Graphic Nonfiction: The Life, Art and Death of Ana Mendieta

If you’ve never heard of Ana Mendieta, the visionary Cuban feminist artist who died in 1985, then Who is Ana Mendieta?, a new graphic biography by Christine Redfern and Caro Caron, published this month by the Feminist Press, will provide an introduction to both her life and to her art.

Comics Events 6/20/11

Pride Month Signing with Abby Denson & Jennifer Camper in New York, Boilerplate Art Opening in Portland & More

Graphic Novel Winners of the Random House Creative Writing Competition for NYC High School Seniors.

The winners of the annual Random House Creative Writing Competition For New York City Public High School Seniors were announced last week at the competition’s annual awards ceremony. The RH CWC awards are designed to encourage and support young creative talent in the New York City public school system and first, second and third place scholarship prizes are awarded in fiction, poetry, drama, personal memoir and graphic novels.

Doctors, Comic Books and Healing: Chicago’s Comics & Medicine Conference 2011

The second annual Comics & Medicine conference took place the weekend of June 9-11 in Chicago, bringing together a host of speakers and cartoonists, among them Scott McCloud, John Porcellino, David Small and Hillary Chute, to focus on the melding of graphic illustration in the field of healthcare both as a teaching tool and as a means of healing.

Comics Events 6/13/2011

Josh Neufeld & Brooke Gladstone in Brooklyn, Kids Read Comics Festival and more

Throwaway Adds 'Calypso' to 'Ulysses Seen'; Releases 'The Wasteland' App

Throwaway Horse, the company behind Ulysses Seen, the Web comics adaptation of James Joyce’s Ulysses, will update the Web Comic with "Calypso," the 54-page fourth chapter of the novel and release a comics app adaptation of T. S. Eliot’s The Wasteland created by British cartoonist Martin Rowson.

Jeff Lemire’s ‘Essex County’ in Film Deal

Tales of the Farm, the first volume of Jeff Lemire’s award-winning graphic novel triology Essex Country (Top Shelf), has been picked up to be adapted into a feature film by producers Steven Gilder and Alec Chorches. Although the project is a long way from being greenlit, it has script by John Car, and John Dykstra, the visual effects supervisor of the new film X-Men: First Class, is attached to the project as director.

ABDO to Offer Marvel e-Books; Free Comic Book Reader Guides

Educational and library publisher ABDO announced an agreement to license and offer e-book versions of Marvel comic books beginning in the Fall 2011 school year. In addition the publisher--ABDO has long worked to highlight the utility of comics in education--has created a series of free downloadable teacher guides focused on vocabulary building and based on ABDO’s Spotlight pop culture line of comics licensed from such publishers as Marvel and Dark Horse.

Comics Reviews June 2011

Is Kickstarter the #3 U.S. Indie Graphic Novel Publisher?

If someone told you that Kickstarter, the online fundraising site, funded roughly the same amount of comics material as DC Comics' Vertigo Imprint, you’d look at them like they were crazy.

Adventures in Publishing: Carla Speed McNeil’s 'Finder'

Dark Horse has published the first volume of Carla Speed McNeil's The Finder Library, which brings together four story arcs about the world of McNeil’s domed city of Anvard, its competing tribes, its outdated futuristic technology, and the outlaw hero Jaeger and the Grosvenor family, the series’ main characters.

New Graphic Books Blur Categories To Tell Stories

What is a graphic novel? Is it a collection of serial comics? Or is it an original story told only in sequential art? As the public’s interest in visual storytelling continues to grow, the format is morphing into a new kind of graphic work not easily defined as a conventional comic book.

Panel Mania: A Bride's Story Vol. 1

By Kaoru Mori, the creator of Emma, A Bride's Story follows Amir, a young bride in nineteenth-century Asia, who is sent to a neighboring town to get married. When she arrives she discovers her new husband is eight years younger than her. However, soon she develops a deep affection for the boy and his family as she integrates into the culture of her new home. A Bride's Story will be released by Yen Press this week.

Comics Events Week of 6/6/2011

Toonseum Comics for Comics Benefit, Jim Woodring Tour, Astronaut Academy Launch Party & Workshop and more.

DC Reboots its Comics Universe; Goes 'Day and Date' For Print, Digital Release

DC Comics, home to comics icons Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, announced some radical moves for its publishing program. DC will relaunch many of its classic series with new origins, new costumes and more, and in another bold move, the publisher will release all of its superhero comics in digital editions at the same time as the print editions.

Finding Graphic Novels in Unexpected Places at BEA 2011

Although dedicated graphic novel publishers showed up in smaller numbers than in the past, plenty of graphic novels could still be found on the floor of this year's Book Expo America.

Hot Fall Graphic Novels For Libraries at BEA 2011

The BEA panel, "Hot Fall Graphic Novels for Libraries," discussed titles that give educators options for all kinds of students, from toddlers to advanced college and even graduate students, yet these titles can also stand on their own literary and artistic merit.

Comics Events: Week of 5/30/11

Just Opened “Marvels & Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images In Comics” Exhibit in New York, 6/1 Georges Jeanty & Jane Espenson at Buffy Comic Wrap Party in LA, 6/2 Monte Schulz On Peanuts & His Father, 6/4 Brian Azzarello Signing in Chicago, 6/3-6/5 Heroes Con, 6/11 Green Lantern Event with GL Comics Creators at Cartoon Art Museum, 6/11 Astronaut Academy Launch Party & Kids Workshop in New York

Panel Mania: American Vampire Vol. 2

In this second volume of American Vampire, which sets vampires in the American West, Skinner Sweet and Pearl have relocated from Hollywood to Las Vegas in 1935. As Las Vegas grows from a cow town to booming city, the police chief there must deal with the murders of prominent businessmen drained of blood. American Vampire Vol. 2 is written by Scott Snyder with art by Rafael Albuquerque and Mateo Santoluco.

BEA Show Daily 2011: The Graphic Novel Scene

More comics publishers have opted not to attend BEA this year, with both indie house Fantagraphics and Marvel Comics sitting it out. However, as with previous years, most comics publishers can be found in the Diamond Comic Distributors row (4839), including such houses as Dark Horse, IDW Publishing, and Image Comics.