DC Comics will be publishing a collection of graphic novels based on NBC’s hit Heroes TV show. The stories were originally created for the official website for the show. Look for a hardcover release of the graphic novels this fall.
Graphic Novels
Graphic Novels by Prose Authors
Oni Press is working with author Karin Slaughter to create an imprint of graphic novels written by prose writers. I love her take on graphic novels:
“Graphic novels let you take risks that just
wouldn’t fly in the conventional book form,” Slaughter said. “Visual
story telling is at once immediate and subversive.”
It will be interesting to see what sorts of crossover this creates. Will it be readers of prose moving to graphic novels or graphic novel readers seeking out the prose of the authors? Definitely an exciting new approach that we will all have to keep an eye on.
The Plain Janes
The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg.
This is a graphic novel featuring Jane whose life changes when she is in Metro City and a bomb falls. She is scraped up from the incident, but profoundly affected. Her parents move with her to the suburbs for safety. But Jane finds it hard to fit in and continues writing to a man who was found next to her on the sidewalk when the bomb fell. He is in a coma and no one has identified him. Jane pours her heart out to him in letters as she slowly makes a group of friends who become the Plain Janes, and perform guerrilla art throughout their suburban community.
This is a great book. It has so many dimensions working together. First, the fear of attack and the search for safey. The finding of real friends and peers in a high school. The need to express one’s self through art. And it ties them all up into a very digestible and friendly bundle.
The entire book rocks with great writing and wonderful art. It is a graphic novel that is purely American but has the feel of manga. I can see it being a gateway book to manga and the graphic novel genre for many teen girls.
This one definitely deserves a place on library shelves across the country.
Kampung Boy
Kampung Boy by Lat.
Amazing, amazing, amazing. This is a graphic novel that reveals a lost lifestyle of small villages in Malaysia. Mat recounts his life from birth to when he leaves the village to go to school. It is filled with details of rural Muslim life and brims with good humor and the grace of a simple life.
This one belongs in all graphic novel collections. It will be enjoyed by children in elementary school, but will be most appreciated by those older than that who will see the difference in the culture and life that Mat lives.
I can’t wait for the next volume!
How Many Fruits Baskets?
AnimeNewsNetwork as an article about TOKYOPOP’s Fruits Basket series reaching two million books in print! Amazing! Fruits Basket was one of the first manga that I ever read and one of the first I purchased for the library.
I love the quote from the author:
When TIME Magazine asked Ms. Takaya her feelings on having the
top-selling manga in the U.S., she responded, “That definitely flatters
and pleases me. Thank you very much. As for a reason, I can’t clearly
distinguish one, but if people read Fruits Basket and think ‘I like
this,’ then that alone is enough to bring me joy.”
This series certainly brings a lot of people around the world joy too.
Girls Get Graphic
The New York Times has an article on the huge push from DC Comics to promote Minx, a new line of graphic novels for girls. Cecil Castellucci, a great teen novelist, has been commissioned to write them. Hurrah!
I will be very interested to see what this new venture creates, especially seeing that it is said to be the largest promotional push that DC Comics has done in 30 years!
Graphic Novel Attacks
An interesting AP article on the topic of increasing challenges to graphic novels in libraries, shows that people are finding graphic illustrations of adult themes much more provocative than the same actions in written form. They have some examples of adult graphic novels that are being questioned in public libraries.
When I went to library school, I learned that if a librarian is doing their job and truly selecting items that will serve even the marginal people in their community then you definitely can expect to have materials questioned. Sounds like this new director at the library has pushed the envelope a bit more than her predecessor. Complaints about materials aren’t the end of the world, they may just be the indication that you are doing your job extremely well.
Via LISNews.org
Graphic Spotlight
Check out the 2006 Graphic Spotlight from Kirkus. Graphic novels appropriate for teens are scattered among those that are not, and if you are looking for titles for children, scroll all the way down to page 22. Keep an eye out for their Best of 2006 Children’s Books list that will be released in early December.
ALA Advice on Graphic Novels
ALA has a new document to help librarians deal with the intellectual freedom issues that come along with offering graphic novels: Dealing with Challenges to Graphic Novels. Their advice is simple but effective: be prepared. They go into details about dealing with the media, language for answering pointed questions, and how to deal with complaints in an effective way.
Waking Brain Cells 