Links: From Disney Classics to Lowriders in Space

Over at Publishers Weekly, I talked to the folks at Fulcrum Publishing about their nonfiction graphic novel line, which includes the anthologies Trickster, Wild Ocean, and Colonial Comics, and to one of their authors, Joel Christian Gill, creator of Strange Fruit and Tales of the Talented Tenth.

At New York Comic Con, I had the opportunity to interview Takeshi Obata, the artist for Hikaru No Go, Death Note, and Bakuman.

Another of the New York Comic Con panels I attended was a tribute to Stan Goldberg, who was the colorist who designed the palette for Spider-Man and many other Marvel superheroes, then went on to a long career as an artist for Archie Comics, and later on drew Nancy Drew and Three Stooges comics for Papercutz.

Cathy Camper talks about Lowriders in Outer Space, which is just what the title says—a story about a group of friends who put together their own low riders from junkers and detail it by flying through space. Camper is a youth services librarian, and she got fed up with the lack of diversity in graphic novels—and books in general—so she decided to make her own:

At Multnomah County Library where I work, we recently made a booklist of good picture books for African American kids. There wasn’t one set on the West Coast – from these books you’d think African Americans only live in brownstones in Brooklyn! Way too many were dire historical stories about slavery or hard times – where are the books about kids of color building forts, playing make believe, just doing things that kids do?

We need this book primarily so kids of color see themselves in books, but also so white culture isn’t always primary. If a book is about a generic kid, why is that kid always white? It’s important that white readers see kids of color too. I sometimes joke – when a book like Diary of a Wimpy Kid is about a girl wearing hijab – you’ll know things are changing!

Monthly Disney comics will return to the U.S. next year, when IDW begins publishing multiple series featuring the classic Disney lineup of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and friends.

Writer John Barber talks about his work on IDW’s crossover series Angry Birds Transformers.

Five-year-old Zoey interviews Kazu Kibuishi at The Roarbots.

Josh Tierney tells us what we can look forward to in the fourth volume of Spera.

Salon’s Michael Peters looks at Archie Comics’ move toward edgier content (although despite the dismayed comments after the article, the classic Archie comics haven’t changed—all the “edgy” stuff is in new additions to their line).

At the Scholastic blog (admittedly not a disinterested party), Melanie English explains some of the many ways that graphic novels improve reading skills.

This One Summer, by cousins Jillian and Mariko Tomaki, has been nominated for a Governor General’s Award; their earlier graphic novel Skim was also nominated several years ago.

Previews

Archie Comics Spectacular: Party Time (Comicosity)
Cameron Hatheway on Costume Quest (Bleeding Cool)
Itty Bitty Comics: The Mask #1 (Comic Book Resources)
My Little Pony: Friends Forever #10 (Comicosity)
Samurai Jack #13 (Comicosity)
Sonic Boom #1 (Comic Book Resources)
Sonic Saga Series 6: Mogul Rising (Comicosity)
Super Secret Crisis War #1: Cow and Chicken (Comicosity)

Reviews: At Women Write About Comics, Romona Williams reviews some of the true-science comics published by the American Physical Society.

Desmond White on vol. 1 of Flutter (Sequart)
Brad Hawley on In Real Life (Fantasy Literature)
Greg McElhatton on Lumberjanes #7 (Comic Book Resources)
Johanna Draper Carlson on The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow (Comics Worth Reading)
Richard Bruton on The Phoenix #147 (Forbidden Planet)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Princess Ugg (Comics Worth Reading)
Alysa Stewart on The Shadow Hero (Everead)
L.B. Bryant on Voltron: From Days of Long Ago—A 30th Anniversary Celebration (ICv2)
Robert Greenberger on The Warren Commission Report (ComicMix)
Dan Brown on The Wrenchies (London Free Press)

Filed under: All Ages