September 2024 Roundup

Happy belated Batman Day, everyone! We hope you enjoyed September 21 2024 by cracking out a comic or two and if you’re still getting around to it, we have plenty of Batman news and resources to inspire you.

Of course, like the folks at No Flying No Tights (who this month share an awesome resource on beginner reader comics), we know that graphic novels aren’t all about caped crusaders, so let’s take the opportunity this month to celebrate by reading any comic we like – we certainly will!

We are also excited to hear about this year’s winners of the Ignatz Awards and Ringo Awards, an eclectic mix of graphic novels that would look great on your library shelves. In dream job news, we are a bit jealous to hear that a national manga and anime archive is underway in Japan, chronicling the history of these culturally and creatively important mediums! We’re hoping this archive will be open to the public so we can learn a thing or two about the preservation of manga 🤞🤞

In local news, we are always happy to see the release of graphic novels and comics by Australian creators and this month we welcome Making the Shrine by Laura J. Carroll and Terralympus Vol 4 by Stephen Kok and co, as well as Squishbook: Make comics with Squishface Studio and friends, edited by David Blumenstein. Squishbook features the work of artists from Melbourne’s Squishface Comic Studio, a shared workspace for comics makers. According to the website, “it’s a “kids annual”-style collection of comics and activities, but it’s also a how-to-make-comics book, and a why-you-should-make-comics book!” which sounds like something every library should promote.

And look out for a creator chat with Dean Rankine discussing comics workshops in libraries and with Laura J. Carroll discussing the creation of Making the Shrine. They’re both coming up in October on our YouTube channel and podcast feed.

NEWS

• Following a successful Pozible campaign, Squishbook: Make comics with Squishface Studio and friends by Australian-based creator David Blumenstein and friends is out now! We’re excited to share that the book is also available for purchase through library suppliers ALS, James Bennett and Peter Pal. 
• Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs has launched a committee to develop a new national facility dedicated to collecting, preserving and exhibiting original manga and animation artwork on Aug. 29. Creating a national anime and manga archive is an excellent idea! For more read the article on The Asahi Shimbun here.
• Nimah Gobir has published an interesting article on KQED debunking myths about graphic novels and comics to unlock learning. Read the whole piece here.
• In good news for people who like graphic novel adaptations, another two works of classic literature have been given the graphic novel treatment: The Road by Cormac McCarthy (available now), and Lord of the Flies by William Golding (due in December). 
• Celebrate Batman Day this month by reading or ordering one of The Times Network’s recommended 10 Best Batman Graphic Novels Every Fan Must Read; stream the new spin-off series The Penguin; or read about the upcoming release Batman: Dark Patterns by Dan Watters and Hayden Sherman.

COLLECTIONS

• Publishers Weekly has a series of great roundups of graphic novels and manga being in autumn (that’s northern hemisphere up north, hayfever season here in Australia). If our monthly roundup is not enough and you want to go deeper, here are the lists: 

• Congratulations to the winners of the 2024 Ignatz Awards, with the ceremony taking place during SPX last weekend. The twenty-seventh edition of the awards (run annually since 1997) draws attention to stellar indie and alternative work across ten categories. See all the winners on The Beat here. And the winners of the Ringo Awards have also been announced. You can find all the winners here.
• We’re seeing more and more easy reader comics being published. These comics are an excellent way for early readers to get into comics. The always awesome people at No Flying No Tights have published a great post with a selection of them. Check out the titles here.

PODCASTS

• The ALIA Graphic Podcast: As always, you can listen here or wherever you listen to podcasts.

NEW TITLES

Comics-related books of interest

• Squishbook: Make Comics With Squishface Studio and Friends by Various authors (Nakedfella Productions) [9780987391261] [Australian creators]
• Giga Town: A Guide to Manga Iconography! by Fumiyo Kouno (Udon Entertainment) [9781772943085]

Junior

• Batman And Robin And Howard: Summer Breakdown by Jeffrey Brown (DC Comics) [9781779526991]
• Cat & Cat Adventures: The Staff of Knowledge by Susie Yi (Harper Alley) [9780063381360]
• Dear Dad by Jay Jay Patton, Antoine Patton, Kiara Valdez & Markia Jenai (Scholastic) [9781338893205]
• Game On!: Academy for Roblox Pros Vol 2 by Shea, Louis (Scholastic Australia) [9781761299667]
• Kristy and the Walking Disaster; The Baby-Sitters Club Graphix Vol.16 by Martin, Ann (Scholastic Inc) [9781761529016]
• Pearl by Smith, Sherri (Scholastic Inc) [9781761529009]
• Weirdo by Tony Weaver Jr. & Jes & Cin Wibowo (First Second) [9781250772879]

YA

• The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Ostertag (Graphix) [9781338839999]
• Justice League Vs. Godzilla Vs. Kong by Brian Buccellato, Christian Duce, Tom Derenick (DC Comics) [9781779525291]
• Fangirl, the manga, Vol 4 by Rainbow Rowell, Gabi Nam (VIZ Media) [9781974746880]
• Five Nights At Freddy’s: Fazbear’s Frights Graphic Novel Collection Vol 5 by Scott Cawthon and various authors (Scholastic) [9781339005348]
• The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben, Fred Bernard & Benjamin Flao (Greystone Books) [9781778401657]
• In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers by Don Brown (HarperCollins) [9780063360983]
• The Library Mule of Cordoba by Wilfrid Lupano, Leonard Chemineau (Ablaze) [9781684972791]
• Making the Shrine by Laura J. Carroll (The Crossley Press) [9781763515604] [Australian creator]
• Morgana and Oz by Miyuli (Webtoon Unscrolled) [9781998854837]
• Please Be My Star by Victoria Grace Elliott (Scholastic) [9781338840407]
• A Quick and Easy Guide to Coming Out by Kristin Russo (Oni Press) [9781637155066]
• Terralympus Vol 4 by Stephen Kok, Igor Cicarini, Wilson Go, Shaun Keenan (Comics2Movies)[9780648946793] [Australian creators]

Adult

• Alan Scott: The Green Lanterns by Tim Sheridan, Cian Tormey (DC Comics) [9781779527219]
• Avengers: Twilight by Chip Zdarsky, Daniel Acuna (Marvel Comics) [9781302921484]
• Emilie’s Inheritance Vol 2 of 5: Maeve by Florence Magnin (Cinebook) [9781800441439]
• Final Cut by Charles Burns (Pantheon) [9780593701706]
• Holler by Jeremy Massie (Dark Horse Comics) [9781506743417]
• The Incredible Story of Cooking by by Stéphane Douay & Benoist Simmat (NBM) [9781681123400]
• Joker: The World by Various Authors (DC Comics) [9781779528223]
• In The Shadow of Stalin by by Andrea Chalupa, Ivan Rodrigues (Oni Press) [9781637152775]
• My Time Machine by Carol Lay (Fantagraphics) [9781683969983]
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy & Manu Larcenet (Abrams Comics Arts) [9781419776779]
• The Strange Tales of Oscar Zahn Vol 1 by Tri Vuong (Random House) [9781984863287]
• Subzero Vol 1 by Junepurr (Oni Press) [9781637154434]
• Surviving on Mars by Brandon Graham (Living the Line) [9781961581029]