February 7, 2010
Fantagraphics Books
Available 02/28/10 in Hardcover
A special expanded edition of a Fantagraphics classic.
Ho Che Anderson has spent over 10 years researching, writing, and drawing King, a monumental graphic biography that liberates Martin Luther King Jr. from the saintly, one-dimensional, hagiographic image so prevalent in pop culture. Here is King — father, husband, politician, deal broker, idealist, pragmatist, inspiration to millions — brought to vivid, flesh-and-blood life.
Out of print since 2006, King is Fantagraphics’ most-requested reprint. In recognition of the advances made in American social equality that has made it possible to elect America’s first black President, Fantagraphics Books is publishing King: The Special Edition, a newly designed volume that includes the original 240-page graphic biography, as well as nearly a hundred additional pages of “extras,” including:
Black Dogs” is a 14-page prelude to King, a dialogue between a young black couple expecting a child, living in LA in the aftermath of the Rodney King upheaval, a raw and inflected conversation between husband and wife and their racial attitudes in a post-King world;
Excerpts from the diary and notebook the author kept when researching and writing King, with interstitial notes written specifically for this volume commenting on the method he used to conceived and execute the book;
Preparatory sketches, discarded images and pages, an interview conducted at the time of the third volume’s publication, and excerpts from the draft of the script;
An epilogue titled “Assassin,” written and drawn for this new edition, in which Anderson explores the question of whether James Earl Ray actually shot King. Caroline Longstreet, one of the observers who comments on King’s life throughout the book, is obsessed with the assassination, won’t let it rest, and pursues her own private investigation and ultimately confronts the reasons why it’s held her in its grip so long.
Anderson’s biography traces King’s life from his childhood in Atlanta and his education at Booker T. Washington High School, and his subsequent centrality to the civil rights movement when, in 1955, he organized the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott; his founding of the Southern Christian leadership Conference in 1957; his Nobel Prize in 1964; his help in organizing the 1966 March on Washington and his “I Have a Dream” speech; and the tragic moment on April 4, 1968 when he was shot dead on the balcony of the Loraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee.
Anderson’s expressionistic visual style is wrought with dramatic energy; panels evoke a painterly attention to detail but whose juxtapositions propel King’s story with cinematic momentum. Anderson’s successful use of the comics form to tell a major work of nonfiction has drawn favorable comparisons to Art Spiegelman’s Maus: A Survivor’s Tale and Joe Sacco’s Safe Area Gorazde: The War In Eastern Bosnia 1992-1995. King won a 1995 Parents’ Choice Award. Full-color throughout.
December 23, 2009
Zuda
Available 06/02/09
The first title from the original webcomics imprint of DC Comics!
South of the Mason-Dixon Line lies a strange land of gods and monsters; a world parallel to our own, born from centuries of slavery, civil war, and hate. Lee Wagstaff is the daughter of a black sharecropper in the depression-era town of Charon, Mississippi. When Lily Westmoreland, her white playmate, is snatched by agents of an evil creature known as Bog, Lee’s father is accused of kidnapping. Lee’s only hope is to follow Lily’s trail into this fantastic and frightening alternate world. Along the way she enlists the help of a benevolent, blues singing, swamp monster called Bayou. Together, Lee and Bayou trek across a hauntingly familiar Southern Neverland, confronting creatures both benign and malevolent, in an effort to rescue Lily and save Lee’s father from being lynched.
BAYOU VOL. 1 collects the first four chapters of the critically acclaimed webcomic series by Glyph Award nominee Jeremy Love.
October 13, 2009
The Original Johnson, Volume 1
by Trevor Von Eeden
IDW Publishing
Available 12/29/09
At last – The Original Johnson, Trevor Von Eeden’s personal and heartfelt graphic novel biography of Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight champion of the world, international celebrity, and the most controversial American of his time. This is the artistic achievement of Trevor’s career (Batman, Black Canary, Black Lightning, Green Arrow), more than four years in the making and worth every moment.
March 13, 2009
Vaneta Rogers
newsarama.com
– Thu Feb 26, 5:30 pm ET
As booksellers look toward electronic reading devices as a wave of the future, the new technology could make paper comics a thing of the past.
With the release this month of the Kindle 2, the second generation of Amazon’s electronic reading device, the ever-changing face of the publishing industry is bracing for yet another makeover. But the rumor that Apple will enter the market soon is seen by some comic book publishers as a threat to the future of paper comics.
“[Comic books are] a business that is very low margin and very low print run, so if 10 percent of the readers migrate to an e-device, that is going to throw off the economics for 60 percent of the books that are published in this country, and that’s probably a low guess,” said John Cunningham, DC Comics VP, Advertising. “So it doesn’t have to become everybody in the room raising their hands having one to have that have a long-term impact on how the business goes.”
Yahoo News
March 6, 2009
Black Panther: Secret Invasion
by Jason Aaron (Author), Jefte Palo (Illustrator)
When the Skrulls come to town, it’s all-out war in Wakanda! The alien invaders have war ships, advanced technology, super-powered soldiers, and an army that outnumbers the Wakandans ten-to-one. Cake walk, right? Think again! There’s a reason Wakanda had never been conquered, and the Skrulls are about to find out why – the hard way! Collects Black Panther #39-41, reprints and extras.
February 26, 2009
By Martha Cornog, Philadelphia — Library Journal, 2/12/2009 1:12:00 PM
African American history turned a corner in January when Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. From Washington, DC, Obamamania swept through the recent New York Comic-Con, where exhibitors sold Alex Ross’s striking Superman Obama print as well as T-shirts proclaiming “Obama is my homeboy.” Obama comics are also jumping out of stores, and several more are in production.
Because our new president is a poster honcho for literacy as well as a comics-friendly icon, I hope we will soon see more graphic novels for children and tweens featuring black people as major characters. Luckily, there are many existing works that offer distinctive and often powerful portrayals of African Americans famous and unknown, real and fictional. Limited to teen through adult readers, the titles below are recommended for public and school libraries, and many would be welcome in academic collections. Display away, librarians!
libraryjournal.com
February 19, 2009
Still I Rise: A Graphic History of African Americans
by by Roland Laird (Author), Taneshia Nash Laird (Author), Charles Johnson (Foreword), Elihu “Adofo” Bey (Illustrator)
Available 02/03/09
Still I Rise is a critically acclaimed work with an impressive scope: the entire history of Black America, told in an accessible graphic-novel form. Updated from its original version – which ended with the Million Man March – it now extends from the early days of colonial slavery right through to Barack Obama’s groundbreaking presidential campaign. Compared by many to Art Spiegelman’s Maus, Still I Rise is a breathtaking achievement that celebrates the collective African-American memory, imagination, and spirit.
February 19, 2009
Honoring the best in African-American comics (both as contributors and thematically), the nominees for this year’s 2009 Glyph Awards have been announced:
Story of the Year
Bayou, Jeremy Love, writer and artist
Incognegro; Mat Johnson, writer, Warren Pleece, artist
Justice League of America: The Second Coming; Dwayne McDuffie, writer, Ed Benes, artist
Pilot Season: Genius, Marc Bernardin & Adam Freeman, writers, Afua Richardson, artist
Presidential Material: Barack Obama; Jeff Mariotte, writer, Tom Morgan, artist
Best Writer
Marc Bernardin & Adam Freeman, Genius
Mat Johnson, Incognegro
Jeremy Love, Bayou
Jeff Mariotte, Presidential Material: Barack Obama
Dwayne McDuffie, Justice League of America
Best Artist
Jamal Igle, Supergirl
Jeremy Love, Bayou
Warren Pleece, Incognegro
Afua Richardson, Pilot Season: Genius
Larry Stroman, Black Panther Annual #1
Best Male Character
Black Lightning, Final Crisis: Submit; Grant Morrison, writer, Matthew Clark, Norm Rapmund, Rob Hunter & Don Ho, artists; created by Tony Isabella & Trevor von Eeden
Black Panther, Black Panther Annual #1; Reginald Hudlin, writer, Larry Stroman & Ken Lashley, artists; created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
Lwanga Moses, Unknown Soldier; Joshua Dysart, writer, Alberto Ponticelli, artist; inspired by the character created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert
The Spectre, Final Crisis: Revelations; Greg Rucka, writer, Philip Tan, Jeff de los Santos & Jonathan Glapion, artists; inspired by the character created by Jerry Siegel & Bernard Bailey
Zane Pinchback, Incognegro; created by Mat Johnson, writer, and Warren Pleece, artist
Best Female Character
Destiny Ajaye, Pilot Season: Genius; created by Marc Bernardin & Adam Freeman, writers, Afua Richardson, artist
Lee Wagstaff, Bayou; created by Jeremy Love, writer and artist
Storm, X-Men: Worlds Apart; Christopher Yost, writer, Diogenes Neves, artist; created by Len Wein & Dave Cockrum
Vielle, Fungus Grotto; created by Shatia Hamilton, writer and artist
Vixen, Vixen: Return of the Lion; G. Willow Wilson, writer, Cafu, artist; created by Gerry Conway & Bob Oksner
Rising Star Award
Jennifer Crute, Jennifer’s Journal
Damian Duffy & John Jennings, The Hole: Consumer Culture
Charlie Goubile, Blackbird
Starline X. Hodge, Candi
Ashley Woods, Millennia War
Best Reprint Collection
Aya of Yop City, Drawn & Quarterly
Me and the Devil Blues V1, Del Rey
Nat Turner HC, Abrams
Best Cover
Final Crisis: Submit, Matthew Clark & Norm Rapmund, artists; Richard & Tonya Horie, colors
The Hole: Consumer Culture; John Jennings, illustrator
Pilot Season: Genius, Afua Richardson, illustrator
Unknown Soldier #1, Igor Kordey, illustrator
Vixen: Return of the Lion #1; Josh Middleton, illustrator
Best Comic Strip
Bayou, Jeremy Love, writer and artist
Café con Leche; Charlos Gary, writer and artist
Fungus Grotto, Shatia Hamilton, writer and artist
“Jefferson Jacks” from Crankshaft; Tom Batiuk & Tony Isa bella, writers, Chuck Ayers, artist
The K Chronicles, Keith Knight, writer and artist
Fan Award for Best Comic
Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #33-35; Christos Gage, writer, Sean Chen & Sandu Florea, artists
Pilot Season: Genius; Marc Bernardin & Adam Freeman, writers, Afua Richardson, artist
Presidential Material: Barack Obama; Jeff Mariotte, writer, Tom Morgan, artist
Vixen: Return of the Lion; G. Willow Wilson, writer, Cafu, artist
Young Avengers Presents #1; Ed Brubaker, writer, Paco Medina, artist
The judges for the 2009 competition are: Valerie D’Orazio, president, Friends of Lulu; Mathan Erhardt, writer, Comics Nexus; Ed Mathews, columnist, Pop Image; Tim O’Shea, writer/interviewer, TalkingWithTim.com; and Elayne Riggs, comics reviewer and commentator.
The ballot for the Fan Award for Best Comic is now open at the website for the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention (ECBACC), www.ecbacc.com/wordpress, and will remain open through March 31, 2009. Write-in selections can be e-mailed to GCA Committee Chair Rich Watson at rich.watson@gmail.com. IMPORTANT: Write-in selections are ONLY for choices not on the online ballot. ANY WRITE-IN SELECTIONS FOR CHOICES ALREADY ON THE ONLINE BALLOT WILL NOT BE COUNTED AND WILL BE DISCARDED.
The 2009 GCA ceremony will be held May 15, 2009, in the Skyline Room of the Free Library of Philadelphia, Park Central branch, as part of ECBACC, which will take place at the Crown Plaza Philadelphia Center City, May 16, 2009.
September 23, 2008
Afro Samurai Vol 1
by Takashi Okazaki
Available September 2008
In the bleak world of the swordsman, it is said that he who becomes the Number 1 samurai shall rule the world. And only Number 2 is allowed to challenge Number 1. Afro Samurai has assumed the mantle of Number 2, seeking vengeance against Number1, a gunman who killed his father years ago. But assassins lurk at every corner, seeking to rob Afro Samurai of the title of Number 2. Can Afro survive long enough to exact his revenge?
July 29, 2008
High Rollers #1-4
Written by Gary Phillips
Drawn by Sergio Martín Carrera
Available in July 2008
Chronicling the life of Cameron Quinn, a ruthless upstart out to make a name for himself in this tale of crime and destiny from critically acclaimed mystery novelist Gary Phillips (HIGH HAND, BANGERS)! Phillips shines a harsh light on the action and drama of the L.A. underworld with this inner-city spin on The Sopranos! A potent mix of American Gangster and THE WIRE, for fans of Brubaker’s CRIMINAL!
