This month we have some great news about Australian comics!
'Folio: Stories of Contemporary Comics' is an excellent initiative that we look forward to seeing grow and right off the bat, they have already published excellent essays in their blog that we highly recommend.
We can also see that the popularity of comics in general - and of Dog Man and Manga in particular - continues to grow. U.S. sales data for 2021 has been published and it's been another big year for comics. Dog Man: Mothering Heights was the biggest selling book in the U.S. of all categories and all age brackets. Manga sales were huge. See the link below for an excellent report published on The Beat.
The campaign to challenge and ban books and comics in the U.S. continues. While this may seem distant to us in Australia, it's a very disturbing campaign that we should pay attention to and something we should be prepared for. The ALA Graphic Novels and Comics Roundtable is organising itself to confront the campaign. Other organisations such as Pen America and the Comic Book Legal Defence Club are also taking action.
Finally, we have a great collection of Australian comics podcasts this month by Graphic Nature Podcast, Hiveminded and, of course, our monthly ALIA Graphic Roundup Podcast is out on Apple Podcasts.
Without further ado...
News Roundup
A very exciting new initiative has been launched in Australia, with some big names attached, that aims to track and document developments in contemporary Australian comics. Folio: Stories of Contemporary Comics looks like an amazing initiative.
The troubling news of banings in the US continue with celebrated graphic novel Maus being one of the latest targets. Books with LGBTIQ+ themes and exploring racial issues have been the main targets but comics have also been taking a huge hit since last summer as creator Derf Backderf commented on Twitter. The ALA’s GNCRT has responded with the creation of a committee to tackle this campaign and an excellent article was published on Booklist.
The ALA Youth Media Awards were handed out and some comics received awards, including Lore Olympus receiving an Alex Award.
The Beat has published a great report on graphic novel sales in the US in 2021. Dav Pilkey’s Mothering Heights is not only the best selling graphic novel but the best selling book of 2021 in the US. What may be a surprise is that the biggest growth in 2021 was not in Junior comics but in the adult age bracket. Check out their report for all the data and insights.
Remy Lai follows up her incredibly successful Pawcasso with a series of early reader graphic novels focusing on animals, the environment and climate change that will be published by Allen & Unwin in Australia. To find out more, Publishers Weekly has a short interview with Remy Lai.
At the end of last year Webtoons signed a print publishing deal and now it’s the turn of Tapas which has signed a multi-book print deal with Andrews McMeel. The Beat reports.
Marvel has announced a new event that pits the X-Men against the Eternals on Judgement Day and the Avengers are caught in the middle. Could this be a sign of things to come in the movies? The Eternals were introduced recently and is Marvel working towards an appearance of the X-Men in the MCU?
Nominations to the Comics Arts Awards of Australia (CAAA, formerly the Ledger Awards) closed earlier this month and the more than 200 titles entered are available to view on their website. The CAAA are presented annually and acknowledges excellence in Australian comic art and publishing.
Podcasts
The Graphic Nature Podcast has published an episode talking with Australian comics legend and founder of Ledger Awards Gary Chaloner and an episode with another Australian comics legend: Mandy Ord. Both are excellent listens.
Hiveminded have released a new podcast where three Australian comic creators discuss all ages comics and how being parents has affected the way they make comics.
If you want to listen to a nice wrap up of Graphic Medicine in 2021 and what’s in store for 2022 you can listen to Alice Jaggers joined by Ebru Ustundag and MK Czerwiec in a conversation.
Webinars
Bibliotheca and Comics Plus have partnered up to offer a free webinar on the value of comics in libraries that will discuss engaging readers and their expanding readership. An international panel of experienced librarians (which includes our ALIA Graphic Convenor Iurgi!) will share their insights on collection development, marketing, community engagement, and literacy. Registrations are open and free and a recording will be made available after the event for those who cannot attend the live event.
Nancy Silberkleit is the co-CEO of Archie comics and previously an art teacher. She will be chatting with us about comics and their value in education and you can sign up for the free live panel presentation with Nancy here.
NEW TITLES
Junior and YA
- 5 Worlds Book 5 by Alexis Siegel and Mark Siegel (Penguin Random House)
Dune: House Atreides Vol 2 by Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson, Dev Pramanik (BOOM! Studios)
House of El Book 2: The Enemy Delusion by Claudia Gray, Eric Zawadzki (DC Comics)
Lucky Luke: Wanted by Matthieu Bonhomme (Cinebook)
Magical Boy Vol 1 by The Kao (Scholastic)
Record of Ragnarok Vol 1 by Shinya Umemura, Takumi Fukui, Azychika (VIZ Media)
Wings of Fire 5: The Brightest Night by Tui T Sutherland, Mike Holmes (Scholastic Graphix)
Witchy Vol 2 by Ariel Slamet Ries (Oni Press) [Australian Creator]
World Class by Jay Sandlin (Mad Cave Studios)
Adult
Black Hammer Vol 5: Reborn Part I by Jeff Lemire, Caitling Yarsky (Dark Horse)
Castaways by Laura Perez, Pablo Monforte (Dark Horse)
The Forest by Thomas Ott (Fantagraphics)
Olympia by Bastien Vivès, Florent Ruppert, Jerome Mulot (Fantagraphics)
