Comics

One of the nice things about being around a large library system is being able to take a flier on a graphic novel you might not otherwise pick up. Not too long ago, I happened up Vol. 1-3 of Dracula: The Company of Monsters on the shelf and figured "it's Kurt Busiek... how bad could it be?" I picked up the first volume and ended up going back the next day for the rest of the set.

Perfectly blending elements of horror and childish innocence, Josh Simmons's collection of stories marks a comic storytelling that is just as frightfully unsettling as it is an eye-grabbing read. Don't be fooled by the bright coloring and imaginative settings; this one ain't for the kiddies.

J. Bone! J. Torres! Eric Orchard! Agnes Garbowska! All these cartoonists and more can be found at Saturday Morning Webtoons, an all ages comics portal. Among the strips featured:

It's big news that Green Lantern is now gay, but there appears to be a little (a lot?) of confusion in the general public over which Green Lantern is gay. For that matter, there seems to be some confusion in the general public over how many Green Lanterns there are. You might be getting questions about this from your friends who don't read comics and you may find this is a little more complicated to explain than you'd first thought. Don't worry, I'm here for you. This is what you need to explain (or just point them here).

As we've been noting, of late the ashes of Tokyopop have been stirring, and several volumes that were thought lost are actually coming out in one shape or another. BIZENGHAST #8 by M. Alice "Marty" LeGrow is the latest book to find a new life as a print-to-order book via The Right Stuf and digitally through Graphicly. BIZENGHAST was one of the most successful of all Tokyopop's homegrown manga (as making it to volume 8 would indicate) and it's been spun off into an art book, coloring book, novelization, animated shorts, merchandise, and a tabletop role-playing game, according to ICv2.

The very very funny Lisa Hanawalt has joined D&Q's cartoonist lineup; they'll publish a collectino of her works called MY DIRTY DUMB EYES in Spring 2013. The book will collect her various comics for Vanity Fair, The Hairpin, and so on. You will laugh and laugh.

Image has released the last two teasers for HARVEST, a new miniseries by A.J. Lieberman and Colin Lorimer about the sinister world of organ harvesting:

DC have made it official that the much-discussed 'iconic' superhero who will be homosexual in their new 52 Universe... is original Green Lantern Alan Scott.

Frank Quitely has provided a variant cover for the landmark issue, which will be released at Comic-Con. Creepy!

Whether you call it comics inspired or a comics hybrid, Jeff Kinney's Wimpy Kid series is one of the most successful book series being published with more than 75 million copies in print. Details on the seventh book have just been announced: it will be called "The Third Wheel" and will find Greg Heffley having even more adventures in middle school—adventures perhaps of a romantic nature as the title might suggest.

This webcomics thing is heating up! Actually, what's heating up is that a new population of webcomics immigrants is moving to this new land and trying to learn the customs and shortcuts of the new society. And the natives—creators who came of age with the web as their native platform—are probably rolling their eyes and going on with business.

When Richard Thompson was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, fellow cartoonists created Team Cul de Sac, donating original artwork to benefit The Micheal J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. A benefit book is forthcoming, and the artwork is up for auction! Read on for more information, and selected artwork!