Links: MoCCA madness

The 2011 MoCCA Festival schedule is now up. Among the highlights are a panel on teaching comics, to be moderated by librarian Karen Green, and a panel on comics for young adult readers, to be moderated by Pop Candy’s Whitney Mattheison. And if there’s a Mo Willems fan in your house, take note: the Elephant & Piggy creator will be signing books on Sunday between 1:00 and 1:30 PM. For more information about hours, location, and admission costs, visit the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art’s website.

Speaking of Mo Willems, he recently won a Christopher Award for Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion, a story about a young girl who loses a beloved stuffed animal.

Over at Graphic Novel Reporter, Katie Monnin interviews Babymouse creators Jennifer and Matthew Holms about their new series Squish, which focuses on a cheerful amoeba and his single-celled pals.

When DC Comics pulled the plug on its Minx line in 2008, there were several completed projects still in the pipeline. Image Comics has rescued two, Poseur and All Nighter, and will be releasing them as floppies later this year.

On April 6, ComiXology officially launched Comics4Kids, an app that enables users to purchase and read a variety of kid-friendly series from publishers such as Archie Comics, Image Comics, and NBM.

Chris Wilson reviews six titles from the VIZKids manga line, including Dinosaur Hour!, Dinosaur King, and — natch — Pokemon. “Kids find themselves being easily sucked into the story, most of which has a lot of action,” he notes. “It holds their interest and allows them to move quickly through a book, giving them a sense of accomplishment.”

A new month brings new editions of Shonen Jump and Yen+. Our own Lori Henderson skims the April issues for new and noteworthy developments.

Reviews

John Hogan on Anya’s Ghost (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Brigid Alverson on Babymouse: Cupcake Tycoon (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Danica Davidson on Beauty and the Squat Bears (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Chris Wilson on Discovery Channel’s Top 10 Deadliest Sharks (The Graphic Classroom)
Greg McElhatton on Finder: Voice (Read About Comics)
Chris Wilson on Harry Potter and the Deathly Boring and Tales from the Crypt: Wickeder… and His Little Dog Too (The Graphic Classroom)
Katherine Dacey on Kekkaishi (The Manga Critic)
Rob McMonigal on vol. 9 of NANA (Panel Patter)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 8-11 of 20th Century Boys (Comics Worth Reading)
Jia Li on vol. 1 of Yotsuba&! (Manga Bookshelf)

Filed under: News