All Ages New Releases & Recommendation for April 2008
Finding comics for kids can be a real hassle. When we started looking in 2002 for my oldest daughter, there wasn’t much beyond DC Kids and Archie Comics. In the last few years, publishers seem to have rediscovered this market, with more comics for kids and all ages coming out all the time. Every month I will wade through the mire of Previews and bring highlights of the new titles as well as recommendations of titles for kids.
FLOPPIES
Wendigo #1 – A mini-series floppy from Arcana priced just right for kids at .99. Tanu is a sasquatch lost in the Canadian Wilderness who must face the Fearsome Creatures to find the clues that will lead him back to his mother. He must use all his skills of agility, speed and mean snowball-throwing arm to face fierce mythological creatures of the wilderness. The art for this series is cute with Tanu looking like a hairy Tazmanian Devil with rabbit ears.
The Blackbeard Legacy #4 – Pirates are still hot! So a comic about pirates should still be hot too! Follow the exploits of Hanna and her crew as they search for a secret treasure lead by the sole survivor a ship wreck, Robbie Buckle. Pursued by Captain Purloin, zombies and other sea entities, can Hanna find the treasure and live to tell about it? Bluewater Productions has some very interesting titles for all audiences, they just don’t do a very good job of telling anyone about them. Their website is barebones at best, making it hard to figure out if a title is really interesting.
GRAPHIC NOVELS & MANGA
Formera GN – Alterna is a small press company that has comics from all ages to mature. Formera is a new all ages title by Andrew Dobson. A young boy named Darian falls from the sky and wakes up in a new world with no clue about how he got there. Saved from drowning by a native girl namde Keisha, he must find a way home before Mezteck and his sinister Shadow Creatures find him first. A preview of the this first volume is available on their website.
Gunnerkrigg Court Volume 1: Orientation HC – This is a collection of the popular webcomic by Tom Siddell. It is the first in a series about Antimony Carver, who solves mysteries with her friend Kat at the school Gunnerkrigg Court, where robots, body-snatching demons, forest gods and the odd mythical creature are all among the student body. The comic won the 2006 Web Cartoonist’s Choice Awards for Best Newcomer, and was nominated for several awards in 2007. I think parents may be reluctant to plop down $27 for a 300 page hardcover. This will probably sell better in a less expensive softcover. But it’s still worth the look.
Bone Color Edition Vol 3 & 4 – These are color compilations of the original comics. Bone is a story of both humor and high fantasy drama. It follows the adventures of three cousins, Fone, Phoney and Smiley as they search for their destiny. Volume three reveals Thorn’s past. Volume four includes an encounter with the King of the rat creatures and Phoney convincing the townspeople that he is a dragonslayer. These editions are being printed in association with Scholastic books, who also has a website for the series.
Papyrus Volume 2: Imhotep’s Transformation – Cinebook is a British publisher with books for all ages. Papyrus is a young peasant of Ancient Egypt. Armed with a magical sword, he saves the princess Theti-Cheri, who becomes his protector as he becomes her confidant. In volume 2, Papyrus and his friend Imhotep are off for Sakkarah, where a stature must be erected for the Pharaoh, but the Pharaoh has been poisoned! If he dies, the future will be bleak. These adventures set in an authentic reconstruction of Ancient Egypt look both entertaining and educational.
The Nicest Naughty Fairy & Tiny-rannosaurus – IDW and Jonas Publishing in a partnership created Worthwhile Books to put out a new line of children’s picture books. Their first two offerings are by Nick Ward. The Nicest Naughty Fairy is about a Naughty Fairy who tries to be nice after going too with the local villagers. Tiny-rannosaurs is about the smallest dinosaur who tries to make up for his small size with a big attitude. The art on the covers of these look very cute. They are in hard cover to survive the tough treatment younger kids give their books.
Kingdom Hearts II volume 2 – Based on the popular video game, it continues the adventures in the world of Disney and Square Enix. Roxas is despaerately trying to uncover the true connection to his dream-self, Sora. Namine wants to help Roxas, but she’ll have to act quickly be DiZ succeeds in his plan to “dispose” her. Even though this is an all ages story, I don’t think it would be as interesting to someone that isn’t familiar with the video games. There are manga available for the first game and the GBA game, Chain of Memories that acts as a bridge between 1 & 2, but I don’t think the Disney factor is strong enough in this series to really draw non-gamers.
Fairies – This is a manga based on the new Disney property Fairies, that explores Tinkerbell’s world in Never Land. Lots of fairies are born everyday into Never Land, keeping Tinkerbell company. Who are these fairies, and do they have any special talents like Tink? This is just a one-shot, but has the potential to appeal to girls, and women who love Tinkerbell. The cover art is cute, and stays close to the Disney look (of Tink anyway).
The Econauts – In the vein of Captain Planet comes this new graphic novel from Virgin Comics. The Econauts are a group of gifted teenagers that use the powers for fight crimes against the Enviroment. Based in Sawhill Academy and led by the mysterious Aynara Ashworth, this group of classmates travel all over the world to right the ecologoical wrongs. In this first story, a pesticide spill in Latin America leads the group to Mason Morningstar and his ruthless corporation. This book is coming out just in time for Earth Day, and is printed on recycled paper. Not that we need more enviromental awareness, but this might be a more entertaining way to get the message across.
A note about Virgin Comics. They have a surprising number of all ages titles besides Econauts. They are based in Indian (asian) mythology and religion, with Deepak Chopra featured as creator. Buddah: A Story of Enlightenment is a adaptation of the novel about Buddah. India Authentic is an series of books about different Indian Gods. Ramayan Reloaded and Devi are telling stories of Indian gods in modern/future times. These books are a great way to expose kids to another culture that they wouldn’t necessarily get otherwise. There’s a lot of educational potential here.
Hikaru no Go Volume 12 – Hikaru touched a blood spot on an old Go board, and now he has the spirit of Go player from the Heian period in his head. This story is about Hikaru’s journey to just being Sai’s vessel to play Go, to actually becoming a professional Go player himself. Starting out in Shonen Jump, Hikaru no Go has been removed from the Teen magazine, which I think is a real shame. It was the only title that could react a lot of tension without throwing punches. Boys should be exposed to non-violent titles whether they like it not.
The Prince of Tennis Volume 25 & Whistle! Volume 19 – These are both sports titles. Prince of Tennis is about Tennis (obviously) and Whistle is about soccer. They still have that shonen touch (boy that has untapped potential discovers it and works to become the best), but the sports titles from Japan have a quality that US sports don’t. The important of teamwork over winning is more strongly emphasized. You will it in sports manga time and again. The protagonist team will go through so much pain and sweat to get to the top competition, only to lose. But they aren’t discouraged by the loss. They are strengthened and strive to become even better to win next time. US sports could use a lot more of this attitude over just winning.
Let’s Find Pokemon! Fire Red/Leaf Green – The Pokemon version of “Where’s Waldo”, this book is for the very young (5-7), with only a minimal of reading and lots of pokemon to find.
Is this for books actually coming out in April or for ones available for preorder in the April Previews? If it’s the former, I’d add Kaput & Zosky and Little Vampire from First Second to the list of recommendations.
By the way, great site! I’m sure I’ll be using it more and more as a resource as I try to find comics for my (almost) three-year-old daughter.
Hi! I’m the Publisher at Alterna Comics and I received a google alert about this site. Thanks for mentioning Formera in your all ages category! Sadly, Diamond canceled Formera due to low pre-orders BUT retailers, libraries, and schools can still order the title through Partners Book Distributors, Ingram, Baker & Taylor, and any other major book distributor.
For anyone that wants to pick up a copy – and it’s a grreat read for kids AND adults (I personally have read it 3 times) – can get a copy at amazon.com, instocktrades.com(soon), or on the Alterna Comics website.
Thanks again for the write-up and keep an eye out for our entire all ages children line coming soon! 50% of all proceeds go to children and animal charities that the creators choose, so it’s great books for kids for a great cause for kids!
John – It comics available for preorder. I basically just got through the preview catalog and look for new titles coming out. I’ve got a 9 and 11 year old, but I remember trying to find books for the younger ages, and how frustrating it was. Thanks for the recommendations. I’ll keep an eye out and try to get them the next time they show up.
Peter – Sorry to hear about your Previews cancellation. I brought up the book because it did look like a good title for everyone to read. I’ll keep an eye on your site as well as the pages of Previews. Maybe we can get the orders up next time so it won’t happen again.
Lori,
Thanks for mentioning INDIA AUTHENTIC and DEVI (I’m the writer on both of those
).
I have a two month old at home, so soon I shall also be on the lookout for good kid friendly titles.
and will definitely be keeping an eye on your blog.
regards
Saurav Mohapatra
(http://www.mohaps.com)