PW Hosts Graphic Novel Panel
Held as part of the ongoing discussion series, Think Future: What’s Next in Book Publishing, Publishers Weekly is sponsoring Comics & Graphic Novels: Harnessing the Power of Visual Literature, a workshop featuring a distinguished panel of editors, publishers and distributors moderated by PWCW’s Calvin Reid and Heidi MacDonald. .The breakfast workshop will be held November 14, beginning at 8:30am at the Random House building, 1745 Broadway in New York City. Panelists include John Cunningham, v-p marketing DC Comics; Dan Frank, editorial director, Pantheon Books; Rich Johnson, co-publishing director, Yen Press; Bill Schanes, v-p purchasing, Diamond Comic Distributors and Joe Quesada, editor-in-chief, Marvel Comics. Admission is $45 per person.

NYCC Tabs Alex Ross, Mike Mignola
Superstar comics artists Alex Ross and Mike Mignola have been named guests of honor at the 2008 New York Comic-con. The NYCC also announced its initial list of featured artists including Neal Adams, Kyle Baker, Amanda Conner, Dean Haspiel, Robert Napton, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Paola Rivera, with more artists to be named in the coming months. Lance Fensterman, the newly appointed show manager of NYCC, said “Delivering titans of the comic world to our fans is a major part of what New York Comic Con is all about.” The NYCC will be held at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City April 18-20, 2008.

Shortcomings Second Printing
Adrian Tomine's Shortcomings is going back to press for a second printing of 10,000 copies, according D&Q publicity director Peggy Burns, after arriving in bookstores the first week of October. The book’s initital printing was 20,000 copies. Also, foreign rights to the book have been sold to Rizzoli (Italy), Random House Mondadori (Spain), and Reprodukt (Germany). There are also foreign rights deals for Shortcomings with Faber & Faber (U.K.), Editions du Seuil (France), and Oog en Bilk (Netherlands). More information about Shortcomings can be found at the Drawn and Quarterly website.

Zuda Comics Launch
Zuda Comics, the web comics imprint of DC Comics, will go live on Tuesday October 30th. To celebrate the Launch, there will be an event on the launch day. At the event, Ron Perazza, Director of Creative Services, and Kwanza Johnson, Zuda editor will be reviewing live pitches from 5:30-6:30 PM. The launch party will be held at Lansdowne Road located at 599 10th Avenue, between 43rd and 44th Street. To attend the event, you'll need an invitation, and journalists should RSVP. DC Comics has announced the first ten entries in the Zuda Comics competition; when the site launches, fans can vote on the website for one story to become a regular web comic on the site. DC Comics, also, announced the first Zuda Comics Instant Winner, Bayou, by Jeremy Love. More information about Zuda Comics can be found at their website.

Aurora Launches Luv Luv
Aurora Publishing, the recently launched U.S. publishing unit of Japanese manga house Ohzora, is debuting a new imprint devoted to romantic manga aimed at women. The new imprint is called Luv Luv and will feature manga with “realistic sexual content” and “more mature storylines and themes” according to Nobuo Kitawaki, president of Aurora Publishing and its parent company Ohzora Publishing. The first title from the imprint in January 2008 will be Kanae Hazuki’s Voices of Love, a collection of five romantic stories created specifically for women. The title story is about a relationship between a young female teacher and an 18-year-old student at her school.

Paul Pope Diesel Party
The trendy fashion retailer Diesel threw a party for comics artist Paul Pope at the Diesel store in L.A. on October 17th to celebrate the release of Pope's new combination artbook and comics manifesto Pulphope (AdHouse Books). The party featured a new mural Pope created for the store. Photos of the event can be found at the Comics Foundry's Blog.

NYAF Cosplays at Kinokuniya
The New York Anime Fest will help celebrate the opening of a Kinokuniya’s new flagstore at Bryant Park in Manhattan by sponsoring a cosplay contest at the newly opened Japanese bookstore on November 3. Any patron in costume visiting the Kinokuniya Bookstore at 1073 Avenue of the Americas (between 40th and 41st Streets) from 10 am to 8 pm on Nov. 3 will receive a 10% discount off all anime and manga purchases and be entered into a raffle to win one of 10 complimentary weekend passes to the New York Anime Festival. In addition, the first 500 cosplayers will all take home a gift bag courtesy of Viz Media.