Greetings readers, writers, and others!
The good news is – there
are only two more months of 2020 left, so things will surely improve around the
world soon….right? Also, there is only a week until we find out the results of
the election in the United States of America that has the rest of the world waiting
with bated breath.
Closer to home, Victoria has made the rest of the country
proud with getting their Covid 19 numbers down to 0 new cases. Well done guys! Unfortunately,
the news is not so great for the rest of the world – but we are here to talk
all thing comics and graphic novels. So, for a few minutes, forget about your
worries and check out some of the awesome news, media, new releases, and professional
development we have collected for you this month.
We’ve got some really interesting articles to check out this
month, including the exciting news that Lumberjanes is going to be made into an
animated series. The Reading Graphic webinar by ALA looks like an excellent way
to get some insight into the rapidly expanding medium of graphic novels, and for
a quick shopping list check out the compilation by The Beat for 68 of the most anticipated
graphic novels coming out later this year.
Pssst… Don’t feel like reading through our October Round-up? You can listen to our team chat about all of the month’s news and new releases and some of their favourite comic picks on our ALIA Graphic Podcast. While you're there, why not subscribe for some excellent Creator Chats with Australian creators. Our latest Creator Chat was with Shaun Keenan, you can listen to it as a podcast or watch it on our YouTube channel.
News
- Critical
media skills, literacy and comics. The Conversation published a great
article by Erin Steuter discussing
how comics can be useful for media literacy purposes and helping readers
to develop critical reading skills.
- Noelle
Stevenson will adapt Lumberjanes for HBO Max to the excitement of
everyone, everywhere. The greenlight has been given for an animated series
and will be launched with an hour-long special, written and directed by
Stevenson. Read more about it here: HBO
MAX LANDS BESTSELLING BOOM! STUDIOS' “LUMBERJANES” AS AN ANIMATED SERIES.
Need a Lumberjane fix now? BOOM! Studios will release Encyclopedia
Lumberjanica: An
illustrated guide to the Hardcore Lady-Types of Lumberjanes from
writer Susan Coiner-Collier and artists Kaiti Infante, Alexia Khodanian,
Julia Madrigal, and Kanesha C. Bryant. This illustrated look at famous and
incredible women throughout history will be released October 2020.
- Comics
and health education: Matthew Noe published ‘Mapping
the Use of Comics in Health Education: A Scoping Review of the Graphic
Medicine Literature’ recently. A very comprehensive bit of research
worth looking at.
- New
webcomic by Safdar Ahmed. Limilal Magazine has published a piece on
his two iterations of ‘Taste’ titled Between the Yes and No.
- Maus
40 years later. Check out this fascinating
article about graphic artist Art Spiegelman where he discusses his
Pulitzer prize winning graphic novel Maus, how respect for comics has
changed over the years, and his only foray into political cartooning, In
the Shadow of No Towers.
- Tea
Dragon Tapestry is postponed. Oni Press has announced
that the release of Katie O’Neill’s highly anticipated Tea Dragon Tapestry
has been postponed to June 2021. We will have to wait longer but the
wait will be worthy in what is meant to be the series finale.
- New
comic series for beginner readers. HarperCollins
are launching an exciting new series of I Can Read! next June in comic
format aimed at children aged 4-8 and broken into reading levels.
Collections and PD
- The
ALA’s Graphic Novels and Comics Roundtable celebrated banned books week
with five awesome webinars and they are all available in this handy YouTube playlist they put
together.
- Reading
Graphic Webinar. The ALA’s Booklist also has an upcoming webinar
Tuesday 3 November dedicated to graphic novels. Registration for Reading Graphic is free
and as usual, the archived version will be available a day or two after
the event so you don’t have to get up in the middle of the night.
- Library
Journal and School Library Journal have partnered up for a day long
Library Con. This is a great event, completely online, that in
previous years they have archived and made available for access after the
event. So don’t worry about the time difference, register and enjoy the event later if you can’t
make it live.
- The
Beat has compiled a handy list of 68
of the most anticipated graphic novels for the northern hemisphere’s
autumn.
Media and resources
- Reading
and Discussion Guide: Diamond
Bookshelf has published a great reading and discussion guide for Mister
Invincible, a middle grade graphic novel with a super hero that can
bend and break the rules of comics. His extraordinary super power makes
Mister Invincible a great graphic novel to explore the conventions of the
medium.
- Jarrett
J. Krosoczka continues his Origins video series with Gene Luen Yang, an excellent
conversation really worth a watch.
- Booklist’s
Shelf Care podcast had a
graphic novel dedicated episode with Aliza Layne, creator of Beetle &
the Hollowbones, and Gabby Rivera, author of Juliet Takes a Breath.
New Releases
Junior and YA
- Animorphs
Graphic Novel: The Invasion Vol. 1 - K.A. Applegate, Michael Grant, Chris
Grine (Scholastic - Graphix)
- Avatar:
The Last Airbender: Katara and the Pirate’s Silver - Faith Erin Hicks,
Peter Wartman, Adele Matera (Dark Horse)
- Class Act
- Jerry Craft (Harper Collins)
- Fangirl,
Volume 1: The Manga - Sam Maggs, Gabi Nam, Rainbow Rowell (Viz)
- The Flower
of the Witch - Enrico Orlandi (Dark Horse)
- Just
Beyond: Welcome to Beast Island - R.L Stine, Kelly Matthews, Nichole
Matthews (Boom! Studios)
- Lightfall:
The Girl and the Galdurian - Tim Probert (Harper Collins)
- Long Way
Down: The Graphic Novel - Jason Reynolds, Danica Novgorodoff (Atheneum
Books)
- Sherlock
Bones and the Sea Creature Feature - Renee Treml (Allen & Unwin)
- Swamp
Thing - Maggie Stiefvater, Morgan Beem (DC Comics)
- The Magic
Fish - Trung Le Nguyen (Random House)
- Twins -
Varian Johnson & Shannon Wright (Scholastic)
Adult General
- Book Tour
- Andi Watson (Top Shelf)
- Dune
Volume 1 Book 1 - Frank Herbert et al. (Abrams Comics)
- Ginseng
Roots: Part One - Craig Thompson (Uncivilized Books)
- The
Impending Blindness of Billie Scott - Zoe Thorogood (Avery Hill
Publishing)
- Lon Chaney
Speaks - Pat Dorian (Pantheon Books)
- Maids -
Katie Skelly (Fantagraphics)
- Paul at Home - Michel Rabagliati (Drawn and Quarterly)
- The Sacrifice of Darkness - Roxanne Gay, Tracy Lynne Oliver, Rebecca Kirby (Archaia)
- Streets of Paris, Streets of Murder: Volume 2 - Jacques Tardi, Jean-Patrick Machette (Fantagraphics)
- The Times I Knew I Was Gay - Eleanor Crewes (Scribner Book Company)
- Under Earth - Chris Gooch (Top Shelf)
- Zatopek - Jan Novak, Jaromir Svedjik (SelfMadeHero)
