Webinar: Nurturing and inspiring reading and creativity using graphic novels and manga now online

Wednesday, last week, we gathered for our second ALIA Graphic webinar and we want to thank our awesome four speakers and everyone else that was able to meet us live.

We are excited we had four amazing speakers to talk about all things comics and manga. In this webinar we focused on Junior and YA comics as well as manga and explored how they inspire reading and creativity. The four awesome speakers were:

Gabby Cundy, librarian specialising in Children's and Youth literature and comics. Elizabeth Marruffo and Campbell Whyte, comic book creators, artists and directors of Milktooth Arts Space, where they nurture and inspire kids to make art, including comics. Jillian Rudes, librarian and creator of the wildly successful and amazing Manga in Libraries webinar series which, you can find, together with many other resources, on her website here. The Manga in Libraries book is coming out early 2023. 

If you could not attend the event live, and in the spirit of the group of always making our resources freely available to everyone, we are now publishing the webinar in full. You can watch the YouTube video below, or if you prefer to just listen we have also published an audio only version on our podcast feed. 

Let us know what you think of the webinar and we would love to hear any ideas you may have for a webinar next year.

November Roundup

We’re coming close to the end of the year and we’re ending it on a very high note. This month sees the publication of Tommi Parrish’s second graphic novel, Men I Trust. Queenie Chan has announced the updated and expanded reprint of The Dreaming, and Superman Son of Kal El’s second volume is out, which is written by Tom Taylor. All in all, a really great month for Australian comics!

There are also some other great news below, including updates on eComics on Borrow Box and Comics Plus. The podcast version of our roundup is already out on our ALIA Graphic Podcast blog, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

On our part, we’re very excited about the upcoming webinar. Which is happening this Wednesday at 12:00 AEDT. Registration for the webinar is free and you can find all the details, including the registration link here. It's going to be a great discussion. Join us live to ask questions, or register and access the recording at a later time.

Let us know how we’re doing. Let us know what you thought about the webinar. We'd love to hear from you.

News

• The Guardian published a comprehensive article about Tommi Parrish’s new graphic novel Men I Trust, now published by Scribe. It’s great to see The Guardian covering a graphic novel by an Australian creator this way. 

• It’s been announced and we’re so excited to hear that Queenie Chan’s The Dreaming is being reprinted in an updated and expanded edition. The manga mixes a very familiar set up inspired by Picnic at Hanging Rock with Lovecraft horror elements. It’s a very Australian manga and we look forward to it’s publication. For more information and the full announcement visit the IPI Comics website here.

• The Superman Son of Kal El series written by Tom Taylor is soon coming to an end but it will be continued with a new mini-series Adventures of Superman starring Jon Kent and also written by Tom Taylor. Popverse had a great article discussing the significance of Jon Kent coming out as bisexual to his dad and why this series has been so well received by so many.

• Love and Rockets is celebrating 40 years and Publishers Weekly caught up with the Hernandez brothers to hear their thoughts on 40 years of this highly influential series. And if you prefer to see and hear them, Popverse interviewed them on the floor of the San Diego Comic Con. You can watch the video here.

• In a balance of happy and sad, 2023 marks the 30th anniversary of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers with special issues of Ranger Academy and other MMPR series, but ends 2022 mourning the death of Jason David Frank, the actor who played the original Green/White Ranger.

• Vault has launched a new imprint called Headshell to publish new graphic novels created by iconic music bands and artists. Headshell will help recording artists and bands tell stories in comics form. The Beat covers the announcement here. A really interesting initiative.

Collections

• Publishers Weekly has published a pretty interesting article looking at the new graphic medicine titles.

• The use of eComics at libraries keeps steadily growing. Borrow Box has rolled reading eComics on their app. Their model is similar to Libby. A licence needs to be acquired for each title. Licence costs and limits vary widely. It’s still early days but great to see Borrow Box coming on board with comics.

• Comics Plus has rolled out an update to their app and it’s also working on fully integrating Comics Plus to the CloudLibrary app with an expected full integration some time next year. Best of all, they have added Image Comics and Fantagraphics titles to their catalogue as they announced on their website.

Webinars/Podcasts/Videos

• The ComX team had a great conversation with Elizabeth Marruffo and Campbell Whyte (who were both guests at our recent webinar too). This is a great conversation and well worth a watch and you can watch it here. 

• Library Pass organised a great discussion about Manga during the recent Library Con. If you missed How Manga Took Over the World with Deb Aoki, Frederick Jones and Kae Winters, you can watch it now on the Library Pass website. They’ve also included some handy resources.

NEW RELEASE TITLES

Junior & YA

• Berserk Vol 41 by Kentaro Miura (Viz Media)

• Blue Box volume 1 by Kouji Miura (Viz Media)

• Colorless volume 1 by Kent (Seven Seas)

• Diana and Nubia: Princesses of the Amazons by Victoria Ying (DC Comics)

• Doodleville 2: Art Attacks by Chad Sel (Random House)

• Ex-Yakuza and Stray Kitten volume 1 by Riddle Kamimura (Seven Seas)

• Futari Escape Vol 1 by Shouichi Taguchi (Seven Seas Entertainment)

• Green Lantern: Alliance by Minh Le, Andie Tong (DC Comics)

• Joe Hill’s Rain by Joe Hill, David M. Booher, Zoe Thorogood (Image Comics)

• Miles Morales Book 2: Stranger Tides by Justin A. Reynolds, Pablo Leon (Scholastic)

• The Remarried Empress Vol 1 by Alphatart, Sumpul, Herelee (Ize Press)

• Rooster Fighter volume 2 by Shu Sakuratani (Viz Media)

• Sea Serpent’s Heir Book 1: Pirate’s Daughter by Mairghread Scott, Pablo Tunica (Image Comics)

• Shuna’s Journey by Hayao Miyazaki (St Martin’s Press)

• Sunburn by Andi Watson, Simon Gane (Image Comics)

• Superman Son of Kal El Vol 2 by Tom Taylor, John Timms (DC Comics) [Australian creator]

• Sweet Valley Twins: Best Friends by Francine Pascal, Nicole Andelfinger, Claudia Aguirre (Random House)

• Temudjin by Antoine Ozanam, Antoine Carrion (Magnetic Press)

• Tower of God Volume 1 by S I U (Webtoon Unscrolled)

• Twig by Skottie Young, Kyle Strahm (Image Comics)

Adult

• I’m a Terminal Cancer Patient, but I’m Fine by Hilnama (Seven Seas)

• It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth by Zoe Thorogood (Image Comics)

• Last Man: Volume 1 by Balak, Michael Sanlaville, Bastien Vives (Image - Skybound)

• Men I Trust by Tommi Parrish (Scribe) [Australian Creator]

• Mother Nature by Jamie Lee Curtis, Russell Goldman, Karl Stevens (Titan Comics)

• Saga Volume 10 by Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples (Image Comics)

• Salamandre by I.N.J. Culbard (Dark Horse - Berger Books)

• The Titan’s Bride by ITKZ (Seven Seas)

October Roundup

We’re coming close to the end of the year. In a way we’re starting to wrap up, but on the other hand we’ve just announced our second webinar and we’re thrilled!

For this webinar we have managed to gather four really amazing speakers who will be discussing how comics and manga nurture and inspire reading and creativity. It may be wrong for us to say it, but this is definitely a webinar you don’t want to miss. All the information about the webinar and the free registration details are here. Make sure you register and we look forward to seeing you there.

November will also be the last session for this year’s Graphic Novel Club. We invite you all to attend with some tasty food at hand, after all, we’re discussing graphic novels that centre on food. As always, we have three suggested graphic novels to read but we look forward to hear what other graphic novels that centre on food you recommend. All the Graphic Novel Club information and the free registration details are here.

News

• The Harvey Awards were announced at New York Comic Con. You can check out all the winners and watch the whole ceremony here. Two Australian creators were among the nominees, Lee Lai for Stone Fruit and Simon Hanselmann for Crisis Zone.

• Popverse has been covering the NYCC quite extensively. Here’s an article on how comics are under attack in the US presented by the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and a great interview with Denis Kitchen discussing comics history and censorship.

• Mobile webcomics are exploding in growth. Publishers Weekly looks into it and libraries should stay up to date as a lot of these titles also find their way to digital comics platforms and print.

• Miracleman is a legendary comic but one with a very troubled history. If you’re excited about Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham finally returning to finish what they and Alan Moore before them started, Popverse has published a great article that explains the troubled history and why this is such a big deal that has many comic fans excited. 

• Peach Momoko is publishing Demon Wars a manga that expands the Marvel Universe, mixed with Japanese folklore. This looks like a really interesting proposition. Read the news on CBR.

Collections

• Librarian Sara Smith has published a really handy blog post compiling all the major awards of 2022 in the U.S., with nominees and winners.

• Star Wars comics and books continue to be popular and the High Republic books that are being published are no exception. The problem is that they’re being churned out pretty rapidly and it’s easy to get lost. The good news is that The Beat has published a handy guide to what’s being published so if you want to make sure you’re getting all the High Republic action, this is a good place to start.

Webinars/Podcasts/Videos

• Melbourne’s Reading book shop has a podcast series and they’ve recently published the first (of we hope many) episodes focusing on comics hosted by one of Australia’s greatest champions of the medium, Bernard Caleo. In this first episode of The Comics Question, Bernard interviews Mirranda Burton, who has just been awarded the Readings 2022 Young Adult Award for Underground. 

• Love & Rockets is one of the greatest comic book series to come out of the U.S. and now there’s a whole documentary dedicated to it free to watch on YouTube. You can watch it here. 

NEW RELEASE TITLES

Junior & YA

• Awaken Volume 1 by Koti Saavedra (Seven Seas)

• The Big Adventures of Babymouse: Once Upon a Messy Whisker by jennifer Holm, Matthew Holm (Random House)

• Buddy Gator - Glad to See You by Chow Hon Lam (Basheen Graphics Singapore)

• Candy & Cigarettes volume 1 by Tomonori Inoue (Seven Seas)

• The Dragon Prince: Bloodmoon Huntress by Nicole Andelfinger, Felia Hanakata (Scholastic)

• The Evil Secret Society of Cats volume 1 by Pandania (Seven Seas) 

• Freestyle by Gale Galligan (Graphix - Scholastic)

• Iyanu Child of Wonder Book 2 by Iyanu Okupe (Dark Horse)

• The Last Mechanical Monster by Brian Fies (Abrams ComicArts)

• Leon the Extraordinary by Jamar Nicholas (Scholastic)

• Lore Olympus volume 3 by Rachel Smythe (Del Rey Books)

• Marvels Vol 2: The Undiscovered Country by Kurt Busiek (Marvel Comics)

• Max Meow 4: Taco Time Machine by John Gallagher (Random House)

• She Hulk Vol 1: Jen Again by Rainbow Rowell, Roge Antonio, Luca Maresca, Rico Renzi (Marvel Comics)

• Side Effects by Ted Anderson, Tara O’Connor (Aftershock Comics)

• Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaardner, Vincent Zabus, Nicoby (SelfMadeHero)

• Thieves by Lucie Bryon (Nobrow)

Adult

• Batman: One Dark Knight by Jock (DC Comics)

• Be Very Afraid of Inuki Kanako by Inuki Kanako (Kodansha Comics)

• Black Water Lilies by Frederic Duval, Michel Bussi, Didier Cassegrain (Magnetic Press)

• Dancing on the Volcano by Floor De Goede (Oni Press)

• A Fade of Light by Nate Fakes (West Margin Press)

• First There Was Chaos by Joel Priddy (Uncivilized Books)

• Hakim’s Odyssey Book 3 by Fabien Toulme (Graphic Mundi)

• The Human Target Book 1 by Tom King, Greg Smallwood (DC Comics)

• Invisible Wounds by Jess Roliffson (Fantagraphics)

• The Journey of Marcel Grob by Philippe Colin, Sebastien Goethals (Naval Institute Press)

• Look Back by Tatsuki Fujimoto (VIZ Media)

• Lucy by Tanino Liberatore (Heavy Metal)

• Movements and Moments by Anthology by various authors (Drawn & Quarterly)

• No Kidding by Madeleine Martin, Vero Cazot (Fairsquare Comics)

• Open Bar by Eduardo Medeiros (Oni Press)

Webinar Announcement: Nurturing and Inspiring Reading and Creativity With Comics and Manga

A year ago we had our first ALIA Graphic webinar (which is still available to watch our YouTube page) and we thought we'd gather together again this year.

We are excited to have four amazing speakers to talk about all things comics and manga. In this webinar we will focus on Junior and YA comics and manga. We will explore how they nurture life long readers and inspire creativity. As usual, our webinar will be on Zoom and it will be free.

Hosted by ALIA Graphic Convenor Iurgi Urrutia, we’re pleased to announce four incredibly exciting speakers.

Gabby Cundy has been an ALIA Graphic team member since its inception. She’s situated in Western Sydney where she currently works as a Branch Librarian. Previously she has worked in a school library where she first developed a love of Children’s and YA literature. Recently she presented at the Illawarra School Library Association conference about embracing comics and graphic novels in school libraries. Earlier this year she  completed her Masters of Information Studies specialising in Children’s Literature. She can always be found with a book close by with the majority of those being new release YA novels and Middle Grade graphic novels. Helping children and teenagers find a book that they fall in love with is what she wants to do for the rest of her career.

Follow Gabby on Twitter: @GabzzC

Elizabeth Marruffo and Campbell Whyte are the creative minds behind Milktooth Arts Space, a school of art and comics, based in Perth. They believe that all children are naturally creative and they see it as their job to nurture and inspire that creativity through painting, sculpting, textiles, comics and illustration. They run long term courses and school holiday workshops. They are also artists and comic book creators in their own right. Elizabeth has been a sessional lecturer in painting at Edith Cowan University, a finalist in numerous national painting awards including The Portia Geach Memorial Prize and is working on her first graphic novel, Pup Pup Is the Boss of the Stars, a story inspired by the small towns of Agua Prieta and Magdalena in Mexico, where she grew up. Campbell Whyte has published several short comics and two volumes of Home Time published by Top Shelf, which received lots of recognition and awards, including being nominated at the Eisner Awards 2018 in the Best Publication for Kids Ages 9-12 category. They both also co-founded the Perth Comic Arts Festival - a volunteer run and 100% free to attend celebration of local comics talent. Check out Milktooth’s website here: https://milk-tooth.com 

Jillian Rudes is the school librarian at a 6th-12th grade, public school in New York City. She is the Japanese Culture & Manga Librarian for the New York City Department of Education, as well as, the founder and director of Manga in Libraries. She received the American Association of School Librarians’ Collaborative School Library Award in 2020 and the American Library Association's Scholastic Library Publishing Award in 2022. She was also deemed the “Manga Maven” by Library Journal and selected as Mover & Shaker in 2022. She has presented on manga at New York Comic Con, San Diego Comic Con, the American Library Association’s Annual Conference, the International Association of School Librarianship’s Annual Conference, and more. You can find a ton of resources on her website MangaInLibraries.com. Follow Jillian on Twitter: @JRlibrarian

Are you ready to sign up? Registration is totally free. Please note, the event will be recorded for those who cannot attend live. The recording will be made available after the event(give us a few days).

When: Wednesday November 30 at 12pm AEDT

Zoom registration: Webinar registration here

Duration: 1 hour

Please direct any questions about the webinar to our email address: aliagraphicinfo@gmail.com

ALIA CPD 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. Any PD questions can be sent to pd@alia.org.au