Graphic Novels Roundup - May 2020

We're almost half way through the year and after all the lock downs and closures, publishers have started to distribute their books again and local stores are starting to cautiously reopen. This month, again, we have a wide range of graphic novels, from pretty commercial stuff to some indie books really worth checking out and a highly anticipated book from one of the masters of the medium.

For Junior and YA books the highlights are the reprints of Svetlana Chmakova's Nightschool series, The Postman From Space by Guillaume Perreault and Superman Smashes the Klan, a highly anticipated and very topical book by Gene Luen Yang. Finally, we also have the third volume in the Women Who Were Kings Series, this one on Elizabeth I by Australian creator Queenie Chan. A great series for libraries that tells the stories of women who were kings in a very colourful manga style.

For the general adult books Doomsday Clock Part 2 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank should be popular. Flake by Matthew Dooley and The Summer of Her Life by Thomas Von Steinaecker and Barbara Yelin look really interesting. The highlight of the month has to be Paying the Land by Joe Sacco, a highly anticipated book by a master exploring the Canadian Northwest Territories of the Dene people and how the natural resources in their lands have been exploited for oil, gas and diamonds.

Junior and YA 

Disney Frozen: True Treasure - Joe Caramagna, Kawaii Creative Studios (Dark Horse Books)

Gen Pet - Damian, Alex Fuentes (Magnetic Press)

Minecraft: Wither Without You - Kristen Gudsnuk (Dark Horse)

Nightschool Collector’s Edition Volume 1 and 2 - Svetlana Chmakova (Yen Press)

The Postman From Space - Guillaume Perreault (Holiday House Inc.)

Siberian Haiku - Lina Itagaki, Jurga Vile (SelfMadeHero)

Steam - Drew Ford, Duane Leslie, Eva De La Cruz (Dark Horse)

Superman Smashes the Klan - Gene Luen Yang, Gurihiru (DC Comics)

Women Who Were Kings Book 3: Elizabeth I - Queenie Chan (Bento Comics) 

Young Justice Volume 1: Gemworld - Brian Michael Bendis, Patrick Gleason (DC Comics) 

General Adult

Doomsday Clock: Part 2 - Geoff Johns, Gary Frank (DC Comics)

Flake - Matthew Dooley (Vintage Publishing)

Gideon Falls Volume 4 - Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino, Dave Stewart (Image Comics)

Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy - Jody Houser, Adriana Melo (DC Comics)

Little Victories: Autism Through a Father’s Eyes - Yvon Roy (Titan Books)

Paying the Land - Joe Sacco (Vintage Publishing)

Star Wars: Rise of Kylo Ren - Charles Soule

The Summer of Her Life - Thomas Von Steinaecker, Barbara Yelin (SelfMadeHero)

Creator Chat with Ariel Slamet Ries

ALIA Graphic Novels and Comics presents a Creator Chat with Ariel Slamet Ries, the creator of celebrated YA webcomic Witchy.

The first volume of Witchy was published by Lion Forge in 2019 and tells the story of Nyneve in the Kingdom of Hyalin where power of you magic is linked to the length of your hair. The Witch Guard forces those strong with magic to join them but those who are too strong, those whose hair is too long and powerful are considered enemies of the kingdom.

Ariel is producing really interesting work with a strong emphasis on diversity. To find out more check out:
https://twitter.com/cousineggplant
https://arielries.tumblr.com/

Creator Chat with Ben Hutchings

This week's Creator Chat is with Ben Hutchings, the founder of Squishface Studio in Melbourne, where a whole gang of creators share the work space as a collective and organise lots of different events and workshops for the public. 

Ben is also a comic book creator who's been around for a couple of decades now. He contributed with his art to The Invisible War, a graphic novel about WWI and dysentery that has been used at Secondary Schools and last year he published Mini Mel and Timid Tom, an excellent junior graphic novel adventure. 

To find out more about Ben Hutchings please check out: http://www.hutcho.net/ 

And the Squishface Studio website: https://squishfacestudio.com

ALIA Graphic Creator Chat with Gaving Aung Than

ALIA Graphic Novels and Comics presents the fifth of our Creator Chat series where we have conversations with different creators about all things comics and libraries.

This week we have Iurgi Urrutia in conversation with Gavin Aung Than, the creator of Zen Pencils, where he adapted inspiring quotes from famous people to short comics.

In the last year he's published three graphic novels of a new series: Super Sidekicks. This is a brilliant series where the young side kicks have had enough and decide to form a super group of their own. You can find out more about Gaving Aung Than and his books on: https://aungthan.com/

ALIA Graphic Podcast

The videos we've been publishing on our YouTube page have been very well received but we recognise that sometimes it's more convenient to just listen to a podcast.

We recognise this because a few people let us know that it would be more convenient for them to have the conversations published as a podcast.

So we listened and we're happy to provide. The first two videos have now been released and are available on iTunes.

The rest of the videos will be available soon and we also plan to have some original podcast only episodes. So follow the link to iTunes or search for ALIA Graphic Podcast and subscribe.

Creator Chat: A Conversation with Mike Barry

ALIA Graphic Novels and Comics presents the third of our Creator Chat series where we have conversations with different creators about all things comics and libraries. 

This week we have Gabrielle Cundy in conversation with Mike Barry, the creator of Action Tank, a fast-moving adventure for readers of all ages. 

This is a junior graphic novel series with two books published, where a boy suddenly finds himself on the other side of the Solar System and must rely on his brains, his courage and the advice of a mysterious talking unicorn if he wants to get home in time for his Mum's spaghetti carbonara. 

You can find out more about Action Tank on: https://actiontankcomic.com/

Comics and Libraries: A conversation with Leonee Ariel Derr

 This week we talk to Leonee Ariel Derr, about youth services, engaging teens at libraries and, of course, graphic novels.