Do you want to provide the best Readers' Advisory around comics that you can?
Do you get nervous about what graphic novels your library should be purchasing?
Do you want to read these materials yourself, but don’t know where to start?
Luckily for you, ALIA Graphic Novels and Comics is starting a book club especially for librarians!
Each month, we will have a theme to help with professional development in libraries and we have put a lot of thought into how these themes can grow both a love of comics and further best practice around their use in libraries.
Our first meeting will be all about introducing new readers to comics and so we will be looking at some good starters: They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, and Harmony Becker; Ms Marvel volume 1: No Normal, by G Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona; and Alone by Christophe Chabouté. These choices represent a mix of the different genres that comics and graphic novels can cover and are all great gateways for reading and worth having in library collections.
Some of the things we’ll be discussing include how (and when) to include comics in recommendations, preconceptions people may have about the medium and how they can overcome them, and what qualities make a comic an ideal introduction to the format.
This book club will be open to librarians from across Australia (and beyond) and as such will be held online. Our first meeting is planned for Sunday July 25th at 3:00pm AEST and we hope to make it a monthly event. Please send an email to aliagraphicinfo@gmail.com to let us know if you’re interested. We look forward to chatting with you about all things graphic novels, comic books, and libraryland!
The April Roundup is also available as a podcast, with Iurgi and James discussing the latest news, their favourite new release graphic novels and discussing the upcoming book club. The episode also includes an interview with Daniel Wee, a specialist collections librarian at Monash University. He's the custodian of old rare books and that includes one of the largest collections of comics in Australia. You can listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts and if you like what we're doing, hit the subscribe button and leave a review.
News
The sequel to the incredibly influential March graphic novel is Run and will be out in August. John Lewis and Andrew Aydin continue as writers, with L. Fury and Nate Powell on art duties.
Publishers Weekly reports that as sales of middle grade graphic novels continue to grow, publishers are now moving to expand the range of graphic novels for early readers, in an excellent article.
Heidi McDonald looks into stream TV and film adaptations of graphic novels, how they drive sales of the original source and how publishers are responding to this, published in Publisher’s Weekly.
Melbourne writer Tom Taylor continues conquering the world of comics with numerous publications and it has been announced that he will also be writing a Superman series, a character that has always meant a lot to him. We can’t wait for this series.
Scholastic halts distribution of a Dav Pilkey book and Pilkey apologises for passive racist stereotypes in its pages.
YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens nominations are coming in and the Spring Roundup is out.
The Hugo Award finalists have been announced, including for the Best Graphic Story or Comic category.
The sequel to the incredibly influential March graphic novel is Run and will be out in August. John Lewis and Andrew Aydin continue as writers, with L. Fury and Nate Powell on art duties.
Publishers Weekly reports that as sales of middle grade graphic novels continue to grow, publishers are now moving to expand the range of graphic novels for early readers, in an excellent article.
Heidi McDonald looks into stream TV and film adaptations of graphic novels, how they drive sales of the original source and how publishers are responding to this, published in Publisher’s Weekly.
Melbourne writer Tom Taylor continues conquering the world of comics with numerous publications and it has been announced that he will also be writing a Superman series, a character that has always meant a lot to him. We can’t wait for this series.
Scholastic halts distribution of a Dav Pilkey book and Pilkey apologises for passive racist stereotypes in its pages.
YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens nominations are coming in and the Spring Roundup is out.
The Hugo Award finalists have been announced, including for the Best Graphic Story or Comic category.
Collections & PD
Shannon Live, Kaitlyn Roach and Dr. John Weaver shared their insights on how they work with graphic novels in the classroom, how they demonstrate their impact on learning, and how they partner with librarians. The 60-minute presentation was moderated by LibraryPass’ John Shableski.
If you’re curious to know what the best selling graphic novels were for the September to December period in the U.S., the data is now out: Top 10 kids graphic novels, top 10 superhero franchises, top 10 manga franchises, top 10 author graphic novels.
Shannon Live, Kaitlyn Roach and Dr. John Weaver shared their insights on how they work with graphic novels in the classroom, how they demonstrate their impact on learning, and how they partner with librarians. The 60-minute presentation was moderated by LibraryPass’ John Shableski.
If you’re curious to know what the best selling graphic novels were for the September to December period in the U.S., the data is now out: Top 10 kids graphic novels, top 10 superhero franchises, top 10 manga franchises, top 10 author graphic novels.
Media & Resources
Podcast: Alice Jaggers talks to Graphic Medicine Reviews Editor Kevin Wolf about graphic medicine.
Educator and Reader Guide: OniPress has published a free educator and reader guide for Brenna Thummler’s Sheets and Delicates graphic novels.
Podcast: Alice Jaggers talks to Graphic Medicine Reviews Editor Kevin Wolf about graphic medicine.
Educator and Reader Guide: OniPress has published a free educator and reader guide for Brenna Thummler’s Sheets and Delicates graphic novels.
New Releases
Junior and YA
Dear Super-Villains - Michael Northrop, Gustavo Duarte (DC Kids)
Hound Heroes #1: Beware The Claw - Todd Goldman (Scholastic)
The Last Kids on Earth: Thrilling Tales From the Treehouse - Max Brallier and various artists (Viking Books for Young Readers)
A Shot in the Arm: Big Ideas That Changed the World - Don Brown (Abrams)
General Adult
Black Widow Vol. 1: The Ties That Bind - Kelly Thompson, Elena Casagrande (Marvel Comics)
- Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles - Fermin Solis (SelfMadeHero)
Hellblazer: Rise and Fall - Tom Taylor, Darick Robertson (DC Comics)
Sirens of the Norse Sea: The Waters of Skagerrak - Françoise Ruscak, Gihef, Philippe Briones & Marco Dominic (Humanoids)
Still Alive - Safdar Ahmed (Twelve Panel Press) - could also be YA
Power Rangers: Drakkon New Dawn - Anthony Burch (Boom! Studios)
Sleeping Beauties Vol 1 - Stephen King, Owen King, Rio Youers, Alison Sampson (IDW)
Suicide Squad: Bad Blood - Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo (DC Comics)
