Graphic Novels Draw New Buyers at BEA

Graphic novel publishers at BEA reported sustained, strong interest from libraries (which have found that comics bring in boys like nothing else) and the book trade.

As for the future, they're divided between nervousness and hope. The nervousness mostly comes from client publishers of LPC (including Dark Horse, Drawn & Quarterly, Image and Crossgen), which has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

NBM and its pugnacious author Ted Rall were on hand to promote To Afghanistan and Back, an instant graphic novel on Rall's visit to the war zone. Fantagraphic author Ho Che Anderson signed copies of the newest volume of bio-graphic novel King Volume 2. Last Gasp is producing facsimile U.S. editions of classic and decidedly unpolitically correct Tin Tin stories (In the Land of the Soviets and In the Congo) by the Belgium comics master Herge, done during his proto-fascist youth in 1929-30.

Hope, on the other hand, is overflowing from licensed properties. The same weekend as BEA, the Spider-Man movie had the biggest opening ever, and Diamond Distribution and Marvel are looking forward to a huge boost from it. Marvel is focusing on its backlist titles, the Essentials series (which collects classic Spiderman tales) plus two or three new and pricey Spider-Man hardcovers. They're also hyping the Ultimate Spider-Man, a recent series that updates the webslinger's legend.

Star Wars is likely to have the same effect for Dark Horse. Viz Communications (Hamutaro, a new cute creature series; action series Gundam Wing, Dragonball Z and its Eisner-nominated horror series Uzumaki) and TokyoPop (teen-oriented action series Real Bout High School, Cowboy Bebop and Initial D) are both excited about their new and upcoming manga titles coupled with anime TV cartoon tie-ins. CrossGen is launching its Compendia program, a series of trade paperbacks that collect several series, and Comicsontheweb.com, a lavish online effort to market CrossGen print Comics.

D.C.'s got Frank Miller's sure-to-be-huge Dark Knight 2 collection coming in the fall, and Neil Gaiman's Sandman: The Endless on its heels. And Free Comic Book Day-a nationwide event held May 4 that gave away comics in an effort to attract in new readers-looks like an immense success, though it's still too soon to see who it'll bring back.