Webinar + Graphic Novel Club + Podcast updates

While we rarely do this, we thought we'd give everyone some quick updates because there are a few things happening. 

WEBINAR

A year ago we got together for our very first webinar, Getting Graphic: Comics Around the World, which you can still watch on our YouTube page here. So we thought we'd get together again and have a second ALIA Graphic webinar. 

We will announce all the details soon but make sure you reserve the day. It will be Wednesday November 30 at 12pm AEDT and we're incredibly excited about the event and the speakers who will be joining the conversation. This is one you definitely don't want to miss.

GRAPHIC NOVEL CLUB

Our Graphic Novel Club returns this Sunday at 3pm AEDT and we will be discussing horror in comics. As usual, there are three suggested readings but even if you haven't read those three you can definitely join the conversation and discuss your favourite horror comics. 

Join the fun and feel free to wear something spooky!

If you've never registered for our Graphic Novel Club, check out all the details here and find the Zoom registration link here.

PODCASTS

We have published two podcast episodes recently. First we had a chat with comic book creator Gary Proudley who has published several comics, most importantly Talgard: Tome 2 this year (Gestalt Comics). The Talgard series is interesting as it depicts a barbarian who uses intelligence rather than brute force. Every Talgard story is four pages long and with art by a different Australian artist. 

The other podcast is an in depth chat with Paul Metcalfe who is the library coordinator for the Albany Campus Library of South Regional TAFE WA. He published an article on Incite recently and with him about building a graphic novel collection at TAFE. The episode notes also include some interesting resources.

We have also created an ALIA Graphic Podcast blog where all our podcast episodes can be enjoyed and have added a Podcast tab on this blog to make it easier to find and navigate. 

Of course, you can still continue to listen to our podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

That's all for now. Light up your whole brain, read comics!

ALIA Graphic Novel Club 2022

While we have been fairly quiet and enjoying some time off during the summer holidays, ALIA Graphic Novels and Comics will be back soon with roundups, podcasts and the Graphic Novel Club. We tried this program in the second half of last year and were really happy with it so we decided we will do it all year-round. 

The program is designed for librarians in general; public, school, academic, etc., professionals interested in graphic novels. The sessions are a mix of what you would expect in a book club and a more formal PD session. If you're doing the ALIA PD Scheme, our Graphic Novel Club sessions can be used towards your PD goal.

While we like to keep it fairly informal, each month we will have a theme and three recommended graphic novels (you don't need to read all of them - think of them as reading suggestions that fit that theme), then we discuss the suggested titles, how they relate to the theme, and what other titles we could recommend in a library setting.

We are happy to announce that our January Graphic Novel Club session is the first thing on our program for this year. Join us Sunday 23 January at 3pm for an informal catch up where we'll talk about the graphic novels we've been reading, our favourites from last year and comics readers advisory in general.

We can also announce the themes and suggested titles for the first half of the year so you can check if your library has our suggested graphic novels, and where else to source them. Please note that all of our Graphic Novel Club sessions are free and online on Zoom. If you're registered but unable to join the session live, you will receive a private link with a recording a few days after the date.

To check out our program for the year and to register for all the sessions please visit our Graphic Novel section of the blog. We look forward to seeing you at the Graphic Novel Club and also providing more news, PD and graphic novel information and resources to you very soon!

ALIA Graphic April 2021 Roundup and Book Club Announcement

Do you want to provide the best Readers' Advisory around comics that you can?

Do you get nervous about what graphic novels your library should be purchasing?

Do you want to read these materials yourself, but don’t know where to start?

Luckily for you, ALIA Graphic Novels and Comics is starting a book club especially for librarians! 

Each month, we will have a theme to help with professional development in libraries and we have put a lot of thought into how these themes can grow both a love of comics and further best practice around their use in libraries. 

Our first meeting will be all about introducing new readers to comics and so we will be looking at some good starters: They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, and Harmony Becker; Ms Marvel volume 1: No Normal, by G Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona; and Alone by Christophe Chabouté. These choices represent a mix of the different genres that comics and graphic novels can cover and are all great gateways for reading and worth having in library collections.

Some of the things we’ll be discussing include how (and when) to include comics in recommendations, preconceptions people may have about the medium and how they can overcome them, and what qualities make a comic an ideal introduction to the format.

This book club will be open to librarians from across Australia (and beyond) and as such will be held online. Our first meeting is planned for Sunday July 25^th at 3:00pm AEST and we hope to make it a monthly event. Please send an email to aliagraphicinfo@gmail.com to let us know if you’re interested. We look forward to chatting with you about all things graphic novels, comic books, and libraryland!

The April Roundup is also available as a podcast, with Iurgi and James discussing the latest news, their favourite new release graphic novels and discussing the upcoming book club. The episode also includes an interview with Daniel Wee, a specialist collections librarian at Monash University. He's the custodian of old rare books and that includes one of the largest collections of comics in Australia. You can listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts and if you like what we're doing, hit the subscribe button and leave a review.

News

• The sequel to the incredibly influential March graphic novel is Run and will be out in August. John Lewis and Andrew Aydin continue as writers, with L. Fury and Nate Powell on art duties. 

• Publishers Weekly reports that as sales of middle grade graphic novels continue to grow, publishers are now moving to expand the range of graphic novels for early readers, in an excellent article.

• Heidi McDonald looks into stream TV and film adaptations of graphic novels, how they drive sales of the original source and how publishers are responding to this, published in Publisher’s Weekly.

• Melbourne writer Tom Taylor continues conquering the world of comics with numerous publications and it has been announced that he will also be writing a Superman series, a character that has always meant a lot to him. We can’t wait for this series.

• Scholastic halts distribution of a Dav Pilkey book and Pilkey apologises for passive racist stereotypes in its pages. 

• YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens nominations are coming in and the Spring Roundup is out.

• The Hugo Award finalists have been announced, including for the Best Graphic Story or Comic category.

Collections & PD

• Shannon Live, Kaitlyn Roach and Dr. John Weaver shared their insights on how they work with graphic novels in the classroom, how they demonstrate their impact on learning, and how they partner with librarians. The 60-minute presentation was moderated by LibraryPass’ John Shableski.

• If you’re curious to know what the best selling graphic novels were for the September to December period in the U.S., the data is now out: Top 10 kids graphic novels, top 10 superhero franchises, top 10 manga franchises, top 10 author graphic novels.

Media & Resources

•  Podcast: Alice Jaggers talks to Graphic Medicine Reviews Editor Kevin Wolf about graphic medicine. 

• Educator and Reader Guide: OniPress has published a free educator and reader guide for Brenna Thummler’s Sheets and Delicates graphic novels. 

New Releases

• Junior and YA

  • Dear Super-Villains - Michael Northrop, Gustavo Duarte (DC Kids)

  • Hound Heroes #1: Beware The Claw - Todd Goldman (Scholastic)

  • The Last Kids on Earth: Thrilling Tales From the Treehouse - Max Brallier and various artists (Viking Books for Young Readers)

  • A Shot in the Arm: Big Ideas That Changed the World - Don Brown (Abrams)

  
  
  

General Adult

• Black Widow Vol. 1: The Ties That Bind - Kelly Thompson, Elena Casagrande (Marvel Comics)

• 
  Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles - Fermin Solis (SelfMadeHero)

• Hellblazer: Rise and Fall - Tom Taylor, Darick Robertson (DC Comics)

• Sirens of the Norse Sea: The Waters of Skagerrak - Françoise Ruscak, Gihef, Philippe Briones & Marco Dominic (Humanoids)

• Still Alive - Safdar Ahmed (Twelve Panel Press) - could also be YA

• Power Rangers: Drakkon New Dawn  - Anthony Burch (Boom! Studios)

• Sleeping Beauties Vol 1 - Stephen King, Owen King, Rio Youers, Alison Sampson (IDW)

• Suicide Squad: Bad Blood - Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo (DC Comics)