ALIA Graphic November 2021 Roundup

Is it that time already? 2021 has been a big year for us at ALIA Graphic Novels and Comics with our first-ever live webinar and themed graphic novel book clubs, and we thank our readers' support for what we have achieved so far! 

We have just finished our first run of our library and collections-focused Graphic Novel Club, finishing on a high note with non-fiction comics, including a discussion on the seminal comic-about-comics, 'Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art' by Scott McCloud (Harper Collins). We are eagerly planning more Graphic Novel Clubs, professional development content and more to share with you in the new year. If you want to get involved, we are always happy to hear from someone new, and you can find out contact details through our official ALIA page.

In comics news this month, there have been announcements from a lot of big names, including a new series by Jeff Smith of Bone fame, a look at Dav Pilkey's studio and creative process, and a new imprint from Mariko Tamaki which will focus exclusively on LGBTIQ+ comic creators. As always, there are plenty of new releases to round out the year in the lead-up to Christmas and we will be sharing our favourites on this month's podcast, through Apple Music.

News

• One of the greatest and most influential graphic novels ever published is set to be turned into a film by one of the most highly sought after directors of the moment. Taika Waititi has Alejandro Jodorowsky’s blessing to make The Incal and we can’t argue with that. If this film is made it will be a landmark for film adaptations of graphic novels.
• Jeff Smith is back and it’s not a new Bone graphic novel but a new series: Tuki. Volume 1 is published in December and Publisher’s Weekly has an interview with Jeff Smith.
• Mariko Tamaki is launching a new imprint dedicated to LGBTIQ+ graphic novels. Publishers Weekly has the wrap and The Beat has a great interview with Mariko.
• If you wanted to have a peek inside Dav Pilkey’s studio, Scholastic and The Beat have you covered.
• Fantasy writer V.E. Schwab is publishing a graphic novel with art by Enid Balam that is part of the Villains book series Publishers Weekly has published an interview with her.
• KQED has published a great article by Amielle Major discussing the trauma inflicted on kids who are told not to read certain books which, of course, often include comics, Manga and graphic novels, and how we can do better as librarians.
• Wattpad and Webtoon merged a few months ago and are now announcing Webtoon Unscrolled, a new imprint for publishing print editions of popular Webtoon comics and Manwha.
• Founding member of The Wu-Tang Clan, RZA, has announced this month that he will be releasing a graphic novel next year ‘Bobby Digital and the Pit of Snakes’ Interestingly, it has also been hinted that the release will incorporate new music to enhance the reading experience.
• November 20 marked the first ‘Aussie Comic Book Day’ for events, special features, and an excellent excuse to read and celebrate Australian comics and creators.

Collections & PD

• It’s getting towards that time of year again when outlets release their favourite graphic novels of the year. Here is The Washington Posts’ ‘Best graphic novels of 2021’ and the School Library Journal’s ‘Best Graphic Novels 2021 | SLJ Best Books’. There are some wonderful titles here, which ones do you have in your library?

Media & Resources

• Missed out on the ‘Aussie Comic Book Day’ event organised by ComX? You can check out all the events on this handy playlist they’ve put together.
• To save you some time, here are a couple of our favourites:
• ‘Dean’s Ridiculous Drawing Challenges’ by ComX featuring Dean Rankine, Chris McQuinlan and Matty Taylor for some live drawing, creative prompts, and shenanigans.‘How to Kickstarter for Comic Creators’ by ComX with Shaun Keenan & Darren Close.

New Releases for November 2021

 

Junior and YA

• Animal Crossing: New Horizons Vol 1 - Kokonasu Rumba (VIZ Media)
• A-Okay - Jarad Greene (Harper Alley)
• Attack on Titan Vol 34 - Hajime Isayama (Kodansha)
• Banana Fox and the Book-Eating Robot - James Kochalka (Scholastic)
• Cats! Purrfect Strangers - Frederic Brremaud, Paola Antista (Dark Horse)
• Huda F Are You? - Huda Fahmy (Dial Books)
• Immortals Fenyx Rising: From Great Beginnings - Ben Kahn, Georgeo Brooks (Dark Horse)
• The Most Important Comic Book on Earth - Various Authors (DK)
• The Odds: Run, Odds, Run - Matt Stanton (Harper Collins)
• Our Stories Carried Us Here: A Graphic Novel Anthology - Various Authors (Green Card Voices)
• Star Wars The High Republic: Edge of Balance - Shima Shinya, Justina Ireland, Mizuki Sakakibara (VIZ Media)
• Tidesong - Wendy Xu (Quill Tree Books)
• Weeaboo - Alissa Sallah (Oni Press)

Adult

• Better Angels: A Kate Warne Story - Jeff Jensen, George Schall (Archaia)
• BRZRKR Vol 1 - Keanu Reeves, Matt Kindt, Ron Garney (BOOM! Studios)
• A Chance - Cristina Duran, Miguel Giner Bou (Graphic Mundi)
• Destroy All Monsters - Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips (Image Comics)
• 
  Dreadnoughts: Breaking Ground - Michael Carroll, John Higgins (Rebellion / 2000 AD)
• Emma Dreams of Stars - Emmanuelle Maisonneu, Julia Pavlowitch (Vertical Inc.)
• Extraordinary - V.E. Schwab, Enid Balam (Titan Books)
• Far Sector - N.K. Jemisin, Jamal Campbell (DC Comics)
• Friday Book 1: The First Day of Christmas - Ed Brubaker, Marcos Martin, Muntsa Vicente (Image Comics)
• No One Else - R. Kikuo Johnson (Fantagraphics)
• Snowpiercer: The Prequel Part 2: Apocalypse - Jean Marc Matz, Rochette (Titan Books)
• Vinland Saga Vol 12 - Makoto Yukimura (Kodansha)
• Paper Girls The Complete Story - Brian K Vaughan, Cliff Chiang (Image Comics)

 

ALIA Graphic October 2021 Roundup

It's been a great month for ALIA Graphic and we couldn't be happier. We also have a new committee member, which we're very chuffed about. We're all volunteers and we do all this work and share it all for free because we believe that comics are worth it and we believe that together we can achieve more. 

We encourage anyone interested in comics and libraries to join our group. The more members we have the better we can continue this work. If you're interested just contact us. Our official ALIA has the contact details.

Our first live webinar was a great success and we're very thankful to our special speakers and everyone who registered. We also had a great chat with award winning indie publisher Glom Press. You can access recordings for both of them on our YouTube channel, or through our podcast. 

We've also had our fourth ALIA Graphic Novel Club session. Just a reminder that the November 28 session on Non-fiction comics will be our last for the year. You can find all the details here.

This month, we also have some great news, collection and PD resources and a great selection of new titles that we believe will be great additions to any library collection. As usual, you can also listen to our podcast roundup to hear Iurgi, James and Jade discuss their personal favourite news items and new titles.

News

• Gene Luen Yang’s celebrated American Born Chinese will be made into a TV series by Disney with the director of Shang Chi on board.

• The current Superman, Jonathan Kent, has come out as bisexual this month, the story will come out in November but the announcement was made on October 11 in honour of International Coming Out Day. 

• Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ Saga is back soon for the second half of the story.

• The Beat has a great interview with Ray Fawkes who’s recently concluded his One Soul Trilogy, three graphic novels that push the comics medium with incredible storytelling. 

Collections & PD

• Our very first live webinar is now up on YouTube. If you missed it, sit down and enjoy our Getting Graphic: Comics Around the World webinar. The blog post includes the video, a link to an audio only podcast version, and a link to a couple of documents with resources/websites of interest shared by the speakers and participants.

• Don’t forget to register for the free upcoming Library Con Live organised by the Library Journal and School Library Journal. As usual, it should be recorded and whatever you can’t access live (it’s probably at some ghastly hour for us) you can watch later. 

• We all know that Manga are often very long with lots of volumes. Librarian Matthew Murray has continued with his series of one volume Manga recommendations, this time for ages 16+. Check out his list. 

• Simon & Schuster has published a guide to using graphic novels worth checking out. 

• If you want to learn more about Manga, Evergreen has published an excellent article by  Eric Margolis really worth reading.

• Publisher’s Weekly has published their traditional Holiday Gift Guide 2021 Comics. As usual, there’s a great range of excellent titles worth checking out and ordering for the library.

  
  

Media & Resources

• Listen to three Australian creators talking about creating comics, origin stories, tropes, etc. on Hiveminded Podcast with Karen Beilharz, Queenie Chan and Ryan K. Lindsay.

New Release Titles

Junior and YA

• All My Friends - Hope Larson (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

• Asterix and the Griffin - Jean Yves Ferri, Didier Conrad (Little Brown Book Group)

• City of Dragons: The Awakening Storm - Jaimal Yogis, Vivian Truong (Scholastic)

• Critical Role: Mighty Nein Origins- Jester - Sam Maggs (Dark Horse Books)

• The Golden Hour - Niki Smith (Little Brown & Company)

  

• Heartless Prince - Angela De Vito,  Leigh Dragoon (Disney Hyperion)

• Himawari House - Harmony Becker (First Second)

• Letters From Animals - Frédéric Brrémaud, Giovanni Rigano (Magnetic Press)

• The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess - Tom Gauld (Templar Publishing)

• Lore Olympus - Rachel Smythe (Del Rey Books)

• Minecraft Volume 3 - Sfe’ R. Monster, Sarah Graley, Stef Purenins (Dark Horse)

• Ms Marvel: Stretched Thin - Nadia Shammas, Nabi H. Ali (Scholastic)

• Oksi - Mari Ahokoivu (Levine Querido)

• Painted - Katia Vecchio, Kev Sherry, Hellen Mullane (Humanoids, Life Drawn)

• The Queen’s Favourite Witch - Benjamin Dickson, Rachel Smith (Papercutz)

• The Smurfs Tales Volume 1 - Peyo (Papercutz)

• That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Trinity in Tempest 4 - Fuse (Kodansha Comics)

• Thor & Loki: Double Trouble - Mariko Tamaki, Gurihiru (Marvel Comics)

• Tiny Dancer - Siena Cherson Siegel, Mark Siegel (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)

Adult General

• The Adventures of the Mad Tsar -  Tarek Ben Yakhlef, Lionel Chouin (Black Panel Press)

• Better Angels - Jeff Jensen, George Schall (Archaia)

• The Department of Truth Vol 2 - James Tynion IV, Martin Simmonds (Image Comics)

  

• Dio: Holy Diver - Dio, Steve Niles, Scott Hampton, Bill Sienkiewicz (Z2 Comics)

• Fat Princess Petronia - Katharina Greve (Centrala Ltd)

• The Golden Age Book 2 - Roxanne Moreil, Cyril Pedrosa (St Martin’s Press)

• Hakim’s Odyssey Book 1 - Fabien Toulme (Graphic Mundi)

• Leonard Cohen: On a Wire - Philippe Girard (Drawn & Quarterly)

• Lugosi: Rise & Fall of Hollywood’s Dracula - Koren Shadmi (Humanoids - Life Drawn)

• Megatropolis - Kenneth Niemand, Dave Taylor (2000 AD)

• 
  Monstermind: Dealing With Anxiety & Self Doubt - Alfonso Casas (Ablaze)

• Never Open It: The Taboo Trilogy - Ken Niimura (Yen Press)

• Night Fisher - Kikuo Johnson (Fantagraphics)

• Noctis- Hilltop Hoods (Z2 Comics)

• Rivers - Dan Berry, David Gaffney (Top Shelf) 

• Shadowman Book One - Cullen Bunn, Jon Davis Hunt, Jordie Bellaire (Valiant)

• This Is How I Disappear - Mirion Malle (Drawn & Quarterly)

• Tunnels - Rutu Modan (Drawn & Quarterly)

  
  

  

Getting Graphic Comics Around the World Webinar

We want to thank our speakers at yesterday's webinar. It was our first live webinar and it went really well. Thank you, also, to all the participants for all their comments and all the sharing in the chat. 

We look forward to more webinars next year and if you have any topics or ideas for webinars and things that should be covered, let us know through Facebook, Twitter, or email.

Here's the promised recording of the webinar, which can be found on our YouTube channel if you'd like to subscribe to it. If you prefer an audio only podcast version of the recording you can access it here.

To download a couple of documents with links for resources/websites that were shared by our speakers and participants follow this link to our Google Drive. You can also find out more about Graphic Medicine here.

ALIA Graphic September 2021 Roundup

Welcome to the ALIA Graphic Novels and Comics monthly roundup for September! We have so much to share with you this month including news, events, PD and more.

It is a packed month this September with the announcement of our first-ever live webinar Getting Graphic: Comics Around the World featuring - you guessed it - specialist panelists and information from around the globe. This one-hour webinar will span several aspects of graphic novel and comic knowledge, history, collections information and professional development, culminating with a discussion from Matthew Noe, the President of the American Library Association's Graphic Novels and Comics Roundtable and a passionate advocate of graphic medicine.

Feel free to have lunch with us, or claim it through the ALIA PD Scheme or Proficiency Recognition Program. A lot of love for the graphic novel medium and excitement for the future of the form has gone into the planning of this webinar and we cannot wait to share it with you on Thursday October 14 at 1pm AEST. Registrations are open now and you can sign up here.

We also had an engaging chat during this month's Graphic Novel Club focusing on women and comics, where we talked at length about diversity, gender and authenticity. In short, we think greater diversity of comic creators leads to greater diversity and representation in graphic novels, which is a wonderful thing. Of course, you can join us for the next installment of the Graphic Novel Club on Sunday October 24 at 3pm AEST for our discussion on Webcomics, and how libraries can integrate this dynamic format. 

You can read the three webcomics that we will be talking about below:

• Witchy by Ariel Slamet Ries;
• Cheshire Crossing by Andy Weir and Sarah Andersen; and
  
• Heartstopper by Alice Oseman

You can register for our next meeting here. Happy reading and see you there! Now, onto the news this month...

News

• Marvel has announced a whole lot of series and story arcs for 2022 that should give you a good idea of comics they have in store.
• The best selling Injustice comics written by Australian Tom Taylor and Brian Buccelatto, based on the Injustice Gods Among Us video, have now been adapted into an animated series. The trailer is out.
• Alicia Keys adapts 'Girl On Fire' into a young adult graphic novel.
• Taraji P. Henson and Gabrielle Union to produce the film adaptation of graphic novel ‘Sorcerority’
• Publishers Weekly has interviewed Australian now living in the US, Simon Hanselmann about Crisis Zone which recently won an Eisner Award.
• Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo have created a very special issue of Nightwing with no panels. The whole issue is one continuous image. Follow the link to see a preview on Polygon.
• Shannon Hale, author of the highly acclaimed Real Friends trilogy with LeUyen Pham and The Princess in Black series with LeUyen Pham and Dean Hale, has written an open-letter to librarians and people everywhere with detailed research to challenge the perception that graphic novels are not “real books”. Read it and weep here.
• In yet another example of the problems with the work-for-hire basis of the American comics industry, Marvel is suing the descendants of the creators of some of their biggest characters to keep total copyright control and the entirety of the profits generated by those characters.

Collections & PD

• The Library Journal and School Library Journal in the US have been organising LibraryCon Live for the last few years, a day-long online con dedicated to fantasy, sci-fi, horror and graphic novels. The event will take place November 10 and will also be archived for access after the live event. To register click here.
• No Flying No Tights, an excellent resource for graphic novels by librarians for librarians, has published an article discussing the issue cataloguing and shelving of graphic novels at libraries.
• The Little Bookroom located in North Fitzroy, Melbourne have put together a great list with their recommended graphic novels. Best of all, they’ve also compiled a list of Australian graphic novels. Check out their full post here.
• Manga are often very long series with multiple volumes. If you’re looking for some Manga for kids and Manga for 13+ readers all in one single volume, librarian Matthew Murray has you covered. Here’s the list for kids and here’s the list for 13+ readers. 
• Though not specifically graphic novel related, this article is worth a read as we consider adding more e-Library options to our collections, particularly during continuous lockdowns.: The Surprisingly Big Business of Library E-books.
  
• It’s been an excellent publishing year for graphic novels for early readers. Have you got fans of Narwhal and Jelly Bean or the Adventures of Anders? Well, the School Library Journal has published a great roundup of early reader graphic novels worth checking out.
• The School Library Journal has also published a great roundup of graphic novels based on history and science. If you want to expand your non-fiction graphic novels for kids, this is a great list of titles.

Media & Resources

• Monash University Library has published a great video with Daniel Wee, special collections librarian, giving a tour of their amazing comics collection that includes lots of treasures and wonderful old comics.
  

New Releases for September 2021

 

Junior and YA

• Barb: The Last Berzerker - Dan Abdo, Jason Patterson (Simon & Schuster)
• Borders - Thomas King, Natasha Donovan (Little Brown)
• Codename: Sailor V Eternal Edition 1 - Naoko Takeuchi (Kodanksha COmics)
• Cuphead Volume 2: Cartoon Chronicles & Calamities - Zack Keller (Dark Horse Children’s)
• Eighty Days - A.C. Esguerra (Archaia)
• Iyanu: Child of Wonder Volume 1 - Roye Okupe, Godwin Akpan (Dark Horse)
• Jukebox - Nidhi Chanani (First Second)
• Little Nemo - Frank Pe, Winsor McKay (Magnetic Press)
• My Own World - Mike Holmes (First Second)
• Needle & Thread - David Pinckney, Ennun Ana Iurov, Micah Myers (Mad Cave Studios)
• Other Boys - Damian Alexander (First Second)
• Pokemon Sword & Shield Vol 1 - Hidenori Kusaka, Satoshi Yamamoto
• Stars in their Eyes - Jessica Walton, Aśka (Fremantle Press)
• Teen Titans: Beast Boy Loves Raven - Kami Garcia, Gabriel Picolo (DC Comics)
• Treasure in the Lake - Jason Pamment (Allen & Unwin)

Adults

• Gray - Arvind Ethan David, Eugenia Koumaki, Diana Greenhalgh (Clover Press)
• Memories From the Civil War Vol 1 - Richard Marazano, Jean Michel Ponzio (Cinebook)
• Monstress Vol 6 - Marjorie Liu, Sana Takeda (Image Comics)
• Star Wars: Doctor Aphra Vol 2: The Engine Job - Alyssa Wong, Robert Gill, Ray Anthony Height, Minkyu Jung (Marvel Comics)
• X-Men by Jonathan Hickman Vol 3 - Jonathan Hicman
  

And finally, four graphic novels adapting the renowned Chinese Science Fiction writer Cixin Liu’s short stories have just been published with various artists and writers involved and published by Head of Zeus:

• Sea of Dreams
• The Village Teacher
• The Wandering Earth
• Yuanyuan’s Bubbles
  

ALIA Graphic presents: Getting Graphic: Comics Around the World

We thought we'd try something new before the end of the year and we're very proud to announce our very first live webinar. Every library needs a graphic novels champion. In this webinar we'll look at comics around the world. We'll learn about the history of Australian comics. We'll hear from the president of the American Library association's Graphic Novels and Comics Roundtable. We'll be introduced to what graphic medicine and why it's growing so rapidly and we'll also even discuss the contentious issue of cataloguing and shelving comics. 

Our first live ALIA Graphic webinar will be the perfect introduction for librarians and educators wanting to know more about comics and graphic novels around the world and in Australia. Hosted by ALIA Graphic Convenor and Iurgi Urrutia (Kingston Libraries, Victoria) who will be giving an overview of comics around the world, we’re pleased to announce three exciting speakers:

Daniel Best is an Australian comics historian and author with a vast knowledge of Australian comics history. Australia has had, and still has nowadays, a great range of comic creators that have usually gone under the radar. Daniel will give us an overview of the history of Australian comics.

Tara Eagleton is the Library Services Collections Officer at Wollondilly Library, NSW. Tara will discuss one of the ongoing, perennial, contentious issues around comics at libraries: how to best catalogue and shelf them. Different libraries do it differently, but one thing’s for sure, comics present challenges and the general rules don’t apply. Tara will present some guidelines and a framework. 

Matthew Noe is the President of the American Library Association's Graphic Novels and Comics Roundtable, he’s an academic librarian and a champion of graphic medicine. Matthew will join us live from the US to talk about the GNCRT, their past achievements, current programs and future plans. Matthew will also talk about graphic medicine, a fast growing movement and genre with comics that explore and contain narratives associated to healthcare. Comics are a very accessible and powerful medium for graphic medicine.

Thursday October 14 at 1pm AEDT (online - registration required)

Duration: 1 hour

Register for the free webinar now.

ALIA CPD Scheme Hours

If you are a member of the ALIA PD Scheme or Proficiency Recognition Program (PRP) you can log and reflect on your time spent engaging with ALIA Virtual Showcases for PD hours. There is no cap on the number of hours you can claim - the total is simply the number of hours that you can spend actively learning and engaging in the conference content. This will vary from person to person.

ALIA Graphic August 2021 Roundup

Welcome back to ALIA Graphic Novels and Comics monthly roundup of all the latest and greatest comics’ news for the library industry.

This month we held our second Librarians' Graphic Book Club where we discussed graphic novel adaptations. Join us next month on the 26th of September when we'll be discussing women and comics and looking at: Lumberjanes: Beware the Kitten Holy (Boom! Box) by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, and Brooklyn Allen; X-23: Family Album (Marvel) by Mariko Tamaki, Juann Cabal, and Nolan Woodard; and Esther: A True Story (Write and Wrong) by Sarah Broman.

Also this month we have a much shorter list of new releases for you to pick through, but to make up for it we have included not one, but two excellent creator chats to keep you entertained until next time. So until then, please stay safe out there, or stick with the preferable alternative and curl up at home with a great comic. Later!

News

• The ALA’s Graphic Novels and Comics Roundtable talks about the what the GNCRT is doing and plans for the future in a great interview published by Diamond Bookshelf.
• Shannon Sandford has published an article on The Conversation about graphic medicine and how comic creators are changing our understanding of illness. 
• One of the comic industry's oldest and most prestigious awards, the Harvey Awards which have been around since 1988 released their list of nominees this month recognising outstanding achievement in multiple categories. You can find the whole list of nominees here. Australian Lee Lai, now living in Montreal, has been nominated for the Book of the Year category for Stone Fruit. Australian Simon Hanselmann now living in Seattle, has been nominated for Digital Book of the Year for Crisis Zone. You can read an interview with Simon Hanselmann published on Comics Beat talking about Crisis Zone here.
• Digital comics, particularly of the Webtoons endless scrolling type are incredibly popular. DC Comics is now partnering with Webtoons to offer some original DC content on their platform. More on this on Publishers Weekly.
• If you want to support indie Australian comic creators you can check the projects that are now live on Kickstarter and seeking funding right here.

Collections & PD

• This well-regarded website, No Flying No Tights, is packed with resources for librarians involved with graphic novel collections in the Comics 101 tab https://www.noflyingnotights.com/
• The ALA’s Graphic Novels and Comics Roundtable has a handy archive of webinars and panels with lots of content if you want to catch up and have some free PD.
• Catch up with what’s happening in the world of Manga with free chapters at Shonen Jump  https://www.viz.com/shonenjump
• Access the Reading Graphic: Part One (July 2021) and Part Two (August, 2021) from the Booklist webinar archives. https://www.booklistonline.com/webinars-archive
• Have a look at the Digital Review Copies from Diamond Book Distributors https://diamondbookdistributors.org/
• The yearly report that Comics Beat publishes looking at graphic novels sales for the previous year is finally out (later than usual). This is a report with US book sales data that includes 80% of bookstores and some comic stores who use the Bookscan system. It shows higher sales than ever. It’s quite an extensive report with lots of data crunching well worth a read, including top titles and top authors.

Media & Resources

• The Comics Beat Graphic Novel Club talks to Alison Bechdel about the recently published The Secret to Superhuman Strength. A great conversation worth checking out.
• We have published two creator chats this month. We talked to Mirranda Burton about her new graphic novel Underground that explores the Vietnam War and the conscription protests in Australia. We also talked to three young Indigenous creators who have published three exciting graphic novels with Stick Mob Studio. You can find all our podcast episodes on Apple Podcasts.
• Graphic Nature has a long chat with Campbell Whyte of Home Time. Listen to the podcast on your preferred podcast distributor or right here.

New Releases for August 2021

Junior 

• 
  Avatar The Last Airbender - Suki,Alone - Faith Erin Hicks (Dark Horse Books)
  
• Big Apple Diaries - Alyssa Bermudez (Macmillan)
• The Smurfs Tales - Peyo (Papercutz)
• The Super Adventures of Ollie & Bea: It’s Owl Good - Renee Treml (Allen & Unwin)
• The Super Adventures of Ollie & Bea: Squeals on Wheels - Renee Treml (Allen & Unwin)

YA

• The Witcher Volume 5: Fading Memories (16+) - Bartosz Sztybor(Dark Horse Books)
• Sailor Moon 1 (Naoko Takeuchi Collection) - Naoko Taekuchi (Kodansha Comics)
• Sweet Tooth: The Return - Jeff Lemire (DC Comics)

Adult General

• 
  1984 - George Orwell, Fido Nesti (Houghton Mifflin)
  
• Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done? - Eric Powell, Harold Schecter (Albatross Funnybooks)
• Dune: House of Atreides - Kevin J. Anderson, Brian Herbert, Dev Pramanik (BOOM! Studios)
• Eve - Una (Virago Press)
• Run Book 1 - John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, L. Fury, Nate Powell (Abrams)
• Sensor - Junji Ito (VIZ Media)
• Underground: Marsupial Outlaws and Other Rebels of Australia's War in Vietnam - Mirranda Burton (Allen & Unwin)
• X-Men Vol 3 - Jonathan Hickman, Various artists (Marvel Comics)

Food for Thought: a Selection of ALIA Graphic's Favourite Foodie Comics for National Science Week 2021

Food may not be the first thing that comes to mind when one is considers science and technology...

...but this National Science Week, running from the 14th to the 22nd of August, is an excellent opportunity to challenge that. Think about the humble grain of salt. From pickling vegetables, to historical preserving methods, and the pinch of salt in baking that brings the whole cake together, salt is highly chemical and endlessly interesting in cooking as in science. 

This Science Week, the theme is 'Food: Different By Design' and so we have compiled a list of comic book cookbooks and graphic novels that feature a recipe or few, which celebrate food in a variety of ways and show a connection between food, science, culture and community. The following graphic novels, from junior to adult-level materials and comprising fiction, non-fiction and memoir, span food and cooking in many guises (as well as serving up some delectable drawings of food). We hope you enjoy these sweet and savoury stories.

 
For starters, there are the colourful comic book cookbooks Let's Make Dumplings! (Penguin, 2021) and Let's Make Ramen! (Penguin, 2019) by the delightful due of Hugh Amano and Sarah Becan. These stunning graphic novels are absolutely packed with recipes, accurate and informative art, as well as information on food preparation, historical tidbits, and input from renowned chefs and foodies.

ALIA Graphic July 2021 Roundup

Welcome back for another month of ALIA Graphic Novels and Comics' roundup of all the latest news, media and professional development opportunities from the world of comics.

NAIDOC week was the 4th to 11th of July and some terrific new graphic novels by indigenous creators were released. There is also a lot of new information available relating to Manga and as well as some terrific lists to help fill out your collections, and we have an enourmous list of New Releases for you to check out this month!

It's been a big month for awards with the Eisner, Aurealis and Comic Arts Awards of Australia (formerly Ledger Awards) all being announced. These events were of course hosted online again this year due to the continuing pandemic, along with San Diego Comic-Con's slightly underwhelming event.

And July was ALIA Graphic Novels and Comics' first online bookclub! Thanks to everyone who joined the Zoom - we can't wait to see you again next month when we discuss some comic versions of other media. Just follow the link here to book your spot. So, without further ado, here is this month's roundup!

News

• UniSA published an excellent article by a bunch of their academics about comics. “Comic book and Superheroes: Escapist fantasy, a moral code, or literary Trash?” is an excellent read.
• The Eisner Awards have been announced. Follow the link for all the winners.
• The Aurealis Awards for Best Australian Fantasy and Science Fiction were announced early in July. The winner of the Best Graphic Novel/Illustrated work was Under Earth by Chris Gooch. You can check out all the winners here.
• Disney attempted to trademark Loki the Marvel movie character, upsetting many fans.
• For the second year in a row, the streets of San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter will be quiet this July as Comic-Con goes online again.
• The data is out thanks to Comichron and ICv2. Comics and graphic novels sales hit a new high in 2020, despite the pandemic. Also, after a dip in popularity in the early 2010s, anime viewership and manga sales reached an all-time high in 2020 with Manga sales soaring to an all-time high in 2020. You can read more on this topic here.
• A recent Hollywood Reporter article looks at how creators are paid for adaptations of their work at Marvel and DC, especially for characters and storylines they created.
• Something is Killing the Children, a Boom! Studios horror comic and one of the biggest indie titles currently on shelves is being adapted into a series thanks to Netflix and the makers of The Haunting of Hill House.
• Congratulations to all 2021 Comic Arts Awards of Australia recipients! 

Collections & PD

• The ALA’s Graphic Novels and Comics Roundtable is building quite a library of panel talks and programming. You can access their archive here.
• No Flying No Tights is always an excellent resource and they have recently updated their suggestions for ‘Core Lists for Libraries’. Highly recommended!
• The Manga for Libraries catalogue by Viz Media is out and it’s worth checking out.
• The Penguin Random House LibraryCon archive is out.
• The New York Public Library has an excellent Beginner’s Guide to Manga worth exploring.
• A great selection of classic Manga adaptations.

Media & Resources

• Three new graphic novels written by young Aboriginal people in Alice Springs and produced by the Indigenous Literacy Foundation in partnership with Stick Mob and Gestalt Publishing and launched for 2021 NAIDOC week. The three graphic novels are written and illustrated by Declan Miller, Seraphina Newberry, Alyssa Mason and Lauren Boyle. Listen to the interview on NITV Radio.
• The Comic Conference for Educators and Librarians is online, and the recorded sessions are available for viewing. We’ve also made a playlist with some of the best San Diego ComicCon @ Home panel talks in the online event.  

New Releases for July 2021

Junior

• Batman Adventures: Riddle Me This! - Scott Peterson(DC Comics)
• Black Sand Beach 2: Do You Remember the Summer Before? - Richard Fairgray (NZ) (Holiday House)
• Cardcaptor Sakura Collector's Edition 9 - CLAMP (Kodansha Comics)
• Curse of the Crystal Cavern (Pathfinders Society book 2) - Francesco Sedita  (Viking)
• Dinosaurs Before Dark: Magic Treehouse - Jenny Laird(Random House)Mel The Chosen - Rachele Aragno (Random House Graphics)
• The Fox & Little Tanuki - Tagawa Mi (Tokyopop)
• Goosebumps Secrets Of The Swamp - Marieke Nijkamp (IDW Publishing Children’s)
• Max Meow Book 2: Donuts And Danger: Donuts and Danger - John Gallagher(RH USA Kids)
• Miles Morales: Shock Waves - Justin A. Reynolds, Pablo Leon (Scholastic)
• Plants vs. Zombies Volume 18: Constructionary Tales - Paul Tobin(Dark Horse Books)
• Sonic The Hedgehog: Bad Guys - Ian Flynn(IDW Publishing Children’s)
• Sue and Tai-Chan Volume 3 - Konami Kanata (Kodansha Comics)
• Super Geeks 2 : Planet Pancake - James Hart (Puffin)
• Tiny Titans: Pet Club! - David Lebovitz, Franco Aureliani(DC Comics)

Young Adult

• Attack On Titan 33 - Hajime Isayama (Kodansha Comics)
• Batman: The Dark Knight Detective Vol. 5 - ALAN GRANT(DC Comics)
• The Black Ghost - Monica Gallagher, Alex Segura (Dark Horse Books)
• Dark Nights: Death Metal: War of the Multiverses - Various (DC Comics)
• Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy - Jody Houser, Adriana Melo, Mark Morales (DC Comics)
• Hellboy Universe Essentials: Hellboy - Mike Mignola, Various (Dark Horse Books)
• Justice League : Galaxy of terrors - Simon Spurrier, Jeff Loveness, Aaron Lopresti, Robson Rocha (DC Comics)
• Sabrina: Something Wicked - Kelly Thompson, Veronica Fish, Andy Fish (Archie Comics)
• A School Frozen In Time, Volume 1 - Mizuki Tsujimura (Vertical Inc.)
• Shikimori's Not Just A Cutie 4 - Keigo Maki (Kodansha Comics)
• Stone Star Vol 1: Fight or Flight - Jim Zub (Dark Horse Books)
• Stranger Things: Science Camp - Jody Houser, Edgar Salazar, Keith Champagne (Dark Horse Books)
• Superman Vol 4: Mythological - Brian Michael Bendis, various artists (DC Comics)
• Weathering With You, Volume 3 (manga) - Kubota Wataru (Vertical Inc)
• The Witch And The Beast 5 - Kousuke Satake (Kodansha Comics)
• Devil’s Candy, Vol. 1 - by Rem (Creator), Bikkuri (Creator)

Adult General

• Berserk Deluxe Volume 8 - Kentaro Miura (Dark Horse Books)
  
• Celestia - Manuele Fior (Fantagraphics)
• Injustice: Year Zero - Tom Taylor, Roge Antonio (DC Comics)
• Raptor: A Sokol Graphic Novel - Dave McKean (Dark Horse Books)
• Everyone Is Tulip - Dave Baker  (Dark HOrse Books)
• One Line - Ray Fawkes (Oni Press)