Links: Kids Comic Con and lots more!

I spent last weekend at Kids Comic Con in The Bronx, where a great time was had by all. The roster of publishers and creators was quite impressive, and the kids enjoyed a great lineup of workshops and programs, as well as the best swag bag I have ever seen at a comics convention. Some of the kids I spoke ot were hardcore fans and veterans of New York Comic-Con, while others were seeing comics for the first time.  Read all about it (with pictures!) in my article for Publishers Weekly Comics Week, and check out the coverage at Comic Book Resources and The Daily Cross Hatch as well.

Also at PWCW, Calvin Reid reports that there’s a graphic novel adaptation of Fahrenheit 451 in the works from FSG, which plans a first printing of 75,000. That seemed optimistic to me until I remembered that everyone (except me, for some reason) has to read that book in high school, and a graphic novel might be a welcome alternative for some students. Reid also interviews Thomas LeBien, who started FSG’s graphic novel imprint a couple of years ago.

Shauna Miller talks to Ariel Schrag about the third volume of her high school chronicle, Likewise.

The Stumptown Trade Review has an audio interview with Bone creator Jeff Smith.

Del Rey manga announced yesterday that it will publish a series of Secret Saturdays graphic novels, based on the Cartoon Network cartoon of the same name. This is Del Rey’s third Cartoon Network series; they also publish Bakugan Battle Brawlers and Ben 10 Alien Force graphic novels.

This is fun and kind of informative, too: The In Crowd probes the origins of Jughead’s hat.

Comic Book Resources has a preview up of Bluewater Productions’ Female Force: Michelle Obama comic.

The latest Comics Playground podcast features special guest Chris Eliopoulos, who writes for Franklin Richards, Pet Avengers, and more.

Kazu Kibuishi shows off some pin-up art of a character he drew for the Asian American Superheroes anthology.

Evan Dorkin watches his daughter discover Walt and Skeezix.

The Otaku Librarian looks at how manga aimed at young teens fits the librarian’s paradigm.

Here’s a great find for teachers, researchers, and the merely curious: The University of Nebraska has a downloadable archive of government-issued comic books, from Milton Caniff’s handbook for auxiliary firefighters to You’ve Had It! The Story of Basic Training. Thanks, Blog@Newsarama, for pointing this out!

Diamond Comics Distributors will no longer carry the Jack Lake Classics Illustrated comics—these are the reprints of the old comics, not to be confused with the newer ones published by NBM/Papercutz. This means the Jack Lake comics will be harder to find in comics stores, although they can still be purchased in bookstores or ordered direct from the publisher.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette takes a look at Mad Magazine on the occasion of its 500th issue.

Reviews

Marcy Alvarado on American Born Chinese (The Graphic Classroom)
Johanna Draper Carlson on Archie comics for April (Comics Worth Reading)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of The Big Adventures of Majoko (Manga Xanadu)
Ana D. Valtierro on Chiggers (The Graphic Classroom)
Chris Mautner on The Color of Earth (Robot 6)
Greg McElhatton on The Color of Earth (Read About Comics)
Lissa Pattillo on The Color of Water (Kuriousity)
Melinda Beasi on vol. 1 of Her Majesty’s Dog (there it is, plain as daylight)
Deb Aoki on vol. 1 of Leave It to PET (About.com)
Ed Sizemore on vol. 1 of Nightschool (Comics Worth Reading)
Melinda Beasi on vol. 1 of Nodame Cantabile (there it is, plain as daylight)
Sean Kleefeld on Salt Water Taffy: A Climb Up Mt. Barnabas (Kleefeld on Comics)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Venus Capriccio (Comics Worth Reading)
Dave Ferraro on Wonderland (Comics-and-More)

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