Kibbles ‘n’ Bits: Stripped edition

§ In case you haven’t been paying attention, the prestigious Edinburgh Book Festival in Scotland is going on and they have a huge graphic novel section, called Stripped which has already included appearances by Chris Ware and Joe Sacco. Even more events are planned tomorrow through Monday. (Hopefully our Scottish correspondent Laura Sneddon will have a report or two.) To mark the event, the Forbidden Planet blog has put together a Commentary Archives rerunning past commentaries by authors who are at the show. Included are folks such as Garen Ewing, Bryan and Mary Talbot, Paul Cornell and Will Morris whose The Silver Darlings (above) looks pretty spectacular.

§ FINALLY. An explanation of Homestuck by an actual teenager, which actually MAKES SENSE.

Homestuck is an interactive web comic; the player can solve puzzles, create and lead the main character through a virtual world. The comic, or game, is complicated to explain. The comic is told in a storyline-style.

As the player moves along in the game, it warps into reality and it becomes interactive. And as the storyline goes on, the kids encounter monsters and trolls.

“I’d say it’s definitely geared more towards the fantasy side of comics and games,” said Lord Botetourt Freshman Abby Collins, and avid Homestuck reader.

NOW YOU KNOW.

§ This promisingly-titled This is what it’s like to self-publish a comic looks at Black Hole Hunter’s Club, by two Canadians, Ricky Lima and Shane Heron.

Having created the project during a 12-hour comic jam, and debuting it during 2013′s celebratory Free Comic Book Day, certainly helped Lima and the gang the group put the whole project in perspective. “It was hard to come up with a plan of attack,” Lima explains, “We just printed it and sold it. We were very lucky that people were into the book and ended up selling out of our 200-copy print run in just under a month.” This is an impressive feat, especially considering that the gang’s not part of any major publishing house at the moment. To these guys, this is both a blessing as well as a bit of a curse.

§ J. Caleb Mozzocco looks at this month’s solicits, from DC and Marvel.

§ Software alert: WebcomiX is an iOs app that allows you to read your favorite webcomics.

§ Stan Lee Alert: He’s been given another award, this one something to do with movie posters and trailers. Okay.

§ Nerdlebrity korner: It turns out Hugh Jackman is a pretty nice guy. Not only did he donate money to a children’s hospital in Montreal, where the new X-Men movie is shooting, he gave the crew authentic Australian pies.