The News Blog of Comics Culture
I know, I know! We have been arguing for such a long time that comics aren’t just for kids but the problem is that a majority of the comics publishers have neglected to realize that this is and will always be tomorrow’s adult comics fan. With the acceleration of the Children’s and Young Adult categories, the traditional publishers are dominating a market segment that for some reason, still isn’t registering with the folks who made it possible in the first place.
To me, the answer to that question is definitely: yes! But that also depends on a lot of moving parts and with encouragement from The Beat, I’m going to post a few columns here about the elements needed to create real marketing programs that can help better define what a bestseller is and where the real opportunities lie.
Tweet Okay, don’t everyone kill yourself at once! Seth, cartoonist of the long lost and forlorn, has designed and illustrated a new editions of Chekhov’s ABOUT LOVE, three linked tales of abortive attempts at happiness, The Moscow Times tells us: Chekhov is one of Seth’s favorite writers, because of the sympathetic and yet obtuse nature of his work, Seth [...]
Tweet Craig Yoe is putting out another one of his numerous comics compilations and this one has a fun theme. It’s called Comics About Cartoonists What’s cooler than comics about cartoonist? NOTHING! This mind-blowing, full-color hardback book collects rare comics about real and fictional cartoonists–created by the greatest cartoonists in the world! Read comics about [...]
First Second editorial director and cartoonist Mark Siegal, will be on tour for SAILOR TWAIN, this fall. Dates are above and in the link.
If you haven’t seen SAILOR TWAIN, the rich story of a 1887 Hudson River barge captain who finds a mermaid, and what unfolds from that, you are missing an imaginative comics yarn that joins other comics about waterbourne voyages, like Far Ardden and Set to Sail. Heck it’s a whole new comics genre.
Okay not really. It’s just that Stephen King has just announcedthe looooong awaited sequel to The Shining and it’s called Doctor Sleep. It follows the grown-up adventures of Danny Torrance, the “redrum” lad of the original, who is now a middle-aged cat man.
New Yorkers who are are still in withdrawal from the amazing SPX just concluded, rejoice—this weekend’s Brooklyn Book Festival features a full line-up of comics programming, and some comics-focused programs during the week that will keep you in comics nirvana. The festival takes place all day Sunday, September 23rd, but there are satellite events listed below.
Via PR, Penguin, which has been dabbling in the graphic novel field for quite a while, has finally announced its own Ink Lit line, to be headed by former DC and Yen publishing exec (and Beat contributor) Rich Johnson. In line with what has generally sold best in recent bookstore sales, the line will focus on adaptations of existing work by established SF and genre authors. The line launches next month with Alpha and Omega: Volume 1 by Patricia Briggs and Todd Herman, adapting the first book in Briggs’ Alpha and Omega series. Future contributors include Charlaine Harris, Chris Golden, Don Kramer, Laurell K. Hamilton, Karin Slaughter and Sage Stossel, who will be writing an original graphic novel.
The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia
A trio of stories on digital from Publishers Weekly that illuminate book demographics and strategies:
§ Jim Milliot surveys a recent report from Bowker and notes that digital book prices are falling, but Gen Y has overtaken the Boomers as the biggest book consumers:
Disclosure: Author Sean Howe interviewed me for this; and he interviewed everyone else. Coming from Harper in October:
Novelist Max Allan Collins is no stranger to the comics, with his ROAD TO PERDITION graphic novel being turned into an actual prestige movie, and his long-running Ms. Tree comic. His new novel is actually set in the world of comics with a comics section by long-time collaborator Terry Beatty.
We’re done at BEA and BlogWorld and so on, and getting back up to speed on posting. Huge thanks to Torsten, Todd, Vanguard Steve, and Jessica for keeping the show running while we were away from the computer. We’ll have more BEA thoughts tomorrow but in the meantime, not to make anyone jealous or anything, but here’s the promo item of the show…and maybe the year, a travel themed giveaway for Lemony Snicket’s new series, “ALL THE WRONG QUESTIONS”, which has art by Seth…everything from a pen with an octopus to a bar of soap. The first book will have a 1 million copy laydown October 23rd.
Only a few minutes to post a few tidbits…as usual, compared to even a few years ago, everyone in the book biz knows what graphic novels are, and even if they aren’t publishing them outright, nearly everyone has a book that’s “sort of” like a GN with words and pictures.
We’ll be at BookExpo America for BlogWorld for the next three days, so sporadic posting alert! On Wednesday we’ll appear on this panel:
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