ALIA Graphic March Roundup

This month we have another great mix of news and new titles.

The Angouleme Comics Art Festival is one of the most prestigious in the world and it has announced the full list of official selections and the Grand Prix Award short list. It's always interesting to see what's happening with comics in Europe where the ninth art, as they call it there, is huge. We also have some great links for collections and really interesting podcast and webinars.

Most importantly, in case you missed it, we announced the ALIA Graphic Notable Australian Graphic Novels Shortlist, with the best of the best from last year. 2021 was an amazing year for Australian graphic novels and we're so excited to see all the great graphic novels coming out this year, with new titles from Remy Lai and Neverlanders, the collaboration between Tom Taylor and Jon Sommariva on the horizon.

We also hope lots of you will join us in this month's ALIA Graphic Novel Club. This month it's special one because we're discussing three excellent Australian graphic novels by Mirranda Burton, Mandy Ord and Chris Gooch. Read them and join us for the discussion. All the details are on our ALIA Graphic Novel Club tab.

Finally, if you want to get involved with ALIA Graphic, please get in touch! The more people that join the group the better our resources will be.

News

• If you wanted to go to a graphic medicine exhibition in Ireland but couldn’t get there, what’s the next best thing? You can now access the exhibition online, read the article on the Graphic Medicine website and follow the link. 

• The comics Beat has had great coverage of the prestigious Angouleme Comics Art Festival with a bunch of articles. Angouleme Grand Prix Award short list has been announced and, for the first time, it’s all women. They’ve also announced the full list of official selections, and the big winners at the festival.  

• First Second is set to publish Hayao Miyazaki’s Shuna’s Journey later this year. This will be the first time this title is available in English and it looks stunning - as you would expect from the great master.

• If you’re curious about what graphic novels are being challenged/banned in the U.S., the Comic Book Legal Defence Fund has published a handy list of all the graphic novels in Rep. Matt Krause's list in Texas. It’s a pretty interesting list with lots of great graphic novels and award winning graphic novels. There’s also a great article on the School Library Journal by librarian Martha Hickson telling her story of what it’s like to be a target of a book banning effort. 

• Substack created waves with its subscription model for comics and has attracted some great names in the business. Now there’s a new company in town. Zestworld has announced a similar model of creator owned, subscription based comics with some well known names attached.

Collections

• The School Library Journal has published an excellent article by Brigid Alverson with outstanding titles for younger readers where women are front and centre. 

• If you’re looking for some single volume Manga for adults Matthew Murray has you covered with a great list of titles.

• Book Riot has published a list of Indie comics to watch out for this year and it includes Ariel Slamet Ries’ Witchy Vol 2, check out the full list on BR.

Webinars/Podcasts

• If you missed it on the day, the recording of Bibliotheca’s excellent webinar The Value of Comics in Libraries: Engaging Readers, Expanding Readership, together with all the slides and resources, is now available on their website.

• The Secret Stacks’ latest podcast features current ALA GNCRT president Matthew Noe and is definitely worth listening to.

• Peter Bagge’s Buddy Bradley character defined an entire generation of slackers. There was a lot of love for Hate in the 90s and Fantagraphics had a recent event with Peter Bagge that’s definitely worth a watch discussing everything about this iconic comic.

MARCH 2022

Junior & YA

• Adora and the Distance by Mark Bernardin, Ariela Kristantina, Bryan Valenza (Dark Horse)

• Ollie and Bea Book 3: Wise Quackers by Renee Treml (Allen & Unwin) [Australian Creator]

• Paws: Gabby Gets It Together by Michelle Assarasakorn, Nathan Fairbairn (Penguin)

• Green Arrow: Stranded by Brendan Deneen, Bell Hosalla (DC Comics)

• Summer Fires by Giulia Sagramola (Dark Horse)

Adult General

• Alfred Hitchcock Master of Suspense by Noël Simsolo, Dominique Hé (NBM)

• Azimut by Wilfrid Lupano, Jean Baptiste Andreae (Titan Comics)

• Came the Mirror and Other Tales by Rumiko Takahashi (VIZ Media)

• Chef’s Kiss by Jarrett Melendez, Danica Brine (Oni Press)

• Forget My Name by Zerocalcare (Ablaze)

• In the Flood by Ray Fawkes, Lee Loughridge (Dark Horse)

• Keeping Two by Jordan Crane (Fantagraphics)

• Life of Che by Hector German Oesterheld, Alberto Breccia, Enrique Breccia (Fantagraphics)

• The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by Ram V, Filipe Andrade (Boom! Studios)

• The Nice House on the Lake Vol 1 by James Tynion, Alvaro Martinez Bueno, Jordie Bellaire (DC Comics)