Hyperion, CCS Publish Houdini Bio
by Kate Culkin -- Publishers Weekly, 3/20/2007 9:03:00 AM
Hyperion Books for Children and the Center for Cartoon Studies will roll out the first product of their partnership on April 1 with Houdini: The Handcuff King by Jason Lutes and Nick Bertozzi. The collaboration between Hyperion and CCS, a cartooning school and resource center launched in 2005 in White River Junction, Vt., will produce a series of biographies for young adults created by CCS faculty members under the supervision of series editor and CCS director James Sturm.
In an interview with PW Comics Week, Brenda Bowen, v-p and editor-in-chief of Hyperion Books for Children, explained that the collaboration will aid both Hyperion and the center. “I want to bring Hyperion into the graphic novel age in a way that is appropriate for Hyperion. We are trying to broaden our expertise,” she noted, adding that Sturm’s knowledge is invaluable for that project. At the same time, an association with an established publishing house like Hyperion (a division of Disney) offers the young school a “tangible calling card to students and supporters.” The collaboration may also provide opportunities for young artists. Bowen explained: “By aligning ourselves with the Center for Cartoon Studies, we have access to some of the best established artists and the best new talent. We would like to take a chance on students coming out of the school.”
Bowen and Sturm focused on biographies because, as Bowen said, there was a dearth of good ones for young adults, who want to read about their heroes. Originally Bowen and Sturm developed a list of possible subjects, but “decided it was more interesting and fun to go to artists and ask what they wanted to explore.”
Harry Houdini has long fascinated Jason Lutes, the Eisner Award-nominated author of Jar of Fools (Drawn and Quarterly, 1995) and Berlin (Drawn and Quarterly, 2001). Sturm brought on fellow Houdini fan Bertozzi, whose own historically based work of fiction, Salon, will be released by St. Martin’s Griffin in April, to work with Lutes’s thumbnails. The book focuses on one of Houdini’s most famous stunts, a January1908 jump off of a Cambridge bridge into the frigid Charles River. The 82 pages bring the magician fully to life, demonstrating his ambition, ingenuity and talent for self-promotion, as well as the role his wife played in his success and his struggles with anti-Semitism. Bertozzi’s bold lines and Lutes’s spare, well-chosen words create a sense of suspense and drama even for those who know how the story ends.
The volume contains supplemental material for readers interested in learning more about the magician and his time. The introduction by Glen David Gold, author of Carter Beats the Devil (Hyperion, 2001), describes Houdini’s personality and his place in the culture. Five pages of “panel discussions” in the back provide contextual information on topics like “American Promotion and Advertising in 1908” and “Houdini’s Need for Utter Secrecy and the Measures He Took to Insure It.” The book also has a bibliography. All volumes in the series will include similar contextual material.
Houdini will appeal to a wide variety of audiences, including readers aged 10 and up and those interested in American cultural history and the history of magic. The historical information makes the volume especially attractive to teachers and librarians, and a teacher’s guide is planned.“It helped a lot that Gene Yang’s First Born Chinese was nominated for a National Book Award,” Bowen said. “With the endorsement of the National Book Awards and the ALA, teachers feel more confident trusting their instincts about the benefits of using graphic novels in the classroom.”
Bowen said the initial print run will be “generous.” Marketing plans include a Book Sense White Box mailing, buzz mailings to magicians, an outreach campaign for the Jewish media and promotion on www.hyperionteens.com. The Center for Cartoon Studies will also promote the book through its broad network of artists and authors. Houdini was featured at New York Comic-Con and will get similar treatment this summer at the San Diego Comic-Con. While appearances by Lutes and Bertozzi have not been set, Bowen believed they will be arranged in the near future.
Two more books in the series are already in the works. Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow by James Sturm will be published in January 2008. In August of that year, John Porcellino’s take on Henry David Thoreau’s Walden will appear, with Porcellino’s illustrations and Thoreau’s words. “I hope there will be a great number of these books,” Bowen said, envisioning the collaboration as a long and productive one.
