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§ Nice Art: First second has announced BEST FRIENDS, a sequel to REAL FRIENDS, the best-selling middle grade GN by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham, and Romper had the cover reveal

Author Shannon Hale told Romper she wrote the books in part for her 9-year-old daughter, who “struggled with friendship,” like basically every child and adult walking this good green Earth. She knew her daughter loved graphic novels, but the incredible reception that met the book showed that many, many readers loved that storytelling format. “The response to our book has knocked me off my feet. Immediately young readers were asking me and LeUyen Pham, ‘But what happens next?’ I couldn’t stop thinking about the next — how as I got a little older, the rules of friendship seemed to change, and I was always trying to guess what those rules were and keep up,” Hale says. “I can’t wait to share this story with my now-11-year-old daughter and with everyone else too. There’s real comfort in reading about other people’s highs and lows, to know that they struggled too, we’re not alone, and have hope that we’ll get through it.” 

That cover is a very effective use of image and type!

§ If reading this here blog isn’t enough for Heidi-lovers, you can listen to me rant and rave on David Harper’s Off Panel #177 podcast! The cats were doing so many naughty things while I recorded this but you won’t hear me yelling at them becuase I’m a pro!

§ It’s just Marvel hype but they got Mariko Tamaki to pick some of her must read MArvel comics. 

§ Area man writes graphic novel. Ezra Claytan Daniels gets the home town treatment in the Sioux CIty Journal, talking about his new GN Upgrade Soul (published by Lion Forge, a sister company of this site.)

“The story has seen life as an underground comic and an interactive comic book app before it became a graphic novel,” he explained. “It’s been like a security blanket I’d pull out of the closet.” Daniels’ interest in comic books started when he was a kid. At first, he’d read traditional “superhero” comic books while trying to mimic the drawing style of the artists. It wasn’t until he was in middle school that Daniels discovered edgier neo-noir comic books like Frank Miller’s “Sin City” that were far from typical DC/Marvel fare.

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§ Speaking of must read, CBR has been running a user-chosen Top 100 Graphic Novels. and they’re up to #20-16. This outing includes two by Miller – Love and War and Elektra Lives! – Stuck Rubber Baby, My Friend Dahmer and Smile. Good stuff. While I dread clicking through the ad-infested total list, at least they include large previews.  That’s a page from Love and War above and you just can’t beat peak Sienkiewicz.

§ Well I was wrong that no one was talking about NYCC any more. Here’s one fellow’s
Con report and he had a marvelous time!

NYCC is a solid show. The organizers are proud of their event, and only want to offer the best for the fans. They make sure that there is something for everyone, and any complaints and concerns are answered. It is unfortunate that not everyone will be able to get a ticket, and fewer will be lucky enough to win the draws and the lotteries. But, in the end, it’ll be hard-pressed to find something not to enjoy. Due to the sheer size of the show it’s panels and experiences will be missed. But, with enough planning, this show can be optimized to fullest extent. Every year the show finds ways to make the experience brighter and more comfortable for the attendees. They change their guests, improve the ways tickets are sold, and manage the the entry system into the building so it’s less of a hassle. It still has its faults, no convention is perfect, but more people leave the show with bags full of swag, smiles on their faces, and memories that will last. Their feet might hurt, and wallets will be lighter but everyone will leave with at least one epic story.

§ Also having a swell time at the con, hiphop legend Raekwon, who was attending a con for the very first time. 

While the legendary Raekwon The Chef has experienced a great number of accomplishments, including proving that a sequel can indeed be up to par with the original, the Wu-Tang lyricist hasn’t quite crossed off his entire bucket list yet. Ever the adventurous spirit, Raek recently took to the New York’s Jacob Javits Center to experience his very first Comic-Con, though he ultimately neglected to cosplay. His exuberance is noted from the jump, as he seems to marvel at the “real, real, real stuff going on.” Clearly, the man is excited. “Shout out my boy Alex Ross, man,” says Raekwon, taking a moment to check out his homie’s artwork. “He’s a dope, dope artist you know?” 

The result was a rather charming video from Nerdist.

§ Also charming the ‘Hijab Heroes’, women from around the east coast who cosplayed as the Avengers while wearing hijabs.

§ And con season is not over as this MICE preview reminds us. MICE is this weekend in Cambridge, MASS.

§ Not as nice, this bizarre story from Super Megafest Comic-Con in Framinham, MASS. It seems a man was showing off an alligator, a python and two tarantulas, and charging people to take photos with them. However, the animals were in “poor condition.” The owner was arrested and the animals given to a trained herpetologists for proper care.

Every once in a while you hear about animal mistreatment at comic cons, and its very disturbing. It’s not the place to bring animals to display.

§ Variety updates us on The Flash Movie, and along the way confirms yet again that neither Batfleck nor Cavill Superman will be back, although Ezra Miller will soldier on as the Flash. The Justice League movie, far from ushering in a shining era of peace and box office receipts for WB, was a one and done, it seems. But even the Flash movie is still in limbo and won’t race into theaters until 2021.

Warner Bros. is pushing back the start of filming on the studio’s still untitled standalone Flash film, sources tell Variety. The film never received a formal greenlight nor did it have a set release date, but it had been expected to begin shooting in March. However, a script is still being tweaked and the studio thinks that it won’t have enough time to get the script in shape in order for the film to make its original start date. That’s a problem, because Ezra Miller, the live-wire performer tasked with playing the Flash, also has a key supporting role in “Fantastic Beasts,” the “Harry Potter” spin-off series. The third film in the franchise begins shooting in July, which would cause scheduling headaches. The standalone Flash film is now expected to commence production in late 2019. That likely means the superhero adventure won’t debut in theaters until some time in 2021.

I’ve always thought it was a little odd that Miller was given starring roles in the TWO major WB tentpoles franchises. He must have a great agent and someone at WB must really like him.

§ Finally, despite all our thoughts and prayers, the Watchmen HBO series is coming and it has an Instagram and cryptic images will begin to flood our feeds.

Dave GIbbons was asked about Watchmen at NYCC and he said “Fine. I’m fine.” No he didn’t he said he’d read the first script and he liked it. So there’s that.

1 COMMENT

  1. I haven’t seen it on one of your Kibbles and Bits, but Shannon Hale wrote an article in WaPo earlier this month about giving “girls’ books” to boys. Only partially comics related, but definitely interesting, and definitely related to the deep gender pathology in comics culture. https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/parents-and-teachers-please-stop-discouraging-boys-from-reading-books-about-girls/2018/10/09/f3eaaca6-c820-11e8-b1ed-1d2d65b86d0c_story.html?utm_term=.a09f0c1cee80

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