By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 6/9/2016
I wrote about this in my link round up the other day, but I wanted to give it it’s own item just as a benchmark for how far comics promo can go. Hawke joined Jimmy Fallon to talk about INDEH, the new graphic novel about the Apache Wars, which is drawn by Greg Ruth and […]
By: James Preller,
on 6/8/2016
Avast, me hearties! This photo below was sent to me in anticipation of a school visit. These rascals must have been inspired by A Pirate’s Guide to First Grade and/or the sequel, A Pirate’s Guide to Recess.
The image below is by illustrator Greg Ruth, who is amazing, from A Pirate’s Guide to Recess.
By: James Preller,
on 5/13/2015
Thank you, interwebs! And hat tip to my pal, the brilliant Jen Sattler, who tirelessly hunts this stuff down to bring it to the attention-deficit masses.
As it happens, tooth-brushing has figured large in my ouvre.
There’s this, from Wake Me In Spring:
Illustration by Jeffrey Scherer.
And this, from A Pirate’s Guide to First Grade:
Illustration by Greg Ruth.
Yikes, I feel a trilogy coming on.
So, yes, obviously, I have some dental issues. Carry on!
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By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 1/29/2015
When Scholastic launched its Graphix imprint 10 years ago, graphic novels were a novelty, if you can pardon the expression, in the mainstream publishing world. And kids comics were an unknown quantity—comics shops didn’t want them and bookstores didn’t know what to do with them. In the first wave, there were many miscues and misunderstandings at many houses along the way. But Graphix wasn’t the one making them. Granted, starting out a line with Jeff Smith’s Bone is about as much a sure thing as possible—6.9 million copies in print and counting. But picking Raina Telgemeier to do a Babysitter’s Club relaunch and eventually Smile, and Kazu Kibuishi to publish his Amulet series weren’t as sure—but they sure paid off. Along the way Graphix has picked up multiple Eisner Award wins and nominations, a Stonewall Book Award, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor, an Edgar Allan Poe nomination, and 14 New York Times bestsellers. They’ve published many more top cartoonists such as Doug TenNapel, Greg Ruth, Mike Maihack and Jimmy Gownley. And there’s more to come.
To celebrate their tenth anniversary—Bone: Out From Boneville was published in 20o5—Scholastic has some cool stuff on tap. To kick things off they’re revealing two covers for the first time:
Craig Thompson’s Space Dumplins comes out in August. It’s the first kids book by the acclaimed author of Blankets and Habibi, and his first one in full-color, with Dave Stewart adding hues.
And the sister/brother duo of Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm, best selling authors of Babymouse and Squish have a new one as well: Sunny Side Up (August 25, 2015; ages 8-12), which is a semi-autobiographical story, their first.
In addition, 12 Graphix artists have created new art that will be offered as prints throughout the year at events and online. The line-up: James Burks, Nathan Fox, Jimmy Gownley, Matthew Holm, Kazu Kibuishi, Mike Maihack, Dave Roman, Greg Ruth, Jeff Smith, Raina Telgemeier, Doug TenNapel, and Craig Thompson. Events include ALA Midwinter (Chicago, IL), Emerald City Comic Con (Seattle, WA), Texas Library Association (Austin, TX), BookExpo (New York City, NY), ALA Annual (San Francisco, CA), Comic-Con International (San Diego, California), Long Beach Comic Expo (Long Beach, CA), Salt Lake Comic Con (Salt Lake City, UT), and New York Comic Con (New York City, NY).
Finally, on February 24, Graphic will publish BONE #1: Out from Boneville, Tribute Edition, with a new illustrated poem from Jeff Smith and new tribute art from sixteen top artists.
Along with the cover reveal, Graphic has announced some future projects:
It’s definitely worth giving Graphix and its founder, David Saylor, a tip of the cap. 10 years ago it was a gamble. Today it’s an institution.
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 1/29/2015
When Scholastic launched its Graphix imprint 10 years ago, graphic novels were a novelty, if you can pardon the expression, in the mainstream publishing world. And kids comics were an unknown quantity—comics shops didn’t want them and bookstores didn’t know what to do with them. In the first wave, there were many miscues and misunderstandings at many houses along the way. But Graphix wasn’t the one making them. Granted, starting out a line with Jeff Smith’s Bone is about as much a sure thing as possible—6.9 million copies in print and counting. But picking Raina Telgemeier to do a Babysitter’s Club relaunch and eventually Smile, and Kazu Kibuishi to publish his Amulet series weren’t as sure—but they sure paid off. Along the way Graphix has picked up multiple Eisner Award wins and nominations, a Stonewall Book Award, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor, an Edgar Allan Poe nomination, and 14 New York Times bestsellers. They’ve published many more top cartoonists such as Doug TenNapel, Greg Ruth, Mike Maihack and Jimmy Gownley. And there’s more to come.
To celebrate their tenth anniversary—Bone: Out From Boneville was published in 20o5—Scholastic has some cool stuff on tap. To kick things off they’re revealing two covers for the first time:
Craig Thompson’s Space Dumplins comes out in August. It’s the first kids book by the acclaimed author of Blankets and Habibi, and his first one in full-color, with Dave Stewart adding hues.
And the sister/brother duo of Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm, best selling authors of Babymouse and Squish have a new one as well: Sunny Side Up (August 25, 2015; ages 8-12), which is a semi-autobiographical story, their first.
In addition, 12 Graphix artists have created new art that will be offered as prints throughout the year at events and online. The line-up: James Burks, Nathan Fox, Jimmy Gownley, Matthew Holm, Kazu Kibuishi, Mike Maihack, Dave Roman, Greg Ruth, Jeff Smith, Raina Telgemeier, Doug TenNapel, and Craig Thompson. Events include ALA Midwinter (Chicago, IL), Emerald City Comic Con (Seattle, WA), Texas Library Association (Austin, TX), BookExpo (New York City, NY), ALA Annual (San Francisco, CA), Comic-Con International (San Diego, California), Long Beach Comic Expo (Long Beach, CA), Salt Lake Comic Con (Salt Lake City, UT), and New York Comic Con (New York City, NY).
Finally, on February 24, Graphic will publish BONE #1: Out from Boneville, Tribute Edition, with a new illustrated poem from Jeff Smith and new tribute art from sixteen top artists.
Along with the cover reveal, Graphic has announced some future projects:
It’s definitely worth giving Graphix and its founder, David Saylor, a tip of the cap. 10 years ago it was a gamble. Today it’s an institution.
By: James Preller,
on 9/19/2014
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Today’s phrase: “Sink me!”
An expression of surprise.
Today’s word: “Hornswaggle.”
To cheat.
Put ‘em together: “Sink me! I’ve been hornswaggled by scallywags!”
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Below you’ll find various images from two books that I cooked up with the brilliant artist (and occasional “bilge rat”) Greg Ruth – A Pirate’s Guide to First Grade and A Pirate’s Guide to Recess. Now double quick, set your goggles here for some review snippets about the First Grade title . . . plus Greg’s great work.
“Told entirely in pirate lingo, this story follows a boy and his entourage of ethereal salty dogs through the first day of school. ‘Me great scurvy dog slurped me kisser when I was tryin’ t’ get me winks!’ The protagonist’s fruitful imagination turns ordinary routine into a high-seas adventure complete with a small, skirted buccaneer walking the plank during recess. In the end, where does X mark the spot? Treasure abounds in the library, with the chance to experience the adventure of the written word. The illustrations have a vintage feel, complete with boisterous grog-drinking, scabbard-waving, and bubble-pipe-smoking pirates. The combination of the muted tones of the pirates with the bold colors of the real world adds to the visual appeal . . . it can serve as a tremendous read-aloud, especially on Talk Like a Pirate Day.”—School Library Journal, Starred Review.
“Preller’s buoyant pirate-inflected storytelling and Ruth’s illustrations, which have a decidedly vintage flair, form an exuberant tribute to imagination and a spirit of adventure.”—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review.
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“Pirate-addled readers will dance a jig; press-ganged kids will be happy for the glossary. Good fun, me hearties.” — Kirkus Reviews.
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“Young would-be buccaneers facing their own first-day jitters will enjoy this droll title, which ends with a cheer for libraries. A great choice for sharing on September 19, International Talk Like a Pirate Day.” – Booklist.
Arrrrr!
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By: James Preller,
on 11/8/2013
For starters, apologies to the artists, Iacopo Bruno (SCARY TALES #3: Good Night, Zombie) and Greg Ruth (A Pirate’s Guide to Recess).
The art represented below might make them sick to the heart; I can only guess. The shots below were taken from the books via my iPhone. The quality of the original artwork is in no way reflected here. But as far as I’m concerned, these crude snaps serve the conversation. Also: I’m going with what I’ve got.
The art immediately below comes from a spread late in the book, Good Night, Zombie. It’s an exciting moment of peril and temporary escape, of dead hands reaching, clawing. I love it. And I’m grateful for the design here, which breaks away from the usual layout of the book, with the art leaking across the gutter, where for a moment the chapter book takes on more of a picture book aesthetic.
“Up, up, up!” Carter cried.
The picture below is a detail of a larger piece of art from my most recent picture book, A Pirate’s Guide to Recess.
To me, as an ex-kid who became a published author, the moment depicted here feels like the story of my imaginal life. I was that boy. Dreaming things, imaginary games, battling monsters or tough pitchers, walking the plank or ducking for cover. Bombs exploding, tacklers approaching. Inside my private skull, it was one “Yikes!” moment after another.
And when I ran, the life of my imagination trailed after me. Stomping in heavy boots.
That’s what I tried to get at with this book — what I hoped to celebrate — and it is a personal thing. The stuff of dreams. It’s amazing that an artist I’ve never met helped bring it vividly to life.
Thank you, Greg Ruth.
And for the zombies, and all the great art in the Scary Tales books, thank you, Iacopo Bruno. I can’t wait to see what you do with Scary Tales #4: Nightmareland.
By: James Preller,
on 9/17/2012
Here’s a touch of art from Greg Ruth, the amazing artist behind A Pirate’s Guide to First Grade and the upcoming sequel, A Pirate’s Guide to Recess.
I had an interesting experience writing this one, because it was the first time that I wrote a picture book knowing who the illustrator would be.
Note that the industry standard, in the absence of an individual who both writes and draws, is to begin with a manuscript and match it with an illustrator. Words first; art an afterthought. Think about that. Consider the advantages when one individual is both author and illustrator. As the great Bernard Waber long ago told me in an interview:
“When I am writing, I think of myself as a writer. But when I am illustrating, I think of myself as an illustrator. I think, though, that I try to create situations with my writing that will be fun to illustrate. The writer in me tries to please the illustrator.”
I shared that same feelling with Waber, that I was also writing to please the illustrator. I wanted to give Greg something. An offering. And that I was also writing to please myself (always), the reader, the art-lover; I wanted to see Greg get a pirate ship out on the water, watch as the confines of the actual world — in this case, the school playground — washes away. I wanted this story to fully enter the true, pure, imaginal world shared by Red and Molly. I thought it would be fun, yes. While intellectually I wanted to see the next book extend the premise of the first book, not merely repeat the same joke.
Imagine this as a stunning double-page spread, printed with attention and care. The only words on the pages:
“Arrrrr,” Red muttered. “Rapscallions all.”
Anyway, writing with an artist in mind was completely new to me. Greg Ruth, specifically, was going to draw this thing that was in my head, transform it in his own way. Knowing that, I tried to create visual opportunities that would bring out the best in Greg.
It’s like, I don’t know, you’re having a party and there’s Fred Astaire sitting on the couch, chatting with Ginger Rogers. You put on a record because you want to see them dance. You don’t say, “Come on, everybody. Let’s play charades!”
Oh, about the book: It won’t be out until next summer, July 2013. Published by Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan. More details on that another day.
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By: James Preller,
on 5/24/2012
Avast, ye scallywags! Greg Ruth is currently illustrating the sequel to A Pirate’s Guide to First Grade, in which we take it out to the playground and introduce fierce Captain Molly.
Look for A Pirate’s Guide to Recess (Macmillan) in the summer of 2013.
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By: James Preller,
on 6/20/2011
I recently finished reading the Keith Richards biography, Life, which I largely enjoyed. It’s not a great book, huge gaps, not particularly well organized or written, and it suffers from a classic case of the unreliable narrator (this is Keith Richards, after all), but entertaining nonetheless. For me, born in 1961, the youngest of seven, those great Rolling Stones albums are woven into my earliest memories. My brothers had the original, gate-fold 3D cover of Satanic Majesty’s Last Request, the actual zipper cover for Sticky Fingers, and so on. I shared a bedroom wall with my brother, Neal, twelve years my senior, and I can vividly recall his two favorites seeping into my sleep: Dylan and the Stones, endlessly. I grew up listening to Keith and all these years later still find new things to appreciate.
The best outcome from reading Life was that it inspired me to pull out the old disks, and in particular, search out the rare songs when Keith sang lead. There aren’t that many, and I missed some of them, because I skipped much of their post-1983 output. But in doing so, bypassed some gems.
These past weeks I’m obsessed with Keith as a lead singer, on minor songs like “This Place Is Empty,” “The Worst,” “Slipping Away,” and “How Can I Stop,” not to mention classics like “Happy,” “Little T&A,” “Before They Make Me Run,” and my personal favorite, “You Got the Silver.” Despite its limitations, I respond to a quality in his voice, the looseness of his delivery, the bittersweet delicacy, the soul, the undeniable fact that it’s Keith in all his low-slung glory, guitar practically at his knees. It’s so uncommercial, such an American Idol fail. Say what you want about the man, the drugs and the stupidity, but he’s always been the genuine article, committed to the music. As much as it’s possible to say about any one man, you can say it about Keith Richards: He is rock and roll. Seriously, who else in the history of rock embodies the authentic spirit more than Keith? Nobody, that’s who.
So I made a mix of Rolling Stones tunes where Keith sang lead vocals, and added in a select few from his first solo disk, Talk Is Cheap. Keith’s second solo effort, Main Offender, also features some great songwriting, but to my ears it’s marred by a regrettable, monotonous, and headache-inducing drum sound. The mix:
1) “All About You,” Emotional Rescue (1980)
This is from around the time I began to lose interest in the Rolling Stones. Or more accurately, stopped expecting greatness from their new albums. Bands like the Clash and the Talking Heads, to name just two, sounded much more vital. The Stones’ time had passed, the incredible run from Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, to Exile on Main St, 1968-72, as good a run as any band ever had. However . . . there are gems on every disk. “All About You,” the album’s melancholy closing track, is certainly one of them. On the recording, that’s Bobby Keys on saxophone, Charlie Watts on drums. Reportedly Keith played everything else himself, bass, guitar, piano.
2) “The Worst,” Voodoo Lounge (1994)
Lyric: “Well I sai
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By: James Preller,
on 5/4/2011
Dan and Ernie from Spoken Arts Media stopped by the house last week to film moi in a brief video segment. Spoken Arts creates audio and video adaptations of children’s books, which they sell in DVD form to the educational market. Amid their list of high-quality books and authors (Jan Brett, Patricia Polocco, Eve Bunting, more), Dan and Ernie planned to feature A Pirate’s Guide to First Grade. To make their product, Dan hired a professional actor to read the book, collaborated with illustrator Greg Ruth, and endeavored to film a brief segment with me, in which I’d introduce the book to young readers.
For your reference, here’s the Spoken Arts catalog.
My first instinct, I must admit, was this: “Well, no.” I’m not comfortable with that sort of thing. But I knew I had to do it. So after dodging Dan for a couple of months, we finally set a date. Dan told me that I had to write an introduction to the book, something about myself, the creative process, my inspiration for the book, whatever, and then I’d say it to the camera. No more than two minutes long.
“Can’t I just wing it?” I asked, lazily.
“Um, not a great idea,” Dan told me.
On the day before filming, I sat in the waiting area while my son, Gavin, took his weekly guitar lesson. I grabbed a piece of paper from a stack on the table and jotted down some quick thoughts.
Can you read that? I guess not. It’s upside down. Here’s a closer look at a detail.
Remember, please: This is scribbling on a scrap of paper while my middle schooler plays guitar. Just trying to get some primitive thoughts on paper. Even the handwriting’s pretty rough:
I was alone in my back yard — and yet [not] alone. Because I was living in an imaginative world of my own devising. I was the pitcher with the bases loaded, talking to myself, telling myself stories
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By: James Preller,
on 4/7/2011
Ah, the writing life — or a book gone wrong, or right, I don’t know.
Hat tip to my newest blog find, a most worthy site for inspiration: The Improvised Life.
Check it out. Great photos, easy reading. A site that always gives you a quick take-away.
As a kid, I was a fan of Krazy Kat, the brick-tossing Ignatz Mouse, Offissa Bull Pupp, and company. I was too young for the original George Herriman newspaper strip, but enjoyed the cartoons and, later, learned to appreciate Herriman’s singular world view.
Too cool for words, though original, healthy, and legitimate are a good start.
Thankfully, there are pictures.
Those must have been righteous days, when you could open up a newspaper and find Krazy Kat and Nancy, originally drawn by the sublime Ernie Bushmiller.
Here’s a favorite, passed along by my pal, illustrator Greg Ruth.
Actually, calling the above illustration a favorite doesn’t quite do it. More like, a recent obsession. I printed it out, now it’s hanging on my wall by the computer. An arm’s length away. I want to write a book that answers that illustration. I want a version of that reflective moment on a book cover.
It reminds me of the ending to one of my favorite films, Bob Rafelson’s “Five Easy Pieces.” For my money, it’s one of the great endings, ever. For the clip below, I’m thinking specifically of the scene in the bathroom at 2:30 - 3:30, though of course the full five minutes are worth watching, as Karen Black (Rayette Dipesto!) in anything so often is. But the real killer is Jack Nicholson catching a glimpse of himself in that mirror, turning away, the head’s slight turn, thinking, wondering, and finally coming back it (the reflection of his self) in that mirror: Who am I? What am I doing with my life? Where am I going?
We all understand that scene. Even Nancy. And I can watch it over and over again.
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By: Melissa Walker,
on 3/6/2011
In a special treat of a Cover Story, there are three people weighing in today. Here are Tim Lebbon (TL) and Christopher Golden (CG), the authors, and Greg Ruth (GR), the illustrator who did the cover (actually, editor Jordan Brown weighs in too, so it's the first ever four-person Cover Story!).
Did you have an idea in mind for your cover as you were writing the book?
TL: I think I always imagined the cover featuring Jack himself, probably in an action scene, although I'm always concerned at what a character might look in cases like this. Greg's final product exceeded my wildest expectation - there's so much power in that image, so much Wild, that it just took my breath away.
CG: I had been thinking of something almost antique and old-fashioned looking to go along with the Jack London era adventure tone. Greg managed to come up with something that served that desire while being totally contemporary and beautiful. We're lucky to have him on this. Despite warnings to the contrary, people often do judge books by their covers, and this one is a home run.
GR: I think the notion going in was to thread the needle between making a cover that was distinctly Jack London, but without actually showing Jack's face... which was of course the hard trick to manage. I needed then to make everything about the image a contributor to his character, and to that I did a number of initial sketches of him atop some snow ridge, either with his back to us, or facing us, but his face obscured by snow and light. We quickly settled on the former and worked it towards fulfilling the initial goal along those lines.
[Below, see two of Greg's eight intial sketches for the cover, at left, all very different ideas, these are the two to which we most gravitated. They loved the scale and the weight of the one with Jack looking out from the precipice, and also the intricate detail of the more close-up image of Jack's back. They asked if Greg could combine them a bit in a more refined sketch, and that one is on the far right:]
Did your publisher ask for your input before the art dept started working?
TL: We talked generalities about book design, the feel we wanted for it. But we didn't impose any restrictions, because we all had faith that Greg would come up with something wonderful..."
I’ve always loved the old tradition of illustrated novels- from JC Cole to NC Wyeth. Even just having a powerful and meaningful cover can have me flipping to it as I read the book, checking in on it to see if anything’s moved since the last time. The tradition of chapter illustrations, as rich as it is, relies entirely on the book being one you want to read in the first place. It doesn’t work the other way around, and the drawings then become prisoners of the prose rather than celebrants of it. I think the best books, (and the best comics and graphic novels), are those that when read, make you forget you’re reading at all. The story blossoms in your imagination, vividly alive in a way impossible in nearly any other art form. Ultimately the burden of accomplishing this great feat falls on the writing first and foremost. When it does, for the reader its magic, for the illustrator it can be a challenge. The worst thing I could do would be to merely double down in pictures, what Lewis Buzbee is doing with his excellent prose. While such deft writing makes coming up with the images so much easier- making it more of a task of choosing the best among many- it also means my job is expand the world he’s creating in a way that doesn’t step in front of what pictures are forming in the reader’s head.
So working with our brilliant editor, Liz Szabla on The Haunting of Charles Dickens, my task was to take even the most obviously desired visual moments from the story, and make them explicit and clear while also making sure they weren’t so much so that they might trump how the reader would see the story. Making sure not to show the faces of our characters, meant having to make characters out of the world they inhabited- it meant focusing on the details of the story: Orion’s constellation in dust on the floor, the way Meg’s heel might rise up just a bit as she’s peering over an overly high ledge, or the clawing fingers coming around an old brick corner. In the end this is where the story is given its weight, and where the sense of the real keeps ahead of the practical assumptions of what’s right and wrong about a narrative like this. Mine is the easier job. I get to stand on the shoulders of my betters and make sure the raindrops feel cold and wet, and the fog smells of ozone so as you read Lewis’ wonderful words your spirit can soar with the characters. And let me tell you, from up here the air is mighty fine and the view, well… read for yourself and see.
--Greg Ruth, illustrator of The Haunting of Charles Dickens
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How quickly they forget. It’s only been 55 weeks since this very website reported on Matt Fraction appearing on The Late Show with Seth Meyers.
Ben, I was actually going to throw in here how Seth Meyers, a confirmed comics lover, has had a lot of comics guests on, as had Disney owned Jimmy Kimmel. Colbert had a bunch on when it was Comedy Central but not sure about the Late Show.
That said, The Tonight Show is still the most hallowed hall of late night.
Also, will people stop saying that all we need for comics to sell 100,000 copies an issue is celebrities flogging them on TV!
You’re likely right that there is a Late Night hierarchy beyond my ken here, and appearing on one host’s show is not quite the same spotlight or recognition. Sorry to be snarky. I was just surprised that you seemed to be indicating that no creators (and I would claim, and I think you’d agree, that there’s a difference between Quesada doing Marvel hype on The Colbert Report, and a writer or artist being a guest who can both provide artistic comment and persona) were trying to establish this kind of profile, when one, very much not a household name, had done so recently. But I do largely agree you’re right that we only usually see this sort of thing when an established entertainer goes out of his way in an interview to mention his cross-media efforts in comics. Q.v. Kevin Smith, Brian Posehn, etc.