While this year’s BookExpo America wasn’t as gaga over graphic novels as the 2009 BEA—remember, Stitches, Logicomix and R. Crumb’s Book of Genesis were three of the biggest books at last year’s show—comics were still a solid albeit subdued niche at this year’s BEA. Bestselling novelist Janet Evanovich’s first graphic novel, Troublemaker, was easily the big graphic novel of the show and such publishers as NBM, W.W. Norton, Pantheon, Fantagraphics, IDW, Image Comics, Abrams and Bloomsbury USA all featured significant comics works for summer and fall release.
Last year with the country in the midst of an economic meltdown and the book industry reeling from layoffs, comics seemed to capture the imagination of an industry and a trade show in crisis. Generally labeled an expensive and obsolete holdover from the past, BookExpo America had been under intense and critical scrutiny from its own industry and has been on a mission to reinvent itself and reassert its value. But despite the book industry’s criticism, last year’s show offered a sweet spot for comics publishers and for traditional book houses that had invested in the category.
This year’s BEA—transformed from a three-day weekend event to a two-day midweek show—seems to have satisfied its book world critics with a modified format that offered a smaller exhibition floor, strong foot traffic and lively panels—as well as a chance to be back home for the Memorial Day weekend. While some of the biggest comics publishers once again did not exhibit—DC, Macmillan and Viz among them—their representatives and authors were often on panels, signings or schmoozing in meeting rooms at the far end of the main hall or on the lower levels.
Diamond Book Distributors v-p, sales and marketing, Kuo-yu Liang hailed the show as venue ripe with “business opportunities,” outlining the potential of a growing interest in graphic novels from the Middle East and China; and licensing deals and interactions with a wide variety of buyers, discussion with Google, Scribd and NetGalley on digital comics as well as the likes of Wal-Mart and newcomer, magazine and book distributor The News Group. DBD had its own aisle at the show filled with client publishers like Dark Horse, Marvel, IDW, Japanime, Image and others. Liang was quick to point out Dark Horse’s Troublemaker, an original graphic novel installment in the bestselling Evanovich series that was cowritten by her daughter Alex, illustrated by Joelle Jones and slated for release in July. He called it, “one of the biggest books at BEA,” and pointed out BEA attendees wandering the floor with giant Troublemaker tote bags.
Pantheon Books hyped volume one of X'ed Out, Charles Burns’s new serialized post-apocalyptic graphic novel, giving out advanced copies to convention goers. The slim, 56 page, full color comic will launch the series in October of this year. Pantheon publicist Michiko Clark said that the series is planned as a trilogy although it may end up being longer. Clark told PWCW that there was no set publication schedule for subsequent volumes and added, "He's working on them." And at the Beacon Press booth, publicist Caitlin Meyer was showing an early preview of Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence, a comics adaptation of the memoir of the life of Harlem anti-violence activist and community organizer, Geoffrey Canada, with art by Jamar Nicholas, slated for release in October. It’s the first of three graphic novel titles Beacon Press plans to release over the next two years.
Fantagraphics Books’ Eric Reynolds gave out of hundreds of galleys of the indie house’s first manga release, Moto Hagio’s A Drunken Dream, and galleys of an impressive graphic novel by underground and feminist comics pioneer Joyce Farmer, Special Exits, a memoir of the lives of her aging parents that was 11 years in the making. Norton executive editor Robert Weil (who edited the NBA nominated Stitches a well as Crumb’s Book of Genesis) had a single preview of Sophie Crumb’s Evolution of a Crazy Artist, a memoir/art book collecting drawings from throughout her life, edited by her parents, Aline and R. Crumb, that will be published in November
NBM and Papercutz are relaunching the bestselling (both series have sold more than 250,000 copies) Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys manga-style graphic novel series (both are on or about volume 20). The new Nancy Drew series will take on vampires (what else?) and the new Hardy Boys volume will pit them against Zombies. NBM publisher Terry Nantier was also showing off previews of Networked: Carabella On the Run by artist Mark Badger and writer Gerard Jones, a social/technology satire set in a time when technology has betrayed the public trust and The Broadcast by Eric Hobbs and Noel Tuazon, a thriller set during Orson Welle’s mass hysteria-inducing1930s radio play, War of the Worlds.
Philadelphia indie comic house Zenescope was showing off its popular list of hybrid fairy tale/fantasy/horror with-demented-twist (the multi-volume paperback collections of Grimm Fairy Tales, Return to Wonderland, Beyond Wonderland and The Waking), sci-fi (Stingers, Merc and Agon) and a bit of girlie cheesecake for good measure. The house can also boast a growing list of licensed TV and film properties. Zenescope cofounder Joe Brusha and director of licensing and sales Jennifer Bermel manned the booth, showing off the 50thissue of Grimm Fairy Tales (along with its nine book collections) and previewed serials of their new comics adaptation of Charmed, the former WB TV series, which will release a trade paperback collection in the fall. Zenescope is also teaming up with the Discovery Channel and the Animal Planet network to launch Silver Dragon Books, a line of graphic novels based on their programming. Zenescope will produce a series of graphic novels for Animal Planet on the World’s Most Dangerous Animals that will debut in fall 2010; as well as a series of graphic novels for the Discovery Channel about dinosaurs and prehistoric predators that will start in Spring 2011.
Back at the aisle of publishers represented by Diamond Book Distributors, it was business as usual showing off comics and collections to booksellers and librarians. Marvel was set up in the DBD aisle despite their plans to leave Diamond this fall for a new distributor, Hachette. Due to the somewhat awkward situation, Marvel had what was described as a "low profile." However they raised it a bit with a signing by Eric Shanower writer of their popular Oz adaptations, which has been a surprise hit.
Across the aisle, Image comics spotlighted co-founder Todd McFarlane, who signed copies of the supernatural thriller Haunt, which he co-created. McFarlane noted that while he still juggles multiple activites such as the overseeing his toy company and artwork, comics are still his first love. It's a field in which he's exceeded his wildest expectations.
IDW was promoting their upcoming adaptation of HBO's hit vampire series True Blood and their Transformers line, and showed off their line of handsome comic strip collections, which range from such classics as Dick Tracy to more obscure cult favorites King Aroo and Rip Kirby. Despite a small audience, these reprints are profitable, publisher Ted Adams noted, with steady sales to libraries and collectors.
And there was much more comics business going on than can be squeezed into this report. Liang told PWCW that the benefits of attending BEA are indeed, “quantifiable. It’s building relationships with retailers; meeting new ones and an opportunity to impress the buyers with our publishers.”
[Additional Reporting by Kai-Ming Cha]
