Links: The rise of Ninjago

The Walking Dead may be the bestselling comic in America right now, occupying 15 of the top 20 slots on the New York Times’ hardcover and paperback graphic novel lists, but Lego’s kid-friendly Ninjago comic is making a strong showing as well, with two volumes — Mask of the Sensei and The Challenge of Samukai — appearing alongside Robert Kirkman’s popular horror series. On the manga bestseller list, Sailor Moon, Pokemon Black and White, Skip Beat!, and Naruto continue to post strong numbers.

Is Sabrina the Teenage Witch headed for the silver screen? Johanna Draper Carlson investigates.

Our own Brigid Alverson kicks the tires at Marvel’s new digital storefront. Though “Marvel already has a number of digital offerings,” she notes, “what’s nice about this is that it syncs with the Marvel iOS and Android apps as well as their Chrome Store.”

Torsten Adair takes a closer look at Archaia Studios’s Free Comic Book Day offering, a 48-page hardcover book that features new Mouse Guard and Labyrinth stories.

Speaking of Free Comic Book Day, artist Jacob Chabot discusses one of the titles that will be available on May 5th: Voltron Force: Shelter from the Storm, an original comic inspired by the 1980s cartoon. Writer and editor Brian Smith also talks to FCBD about his involvement in Voltron. “Each volume of the graphic novel series tells an all-new, original story set in the universe of the cartoon,” he explains. “In a lot of ways, each book feels like a bonus episode of the show.”

WJAX in Jacksonville, Florida profiled Kaleb Brown, a nine-year-old cartoonist whose comic, The Big M, features a giant who “loves tacos and burritos.”

Reviews: Drew McCabe looks at the latest issues of Jackie Rose and Transformers: Autocracy. At Comics Worth Reading, Johanna Draper Carlson sifts through a pile of picture books and graphic novels for young readers.

Young Readers (Ages 4-8)
Rob McMonigal on Adventure Time #2 (Panel Patter)
Tasha Saeckler on Frog and Fly: Six Slurpy Stories (Waking Brain Cells)
Emma on How Do We Stay on Earth? A Gravity Mystery (No Flying No Tights)
Katherine Dacey on Kitty & Dino (The Manga Critic)
Scott VanderPloeg on The Shark King (Comic Book Daily)
Snow Wildsmith on The Shark King (Good Comics for Kids)
Emma on Zig & Wikki in The Cow (No Flying No Tights)

Pre-Teens (Ages 9-12)
Alexander on vol. 2 of Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Promise (Comic Attack!)
Johanna Draper Carlson on Courney Crumrin #1 (Comics Worth Reading)
Nic on vol. 1 of Fluffy, Fluffy Cinnamaroll (No Flying No Tights)
Tanya on Giants Beware! (books4yourkids)
Tasha Saecker on Giants Beware! (Waking Brain Cells)
Scott VanderPloeg on Luz Sees the Light (Comic Book Daily)
Sheena McNeil on Pokemon the Movie: White – Victini and Zekrom (Sequential Tart)
Angela Eastman on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Manga Bookshelf)
Drew McCabe on vol. 8 of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (Comic Attack!)

Teens (13+)
Karen Maeda on vol. 3 of Ai Ore! (Sequential Tart)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of A Devil and Her Love Song (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 1 of The Earl & The Fairy (Sequential Tart)
Scott VanderPloeg on Friends with Boys (Comic Book Daily)
Anna on vols. 12-13 of Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You (Manga Report)
Wolfen Moondaughter on Sherlock Holmes: Victorian Knights #1 (Sequential Tart)
Steve Bennett on Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb (ICv2)

Filed under: Reviews