In progress.

Portfolio Day

I went to the SVA senior portfolio review today, expecting to be impressed by maybe a couple of kids that made up a small fraction of the class. Instead, I am incredibly impressed, and terrified, because these kids are going to destroy us all in the next decade. They still have some room to grow, but it’s the strongest group I’ve seen in years, with no clear “best in class” to watch, and for students, they’re pretty damn accomplished, most of them both as illustrators and cartoonists. On the way home I realized the industry these kids have grown up with: where Blankets has ALWAYS existed, Scott Pilgrim has been concluded since around when they entered school, EVERY Tezuka book is available in English, European comics are translated by just every publishing house- and they’re drawing on all of it for their own stuff. This class started school when Asterios Polyp came out, and then they learned from David Mazzucchelli. 

And they’re only the tip of the ice berg. I was in a high school in Houston a few weeks back, and their school library has a shelf like fifteen feet long stocked back and front with graphic novels & manga. If you talk to a teacher or librarian whose library has even a tiny graphic novels section, they will tell you about the kids who read comics like it is their job. The coming years are going to bring some changes to the comics world. When these kids get competent and connected, we’re in for some awesome work. 

The Big Feminist BUT buts into the Popular Comics Projects on Kickstarter!

bigfeministbut:

Thanks for backing up and buzzing up The Big Feminist BUT today, people! Check it!:

http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/popular?ref=home_popular

I’m terrified of public speaking, but…

This past Saturday, I attended the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association’s reception to receive the Carla Cohen Free Speech Award for Americus, given to a children’s book that promotes freedom of speech & first amendment rights. The award is in honor of former Politics & Prose co-owner Carla Cohen, who passed away in 2010. I met with her husband David & several P&P employees who spoke of Calra with a lot of love & admiration. Jonathan couldn’t make it to DC, but I went & read a speech. Technically, I only read part of a speech, the first & last paragraphs, but here’s the whole thing that I wrote, because I spent a whole day writing this: 

On behalf of myself and Jonathan Hill, thank you for this award. We would also like to thank our friends Jason Rainey, for toning the fantasy sequences, Greg Means and Galen Longstreth, who helped us with many, many revisions to the script and art; Calista Brill, Gina Gagliano, Colleen Venable, and Mark Siegle at First Second, and everyone at Roaring Brook / Macmillan who has been a part of getting our book out into the world; and our families, for their patience and support in our careers as comic book makers. To understand how blessed we are to have our parents behind us, consider that to be a comic maker, you receive all the career opportunities and financial stability of both a writer and an artist. We would also like to thank Powell’s in Portland Oregon & Forbidden Planet in New York for employing us during the production of our book. 

As Americus is the first comic to win this award, let me tell you a bit about this medium. The term “graphic novel” was coined by Will Eisner to distinguish between a saddle stitched pamphlet and a comic long enough to warrant a spine and nicer paper. It became a codeword to allow us read comics respectably, unobstructed by a textbook or blankets, in broad daylight, without the shame of costumes. Because I’m speaking seriously about comics, I’m obligated to remind you twenty years ago, Maus won a Pulitzer. The opening line of the New York Times book review was, “Art Spiegleman doesn’t draw comics.” This was one of a long line of left-handed praise in comics reviewing, which relegates most comics for children in a way that suggests most children are moderately stupid. Never mind the rampant popularity of Harry Potter, the Hunger Games, or Lord Of The Rings among adults as well as their intended audience.  

We strive for respectability in comics, under the notion that children’s entertainment and fantasy are not worth much. But this attitude is not specific to comics. An ideology has taken hold that children should read things that are fact-based, and easily testable, or at least that they should read uncontroversial material so that no one might be upset. 

The best books do not follow these rules. They engage us in worlds where the impossible can happen, and leave us thinking about questions where there aren’t easy answers. They upset us, when they mirror the controversies and injustices of the real world. The best books suck you in, and leave you wanting more at the end. They are never work to read, and when kids are encouraged to find them, their mental lives grow immeasurably. 

Americus was born out of my anger at the people that would try and prevent kids from reading something that engages them, who would have it removed from libraries so that they would be less able to find it on their own. I wanted to write a book that let them know that silly books about wizards are still worth fighting for, and that they can speak up about the things that are important to them. I’m so grateful that our book has found its audience, and incredibly honored to receive this year’s Carla Cohen Free Speech Award. Thank you for making kids’ comics a bit more respectable tonight. 

Edit: Forgot to mention, the award comes with a $100 donation to the charity of your choice, so we selected the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, which we thought best embodied the ideals of the award & the causes we believe in.