Independent comics publishers will rule the floor at BEA, while Marvel and DC Comics, the Big Two of U.S. comics publishing, have decided to skip having their own booths at the show. Nevertheless, both publishers are likely to have at least a minimal presence of their titles in the Diamond Comic Distributors booth (3575) as well as displays with their parent companies, Disney (3351 and MR7023) and Warner Bros. (RC67), respectively.
Fantagraphics (3422) returns to BEA this year after last year’s decision to attend only biannually for the duration of the show’s stay in New York, on hand with info for all of the publisher’s spring, summer, and fall releases. A featured fall release is The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln by Noah Van Sciver, who is attending the show, and a new volume of Love and Rockets, the first in Fantagraphics’ 30th anniversary celebration of the comic by the Hernandez brothers; Jaime Hernandez will be here.Check the booth for signing schedules.
NBM Publishing and its children’s- and YA comics–focused sister company, Papercutz, are again exhibiting together (3466) with a wide variety of books from their upcoming catalogues. Papercutz is pushing its big fall launch, Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, a tale of Nancy Drew and friends when they were just eight years old. Papercutz also continues promotion for its new Power Rangers series and the Three Stooges graphic novel, which released in time for the Farrelly brothers’ movie. Stan Goldberg, the artist on both Nancy Drew and the Three Stooges, will be at the booth, signing today, 10–11 a.m., noon–1 p.m.
NBM is also showcasing its 35th anniversary celebration with a sampler containing pages from major fall titles, with a particular focus on those with an educational bent that will be available by September, such as Taxes, the Tea Party and Those Revolting Rebels: A History in Comics of the American Revolution by Stan Mack and Philosophy—A Discovery in Comics by Margreet de Heer. Also big this fall will be a new book from Renaud Dillies, whose Bubbles & Gondola is up for two Eisner Awards this year, and the second book in NBM’s Louvre collection, a line of graphic novels published in collaboration with and set in the great French museum, coming February.
Steerforth Publishing/Campfire (4048A), distributed by Random House, is giving prominence to Steve Jobs: Genius by Design, the newest addition to its Heroes subject category. The graphic biography chronicles Jobs’s life beginning with his unusual upbringing, through the origins of Apple, and finally his rise to the top of the tech world. According to publisher Chip Fleischer, the diversity of BookExpo attendees is perfect for Campfire, which boasts more than 80 titles in a wide range of genres suited for libraries, bookstores, and comic shops. Steerforth’s line of Campfire graphic novels is produced in India for an English-speaking market.
Oni Press, represented at the Diamond Distributors booth (3575–3577), is highlighting its recent Eisner Award nominees as well as its newest releases, including the supernatural western the Sixth Gun, book 1: Cold Dead Fingers, nominated for Best Writer (Cullen Bunn) and Best Coloring (Bill Crabtree); Ivy, about an aspiring painter on a soul-searching journey, nominated for Best Writer/Artist (Sarah Oleksyk) and Best Graphic Album—New; and One Soul by Ray Fawkes, a “unique and poetic narrative” that follows the lives of 18 individuals, also up for Best Graphic Album—New. The publisher is promoting the new graphic novel The Coldest City, by Antony Johnston, illustrated by Sam Hart. The book, a historical thriller about a British spy, includes “counterespionage, defections gone bad, and secret assassinations.”
Image Comics (3580) is on hand with about 40 upcoming titles as well as a new book market catalogue that will focus on self-contained collections, which Image thinks will be of greater interest to the book crowd at BEA than some more popular ongoing titles. Of note are The Infinite Horizon by Gerry Duggan and Phil Noto; Queen Crab by Jimmy Palmiotti, art by Artiz Eiguren; Severed by Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft, art by Attila Futaki; D.O.G.S. of Mars by Johnny Zito, Tony Trov, Christian Weiser, art by Paul Maybury; and memoir comics Between Gears by Natalie Nourigat and Emitown by Emi Lennox. Image is also featuring signings by creators Chris Giarrusso (G-Man), Charles Soule (Twenty-seven), and Jim Zubkavich and Edwin Huang (Skullkickers) at the booth; check there for signing schedules.
Educational publisher Lerner Publishing is exhibiting in the Children’s Pavilion (2357). For its Graphic Universe, Andrés Vera Martínez will be signing copies of Little White Duck: A Childhood in China in the autographing area, Table 17, today, 2–3 p.m.
Slightly Off Productions (3489) is promoting Against the Grain: Genesis, Part 1, the publisher’s first release, which made its debut at C2E2. The book, by Erica Austin, follows the humorous exploits of Leslie, a young girl with a wild imagination who strives to stay true to her independent spirit as she comes of age. Austin is eager to spread the word on her new book and “connect with more readers” by offering free copies to fans and reviewers at the booth all three days.
Anomaly Productions (4070A) is showcasing its debut release, Anomaly, a sprawling science fiction epic that is more than just a graphic novel (although it’s quite a book at 370 full-color pages); it’s a “multimedia experience,” including a stand-alone tablet app that acts as a sort-of companion to the book, and an augmented reality app to further enhance the story. Anomaly founders and authors Skip Brittenham and Brian Haberlin will be promoting the book as well as demos of both apps.
First Second features its catalogue in the Macmillan Children’s Publishing booth (3358) and is on several panels. At 9:30 a.m. tomorrow in Room 1E04, First Second editorial director Mark Siegel will be moderating a panel with representatives of Midtown Comics, WORD bookstore, and Watchung Booksellers on how to do graphic novel events for bookstores. Later, First Second authors Zack Giallongo (Broxo) and Mark Siegel (Sailor Twain) plus Fantagraphics’ Noah Van Sciver will participate in the “Meet 2012 Graphic Novel Authors!” program at the Uptown Author Stage, 11–11:30 a.m.
Another Macmillan company, Hill and Wang, (3358), is promoting three upcoming releases, The Hammer and the Anvil, Trinity, and Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me. The Hammer, written by Dwight Jon Zimmerman and illustrated by Wayne Vansant, tells the story of two Civil War–era orators, Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Trinity, a debut graphic novel by writer/artist Jonathan Fetter-Vorm, looks at the conception and utilization of the atomic bomb. Finally, Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me, a memoir written by the late Harvey Pekar, illustrated by JT Waldman, examines the history of the Jewish state.
