The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has teamed up with LEGO® DUPLO® to expand the Read! Build! Play initiative by creating the LEGO® DUPLO® Read! Build! Play! 2013 Summer Reading List.  This reading list features recommended titles that inspire play for children age 5 and under and is free to download.

To accompany the Read! Build! Play! 2013 Summer Reading List, LEGO® DUPLO® has created a free downloadable parent activity guide.  This guide includes inspirational building instructions matched with each book for children and their caregivers. Doors in the Air (Orca Book Publishers, 2012) by David Weale and illustrated by Pierre Pratt is one of five titles featured in the Summer Activity Guide for children ages 3-5.

Visit www.readbuildplay.com to download free Summer Activity Guides today. Or click here to direct download the Activity Guide featuring Doors in the Air.

More About Doors in the Air

Doors in the Air is the story of a boy who is fascinated by doors. He marvels at how stepping through a doorway can take him from one world to another. He is especially enthralled by the doors of his imagination, which he refers to as “doors in the air.” He delights in discovering that when he passes through these doors, he leaves behind all feelings of boredom, fear and unpleasantness. Doors in the Air is a lilting journey through house doors, dream doors and, best of all, doors in the air.

“Surreal in its effect, this celebration of the creative mind encourages young readers and listeners to open doors of their own.” —Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2012

“Written in Seussian rhyming couplets…[and] employing alliteration that makes reading it aloud a pleasure…Doors in the Air is a fantastical triumph, celebrating the spaces in which the ordinary and the extraordinary intersect.” —Quill & Quire, May 1, 2012

[View the story "Links, etc.: May 14-21." on Storify]

From the Irish Times:

The Ulster Unionist Party leader Mike Nesbitt complained at Stormont that the teaching guide for Bog Child was evidence of bias and the worst kind of “politicisation of the classroom” under Sinn Féin’s direction.

Mr Nesbitt called for the book by the late London-Irish author Siobhan Dowd and the teaching notes supplied by the North’s Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) to be removed.

In response, the CCEA did not directly criticise Mr Nesbitt but said the book was not on the curriculum. It said it was one of a list of suggested books that teachers could use in the classroom for 14-year-old students.

...

“Let me be clear, this is not an attack on the book,” said Mr Nesbitt. “I have not read Bog Child, so have no opinion on its value as a piece of literature. But I have read the teaching notes, as endorsed by the Department of Education and I am stunned by what I read,” he added.

...have been announced.

The Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Book went to: 

Fair Coin, by E.C. Myers!

See this post for the rest of the shortlist and this post for the rest of the winners.

Illustrator Gregory Myers from Syndey, Australia sent in this illustration. He is a freelance illustrator. Studied under Czech artist Petr Herel at Canberra School of Art, and Akira Kurosaki at Kyoto Seika University. Hand-coloured scraperboard artworks like this has proven to be popular with his clients. www.gregorymyers.me

Mt. Airy Kids’ Literary Festival

Friday, May 17, through Sunday, May 19, 2013

Big Blue Marble Bookstore is proud to present its seventh annual Mt. Airy Kids’ Literary Festival! All events are FREE and open to the public!

This year, our festival includes events at the Color Book Gallery, 6353 Germantown Avenue (215-844-4200).

All Weekend

The Craft Table! Big Blue Marble Bookstore will have our special craft table open all weekend, stocked with brightly colored paper, collage materials, and all kinds of other supplies to create your own books! (In our Community Room, All Ages. Adult Supervision Required.)

Special Door Prizes! Winners will be randomly selected throughout the entire weekend to win free books, promotional goodies, and more. Stop by with your family and get a chance to go home with all kinds of special treats. (All Ages)

Friday, May 17

10:30am – Big Blue Marble Story Time with Amanda Hendricks. Join us for our regular Friday morning story time! (Ages 18m-4y)

6:30pm – Philadelphia Youth Poetry Slam. Share your words in a welcoming literary environment in the Big Blue Marble Bookstore cafe! Light refreshments will be served, and local poets will be invited to help decide the winners. Prizes include bookstore gift certificates for an overall winner, a middle school winner, and one runner-up. (Ages 12-18) Special Guest Judge/Host: Ms. Alyesha Wise

Alyesha Wise was raised in the city of Camden, N.J. She began writing at the age of 11 and eventually developed a passion 4 Poetry. The founder of “Love, Us,” she is on a mission 2 spark a LOVE REVOLUTION, holding a strong belief that unity and compassion is the healing force to all that exists. She’s the co-host of the longest running weekly open mic in Philadelphia, “Jus’ Words.” In addition, she’s the co-founder & co-host of “The Pigeon Presents: The Philadelphia Poetry Slam,” voted “Best of Philly” for Literary Activity in 2012, by Philadelphia Magazine.

Saturday, May 18

10:30am – Nature Yoga for Kids with Deirdre Vezirov-Kilkenny. Join yoga teacher Deirdre Vezirov Kilkenny as she reads from The Yoga Game, and incorporates yoga postures. (Ages 3-7)

Deirdre Vezirov-Kilkenny trained with the Radiant Child Yoga Program at Karma Kids NYC. She is also certified in Storytime Yoga levels 1 & 2 and Yoga4Teens, and has been teaching kids yoga since 2004.

Deirdre’s classes at Springboard Studio are 45 minutes on Tuesdays: Nature Yoga for 4-7 year-olds takes place from 4:00pm–4:45pm, and for 8-12 year-olds from 5:00pm–5:45pm. Spring classes will be April 2nd–June 4th. Nature Yoga for Teens and Tweens (10+) on Fridays from 4pm-4:45 pm this Spring will be April 4th–June 7th. The 10 session cost is $100; drop-ins are $12 per session. For information, call 267-241-4810 or e-mail natureyoga@comcast.net. Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/NatureYogaforKids.

11:15am – Festival Storytime with Lauren Grace. Come join us for a special Mt. Airy Kids’ Literary Festival storytime! Together we will sing songs, play games, and read some books, of course!  (Ages toddler to 4)

Lauren Grace is a local mom who enjoys knitting, sitting outside, laughing with her two daughters, and reading!

12:00pm – Harry Potter fun with Grace Gordon.

1:00pm – Afternoon Drawing Workshop with Mark Mattson. (Ages 6 and up)

Mark Mattson is a Philadelphia-based artist, writer, illustrator, and designer. A graduate of Columbus College of Art and Design, he also makes video games and kids’ products; and is a member of The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. He’s made everything from books based on famous red monster puppets, to Easter baskets starring martial-arts mutant turtles, to educational games prominently featuring deep-voiced tooth fairies. It is all true.

2:00pm – Reading and crafts with Ame Dyckman, author of Boy + Bot and Tea Party Rules. Join author Ame Dyckman for a cool Boy + Bot reading, with robot crafts and giveaways, and a special sneak peek into her forthcoming book, Tea Party Rules.  (Ages 4 and up)

Ame Dyckman

3:00pm – Creating Graphic Novels/Comic Books with Marta Rose and Judy McCoubry. Text (Ages 7 and up)

Festival Events at Color Book Gallery

All day – Face painting and activity table!

12:00pm – C. Getti, author of Bear’s Prayer

1:00pm – Melissa Conroy, author of Poppy’s Pants

2:00pm – Baba Abiodun, Storyteller

3:00pm – Rhiannon Richardson, author of Model Friendship

4:00pm – A. R. Bey, author of Netherworld of Kemet

Sunday, May 19

1:00pm – Reading with , author of .

10:30am – Music with Gina Ferragame! Join local musician Gina Ferragame for a fun-filled round of kid music and interactive fun. (Ages toddler to 5)

Gina Ferragame is a trained Music Therapist who has extensive experience working with children, special needs children, hospice care, and in-patient hospital care with emotionally disturbed adolescents. Gina is also a preschool Music Teacher in Mt. Airy, Philadelphia. “Music With Gina” is a class designed for babies/toddlers (ages 6mo to 3yrs) and caregivers. The intention for each class is to allow your little one the freedom to express themselves in a positive and compassionate setting through the use of movement, playing, and singing. Music classes are meant to enrich, enliven, and entertain your little ones! it’s just fun! 10:30am Tuesdays, Mt. Airy Yoga: 610 Carpenter Lane Philadelphia, 19119. $12 drop in $100 for 11 classes. Contact musicwithgina@gmail.com.

11:00am-12:00pm – Free Creative Writing Games Workshop with Cordelia Jensen. This workshop is for any kid who wants to get creative. We will play four or five writing games that focus on different aspects of the storytelling process, such as dialogue and character development. So, come and get wild with words! (Ages 7 and up)

Cordelia Jensen is a YA Writer; her novel in verse SKYSCRAPING is forthcoming from Philomel/Penguin. Cordelia graduated in 2012 with a MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Cordelia graduated from Kenyon College where she majored in English, with a Concentration in Creative Writing. Cordelia was Poet Laureate of Perry County in 2006 & 2007. She has also had nonfiction work appear in Literary Mama. Cordelia has worked with young people for most of her career; with a Masters of Education in Counseling, she has worked as a counselor, teacher and spent ten summers as a camp counselor in Central PA. She works at The Big Blue Marble Bookstore and loves being surrounded by books and people who love stories and language. Cordelia lives in West Mt. Airy with her husband, Jon, and twin seven-year-olds, Tate and Lily.

12:15pm – Reading with Kit Grindstaff, author of The Flame in the Mist. Join Kit for themed refreshments and a special reading from her new book The Flame in the Mist, a fantasy-adventure for fans of Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass. (Ages 9 and up)

Kit Grindstaff was born near London and grew up in the rolling countryside of England. After a brush with pop stardom (under her maiden name, Hain) she moved to New York and embarked on her career as a pop song writer. Kit now lives with her husband in the rolling countryside of Pennsylvania. She is a member of the SCBWI. The Flame In The Mist is her first novel. You can also find her at http://www.kitgrindstaff.com , http://www.facebook.com/kitgrindstaff  and on Twitter: @kitgrindstaff.

Check the Big Blue Marble Bookstore for additions and changes: http://bigbluemarblebooks.com/kidslit13.html

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Looking for the best books for your kids and teens? Of course you are! Fortunately, the Canadian Children’s Book Centre  (a national not-for-profit organization founded in 1976) publishes just such a list. And we’re thrilled to share that sixteen Orca titles made the list for Spring 2013.

“All of the titles in Best Books for Kids & Teens have been handpicked by expert committees of educators, booksellers, and school and public librarians from across Canada. The reviewed materials include picture books, junior/intermediate fiction, graphic novels, and powerful teen fiction, in addition to a wide array of non-fiction, magazines and audio/video resources.” —Canadian Children’s Book Centre website

The following Orca titles were selected for the list this season. Congratulations to all the authors on their achievement!

Close to the Heel, Norah McClintock
Dead Run, Sean Rodman
Edge of Flight, Kate Jaimet
High Wire, Melanie Jackson
I, Witness, Norah McClintock and Mike Deas
Jump Cut, Ted Staunton
Kiss, Tickle, Cuddle, Hug, Susan Musgrave
Oracle, Alex Van Tol
Pieces of Me, Darlene Ryan
Prince for a Princess, Eric Walters
Pyro, Monique Polak
Redwing, Holly Bennett
Seeing Orange, Sara Cassidy
Shallow Grave, Alex Van Tol
Three Little Words, Sarah N. Harvey
Uncle Wally’s Old Brown Shoe, Wallace Edwards

CCBC members receive a copy of Best Books for Kids & Teens as part of their membership package, as do subscribers to Canadian Children’s Book News.

Best Books for Kids & Teens can be purchased at select bookstores or online at: www.bookcentre.ca.

I am starting to set up a small Writer’s Retreat for this September in Avalon NJ, similar to what we did last year, which was a four day workshop with an editor and an agent. It included a one hour full manuscript critique with one of the mentors and a one hour 50 page critique with the other mentor, a first page session, a brainstorming session, group critiques, and pitch practice. The cost last year was $850 which included the cost of the house, the critiques, and most food.

Since the house is rented for the week, you have the choice to come early before the mentors get there to relax and work on your writing. I have not confirmed the mentors, yet. It would be nice to customize to fit the final group. I am looking to let two additional writers attend, so if you are interested in joining our group of advanced writers, please email me (Kathy.temean(at)gmail.com) for more details. Last year’s retreat was the best thing I have ever put together.It is a great opportunity.

Gregory Myers from Australia sent in this illustration called “Haru” that was commissioned by Tokyo Journal as part of a series on the seasons in Japan. Gregory is a freelance illustrator. Studied under Czech artist Petr Herel at Canberra School of Art, and Akira Kurosaki at Kyoto Seika University. He is based in Sydney, Australia. Hand-coloured scraperboard artworks like this one prove to be popular with his clients.

Ammi-Joan Paquette has been promoted to senior agent at the Erin Murphy Literary Agency.

Julie Just, who became an agent at Janklow & Nesbit in late 2010 after working at the NYT Book Review as children’s book editor, is moving to Pippin Properties on May 1. Pippin founder Holly McGhee says: “We were looking to expand our agency and had just signed a new office lease when we began talking to Julie. Since we are interested in representing our authors’ and artists’ work across all genres, including more YA and adult trade books as well, Julie Just is exactly the right fit.”

Greenhouse Literary Agency has hired Polly Nolan head up the UK side of their business representing children’s and YA authors. Currently associate publishing director, fiction, at Macmillan UK Children’s, she will start her new job on June 3.

At Simon & Schuster, Molly Lindley has been promoted to associate editor.

Alison Weiss has been promoted to associate editor at Egmont USA.

Amber Morley has joined Chronicle Books as marketing coordinator for their children’s division.

At HarperCollins, Dana Trombley has been promoted to senior manager, digital marketing, adding oversight for the marketing of all the digital-first titles published through the Impulse lines.

Angela James has been promoted to editorial director, Carina Press.

At Harlequin, Adrienne Macintosh has been promoted to editor, series, while Karen Reid moves up to associate editor, Harlequin Superromance and Charles Griesman has been promoted to editor, Harlequin Desire. In addition, Reka Rubin has been promoted to senior manager, subsidiary rights, while Amy Wilkins moves up to the manager, online engagement.

At Simon & Schuster Children’s, Nicole Russo has been promoted to deputy publicity director and Lydia Finn has been promoted to publicist. Russo has been with the company since 2005.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Hunger Mountain’s Annual Manuscript Critique Auction is happening NOW on ebay. Don’t miss out. It ends on May 12th. I have listed below the agents involved in children’s books and YA novels. Here is the link to bid: http://stores.ebay.com/The-Hunger-Mountain-Store

Young Adult/ Middle Grade Manuscript Critique with Literary Agent and former Simon & Schuster Editor Alexandra Penfold

ALEXANDRA PENFOLD has been working in publishing for nearly a decade. Formerly an Editor at Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, she’s now an agent with Upstart Crow Literary and specializes in young picture books and middle grade and young adult fiction. She is the co-author of New York a la Cart: Recipes and Stories from the Big Apple’s Best Food Trucks. 

25-Page Middle Grade Fiction Critique with Agent Alyssa Henkin

ALYSSA EISNER HENKIN began her career in children’s publishing as an editorial assistant in 1999. Now, as a successful literary agent at Trident Media Group, Alyssa considers herself privileged to be able to work with such talented authors and illustrators who create the books readers cannot put down.

25-Page Middle Grade, Picture Book, or Young Adult Manuscript Critique with Author and Literary Agent Ammi-Joan Paquette

AMMI-JOAN PAQUETTE is associate agent with the Erin Murphy Literary Agency, where she represents all forms of children’s and young adult projects. She’s especially passionate about connecting with and launching the careers of debut authors and is most excited by a strong lyrical voice, tight plotting with surprising twists and turns, and stories told with heart and resonance. She is the author of a picture book, The Tiptoe Guide to Tracking Fairies, and a middle grade novel, Nowhere Girl.

Full-length Middle Grade Fiction Manuscript Up to 250 Pages with Literary Agent Elena Mechlin

ELENA MECHLIN  began as a literary agent at Pippin Properties, Inc. in June of 2009. She notes that she “is thrilled to be pursuing her love of children’s literature and the industry from her seat at Pippin and especially enjoys the treasure hunt that is sorting through the daily query emails.” Pippin Properties, Inc., an agency devoted primarily to picture books, middle-grade, and young adult novels, has represented such literary luminaries as Katherine Applegate, Kate DiCamillo, Kathi Appelt and illustrator Harry Bliss.

100-Page Young Adult or Middle Grade Critique with Literary Agent Emily Van Beek

EMILY VAN BEEK is a literary agent at Folio Literary Management. She spent six years as agent and rights director at Pippin Properties, Inc, where she represented such titles as Kathi Appelt’s Newbery Honor-winning The Underneath , Jandy Nelson’s The Sky is Everywhere, and Jenny Han’s New York Times bestselling Summer series. Since joining Folio in May of 2010, Emily has represented established writers of YA and Middle Grade fiction, debut voices in children’s lit, and a select group of illustrators, including the Caldecott Medal winning creators of A Sick Day for Amos McGee, Philip C. Stead and Erin E. Stead.

Full-length Picture Book Critique with Agent and Agency Founder Holly McGhee

HOLLY MCGHEE founded Pippin Properties, Inc., an agency devoted to the management and representation of the finest authors and artists at work today. Her fascination with making books began in 1991, and now her agency is devoted primarily to picture books, middle-grade, and young adult novels, and has represented such literary luminaries as Katherine Applegate, Kate DiCamillo, Kathi Appelt and illustrator Harry Bliss.

50-Page YA or Middle Grade Manuscript Critique with Literary Agent Tricia Lawrence

TRICIA LAWRENCE worked for 17 years as a developmental and production-based editor (from kids book to college textbooks, but mostly college textbooks) before she joined the Erin Murphy Literary Agency team in March 2011. As associate agent, Tricia represents picture books/chapter books, and middle grade and young adult fiction and nonfiction. She also writes a blog about social media for authors and the publishing industry at large.

Hunger Mountain is both a print and online journal of the arts. They publish fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, visual art, young adult and children’s writing, writing for stage and screen, interviews, reviews, and craft essays.

Good Luck! and Happy Bidding.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

I have to point out the book trailer that Gayle Krauss sent me a few days ago. I knew that Gayle had published a book titled, RAT GIRL.  I was planning to buy a copy, because I know Gayle and I always try to support people I know, but somehow (Don’t be mad at me Gayle) the title did not entice me. I am so glad Gayle sent me this trailer, because it does exactly what a book trailer should do – sell the book. Now I am really  looking forward to reading RAT GIRL: SONG OF THE VIPER. Great job!

Gayle Krauss’s RAT GIRL: SONG OF THE VIPER book trailer.

Kit Grindstaff did a great job with her book trailer, too, for her new book THE FLAME IN THE MIST

Kit at her first book signing.

Paula Newcomer signing her poetry book, TOSSING OFF THE GLOVES.

Tori Corn’s debut picture book, WHAT WILL IT BE PENELOPE? arrived in the warehouse this week and will be available on June 4th. Here is the Amazon link.

It looks like Penelope is a popular name.

Robin Hutchinson has combined the fun of cooking and reading in this self published book titled, PENELOPE’S SECRET COOKING CLUB: IS THERE A SECRET TO KEEP? Here is the Amazon link.

Congratulations to all!

Hope I will be able to share your success on a future post.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

It seems more and more picture books and middle grade books are being picked up and brought to stages around the country. We all dream of seeing our books on the big screen, but more and more production companies are looking at children’s books to bring to the stage. I thought you might like to know that if you live in the New York area you can see Eileen’s Spinelli’s picture book “Wanda’s Monster” played out on stage.  It sounds like a lot of fun and runs through May 12 at Theater 3, 311 West 43rd Street, NYC (646) 250-1178, www.makingbookssing.org .

Here is a an article that appeared in Theater Review on April 25th.

Feared Fiend to Gentle Friend

Wanda’s Monster,’ With Laurie Berkner’s Tunes, at Theater 3

By LAUREL GRAEBER

Anyone familiar with cable television knows that plenty of adults believe in monsters. But the parents of Wanda, the heroine of the new family musical “Wanda’s Monster,” must not be fans of series like “Finding Bigfoot.” Wanda can’t convince them or her brother that a creature lives in her closet.

Audiences at Theater 3, however, know he’s there. Looking more like a Honker from “Sesame Street” than like Nessie or Sasquatch, this fuzzy beast enters from the aisles. Like the children around him, he’s been enjoying the show’s opening, set at a rock club run by Wanda’s grandmother. Granny, you see, is Joan Jett.

Well, not really Joan Jett, though she does wear black leather and ride motorcycles. Mostly Granny evokes Laurie Berkner, a wholesome singer-songwriter who’s bigger than Justin Bieber, if you happen to be 4 or 5. Making Books Sing, which turns children’s books into musicals, commissioned Ms. Berkner to write the score and lyrics for “Wanda’s Monster,” based on Eileen Spinelli’s 2002 picture book. Ms. Berkner, who doesn’t perform in the show, has filled it with catchy, folk-flavored pop, arranged by the production’s music director, Kristen Lee Rosenfeld. The upbeat melodies include one of Ms. Berkner’s longstanding hits, “Monster Boogie,” which fans are invited to dance to.

Barbara Zinn Krieger, founder of Making Books Sing, wrote the script, one of whose most inspired touches is turning Granny, who wears sweat pants and sensible shoes in Nancy Hayashi’s book illustrations, into this kick-out-the-jams rocker. Vibrantly played by Jamie Kolnick, Granny alone takes Wanda’s side, acknowledging the Monster’s existence but persuading her granddaughter (Laura Hankin, a grown-up who makes a convincing 5-year-old) that monsters are really shy, gentle, misunderstood souls.

In this hourlong adaptation, briskly directed by Adrienne Kapstein, the Monster is not only sweet but also sublimely silly. Winningly portrayed by James Ortiz in a role greatly expanded from the book, he eats the flowers Wanda slips into the closet for him and attaches her artwork to the wall with his spit. While the hulking, horned Mr. Ortiz may frighten a few little theatergoers at first, most, like Wanda, will want to hug him at the conclusion. This charming musical brings home a point worth considering at any age: embrace what you fear, and you just may find a friend.

“Wanda’s Monster” runs through May 12 at Theater 3, 311 West 43rd Street, Clinton; (646) 250-1178, www.makingbookssing.org.

Congratulations, Eileen! It must be exciting to see your book come to life.

Everyone, please let me know if you get to see this show. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Time to get back to the old drawing board with your writing. Even if you don’t find this contest your cup of tea, at least start something new. It could be just the thing for the next contest. Maybe Barbara DiLorenza illustration below will inspire you. Barbara was featured on Illustrator Saturday on April 14th, 2012. Click Here to View.

The Elderberry Prize for Short Fiction.

Content

Short Fiction submissions may fall in any fiction genre allowed by the General Rules.  We are looking for fresh ideas, creative story lines, and interesting characters.  Authors are encouraged to express their own style and unique perspective, and to tell stories that are compelling rather than formulaic.  As always, stories should be free of spelling, grammatical and typographical errors.  Please proof-read your work before submitting.

Length

Submissions should be no longer than 5,000 words, and while there is no lower limit to the acceptable word-count we are generally expecting work in the 3,000 to 5,000 word range.  Submissions longer than 5,000 will be accepted, but no content after the 5,000th word will be considered (i.e. we will stop reading after 5,000 words).

Fee: $18

Submission Deadlines

In 2013, the Elderberry Prize for Short Fiction will be awarded in June, September and December, so submission deadlines for 2013 are May 31, August 31 and November 30.

Awards

A cash prize of $500 is awarded to the winning submission in each Elderberry Short Fiction contest.  In 2013, three such prizes will be awarded in accordance with the Prizes section of the General Contest Rules.  Additional, small cash prizes may be awarded for non-winning submissions at Scribulous’ sole discretion.  The winning entry for each contest will be published in the Winners’ Works section of the Scribulous web site for a period of one year, and will be archived in a format that can be searched and retrieved by readers in perpetuity.

Elderberry Short Fiction Rules Fiction Contest Rules

The Elderberry Prize for Biography.

Content

Each submission for the Biography contest must fit within a fairly traditional definition of biography.  It must be a non-fiction account of the life of a real person, written by someone other than the subject of the biography.  It is not necessary to cover the subject’s entire life in this format – biographies that explore a period in the subject’s life, or even a single event in the subject’s life are acceptable.  Note that autobiographies are not appropriate for this contest.

In judging biographies we will be looking for stories that communicate truths or lessons-learned that transcend the life of the subject or the author.  While the stories themselves may be very personal, they should communicate something of relevance to the reader.  A connection to a larger community, society or culture is what gives the story meaning.

Length

Submissions should be no longer than 5,000 words, and while there is no lower limit to the acceptable word-count we are generally expecting work in the 3,000 to 5,000 word range.  Submissions longer than 5,000 will be accepted, but no content after the 5,000th word will be considered (i.e. we will stop reading after 5,000 words).

Fee: $18

Submission Deadlines

The Elderberry Prize for Short Biography will be awarded in April, July and October of 2013 and January of 2014, so submission deadlines for 2013 are March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31.

Awards

A cash prize of $500 is awarded to the winning submission in each Elderberry Biography contest.  In 2013, three such prizes will be awarded in accordance with the Prizes section of the General Contest Rules.  Additional, small cash prizes may be awarded for non-winning submissions at Scribulous’ sole discretion.  The winning entry for each contest will be published in the Winners’ Works section of the Scribulous web site for a period of one year, and will be archived in a format that can be searched and retrieved by readers in perpetuity.

Elderberry Short Biography Rules Biography Contest Rules

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

Tracy Campbell sent in this April showers illustrations.  She is a writer and an artist, living my dream. When she is not busy with her interior decorating business, she taps away on her laptop and writes for children, tweens, and teens. She also sharpens pencils, flips open paint lids, and yank off marker caps to draw and paint whimsical works of artfrom her second-floor studio in my 1841 farmhouse nestled high on a hill…assuming she doesn’t get distracted by howling coyotes marching up the gangway or by ribbon-streaked sunsets that take her breath away.  She has a whimsical shop where she sell greeting cards, inspired by all things warm and fuzzy. To view my Premier Collection, pop on over to www.tracycampbell.net/shop.html.

At Bloomsbury, Rachel Mannheimer has been promoted to editor.

Tracy Sherrod will join Amistad as editorial director on April 22. Previously she was the founder and proprietor of Tracy Sherrod Literary Services, representing Karine Steffans, Katori Hall, Kalisha Buckannon, and others (and prior to that she was an editor at Simon & Schuster).

Amistad is a division of HarperCollins, who publishes works by and about people of African descent, on subjects and themes that have significant influence on the intellectual, cultural, and historical perspectives of a world audience.

At Simon & Schuster, Nick Greene has been promoted to associate editor and Jonathan Cox moves up to assistant editor.

At Workman Publishing, Raquel Jaramillo, who has been acting creative director for two years, will return full time to her position as director of children’s publishing.

Following on Avon Impulse and Harper Teen Impulse in the US, Harper UK will launch a digital first women’s fiction and romance imprint in May. Harper Impulse, an imprint of their Harper Fiction division, aims “to find, publish and break new talent from debut authors, and import the hottest trends from the US.” Harper Fiction publishing director Kimberley Young will run the line , joined by content developer Charlotte Ledger, who worked previously at Chawton House Library as well as Mills & Boon.

They invite unrepresented submissions and are looking for everything from “short reads to epic sagas.” The company says they have received hundreds of manuscripts over the past month and have three acquisitions in the works. and has already received nearly 500 manuscripts in less than a month and has three acquisition deals in the works. Their editorial team will offer writing workshops and events “to give authors a diverse publishing experience.”

Publishers Marketplace reports: After Skyhorse and Start Publishing’s intended joint acquisition of Night Shade Books’ assets ignited public controversy over the original terms of sale (and now, after a revision, the sale “is in a holding pattern right now waiting for all the authors’ feedback”, a Skyhorse spokesperson told us) the two publishers have bought a different science fiction & fantasy publisher, Underland Press, for an undisclosed sum. The deal for the six-year-old press, according to a joint release, is part of Skyhorse and Start Publishing’s plans “to deepen their relationship to the genre community.”

Skyhorse publisher Tony Lyons said in a statement: “We are thrilled at the acquisition of Underland. We look forward to publishing 10–20 new books a year.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

When I first heard the news about Boston yesterday, my kids were in the middle of playing.

We need some string.

What?

The red string. Where is it?

I made a half-hearted attempt to find the string and then told them I was busy, couldn’t find it, they would have to figure it out somehow.

My eight-year-old, very sweetly: It’s okay, Mommy. We’ll find a way. Don’t worry.

And they left.

Boston holds a special place in my heart. It’s my husband’s hometown and the place we lived when we first met. I fell back into iPad world, checking to make sure friends and family were okay, writing people I knew might’ve been near the blasts. I couldn’t do anything else for what seemed like a long time.

Awhile later I went downstairs to find this scene in the back yard, kids happily occupied. Sigh. What a welcome relief from sad news, and how nice to see they “made it work” with one of our favorite toys. More about the Schneckenband (literally snail-band—–the thing holding up the bucket) here.

We ate scrambled eggs for supper at the campsite. It was a happy distraction.

I hope you and your loved ones are well. My heart and my prayers go out to the city of Boston. I miss you always, but especially now.

Joan Aiken’s passion for history often led her to wonder ‘what if’ things had turned out differently.  What if, for instance,  Jane Austen’s early novel, originally entitled ‘Susan’ and sold to a publisher in 1803, and which then languished unpublished until she furiously bought it back for £10 thirteen years later, had in fact appeared, even maybe without the knowledge of its author, and had been in the pocket of a young nobleman who ran away to join the Peninsular wars in Spain at the beginning of the 19th century.

The young man falls in love, and marries an aristocratic Spanish girl who dies having his baby, and he watches over the boy, disguised as a groom until his own death, when he leaves a letter, and his treasured book to the boy, Felix Brooke,   with a message telling him to seek out his long lost family in the city of Bath, England where the action of Austen’s novel takes place.  For Joan Aiken imagines that this is in fact Jane Austen’s early novel, ‘Northanger Abbey’ which was written in the full enthusiasm and confidence of youth, and is a delightful parody of all the Gothic romances so popular at the time.  It is also a description of an innocent abroad, a heroine with a head full of fantasy from reading too many novels,  who finds herself alone in a dangerous world struggling to make sense of the behaviour of unscrupulous villains or apparently solicitous friends with nothing but the world of fiction to guide her.  This is much the same world that the Spanish orphan, young Felix Brooke encounters, but in a truly wild and Gothic landscape  with terrifying brigands and murderers, mountain tribesmen looking for a human sacrifice, pirates who specialise in the kidnap of children,  with only the assistance of Austen’s novel to sustain and comfort him.

In Joan Aiken’s Go Saddle the Sea Felix is recounting his story:

“The book, Susan, was an odd tale about a young lady and her quest for a husband; to tell truth, I wondered what my father had seen in it, that he had even carried it with him into battle; I found it rather dull, but since it had been my father’s I kept it carefully (his bloodstains were on the cover).”

Later in his adventures, having escaped various perils by the skin of his teeth and the use of his not inconsiderable wits, Felix has time to look into the book again, and reconsiders:

“I had opened it at the place where Miss Susan, going to stay with her great friends in their abbey-residence, is terrified at night by a fearful storm and the discovery of a paper,hid in a closet in her bedroom, which she takes to be the confession of some wicked deed of blood – only to find, next day, that the mysterious paper is naught but a washing bill!  For the first time, this struck me as very comical; yet, reading it through again, I could see that the writer had represented the poor young lady’s terrors very skilfully; just such a nightmarish terror had I felt myself among those unchancy people in that heathen village – and yet for all I knew, my fears were equally foolish and unfounded!  I began to see that this was not such a simple tale as I had hitherto supposed, but must be attended to carefully; and I gave my father credit for better judgement than I had at first…wondering what kind of man my father had been..and hoping that some person in England would be able to tell me more about him.”

In an article for the Jane Austen Society, Joan Aiken describes with relish the content of  Mrs. Radcliffe’s bestseller, The Mysteries of Udolpho, which Austen had gleefully satirised:

“If we take a look at the works of Mrs. Radcliffe, we can easily see what tempted the youthful Jane Austen to poke fun at them…[they were] enormous historical canvases splashed over with forests and beetling fortresses and dark crags in the Appennines.  Mrs. Radcliffe went in for immense casts of characters on a positively Shakespearian scale (she was in fact much influenced by Shakespeare for whom she had great admiration); she had stabbings and shootings, suicides and assassinations; interspersed, for comic relief, by long scenes with garrulous Shakespearian-type servants; she had immensely complicated family relationships, long-lost relatives in every possible connection, suggestions of incest, mysterious resemblances, and, besides all this, a large number of startling, apparently supernatural occurrences..”

From this we can see that these writers had an equally powerful influence on Joan Aiken’s own work, and by setting her novel,  Go Saddle the Sea in just such a rip roaring Gothic world of her own in 19th century Spain, and with a nod at Austen’s own parody, she could have the best of all worlds!

Go Saddle the Sea is the first of the three ‘Felix’ Novels just about to come out in gorgeous new editions in the UK

For more details about all three books visit the Joan Aiken page at Random House

or visit the Felix pages at The Wonderful World of Joan Aiken

*****

Here is illustrator Joanne Friar’s painting of a rainy day done in acrylic gouache on HP watercolor paper and based on a poem from Robert Louis Stevenson’s “A Child’s Garden of Verses”. Joanne was featured on March 10th on Illustrator Saturday. You can use this link to see the whole post: http://wp.me/pss2W-4j3

Thought you would be interested in an interesting article written by Jeremy Greenfield for Forbes the other day, titled, How the Authors Guild Is Kind of Like the NRA and Why Scott Turow Is Wrong About Authors which rebutted an op-ed for the New York Times, written by Authors Guild president Scott Turow (who is also a lawyer and the best-selling author of legal thrillers like The Burden of Proof and Presumed Innocent). In this weeks article Turow, lamented that authors are under siege in the ebook era.

Turow’s angst all came about when last month, the Supreme Court decided to allow the importation and resale of foreign editions of American works, which are often cheaper than domestic editions. Until now, courts have forbidden such activity as a violation of copyright. Not only does this ruling open the gates to a surge in cheap imports, but since they will be sold in a secondary market, authors won’t get royalties.

Jeremy Greenfeld pointed out in his Forbes article that the vast majority of authors in the U.S. are not best-selling authors. Many of them have greatly benefited from the massive changes that have swept across the literary landscape in the U.S. Before the rise of ebooks, only a small fraction of them would have been able to live out their lifelong dream of becoming a published author. Now tens of thousands of them do it every month.

Below are a few excerpts from Jeremy’s article. The full article is worth reading, since you will not get the comparison of the NRA and the Authors Guild if you don’t read Jeremy’s whole piece.

(According to a recent survey of nearly 5,000 authors by Digital Book World — that Jeremy Greenfield authored — the top three reasons authors want to publish books are:

To build their careers as writers;

To satisfy a lifelong ambition; and

To write something that people are willing to buy.

To make money is fourth. The full study is available here.)

Some small percentage of those dreamers (an incredibly small percentage) go on to become Hugh Howey and Amanda Hocking. So, to the many of you out there who enjoyed Wool or My Blood Approves, thank some of the changes in book publishing.

The system that vaulted a talented (and lucky) few to the top is still thriving. Publishers are making just as much if not more money than ever before and the mega best-seller is alive and well. Check out the ebook best-seller list every week and you’ll see that big publishers dominate. Time and again, they are able to market and sell titles that spend months on the list. Want to sell millions of copies of a book? The same path that has always existed is probably your best bet.

But what if you’re not that talented (or lucky)? What if you don’t know the right people or nobody sees in your work what you see in it? Well, self publishing is now a viable option and a legitimate path to big sales numbers.

For some authors, the new publishing paradigm now offers them a choice between established publishers and publishing their own work themselves.

There are authors, such as narrative non-fiction and picture book writers, who are having trouble finding footing in the new era — and some of them write the most vital literature we have. Take Robert Caro, the author of several valuable and critically acclaimed tomes on Lyndon B. Johnson. Each of his books takes years to complete and probably can’t be done any other way. That kind of work takes investment and an appetite for risk; in the future, we may see fewer investments on Caro-like work. That would be a tragedy for American letters.

At this year’s Writer’s Digest conference in New York, there were nearly 500 attendees, enthusiastic writers who are interested in working on their craft and learning the business of publishing (disclosure: Writer’s Digest is a sister company to Digital Book World, my employer.) From what I heard, writers at the conference echoed the sentiment that now is the best time ever to be a writer.

“The vibe at the conference was incredibly upbeat,” Writer’s Digest community leader Phil Sexton told me. “Regardless of what challenges exist, most writers that we spoke to seemed to agree that we have far more publishing options and opportunities than we did even a few years ago.”

While there are things that the Authors Guild should oppose in defense of its constituents’ interests, it should not be done on a platform of “authors under attack” because that’s clearly not the case for the vast majority of authors. For most, this is the best time in history to be an author.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

News from Bologna 2013 is that young adult novels are trending toward contemporary realism.

http://www.weheartya.com/2013/03/trending-toward-contemporary.html

KIT & VESPER & JOYCE, YAY!

Kit Grindstaff’s debut novel hits the bookshelves on April 9th and she is having a Book Launch Party on the evening of April 19th from 7 pm- 9pm at The Doylestown Bookshop 16 South Main St, Doylestown, Pennsylvania 18901. If you live in the area, it would be great if you could stop by and help Kit celebrate. Big Congratulations to you. I wish you the best of luck with the book. Kit said, “And the book’s publication is SO much due to your teaming me w/Michelle Poploff at the 2010 conference!” That is music to my ears.

Vesper Stampers new picture book In The Hall of The Mountain King. Vesper will be signing her book at the New Jersey SCBWI June Conference, but if you aren’t attending you can get one with this link: http://www.allisonflannery.com/buy-book/ Congratulations, Vesper! Love how successful you have become. Versper was featured on Illustrator Saturday in Aug 2011.  Here is the link: http://wp.me/pss2W-39y

Joyce Wan signed a contract with Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Macmillian for her picture book WHALE IN MY SWIMMING POOL that she wrote and illustrated. It was a two-book deal, sold to editor Janine O’Malley by her agent Teresa D Kietlinski at Prospect Agency. If you attended the 2010 Writer’s Retreat in Princeton, you may remember the story, since that is the one she brought with her.  Congratulations, Joyce. We are so proud of your success.

Joyce will be teaching a workshop on Branding this June at the NJSCBWI annual conference. Don’t forget to register. www.regonline.com/njscbwi2013conference

Christian Trimmer will join Simon & Schuster Children’s as senior editor on April 15. Previously he was senior editor at Disney-Hyperion. GOOD LUCK!

Emily Graff has been named associate editor at Simon & Schuster. CONGRATULATIONS!

Other Industry News:

San Francisco-based publisher of science fiction & fantasy Night Shade Books, which has been struggling financially for several years, indicated in a letter to authors and agents earlier this week that the company plans to sell its assets to Skyhorse (as well as another entity, Start Publishing LLC.) The catch is that the sale cannot happen unless “a sufficient number of Night Shade authors agree to certain changes to their contracts.” Alternately, Night Shade will file for bankruptcy or liquidation proceedings.

In the letter, Night Shade explains their financial difficulties were exacerbated by Borders’ liquidation, so much so that they “have reached a point where our current liabilities exceed our assets, and it is clear that, with our current contracts, sales, and financial position, we cannot continue to operate as an independent publisher.” They claim the potential sale to Skyhorse and Start Publishing “will result in authors getting paid everything they are due as well as finding a future home for their books,” while the “revenue received from the sale would go towards paying off the debts of the company.”

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America originally supported the possible deal in a letter to members, saying “it was in our members’ best interests to encourage the deal to go through” because otherwise, liquidation could tie up contracts and owed royalties for years, if they are ever paid out at all. Should the asset transfer happen, Skyhorse would publish Night Shade titles under a dedicated imprint, with co-owners Jeremy Lassen and Jason Williams staying on in consulting editorial roles.

But a number of Night Shade authors, including Jeff Vandermeer and Kameron Hurley, said they would not sign off on the new terms. So everything continues to hang in question.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

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As I suggested in my early con impressions, WonderCon had a reasonable amount of space and handled the numbers of attendees pretty well. It was no surprise that Saturday brought bigger numbers than Friday, and the crowding was more obvious, but still never reached that feeling of pushing and shoving that can easily erupt at crowded cons. The floor occasionally got backed up, particularly around the constantly slammed DC Comics booth, where big names like Scott Snyder appeared frequently for signings and the DC booth’s location, at the very front of the con entrance, contributed to some difficulty getting onto the floor. I noticed that the retail side of things was fairly busy, too, with some crowding and difficulty navigating, suggesting that plenty of fans were there to buy back issues and memorabilia, as well. The artists alley at WonderCon was a little on the scanty side in terms of size and numbers of tables, but those artists who were present were very engaging and passionate about their work. They seemed to have regular followers who were coming in to buy their artwork and there was a strong representation of the fine art side of fantasy prints and original work, as well as handmade arts and crafts.

Open areas like the food court and outside atrium were a welcome oasis, but it also continued to be easy to exit the con into the outdoor plaza areas for a rest and there was no difficulty with re-entry. Though the floor only allowed a couple of doors for access, the many exterior doors were open for comings and goings, with several food trucks outside, far enough from the entrance not to cause back ups. One other surprise was that Sunday seemed just as busy as Saturday, as I heard retailers commenting. They were turning over sales at just as high a rate that day. This feeling may be due to the fact that there were slightly fewer panels on Sunday, making the floor more of a feature, or simply that people waited to do their shopping on the floor on Sunday. When I stumbled into the Arena, a venue I hadn’t seen before, I was impressed with the numbers it could hold, and also that it was completely full for a Joss Whedon Shakespeare film adaptation event. This suggested to me that the con was handling numbers well, since I generally had no idea that so many people were even at the con on top of the numbers moving in the open spaces of the con. It was Easter Sunday the last day of the con, and it closed a little early, at 5PM, perhaps for this reason, but fans still had a sense that they would have been happy for the con to go on a little longer, a good sign regarding WonderCon’s appeal.

One final follow up: I suggested initially in my coverage that people might find WonderCon in Anaheim appealing due to Disneyland access, and that this would appeal to people will kids particularly. Though this turned out to be true, I also underestimated the appeal of Disneyland to singles and younger congoers. I went to Disneyland the following Monday and found that quite a number of WonderCon attendees were there too, from a younger demographic than I expected. You could tell from their conversations and generally less pastel clothing what guests were in town for the con, and I’d say about 1 in 10 were from the con in the massive crowds Disney drew on that post-Easter day.

Final thoughts: it was a well run and appealing con, offering plenty of choice in terms of panels, keeping up with what’s going on in comics and pop culture right now. Marvel were a little under represented, though Dan Slott was participating in panels, and several pros who were there for DC panels were formal Marvel people. Marvel didn’t have a booth on the floor, driving up the demand for DC variants and signings, which they happily accommodated. I was also impressed by the energetic presence of the mid-sized presses like Dark Horse, Archaia, Image, IDW, and ComiXology, for taking the opportunity to flourish and interact with fans when given a little more space to do so. The mid-sized presses really shone in their engagement with fans on the floor, their foresight in bringing new and upcoming books to purchase and get a sneak-peak at, and also through their involvement on panels. This gave the general impression that mid-sized presses are on the rise and taking on the role, collectively, as contenders for the Big Two. Good for them!

Whether WonderCon is in Anaheim again or back in San Francisco in the future, the planning and structure of the con should continue to hold up to make it a comfortable as well as enjoyable, exciting event for fans. This won’t be one of the cons where you have to sacrifice personal amenities just to see your favorite artists speak or get the variant your collection is calling for. They have a sense of putting the customer first at WonderCon and let’s hope that continues; it sets a good model for the growing con industry, and there are some bigger cons who could learn a thing or two from this.

Without further ado, some highlights of the con in photos from my trusty partner in crime Michele Brittany who proved her moxie as a pop culture photographer at WonderCon 2013 in spades. Thanks Michele!

Photo Credits: All photos in this article were taken by semi-professional photographer and pop culture scholar Michele Brittany. She’s an avid photographer of pop culture events. You can learn more about her photography and pop culture scholarship here.

Hannah Means-Shannon writes and blogs about comics for TRIP CITY and Sequart.org and is currently working on books about Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore for Sequart. She is @hannahmenzies on Twitter and hannahmenziesblog on WordPress.

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On March 30^th, WonderCon attendees got treated to a bonus feature in a Spotlight panel with Ann Nocenti, Jim Lee acting as her interviewer. The two had so much shared history that they reminisced about the “good old days” at Marvel as well as plunging into the current artwork that most impresses them on their work for DC. The panel opened with a tone-setting description from Nocenti of her time as a Marvel writer and editor, “back in the day when Marvel Comics was so much fun”, when you could “smoke and drink and have guns in the office”. Lee confirmed that the gun in the office was an observable phenomenon, and Nocenti added by way of explanation that guns were needed for “reference”.

Lee started off by introducing Nocenti as the “self proclaimed female token writer at DC” and asked her how her current state came to be, considering that in her Marvel days there were several women on staff. Nocenti commented that though there were women at Marvel, she recalled that there were never any women at comic cons back then, unlike the demographic at WonderCon. “It must have been rough on you guys”, she teased Lee. Some of her workmates at Marvel, she explained, were Mark Gruenwald, “the soul of Marvel Comics”, Larry Hama, who was known for “pounding, crazy music” in his office, and Peter Sanderson, a “living archive” of all things Marvel.

Nocenti obviously had fond memories of the bullpen days at Marvel, stating, “The physical bullpen made the place creative”. She had a steep learning curve upon arriving at Marvel with a fine arts background, and had a lot to learn under her first editor Jim Shooter, someone who she described as “having a beautiful sense of story” and who ingrained in her the need for a “can’t/must” moment of conflict for a hero. The maxim still holds true for Nocenti, she confirmed. “He’s right”, Lee said, “Conflict is one of the key things in drama”. “Louise Simonson also had a huge influence on me”, Nocenti added, a woman who had the “power to cloud men’s minds” according to legend, by infusing even her most severe criticisms with a “cheerful attitude”.

Nocenti shared some of the lessons she learned from editing at Marvel with the audience, including the need for the editor present a fan’s perspective to the writer or artist: “A good editor has to understand that a writer is working so hard, and is so over worked, that they need ideas thrown at them from a fan’s perspective”. But from the editor’s perspective, she observed, it often leads to bizarre conversations and often caused her to ask herself “Did I just say that?” when generating “wacky” ideas with writers. Nocenti particularly enjoyed crossover development in the bullpen, and feels that she wasn’t alone in that enthusiasm, sharing “really exciting creative meetings” where “everyone would want to play at the same party”. Her advice to editors is to “learn everything”, like a “captain knows how to run a ship”, and she feels that this approach was encouraged at Marvel, but is less common today. This enables an editor to “know what everyone’s going through”.

Lee presented Nocenti with a copy of a comic they had once collaborated on together, though she confessed she didn’t recall the book, X-Men #39. After flipping through it and chatting together, Nocenti declared, “This looks like a great story. I want to buy this and read this!”, to the audience’s amusement. Lee’s questions, however, led Nocenti into darker recollections, about the “mini implosion” period at Marvel that led to her departure. Ron Perlman, she narrated, came into her office one day, wanting to meet her, and was fairly charming, but the “next thing we knew, he had gutted Marvel” financially. It was a “very traumatic” experience for “old timers”, she commented, and brought to her attention a famous quote from Dorothy Parker: “Don’t put all your eggs in one bastard”. After leaving Marvel, Nocenti worked in journalism, teaching, and filmmaking, gaining a wealth of experience that she now finds useful for life back in comics.

Writing a story about Catwoman in Arkham Asylum, for instance, she said, is drawn from a combination of her experiences working “at a place like Arkam” in her youth, and also from later editing Prison Life Magazine, which contained the work of prisoners. She observed a psychological feature that she’s incorporated into comics, the fact that it’s often “one small thing” that drives people crazy, not necessarily the bigger issues in life. Her experiences as a journalist and activist also led Nocenti to visit China, and some of her observations there led directly to her recent writing on GREEN ARROW, particularly noticing the pervasive “firewalls” on internet access in China and the sense of surveillance. Though she enjoyed working on GREEN ARROW, Nocenti explained that she “just couldn’t find her connection” to the character and was happy to move on to writing CATWOMAN, a character who she felt immediately in sync with. Her work on KATANA, too, keeps her imagination on its toes, drawing on the “idea of ancient clans, where the rich hire Samurais and ninjas are like spies”.

Lee and Nocenti spent the remainder of the panel showing and discussing process artwork and completed panels from upcoming CATWOMAN and KATANA stories, and enthusing over their finer features. The images included the set up for what Nocenti described as a “big gang war” for Catwoman and scenes in Arkham with “old torture devices”. Nocenti’s work on KATANA is based on her own obsession with martial arts and Kurasawa and martial arts films. “All comic book writers are doing really is unloading their personal obsessions on the page”, she confessed. This leads the writer to worry that readers might not find it interesting, she said, but in the case of Katana, Nocenti’s obsessions have translated to plenty of interest from fans. Nocenti regularly practises karate and judo around the house to see how Katana would move and act, and makes things even more “realistic” through watching martial arts films. It’s clear that her adaptable nature, shown throughout her varied career paths, is still going strong, and that her personal enthusiasm for her projects is still one of Nocenti’s most defining features.

Photo Credits: All photos in this article were taken by semi-professional photographer and pop culture scholar Michele Brittany. She’s an avid photographer of pop culture events. You can learn more about her photography and pop culture scholarship here.

Hannah Means-Shannon writes and blogs about comics for TRIP CITY and Sequart.org and is currently working on books about Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore for Sequart. She is @hannahmenzies on Twitter and hannahmenziesblog on WordPress.

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You’d be forgiven if you think of Matt Kindt as a breakaway success, since the “slow and steady” approach that’s defined his career so far looks like a sprint to the finish line with the explosive success of MIND MGMT from Dark Horse. Educator and author Travis Langley (Batman and Psychology) sat down with Kindt in a marathon 90 minute interview panel with the enigmatic creator on March 30^th as part of the Comic Arts Conference at WonderCon. This “Focus” series event revealed just how long a road it has been for Kindt to reach his current level of exposure and fandom with MIND MGMT, a comic series about the dark legacy of a government spy agency staffed by agents with psychic abilities.

Kindt, who says he’s probably been best know for his graphic novel SUPERSPY prior to MIND MGMT, had an unusual experience with comics at the age of 7 or 8 years old that left a big impression on him and still continues to influence his work. Reading Frank Miller’s DAREDEVIL, he ploughed through an entire issue where Daredevil visits Bullseye in the hospital, now paralyzed (following his murder of Elektra) and repeatedly pulls the trigger on his gun at the murderer. The issue itself consists of Daredevil speaking to the comatose Bullseye with almost no action at all, and as a kid Kindt thought “What kind of crazy superhero stuff is this?”. The heavy, odd dialogue and the “threat” of the unloaded gun, Kindt said, “made me love comics”. After a period in the 90’s when superhero books weren’t “capturing” Kindt’s attention anymore, he had another epiphany after discovering Daniel Clowes’ series EIGHTBALL at a con. He immediately felt, upon reading the issues, “This is the kind of comics I want to do” and an indie sensibility was born. Enter the years of hard work and learning just how to produce comics with his own particular voice.

Kindt’s education in fine art and painting, still evident in his comics work, influenced him tremendously in making comics, he told Langley. To “know production” and “have control of every part of the process” of making comics now serves him well, but as an art student at Webster University, he “kept comic books a secret”, since they were not considered an “art form” by his instructors. The most rewarding skill he acquired, Kindt explained, turned out to be print-making. Even though it’s not a “discipline directly related”, its application to comics proved invaluable. “It helped me think about color and composition”, he said, and through print making he acquired one of his key concepts when it comes to making comics, “movement in production”, a phrase his print making instructor used that “still haunts” him. For Kindt, “movement in production” means not being “precious” about a particular stage of production and reminds him not to “hold onto things” but keep his comics output moving. It results in the fairly profound productivity readers see today from Kindt.

Another benefit of studying fine arts, Kindt said, was to “learn about everything” and learn to make art before learning to make comics. Learning to make comics from observing comics is fine, he assured the audience, but it is “limiting the scope of how you think about comics”. Kindt, who’s known for his use of watercolor and tirelessly inventive design of marginalia in his work, is a pretty good living example of his point. By bringing in tools and tricks learned in other art forms, he expands awareness for readers and creators about what the comics format can do.

Kindt told Langley that he started off self-producing mini comics after attending ‘zine shows and first learned there about the common saying that a comics artist has to produce a thousand pages before they really produce one good one. The idea stayed with him as he watched his page count climb over the years. Inspired by autobio comics, he started producing them, meanwhile working his “boring day job”. “Every job was boring to me if I was not doing comics”, he confessed, and added that for him, “Everything has to have a dual purpose”. He worked in cinemas and bookstores to get discounts and continue to explore new artistic influences as part of his “dual purpose” of producing comics.

After graduating from college, Kindt worked at a “small design firm” and “hated it” despite the fact that it was art related. The “cubicle” environment depressed him and so he would speed through his required work and then “blatantly write comics after the work was done”. He rather ingeniously drafted and planned the comics while at work, so once home, “pages were ready to draw”. Kindt’s answers during this part of the interview were particularly funny as he broke into detailed narratives, but the most memorable vignette concerned using company color photocopiers to produce his comic covers after hours. “I don’t recommend this”, he warned regarding this strategy. Using special, thick paper for the covers, Kindt patiently kept copying despite the fact that the printer would jam every few copies. Finally, one cover “melted to the copier”, imprinting the drum of the copier with the cover image, including his name in clear script. After panicking, then realize there was simply nothing he could do about it, he knew he was “screwed” and left it. He returned to work without saying anything about it, watched the copier being repaired, and waited for the shoe to drop. It never did. His employers, for whatever reason, decided to turn a blind eye.

The job provided “motivation” for Kindt due to his profound desire to get away from an office job. He knew at the time, he said, “I’ll never be happy”. He was aware that he needed to “either fail or succeed at the thing I wanted to do most”. “Mocking” copies up at Kinkos at twenty dollars a piece, he printed 20 books and physically took the books to Dark Horse, Top Shelf, and Fantagraphics booths at a show in Chicago. By this time, Kindt had moved beyond autobio comics because he was getting a sense of “horrible feedback” from spending all day at a job he hated and then writing about it again in his comics. From making a list of things he wanted to draw, he concocted stories to allow him to do it. The list, he said (to laughter from the audience) included pirates, elements of old radio shows, and circus freaks. After handing over the hard-won comics to publishers, Kindt was more than amazed to receive a phone call at home. For Kindt, he still remembers the call as his “greatest moment”. Top Shelf wanted the book, “just as it is”. Ironically, the only change they wanted to make was to the melted cover.

Kindt went on to learn a host of lessons in an uphill struggle to make a living in comics, from realizing that collaboration was just not his thing, to challenging himself (never again, he said) to create an entire graphic novel without a single narrative box, resulting in a 300 page tome, to the realization that with his book SUPERSPY, he had finally reached his 1000^th page. Just on time, SUPERSPY took off in ways his previous critically acclaimed works had never managed to achieve.

Langley then led Kindt into the spy-obsessing portion of the interview, one which provoked a great deal of enthusiasm from the audience. Kindt, surprisingly, said that his espionage-based current work MIND MGMT, is not “really about spies”. He confessed that spy literature and film formed an early influence on his life from a family-bonding trip to a drive-in theatre to see MOONRAKER onward. The travel-writing aspect of spy novels were what Kindt found particularly appealing, churning through all the works of Ian Fleming as a teen. When he reads spy books or watches films now, however, he has a particular strategy in mind. He’s deciding what he’s “not going to put in books” since they’ve already been done by a process of “elimination”.

Kindt’s books now, and increasingly, show his obsession with “gadgetry” to the point that even close personal friends in comics (he mentioned Cullen Bunn and Jeff Lemire as examples) tease him about it, but it’s all part of the “physicality” and “interactive” aspects of printed comic books that appeals to Kindt. MIND MGMT is Kindt’s first fully serialized work where he is functioning as both writer and artist, and he’s taken advantage of that fact to emphasize the capabilities unique to print books, loading the inner covers of the comic, for instance, with extras for fans of spy lore. MIND MGMT contains features like a “field guide” format to its borders, Kindt explained, as if the comic is being presented within a field guide for secret government agents. Kindt also revealed that he’s particularly passionate about the role of covers in printed comics as the “very first page of the story” that has to function and work as simply a cover but also “work in a narrative way”.

Though the question and answer period was generous and wide-ranging, covering his artistic processes, research for his books, and upcoming plans for MIND MGMT, Kindt’s passion for printed comics became a particularly hot topic.  Working on a monthly book that is available in digital formats but contains incentives for print collection helps “get people back into shops every week”, Kindt explained, and may lead to readers discovering new books they like along the way rather than simply waiting for trades. He’s not averse to digital formats, he assured the audience, and reads many comics in digital format, but as a designer he’s concerned that “digital should be designed to be digital” and is not a fan of simple relocation of formats without attention to detail.

I asked Kindt, as the final question of the panel, what psychic powers he would like to have if he could somehow acquire them. His list was as down-to-earth as the hour and a half chat he shared with WonderCon goers: remember peoples’ names and be less oblivious. “I’d make the worst spy”, he confessed, “I can’t remember anything”. All a ploy to throw fans off the scent? Hearing a portion of the full story behind Kindt’s seemingly meteoric rise makes something clear once again about working in comics: it entails work, work, work, and more work, but it also demands commitment and passion. It’s not an easy combination to emulate, but for Kindt it’s been the only way to be truly happy.

Photo Credits: All photos in this article were taken by semi-professional photographer and pop culture scholar Michele Brittany. She’s an avid photographer of pop culture events. You can learn more about her photography and pop culture scholarship here.

Hannah Means-Shannon writes and blogs about comics for TRIP CITY and Sequart.org and is currently working on books about Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore for Sequart. She is @hannahmenzies on Twitter and hannahmenziesblog on WordPress.

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DC has released its graphic novel schedule into February 2014, and it’s a huge list of 147 books. The whole list is below, with Vertigo first and then the DCU.

A couple of notes: The Invisibles and DMZ are getting the deluxe hardcover treatment; Brian K Vaughan’s Swamp Thing run is finally being collected; and in the entire list there is exactly one new original graphic novel: The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor and the Ship that Sunk Twice. That doesn’t mean there might not be some more announced, but the program seems to be on hold for now.

On the DC Comics side, it’s mostly all new 52 collections proceeding in an orderly fashion — new hardcover and previous paper back paired. Planetary is getting an Omnibus, as is the DC ONe Million stunt from years back—yet another Grant Morrison led project—The Authority is getting the hardcover collection treatment. Various recent notable Batman story lines are being collected — Court of Owls and Grant Morrison again. Various cool older things are being collected like Deadshot and old Joker and so on.

Also, given how the digital versions are selling, we’ll be curious to see how the Injustice: Gods Among Us video-game tie-in sells. Our guess: very well.

DC Comics title scheduled for September 2013:

World of Warcraft: Pearl of Pandaria TP
Writer: Micky Neilson
Artist: Sean “Cheeks” Galloway
Original graphic novel
$16.99 US, 128 pg

DC Comics title scheduled for December 2013:

Gears of War Book Three: Dirty Little Secrets TP
Writers: Joshua Ortega and Karen Traviss
Artists: Julius Gopez, Colin Wilson, Pop Mhan and Leonardo Manco
Collects: Gears of War #14-24
$19.99 US, 256 pg

DC Comics title scheduled for February 2014:

Masters of the Universe Vol. 2: Origins of Eternia TP
Writers: Keith Giffen, Joshua Hale Fialkov and Brian Keene
Artists: Frazer Irving, Ben Oliver, Keith Giffen, Scott Koblish and Pop Mhan
Collects: Masters of the Universe: The Origin of Skeletor #1, Masters of the Universe: The Origin of He-Man #1, Masters of the Universe: The Origin of Hordak #1 and Masters of the Universe #1-4
$14.99 US, 160 pg

Vertigo titles scheduled for September 2013:

American Vampire Vol. 4 TP
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artists: Jordi Bernet, Roger Cruz, Riccardo Burchielli and Rafael Albuquerque
Collects: American Vampire #19-27
$16.99 US, 208 pg

Neil Young’s Greendale TP
Writer: Joshua Dysart
Artist: Cliff Chiang
Original graphic novel
$14.99 US, 160 pg

Preacher Book Two TP
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: Steve Dillon
Collects: Preacher #13-26
$19.99 US, 368 pg

The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor and the Ship that Sunk Twice HC
Writer: Mike Carey
Artists: Peter Gross, Kurt Higgins and Zelda Devon
Original graphic novel
$22.99 US, 160 pg

Vertigo titles scheduled for October 2013:

The Fables Companion HC
Writers: Jess Nevins and Bill Willingham
Artists: Various
Original reference volume
$39.99 US, 256 pg

Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland TP
Writer: Bill Willingham
Artists: Craig Hamilton, Jim Fern, Ray Snyder and Mark Farmer
Original graphic novel
$14.99 US, 152 pg

Lucifer Book 2 TP
Writer: Mike Carey
Artists: Peter Gross, Jon J Muth, Dean Ormston and Ryan Kelly
Collects: Lucifer #14-28 and Lucifer: Nirvana #1
$29.99 US, 416 pg

Sandman: Endless Nights TP New Edition
Writer: Neil Gaiman
Artists: Glenn Fabry, Milo Manara, Miguelanxo Prado, Frank Quitely, P. Craig Russell, Bill Sienkiewicz and Barron Storey
Original graphic novel
$19.99 US, 160 pg

The Unexpected TP
Writers: Dave Gibbons, G. Willow Wilson, Alex Grecian, Joshua Dysart, Jeffrey Rotter, Mat Johnson, Joshua Hale Fialkov, Brian Wood, Selwyn Seyfu Hinds, Al Ewing, Toby Litt, Cecil Castellucci, Joe Kubert, Neil Kleid, Mary H.K. Choi, Paul Pope, David Lapham, Gilbert Hernandez and Geoff Johns
Artists: Dave Gibbons, Robbie Rodriguez, Jill Thompson, Farel Dalrymple, Lelio Bonaccorso, David Lapham, Rahsan Ekedal, Emily Carroll, Denys Cowan, Don Hudson, Rufus DayGlo, Mark Buckingham, Victor Santos, Amy Reeder, Joe Kubert, John McCrea, Phil Jimenez, Andy Lanning, Paul Pope, Gilbert Hernandez and Jeff Lemire
Collects: The Unexpected #1 and Ghosts #1
$14.99 US, 160 pg

Vertigo titles scheduled for November 2013:

Ex Machina Book One TP
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Artists: Tony Harris and Tom Feister
Collects: Ex Machina #1-11
$19.99 US, 272 pg

The Sandman Omnibus Vol. 2 HC
Writer: Neil Gaiman
Artists: Duncan Eagleson, Vince Locke, John Watkiss, Jill Thompson, Dave McKean, Dick Giordano, P. Craig Russell, Bryan Talbot, Alec Stevens, Mark Buckingham, Michael Allred, Shea Anton Pensa, Gary Amaro, Steve Leialoha, Tony Harris, Marc Hempel, D’Israeli, Glyn Dillon, Charles Vess, Teddy Kristiansen, Richard Case, Jon J Muth, Kevin Nowlan and Michael Zulli
Collects: The Sandman #38-75 and stories from Vertigo Jam #1 and Vertigo: Winter’s Edge #3
$150.00 US, 1,040 pg

Vertigo Visions: Frank Quitely HC
Writers: Bruce Jones, Neil Gaiman, Ilya, Doselle Young, Warren Ellis, Grant Morrison, Robert Rodi, Doug Moench, Bronwyn Carlton, Gahan Wilson, Paul Yellovich, George Hagenauer, Paul Kirchner, John Wagner and Carl Posey
Artist: Frank Quitely
Collects: Stories from The Big Book of Conspiracies, The Big Book of Death, The Big Book of Freaks, The Big Book of Hoaxes, The Big Book of Little Criminals, The Big Book of Losers, The Big Book of Martyrs, The Big Book of Weirdos, Flinch #12, Heartthrobs #2, Gangland #1, The Invisibles #1, The Sandman: Endless Nights, Strange Adventures #1, Transmetropolitan #31 and Weird War Tales #3
$24.99 US, 144 pg

Vertigo titles scheduled for December 2013:

100 Bullets: The Deluxe Edition Book Five HC
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Eduardo Risso
Collects: 100 Bullets #81-100
$59.99 US, 512 pg

Fables Vol. 19: Snow White TP
Writer: Bill Willingham
Artists: Shawn McManus, Mark Buckingham and Steve Leialoha
Collects: Fables #124-129 and backup stories from Fables #114-123
$16.99 US, 176 pg

Saga of the Swamp Thing Book Five TP
Writer: Alan Moore
Artists: John Totleben, Rick Veitch and Alfredo Alcala
Collects: Swamp Thing #51-56
$14.99 US, 168 pg

Spaceman TP
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Eduardo Risso
Collects: Spaceman #1-9 and a story from Strange Adventures #1
$19.99 US, 224 pg

Vertigo titles scheduled for January 2014:

Animal Man Vol. 5: The Meaning of Flesh TP
Writer: Tom Veitch
Artists: Steve Dillon, Tom Mandrake, Dick Giordano, David G. Klein, Mark Badger, Bret Ewins, Jim McCarthy and Steve Pugh
Collects: Animal Man #38-50
$24.99 US, 352 pg

DMZ Deluxe Edition Book One HC
Writer: Brian Wood
Artists: Riccardo Burchielli, Kristian Donaldson and Brian Wood
Collects: DMZ #1-12
$29.99 US, 304 pg

Fables Deluxe Edition Book Eight HC
Writer: Bill Willingham
Artists: Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha and Andrew Pepoy
Collects: Fables #60-63 and 65-69
$29.99 US, 232 pg

Hellblazer Vol. 7: Tainted Love TP
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: Steve Dillon
Collects: Hellblazer #62-71, Hellblazer Special #1 and a story from Vertigo Jam #1
$19.99 US, 320 pg

Preacher Book Three TP
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artists: Steve Dillon and Steve Pugh and
Collects: Preacher #27-33, Preacher: Saint of Killers #1-4 and Preacher: Cassidy — Blood and Whiskey #1
$19.99 US, 352 pg

Swamp Thing by Brian K. Vaughan Vol. 1 TP
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Artists: Roger Petersen, Joe Rubinstein, Mark Lipka, Rick Magyar, Steve Lieber, Guy Davis and Paul Pope
Collects: Swamp Thing #1-9, Vertigo Secrets and Origins: Swamp Thing #1 and a story from Vertigo: Winter’s Edge #3
$19.99 US, 240 pg

The Unwritten Vol. 8 TP
Writer: Mike Carey
Artists: Peter Gross and Dean Ormston
Collects: The Unwritten #42-49
$16.99 US, 176 pg

Vertigo titles scheduled for February 2014:

The Invisibles Vol. 1 Deluxe Edition HC
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artists: Steve Yeowell, Duncan Fegredo, Jill Thompson, Dennis Cramer, Chris Weston, John Ridgway, Steve Parkhouse, Kim DeMulder, Paul Johnson, Phil Jimenez, John Stokes, Tommy Lee Edwards, Dick Giordano, Mark Buckingham and Mark Pennington
Collects: The Invisibles #1-25 and a story from Absolute Vertigo #1
$29.99, 328 pg

Strange Adventures TP
Writers: Selwyn Seyfu Hinds, Talia Hershewe, Peter Milligan, Lauren Beukes, Jeff Lemire, Ross Campbell, Kevin Colden, Paul Cornell, Brian Azzarello, Duane Swierczynski, Andy Diggle, Ming Doyle, Ann Nocenti, Nnedi Okorafor, Steve Orlando, Robert Rodi, Kevin McCarthy and Michael Allred
Artists: Denys Cowan, John Floyd, Juan Bobillo, Sylvain Savoia, Inaki Miranda, Jeff Lemire, Ross Campbell, Kevin Colden, Goran Sudzuka, Eduardo Risso, Ramon Bachs, Davide Gianfelice, Ming Doyle, Fred Harper, Michael Wm. Kaluta, Francesco Trifolgi, Sebastian Fiumara, Kevin McCarthy, Kyle Baker and Michael Allred
Collects: Strange Adventures #1 and Mystery in Space #1
$14.99 US, 160 pg

Unknown Soldier TP New Edition
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: Kilian Plunkett
Collects: Unknown Soldier #1-4
$14.99 US, 112 pg

WE3 TP
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Frank Quitely
Collects: WE3 #1-3 plus new pages from the Deluxe Edition
$14.99 US, 144 pg

DC Comics Collected EDitions

DC Comics titles scheduled for September 2013:

Ame-Comi Girls Vol. 1 TP
Writers: Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti
Artists: Amanda Conner, Tony Akins, Walden Wong, Sanford Greene, Ted Naifeh, Mike Bowden and Santi Casas
Collects: Ame-Comi Girls #1-5
$14.99 US, 168 pg

Animal Man Vol. 3: Rotworld: The Red Kingdom TP
Writers: Jeff Lemire and Scott Snyder
Artists: Steve Pugh, Timothy Green II, Joseph Silver, Yanick Paquette, Marco Rucy, Dan Green, Andy Owens and Andre Balinger
Collects: Animal Man #12-17 and Swamp Thing #12 and 17-18
$16.99 US, 208 pg

Arrow Vol. 1 TP
Writers: Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg
Artists: Mike Grell, Jorge Jimenez, Sergio Sandoval, Julian Totino Tedesco, Eric Nguyen, Omar Francia and Xermanico
Collects: Arrow #1-5
$14.99 US, 160 pg

Batman/Judge Dredd Collection TP
Writers: Alan Grand, John Wagner
Artists: Simon Bisley, Cam Kennedy, Carl Critchlow, Dermot Power, Glenn Fabry, Jim Murray, Jason Brashill, Val Semeiks and John Dell
Collects: Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgment on Gotham #1, Batman/Judge Dredd: Vendetta in Gotham #1, Batman/Judge Dredd: The Ultimate Riddle #1, Lobo/Judge Dredd #1 and Batman/Judge Dredd: Die Laughing #1-2
$19.99 US, 304 pg

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Vol. 1 TP
Writers: Damon Lindelof, Jonathan Larsen, Tom Taylor, B. Clay Moore, Steve Niles, T.J. Fixman, Andrew Dabb and Joshua Hale Fialkov
Artists: Jeff Lemire, J.G. Jones, Nicola Scott, Wayne Faucher, Ben Templesmith, Trevor Hairsine, Christopher Mitten, Giorgoi Pontrelli, Tan Eng Huat, Phil Hester and Eric Gapstur
Collects: Legends of the Dark Knight #1-5
$14.99 US, 168 pg

Batwoman Vol. 2: To Drown the World TP
Writer: J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman
Artists: Amy Reeder, Richard Friend, Rob Hunter and Trevor McCarthy
Collects: Batwoman #6-11
$14.99 US, 144 pg

Batwoman Vol. 3: World’s Finest HC
Writer: J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman
Artists: J.H. Williams III and Trevor McCarthy
Collects: Batwoman #0 and 12-17
$22.99 US, 160 pg

Green Arrow Vol. 3 TP
Writers: Ann Nocenti and Jeff Lemire
Artists: Freddie Williams II, Rob Hunter, Tom Derenick, Art Thibert, Robin Riggs and Andrea Sorrentino
Collects: Green Arrow #0 and 14-20
$16.99 US, 176 pg

Green Lantern: Rise of the Third Army HC
Writers: Geoff Johns, Peter J. Tomasi, Tony Bedard and Peter Milligan
Artists: Doug Mahnke, Christian Alamy, Keith Champagne, Mark Irwin, Cafu, Scott Hanna, Fernando Pasarin, Chriscross, Marlo Alquiza, Andrei Bressan, Amilcar Pinna, Aaron Kuder, Miguel Sepulveda and others
Collects: Green Lantern #13-16, Green Lantern Corps #13-16, Green Lantern New Guardians #13-16, Red Lanterns #13-16, Green Lantern Corps Annual #1 and pages from Green Lantern Annual #1
$29.99 US, 416 pg

Justice League Vol. 2: The Villain’s Journey TP
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Gene Ha, Carlos D’Anda, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Jim Lee, Scott Williams, Mark Irwin, Jonathan Glapion, Sandra Hope, Batt, Rob Hunter, Joe Weems, Alex Garner and Trevor Scott
Collects: Justice League #7-12
$16.99 US, 176 pg

Justice League Vol. 3: Throne of Atlantis HC
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Pete Woods, Pere Perez, Paul Pelletier, Marlo Alquiz, Ruy Jose, Sean Parsons, Cam Smith and Art Thibert
Collects: Justice League #13-17 and Aquaman #14-16
$24.99 US, 192 pg

Legends of the Dark Knight: Jim Aparo Vol. 2 HC
Writer: Bob Haney and Cary Burkett
Artists: Jim Aparo, John Calnan and Joe Staton
Collects: The Brave and the Bold #123-136 and 138-151
$49.99 US, 520 pg

Secret Society of Super-Villains Vol. 1 TP
Writers: Gerry Conway, David Kraft, Bob Rozakis and Paul Levitz
Artists: Pablo Marcos, Rich Buckler, Arvell Jones, Dick Ayers, Dick Dillin, Mike Vosburg, Ric Estrada and others
Collects: Secret Society Of Super Villains #1-10 and a story from Amazing World of DC Comics #11
$19.99 US, 208 pg

Shazam! Vol. 1 HC
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Gary Frank
Collects: Stories from Justice League 0, 7-11, 14-16 and 18-21
$24.99 US, 192 pg

Stormwatch Vol. 3 TP
Writer: Peter Milligan
Artists: Will Conrad, Cliff Richards, Eduardo Pansica and Julio Ferreira
Collects: Stormwatch #0 and 13-18
$14.99 US, 160 pg

Wonder Woman Vol. 2: Guts TP
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artists: Cliff Chiang, Tony Akins and Dan Green
Collects: Wonder Woman #7-12
$14.99 US, 144 pg

Wonder Woman Vol. 3: Blood HC
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artists: Cliff Chiang, Tony Akins, Dan Green and Amilcar Pinna
Collects: Wonder Woman #0 and 13-17
$24.99 US, 176 pg

DC Comics titles scheduled for October 2013:

Batgirl Vol. 2: Knightfall Descends TP
Writer: Gail Simone
Artists: Ardian Syaf, Vicente Cifuentes, Alitha Martinez and Ed Benes
Collects: Batgirl #7-13 and 0
$16.99 US, 192 pg

Batgirl Vol. 3: Death of the Family HC
Writers: Gail Simone, Ray Fawkes and Scott Snyder
Artists: Ed Benes, Daniel Sampere, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, Mark Irwin, Vicente Cifuentes and Admira Wijaya
Collects: Batgirl #14-19, Batman 19 and Batgirl Annual #1
$24.99 US, 224 pg

Batman Vol. 3: Death of the Family HC
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artists: Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion
Collects: Batman #13-17
$24.99 US, 176 pg

Batman, Incorporated Vol. 2 HC
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artists: Chris Burnham, Jason Masters
Collects: Batman, Incorporated #7-13
$22.99 US, 160 pg

Batman: Odyssey TP
Writer: Neal Adams
Artists: Neal Adams, Josh Adams, Michael Golden, Kevin Nowlan, Bill Sienkiewicz, Scott Williams and Paul Neary
Collects: Batman: Odyssey Vol. 1 #1-6 and Vol. 2 #1-7
$19.99 US, 368 pg

Batman Unwrapped by Andy Kubert HC
Writers: Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman and Mark Waid
Artist: Andy Kubert
Collects: Batman #655-658, 664-666, 686 and 700, Detective Comics #853 and a story from 52 #46
$34.99 US, 272 pg

Batman: The World’s Finest Archives Vol. 3 HC
Writers: Bill Finger, Edmond Hamilton, William Woolfolk, Alvin Schwartz, David Vern and others
Artists: Bob Kane, Ray Burnley, Dick Sprang, Charles Paris, Jim Mooney, Lew Sayre Schwartz, Sy Barry, Stan Kaye, Sheldon Moldoff and others
Collects: Stories from World’s Finest Comics #33-70
$75.00 US, 512 pg

Catwoman Vol. 3: Death of the Family TP
Writer: Ann Nocenti
Artists: Adriana Melo, Julio Ferreira, Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, Emanuela Lupacchino and Jaime Mendoza
Collects: Catwoman #0 and 13-18 and a story from YOUNG ROMANCE #1
$16.99 US, 176 pg

DC Comics One Million Omnibus HC
Writers: Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, Mark Schultz, Chuck Dixon, Ian Edginton, Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Dennis O’Neil, Doug Moench, Alan Grant, Devin Grayson, D. Curtis Johnson, Len Kaminski, Mark Waid, Michael Jan Friedman, Ron Marz, Garth Ennis, William Messner-Loebs, John Francis Moore, Tom Peyer, John Ostrander, James Robinson, Jerry Ordway, Karl Kesel, Peter David, Christopher Priest, Chris Roberson, Dan Jurgens and Geoff Johns
Artists: Val Semeiks, Phil Jimenez, Mike Wieringo, Richard Case, Georges Jeanty, Cully Hamner, Flint Henry, Norm Breyfogle, Dusty Abell, Ron Lim, Will Rosado, Tom Grindberg, Vince Giarrano, Yvel Guichet, Mark Buckingham, Jim Balent, J.H. Williams III, Shawn Martinbrough, Greg Land, Josh Hood, Bryan Hitch, John McCrea, Craig Rousseau, Howard Porter, Keith Giffen, Sean Phillips, Greg Luzniak, Tom Mandrake, Scott McDaniel, Jerry Ordway, Butch Guice, Staz Johnson, Peter Snejbjerg, Tom Grummett, Dusty Abell, Norm Breyfogle, Anthony Williams, Michael Collins, Todd Nauck, Angel Unzueta, Roberto Flores, Jesus Merino, Dan Jurgens and others
Collects: DC One Million #1-4, Action Comics #1,000,000, Adventures of Superman #1,000,000, Aquaman #1,000,000, Azrael #1,000,000, Batman #1,000,000, Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1,000,000, Catwoman #1,000,000, Chase #1,000,000, Chronos #1,000,000, The Creeper #1,000,000, Detective Comics #1,000,000, The Flash #1,000,000, Green Arrow #1,000,000, Green Lantern #1,000,000, Hitman #1,000,000, Impulse #1,000,000, JLA #1,000,000, Legion of Super-Heroes #1,000,000, Legionnaires #1,000,000, Lobo #1,000,000, Martian Manhunter #1,000,000, Nightwing #1,000,000, Power of Shazam #1,000,000, Resurrection Man #1,000,000, Robin #1,000,000, Starman #1,000,000, Superboy #1,000,000, Supergirl #1,000,000, Superman #1,000,000, Superman: The Man of Steel #1,000,000, Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #1,000,000, Wonder Woman #1,000,000, Young Justice #1,000,000, JLA in Crisis Secret Files, DC One Million 80-Page Giant #1, Booster Gold #1,000,000 and Superman/Batman #79-80
$99.99 US, 1,024 pg

Deadshot: Beginnings TP
Writers: John Ostrander, Kim Yale, Steve Englehart, Doug Moench, Gerry Conway and Paul Levitz
Artists: Luke McDonnell, Marshall Rogers, Terry Austin, Don Newton, Alfredo Alcala and Bruce Patterson
Collects: Deadshot #1-4, Batman #369 and Detective Comics #474 and 518
$14.99 US, 160 pg

Green Lantern Vol. 2: The Revenge of Black Hand TP
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Doug Mahnke, Christian Alamy, Renato Guedes and Ethan Van Sciver
Collects: Green Lantern #7-12 and Green Lantern Annual #1
$16.99 US, 192 pg

Green Lantern Volume 3 HC
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Doug Mahnke, Christian Alamy, Keith Champagne, Mark Irwin, Tom Nguyen, Marc Deering, Szymon Kudranski and Ardian Syaf
Collects: Green Lantern #0 and 13-20
$24.99 US, 224 pg

I, Vampire: Wave of Mutilation
Writer: Joshua Hale Fialkov
Artists: Andrea Sorrentino, Dennis Calero, Scott Clark and Fernando Blanco
Collects: I, Vampire #0 and 13-18
$16.99, 192 pg

Injustice: Gods Among Us Vol. 1 TP
Writer: Tom Taylor
Artists: Jheremy Raapack, Mike S. Miller, Marc Deering, Axel Gimenez, Bruno Redondo and others
Collects: Injustice: Gods Among Us #1-4
$14.99 US, 168 pg

JLA Earth 2 Deluxe Edition HC
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Frank Quitely
Original graphic novel
$24.99 US, 144 pg

The Joker: Death of the Family HC
Writers: Ann Nocenti, Gail Simone, Adam Glass, Peter J. Tomasi, Kyle Higgins, John Layman, Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza
Artists: Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, Ed Benes, Daniel Sampere, Mark Irwin, Vicente Cifuentes, Fernando Dagnino, Patrick Gleason, Tomas Giorello, Mick Gray, Keith Champagne, Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, Jason Fabok, Andy Clarke, Timothy Green II, Wayne Faucher, Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund
Collects: Catwoman #13-14, Batgirl #13-16, Suicide Squad #14-15, Batman and Robin #15-16, Nightwing #15-16, Detective Comics #15-16, Red Hood and the Outlaws #15-16 and Teen Titans #15-16
$29.99 US, 376 pg

JSA Liberty Files: The Whistling Skull TP
Writer: B. Clay Moore
Artist: Tony Harris
Collects: JSA Liberty Files: The Whistling Skull #1-6
$14.99 US, 144 pg

Smallville Season 11 Vol. 3: Haunted TP
Writer: Bryan Q. Miller
Artist: Jorge Jimenez
Collects: Smallville Season 11 #9-12
$14.99 US, 144 pg

Suicide Squad Vol. 3 TP
Writers: Adam Glass and Ales Kot
Artists: Fernando Dagnino, Henrik Jonsson, Sandu Florea and Timothy Green II
Collects: Suicide Squad #14-20
$14.99 US, 160 pg

Superman Vol. 2: Secrets & Lies TP
Writers: Dan Jurgens, Keith Giffen, Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza
Artists: Dan Jurgens, Jesus Merino, Kenneth Rocafort, Pascal Alixe, Marco Rudy, Tom Raney, Elizabeth Torque and Mico Suayan
Collects: Superman #7-12 and Superman Annual #1
$16.99 US, 176 pg

Superman Vol. 3 HC
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist: Kenneth Rocafort
Collects: Superman #0 and 13-19
$24.99 US, 192 pg

Superman: Dark Knight Over Metropolis TP
Writers: John Byrne, Roger Stern, Dan Jurgens and Jerry Ordway
Artists: Bob McLeod, Brett Breeding, Arthur Adams, Dick Giordano, Dan Jurgens, Art Thibert, Jerry Ordway and Dennis Janke
Collects: Superman #44, Adventures of Superman #466-467, Action Comics #653-654 and Action Comics Annual #1
$14.99 US, 168 pg

DC Comics titles scheduled for November 2013:

All-Star Western Vol. 3: The Black Diamond Probability TP
Writers: Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti
Artists: Moritat, Phil Winslade and Staz Johnson
Collects: All-Star Western #0 and 13-16
$16.99 US, 176 pg

Aquaman Vol. 2: The Others TP
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Ivan Reis and Joe Prado
Collects: Aquaman #7-13
$14.99 US, 160 pg

Aquaman Vol. 3: Throne of Atlantis HC
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Julio Ferreira, Pete Woods, Pere Perez, Paul Pelletier, Art Thibert and Sean Parsons
Collects: Aquaman #0 and 14-16 and Justice League #15-17
$24.99 US, 176 pg

Batman Vol. 2: The City of Owls TP
Writers: Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV
Artists: Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, Rafael Albuquerque, Andy Clarke and Jason Fabok
Collects: Batman #8-12 and Batman Annual #1
$16.99 US, 208 pg

Batman and Robin Vol. 2: Pearl TP
Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Artists: Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray, Lee Garbett, Andy Clarke, Ray McCarthy, Keith Champagne, Dustin Nguyen and Tomas Giorello
Collects: Batman and Robin #9-14 and 0
$16.99 US, 176 pg

Batman and Robin Vol. 3: Death of the Family HC
Writers: Peter J. Tomasi and Scott Snyder
Artists: Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, Keith Champagne, Ardian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes
Collects: Batman and Robin #15-18, Batman #17 and Batman and Robin Annual #1
$24.99 US, 176 pg

Batman, Incorporated Vol. 1: Demon Star TP
Writers: Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham
Artists: Chris Burnham and Frazer Irving
Collects: Batman, Incorporated #0-6
$16.99 US, 176 pg

Batman: Detective Comics Vol. 2: Scare Tactics TP
Writer: Tony S. Daniel
Artists: Tony S. Daniel, Sandu Florea, Szymon Kudranski, Ed Benes and Rob Hunter
Collects: Detective Comics # 8-12, 0 and Detective Comics Annual #1
$16.99 US, 232 pg

Batman: Detective Comics Vol. 3: Emperor Penguin HC
Writer: John Layman
Artists: Jason Fabok and Andy Clarke
Collects: Detective Comics #13-18
$24.99 US, 192 pg

Batman: Night of the Owls TP
Writers: Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Tony S. Daniel, Judd Winick, Peter J. Tomasi, Duane Swierczynski, Gail Simone, Scott Lobdell, Kyle Higgins, Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti
Artists: Jason Fabok, Tony S. Daniel, Joel Gomez, Sandu Florea, David Finch, Richard Friend, Marcos To, Ryan Winn, Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray, Travel Foreman, Jeff Huet, Ardian Syaf, Vicente Sifuentes, Kenneth Rocafort, Guillem March, Eddy Barrows, Ruy Jose, Eber Ferreira and Moritat
Collects: Batman #8-11, Nightwing #8-9, All-Star Western #9, Catwoman #9, Batgirl #9, Batman: The Dark Knight #9, Batman and Robin #9, Birds of Prey #9, Red Hood and the Outlaws #9, Batman Annual #1 and Batwing #9
$19.99 US, 368 pg

Green Arrow Vol. 1: Hunter’s Moon TP
Writer: Mike Grell
Artists: Ed Hannigan, Dick Giordano and Frank McLaughlin
Collects: Green Arrow #1-6
$14.99 US, 160 pg

Joe Kubert Presents TP
Writers: Joe Kubert, Brian Buniak, Sam Glanzman and Paul Levitz
Artists: Joe Kubert, Brian Buniak and Sam Glanzman
Collects: Joe Kubert Presents #1-6
$19.99 US, 304 pg

The Joker: The Clown Prince of Crime TP
Writers: Dennis O’Neil, Elliot S. Maggin and Martin Pasko
Artists: Irv Novick, Dick Giordano, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Ernie Chua, Vince Colletta, Tex Blaisdell and Frank McLaughlin
Collects: The Joker #1-9
$16.99 US, 176 pg

The Judas Coin TP
Writer/Artist: Walter Simonson
Original graphic novel
$14.99 US, 104 pg

Justice League of America Vol. 1 HC
Writers: Geoff Johns and Matt Kindt
Artists: David Finch and Scott Clark
Collects: Justice League of America #1-6
$24.99 US, 176 pg

Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 3: Death of the Family TP
Writers: Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza
Artists: Pasqual Ferry, Ig Guara, Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund, Timothy Green II, Pascal Alixe, Wayne Faucher, Ardian Syaf, Robson Rocha, Ken Lashley, Jaime Mendoza and Le Beau Underwood
Collects: Red Hood and the Outlaws #0 and 14-17 and Teen Titans #15-16
$14.99 US, 160 pg

Red Lanterns Volume 3 TP
Writer: Peter Milligan
Artists: Ardian Syaf, Vicente Cifuentes, Miguel Sepulveda and Will Conrad
Collects: Red Lanterns #0 and 13-20
$19.99 US, 224 pg

Superman: H’el on Earth HC
Writers: Scott Lobdell, Tom DeFalco and Mike Johnson
Artists: Kenneth Rocafort, R.B. Silva, Rob Lean, Roger Robinson, Iban Coello, Amilcar Pinna and Mahmud Asrar
Collects: Superman #13-17, Superboy #14-17 and Supergirl #14-17
$29.99 US, 296 pg

Swamp Thing Vol. 3: Rotworld: The Green Kingdom TP
Writers: Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire
Artists: Marco Rudy, Dan Green, Andy Owens, Kano, Yanick Paquette, Andre Balinger, Steve Pugh, Timothy Green II and Joseph Silver
Collects: Swamp Thing #12-18 and Animal Man #12 and 17
$16.99 US, 208 pg

Worlds’ Finest Vol. 2 TP
Writer: Paul Levitz
Artists: Kevin Maguire, George Perez, Sandra Hope, Cliff Richards, Cafu, Yildiray Cinar, Phil Jimenez, Barry Kitson and Geraldo Borges
Collects: Worlds’ Finest #6-12
$14.99 US, 160 pg

DC Comics titles scheduled for December 2013:

The Authority Vol. 2 HC
Writers: Mark Millar, Doselle Young, Tom Peyer and Grant Morrison
Artists: Frank Quitely, Trevor Scott, Scott Williams, Mark Irwin, Chris Weston, Garry Leach, Derek Fridolfs, Sal Regla, John McCrea, Dustin Nguyen, Richard Friend, Jason Martin, Arthur Adams, Tim Townsend and Gary Erskine
Collects: The Authority #13-29
$34.99 US, 416 pg

Birds of Prey Vol. 3: A Clash of Daggers TP
Writers: Duane Swierczynski and Gail Simone
Artists: Romano Molenaar, Vicente Cifuentes, Juan Jose Ryp, Daniel Sampere and Admira Wijaya
Collects: Birds of Prey #13-17 and Batgirl Annual #1
$14.99 US, 160 pg

The Creature Commandos TP
Writers: J.M. DeMatteis, Mike W. Barr and Robert Kanigher
Artists: Pat Broderick, John Celardo, Fred Carillo, Bob Hall, Jerry Ordway and Dan Spiegle
Collects: Weird War Tales #93, 97, 100, 102, 105, 108-112, 114-119, 121 and 124
$19.99 US, 288 pg

Deadman Book Four TP
Writers: Bob Haney, Len Wein and Gerry Conway
Artists: Ric Estrada, Dick Giordano, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Jim Aparo and Frank Chiaramonte,
Collects: DC Special Series #8, DC Comics Presents #24 and stories from Adventure Comics #459-466
$14.99 US, 168 pg

Doctor Mid-Nite New Edition TP
Writer: Matt Wagner
Artist: John K. Snyder III
Collects: Doctor Mid-Nite #1-3
$14.99 US, 160 pg

The Flash Vol. 2: Rogues Revolution TP
Writers: Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
Artists: Francis Manapul, Marcus To, Scott Kolins, Diogenes Neves, Oclair Albert, Marcio Takara, Wes Craig and Ray McCarthy
Collects: The Flash #9-12 and The Flash Annual #1
$16.99 US, 176 pg

The Flash Vol. 3: Gorilla Warfare HC
Writers: Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
Artists: Francis Manapul, Marcus To, Ryan Winn and Marcio Takara
Collects: The Flash #13-19
$24.99 US, 176 pg

The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men Vol. 3: Takeover TP
Writers: Dan Jurgens and Joe Harris
Artists: Dan Jurgens, Ray McCarthy, Yildiray Cinar, Marlo Alquiza and Karl Kesel
Collects: The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #13-18
$16.99 US, 176 pg

Green Lantern Corps Vol. 2: Alpha War TP
Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Artists: Fernando Pasarin, CAFU, Scott Hanna and Marc Deering
Collects: Green Lantern Corps #8-14 and 0
$16.99 US, 192 pg

Green Lantern Corps Vol. 3: Rise of the Third Army HC
Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Artists: CAFU, Scott Hanna, Fernando Pasarin, Chriscross and Marlo Alquiza
Collects: Green Lantern Corps #15-20 and Green Lantern Corps Annual #1
$24.99 US, 192 pg

I, Vampire Vol. 3: Wave of Mutilation TP
Writer: Joshua Hale Fialkov
Artists: Andrea Sorrentino, Dennis Calero, Scott Clark and Fernando Blanco
Collects: I, Vampire #0 and 13-19
$16.99 US, 192 pg

Nightwing Vol. 3: Death of the Family TP
Writers: Tom DeFalco, Kyle Higgins and Scott Snyder
Artists: Andres Guinaldo, Mark Irwin, Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, Juan Jose Ryp, Roger Bonet, Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion
Collects: Nightwing #13-18 and Batman #17
$16.99 US, 176 pg

The Savage Hawkman Vol. 2: Wanted TP
Writer: Tom DeFalco
Artists: Joe Bennett, Art Thibert,
Collects: The Savage Hawkman #0 and 9-20
$19.99 US, 288 pg

Superman: Action Comics Vol. 2: Bulletproof TP
Writers: Grant Morrison, Sholly Fisch and Max Landis
Artists: Rags Morales, Gene Ha, Cully Hamner, Karl Story, Ben Oliver, CAFU, Brad Walker and Ryan Sook
Collects: Action Comics #9-12 and 0, and Action Comics Annual #1
$16.99 US, 224 pg

Superman: Action Comics Vol. 3: At The End of Days HC
Writers: Grand Morrison and Sholly Fisch
Artists: Travel Foreman, Rags Morales, Mark Propst, Brad Walker, Andrew Hennessy, Chris Sprouse and Karl Story
Collects: Action Comics #13-17
$24.99 US, 224 pg

Superman Vs. Mongul TP
Writers: Len Wein, Paul Levitz and Alan Moore
Artists: Jim Starlin, Dick Giordano, Frank McLaughlin, Romeo Tanghal, Curt Swan, Dave Hunt and Dave Gibbons
Collects: DC Comics Presents #27-28, 36 and 43 and Superman Annual #11
$14.99 US, 144 pg

Teen Titans Vol. 3: Death of the Family TP
Writers: Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza
Artists: Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund, Eddy Barrows and Eber Ferreira
Collects: Teen Titans #14-20
$14.99 US, 160 pg

Young Justice: Invasion TP
Writer: Greg Weisman
Artist: Christopher Jones
Collects: Young Justice #20-25
$12.99 US, 128 pg

DC Comics titles scheduled for January 2014:

Batman—The Dark Knight Vol. 2: Cycle of Violence TP
Writer: Gregg Hurwitz
Artists: David Finch, Richard Friend, Mico Suayan and Juan Jose Ryp
Collects: Batman—The Dark Knight #10-15 and 0
$14.99 US, 160 pg

Batman—The Dark Knight Vol. 3: Mad HC
Writer: Gregg Hurwitz
Artist: Ethan Van Sciver
Collects: Batman—The Dark Knight #16-21
$22.99 US, 144 pg

Batman: Arkham Unhinged Vol. 2 TP
Writer: Derek Fridolfs
Artists: Jorge Jimenez, Mike S. Miller, Darick Robertson, Peter Nguyen and others
Collects: Batman: Arkham Unhinged #6-10
$14.99 US, 168 pg

Batman: Arkham Unhinged Vol. 3 HC
Writer: Derek Fridolfs
Artists: Mico Suayan, Jheremy Raapack, Eric Nguyen, Federico Dallocchio and Davide Fabbri
Collects: Batman: Arkham Unhinged #11-15
$22.99 US, 168 pg

Batwing Volume 3: Enemy of the State TP
Writers: Judd Winick, Fabian Nicieza, Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti
Artists: Marcus To, Ryan Winn, Richard Zajac, Beau Underwood, Fabrizio Fiorentino, Allan Jefferson, Phyllis Novin, Juan Castro, Eduardo Pansica and Julio Ferreira
Collects: Batwing #13-18
$16.99 US, 144 pg

The Demon: From the Darkness TP
Writer: Matt Wagner
Artists: Matt Wagner and Art Nichols
Collects: The Demon #1-4 (miniseries) and The Demon #22
$14.99 US, 128 pg

Demon Knights Vol. 3 TP
Writers: Paul Cornell and Robert Venditti
Artist: Bernard Chang
Collects: Demon Knights #13-18
$14.99 US, 144 pg

Earth 2 Vol. 1: The Gathering TP
Writer: James Robinson
Artists: Nicola Scott, Trevor Scott, Eduardo Pansica and Tomas Giorello
Collects: Earth 2 #1-6
$14.99 US, 160 pg

Earth 2 Vol. 2: The Tower of Fate HC
Writer: James Robinson
Artists: Nicola Scott, Trevor Scott, Yildiray Cinar, Ryan Winn, Tom Derenick and Ruy Jose
Collects: Earth 2 #0 and 7-12 and a story from DC Universe Presents #0
$24.99 US, 176 pg

Green Lantern: The Animated Series Vol. 2 TP
Writers: Art Baltzar, Franco, Ivan Cohen and Cecil Castellucci
Artists: Dario Brizuela and Luciano Vecchio
Collects: Green Lantern: The Animated Series #6-11
$12.99 US, 128 pg

Green Lantern: New Guardians Vol. 2: Beyond Hope TP
Writer: Tony Bedard
Artists: Tyler Kirkham, Batt, Tomas Giorello and Marcio Takara
Collects: Green Lantern – New Guardians #8-12 and Blue Beetle #9
$14.99 US, 144 pg

Green Lantern: New Guardians Vol. 3: Rise of the Third Army HC
Writer: Tony Bedard
Artists: Aaron Kuder, Andrei Bressan, Andres Guinaldo, Greg Adams and Amilcar Pinna.
Collects: Green Lantern: New Guardians #0 and 13-20
$24.99 US, 224 pg

Green Lantern: Sector 2814 Vol. 3 TP
Writer: Steve Englehart
Artists: Joe Staton, Bruce Patterson, Mark Farmer and Bob Smith
Collects: Green Lantern #194-200
$16.99 US, 200 pg

Katana Vol. 1 TP
Writer: Ann Nocenti
Artists: Alex Sanchez, Cristina Coronas and Bill Sienkiewicz
Collects: Katana #1-6
$14.99 US, 144 pg

Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 3: The Fatal Five TP
Writer: Paul Levitz
Artists: Francis Portela, Scott Kolins, Keith Giffen and Scott Koblish
Collects: Legion of Super-Heroes #15-21
$14.99 US, 160 pg

The Planetary Omnibus HC
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artists: John Cassaday, Jerry Ordway, Phil Jimenez and Andy Lanning
Collects: Planetary #1-27, Planetary/Batman #1, Planetary/JLA #1 and Planetary/Authority #1
$75.00 US, 832 pg

Superboy Vol. 3 TP
Writer: Tom DeFalco,
Artists: R.B. Silva, Rob Lean, Ron Frenz, Roger Robinson, Iban Coello and Amilcar Pinna
Collects: Superboy #13-19
$14.99 US, 160 pg

Superman Family Adventures Vol. 2 TP
Writers: Art Baltazar and Franco
Artist: Art Baltazar
Collects: Superman Family Adventures #7-12
$12.99 US, 128 pg

Superman: Man of Steel Vol. 8 TP
Writers: Paul Kupperberg, John Byrne and Jerry Ordway
Artists: John Byrne, Ty Templeton, Ross Andru, Keith Williams, George Pérez, Karl Kesel, Mike Mignola, Jerry Ordway, John Beatty and Dennis Janke
Collects: Action Comics #598-600, Superman #16-18 and Adventures of Superman #439-440
$16.99 US, 232 pg

Terra Obscura: S.M.A.S.H. of Two Worlds TP
Writers: Alan Moore and Peter Hogan
Artists: Yanick Paquette and Karl Story
Collects: Terra Obscura Vol. 1 #1-6 and Terra Obscura Vol. 2 #1-6
$24.99 US, 320 pg

DC Comics titles scheduled for February 2014:

Batman: Li’l Gotham Vol. 1
Writers: Derek Fridolfs and Dustin Nguyen
Artist: Dustin Nguyen
Collects: Batman: Li’l Gotham #1-3 and stories from Detective Comics Annual #11 and Batman Annual #27
$14.99 US, 128 pg

Constantine Vol. 1 TP
Writers: Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes
Artists: Renato Guedes
Collects: Constantine #1-7
$14.99 US, 160 pg

DC Universe Presents Vol. 3: Black Lightning and Blue Devil TP
Writers: Marc Andreyko, Joe Keatinge and Tony Bedard
Artists: Robson Rocha, Oclair Albert, Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira, J.P. Mayer, Ricken, Federico Dallocchio and Jesus Saiz
Collects: DC Universe Presents #13-19
$14.99 US, 160 pg

Deathstroke Vol. 2: Lobo Hunt TP
Writer: Justin Jordan
Artists: Edgar Salazar and Scott Hanna
Collects: Deathstroke #0 and 9-20
$19.99 US, 296 pg

Dial H Vol. 2 TP
Writer: China Mieville
Artists: David Lapham, Alberto Ponticelli and Dan Green
Collects: Dial H #7-16
$16.99 US, 224 pg

Green Lantern: Wrath of the First Lantern Vol. 1 HC
Writers: Geoff Johns, Peter J. Tomasi, Tony Bedard and Peter Milligan
Artists: Doug Mahnke, Christian Alamy, Dan Jurgens, Phil Jimenez, Mark Irwin, Tom Nguyen, Szymon Kudranski, Ardian Syaf, Fernando Pasarin, Scott Hanna, Chriscross, Marlo Alquiza, Aaron Kuder, Andres Guinaldo, Miguel Sepulveda and Will Conrad
Collects: Green Lantern #17-18, Green Lantern Corps #17-20, Red Lanterns #17-20 and Green Lantern New Guardians #17-20
$24.99 US, 192 pg

JLA Vol. 4 TP
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artists: Howard Porter, Frank Quitely, Ed McGuinness, John Dell and others
Collects: JLA #32-46
$24.99 US, 384 pg

Justice League of America’s Vibe Vol. 1 TP
Writers: Geoff Johns, Andrew Kreisberg and Sterling Gates
Artists: Pete Woods and Sean Parsons
Collects: Justice League of America’s Vibe #1-6
$14.99 US, 144 pg

Justice League Dark Vol. 3: The Death of Magic TP
Writers: Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes
Artists: Graham Nolan, Victor Drujiniu and Mikel Janin
Collects: Justice League Dark #14-19
$14.99 US, 144 pg

Martian Manhunter: Son of Mars TP
Writers: John Ostrander and John Arcudi
Artists: Tom Mandrake and Jan Duursema
Collects: Martian Manhunter #0-9
$19.99 US, 240 pg

The Ravagers Vol. 2 TP
Writer: Michael Alan Nelson
Artists: Ian Churchill, Ig Guara and Norm Rapmund
Collects: The Ravagers #8-12 and 0
$14.99 US, 144 pg

Power Girl: Power Trip TP
Writers: Geoff Johns, Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti
Artists: Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti
Collects: JSA Classified #1-4 and Power Girl #1-12
$29.99 US, 392 pg

Supergirl Vol. 3 TP
Writer: Mike Johnson
Artists: Mahmud Asrar and Sami Basri
Collects: Supergirl #13-19
$14.99 US, 160 pg

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Over at his blog, Sonny Liew’s been posting some lettered pages from his as yet untitled upcoming book with Gene Yang for First Second, and it looks pretty great, particularly that 50′s inspired pulpy cover. As a fan of Liew’s work, I’ve been keeping up with this project for a while, (although aware of Yang  -as the author of American Born Chinese and Level Up- I’ve yet to get round to reading any of his books), so I knew it was a retro superhero book, but that’ s about it. Here’s an exclusive, and intriguing, little synopsis from Liew:

‘It’s basically a origins story of a character created back in the 40s – his distinction being that he was meant to be Asian American. Gene has been exploring identity issues with his comics, of course, so this is another angle.

One of the interesting things about the comic was that the artist and creator (Chu Hing) has to go out of his way never to show his face in the comic – which apparently was due to his publishers or editors not wanting to reveal too  clearly that he was, in fact, Asian! We did try to incorporate those elements into the book.’

Chu Hing is credited for working on 29 issues in the 40′s and 50′s, 4 of which were on a title called Blazing Comics (the book Liew’s homaged in the cover above). These books featured the character Yang and Liew are reviving: Green Turtle- ‘the first Asian superhero’, a ‘mysterious individual who almost never let anyone see his face (the reader included). Armed only with his wits, combats skills, a remarkable light aircraft (the Turtle Plane,) and a mystic jade dagger, he and Burma Boy, a youngster he saved from the Japanese, flew across Asia battling the Imperial Japanese Army. While having no obvious powers granted by his jade dagger, he did seem to cast a shadow that had a bright pair of eyes and face.’ (via Comic Vine)

No projected release date for this yet, but another title to add to your list of ‘books to keep an eye on.’

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“I’m sorry I’m late with my book”, Jimmy Palmiotti said rather humbly, opening a “spotlight” panel on March 31^st 2013 at WonderCon, and asked the audience if he ought to put on some “background music”.  Amanda Conner, his co-spotlighter, and Palmiotti explained, tongue in cheek, that if the panel appeared “random”, months of deep thought had allowed them to “plan it to be random”. Attendees were already engaged by the humor, and probably by their avid fandom of both Conner and Palmiotti’s work, in this panel Conner and Palmiotti hoped would be “interactive”.

For the first part of the panel, they followed a rough chronology of the story of their working and personal relationship together, but Q &A was welcome throughout. Palmiotti explained that the “magic started” between the couple when he inked a GARGOYLES cover for Conner and a friendship developed between them. This friendship allowed them to learn the “horrible, wonderful sides” of each other, Conner commented. Palmiotti added that they “knew each other insanely well” long before they started dating.

Their first big collaboration, where both provided their own input for a personally satisfying project, involved the VAMPIRELLA comic when Conner asked Palmiotti to create a script where she would be allowed to portray the title character “on the toilet”. Palmiotti, in gallant fashion, concocted a plot involving laxative-laced candy on Halloween, a child-eating demon, and a heroic devourer in Vampirella. Palmiotti encouraged writers to play to the desires of artists and “give them stuff they really want to draw” to produce great results. That’s been their “theme ever since”, he said. Comics have been their “career of choice”, Palmiotti reflected, even though their were “other choices” possible. Conner’s other choices, for instance, included working in advertising, and prior to that, owning a comic book store.

This chronological tour abruptly leapt to the present as both Palmiotti and Conner commented on keeping late hours, particularly at the con. The “number one rule”, Palmiotti shared sagely, is “never look at the clock. It ruins the night the next morning, worrying about it”. Then the “only indication”, he said, “is hearing birds. I don’t like that”. This commentary had the audience in uniform, vocal agreement. Conner and Palmiotti introduced another recurring topic in the panel, the sheer number of shoes Conner has managed to assemble. She insisted she had no more than 20 pairs of shoes, but Palmiotti remained dubious, putting the number at more like 600.

This speculation was interrupted by a question from the floor about the “timetable” on the planned collaboration CAPTAIN BROOKLYN. Conner explained that she’s working on a “glut of covers” at the moment, but when she’s finished those off, she’s going to stop other work and focus on BROOKLYN. Conner confirmed that they are “thinking about” the possibility of doing a Kickstarter for the project. CAPTAIN BROOKLYN, Palmiotti explained, is about a garbage man in Brooklyn, with a “house full of cats” and “Russian massage parlor girls next door” who has to devise a financial means of helping his sickly grandfather. On top of that, he comes to possess “superpowers that really don’t help his life”. Palmiotti says the book, as scripted, is “funny” but he trusts Conner to “bring it down to earth” and “ground it”, a power he feels is her particular strength as an artist. Her work “has a soul”, he said, “The eyes have a soul”, but he jokingly threatened her with finding a replacement if she doesn’t pick up the production pace.

Since the panel declared itself to be “interactive”, I asked Conner about her background studying comics art at the Kubert School in New Jersey, and whether she felt it was beneficial to study comics specifically in order to become a professional comics artist. The benefits, she said, of specialized study, is that she now knows how to “use a lot of other tools besides drawing specific to what I want to do”. At the time that she attended the Kubert School, she said, “most other art colleges frowned on comic art” and it was “not respected”. She feels things are “more open now”, but at  the time, she said, the Kubert School was “exactly what I needed”. Palmiotti commented that at that time, the Kubert School also had very few women, about 4 in her class, Conner recalled. Now comics are a “little more accepted”, Palmiotti said, and the word “geek” is on the rise.

“Now we’re the cool kids and can talk about stupid stuff”, Palmiotti commented, including channeling child-like behavior to geek out about things like films. Both Conner and Palmiotti revealed that they are avid film watchers, and particularly Palmiotti, who goes to the movies a couple of times a week. Conner focuses on particular films that catch her attention, which she watches “repeatedly”. As a kid, she was a huge fan of The Poseidon Adventure, then Star Wars, The Terminator, The Long Kiss Goodnight, and more recently, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.  Palmiotti’s most recent film enthusiasm is for the film Upside Down, particularly fascinated by this love story featuring reverse gravity fields and conflict between differing worlds.

An audience member brought up the subject of the completion of Conner’s run on SILK SPECTRE from the BEFORE WATCHMEN series, a project that ran only four issues rather than a possible six. “It could have stretched to 6”, Conner said, but she found it wasn’t necessary to do so. She declared herself relieved to have finished the job, since it was “labor and research intensive” to make sure she “blended it into the original storyline” of the mid to late ‘60’s. Her goal, which made the job more difficult, was to present “not people’s perception of the 60’s, but actually the ‘60’s” in contrast to our current, commercial views of the time period. This quest led her to contact her mother and her aunts, the youngest of which was “Laurie’s age” during the same time period. Palmiotti, who witnessed Conner’s rather excruciating commitment to historical accuracy in her art, came to call SILK SPECTRE “that effin’ book’ (which was the PG-13 version of the phrase).

Palmiotti said that Conner “became obsessive with every building” she drew, as well as clothing. The “layout” for Laurie’s house, apparently, was drawn from a single panel featuring a single room in the house in WATCHMEN. Conner built an “entire house” around a living room contained in the original comic. Palmiotti reminded the audience, who then applauded, that Conner’s work on SILK SPECTRE has since been nominated for a Reuben Award in “good company” with Evan Dorkin, and Bernie Wrightson, two of their favorite creators.

I asked Conner and Palmiotti what, particularly, they are looking for that they find attractive in a project in terms of character and plot. Palmiotti replied that he’s looking for several things, including the “soul of a character”, “what they want”, “what they fear” and “something at stake”. He’s very drawn to idea of romance in comic books. “It’s there even in JONAH HEX”, he said. “I like the idea of two people who have something in common, a goal”, Palmiotti explained. Even if he’s writing “horrible people”, he’s “looking for a likeable trait”. His example prompted a lot of laughter from the audience, proving the maxim “It’s funny because it’s true”. He said that even “Hitler’s dog thought Hitler was awesome” because the dog, being fed and tended by his master, could find a likeable trait. You have to “find those things in the characters”, he said, and ask yourself, “Why would we care?”.

Conner’s particular take on character focuses on the idea of perfection and imperfection. “I try not to make the character so perfect”, she said, preferring to create a character who is “someone like you know”. She wants her comics audience to react by thinking, “I know somebody who’s just like that”. That’s one of the reasons Palmiotti finds Spielberg films compelling, he explained, since they “start with the hero screwing up” and “we relate”. If a hero is “too perfect, there’s push-back”. He doesn’t respond to films where there’s a “super handsome guy and a perfect girl”, finding them “boring”.

An audience member’s question about Conner’s work drawing BARBIE in the past led to an energetic discussion of Wonder Woman as a character and the possibilities of new directions for her books. “I would love to write WONDER WOMAN”, Palmiotti admitted; he sees her as “more down to earth, less superior” than some other creators since being “too perfect” is a turn-off, though he thinks some solid work has been done on WONDER WOMAN. He observed that in some WONDER WOMAN comics he’s read, the creators “make everyone else more interesting” than Wonder Woman and he can’t understand that approach. “She’s the most interesting person in the room”, he pointed out, not her surrounding characters. Of course, he added, he would only want to write WONDER WOMAN with Conner as the artist on the project.

The last few questions fielded by Palmiotti and Conner included their typical work schedules, which they revealed to be opposite, and therefore difficult in timing, Conner’s recollections about her work for indie magazines, which she described as “guerrilla comic book making”, and what comics they like to read right now. Conner cited Terry Moore, finding herself “rivetted” by every story. Palmiotti’s a big fan of Darwyn Cooke’s work, but also always comes home with a “stack” of comics from the shop on Wednesdays. He buys every #1 issue from every company, he revealed, and continues to “try everything… like it’s my job”.

Conner and Palmiotti certainly presented a fully interactive panel, so much so that when panel time ran out, it felt like an interrupted conversation with plenty more to say. Hearing stories from their daily life and their work suggested that the divide, especially for these collaborators, is artificial, with influences moving back and forth constantly. Maybe that’s the secret to their wide-ranging output in comics, and a glimpse of the reason behind the energy they continually bring to the industry. The panel illustrated well the benefits of the “spotlight” approach to con appearances giving enough time and focus on particular creators to generate a conversation with their audiences.

Photo Credits: All photos in this article were taken by semi-professional photographer and pop culture scholar Michele Brittany. She’s an avid photographer of pop culture events. You can learn more about her photography and pop culture scholarship here.

Hannah Means-Shannon writes and blogs about comics for TRIP CITY and Sequart.org and is currently working on books about Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore for Sequart. She is @hannahmenzies on Twitter and hannahmenziesblog on WordPress.

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While the Nerdist Industries’ arena event at WonderCon this year was ostensibly about the future of the Youtube based pop culture conglomerate, and, indeed, plenty was said about upcoming projects, the question and answer period really expanded into a call to arms for fans to help directly determine the future of pop culture.

Nerdist founder Chris Hardwick took the stage, joined by panellists Paul Provenza, Troy Conrad, and Matt Bennett, on March 31^st, in the lead up to the season finale of The Walking Dead. Hardwick’s job as host of Talking Dead meant there was plenty of frisson in the audience about the upcoming show, and Hardwick teased, but didn’t deliver, spoilers on the show’s finale several times. In fact, he informed the audience that he was about to “get into a car to film Talking Dead” following his WonderCon appearance. Envy at his early viewing of the finale was palpable.

While Hardwick has a cult following as host of Talking Dead, and also from plenty of Nerdist projects, his presence live is even more dynamic, bringing with it plenty of his stand up comedy background. Since it was also Easter Sunday, Hardwick opened with a relevant quip: “That’s one person who came back from the dead and didn’t do it to rip someone’s heart out. Just put the love in it”. About a thousand attendees found this hilarious. Hardwick showed a promo video preview of upcoming Nerdist projects, often punctuated by applause and cheers from the audience when they recognized an anticipated segment or a celebrity guest coming up on a project, and followed by discussing several of the projects in a little more detail with his panellists.

Bennet’s new series, currently being filmed, entitled Nerdy Jobs, a play on Dirty Jobs, got particular attention. The series will involve him visiting nerdy “cool” companies like tech industries and comic book shops to give an insider’s view of working there. Hardwick pondered what Bennett would find to say if he visited NASA for the show: “Uh, sorry about your funding?”. Another big push for Nerdist is the launch of a comedy combination of stand up and improv based on the British series concept Setlist, a competition that will tour around the world. As a veteran of stand up, Hardwick was particularly enthused, commenting that forcing stand up comedians into an improv situation is like “looking for the God particle of comedy”. His request to the audience about the upcoming new shows: “Please don’t feel compelled to say horrible things IN ALL CAPS in comment threads”.

This led Harwick to speak for a moment about Youtube as a venue for hosting programming. Though delivered in a comically serious tone, the message had some bite: “No longer do companies tell us what to watch”. It was the first of several comments that indicated that Hardwick still has a lot to say about the role of open access and its giant-killing capabilities in relation to big media. Nerdist Industries, he said, is going to be expanding, but not along the lines of some of their peers on Youtube, who branch out into “piles of channels”; instead, they are aiming for a “hyper-curated partnership” with 6-8 channels and plenty of intensive “cross promotion”. They are also considering a move, based on fan request, to try out video podcasts, though Hardwick is a little skeptical of why people would want to watch them. Demand has been high enough that he’s prepared to yield to the experiment. Upcoming guests for the video podcast will include Seth Rogan, Steve Young, Scott Adsit and “surprises” too. Nerdist will also, finally, launch a major app to link to its content and, even more surprisingly, will be venturing into filmmaking following their purchase by Legendary Entertainment. They hope to work as producers on smaller budget films in this new role.

While Hardwick was delivering his energetic spiel, Provenza interjected, “Do you ever sleep?”. It was true, Hardwick looked a little peaked. “I have a robot heart”, he intoned, and continued on to the question and answer period. Questions began with a repeat offender from SDCC who Hardwick had once hugged in the past for his super fandom regarding Superman. “Comic Con is about getting super freaked out about stuff you love”, Hardwick reminded the audience (and he would deliver another hug later to a girl dressed as Wario in sympathy with his own Mario Brothers t-shirt). Harwick was then asked what he would do if his girlfriend was found to be “patient zero” in a potential zombie apocalypse. “Oh, I’d shoot her in the fucking head. That’s what you do for your loved ones”, he said without hesitation, to much hilarity, and added that he hoped she’d do the same for him.

He seemed pretty serious about that topic, but not as serious as he became immediately after the question on the subject of open access production. “There is literally no excuse for you not to pursue things that you love now. You are living half a life if you do not pursue the things that you love”, he said, referring to the tools now available for fans and pop culture creators alike. When a middle school teacher asked him for ideas to keep her students interested in pop culture in their newly formed lunch club, he gave a very invested answer, repeating that the most important thing the teacher could do for them would be to get them to “make things”, whether videos, or other media. “Teach them to be creators vs. consumers”, he pleaded, to much approbation from the crowd.

One of Hardwick’s winning qualities that keeps him from drifting too far from his fanbase  due to his ever increasing media success is his earnestness, often placing himself in the role of the fan once more. He described himself as a “lamprey” feeding off the “giant sperm whale” of pop culture products and feeling grateful, trying not to “impose” when working with actors from major shows. The Nerdist panel emphasized again that Hardwick still sees himself as an outsider in the mainstream, and an insider to “nerd” culture, no matter how many celebrity friends he accrues. That lends credence to his requests and his advice that fans continue to interact directly with the things they love through becoming “creators” too.

Photo Credits: All photos in this article were taken by semi-professional photographer and pop culture scholar Michele Brittany. She’s an avid photographer of pop culture events. You can learn more about her photography and pop culture scholarship here.

Hannah Means-Shannon writes and blogs about comics for TRIP CITY and Sequart.org and is currently working on books about Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore for Sequart. She is @hannahmenzies on Twitter and hannahmenziesblog on WordPress.

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A powerful looking Ron Ely, star of the TV’s “Tarzan”(1966-1968) and “Doc Savage: Man of Bronze” (1975) spellbound his audience at WonderCon Friday, relating his fight with a wild tiger.  According to Ely, “The Script read: Tarzan sees tiger, Tarzan fights tiger, Tarzan and tiger walkaway in opposite directions with mutual respect.” Instead of firing the writer and walking off the set as would likely happen these days, the actor concerned himself with how to achieve the scene. Contacting the San Diego Zoo, Ely and his producer’s were able persuade Zoo officials to detour a recently captured tiger from India to the set of “Tarzan” in Burbank.  Gaining the big cat’s trust by his attending every feeding,  Ely and the Tarzan production crew took precautions to insure no one would be hurt.  By forbidding a gun on the set, Ely was also insuring the tiger’s safety.

“When we were set to film I hit him on the nose and he gave me a look like ‘Is that the best you got?’ I hit him again and he ignored me. There was only one other thing I knew to do to rouse him–if I turned my back.” Sure enough, the tiger went flying over Ely’s head to pounce and they wrestled. “To a tiger, its just play,” Ely said with equanimity.  Much to Ely’s own astonishment, the scene came off as written.

You can enjoy Warner Bros. Archive Collection of “Tarzan” and “Doc Savage” available at http://www.wbshop.com/category/wbshop_brands/warner+archive.do.

Also being released by WarnerBros. Archive Collection: “Bomba, the Jungle Boy” (1949) and “The Adventures of Superboy, Season 3″ In coming months there will be additional releases of other Boomer generation Televison shows.  One such is “Maya,” starring Jay North.  The star of “Dennis the Menace”, now a teen, searches the jungles of India for his missing father aboard an Elephant named Maya. The show was a milestone for TV at its time in that it was filmed on location in India.