Coraline is a modern-day fairy tale, with all the trappings of an updated Hans Christian Anderson or a yarn from the Brothers Grimm. It has a young, adventurous female heroine, an evil “other mother” who blurs the line between reality and fantasy, and more than a hint of magic. Coraline, the heroine of this tale, finds an entrance to another world eerily similar to her own in her family’s new house. Once she enters this world, she encounters all sorts of odd re-imaginings of things in her old life. She returns to her real home to discover that her parents have gone missing. Will Coraline defeat her magical “other mother” and rescue her parents? And more importantly….when she re-enters the other realm, can she ever go back home?

Both Snow and Sabrina were excited about reviewing this graphic novel adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s juvenile fiction title, but rather than fight about it, we decided to do a collaborative review. Using the Chatzy software, we discussed our views of the latest offering from a master storyteller. [Script edited for clarity and to correct grammatical errors.]

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If you’ve visited Zuda.com, you may have noticed the dearth of all-ages titles. One of the few featured Zuda artists to go the kid-friendly route is Josh Alves, creator of the adventure series “The Araknid Kid.” After a strong showing in two rounds of Zuda competition, “The Araknid Kid” was picked up by the Sugary Serials website, where you can catch the entire “first season” before it makes the transition to print. Josh was gracious enough to speak to Good Comics for Kids about his work: his background, his inspirations, and his thoughts on what makes for a great all-ages title. You can find out more about Josh and his work by visiting his website.

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Back in Toronto and after much sleep, couch time, pizza and catching up on So You Think You Can Dance, I have more photos for your enjoyment:

1) Johane Matte, Flight Explorer contributor, animator, creator of Horus
2) Colleen Coover & Paul Tobin, writer/artist team for Banana Sunday and regular contributors to Marvel’s kids line of comics
3) Jim Zubkavich, creator of The Makeshift Miracle (and his girlfriend Stacey King in the background)
4) A trio of kids comic creators — Debbie Huey (Bumperboy), Andy Runton (Owly) and Kean Soo (Jellaby)
5) Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet) and his wife Amy Kim Ganter (Flight contributor, Goosebumps Terror Trips)

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It’s seriously sparse this week for the kids, and it’s almost balanced between floppies and graphic novels/trades.  With comic book properties being mined for everything they’ve got, getting archives and trades of older series’ is a great way to introduce younger audiences to the origins of those characters.  It’s very economical too, considering even if you could find the floppies, you’re going be charged big for them.
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Yen+, August 2008

Published by Yen Press
Senior Editor JuYoun Lee

Rated OT, for Older Teen (Ages 16+)

ISSN 1942-440X

$8.99

In the tradition of Viz’s Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat, Yen Press, the manga division of Little Brown, has released its own manga anthology.  Not to be outdone by one of the giants in manga publishing, Yen added a twist on their anthology. Half of it will be traditional Japanese manga which reads right to left and the other half will be manwha (Korean comics) and OEL (original English Language) manga that reads left to right.

Thick, sleek, and very appealing, it’s easy to jump right into the anthology. As with all magazines, it’s necessary to flip through a number of ads, but for this reader, it wasn’t distracting.  The limited number of ad were in full color and mostly advertised books and manga, from Yen Press and Little Brown.

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Late again, I know.  But, I’ve just spent the 3 days preparing and attending the San Diego Comic Con.  This has become a con that you really have to prepare for.  You can’t just walk in and expect to see the things you want to see.  There are just too many people!  Even though I concentrated on manga, Viz is really putting their money where their mouth is, with several new titles for their VizKids line.  In the present though, there are plenty of new titles for kids to check out now!  Antarctic Press has two titles for tweens-teens, with a new telling of the Oz books, and a new graphic novel with a coming of age theme.  Blue Water Productions brings back a classic as well, with the return of H.G. Well’s Mysterious Isle.  Captain Nemo is back with his monsters to terrorize the world of today.  The Ray Harryhausen line of comics have been filled with great adventure for kids and adults who remember the movies.  Check them all out!

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More kids comic creators for your enjoyment:

1) Amelia Rules creator and Kids Love Comics founder Jimmy Gownley
2) Also from Kids Love Comics Ray Friesen and John Gallagher
3) Jill Thompson, creator of Magic Trixie
4) James Kochalka (Johnny Boo) and Corey Barba (YAM)
5) Me with fellow Good Comics for Kids blog member, librarian and Eisner Judge, Eva Volin

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“I’m interested in doing good comics for kids.”
- Nick Abadzis, author of Laika

Sorry for the delay gang - a hectic party schedule (including one where Shirley Manson from the band Garbage and Sarah Silverman attended) along with a messed up internet connection forced me to combine days two and three. But I promise way more content to come.

The con is still just as hectic with insane crowds coming to see the huge number of Hollywood stars signing at various booths. Saw Fred Savage in the crowd too!

A couple interesting tidbits:
- I spoke with David Saylor of Scholastic/Graphix who said that there are plans for more Bone after volume 9 comes out in Spring 2009. It will be peripheral material that has been published before but adapted for a children’s audience.
- Raina Telgemeier gave me some insight on her next book following the 4th Baby-Sitter’s Club title. Longtime fans of hers will GRIN at what’s upcoming and I’m sure so will a whole new audience of kids.
- The publisher Abrams who put Diary of a Wimpy Kid into the hands of fans across all ages is starting a full-fledged imprint called Abrams ComicArts to include comics and comic-related art books. No children’s titles are featured in the first offerings and it remains to be seen if the children’s end of the line will be expanded beyond Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

I also attended an interesting panel called The World of Graphic Novels where Eddie Campbell expressed his frustration that the focus on graphic novels these days has been in the children’s sector. He remarked that had been approached by several YA authors to illustrate graphic novels they had been working on but was far more interested in working on adult work. Nick Abadzis agreed with a YA librarian in the audience that graphic novels for kids are important to get kids interested in the format in order for them to move onto more adult works. I think that even more importantly kids comics are teaching an entire generation a new learned language of comics and will absolutely lead to reading more graphic novels as adults. I’m not saying that all adults now won’t read graphic novels but it is defintely a challenge for most. Another woman in the audience had said that she brought Persepolis to her book club to read and not one member managed to finish it. Despite all the talk these days of graphic novels, I’m certain we are only on our first baby steps here with more exciting times to come.

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Day one is over and I have three words: crowds, crowds, crowds. Compared to previous Comic-Con’s I’ve attended, this one is more packed than ever.

Onto the first photo parade - below you will find:

1) Me posing with that adorable Pokemon, Pikachu.
2) Web comics creator Marion Vitus and Raina Telgemeier, illustrator of the Babysitter’s Club series published by Scholastic/Graphix.
3) Jason T. Kruse, creator of The World of Quest, published by Yen Press
4) Alexis Fajardo, writer and illustrator of Kid Beowulf
5) Scott Morse, creator of Magic Pickle, published by Scholastic/Graphix

Onto day two with more photos and news!

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This week’s big news in kids’ comics is that Boom! Studios and Disney Publishing Worldwide have signed a deal to produce comics based on Pixar properties, starting with a four-issue series based on The Incredibles. Here’s the official press release at the Boom! blog. If you’re fortunate enough to be at SDCC, check out their sampler; the rest of us will just have to wait.

Also, while the comic seems to be an afterthought here, Disney has renewed its contract with Stan Lee’s POW Entertainment.

Some reviews: At Read About Comics, Greg McElhatton reviews Frank Cammuso’s Knights of the Dinner Table: The Dodgeball Chronicles. Matthew Brady takes a look at Magic Trixie at his blog, Warren Peace Sings the Blues. John reviews The Dayan Collection, a set of Japanese picture books from Dark Horse, at Shuffleboil. Steve Higgins checks out vol. 1 of Flight Explorer at PLAYBACK:stl. (Via Journalista.)

KC Carlson enjoys Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! #1 at Comics Worth Reading. At the same site, Johanna Draper Carlson takes a look at a teen-friendly manga, vol. 1 of Apothecarius Argentum, and blog colleague Ed Sizemore reviews vol. 1 of Classical Medley.

At PopCultureShock’s Manga Recon blog, Sam Kusek takes a first look at another manga that pre-teens may find appealing, vol. 1 of Suihelibe!

And at Sleep Is For the Weak, Lianne Sentar explains, to hilarious effect, why teenage girls find Vampire Knight so mesmerizing.

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