PW Comics Week
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Comics Class of '08
 With the explosion of the graphic novel category, there's been a concurrent explosion in opportunities for young cartoonists. Coming out of art school, prodigious talents might once have been persuaded to follow the lucrative paths of illustration or animation, but now graphic novels—book-format comics targeting both the general book and comics retail markets—are now an equally seductive siren song. The results, as seen in the work of Jeff Lemire, Dash Shaw, Hope Larson and Eleanor Davis, are unexpected and genre busting.
Jeff Lemire
The oldest, at 32, Jeff Lemire, gained acclaim with his Essex County trilogy, published by Top Shelf. The first two volumes, Tales from the Farm and Ghost Stories were published in 2007; the third, The Country Nurse, arrives later this year. All three follow the struggles of ordinary small-town folk, told with a literary nuance that has gained Lemire much praise, including several Eisner Award nominations and YALSA's Alex Award.
Now based in Toronto, Lemire grew up in a small Canadian town similar to those he writes about. He came to comics after a stint in film school made him realize that making movies wasn't for him. “If I wanted to tell stories, it was just easier to draw them than to communicate through a crew and actors,” he recalls.
Lemire's work caught the eye of Vertigo editor Bob Schreck, and his upcoming The Nobody is one of the books leading the DC Comics imprint's renewed emphasis on original graphic novels. Like his previous work, it explores small-town life, but this time more of the negative side is on display. Based loosely on H.G. Wells's The Invisible Man, The Nobody follows a bandaged stranger who appears in a small town. “I use it as a cipher to explore the small rural community,” Lemire says. While his previous books explored what keeps people together, “this one explores the opposite and the small-mindedness of small towns.”
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 Ames and Haspiel tap The Alcoholic
Author Jonathan Ames turns to comics with the story of a man and the destructive power of alcohol.
May Comics Bestsellers
Wimpy Kid and Naruto topped the list yet again, but Alan Moore’s classic The Killing Joke had strong sales.
 Walker, College Team on 'Twilight Zone' Graphic Novels
Walker & Co.and the Savannah College of Art & Design have teamed with the estate of TV writer Rod Serling for a series of graphic novels based on the original scripts for The Twilight Zone.
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In this five page preview of Life Sucks, a new graphic novel by Jessica Abel, Gabe Soria and Warren Pleece, two real vampire dudes work the late-night shift—naturally—at a convenience store while they check out hot goth chicks pretending to be vampires. Life Sucks has just been published by First Second Books.
Click above for the full preview. |
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Talking Comics with Librarians
By Jennifer De Guzman
When I was a kid, my family didn't own a lot of books, but I still read widely and voraciously, thanks to my local library. I don't remember seeing comics there then, but these days, if kids aren't doing their manga reading for free in the aisles of Borders, they're doing so at the library. Librarians have been on the forefront of actively supporting graphic novels, especially for young adult readers, and they wield a great deal of influence by choosing which books will be on library shelves and encouraging reading—more and more often with graphic novels.
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Gimmick! Volume 1
Youzaburou Kanari and Kuruko Yabuguchi. Viz, $9.99 paper (224p) ISBN 978-1-4215-1778-0
 Kohei is a special effects genius who uses makeup skills to solve others’ problems. He’s a terrific, relatable character, especially for the teen male reader. He’s cool, he’s attractive, he’s talented, he’s supremely aware of his awesome abilities... but he also goes goo-goo around the actress he has a crush on. His first mission is to protect her from her creepy manager, in an ever-escalating series of double crosses. The makeup process is presented by the authors as intense, with all the importance of a major operation. Later, Kohei and his stuntman partner try to prevent a violent attack on a monster theme park by a vengeful former employee and
cover up scars for nude scenes. The book is full of dramatic adventure punctuated with comedy exaggeration (and the occasional breast shot), but it’s the high-stakes action that sticks with the reader. The art successfully conveys both the comedy and the life-changing risks. A series about visual trickery is perfect for comics, and this one’s well-executed, with some thematic depth, information about effects work and shout-outs to the real-life greats. (June)
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Otaku Culture, Spanish Style
Aurora Garcia and Diana Fernandez might not be household names now, but the Spanish manga-creating duo better known as Studio Kôsen, have already created a following within certain circles. Best known for such yaoi works as Reflections, Stallion and Saihoshi, all published by Yaoi Press, Kôsen is about to remind longtime fans that it is more than capable of working within other genres to create manga works that can appeal to a much broader readership. Kôsen’s newest series, Daemonium, a planned two-volume shonen-style horror story, will be published by Tokyopop this summer.
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May 6, 2008
- Life Sucks (First Second)
- Salt Water Taffy Vol. 1: Legend of Old Salty (Oni Press)
- Otto's Orange Day (Raw Junior)
- Potential (Simon & Schuster)
- 24x2 (Top Shelf Productions)
- Color of Rage Vol. 1 (Dark Horse)
- Hell Girl Vol. 2 (Del Ray)
- Exterminators Vol. 4: Crossfire and Collateral (DC/ Vertigo)
- Suburban Glamour Vol. 1 (Image)
- Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin (Marvel)
- Little Vampire Vol. 1 (First Second)
- Gary Panter (Picturebox)
- Kannazuki No Miko Vol. 1 (Tokyopop)
- Fairy Cube Vol. 1 (Viz Media)
- Heavenshield Vol. 1 (Tokyopop)
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- Marvel Results Down
- Free Comic Book Day
- Radical Deal
- iFanboy Helps Retailer
- Quesada on Iron Man
- May Fantagraphics Events
- Viz Store Redesign
- Iron Man Reading
- SVA Open Studios
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