§ Nice art: Alien Books is kickstarting a box set of Juan Giménez’s I, Dragon graphic novel series. It will be the first English language appearance of the work. Giménez is truly a legend as the artist of The Metabarons and The Eternaut, and is acclaimed as one of Argentina’s greatest cartoonists.
Beautifully written and illustrated by Juan Giménez, the ‘I, Dragon’ graphic novel trilogy is set in the year 1280 as the inhabitants of the Rosentall Castle find themselves surrounded by a massive army. A long and bloody war for power begins as inside the castle, a strange woman with a traveling carnival gives birth to her first child, and inside a nearby volcano, a dragon stirs.
Book One will have a Kickstarter Exclusive Cover by Salvador Sanz, above. The campaign goes lice on January 21 and you can sign up for more info on the pre-launch page.
§ This will be a shorter than usual K’n’B because…well, I think you’ve had quite enough news for one week.
§ Jacq Cohen is on the move again! She has just joined Abrams ComicArts as Director of Publicity & Promotion for Abrams ComicArts and all its affiliated imprints. Cohen was most recently at Tapas, and previously at Fantagraphics. This is obviously a stupendous hire for both sides! Congrats, Jacq!
§ While we’re losing comic book news sites left and right, Broken Frontier is still in there fighting! They recently announced the Broken Frontier Awards 2024 Winners (another win for Pee Pee Poo Poo!) and inducted Emma Hayley of SelfMadeHero and Silver Sprocket into their Hall of Fame. Good picks!
The site also announced Six Small Press Creators to Watch in 2025 – Spotlighting the Work of Beatrijs Brouwer AKA Beastly Worlds, Cara Brown, Chris King, Rein Lee, Shuning Ji and Zen K. We need new stars so check ‘em out! And keep on plugging, Broken Frontier.
§ Only in fandom: Did a Best-Selling Romantasy Novelist Steal Another Writer’s Story? The New Yorker investigates the plagiarism suit that Lynne Freeman filed against the popular Crave series by Lynne Wolfe. Along the way, much talk about the romantasy genre that has exploded in popularity of late:
Although many of the romantasy agents, writers, and editors I spoke to were not concerned about the field’s frenetic pace, a few felt that it could be overwhelming. “I think it puts authors in an impossible position,” the award-winning fantasy novelist Holly Black told me. “No one wants to cut corners on quality, and so you have to do this kind of heroic thing to get your book to be how you want it in a time frame that’s pretty much impossible.” The same conditions that promote speed can also foster “a pressure toward clickbait,” she added. Authors identify the most irresistible tropes and reproduce them as efficiently as possible. The book blogger and author Jenny Trout told me that, “in romantasy, copycats are commonplace. Authors are giving the people what they want, but it’s also like you’re reading the same book over and over again.”
Popular tropey genres are something of a cut ‘n’ paste affair at times. Liz Pelletier, publisher of Entangled, a press that specializes in the genre, reportedly told another author “the problem with traditional publishing is that they just let writers write whatever they want, and they don’t even think about what the TikTok hashtag is going to be.” Can yu imagine that?
§ London Comic Con Spring has been cancelled because entertainment guests cannot make plans due to the horrible fires in LA.
We have an important and difficult announcement to make.
With all the extensive fires in the Los Angeles area, we’ve been finding it really difficult to close agreements with our headline guests for the upcoming London Comic Con Spring. Some of the agents we work with, and the…
— Showmasters (@Showmasters) January 16, 2025
While LA and the entertainment industry is just beginning to start to recover from the disaster, these concerns could have an ongoing impact on media guests. Actress Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar) was left homeless by the fires and even tweeted about come of her fellow con circuit guests sending their good wishes.
Thanks guys! I think you’re speaking to me directly… I mean, yeah, you ARE speaking to me directly, and a shitload of others we’ve all met at our Cons! I hold you in my heart for your outpouring of love and I will see you soon!🙏🏼🫶🏻😘 https://t.co/iqBJ4J0kOr
— Denise Crosby (@TheDeniseCrosby) January 16, 2025
§ Since this column is so short here’s another book previewed this week, SOMA from award-winning writer Fernando Llor (Ojos Grises, Subnormal: Una Historia de Acoso Escolar) and illustrator and CULT OF THE LAMB character designer/cover artist Carles Dalmau (Lucid Lucy, Cult of the Lamb). Publisher Oni bills it as a SF tale about creativity and companionship during times of peril – with a comics twist.
Maya is a comic book artist in the middle of a creative crisis. She’s constantly stressed about deadlines and feels like she’s not doing the type of work she loves. In between trying to fight her writer’s block and doling out advice to her best friend on how to finally land a date, Maya receives an unexpected visitor: Soma, an extraterrestrial alien who crashlands in Maya’s living room. Soma delivers a message to Maya, warning her that an alien invasion from his own kind is fast approaching, and he needs her help to stop it!
And here’s a preview: