In May 2011, Tokyopop shuttered its North American publishing operations, leaving dozens of manga in licensing purgatory. Among the most popular of these unfinished series was Hetalia: Axis Powers. The series’ premise is simple: all the countries of Western Europe are reimagined as cute teenage boys, each of whom behaves according to national stereotypes (e.g. [...]
The digital comics distributor iVerse Media will launch a digital comics service for libraries in July, and I interviewed account director Josh Elder (also the creator of Mail Order Ninja) about the details. Besides offering what looks like a deep list of graphic novels, the service has a model that libraries may find more attractive [...]
Bluewater Comics will be releasing a biography about J.R.R. Tolkein. Subtitled The True Lord of the Rings, the comic will explore Tolkein’s career and influences in depth. Chris Wilson has the details. Remember He-Man and the Masters of the Universe? DC Comics will be publishing a new, six-issue series inspired by the popular Reagan-era toy [...]
With this summer shaping up to be another fantastic time for comic book fans—with feature films including The Avengers (May 4th), Amazing Spider-Man (July 3), and Dark Knight Rises (July 20)—kids especially are getting treated to a double whammy of DC and Marvel Comics presence on television as well, with DC Comics’ DC Nation programming [...]
The folks at Comic-Con International have posted the nominees for the 2012 Eisner Awards. This year was an exceptionally good one for kids’ comics; kid-friendly titles were nominated in categories across the board, from Best Single Issue to Best Continuing Series. Better still, the panel of judges — which included our own Brigid Alverson — [...]
Viz Media seems to be moving into a new section of the market: Licensed series based on animated cartoons, which proved quite lucrative for Del Rey back in the day. The first of their Voltron Force graphic novels debuts this week, and they have plans for a couple more. The books are based on the [...]
Coming soon to a comic store near you: a brand-new edition of Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life. The second edition will be hardbound, with a snazzy new cover design by creator Bryan Lee O’Malley and colors by award-winning artist Nathan Fairbairn. Look for the first volume in stores in August 2012. For his latest Comics [...]
J. Caleb Mozzocco gives mixed marks to Stan Lee’s Mighty 7, a new kid-friendly superhero series published by Archie Comics. “It is a pretty bad comic book, and I’d go so far as to say that it’s a remarkably, even exceptionally bad comic book,” Mozzocco opines. “But there’s still an irrepressible, hard-to-hate charm about the [...]
VIZ Media has teamed up with Barnes & Noble for a new promotion: Manga Mondays. Beginning March 19th, BN will run a weekly sale in which the first volumes of select VIZ manga will be discounted by 50%. The first featured titles are Gin Tama, Honey & Clover, and Yakitate!! Japan. Speaking of VIZ, the [...]
Earlier this week, Rich Watson unveiled the 2012 Glyph Award nominees. Among the kid- and teen-friendly titles that made the cut were Princeless (Jeremy Whitley and Mia Goodwin) and Ultimate Spider-Man #1 (Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli). Now in their seventh year, the Glyph Awards honor “the best in comics made by, for, and [...]
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