Cybils Review: NEW SUPER-MAN VOL. 1: MADE IN CHINA

Synopsis: Reboots seem to be the story fad du jour when it comes to comic franchises, and while there have been some reboots of Superman, I doubt you've seen one like this before. Brought to you by the writing talents of our own local NorCal comics genius Gene Luen Yang, along with illustrator Viktor Bogdanovic, one of this year's Cybils finalists for Young Adult Graphic Novels was New Super-Man Vol. 1: Made in China.

This "DC Universe Rebirth," as DC is calling it, posits a brand-new origin story for your rebooted Superman, one steeped in DC universe lore as well as more recent traditions in Chinese comics. This time, the would-be Superman starts off as a blustering teenage bully from Shanghai named Kong Kenan. After accidentally saving his own bullying victim from a marauding supervillain, Kenan attracts the eye of a super-secret group trying to build a homegrown Chinese Justice League—they need a Superman, and they think Kenan's perfect for the part. Kenan is stoked: he has fancy powers and his new friends include Chinese Wonder Woman. What could possibly go wrong?

Observations: This is a really fun, international/multicultural take on the Superman comic adventures—kudos for diversity and for introducing new characters and storylines to a classic (some might even say old-fashioned) franchise. And, of course, Gene Yang's writing is always stellar, so this one has a good balance of entertainment and deeper themes, such as politics, family, and, naturally, good vs. evil. Readers will catch a glimpse of some ongoing sociopolitical issues in China through the lens of popular culture—both shared pop culture AND some stuff that will be new to readers, such as some homegrown Chinese superheroes that are not too thrilled with this new Justice League homing in on their crime-fighting turf.

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Not every reader is into superheroes, but those who are will surely enjoy this one. Effort has been put into making Kenan a relatable teen character with regular human storylines, while still packing the story with superhero adventure and humor. That extends to the artwork, too, which was well done: solid and not overly exaggerated superhero-style character design, good flow to the layout, and fast, exciting storytelling.

Conclusion: Pushing diversity to the forefront of comics makes some stodgy grouches go a little nuts, but personally, I'd rather read this new take over the old chestnut. Sorry, dudes. More variety in stories is always good. And I think this one is also being marketed in China, which is, I hope, a success.

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I received my copy of this book specifically for the Cybils, courtesy of the publisher. You can find NEW SUPER-MAN VOL. 1: MADE IN CHINA by Gene Yang and Viktor Bogdanovic at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

Cybils SpecFic Bookmark: WONDER WOMAN: WARBRINGER by LEIGH BARDUGO

The Cybils Speculative Fiction Bookmark:

As a panelist for Cybils YA Speculative Fiction, Round 1, I'm going to be briefly writing up some of the hundreds of books I read as part of the award. As panelist conclusions are not for public consumption, the purpose of these write-ups is primarily to keep track of what I'm reading, and will mostly touch on plot synopsis, with minimal comments on thematic tropes.

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Synopsis: Diana knows, as her mother's daughter, that everything she does is going to have more weight. Her mother is the queen of the Amazons, and Diana has her place on Themyscira by accident of birth, rather than right of sisterhood as the other warriors there have earned. Diana knows that everyone believes her to be small and easily broken, the least of her tribe. She only wants her chance to prove herself -- which seems to come in the form of a plane crashing off the shore of their hidden island. Diana saves the human girl from the wreckage, but breaks Amazon law... and soon discovers she's made more of a lasting, horrific mistake than her little law-breaking led her to believe. Meanwhile, the human girl, Alia, was only on the plane - without her brother's permission - because since their parents' death, he NEVER let her go anywhere or do anything, ever. She just wanted to prove that she didn't need the Keralis name to protect her, and she could take a biology internship with strangers, and do just fine. But, no - a bomb on the plan changed those plans, and now she's stuck with a half-dressed supermodel type who was obviously raised in cult. She thinks Alia is some kind of violence magnet -- and she's trying to convince her that she needs to go to Greece to stop a world war.

The people chasing the two girls are not imaginary illusions from a cult, regardless of what Alia longs to believe. It is going to take nerves of steel to outwit their pursuers, survive betrayal, and make herself safe again... if she even survives. The only way to do this is to trust her shieldsisters and stand together.

Observations:

Sister in battle, I am shield and blade to you. As I breathe, your enemies will know no sanctuary. While I live, your cause is mine."

Readers seeking representation of strong female friendships will find them in this book. Alia, Nim, and Diana do not always trust each other, nor believe in how the other sees them, but in and out of the face of danger, their interactions are both amusing and instructive in terms of sisterhood and how true friends should be.

Diana is inexperienced in terms of American society, but she isn't ignorant or naive, her people having studied men, nations outside their own, disease, weapons, religions and history for years before coming across examples of the real thing. Likewise, though she is uneducated in all things Greek mythology, Alia is able to inform herself by reading and study, which allows her to be prepared.

"It's a trap for us. Alia and I always have to be better. We always have to be a step ahead. But the stronger you get, the more you achieve, the more people want to make sure you know your place." He bumped the back of his head gently against the rock. "It's exhausting." - WARBRINGER, p. 272-3

Including Diana's friends as people of color in this novel allowed the author to make some interesting choices and parallels between the lives of superheroes and the lives of successful people, especially people of color. I found it intriguing that she often explored the limitations society puts on people of color and allowed Diana as a character to explore her own society's limitations as being matriarchal and female-exclusive, and how that allowed the Amazons to both identify - and misidentify - the mores of their culture and their world.

Conclusion: One of the strengths of this DC novelization of the iconic Wonder Woman backstory is that readers with little to no experience with the comic books, the cartoon, or 70's era TV show can still find their feet in the story. A place of entry for those unfamiliar with the Wonder Woman superhero universe, this fast-paced story is full of peril and humor, betrayal and determination, and shows the grounding and powerful force true friendship can be.

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I received my copy of this book courtesy of the public library. You can find WONDER WOMAN, WARBRINGER by Leigh Bardugo at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

10 Years of Great Graphic Novels

Can you believe it's been TEN years since First Second Books began publishing high-quality graphic novels for kids, teens, and adults? It's incredible but true. And at Finding Wonderland we're proud to have done our part in supporting their efforts over the years. Now, they're at 157 books and counting, and we are thrilled to take part in their 10-year anniversary celebration.

This month is THE month, and so we're posting a special infographic provided straight from the publisher: a fantastic February reading list that focuses on great YA graphic novels--many of which have been reviewed right here. Below the infographic you'll find links to the reviews on our site. And, lastly, stay tuned for a special graphic novelist INTERVIEW (never say First Second didn't hook us up!) and more fun posts celebrating comics throughout their anniversary year. Congratulations to an imprint that has made it abundantly clear graphic novels can be great art and great literature!

Reviews:

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol
Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff
Foiled by Jane Yolen and Mike Cavallaro
Friends With Boys by Faith Erin Hicks
In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang
Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong by Prudence Shen and Faith Erin Hicks
This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki
The Wrenchies by Farel Dalrymple

Congrats, Mr. Ambassador! Celebrating Gene Luen Yang

Photo courtesy of the author and First Second

From the press release: The Children’s Book Council (CBC), Every Child a Reader (ECAR), and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress (CFB) have announced the appointment of Gene Luen Yang, Printz Award winner and two-time National Book Award finalist, as National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.

The Kidlitosphere's own Betsy Bird was part of the selection committee, and having met Gene on a few occasions, I know it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. We're longtime fans, and we've featured his books here on Finding Wonderland several times (with a review of his latest, Secret Coders, still upcoming); we've hosted him for interviews, too. In honor of his appointment as the 5th Ambassador, here's a roundup of our posts featuring Gene and his books:

Interviews:

Kids Comics Q&A Blog Tour: Interview with Gene Luen Yang  - 5/11/2015

Diversity in YA Kicks Off Tour at SFPL - 5/9/2011

Summer Blog Blast Tour Kick-Off: Gene Yang - 6/16/2007

Reviews and such:

Reviews in Tandem: THE SHADOW HERO by Gene Luen Yang and Sonny Liew - 6/30/2014

Waiting on Wednesday: Some GENE LUEN YANG Love - 2/13/2013

Thursday Review: LEVEL UP by Gene Luen Yang - 5/26/2011

May Graphic Novels Roundup, Part Two: Prime Baby, Mercury, and Stitches - 6/6/2010

Two from :01 (The Eternal Smile) - 6/26/2009

Learning Your ABCs (American Born Chinese) - 2/1/2007

CONGRATULATIONS, GENE!

Review: MS. MARVEL VOL. 2: GENERATION WHY

Summary: Some time ago I reviewed the first collected volume of the new (and surprisingly awesome) Ms. Marvel comic, starring the rebooted main character Kamala Khan: an ordinary American teenage girl from Jersey City who just happens to be a Pakistani-American from a Muslim family. As someone who has Muslim family (my dad's side), I was thrilled to see a realistic, sympathetic, and positive portrayal of American Muslims, and in today's social climate it's something we need more than ever. So I was happy when my friend Ross lent me the next volume in the graphic novelization, entitled Generation Why, which collects issues #6-10 and covers Ms. Marvel's continuing adventures defending her city from the mysterious giant-robot-building villain known only as The Inventor.

Peaks: There is so much to love about this comic series—and this is coming from someone who is admittedly not a huge fan of superhero comics in general or of Marvel characters in particular. Sorry; I guess I've just always been more of a DC girl (Vertigo, if you must know.). Anyway, one of the storylines I DO like in the Marvel universe is the X-Men, and, lo and behold, there was a cameo appearance by He of the Huge Ackman, the Wolverine himself. This was a very cool part of an even cooler plot arc in which we learn more tantalizing hints about Ms. Marvel's origins, get to see her charming, heartwarming, often hilarious interactions with her family, and watch her bring all kinds of entertaining and clever smackdowns on The Inventor's giant homicidal robots.

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This episode also focuses, for its moral message (because don't superhero comics usually have one? I find they do), on youth issues and the empowerment of the current generation beyond the stereotype of them being clueless, apathetic drones with smartphones grafted onto their hands. If you think about it, superhero comics have often been message-y, so I'm not going to pass judgment on that aspect because it just is what it is, but I will say that it's a message well suited to an audience of young readers, and I like the idea of this comic being able to appeal to a wide range of readers and interest a new generation in traditional comic-book heroes. Honestly, what's not to like? A butt-kicking girl hero, plenty of diversity, lots of humor and hilarity, and a giant, lovable, slobbering telepathic dog. Go read it.

One other thing which I didn't notice before that I just adored: Ms. Marvel's outfit. If you look carefully at it, it's actually a shalwar kameez, and instead of a cape she has a dupatta (shawl). It's pretty awesome, and it's featured prominently on the cover of this collection. The cultural aspects are well done, again, in this episode, and readers not as familiar with Pakistani culture or with Islam will see typical family interactions and learn, for instance, that dogs aren't considered to be clean animals you'd let live in your house. (This was a Thing when I was a kid, and as a kid who wanted a dog, it was not a thing I liked. However, having been to India since then, and seeing the sheer number of stray dogs all over the place, I kind of understand it more…) There's also a GREAT visit by Kamala to her imam at the mosque, who gives her very wise advice. Another really important scene, to me, given the number of people who have no idea what an imam really is or does beyond what they see on TV.

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Valleys: I honestly don't see any real valleys to this one. There was a change in artist starting from issue #8, and I wasn't sure about it at first, but the new artist grew on me after a while. I guess if you're the type of person who has trouble with reboots, and can't cope with change, it could be hard to get used to. I was never much of a Marvel reader in the first place, so it bothered me not at all.

Conclusion: I really think comics fans should read this one. Girls, boys, grown-ups. It is just so much fun, and is a great reboot for reflecting the diverse time in which we live. Stay tuned for my review of Volume 3: Crushed, which is also in my TBR pile.

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I received my copy of this book courtesy of a friend. You can find MS. MARVEL VOL. 2: GENERATION WHY by G. Willow Wilson, Adrian Alphona, and Jacob Wyatt at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

TURNING PAGES: FALLOUT by GWENDA BOND

Full disclosure: I've served any number of times with Gwenda Bond on Cybils panels and consider her a sharp cookie as well as a friend. As we've never had a slumber party or a trapeze act together, I'm fairly certain that I can review Gwenda's novel without undue bias.

The whole superhero thing during childhood was ubiquitous and inescapable - from The Greatest American Hero, that weird Automan series (what was THAT about, ABC?!) and endless Superman films on the big screen and rerun on the small, my entire childhood was informed by caped crusaders... which is why I was easily able to abandon all of that as baby stuff, and move on. Then Smallville came on, and ... well. *cough* Those are some hours I won't get back. But, it was all to the good, because all that teen angst sparked more imaginations than mine. So, we know the trope of The Chosen One from our hero-centric narratives, but what is The Chosen One like as a teen? The best gift we received to explore that, of course, was Harry Potter - and now, we've got Lois Lane. The not-exactly-chosen-one. The one who volunteers.

Summary: If she can just stick to the plan, Army brat Lois Lane will manage to blend in at Metropolis High. If she can keep from pointing out the fallacies in the principal's attitude toward bullying. If she can keep her nose out of what's going on with her new job at The Daily Planet's teen newsmagazine, "The Scoop." If she can steer clear of this troubling gang of... gamer nerds? If, if, if. Two little letters that mean failure, because nope, Lois can't do it. She's nosy, but it's because a good soldier always needs to know the lay of the land -- which is important if you're always The New Girl. Lois also knows what it's like to be alone - and lonely - and can't stand seeing anyone bullied, so it's pretty disturbing to see someone begging the principal for intervention on her first day... and seeing her not get it, and the bullying continue. Ugh. Since Lois will be in Metropolis for the foreseeable future -- unless The General puts her in military school, as he often threatens -- at the very least she's going to make sure Metropolis High is a decent place. With her online buddy-maybe-more friend SmallvilleGuy and the new friends at "The Scoop" behind her, not hackers, conspiracy theorists, VR games, barefoot elves or even a five-headed monster can stop her -- she hopes.

Peaks: I cringe to hear characters described as "snarky" or "wisecracking," because most of the time the dialogue that goes with those words seems staged to resemble air-brushed Movie Kid speech. However Lois doesn't JUST snark, she also deadpans, she quips, she digs, and she's really, really good at it. Lois shoots off her mouth like anyone does, and though she occasionally puts her foot in it, that just makes her sound like a normal, incisively honest teen saying the things everyone is THINKING. Since Lois isn't accustomed to having to worry about the fallout from speaking her mind ...she doesn't. Not a lot, anyway. She's a good faker, at the very least.

The appearance of Nerdfighters in this novel - slightly myopically immersed and either weeping or laughing at their books, phones at the ready to record their latest reactions via vlog - made me laugh out loud. The representations of "type" of persons is closely matched by a diversity of class and ethnicity - the teens seem to organically and naturally to transcend the "American Standard," which is nice.

And can we talk about the covers??? Both the hardback and the paperback have bags of style, and are just amazing, not only reflecting the colors of Metropolis High, but... well, our Kansas boy in a cape as well. Swoon!

Especially Apt For...: People who loved Smallville and Lois & Clark, people who are fans of the teen sleuth, a la Nancy Drew and Veronica Mars; people who love stories of intrepid reporters a la Fitzhugh's Harriet or Pratchett's William de Worde, and also for everyone who loves books about do-gooder sidekicks like Hermione Grainger and Wendy Watson, aka "Dub-Dub" from The Middleman.

Conclusion: This was such fun - more fun than even I expected. With over-the-top, truly scary villains, a conspiracy theory site, this series debut is fast-paced, tautly written, absolutely immersive yet imminently re-readable, and will leave readers greedily impatient for May 2016 when we'll get the next one.

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I sourced my own copy of this book. You can find FALLOUT by Gwenda Bond at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

Mid-Afternoon Funnies: The Forever Girls

Okay, so Rapunzel might be a leeetle over-honest -- I mean, come on, if you'd lived by yourself in a tower and had people climbing your hair all the time, you might be apt to blurt and duck more often than not, no? And Alice... well... she gives new meaning to the word "vague," as she tends to kind of wander... mentally. The Little Mermaid can't hang out much, what with the whole must-stay-in-water thing, and Snow White appears to have a pigmentation difference and is worryingly surrounded by birds (which must be potty trained. Right?????). We haven't really met the rest of the girls yet, but they seem like they'd be so fun to hang out with, don't they?

Dude, unicorn horns can do ANYTHING.

Meanwhile, the cartoonists remind us to stay tuned, 'cause there's more to come.

Kids Comics Q&A Blog Tour: Interview with Gene Luen Yang

Children's Book Week was just last week, and thanks to First Second we're still celebrating--throughout April and May, MacTeenBooks has organized a massive multi-blog tour featuring Five Questions with a wide range of amazing cartoonists for kids and teens, with all interviews conducted by by Jorge Aguirre and Rafael Rosado, the authors of Dragons Beware! If you check out the list (RIGHT HERE!), you'll see familiar names like Cece Bell and Mariko Tamaki and Cecil Castellucci and tons of other great graphic novelists. It really is a wonderful virtual event, and it's co-sponsored by the Children’s Book Council, Every Child a Reader, and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Without further ado, but WITH an awesome imaginary drum roll I'd never be able to pull off in real life, here are Five Questions with one of our favorite (and local) graphic novelists, Gene Luen Yang. He's the author or co-author of so many GNs we've really loved here on Finding Wonderland: American Born Chinese (reviewed here), Level Up (reviewed here), The Eternal Smile (reviewed here), Boxers & Saints (previewed here), Prime Baby (reviewed here) and Shadow Hero (reviewed here). We've also interviewed him before, way back in 2007 (gulp). We're stoked to welcome him back again!

RAFAEL/JORGE: Gene, when our first book came out, you let us interview you, and now that our second book is coming out, you are allowing us to bombard you with questions yet again.  You're a good man, Gene!  Thanks, again!
 

GENE:  Thank you guys for getting in touch again!  I thoroughly enjoyed the first volume of Giants Beware!  Can’t wait to find out what Claudette and her friends are up to next!

QUESTION:  The last time we interviewed you, we asked you about something we’re still struggling with:  how do you balance a day job with creative endeavors. You recently discussed your work as a High School Science Teacher.  Has the balance of day job and comics gotten tougher or easier for you since we last spoke?  Have you learned any tips that you can share with us and others? 
 
GENE: It’s funny you should ask about this.  I recently made the decision to leave my day job.  For the past seventeen years, I’ve worked at a high school in Oakland, California.  I started as a full-time teacher.  These days, I’m down to just one class, plus some database work.

Leaving will be hard.  I love the community.  I feel like I’ve learned so much from my students.  But recently, DC Comics offered me the opportunity to write Superman and I couldn’t pass it up.

I know some folks hate their day jobs, but I loved being a teacher.  Still do.  Teaching and making comics provided a great balance for me.  Teaching’s incredibly extroverted, making comics is the exact opposite.  Being around people all day often gave me the source material I needed to write and draw stories.  Though I’m concentrating on my cartooning career for now, I hope to end my working life as a teacher.

Balancing a day job with creative work can be difficult.  For a few years, I would wake up early and go to sleep late to get my comics done.  I think you have to find the right day job, one that leaves you with enough energy to finish your own stuff.  For me, teaching and comics drew from different “energy buckets” – they wouldn’t exhaust me in the same way, so it worked!

QUESTION:  We can't wait to read your Superman! Was that a goal of yours to write for the Man of Steel?  How did that come about? Any chance for a Superman - Green Turtle team up?
 
GENE: I’m definitely excited to be a part of Team Superman!  Because he’s such a popular character, Superman is the star of four different titles from DC Comics.  I’m working with the other writers to build something new for the Man of Steel, something that will hopefully be a springboard for some good stories.  I’ve learned so much from seeing how those other guys work.

I’d love to do a Superman-Green Turtle team up!  Not sure it’ll ever happen, though!

I do want to mention that Sonny Liew, my partner on The Shadow Hero, is drawing the Dr. Fate comic for DC.  I’m super-excited about it.  Sonny, of course, is one of my favorite artists, and Dr. Fate is one of my favorite superheroes!  I got really into him when I was in high school, during J.M. DeMatteis' run on the character.  Can’t wait to see what Sonny and writer Paul Levitz do with him.

QUESTION: Speaking of the Green Turtle, "The Shadow Hero" only whetted our appetite for his adventures.  Can we hope to see a sequel or two or three?
 
Thank you!  Sonny and I have talked about doing two more Green Turtle stories.  I want to do one that’s set right before America enters World War II, and one right after the war ends.  Hopefully we’ll be able to actually do it someday.  Right now, though, we’re both busy with other projects.

QUESTION:  Who are you reading these days or who are your current influences? 
 
These days, most of my reading is research.  I’m almost done with Glen Weldon’s excellent Superman: An Unauthorized Biography.  I’m also reading a couple of books about basketball because I’m working on a graphic novel about the subject.

In terms of comics, Jason Shiga’s Demon is brilliant.  Not for kids, not even for some adults, but brilliant.  Jason is one of the most innovative – and bizarre – cartoonists to have ever walked the planet.  Mind-blowing stuff.

Jillian and Mariko Tamaki’s This One Summer has won a bajillion awards, and if you read the book you’ll understand why.  Absolutely masterful comics-making.

The comic I most recently read is Superman #23.4, written and drawn by Aaron Kuder. Aaron’s another member of Team Superman.  He’s most well-known as an artist, but he’s an excellent writer as well.  The issue focuses on Parasite, who is arguably the best purple-skinned supervillain ever.

QUESTION: Is Superman the next thing you're working on or are there other things on your plate you're working on these days?
 
Cartoonist Mike Holmes and I are busy with Secret Coders, a middle-grade graphic novel series all about computer programming.  I’m really, really excited about it.  I finally get to combine my two careers – cartooning and teaching computer science – into a single project.  I’m doing the writing, Mike’s doing the art.  Mike’s stuff has this Saturday morning energy to it that’s perfect for the story—you’ll see what I’m talking about when it comes out in September.

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Thanks so much to First Second and the generous book-loving sponsors who made this blog tour possible! We're excited, too, about the upcoming Secret Coders, and can't wait to add it to our TBR pile. Thanks to Gene for taking the time to answer Jorge and Rafael's questions, thanks to the interviewers, and thanks to the amazing Gina Gagliano. Don't forget to go check out the other stops on the blog tour!

Rambling on a Thursday Afternoon...

Yep, that's what you get from me today, because it is the last week of school and my upcoming weekend will be filled with GRADING FUN as well as previously scheduled and poorly timed social engagements.

Saturday, for instance, I'll be attending the SCBWI Northern California Spring Spirit conference, a one-day event in Citrus Heights (nearly 2 hours away! sigh) with Matt de la Pena as the keynote (yay) as well as several interesting-looking breakout sessions. Matt's will be on writing dialogue, and I'm going to that one; I'm also attending sessions on writing humor and on developing a good school visit program. And there is HOMEWORK I have to do beforehand, because evidently everything I do nowadays has homework in addition to the actual work. ('Sup with that, universe??)

Going back to the grading fun, though...I've decided I want to start a Tumblr solely for the purpose of posting cartoons. Some of these will be my writing-related Toon Thursdays, but for quite a while now I've been collecting amusing student errors from essays, and I would also like to turn some of those into cartoons. Right now my struggles are twofold: 1) time (the perpetual problem) and 2) a title. I don't want to call it Toon Thursday, because it's too much pressure. It implies I'm going to post something regularly on Thursdays, and I've already established pretty conclusively that drawing a weekly cartoon may or may not happen.

But! This is going to happen, people. Stay tuned.

Psst. Enjoying The Forever Girls?

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Happy Weekend! Enjoy The Forever Girls, a little tale by graphic novelist and cartoonist (& Melissa Wiley's beau) Scott Peterson, with artwork by artist and animator Monica Bruenjes. So much to love here: Snow White is seriously Nordic, Rapunzel can give you whiplash with her braids, Cinderella looks like she's annoyed to be putting up with fairytale nonsense again, and I love the expression on Wendy's face, and that she carries a Union Jack umbrella - and beats on annoying creatures with it. Long live fractured - and restructured - fairytales, and doughty heroines.

TURNING PAGES: THE LUMBERJANES Vol 1, by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooke Allen, and Shannon Watters

It's a truth acknowledged universally &tc. that I am not the artsy person in this blogging duo. A.F. - she draws, she's Cybil'd, she has the degree, etc. - so she has the relationships with the graphic novel companies and the graphic novels are her schtick. I... don't know from graphic novels really, and as I've said before, when I was a kid, the only comic books we got were, like, someone's horrible version of the New Testament in graphic form. It was pretty guy-centric, which ironically is probably why (in addition to the muddy artwork and cheap paper) it wasn't something I wanted to read at all. But this comic book series I really wanted to read - not because Leila pretty well rolled around and squealed about it when it first came out, and not only because it was written by a bunch of ladies but mainly because it was about a bunch of lady-types at a kind of scout-y style summer camp. I did scout-y style summer camp for six years - it wasn't just for hardcore lady-types, and we sadly did not have a Pungeon Master patch, but it represented the kind of hands-on fun that makes summers memorable.

Summary: Five good friends - Jo, April, Molly, Mal and Ripley, and we have no idea how they know each other, but they are apparently friends - are together at the Miss Quinzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet's Camp for Girls Hardcore Lady Types. They're just trying to hang out and have a summer, but Things keep happening - first, Things happen in the woods. Then, Things happen down a hole and in a tunnel. Things keep the girls out of "normal" camp activities (whatever those are), make their counselor, Jen, snippy with them, and get them the wink and the nod from camp director Rosie, a Lumberjane lady-type who herself is fond of the odd adventure - and knows what's behind the Things in the woods, possibly.

Each of the girls has particular (and peculiar) strengths to offer the group - super strength at one point, higher math skills, puzzles and punning, no particular fear of weird glowing eyes/rocks/river monsters, etc. - and in an action-packed story arc that is kind of like a Choose Your Own Adventure novel if someone chose the wrong action almost every time, they lurch from one near-disaster to the next - in an endearing way, with a little bickering and plenty of lady-centric exclamations along the way ("Oh, my Bessie Coleman" has got to be the most ladylike exclamation ever.)

Peaks: I love the layout of the books, which place pictures, scrapbook style, atop open pages of Miss Thiskwin's somewhat rambling handbook narratives on the things which a Lumberjane should be able to do to conquer the natural world (not live in harmony with it, no, no, no, subdue that troublesome puppy). The drawings vary by artist, but the girls are always identifiable by their own particular quirks - a splash of blue hair dye, a coonskin cap, etc. Even the paper on which the book is printed has a really nice feel, which is more important that one might realize.

The next obvious positive is the characters. These girls are completely different from each other - but manage to fit. I would have probably tried to drown Ripley once or twice for her completely heedless, hyperactive plunging into -- everything -- but the girls simply hold onto her and redirect her rather than complain. Which is pretty cool of them. Because there are five girls, one of them sometimes feels like the literal fifth wheel - but no lady-type is left behind here, unlike camp in real life, and the girls are always there for each other, in a non-cheesy, and sometimes somewhat wordless way, which is really nice.

Valleys: There aren't really valleys with this book, per se -- because I'm not really a comic book person, I have little quibbles and objections to things that may just be part of the comic book experience - for instance, I want to know where the girls come from, and if they met at camp. I want to witness them getting to know each other. I want to see more girls and to compare them to the girls in our cabin - is it only Roanoke where things are completely bizarre? Are the girls trying to keep that a secret from everyone else?

Sooo, mainly, the biggest drawback here is that there isn't more story IMMEDIATELY. *sigh* Reader greed, when it's a serial story, is an ongoing problem, which is why I'm likely to continue to buy the books as they come out, instead of getting the weekly comic -- I can't take not knowing NOW.

Conclusion: For my first-ever purchase of a comic book, I feel this was a pretty successful series with which to begin. The fact that these are five girls in a cabin called "Roanoke" gave me a grin - scouting camp in the Bermuda Triangle of lost colonies explains the Three-Eyed Things in the Woods fairly well for me. I love that Rosie is a camp director who enjoys woodwork and looks like a refugee from the 1950's. I love that each girl is allowed to be herself. Whimsical and quirky, this adventure left space for the reader to relate to both storyline and characters (though I really think my camp should rethink not having a pun honor) and included boys, but didn't let them be the center-stage in either campcraft or adventures. It's a happy thought to know the series is ongoing, and I'm ready for the next volume in October.

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I purchased my copy of this book. You can find THE LUMBERJANES Vol 1 by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooke Allen, Shannon Watters at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent comic book store near you!

Monday Review: MS. MARVEL VOL. 1: NO NORMAL by Wilson and Alphona

Summary: I was excited, intrigued, and a little wary when I heard that the new reboot of Ms. Marvel was going to be a Pakistani-American, Muslim teenage girl. I cheered because young women of South Asian descent would finally be represented in the pages of a mainstream comic book, and while I have never been a huge fan of the Marvel universe (I generally prefer DC, Vertigo, and indies) or superhero comics (I tend to prefer antiheroes), there's no WRONG venue for the world of comics to reflect our diverse world.

At the same time, I worried: would the representation be excessively stereotypical? Would it be inaccurate? Would it have a hidden agenda? Would it fail miserably to appeal to its desired audience for one reason or another, bad luck or bad marketing or whatever, thereby causing gender, ethnic and religious diversity in comics to suffer a setback? Would it be too preachy or too message-y?

After reading the graphic novelization of the first several issues of Ms. Marvel: No Normal, I'm…well, I'm pleasantly surprised. Yes, there are a few stereotypes, but character types are to be expected in a superhero comic. I mean, it's a superhero comic. There is diversity, and plenty of it--not simply because the main character, Kamala Khan, is Pakistani-American and Muslim, but there is diversity depicted in the variety of beliefs and practices within Islam: Kamala's brother is so devout it drives everyone a little nuts, her best friend Nakia is Turkish and chooses to wear the hijab—against her parents' wishes, and Kamala herself is trying to find a middle road, wanting to do "regular American" teenage things while still loving and respecting her parents, who are strict and want to keep her safe. She's always been a superhero fangirl, and looked up to Ms. Marvel as a strong female role model…and then she ends up with some superpowers of her own. Then things really get complicated.

Click to embiggen.

Peaks: I like it that there are nuances to Kamala's relationship with her family and friends. This isn't just the story of a poor beleaguered Asian-American girl with overly strict parents who can never go out or talk to boys. In fact, one of her best friends is a boy, Bruno, and her parents seem to be just fine with him. Her parents, while strict by American standards, love Kamala and try their best to explain their point of view rather than simply being portrayed as tyrants. As I've already mentioned, the variety and diversity of characters is a positive thing, and the colorful environment of Jersey City is nicely shown in the artwork that provides a backdrop for the story. And, overall, I just think it's a fun, fresh take on the old-school superhero comic. Kamala is a relatable teenage girl, and there's a strong subtext of empowerment (both symbolic and literal) throughout the story.

Valleys: For me, I suspect the valleys here are things that would bug me about most superhero comics: moments of ridiculous dialogue and characters who are exaggerated for comic effect. At least the exaggeration and ridiculousness seems even-handed and no one group (or ethnicity) is targeted more than the others, as far as I could tell. If you don't like superhero comics to begin with, this one probably isn't going to offer you TOO much that breaks the genre mold.

Conclusion: This was fun. I will probably pick up the next installment just to see how Kamala copes with her new powers and new identity—another thing I did think was done well here was her struggle for how to view herself, and how to make something new of herself that wasn't done before by the previous Ms. Marvel. I was prepared to be annoyed that her superpowers, at first, came with a righteous head of blonde hair, but instead, Kamala goes on to reject the classic image of Ms. Marvel and redefine what it means to be all-American, reminding us all that there is no single, all-encompassing definition for it.

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I received my copy of this book courtesy of my friend Ross, who loaned it to me. You can find Ms. Marvel Vol. 1: No Normal at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!

Alison Bechdel is a Genius, but We Already Knew That

Just a quick post today--but I wanted to make sure you all knew that cartoonist/graphic novelist Alison Bechdel has won one of those nifty MacArthur Genius Grant thingies. Yes, of COURSE we knew she was a genius way back when we first heard of the Bechdel test and challenged folks to go forth and write with an awareness of what diversity really means. But it's fantastic to see her ideas recognized and her work get more exposure. If you haven't read Fun Home (reviewed here) or its companion book, Are You My Mother?, I can't recommend them highly enough.

Also, there was a really cool Q&A with Bechdel posted on NPR several days ago--go check it out. Seriously, I'm chuffed that someone so deserving (and someone I've even heard of, no less) has been honored so highly. It's awesome. Go cartoonists!

A Little of This, A Little of That...

I haven't done a links roundup in a while. That's mainly because I'm so far behind on my e-newsletters and other online reading that I've got an enormous backlog to go through. I put all that stuff in a separate email folder and instead of making me feel organized, it ends up languishing in there for months, making me feel guilty. So periodically I open up a few and find out what I've been missing, and now I'll share a few links with YOU in case you also missed them. Enjoy!

• Ilsa J. Bick Talks with Read Roger in a VERY interesting interview for Horn Book, including some teasers about her next book, White Space, and why Ilsa Is Fearless despite all that scary stuff she writes.
• I don't read a lot of actual memoirs, but I really, really like graphic novel memoirs, and I can't wait to read The Dumbest Idea Ever! by Jimmy Gownley, who wrote the Amelia Rules! series. GraphicNovelReporter has a nice review as well as an interview with Gownley, in which he talks about his book--which is all about how he became a cartoonist: "I never had a Plan B. I actually don’t believe in Plan B’s, because they are really just excuses to give up on your dream as soon as possible."  Yeah. What he said.
• Also, in case you missed it, check out GraphicNovelReporter's Best Graphic Novels of 2013. My TBR list just got a lot longer...
• Ages ago, I found a roundup of links on Writer's Digest on humor and writing--how to inject more humor into your work, lists of "funny words," and more. If you've ever agonized over the perfect way to word that hilarious phrase (I used to have a freelance job where I did that every day!), you might want to check it out.

Valentine's Day Blog Tour Lovin': APHRODITE (and more) by George O'Connor

Let me just start by asking you this: How much more awesome could it get than having the privilege of hosting a guest post by George O'Connor--whose latest graphic novel Olympians title is Aphrodite--ON VALENTINE'S DAY? Answer: I don't know, partly because that question was too grammatically convoluted for me to formulate a reply. In any case, it IS awesome, and we are thrilled to present George's musings on Greek mythology and how we still encounter its traces in everyday modern life. He's a proud mythophile, and we are, too--I still have my well, WELL-thumbed copy of D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths from when I was a kid (which my mom helpfully annotated with all the gods' and goddesses' Roman nomenclature, which is an interesting thing to do for a seven-year-old kid, but anyway). George's Olympians series takes a comic-book lens to the classic Greek myths, and those all-too-humanlike deities that bring them to life--and I daresay he may have taken a look at those D'Aulaire illustrations himself. At the very least, his series has the same sort of vivid visual appeal, and I'd recommend it for classroom libraries and for anybody with a love of mythology. Without further ado, some words of wisdom from George O'Connor:

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Hello, fellow seekers of Wonderland. My name is George O'Connor, and the gracious Looking Glass people who run this blog have generously allowed my to park my thoughts here today as I continue my blogcrawl of the best book blogs in the biz in support of my new book Aphrodite: Goddess of Love. Aphrodite is the sixth volume of Olympians, my ongoing graphic novel series that retells classic Greek myth in a graphic novel format, one god or goddess at a time.

Tanita, aquafortis and citysmartgirl have also graciously allowed me to choose the topic that I'll be blogging about today, so I figured I'd drone on about the different dialectal approaches to translations inherent in early Grecian mythography and—man, just kidding. Today is Valentine's Day! And I'm on a blog tour promoting a book about Aphrodite! The Goddess of LOVE! Mother of Cupid! Of course that's what I'm going to be writing about.

I'm not going to get too much into the history of St Valentine's day, except to note that one popular theory of how it started has its roots in the martyrdom of a man named Valentinus who was persecuted for performing Christian marriages. It's interesting then that one of the most visible symbols of the holiday today is the image of a pagan deity, the minor godling Eros, or Cupid as we now tend to call him. It's even more interesting to note, for me anyway, that Eros has so thoroughly eclipsed his much more powerful mother Aphrodite as a symbol of love in the modern day. It makes a certain amount of sense, I suppose—Eros is all chubby cheeked and innocuous, a seemingly chaste and innocent version of Love. Aphrodite is a heady concoction of lust and sexuality, a gorgeous sexually mature being. For a creature of Greek myth to have survived through the intervening years of comparatively repressed sexual mores that existed in the Christian era as opposed to ancient Greece, well, the less threatening the better.

In actuality, I think it's pretty darn impressive that any image derived from a Greek deity has survived the millennia to such a populist degree, so many years after the widespread belief in the gods. Off the top of my head I can think of a few more. Old Man Time with his sickle is Kronos, God of Devouring Time and Father of Zeus. He's normally depicted as a weathered, tired old figure, ready to be replaced by a newborn new year, as opposed to the vigorous child-swallowing Titan of olden times, but there's no denying he's the same figure. The Olympics, currently being held in Sochi as type, began in ancient Olympia as part of a ceremony honoring Zeus. Hospitals and medical vehicles the world over still bear the wand of Asclepius, a rod with a snake entwined around it, the symbol of the god of the healing. Many more institutions of healing bear the Caduceus, a winged rod with two snakes entwined, which is actually the symbol of Hermes—a move befitting the trickster god, who millennia later is still playing his tricks, evidently. Speaking of symbols, our universal symbol for man (♂) is the shield and spear of the war god Ares; lest we think she’s been completely eclipsed, the symbol for woman (♀) is the mirror of Aphrodite herself.

 I'll be honest—I'm a complete mythophile. When I discovered the stories of the ancient Greeks as a child a whole world opened up to me—a fascinating wild world filled with monsters and action and sexy stuff. As I grew older, my appreciation of the myths deepened. Not only were they chock full of all kind of cool stuff, but I began to see them as glimpses into a vanished world, a world before our own, but a world which still influences our own, and has served as a blueprint for our whole society. So today, St Valentine's day, I hope that when you send your loved one a bouquet of narcissuses and a card festooned with an image of Cupid, you think back to the original Goddess of Love, Aphrodite, and think how wherever she is, she must appreciate this day.

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Thank you to George O'Connor for stopping by and writing up a fantastic post thematically related to what is now Corporate Love Day, and reminding us of the many ways Greek mythology still informs modern-day life; and thanks to Gina Gagliano at First Second/Macmillan for setting this all up. Do go check out the rest of the posts on the blog tour, which includes a couple of our favorite kidlitosphere folks, Charlotte's Library and Dear Teen Me (great posts! go read them! and see a high school picture of George with a righteous mane of hair!) as well as many other blogs.

Writing Wisdom from Tony Cliff: Grounding a Flying Boat

Today we're happy to host a guest post by Tony Cliff, author of Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant, recently released by First Second and reviewed here a couple of days ago. It's always a lot of fun to talk to first-time graphic novelists because so often they come at their projects with the perspective of having produced webcomics, or comic books, or having written or illustrated other types of books, and so we get to hear about the creative process and how it's similar (or different). Tony's here to talk about the nitty-gritty of dealing with fantastical elements, and how to finesse a story so that the unbelievable--a flying boat, say--becomes a necessary part of the story. Thanks, Tony, for stopping by!

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When I began writing THE TURKISH LIEUTENANT, I wanted a way for her to be able to travel around the globe quickly and at will, without having to rely on the typical modes of transportation at the time (early 1800s). Similar to the way a James Bond is able to hop around the globe in the line of duty. So I gave her a flying boat. A flying sailboat, specifically.

The "sail" part is important. This is the time of the Napoleonic wars – a time when men on wind-powered warships were wrestling for control of the seas. Never mind that it would have been technologically incongruous to give Delilah a diesel-fuelled propeller plane to travel around in, it would do a disservice to the spirit and aesthetic of the time to equip her with anything but a ship with sails. Two on the top, for propulsion, and one on each side for lift.

Image: Tony Cliff/DelilahDirk.com

A flying sailboat is, of course, complete nonsense, despite what you may have read elsewhere. Science – no, never mind science – your basic human understanding of the world prohibits the existence of a flying sailboat. But hopefully, within the context of DELILAH DIRK AND THE TURKISH LIEUTENANT, it is perfectly believable.

The boat is, for the most part, treated like background dressing. Delilah refers to it in only the most casual manner. Few other people see it. Those that do, however, react appropriately. They react how you might were you to encounter a real-life flying sailboat: a mixture of fear, awe, suspicion, and a cargo load of other assorted emotions. This is the first thing that helps the boat "sit" in the world without feeling patently absurd. Having a character in the story react to an extraordinary thing in a way that mirrors a potential reader's disbelief is an effective calming technique. You, the writer, are holding out a hand to your reader and saying, "yes, I know this is preposterous, but you're not the only one who thinks so! You're not alone in this!" You can see this happening in the GAME OF THRONES series with dragons. The characters who aren't (spoiler alert) freaking out about the real-live dragons are talking wistfully about the power and might of the dragons of old. Whenever ol' George R.R. Martin gets around to unleashing some actual dragon action, it's going to be good (this might have already happened? I'm only half-way through book three). Look at the entirety of Harry Potter's introduction to Diagon Alley and the Wizarding World - there's a reason ol' J.K. Rowling started Harry off in the world of regular, boring old humans instead of writing a story about a boy who's always known he's an amazeballs wizard. It's so we can share in Harry's discovery of these unbelievable people, places, and disgustingly-flavoured candies.

Perhaps you'd like to write about a world in which astonishing magic or extremely advanced technology (is there even a difference???) are hum-drum facets of everyday life. Even then, you may choose to include an "avatar" character; someone to represent the viewer's introduction to this world. Again, see Harry Potter. That magic stuff is all pretty routine to Ron and Hermione, but it isn't to us, and it isn't to Harry. The reader's avatar doesn't have to be a complete newbie, though – there are countless other ways to provide a helping hand to a reader who may raise an unbelieving eyebrow at the reality of your fictional world.

As far as these things go, I also appreciate simplicity and solid rules. The flying boat flies, assuming it is piloted correctly. It does not hover, it does not submerge, and you need water to land it on. It does not autonomously swoop in at the critical point in Act 3 to (spoiler alert) save Delilah from certain death. The very worst time to reveal a certain property or ability of a magical item is exactly when it becomes useful in resolving suspense or conflict. The boat is not a magic-bullet solution to Delilah and Selim's problems, and it doesn't do anything that hasn't been established.

Conversely, the boat is difficult to handle and fragile, which gives it character. The value of flaky, unreliable technology is demonstrated well in MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL. Early on, it is established that sometimes some of Ethan Hunt's wacky gadgets can fail. Initially this is played for laughs. Later it is played for good, solid suspense. Overall, it is much easier to relate to than fantastic future-gadgets that never fail. How much time and effort do you spend maintaining the proper operation of the device you're reading this blog post on? Fallible technology and/or magic is much more believab%f000
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Tony Cliff is a contributor to the Flight series of anthologies, has been nominated for Shuster and Harvey awards, and has three times been nominated for an Eisner award. Delilah Dirk is his first published graphic novel. (Bio courtesy of Macmillan.)

Tony Cliff's website
Tony's Tumblr blog (check out the awesome sketches thereupon!)

NOTHING CAN POSSIBLY GO WRONG in a Q&A, Can It? NO!

It's a busy month for Tanita and I, this merry month of May, so we've decided to feature a couple of guest posts and interviews over the next few days--on the 8th, we're part of Shana Mlawski's blog tour, and today, we're proud to be part of the blog tour for Prudence Shen and Faith Erin Hicks' graphic novel Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong (which you can sample online here). We reviewed it here a few weeks ago, and you may recall me gushing about it. So of course I'm extra excited to present the following Five Questions with the authors of the book, in which we grill them (nicely, of course) about how the project got started, what the making-of process was really like, and what their favorite comics are. As someone who is hoping to create a graphic novel someday, I always enjoy reading about the process behind the final product, and I hope you enjoy it too!

Special thanks to Gina Gagliano at First Second for arranging the interview.

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Finding Wonderland: We're curious how a collaborative graphic novel works. On the book's website, it says Prudence did the writing and Faith, the artwork--but did you share both aspects of the project? What did the process look like?

Pru: Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong started its life as a novel called Voted Most Likely. Faith and I got hooked up by First Second, which had acquired the story with the intention of adapting it as a graphic novel. Faith handled the adaption, and our interaction on the story side mostly involved a little back and forth over how to compress a pretty long book into what turned out to be a pretty long graphic novel, but it all went remarkably smoothly from my end. I think it helps that we appear to share a sense of teenaged humor.

Faith: Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong was originally a very funny prose novel that Prudence wrote and I adapted from prose to comics. So I had to take this long story with lots of words and no pictures and cut it down into a 250-ish page graphic novel. Which was really hard! I had to cut a lot of stuff. Nate actually had a family in the original novel, but he doesn't in the comics. I assume he just lives under Charlie's porch or something ... Anyway, I read the book that Pru wrote originally and made a story outline based on that book, where I picked out all the scenes and story moments that I liked best, and that I felt would contribute to a great comic. That outline got sent to Pru and when she approved it, I went back and wrote a script based on that outline and the original novel. Lots of trimming and hacking away here! I cherry picked dialogue that I liked best, re-arranged stuff so that it fit better in the overall story, and added things here and there for clarity. After the script got approved by Pru and our editor, Calista, I drew all 280 pages of the comic. I maybe went a little insane drawing the robot fight scenes, they were hard.

FW: Where did the initial idea come from for Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong, and what were the beginning stages of the project?

Pru: The initial idea for the book really grew out of a pretty fixed scene: a bunch of teenagers roadtripping it to a battlebot competition. It was important to me from the start that they did this in a car that had been "borrowed" from one of their parents. As I started to expand on the story, I realized I wanted to bust as many typical teenage conventions as possible, not just break barriers between geeks and jocks, but to point out that all of these divides and demarcations are completely artificial. At our core we're all insecure weirdos, especially when we're teenagers.

Faith: For me, my editor at First Second, Calista, approached me and said she had this novel that they were planning to adapt into a comic, and was I interested? I read Prudence's original novel in a coffee shop over the span of a couple days, and liked it very much, so I signed on.

FW: What was the biggest challenge for you both in working on this? Faith lives in Halifax and Prudence in NYC--were there geographic hurdles, or did the internet fix everything?

Pru: Got it in one. The internet is magic, truly.

Faith: For me the biggest challenge was drawing all the robots! There wasn't really an issue of geography as we weren't working closely. I had regular discussions with our editor in New York, and that's all done by phone and email. That's the nice thing about this information age, I can live practically on the very end of Canada, in the cold of the Maritimes, and still work for a New York publisher.

FW: Speaking of the internet, this book also exists as a webcomic. For each of you: what is your favorite format for comics? Webcomic? Serial comic? Graphic novel? Why?
Pru: I dig webcomics as well as graphic novels. Webcomics because they're kind of our digital equivalent to the funny pages, and you can consume so many different art styles and personalities, everything from Bad Machinery to Sinfest. For the purposes of Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong, I think that the web comic format could be a touch torturous, as the way the story is structured is meant for reading in a graphic novel format.

Faith: Graphic novel, for sure. I believe very much in the importance of digital comics and webcomics, but for actually sitting down and reading something, I like a nice thick graphic novel. I do most of my reading in bed, and I don't have an iPad. I like webcomics a lot, but I mostly use them as previews: if I see a webcomic I like, I'll buy the book version of it.

FW: What originally got you interested in reading (and writing comics)? Do you have a favorite comic or GN you've read recently?

Pru: At heart I'm still a prose storyteller, and I definitely got my start reading books like Little House on the Prairie or watching TV shows like The X-Files and wanting desperately, desperately to be allowed in on those adventures. In some way I'm still writing for the same motivations; I'd have killed to be in that stolen SUV, driving to Atlanta for the Robot Rumble. As for comics, I grew up on manga and Chinese graphic stories (illustrated versions of classics like Journey to the West and a Dream of Red Mansions and various ghost stories and fairytales), so the format of pictures to go with the words has always been really pleasing. On the subject of serials, I'm really only just getting into those, having been seduced by the new Hawkeye comics.

Faith: I've always been very attracted to the comics medium, although for years I didn't read many comics due to issues of availability (the town I grew up in didn't have a good comic store, and this was before libraries began stocking graphic novels). As a Canadian kid, I read a lot of Tintin and Asterix growing up, but then stopped reading comics in my teens when there wasn't much being published that was, well, something that a girl could read. So I started making webcomics, and made the type of comics that I wanted to read, and just fell in love with the medium. And then it was five years later and I'd drawn nearly 1,000 pages of comics ... it was a bit crazy. As for what I've read recently that I really liked, I liked Bad Machinery volume 1, I loved the conclusion of Naoki Urasawa's manga epic 20th Century Boys, and I got Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind box set for Christmas, which was amazing.

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Thank you, Faith and Prudence (wow, that sure sounds...historical) for stopping by and revealing some of the secrets of the trade--I can't be the only one who thinks this was a fabulous collaboration, and I'm sure plenty of other readers are hoping to see more from the two of you, separately or together.

More info about the book and its authors:
Book website on Macmillan
Prudence Shen's website
Faith Erin Hicks' website
Our review of Faith Erin Hicks' first graphic novel, Friends With Boys

Graphic Novels Galore, and More

Just a catchall post of links for this damp, grey Monday, as I catch up on blogging and house cleaning and other small projects (thus successfully procrastinating on real work while also maintaining the illusion of productivity).

• First, a plethora of graphic novels for the comically-minded--not only did the Cybils release their finalist lists (including GNs for young readers and teens alike), GraphicNovelReporter has released THEIR list of the best graphics of 2012--interesting to compare, and not surprisingly, there are a few titles that overlap: Congrats to Raina Telgemeier and Faith Erin Hicks!


• More lists of Best Books of 2012 are popping up throughout the kidlitosphere: check them out at Bildungsroman, Fuse #8, Bookshelves of Doom, Chasing Ray, and a bonus from Leila over at her Kirkus Reviews column.


• Have you heard of PaperBackSwap.com? I hadn't, but it's a great way to get books to schools in need as well as ditch some of those titles taking up space in piles, on your floor, in your office or living room or bedroom...you know you've got those piles.


• For other ways to help students in need, check out Adopt-A-Classroom, which I just read about over on Goodreads, or check out ARCs Float On and the other book donation programs on Reach a Reader (yeah, yeah, I'm totally biased about that one!).