Links: The Return of Darkwing Duck

Joe Books is bringing out a collected edition of the Darkwing Duck comics that were originally created for BOOM! Studios; artist James Silvani and writer/editor Aaron Sparrow talk about what made the series special. However, it also should be noted that former writer Ian Brill and editor Christopher Burns asked that their names be taken off the omnibus because it was substantially rewritten: “We believe that this will not be the book that readers enjoyed when the series was originally published. We do not feel it is right to rewrite comics for a reprint collection.”

More to look forward to: Zainab Akhtar has a preview of Dragons Beware!, Rafael Rosado and Jorge Aguirre’s followup to their 2012 graphic novel Giants Beware!

The winners of the Cybils Awards have been announced; Cece Bell’s El Deafo took top honors in the Middle Grade Graphic Novels category and Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang’s In Real Life won the YA category.

Sarah Hunter looks at some graphic novels for Black History Month at Bookends.

Cathy Camper wrote Lowriders in Space because she felt there was a huge audience that wasn’t being reflected in children’s books:

I got angry. I was working as a youth outreach librarian for Multnomah County Library. I was seeing all these kids of color in schools, but all the books were about suburban white kids. I’m Arab-American so I get what it means to not see yourself in books. I wanted to write a book that might change some of that.

I also targeted it at boys, because boys’ literacy rate is dropping, and boys need books that appeal to them. I wanted it to be funny, and a graphic novel because I love comics. And I’ve always loved science, so it was natural to include that. It struck me as weird that although cars pretty much rule our lives (think about it—they’ll tear down whole neighborhoods to put in roads for cars), car culture is extremely rare in kids’ books.

To follow that up, here’s an audio interview with Lowriders in Space illustrator Raúl Gonzalez, who also discusses the importance of diversity as well as how he broke into the biz.

Amy Broadmoore takes a look inside Bird and Squirrel on Ice and interviews author James Burks.

Mordecai Luchins recommends 12 comics that a seven-year-old girl might like, and a lively discussion breaks out in the comments section, with more recommendations and some opinions about age levels.

Previews

Lumberjanes #11 (Comic Book Resources)
Terrible Lizard #4 (Comicosity)

Reviews

Britt Wilson on Cat Dad, King of the Goblins (San Francisco Book Review)
Melissa Fox on El Deafo (Book Nut)
Rob McMonigal on The Olympians: Ares (Panel Patter)
Sarah Stevenson on The Olympians: Ares (Finding Wonderland)
James Kaplan on Princeless: The Pirate Princess #1 (Panel Patter)
Nick Smith on Princess Decomposia and Count Spatula (ICv2)
Sarah Stevenson on The Sculptor (Finding Wonderland)
Julie P. on Stinky Cecil in Operation Pond Rescue and Big Nate’s Greatest Hits (Booking Mama)

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