Culture

The seemingly tireless WOMANTHOLOGY organizer and artist Renae De Liz is in the hospital with a serious infection, her husband Ray Dillon reports:

We all know (or should know!) how important Will Eisner was to the comics artform. Something an increasing number of people know is how important libraries are to getting more and more people to read comics and graphic novels. So it makes sense that a Graphic Novel Prize for Libraries would be named for Eisner.

A round up of the week's news on Prometheus, The Dark Knight Rises, True Blood, Arrow and lots more...

Book Expo America 2012 just concluded here in New York, and once again it's been an interesting trade show. Some stuff was normal, some was new, and overall, I felt it was a good show. My thoughts and discoveries follow.

Once a year, booksellers, librarians, and assorted biblios assemble at Book Expo America, the largest publishing trade show in North America. 2012 marks the tenth anniversary of the graphic novel pavilion at BEA, and while many graphic novel publishers are absent, there are many more "mainstream" publishers offering an amazing multitude of titles, genres, subjects, and audiences! This year, John Hogan of Graphic Novel Reporter hosts The Hottest Graphic Novels of 2012! panel, where a team of five diverse individuals recommend a variety of graphic novels due to be published in 2012! Last year's selections got lots of press and accolades, and quite a few of the titles below seem to be just as interesting and intriguing!

Ruben Bolling, aka Ken Fisher, is much loved in most quarters for Tom the Dancing Bug, his long running, surgical strike weekly political comic. Of course, the field for weekly political comics is not exactly busting at the seams with dough. So recently Bolling came up with a new idea, called The Inner Hive which would offer a subscription model for goodies to readers:

Looks like we'll be slogging over to the Javits Center for a while yet, as NY state Governor Andrew Cuomo's plan for a giant convention center in Queens has fallen apart for now. The reason? Negotiations didn't go so well with Genting, the Malaysian casino company that would have funded the plan in return for building a giant casino adjoining the facility:

Book Expo America is this week, so if you're finding yourself in NYC, now's your chance to take part in meeting CHIP KIDD and get your hands on a limited edition copy of his new book, BATMAN: DEATH BY DESIGN.

BY JEN VAUGHN - Last month, Logan Kugler lit a fire under our butts about sending Star Trek figures into space! One small step for plastic . . . you get it.

Like any good cartoonist and comics evangelist, a road trip cannot just be days of blasting Mates of State and stopping at roadside attractions like Corn Palace. No, no, on my trip from The Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, VT to Fantagraphics in Seattle, WA will be punctuated by a few stops to conduct portfolio reviews and drop off some Schulz Library tote bags at great comic book stores across America.

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:

Come out and party with the boys from Igloo Tornado tonight as they celebrate the release of a brand spankin' new Henry & Glenn Forever mini from Microcosm Publishing at LA comics shop The Secret Headquarters.