Books

The Madeleine L'Engle classic gets a new look in this adorable comic.

. Here's the second part of February's preview.  There's some unusual titles here (including a publisher of religious graphic novels), some which don't seem to...

Ut oh, guys... it's a leap year! So if you're the type to skedaddle from matrimonial minded maidens, be sure to grab some reading material before you head off to the Valley of the Shmoon!

DC has released it's book schedule for Vertigo for the fall, including two originals, one yet to be announced -- THE PRINCE OF CATS by Ron Wimberly. Judging by his tumblr for the project, it an updated take on Shakespeare's ROMEO AND JULIET starring Tybalt.

2012 sees Telgemeier's next book, DRAMA, and it's another bullseye to the interests of middle-schoolers, dealing with the ever popular school play. On her blog, she just released the cover and it looks like another winner.

Vertigo has confirmed the details of the graphic novel version of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy: as previously leaked, Denise Mina will write the adaptation, with art by Leonardo Manco and Andrea Mutti. The cover is by Lee Bermejo — definitely in the style of the Vertigo crime line. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO graphic novel will arrive in November. The book has already been adapted into a Swedish film/TV series and a US film. All three existing versions have various story tics, and very different takes on Lisbeth Salander, the enigmatic heroine who loves Billy's pan pizza and computer hacking. Mina's take is worth watching as she's a veteran crime writer on her own as well as a comics reader (and writer). We're curious to see how she tweaks the story.

Courtesy of Diamond, we've been posting their top sales charts for 2011 today (more are coming) -- but one question keeps coming up. Diamond releases charts for both "Indie" publishers and "Small" publishers. What is the difference? When you see Random House -- the world's biggest publisher -- on Diamond's "Small" chart, it seems paradoxical. Well, Diamond has provided us with some definitions.

As we've mentioned here several times, there have been no more important graphic novels published in this century than PERSEPOLIS by Marjane Satrapi and FUN HOME by Alison Bechdel. Both found large audiences well beyond the traditional ones for comics, and both have become oft-imitated -- but never duplicated -- by book publishers trying to cash in on the "graphic novel" trend. (The number of graphic autobiographies exploring ethnic roots alone is staggering.)

"I think a solid core of high-selling mainstream-y genre comics would be nice, but it really hasn't happened (except for arguably the manga phenomenon,...

Looking for the unusual? The overlooked? Something a bit different? Take a look here!

Matthias Wivel is one of a trio of reviewers -- Domingos Isabelinho and Ng Suat Tong are the other two -- known for applying the most stringent possible personal standards to comics in their criticism. Thus, seeing Wivel come to the defense of HABIBI at The Hooded Utilitarian is a bit of a surprise -- but he makes a plausible point. Running down a host of critical beatdowns administered on that site over stereotypes and gender issues, he says that "parts of the comics intelligentsia seem to be developing an unhealthy obsession with ideological readings of comics."

Amazon has the deets on GET JIRO!, the graphic novel brainstormed by master chef Anthony Bourdain, co-written with Joel Rose and drawn by Langdon Foss. it sounds a little like our dream of an American version of IRON WOK JAN has finally come true.