• DNL eBooks - turning laptops into ebook readers
• DNL eBooks launches DNL MAC Reader

News

• Scrooge McDuck Grabs Kingpin: Breaking Down Disney's Acquisition of Marvel
  Can a mouse and a spider make lots of money together? We'll soon find out. The entertainment world was rocked Monday morning by the news that Disney plans to buy Marvel Entertainment for a cool $4 billion. Even the Kingpin would say that's a lot of dough.
  more » » » 
• Web to Print and Back Again
  Web comics are quickly becoming a reliable and flexible publishing strategy both for creators and publishers. As more traditional book publishers look to pick up Web comics for print publication, a burgeoning group of young creators have taken to the Web, using it as a platform for building their skills while they get exposure and generate a little or maybe a lot of income.
  more » » » 
• Hackers are People Too: Ed Piskor's 'Wizzywig'
  In an unusual creative effort that mixes fictional techniques with serious nonfiction research, cartoonist Ed Piskor has self-published the first two volumes of Wizzywig, a planned four-volume graphic novel that folds the history of the hacker community into a single fictional character named Kevin Phenicle in order to document the history and technological and social development of hacker and online culture.
  more » » » 
• Candlewick's 'Vermonia'—Multifaceted, Mythic Manga
  Like the characters in its own story, Vermonia has a distinguished and almost mythic beginning. The manga series is the brainchild of a renowned editor and a manga professor and has a multifaceted existence in print and online. The series is being published in the U.S. by Candlewick Press (the initial printing is 25,000 copies); in the U.K. by Walker, and in Italy by Mondadori.
  more » » » 

Life In Comics

• Life in Comics: Competing with the Old Guard
  In last month's column I parenthetically mentioned graphic novel publishing imprints that are a part of large traditional publishing companies. Several prominent publishers have established themselves with strong graphic novel showings in recent years.
  more » » » 

Why I Write

• Why I Wrote 'Stitches'
  As part of our on-going series, Why I Write, PW invited David Small to comment on the incident that sparked the writing of Stitches, his graphic account of a harrowing childhood, which will be published by W. W. Norton in September.
  more » » » 

Reviews

• Ooku: The Inner Chambers, Vol. 1
  FUMI YOSHINAGA. Viz, $13 (216p) ISBN 978-1-4215-2747-5
  The Edo period of an alternate Japan is ruled entirely by women in this manga. A mysterious plague has killed three out of four boys for generations, so men are carefully guarded and sheltered, while women go about the business of daily life. The Ooku was an area of Edo Castle reserved for the shogun's concubines and female relatives; here the shogun is a woman and the Ooku is entirely male. One of the few serious works of alternate history in contemporary manga, Ooku explores the relationship between gender and culture in subtle and unexpected ways.
  more » » » 
• Talking Lines
  R.O. BLECHMAN. Drawn & Quarterly, $27.95 (272p) ISBN 978-1-897299-85-2
  Whether appearing in Harvey Kurtzman's short-lived comic magazine Humbug in the late 1950s, or the New York Times Book Review in 2004, Blechman's graphic stories are remarkably consistent. His simple yet sophisticated style is inimitable and instantly recognizable: jittery lines, barely sketched-out settings and deadpan sensibility. Blechman's characters are frequently clueless sorts, hurling ridiculous actions into the winds of the time and being judged harshly for it by their creator. His sense of the satiric crops up frequently, and it is rarely applied with much subtlety. With the exception of "Contamination," a longer piece from 1964 about the nuclear arms race, most of Blechman's political work falls flat.
  more » » » 
• Geronimo Stilton: The Discovery of America
  VARIOUS. NBM/Papercutz, $9.95 (56p) ISBN 978-1-59707-158-1
  This graphic novel series for young readers, originally written in Italian, has been translated into multiple languages and is now appearing for the first time in the U.S. The series pits an adventurous family of mice against a group of malevolent pirate cats who travel through time, threatening to change the course of history. The first two books, released simultaneously, successfully walk the line between education and entertainment, elaborating on Christopher Columbus's journey in The Discovery of America and on ancient Egypt in the companion The Secret of the Sphinx. The characters are likable, the writing energetic and the drawings busily engaging.
  more » » » 

Panel Mania

• Panel Mania: Ball Peen Hammer
  In the dark, post apocalyptic world of Ball Peen Hammer in which plague has infected the city, Welton, infected himself, has locked himself in a basement to stay safe. In this preview, Welton opens the door of his refuge. Ball Peen Hammer is written by Adam Rapp, with art by George O'Conner, and will be released by First Second on September 29th.
  more » » » 

Comics Briefly

On-Sale Calendar