Comics Briefly

This story originally appeared in PW Comics Week on March 25, 2008 Sign up now!

Compiled by Ada Price -- Publishers Weekly, 3/24/2008 4:14:00 PM

Stan Lee at NYCC
New York Comic-Con announced that Marvel's legendary Stan Lee will be a Guest of Honor at the upcoming show, and Stan Lee will also be presented with the first New York Comics Legend Award. Stan Lee will be given the award at a reception at the Times Square Virgin Megastore on Thursday April 17at 8 PM. The New York Comics Legend Award will be given to one person each year for contributions to the advancement of comics and to life in New York City. Also, NYCC announced that Orson Scott Card and Gail Simone will be Guests of Honor. Along with Orson Scott Card, other science fiction and fantasy writers will be attending, including Terry Brooks and David Leah. Other recently announced guests include Ralph Bakshi, Jim Butcher, Garth Ennis, Mark Evanier, Scott McCloud, Ruben Procopio, and Steve Rude. NYCC will be held at the Jacob Javits Center, April 18–20.

Dark Horse Gets K Chronicles
Dark Horse will be releasing an omnibus edition of Keith Knight's semi-autobiographical comic strip, The K Chronicles. The first four volumes, Dances with Sheep, What a Long Strange Strip it's Been, The Passion of the Keef, and Fear of Black Marker, were out of print, but will be collected in a larger format in this book. Knight won the 2007 Harvey Award and the 2006 and 2007 Glyph Award for Best Comic Strip. The Complete K Chronicles will be released July 23, 2008. More information can be found at the Dark Horse website.

Penguin Classics Design Award
The Penguin Classics Deluxe Editions won the Brit Insurance Designs of the Year Award in the Graphics Category, given by the Design Museum in London. The series features covers by cartoonists such as Frank Miller, Chris Ware, Julie Doucet, Art Spiegelman, and Dan Clowes. The art directors of the series were Paul Buckley and Helen Yentus. More information can be found at the Design Museum's website.

PictureBox Store
PictureBox is opening a store, The PictureBox Departmental Store, in Brooklyn. The store will carry all the PictureBox books, along with other books, prints, comics, clothing, and stationary. The store is located at 121 Third St. in Brooklyn, New York. Also, copies of Gary Panter are now available for pre-order on the PictureBox website.

Booklist GN Issue
The March issue of Booklist, a publication of the American Library Association, focuses specifically on graphic novels. The issue includes an interview with James Strum, a list of the top ten graphic novels published in the last twelve months, top ten comics for youth, and a list of influential women cartoonists.

The Stranded on Sci-Fi Channel
Mike Carey is developing his comic, The Stranded, into a two hour television pilot for the Sci-Fi Channel. The Stranded is published by Virgin Comics; the first issue was released in January 2008, and the second issue was released in February. The third issue will be available on March 26. More information can be found at the Virgin website.

Comics Website for Kids
A new website of comics by kids, for kids, Riverside Reads, was launched by a Canadian Third Grade class and their teacher, Scott Tingley. The website features comics, art work, stories, and reviews, all by the students. The project is funded through an Innovative Learning Fund grant from the Government of New Brunswick. The staff of the site got technical assistance setting up the site from David Taiaroa, and a local artist, Eric Dyck worked with the students to design the banner. Kids from all over are invited to submit work to the site.

Comic Foundry Release Party
The Comic Foundry is holding a party for the release of Comic Foundry Issue #2 on Wednesday March 26. The magazine will be available on April 2. The first issue of Comic Foundry will be given to the first hundred guests. The event will be held at the Irish Rogue, located at 356 W. 44thSt. in New York City and will begin at 6:30 PM.

Tony Millionaire and Nicholas Gurewitch Exhibit
Dark Horse and Floating World Comics are presenting an exhibit of work by Nicholas Gurewitch and Tony Millionaire. Gurewitch's The Perry Bible Fellowship and Millionaire's Sock Monkey have both been collected by Dark Horse. The Exhibit will be at Floating World Comics in Portland, Oregon. There will be an opening reception on April 3 from 6 to 10 p.m. Another reception will be held on April 24 from 7 to 9 p.m., at which Gurewitch will be present. The show will remain up until April 30^. More information can be found at the Floating World Comics' website.

Comics on NPR
NPR’s Morning Edition takes a look at novelists such as John Ridley and Jodi Picoult; hip hop performer Percy Carey (aka MC Grimm) and TV writer Joss Whedon, all of whom have published graphic novels in the last year.

SVA Cartooning Exhibit
The School of Visual Arts' Junior Illustration and Cartooning Exhibit opened this week. There will be an opening reception on Wednesday March 26 from 6 to 8 p.m.. The exhibit focuses around the theme "Kings and Queens," and features comics and illustrations from the third year students. The show is being exhibited at the Visual Arts Gallery, located at 601 West 26th Street on the 15th floor in New York City. The show will remain open until April 5. More information can be found at the SVA website.