A Little Bit Me and a Little Bit...Everybody Else
Just for the record: I first approached this blog for Graphic Novel Reporter with the philosophical stance that I would not use it as my private billboard. In fact, a few weeks back, I even passed up trumpeting my appearance at the Brooklyn Book Fair.
-- Alex SimmonsTwo Authors, One Great Bookstore, and GNR
This Monday night, Brooklyn residents (and anyone else in the vicinity) will get a chance to meet not one but two of the hottest graphic novel creators right now, and it's at an event I'm proud to be moderating! Both David Small (the creator of Stitches) and Josh Neufeld (A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge) will be appearing at 7:00 p.m.
-- John HoganAnother Way to Add GNs to Classrooms
Borders has announced its new Educator Appreciation Week program, coming next week (September 29-October 7). All the Borders stores across the country are participating, giving 30% off for teacher purchases. Does that mean graphic novels are included? I hope so, and I believe it does.
-- John HoganStitches Debuts at #1
Next week's New York Times bestseller list is out, and David Small's incredible memoir Stitches is making its debut at the top. That's an impressive splash to make, and David (whom I had the pleasure of interviewing) is so deserving of this: He managed to turn his story of a troubled childhood into one of the most readable and least sentimental books I've enjoyed this year.
-- John HoganPersepolis Wins in Philly
Ah, Persepolis. That great, great book. Marjane Satrapi's epic two volumes about her life growing up in Iran is one of the most readable and relatable graphic memoirs ever. It shared so much about Iranian culture, and it continues to teach. And now that it's been selected for Philadelphia's One Book, One Philadelphia literacy program, it will reach even further. Good.
-- John HoganThree Recommendations
I’m caught up in three graphic novels that I’m loving right now, and I’m feeling a bit like Goldilocks with them: One I’m really late to discover, one I’m early, and one I’m just right on time. Let’s start with the late one.
-- John HoganMeet the Blogger
He's much too modest to tell you this himself, so allow me to tell you about an upcoming appearance from our very own Alex Simmons, writer and blogger and comics enthusiast. Simmons will be appearing at the Brooklyn Book Festival (in Brooklyn, New York, of course) as part of a panel entitled "Fact vs. Fiction in Action-Adventure Comics." The panel takes place at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, September 13. I first met Alex at a comics convention, and I know his passion for comics informs everything he does. If you have a chance to support this panel, I encourage you to do so.
-- John HoganThe New Superman-Batman Movie Is Almost Here
Warner Home Video has been ramping up the prepromotion for the upcoming Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (see our Books to Movies page for a plot description), and the more I hear, the more I like it. The movies coming out from Warner (based, naturally, on their DC Comics properties) have been getting steadily better and better, with more mature plots, wonderfully moody animation, and vastly underrated scores and vocal casting. The new images released (see below) are only whetting my appetite even more.
-- John HoganMarvel and the Mouse
I’ve been remiss about blogging about Disney’s recent buying of Marvel, mostly because, well, first, other business kind of got in the way, but then because I was waiting to see if the other coverage of the event would bring to light aspects I hadn’t thought of or considered. While there has been some excellent in-depth reporting on the deal, I still feel the same way I did when I first heard the news: a bit meh.
-- John Hogan
