goes on in comics between the panels and behind the scenes?  Now, you can get an inside look at the making of eleven exciting new graphic novels and learn more about how they’re put together.

Written and Illustrated by Orson Scott Card, Emily Janice Card, Jonathan Case, Chase Conley, Chris Duffy, Joe Flood, Jonathan Hill, Honoel Ibardolaza, Thomas LeBien, Leland Myrick, Stan Nicholls, Jim Ottaviani, MK Reed, and Sara Varon.

Orson Scott Card? Doesn’t he only publish graphic novels for Marvel?  Not anymore!  And while those Ender Game adaptations are enjoyable, all the cool kids are reading manga, so Mr. Card and daughter have written an original graphic novel about teenagers who are mysteriously chosen to maintain alien technology which powers Earth.  Of course, there’s a mystery involved.  I’ve read the first few chapters, and it looks like an entertaining read, a bit of Tezuka’s drawing style and message mixed with Card’s hard science fiction.  Of course, I’m not the target audience, so proceed with caution.

What? You want more?  TWO Hugo Award winning authors isn’t enough?!  Okay… go read The Eye of the World: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1, by Chuck Dixon and Chase Conley, based on Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series.

Tired of all this human-centric fantasy?  You’ll probably enjoy Orcs: Forged for War, by Stan Nicholls; illustrated by Joe Flood.

It follows a ruthless and deadly cohort of warrior orcs as they fight their way free of the dominion of an evil human enchantress. Sitting on an exhilarating peak with high fantasy on one side and the thrilling, gruesome battlefields of graphic novel classics like Frank Miller’s 300 on the other, Orcs presents the world of its ogre-like protagonists with technicolor violence and moments of unexpected sympathy.

Or perhaps you want something more spooky.  Friends with Boys, written & illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks, is about Maggie McKay, a homeschooled teenager mainstreamed into high school.  As if high school wasn’t scary enough, Maggie must solve the mystery of a melancholy ghost which has followed Maggie her entire life.  Due to be published in February, go read the award-winning Brain Camp, which Hicks illustrated.

Of a different sort of teen angst is Derek Kirk Kim’s classic, Same Difference.  Reprinted by First Second in a deluxe hardcover, it is scheduled for December.

Geez… romance comics are making a comeback!  Periscope Studios’ Jonathan Case makes his debut with Dear Creature, which tells the tale of underwater creature Grue, and his star-crossed romance with Giulietta.  Will the course of true love run smooth for Grue?

Originally published as a webcomic online, Zahra’s Paradise by Amir and Khalil chronicles the aftermath of the Iranian elections of 2009.  There is a discussion guide, and the comic has been translated into thirteen languages!  First Second offers other webcomics as well on their blog.

Set in 1967 Texas, The Silence of Our Friends is a semi-autobiographical story  written by Mark Long and Jim Demonakos, and illustrated by Nate Powell.

The Silence of Our Friends follows events through the point of view of young Mark Long, whose father is a reporter covering the story. Semi-fictionalized, this story has its roots solidly in very real events. With art from the brilliant Nate Powell (Swallow Me Whole) bringing the tale to heart-wrenching life, The Silence of Our Friends is a new and important entry in the body of civil rights literature for older teens and adults.

Too serious and timely?  Or perhaps you want some political commentary from the 18th and 19th Centuries?  (Or so the conspiracy theory postulates…)  Or perhaps you wish to sample comics by a multitude of world-class cartoonists!  Then you’ll probably enjoy Nursery Rhyme Comics: 50 Timeless Rhymes from 50 Celebrated Cartoonists!  Roz Chast!  Nick Bruel!  Mike Mignola adapting Solomon Grundy!  Tony Millionaire!  Kate Beaton!  (And some guy named Mark Siegel…)  If you click on the title link above, there’s a Google Books preview which includes the table of contents as well as some preview pages!  (Although, for some strange reason, the pages are blocked as “copyrighted material”, even though it’s Macmillan’s own website!  Go figure…)

Or maybe you want romance, intrigue, and office politics.  Or just cute doggies.  Or perhaps you’re intrigued by the elevator pitch: Arrested Development meets Call of the Wild. You’ll probably like Mush: Sled Dogs with Issues, by Glenn Eichler and Joe “Fur” Infurnari.

Don’t like all this make-believe?  Well, you can learn stuff from comics as well.  Comics are ideally suited for taking a difficult subject and making it easy to understand.

How difficult?  How about the Affordable Care Act?  Hill & Wang will publish Health Care Reform: What It Is, Why It’s Necessary, How It Works by Jonathan Gruber and Nathan Schreiber.  Since you’ll probably already have an opinion about the subject matter, I’ll skip it and give you the bios:

Dr. Jonathan Gruber is a Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Director of the Health Care Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He was a key architect of Massachusetts’s ambitious health reform effort and consulted extensively with the Obama administration and Congress during the development of the Affordable Care Act. The Washington Post called him “possibly the [Democratic] party’s most influential health-care expert.”

Nathan Schreiber’s comics have appeared in L’Uomo Vogue, Overflow, and Smith Magazine and on ACT-I-VATE.com. His comic Power Out won a Xeric award and has been nominated for an Eisner award and multiple Harvey awards.

Or maybe it’s the economy, stupid.   If it is, then you’ll probably want to read The Cartoon Introduction to Economics, Volume Two: Macroeconomics by Grady Klein and Yoram Bauman, Ph.D.  There will be a lot of economic theory proposed by candidates (including one inspired by a video game) so it’s best if the electorate is informed and educated.  This book looks at the Big Picture (MACROeconomics) of national and global economics, explaining stuff you probably learned in high school but forgot because TMZ doesn’t cover the economy.

Macmillan also has a manga imprint, titled Seven Seas.  I generally avoid spotlighting subsequent volumes of titles, so there are only two new titles this season:

My Boyfriend is a Vampire, volume 1-2
Story and art by Han Yu-Rang
The series will be released in this omnibus format.

Dracula Everlasting 1
Story by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir; Art by Rhea Silvan

Macmillan also distributes other publishers, including Drawn & Quarterly, Papercutz, and Bloomsbury USA.  This post is long enough already, so here are some choice links for you to explore at your leisure.

• The Canterbury Tales by Seymour Chwast
• A Halloween Treat by Edward Gorey
• What I Hate: From A to Z by Roz Chast
• D+Q New and Featured Products
• ERNEST & REBECCA #1: “My Best Friend is a Germ”
• SYBIL The Backpack Fairy #1: “Nina”
• Monster Christmas

BY JEN VAUGHN -  From all over the globe, scholars, professors, panelists and attendees are swooping into White River Junction as this weekend The Center for Cartoon Studies hosts the International Comic Arts Forum. Past incarnations of ICAF have been hosted at SPX (they used to plan programming too!), the Library of Congress and the School for the Art Institute of Chicago.

The academic community is itching to share their papers and argue on panels about topics such as East Asian comics and Building Postmodern Geographies. In this small area, the crowd might find just how comics-loving the community truly is! If you are in the Vermont/New Hampshire/Boston/New York area, White River Junction is within spitting distance and since ICAF if free, a true gem for the weekend. Despite the fact I live near him and talk to the man himself daily, one of the highlights of the conference is sure to be Steve Bissette’s Friday night talk called “Uncanny Geometries: Junji Ito’s UZUMAKI and Dread Geometries in Comics & Manga”

For the comics hungry crowd of international and national academics, CCS is also hosting a Marketplace complete with free graphic novels from publishers, lots of student and alumni work being sold and signings by the professional faculty members like Jason Lutes, Steve Bissette, James Sturm and David Berona. As a community that believes in the study of comics, what better place for ICAF to be this year?

So while ICAF is running 9am to 9pm this weekend, the cartoonists who are getting a day or two outta school are smartly tabling at the Center for Cartoon Studies on 94 South Main Street from Noon to 7pm, Friday and Saturday, September 20th and October 1st. Bring those dollars and get some work from the next generation of cartoonists!

The whole town is getting into the swing of things, they know that comics are king! Local lovely coffee shop, The Tuckerbox, is running a special ICAF drink. Even in a neighboring town, the local AVA Gallery hosts a Words Without Pictures exhibition curated by David Berona and featuring comic work by Alec Longstreth, Alexis Frederick-Frost, Jon Chad and myself.  Traveling around the bars (there are three) at night will prove if there are special ICAF drink-drinks. I thought the Charlie Brown would be a cold class of milk and the internet CONFIRMED that it is is milk white and chock full of booze.

Graphic novels are popping up in windows all around town like the vintage clothing store!

If we don’t see you ol’ White River Junction, check back on THE BEAT and the Schulz Graphic Novel Library Blog for more academic comics goodness.

–

Jen Vaughn is in love. With comics. Maybe you better leave; she’s gonna get lousy with paper cuts.

This is from the Enquirer so salt and all that, but apparently Maddox Pitt-Jolie, adapted son of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, is dying to be an action star, so they are grooming him to play the lead in the movie adaptation of Paul Pope’s upcoming BATTLING BOY comic — which PItt’s production company has optioned.

According to the insider, Angelina is pushing hard to get Maddox the lead role in “Battling Boy,” a science fiction epic being produced by Brad’s Plan B production company.
 
Based on a graphic novel, “Battling Boy” is about the young son of a god who leaves his immortal mountaintop home to fight monsters.

Right. We’ve often posited on this site that Maddox will indeed grow up to be “The One,” but a spin as a kid actor might be too time consuming.

What about Battling Boy the comic? It’s been in the works a while but is almost complete, we hear. Colorist Hilary Sycamore posted a page or two of the colors on her website. Can’t wait.

UPDATE: Paul Pope hopped on Twitter to set the record straight:

I am here to tell you officially it is not true.

Too bad!

Ever wondered why there isn’t a webseries that does for indie cartoonists with THE GUILD does for gamers? Well now there is!

A few days ago The Beat’s Shannon O’Leary alerted you to the existence of Derek Kirk Kim’s new webseries, MYTHOMANIA, and now having watched it ourselves, it is SUPER AMAZING. Two episodes (or 9) now out tell the story of Andy Go, an aspiring indie cartoonists who lives in LA, gets rejected by publishers, hangs out with his friends arguing about Alan Moore, and hankers after a cool girl nerd cartoonist. Written and directed by Kim, it’s sharp, funny and looks great — AND it has cameos by Scott McCloud and, in an upcoming episode, Jason Shiga! WATCH IT NOW then come back for the commentary.

In 2004 Derek Kirk Kim won the Eisner and the Harvey for Same Difference and Other Stories, his debut graphic novel, which was really a collection of short stories and a longer novella called “Same Difference.” Considering that he had won the Ignatz Award for Most Promising Talent the prior year, it was a clean sweep for Kim — his pointed dialog, true to life but fresh situations and clean, insightful art coupled with tightly structured stories set him apart from the rest of the (super talented) indie pack.

Since this triumph, Kim’s work has appeared only sporadically. A web comic, Healing Hands, was killed halfway into it. Kim collaborated with Gene Luen Yang on THE ETERNAL SMILE, a collection of three stories dealing with various levels of reality (one was Eisner-nominated) and wrote GOOD AS LILY for the Minx line which also dealt with alternate reality, as a girl finds herself confronted y three versions of herself.

Kim’s latest project is another webcomic, TUNE (above), currently being drawn by Les McLaine, which will one day be collected for First Second. The story ALSO concerns Andy Go — but this one is different, an art school drop out, who gets captured by aliens in between dealing with the realities of growing up in a Korean-American household.

As Kim explains on his Live Journal, Mythomania and Tune combine for yet anothre return to altered realities and what they tell us about our own survival mechanisms.

Now you may think this is coming completely out of left field, but actually Mythomania is a spin-off of Tune! Mythomania and Tune are alternate timelines that stem from the same story. Both stories share the same characters but Andy Go and his friends go down very different paths after college in each series. So in Mythomania, you’ll also see Tony and Yumi, and eventually, Roger as well. Basically, Mythomania is Tune without the sci-fi elements. Tune is about alternate realities and Mythomania is one of them. There are superficial differences between the two worlds -– Andy wears glasses in Mythomania for example, and Tony has a different haircut, etc, but they’re the same characters.

While several cartoonists have moved into directing recently — notably Troy Nixey and Kaare Andrews — Kim has been stealthily developing MYTHOMANIA for a while. But its strong writing, all-too-recognizable characters and chilly LA vistas show he’s pretty good at it. If you like Scott Pilgrim or Gene Yang’s work, you need to check out Derek Kirk Kim — and luckily, a brand new edition of SAME DIFFERENCE is coming from Top Shelf later this year. Also check out the Mythomania Facebook page.

.

Ah… Memorial Day approaches, and with it, summer vacation.  Day after day of nothing which must be done, but full of possibilities!  Maybe an escape to the air-conditioned refuge of your local library.  Perhaps a day spent on the porch, sipping something cold and sinful (I prefer Brown Cows, served in a large ice tea glass).  Or maybe hiding away up in a hayloft, or deep in a cool root cellar, where no one can find you.  Whatever your preference, there’s nothing like a good book to make you forget the world around you.  Below are some suggestions for your summer reading pleasures.  (And if you need a nap to avoid the afternoon heat, give your kids something to read.  It’ll keep them quiet long enough for you to recharge your batteries.)

The following is a selection of new comics titles due to be published in June 2011.   This list is not comprehensive, just what I’ve discovered browsing the Internet.  Below, you’ll find selected titles which caught my interest.  If you would like to browse forthcoming graphic novels and related books at your leisure, click here. These are not necessarily titles I will purchase, but which I will definitely look at once they arrive at my local comics shop or bookstore.

If you click that link above, you’ll see all the graphic novels at BN.com, sorted by date.

Please be advised that publication dates are not set in stone, titles may change, and covers may be altered. Also, your local comics shop might receive copies before your local neighborhood website or library.  I consider my tastes to be rather eclectic. If you feel I’ve neglected or slighted a title, publisher, or creator, please feel free to mention it in the comments below. Yes, you may promote your own work, but please include the ISBN for easy searching (and shopping!)

Disclaimer: I am employed by Barnes & Noble. This and any other posts by me at this site have no official connection to B&N.   As always, feel free to send us your PR. Even better, send us some free books!

Deadpool Team-Up
by Cullen Bunn, Tom Fowler (Illustrator), Matteo Scalera (Illustrator), Rob Williams

• $ 19.99
• Pub. Date: June 2011
• Publisher: Marvel Enterprises, Inc.
• Format: Hardcover, 168pp
• ISBN-13: 9780785151395
• ISBN: 0785151397

Captain America: To Serve and Protect
by Mark Waid, Ron Garney (Illustrator), Dale Eaglesham (Illustrator)

• $ 24.99
• Pub. Date: June 2011
• Publisher: Marvel Enterprises, Inc.
• Format: Hardcover, 192pp
• ISBN-13: 9780785150824
• ISBN: 078515082X

Deadpool Max: Nutjob
by David Lapham, Kyle Baker (Illustrator)

• $ 24.99
• Pub. Date: June 2011
• Publisher: Marvel Enterprises, Inc.
• Format: Hardcover, 144pp
• ISBN-13: 9780785148500
• ISBN: 0785148507

Captain America: American Nightmare
by Mark Waid, Andy Kubert (Illustrator), Patrick Zircher (Illustrator), Kurt Busiek, Roger Stern

• $ 24.99
• Pub. Date: June 2011
• Publisher: Marvel Enterprises, Inc.
• Format: Hardcover, 248pp
• ISBN-13: 9780785150848
• ISBN: 0785150846

Fantastic Four by Waid and Wieringo Ultimate Collection Book 1
by Mark Waid, Mike Wieringo (Illustrator), Mike Buckingham (Illustrator)

• $ 24.99
• Pub. Date: June 2011
• Publisher: Marvel Enterprises, Inc.
• Format: Paperback, 208pp
• ISBN-13: 9780785156550
• ISBN: 0785156550

Walt Disney Treasury: Donald Duck, Volume 1
by Don Rosa

• $ 14.99
• Pub. Date: June 2011
• Publisher: Boom! Studios
• Format: Paperback, 160pp
• ISBN-13: 9781608866564
• ISBN: 1608866564

Level Up
by Gene Luen Yang, Thien Pham

• $ 19.99
• Pub. Date: June 2011
• Publisher: First Second
• Format: Hardcover, 160pp
• ISBN-13: 9781596437142
• ISBN: 1596437146

Anya’s Ghost
by Vera Brosgol

• $ 19.99
• Pub. Date: June 2011
• Publisher: First Second
• Format: Hardcover, 224pp
• ISBN-13: 9781596437135
• ISBN: 1596437138

Isle of 100,000 Graves
by Fabien Vehlmann , Jason (Artist)

• $ 14.99
• Pub. Date: June 2011
• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
• Format: Paperback, 56pp
• ISBN-13: 9781606994429
• ISBN: 1606994425

Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse: Race to Death Valley
by Floyd Gottfredson

• $ 29.99
• Pub. Date: June 2011
• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
• Format: Hardcover, 260pp
• ISBN-13: 9781606994412
• ISBN: 1606994417

Al Capp’s Complete Shmoo, Volume 2: The Newspaper Strips
by Al Capp

• $ 49.99
• Pub. Date: June 2011
• Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
• Format: Hardcover, 188pp
• ISBN-13: 9781595827203
• ISBN: 159582720X

Congress of the Animals
by Jim Woodring

• $ 19.99
• Pub. Date: June 2011
• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
• Format: Hardcover, 104pp
• ISBN-13: 9781606994375
• ISBN: 1606994379

Trouble by Mark Millar
by Mark Millar, Terry Dodson (Illustrator)

• $ 19.99
• Pub. Date: June 2011
• Publisher: Marvel Enterprises, Inc.
• Format: Hardcover, 120pp
• ISBN-13: 9780785150862
• ISBN: 0785150862

Forget Sorrow: An Ancestral Tale
by Belle Yang

• $ 23.95
• Pub. Date: May 2010
• Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
• Format: Hardcover, 256pp
• ISBN-13: 9780393068344     [Preview available]
• ISBN: 039306834X

Flight, Volume 8
Edited by Kazu Kibuishi

• $ 27.00
• Pub. Date: June 2011
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Format: Paperback, 288pp
• ISBN-13: 9780345517388
• ISBN: 0345517385

Dean Motter’s Mister X: The Brides of Mister X and Other Stories
by Dean Motter, Shane Oakley (Artist), Jeffrey Morgan, Peter Milligan, D’Israeli (Artist)

• $ 49.99
• Pub. Date: June 2011
• Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
• Format: Hardcover, 320pp
• ISBN-13: 9781595826459
• ISBN: 1595826459

Baltimore, Volume 1: The Plague Ships
by Mike Mignola, Ben Stenbeck (Artist), Christopher Golden, Joe Hill (Introduction) , Dave Stewart (Artist)

• $ 24.99
• Pub. Date: June 2011
• Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
• Format: Hardcover, 136pp
• ISBN-13: 9781595826732
• ISBN: 1595826734

Joe Simon: My Life in Comics: The Illustrated Autobiography of Joe Simon
by Joe Simon

• $ 24.95
• Pub. Date: June 2011
• Publisher: Titan
• Format: Hardcover, 256pp  [Also available as an e-book]
• ISBN-13: 9781845769307
• ISBN: 1845769309

Gene Luen Yang’s new book, LEVEL UP, covers some territory that may be familiar to many people — a young man whose parents want him to make something of himself, while he just wants to play video games. Drawn by Thien Pham, it’s Yang’s latest exploration of growth and personal identity, especially as it relates to Asian Americans. But the book isn’t just about video game addiction. At
Wired’s GeekDad, he explains where the book is really coming from in his own experience.

February has only 28 days, but is jam-packed with lots of great graphic novels and related titles!

Warning… looking at what appears so far on BarnesAndNoble.com, the rest of 2011 is going to be just as amazing! Click this link to discover more!  (Sweet Kirby Crackle! Corto Maltese, in English, from Rizzoli?!) Better start shopping for bookshelves now.

Since this list takes a lot of work, I will not be adding hyperlinks to the publishers or BN.com.  Most browsers allow you to search directly just by highlighting a term, or feel free to cut and paste into whichever web browser you prefer.

As always, I work for Barnes & Noble, but do not speak for them.  These are titles which caught my interest, and are worth a closer work.  I have not read any of these books (perhaps a comic here or there) so do not endorse any specific title on this list.  My tastes are not yours, so please recommend other titles below in the comments!  Also, the information below is subject to change.  Covers, publication dates, prices, formats… all data are subject to changes.

The Last Unicorn
by Peter S. Beagle, Peter Gillis, Renae DeLiz (Artist), Ray Dillon (Artist)

• $ 24.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Idea & Design Works, LLC
• Format: Hardcover, 152pp
• ISBN-13: 9781600108518
• ISBN: 1600108512

Stolen Hearts: The Love of Eros and Psyche
by Ryan Foley, Sankha Banerjee (Illustrator)

• $ 11.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Steerforth Press
• Format: Paperback , 88pp
• ISBN-13: 9789380028484
• ISBN: 9380028482

Lady Vivian Hastings: Long John Silver Volume 1
by Xavier Dorison, Mathieu Lauffray (Illustrator)

• $ 13.95
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Cinebook, LTD
• Format: Paperback, 56pp
• ISBN-13: 9781849180627
• ISBN: 1849180628

Zita the Spacegirl
by Ben Hatke

• $ 17.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: First Second
• Format: Hardcover, 192pp
• Lexile: GN310L
• ISBN-13: 9781596436954
• ISBN: 1596436956

• $ 10.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: First Second
• Format: Paperback, 192pp
• ISBN-13: 9781596434462
• ISBN: 1596434465

The Sign of the Four (Illustrated Classics): A Sherlock Holmes Graphic Novel
by Arthur Conan Doyle, I.N.J. Culbard (Illustrator), Ian Edginton (Adapted by)

• $ 14.95
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Sterling Publishing
• Format: Paperback, 136pp
• ISBN-13: 9781402780035
• ISBN: 1402780036

Scenes from an Impending Marriage
by Adrian Tomine

• $ 9.95
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
• Format: Hardcover, 40pp
• ISBN-13: 9781770460348
• ISBN: 1770460349

Popeye: Strong to the Finish: The Great Comic Book Tales of Bud Sagendorf
by Bud Sagendorf

• $ 29.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Idea & Design Works, LLC
• Format: Hardcover, 176pp
• ISBN-13: 9781600107474
• ISBN: 1600107478

Creators of the Superheroes
by Thomas Andrae

• $ 39.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Hermes Press
• Format: Paperback, 224pp
• ISBN-13: 9781932563535
• ISBN: 1932563539

Ayn Rand’s Anthem: The Graphic Novel
byAyn Rand, Charles Santino, Joe Staton (Illustrator)

• $ 15.00
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
• Format: Paperback, 144pp
• ISBN-13: 9780451232175
• ISBN: 0451232178

Age of Reptiles Omnibus
by Ricardo Delgado

• $ 24.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
• Format: Paperback, 400pp
• ISBN-13: 9781595826831
• ISBN: 1595826831

King of the Flies: The Origin of the World
by Mezzo, Pirus (Artist)

• $ 18.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
• Format: Hardcover, 64pp
• ISBN-13: 9781606993903
• ISBN: 1606993909

Pixies
by Sean Patrick O’Reilly

• $ 19.95
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Arcana Studio Incorporated
• Format: Hardcover , 150pp
• ISBN-13: 9781897548493
• ISBN: 1897548494

Pepper Penwell and the Land Creature of Monster Lake
by Steph Cherrywel

• $ 14.95
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: SLG Publishing
• Format: Paperback , 200pp
• ISBN-13: 9781593622053
• $ISBN: 1593622058

Ivy
by Sarah Oleksyk

• $ 19.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Oni Press
• Format: Hardcover, 192pp
• ISBN-13: 9781934964590
• ISBN: 193496459X

Hulk: The End
by Peter David, Dale Keown (Illustrator), George Perez (Illustrator)

• $ 16.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Marvel Enterprises, Inc.
• Format: Paperback, 160pp
• ISBN-13: 9780785151005
• ISBN: 0785151001

Classics and Comics
by George Kovacs (Editor), C. W. Marshall (Editor)

• $ 99.00
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Format: Hardcover, 288pp
• ISBN-13: 9780199734184
• ISBN: 0199734186

• $ 29.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Format: Paperback, 288pp
• ISBN-13: 9780199734191
• ISBN: 0199734194

Steve Canyon: The Complete Series, Volume 1
by Milton Caniff

• $ 49.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Hermes Press
• Format: Hardcover, 208pp
• ISBN-13: 9781932563771
• ISBN: 1932563776

On the Line
by Rian Hughes (Artist), Rick Wright

• $ 12.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Image Comics
• Format: Hardcover, 48pp
• ISBN-13: 9781607063469
• ISBN: 1607063468

Lewis and Clark: The Greatest Adventure of American History
by Nick Bertozzi

• $ 16.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: First Second
• Format: Paperback, 144pp
• ISBN-13: 9781596434509
• ISBN: 1596434503

Inanna’s Tears
by Rob Vollmar, mpMann (Artist)

• $ 19.95
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Archaia Studios Press
• Format: Hardcover, 136pp
• ISBN-13: 9781932386790
• ISBN: 1932386793

The Falklands War: Cinebook Recounts Series
by Bernard Asso, Joel Rideau, D. Chauvin (Illustrator), Marcel. Uderzo (Illustrator)

• $ 11.95
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Cinebook, LTD
• Format: Paperback, 48pp
• ISBN-13: 9781849180566
• ISBN: 1849180563

Madman Atomica
by Mike Allred

• $ 125.00
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Image Comics
• Format: Hardcover, 900pp
• ISBN-13: 9781607063414
• ISBN: 1607063417

Johnny Red: Falcons’ First Flight
by Tom Tully, Joe Colquhoun, John Cooper

• $ 19.95
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Titan
• Format: Hardcover, 128pp
• ISBN-13: 9781848560338
• ISBN: 1848560338

Cowboys and Aliens
by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg

• $ 24.00
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Format: Hardcover, 112pp
• ISBN-13: 9780061646652
• ISBN: 0061646652

Millar and McNiven’s Nemesis
by Mark Millar

• $ 19 .99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Marvel Enterprises, Inc.
• Format: Hardcover, 112pp
• ISBN-13: 9780785148654
• ISBN: 0785148655
• Edition Description: Premiere HC

Sex Ed 101: Fully Illustrated XXX Lessons in Lust Offered by Enrique Villagran
by Enrique Villagran

• $ 12.95
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: SQP
• Format: Mass Market Paperback, 72pp
• ISBN-13: 9780865622111
• ISBN: 0865622116

It seems WordPress is also a bit late… I scheduled this to post on January 8th, and it never did…

So, while I work on the February list (2011 is amazing!), enjoy this sneak peek for August!  (The antithesis of February… hot, no holidays, everyone out on vacation…)

Enjoy!

—

Okay…  I’m a bit late with the January list (I blame the holidays), so while we wait… here’s some stuff I discovered on BN.com due out later this year, stuff you might not have known about…

(Quick and dirty… no links or graphics…  I’ll revisit this post in July, with more titles and images.)

Bake Sale by Sara Varon

• Pub. Date: August 2011
• Publisher: First Second
• Format: Paperback , 160pp
• Age Range: 12 and up
• ISBN-13: 9781596434196
• ISBN: 1596434198

The New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 1 by Various, Various (Illustrator)

• Pub. Date: August 2011
• Publisher: DC Comics
• Format: Hardcover , 464pp
• ISBN-13: 9781401231088
• ISBN: 140123108X

Return to Perdition by Max Allan Collins, Terry Beatty (Illustrator)

• Pub. Date: August 2011
• Publisher: DC Comics
• Format: Hardcover , 192pp
• ISBN-13: 9781401223830
• ISBN: 1401223834

Absolute Promethea Book Three by Alan Moore, J.H. Williams III (Illustrator)

• Pub. Date: August 2011
• Publisher: DC Comics
• Format: Hardcover , 328pp
• Sales Rank: 409,004
• ISBN-13: 9781401229474
• ISBN: 1401229476

Post 9/11 by Art Spiegelman (Introduction)

• Pub. Date: August 2011
• Publisher: Rizzoli
• Format: Paperback , 224pp
• ISBN-13: 9780789324009
• ISBN: 0789324008

Sabrina Animated by Mike Gallagher, Dave Manak (Illustrator)

• Pub. Date: August 2011
• Publisher: Archie Comic Publications, Incorporated
• Format: Paperback , 128pp
• ISBN-13: 9781879794801
• ISBN: 1879794802

Secret Society of Super-Villains by Various, Various (Preface by)

• Pub. Date: August 2011
• Publisher: DC Comics
• Format: Hardcover , 208pp
• ISBN-13: 9781401231095
• ISBN: 1401231098

The Steve Ditko Omnibus Vol. 1 by Various

• Pub. Date: August 2011
• Publisher: DC Comics
• Format: Hardcover , 456pp
• ISBN-13: 9781401231118
• ISBN: 140123111X

Synopsis

Collecting DC Comics tales from artist Steve Ditko, co-creator of Spider-Man.

This first volume features Ditko’s two DC series from the 1970s: The quirky science fiction title SHADE, THE CHANGING MAN and the sword-and-sorcery comic STALKER.

This volume also includes a variety of science fiction and mystery stories illustrated by Ditko. These stories, originally published from 1966 through 1982, have never been collected before.

The Armed Garden and Other Stories by David B.

• Pub. Date: August 2011
• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
• Format: Hardcover , 112pp
• ISBN-13: 9781606994627
• ISBN: 160699462X

Brian Bolland Cover to Cover by Brian Bolland

• Pub. Date: August 2011
• Publisher: DC Comics
• Format: Hardcover , 208pp
• ISBN-13: 9781401231026
• ISBN: 1401231020

Justice by Jim Krueger, Alex Ross, Alex Ross (Illustrator)

• Pub. Date: August 2011
• Publisher: DC Comics
• Format: Hardcover , 384pp
• ISBN-13: 9781401231859
• ISBN: 1401231853

Synopsis

The bestselling series illustrated by Alex Ross is now available in an affordable trade paperback.

After the villains of the Legion of Doom — led by Lex Luthor and Brainiac — band together to save the world after a shared dream that seems to be a vision of the Earth’s demise. They are confronted by the Justice League of America, who doubt their true motives. The true plans unfold as the two teams do battle.

[This seems to be the general hardcover collection of what was the Absolute Justice edition from 2009, which was 496 pages.  As the single volumes seem to now be out of print, there will probably be a trade paperback edition issued in 2012.]

First Second Books and the New York Comic-Con
 
First: we’re exhibiting, at booth 2314. 
 
Second: author autographings!  Many of our fine creators will be in town. 
 
Friday:
3:00 – Jessica Abel (Drawing Words and Writing Pictures)
 
Saturday:
11:00 – Susan Kim, Laurence Klavan, and Pascal Dizin (City of Spies)
12:00 – George O’Connor (Zeus: King of the Gods; Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess)
1:00 – Mike Cavallaro (Foiled)
 
Sunday:
10:00 – Matt Madden (Drawing Words and Writing Pictures)
12:00 – Jane Yolen (Foiled)
1:00 – Tracy White (How I Made It to Eighteen)
2:00 – Faith Erin Hicks, Susan Kim, Laurence Klavan (Brain Camp)
3:00 – Carla Jablonski (Resistance)
4:00 – Andrew Arnold (Adventures in Cartooning)
 
Third: panels! 
 
Friday
Building a World in Comics
9-10pm
Room 1A22
When you open a comic, a world appears on the page in front of you.  What goes into creating this world on the part of the writer, and on the part of the artist?  Is the process different between fiction and nonfiction?  And what pieces do you need to add to that world to make it come alive on the page? 
With Mike Cavallaro, George O’Connor, Susan Kim, and Laurence Klavan, moderated by Tucker Stone

Sunday
 
A Day in the Studio
10:45-11:45am
Room 1A24
What does creating comics look like on a day-to-day basis?  Join four comics creators to see pictures of their studios, a discussion of their process, and the ins and outs, ups and downs, of making a living in comics. 
With Jane Yolen, Dave Roman, Tracy White, and Matt Madden moderated by Brian Heater
Sunday
 
Wild, Wacky, and Zany Comics Adventures
2:45-3:15pm
Variant Stage/Kids Day
Adventure!  Excitement!  Fun times!  Step up for adventure as talented cartoonists take the stage to tell their own stories in comics format – and yours! 
With Andrew Arnold, Faith Erin Hicks, and Dave Roman
 
Sunday
Comics Storytelling
3:45-4:45pm
Room 1A17
How are comics different from prose books, from picture books and screenplays and illustration?  What makes a story something that should be told in the comics format?  Four cartoonists talk about their inspiration to work in the comics medium and how panels and speech balloons come together to make great storytelling. 
With Faith Erin Hicks, Carla Jablonski, Tracy White, and Jane Yolen, moderated by Margaret Maloney
 

MK Reed writes to point us to a new website, SAVE APATHEA! which will serialize her upcoming First Second graphic novel, AMERICUS, which is due out in late 2011. It’s described as the story of “Neil Barton, a teenager growing up in Oklahoma, and his fight to keep his favorite fantasy series, The Chronicles of Apathea Ravenchilde, in his public library.” Reed (a sometime Beat contributor) writes and Jonathan Hill provides art. The first chapter was previously published in PAPERCUTTER #7. New pages will go up Monday-Wednesday-Friday.

Web serialization of an original GN is increasingly being used at First Second to build some pre-awareness for their books — see Mark Siegel’s own SAILOR TWAIN and ZAHRA’S PARADISE.

It seems that First Second is getting into the webcomics business. First it was E-i-C Mark Siegel’s Sailor Twain Or The Mermaid In The Hudson and now Zahra’s Paradise, a timely comic about the ongoing struggles in Iran. Calvin Reid has more information:

The Web comic will be published simultaneously in English, Farsi, Arabic, French, Italian, Spanish, and Dutch, with other languages to come. Mark Siegel, editorial director of First Second, said the comic is about a blog called Zahra’s Paradise and tells the story of the blogger’s brother, a 19-year-old Iranian political activist who disappears after the political demonstrations in Tehran in June 2009. In their effort to locate the missing activist, the blogger and his mother, Zahra, come face-to-face with the brutality of the Islamic Republic and the fate of other missing Iranian dissidents. While the characters are fictional—the full names of the creators have been left out to protect them—Siegel said the events are real, and he called the comic “a roman à clef of history as it is happening.”