Graphic novels are an excellent tool for combating the well-documented “summer slide,” encouraging kids to practice their reading skills while reminding them that reading can be a fun, pleasurable activity. Last month, my colleague Esther Keller helped the Good Comics for Kids team assemble a summer reading list that offered parents and librarians suggestions for enticing kids to continue reading over the summer. Below, I offer a more detailed assessment of one of the titles on that list, Akira Toriyama’s criminally overlooked Sand Land (VIZ), a rollicking sci-fi adventure that’s surprisingly sophisticated. I also take a look at one… Read More
Welcome to the second edition of The Reading Pile, in which we give our first impressions of whatever we happen to be reading at the moment. As always, we invite you to tell us what you are reading in the comments section, and we’re offering free books as an enticement; last week’s winner is Analine Johnson, who will soon receive her very own copy of Zig and Wikki, by Trade Loeffler and Nadja Spiegelman. This week’s prize, which again will go to a commenter chosen at random, is the YA graphic novel Foiled, by Jane Yolen and Mike Cavallaro, which… Read More
It’s another short list this week, filled with the regulars we’ve come to get used to seeing every week. Boom! Studios is all about the Disney titles old and new. Papercutz cuts in with the second volume of their Disney Fairies line. And young super hero fans can get their fill from DC while Tweens will find books more to their liking from Archie and Marvel. And don’t forget to check the picks for a new series to watch out for from Dark Horse.
The List:
ARCHIE COMICS
Archie & Friends #145, $2.99
Pals N Gals Double Digest… Read More
When Tanaka-san wanders into a new ramen restaurant in town, he’s stunned to see that the restaurant is owned and operated by a talking cat. But Taisho’s ramen skills leave something to be desired–namely taste and texture! He’s determined to succeed, though, and Tanaka-san can’t help coming back to the restaurant, just to see what will happen next.
Jordan Mechner created the Prince of Persia video game originally in 1989 for the Apple II computer, after many popular Prince of Persia sequels and spin-offs, Jordan is one of the only video game creators who has had a hands-on approach to his original creation. For the feature film adaptation of his series, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, he wrote the original screenplay and also served as an executive producer of the film. Now he’s expanded his role as well by writing his first graphic novel about the world of the Prince of Persia, an anthology collection about 5… Read More
The trickster is, by far, one of the most ubiquitous figures in folklore, occurring in cultures as geographically and temporally removed as ancient Greece and the antebellum American South. Tricksters serve numerous roles: they can be beneficial pranksters who help level the playing field between gods and men; they can be subversives, challenging authority and cultural norms; or they can be fools whose outrageous schemes backfire again and again. In many cultures, trickster figures embody all of these roles, as the heroes in creation and fire myths, the jesters in role-reversal stories, and the cautionary examples in parables about greedy… Read More
Today we are launching a new feature here at Good Comics for Kids: A weekly look at what our writers are reading, for work or for fun. These aren’t really reviews, just first impressions, and we reserve the right to change our minds once we finish the books and, in some cases, write real reviews.
We want to know what you are reading, too, so feel free to chime in with your current books in the comments. As a special incentive, we are going to give a copy ofZig and Wikki in Something Ate My Homework to a… Read More
The folks at Boom! Studios have provided us with a generous 10-page preview of Disney Hero Squad: Ultraheroes, vol. 2. Here’s their description of the story:
Can Mickey Mouse foil Emil Eagle and the Sinister 7’s nefarious plot and keep the world safe? Find out as the battle for the seven Ultrapods intensifies as the Sinister 7 unleashes its plan to steal the remaining pieces of the ultramachine. Tune in and find out as DISNEY’S HERO SQUAD presents another chapter of the instant Disney classic, Ultraheroes!
Click on the thumbnails to enlarge each image. Enjoy!
Small but diverse list again this week. Boom! Studios is ready to take you back in time with Mickey Mouse, and Viz wants to get you outside and playing some tennis, like royalty! DC has gone a little looney, and what are those strange lights over Riverdale? This weeks’ picks start a new “tail” as well as welcoming back an old blue one.
The List:
ARCHIE COMICS
Archie Double Digest #210, $3.99
BOOM! STUDIOS
Disneys Hero Squad Ultraheroes Volume 2 Race For The Ultrapods TP, $9.99
Mickey Mouse And The World To Come TP, $9.99
Walt Disneys… Read More
In a green roofed house covered in ivy, at the end of a red and blue brick walk, three animals and their friend have fun and magical adventures that can only be found in the simple pleasures of the every day. Put down that book, pull up a sunbeam and cookie, and rediscover the joy that can be found in One Fine Day.