This was a great month for comics in Australia. The news that Safdar Ahmed’s Still Alive: Notes From Australia’s Detention System won the Book of the Year Award in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who’s read it. There is a reason why we championed the book right from the start and we couldn’t be happier to see the book receiving this kind of recognition.
Still, it took us by surprise because book awards haven’t historically been kind to comics and graphic novels. For two years in a row now, the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards have recognised and awarded comics - Mike Barry’s Action Tank Book 2 was shortlisted last year. Seeing this, the inclusion of Stone Fruit in the Stella Awards Shortlist and the inclusion of a few graphic novels in the CBCA Notables, it’s fair to say that things are changing and we couldn’t be happier.
In Sydney they also recently celebrated the Brazen Comics Festival and we have the Perth Comics Art Festival and the Comic Arts Awards of Australia coming up in the first weekend of August. So watch this space, we'll have more information about them coming soon. We also hope to have Bruce Mutard, the director of both PCAF and CAAA on our podcast giving us the lowdown but, just this morning, the Comic Arts Awards of Australia have published their shortlist and it's really worth checking out here.
We also want to announce our next creator chat, which should be out in the next couple of weeks. We will be in conversation with Sam Wallman, who is just about to publish his first graphic novel, Our Members Be Unlimited, a non-fiction graphic novel about the history of unionism.
Finally, we’re trying something new and our next Graphic Novel Club session will be on Thursday June 23 at 8PM AEST. You can check out all the info and what graphic novels we’ll be reading/discussing on our Graphic Novel Club page.
You can listen to our May Roundup podcast on Apple Podcasts.
News
The Comic Arts Awards of Australia have published their shortlist, just this morning. Safdar Ahmed has won a major book award with the outstanding graphic novel Still Alive: Notes From Australia’s Immigration Detention System. ABC News had a great article covering the announcement of the award.
Manga sales are absolutely booming in the U.S. and Publisher’s Weekly has a great article.
Tokyo Pop is celebrating 25 years and Publisher’s Weekly has a great interview with their CEO.
Collections
Michael Earp from The Little Bookroom has published an article on SCIS about graphic novels and Manga selection worth a read.
Librarian Sara Smith has compiled a great list on her blog of Manga for Primary School libraries with short outlines, a rating score and reading age suitability guides.
We recently had a Graphic Novel Club session dedicated to silent comics. Thank you to those who attended. If you’re after more silent comics, Book Riot published a short list with some interesting ones.
Webinars/Podcasts
Graphic Nature Podcast has a great episode out with Safdar Ahmed that we highly recommend. You can listen to it on the Graphic Nature website, or find it in your favourite podcast service.
The Words & Nerds podcasts has a great episode out with Nat Amoore and Mike Barry where they discuss their collaborative book We Run Tomorrow, a prose book that includes comic book segments by Mike Barry. You can listen to it on SoundCloud or find it in your favourite podcast service.
MAY 2022
Junior & YA
Amazona by Canizales (Graphic Universe)
Beneath the Trees: A Fine Summer by Dav (Magnetic Press)
The Greatest Thing by Sarah Winifred Searle (Allen & Unwin) [Australian creator]
Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible volume 1 by Nene Yukimori (Viz Media)
Lightfall: Shadow of the Bird by Tim Probert (HarperCollins)
Mamo by Sas Milledge (Boom! Studios)
Pip and Pete’s Antarctic Adventures by Damian Castellini, Martine Allars (Australian Geographic) [Australian creator]
Remarkably Ruby by Terri Libenson (HarperCollins)
Superman Son of Kal-El Volume 1: The Truth by Tom Taylor, John Timms (DC Comics)
The Well by Jake Wyatt, Choo (First Second)
Wynd Book Two by James Tynion, Michael Dyalinas (Boom! Studios)
Adult
6000 Miles to Freedom: Two Boys and Their Flight From the Taliban by Stephane Marchetti, Cyrille Pomes (Graphic Mundi)
Crazy Food Truck Volume 1 by Rokurou Ogaki (Viz Media)
Decorum by Jonathan Hickman, Mike Huddleston (Image Comics)
Free Pass by Julian Hanshaw (Top Shelf)
Freddie Mercury Lover of Life, Singer of Songs by Various creators (Z2 Comics)
Hendrix: Electric Requiem by Gianluca Maconi, Mattia Colombara (Ablaze)
Hummingbird Heart by Travis Dandro (Drawn & Quarterly)
Karmen by Guillem March (Image Comics)
Loved & Lost: A Relationship Trilogy by Jeffrey Brown (Top Shelf)
Our Members Be Unlimited by Sam Wallman (Scribe Publications) [Australian Creator]
Summertime Rendering Volumes 1, 2 and 3 by Yasuki Tanaka (Udon Entertainment)
Yellow Cab by Benoît Cohen, Christophe Chabouté (IDW)
