July 9, 2009
Peter Pan has been through dozens of iterations since J.M. Barrie first used him in The Little White Bird in 1902. Plenty of creators have done their own depiction of Pan in works ranging from sequels to cartoons to…whatever Hook was. But veteran comics writer Peter David has earned rave reviews with his own vision of Peter Pan in his all-ages prose novel Tigerheart, which was recently released in paperback.
July 8, 2009
You’ve probably seen Jack Hsu’s work without realizing it many times over the years. The prolific storyboard artist has worked a number of hit films, and pulled off the unique feat of winning the Xeric Grant twice, first for Poppie’s Adventures, and again for his graphic novel 8-9-3, which premieres from Automaton in August.
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The action-packed, much-buzzed-about book takes readers deep into the world of the Yakuza (Japanese mafia), drawing from such influences as Crying Freeman and the films of John Woo. We sat down with Hsu for the 411 on 8-9-3.
July 7, 2009
Everyone loves zombies, but have you ever felt like one of the walking dead? Like you’re just trudging through life, going through the motions, while slowly falling apart? Shane White (The Overman, North Country) knows that feeling, and he’s bringing it to life in Things Undone, a new original graphic novel from NBM that premieres this August. The dark comedy is already earning great advance buzz, and features an introduction from one Robert Kirkman, who knows a thing or two about zombies. White recently gave us the 411 on Things Undone, and some insights into the real-life craziness that inspired this new work.
July 6, 2009
Kazu Kibushi is one of the hardest-working men in comics, from helming the award-winning Flight and Flight Explorer anthologies to his own characters such as Copper and Daisy Kutter – and that’s just for starters. Last year, the first graphic novel in his Scholastic all-ages fantasy series was a smash hit that garnered an Eisner nomination and was optioned as a film by Will Smith as a possible vehicle for his children, Jaden and Willow.
Now, Book Two of Amulet, The Stonekeeper’s Curse, hits stores in a few months, and it’s even bigger and better than its predecessor. In it, our young heroes Emily and Navin undertake a dangerous quest in a fantasy realm to save their mother…a quest that involves ancient trees, a deadly assassin, a brave fox, mystic giants, and oh yeah, a robot house.
Kibuishi took some time out from his very busy schedule to give us a look at Amulet 2, complete with some preview art that will have you chomping at the bit for the full book.
July 6, 2009
It’s 1937 in Kansas, the heart of the Dust Bowl. Crops are gone, clouds of dust whirl through the area, and a whole generation of young children have no idea what rain even looks like. But 11-year-old Jack Clark knows where the rain’s gone. He’s seen it, in an abandoned barn, a shadowy figure with a face like a thunderstorm. And as times grow even more desperate and people begin to succumb to “dust dementia,” the brave boy will undertake a dangerous quest to save his family and his town.
That’s the story of The Storm in the Barn, a new all-ages full-color graphic novel premiering from Candlewick Press this summer. It’s the first graphic novel from Matt Phelan, an acclaimed children’s book illustrator whose pictures have graced such books as the 2007 Newberry Medal winner The Higher Power of Lucky. Phelan was gracious enough to talk with us about his first journey into the world of comics, and share some watercolor pages from the book. Read on to find out more about this mysterious storm…
July 6, 2009
ts (4) | Recommend (0)
Tim Johnston is a nice guy. His late father was…well, not as nice. They hadn’t spoken in a while, but the old man’s recently passed away, and his estate includes a small museum of curiosities. The highlight of this collection just happens to be a taxidermied figure of an African warrior called “The Savage.” Tim’s dad used to scare his kids with it.
Tim, a white guy, is understandably freaked out by this unfortunate inheritance. So he tries to turn the statue over to a museum to get the poor guy a proper burial. Unfortunately, museum official Howard Bright (who happens to be black), finds that doing this isn’t as easy as it seems. And when Tim’s brother Ollie, aka “Free” (who happens to have a literal hole in his head) shows up with his own plans for the statue, things get very, very complicated.
That’s the premise of Stuffed!, a new full-color original graphic novel from First Second Books that premieres this August. It’s the comics writing debut of Glenn Eichler, an Emmy and Peabody-winning writer for Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report, who’s perhaps best-known for creating the character of Daria Morgendorffer on Beavis and Butt-Head and masterminding her long-running spinoff, Daria. He’s teamed with veteran cartoonist Nick Bertozzi (Rubber Necker) in bringing this tale of fractured families and very awkward race relations to life.
Eichler and Bertozzi shared with us the story behind this bizarre tale, and the real-life events that helped inspire it.
June 30, 2009
Wake Forest
Angela Bendorf Jamison of The Girls from Ames
The Storyteller’s Bookstore—To answer the question many worried readers have been asking her, Angela Bendorf Jamison is “doing great,” she says. Those who bought Jeffrey Zaslow’s The Girls from Ames, a nonfiction chronicle of the decades-long friendship between 11 women from Ames, Iowa, got a sad surprise at the end of the book when Jamison was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer, the same kind that killed her mother at age 52.
But as we meet at a Starbucks at Brier Creek, she’s chipper and smiling, her hair already growing back in an Anne Lennox ‘do. She’s laughing as we talk and excited about appearing at Wake Forest’s Storyteller’s Bookstore to promote the book.
“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be,” says Jamison, who was diagnosed last October and has just started radiation after previously undergoing 16 treatments of chemotherapy. She had surgery the same week the book came out in April of this year and has been undergoing treatment at UNC Hospital.
“Cancer is never great, but the reason you can survive it is because of the people around you,” Jamison says. It’s almost a given that her girlfriends from Ames have been there for her. “They have visited, they’ve sent cards, e-mails, gifts … they even bought me a housecleaner!” Jamison says. “I really think I’ve done so well because of them and my friends in the Triangle.”
Since 1998, Jamison has run Communicopia Marketing (www.communicopiapr.com) in Wake Forest, where she lives. A 2007 reunion of the girls at her house serves as the framing device of The Girls from Ames, and a group photo of them on her porch has become the main marketing symbol for the book.
“I would say it’s been a fun ride,” Jamison says. “We never thought it would be something as big as it’s been. We thought, ‘It’ll be a nice chronicle of our friendship, and we can give it to our daughters and show them a different part of our lives.’” And while she’s gotten to see her friends more frequently as they’ve done interviews and promotions for the book, she’s not tired of them yet: “The time is never long enough when we’re together.” —Zack Smith
Angela Jamison appears at The Storyteller’s Bookstore in Wake Forest from 7-9 p.m., along with fellow “girls from Ames” Diana and Karen. For more information, visit www.storystorewf.com or call 554-9146. For more on The Girls from Ames, visit www.girlsfromames.com.
June 30, 2009
Think your job sucks? Try working with superheroes. Ken Marcus has gotten rave reviews for his miniseries Super Human Resources, the tale of what goes on when you work in an office where caped crusaders are always dropping by, the receptionist is a reformed supervillain, and even the copier is plotting against you. With the collection due out in August, we talked with Marcus about what happens when you put superheroes in a place like The Office.
June 30, 2009
Imagine a comic strip where anyone could show up – where Blondie might stroll through, or Prince Valiant might charge through on his mighty steed. Imagine a strip where all artistic styles co-existed, produced without the aid of cut-and-paste or Photoshop.
Now imagine that strip existed almost 50 years ago…and people didn’t get it.
June 22, 2009
Starstruck #2, page 20
Our interview with the creators of IDW’s Starstruck re-presentation concludes today, with a look at what it took to bring this new series to readers, and what its return means to the creators.
