Links: Archie and Anticipation

Kate Holden analyzes Emma Vieceli’s manga adaptation of Hamlet from a literary point of view at Comic Mole Investigates.

The first volume of Dragon Ball was pulled from an elementary school library after a parent complained about nudity and sexual innuendo. I like J. Caleb Mozzocco’s reaction at Blog@Newsarama because, with his local-news reporter background, he really gets what’s going on there. Our own Lori Henderson posts her take at Manga Xanadu.

Didn’t we all know that the "Archie gets married" storyline would have multiple endings? I guess a lot of the world didn’t get the memo, and after all the publicity about his marriage to Veronica, the news this week that he is tying the knot with Betty took some folks by surprise. Johanna Draper Carlson rounds up the reactions at Comics Worth Reading. The New York Times story she links to is worth checking out for many reasons, including this rather surprising revelation from writer Michael Uslan:

“The polls that I’ve seen ran about 80/20, Betty over Veronica, with Jughead continually coming in a strong third,” said Mr. Uslan

I’m not surprised that it happened, I’m just surprised that he said it. Other interesting tidbits: Uslan read every single Archie comic to put together the 1980 anthology The Best of Archie, and his inspirations for this latest storyline include the film Sliding Doors and Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken. For those of a less literary bent, the Archie News blog has previews of some other upcoming issues.

Anticipation is running high for the fourth volume in Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, so much so that publisher Harry N. Abrams has increased the print run from three to four million. The newest book is due out on Oct. 12.

The Disney Comics Worldwide blog has been posting lots of good stuff lately, including these previews of Boom’s new Uncle Scrooge comics and an interview with Italian writer Giorgio Salato.

Out from the Comic Shop lists this week’s new kid-friendly releases.

If you’re going to be in or around Eliot, Maine, on November 12, check out Capt’n Eli Family Fun Day.

Lexie reviews three fairy-tale graphic novels from Stone Arch Press at Poisoned Rationality.

J.L. Bell reviews The Storm in the Barn at Oz and Ends (with links to other reviews as well) and then revisits it with a discussion of how expectations are different for graphic novels than for prose works.

New reviews at Graphic Novel Reporter, Snow Wildsmith on Crogan’s Vengeance, Outlaw: The Legend of Robin Hood, The Storm in the Barn, and Road to Revolution! and John Hogan on The Good Neighbors, Book Two: Kith.

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