Links: More Jellaby, more Wimpy Kid

Abrams has revealed the cover of the latest Wimpy Kid book, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck. It’s going to be a sort of electric green. Hit the link to see a very short trailer and download your own Wimpy Kid computer wallpaper. This is the eighth book in the series, for those who are keeping track.

Drew McCabe talks to Scott Gross, who is the writer and artist for DC’s Scooby-Doo and Looney Toons comics.

At Publishers Weekly, Deb Aoki rounds up five digital manga stories that emerged this summer, including Shonen Jump expanding to international distribution, Kodansha’s embrace of e-books, and the licensing of the longtime children’s favorite Doraemon.

Olivier N. pays tribute to 75 years of Spirou.

Good news for Jellaby fans: Capstone is bringing the first volume of Kean Soo’s all-ages monster-friend tale back into print. Heidi MacDonald uses the occasion to make a broader point about children’s graphic novels:

What’s changed since 2010? For one thing, publishers understand graphic novels a lot better now. Capstone has been publishing kids GNs for a long time, mostly in the licensed arena, but they know what sales goals are realistic and understand the unique nature of selling GNs. Also, there have been enough sales successes—Smile, Kibuishi’s Amulet, Avatar and so on—that kids comics are much better understood in bookstores and the educational and library markets. A great kids book is a perennial that sells and sells and sells and what publisher wouldn’t want to make money without doing any work. We’ve come a long way since Persepolis put graphic novels on the minds of publishing houses everywhere, and it’s encouraging that Jellaby can be brought back under the right circumstances.

Did you know that every week, Steve Morris interviews creators of comics that run in the weekly British children’s comic The Phoenix? Well, he does, and they’re a lively bunch so it’s worth checking out all of them; you can start with this week’s chat, which is with Chatterbox creators Daniel Hartwell and Karen Rubins. Richard Bruton also does a weekly review of The Phoenix at Forbidden Planet; here’s the latest. And here’s a podcast interview with Kate Brown and Neill Cameron, the creators of the ballet comic “Emilie’s Turn,” at Women Write About Comics. The Phoenix is everywhere! You can only get print copies in the UK, but the digital edition is available as an iOS app on this side of the pond, and it really is brilliant.

Reviews

Greg McElhatton on Hilda and the Bird Parade (Read About Comics)
Jim Mroczkowski on book 1 of Molly Danger (iFanboy)
Greg McElhatton on Monster on the Hill (Read About Comics)
Erica Friedman on vol. 5 of Wandering Son (Okazu)
Richard Bruton on Zara’s Crown (Forbidden Planet)

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