The weekend is here and that means Roger Langridge at Big Planet Comics in Vienna, VA later today and the Small Press Expo this weekend! While you get excited for all of that, here’s the news you might have missed.
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is proud to host Craig Thompson at this year’s Small Press Expo, and to premiere his eagerly awaited graphic novel HABIBI! Through a special arrangement with Random House, a benefit preview edition of 100 signed & numbered copies of the graphic novel will be available to donors who contribute $100 or more to the CBLDF at SPX. These copies will be available on a first-come, first served basis when the show opens on Saturday, September 10.
In addition to this rare preview, the CBLDF is also auctioning off lunch at SPX with Craig and #1/100 from this preview edition on eBay starting on Tuesday, August 30th, and ending on Thursday, September 8th. Bid on this exciting auction now!
Craig Thompson says, “It’s very exciting to be able to launch HABIBI at SPX in a way that gives back to the CBLDF. I got my start in small press comics, and have always been supportive of the CBLDF. Being able to help out in this way, and to appear at the show with HABIBI feels like a homecoming.”
Sprawling across an epic landscape of deserts, harems, and modern industrial clutter, HABIBI tells the tale of Dodola and Zam, refugee child slaves bound to each other by chance, circumstance, and love. We follow them as their lives unfold together and apart; as they struggle to make a place for themselves in a world fueled by fear and greed.
At once contemporary and timeless, HABIBI gives us a love story of astounding resonance; a parable about our relationship to the natural world, the cultural divide between the first and third worlds, the common heritage of Christianity and Islam, and the magic of storytelling.
This is a rare opportunity to spend time with one of the great modern cartoonists, and receive an extremely limited edition of what is sure to be the biggest graphic novel event of 2011.
All proceeds from this auction will immediately benefit the First Amendment legal work of the CBLDF.
The main character of “Demon Circle,” Athis, is an apprentice wizard in the Crimson Keep, and he isn’t the brightest flame in the candelabra. So, when he and another apprentice named Belid summon a demon and then panic, trouble ensues—trouble that threatens to snowball wildly out of control. Will they and their fellow student Klaria be able to deal with the consequences before their master finds out? Will the Crimson Keep still be standing when it’s all over?
“Demon Circle” is an original novella from Peter David, Michael Jan Friedman, Bob Greenberger, Glenn Hauman, Aaron Rosenberg, and Howard Weinstein, the writers behind the new author-driven publishing venture Crazy 8 Press. Written live at ShoreLeave33, proceeds from the sale of “Demon Circle” benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, which protects the First Amendment rights of comic book writers, artists, retailers, and fans.
The novella is available for download from ComicMix.com, which is giving a greater portion of the proceeds to CBLDF. You also can choose to make a larger donation to CBLDF when you purchase your copy.
Enjoy the comedic fantasy of “Demon Circle” and support the CBLDF by downloading your copy today!
It’s Wednesday which means new comic book day. More importantly than means the debuts of Justice League #1 and Flashpoint #5. How many of you went to midnight release parties and how many are grabbing it today? While you think about that, here’s the news you might have missed.
We’ll have the first episode up in a bit, but for two out of three of us never having done internet radio, it went well. You’ll be able to listen to it later, but while you wait, here’s the news you might have missed.
Pantheon Books will be at this year’s San Diego ComicCon (July 20-24), and we would love to see you there. We will be at Booth#1515.
We have two Pantheon authors joining us at ComicCon this year: Craig Thompson/HABIBI (onsale 9/20) and Chip Kidd/BAT MANGA!. Both will be appearing at our booth and on author panels, and I would love to set up interviews for you with them in advance of or during the event. Thompson is available for on-site interviewson Friday (7/22) and Saturday (7/23), and Kidd will be available for interviews throughout the convention. More information about the artists may be found below.
Also, just a note that this year marks the 25th anniversary of Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer-Prize winning Maus, and in the fall Pantheon is publishing Spiegelman’s METAMAUS (onsale 10/4), a studied look at the genesis of Maus, accompanied by a DVD with never-before-seen panels, a home movie, and other objects relating to the original publication of Spiegelman’s groundbreaking original comic book. We will have METAMAUS buttons on hand for giveaway throughout the convention.
Finally, next spring, Pantheon’s sister imprint Schocken Books is publishing its first ever graphic novel: UNTERZAKHN (onsale 3/20/2012) by Leela Corman, a mesmerizing, heartbreaking story of immigrant life on New York’s Lower East Side at the turn of the 20th century. In anticipation of this exciting release, we will be giving away women’s panties at the Pantheon booth, since, as some of you may know, the word “unterzakhn” is Yiddish for “underthings.” How’s that for a buzz-worthy giveaway item?
Craig Thompson’s previous graphic novels include Blankets (for which he received three Harvey Awards for Best Artist, Best Graphic Album of Original Work, and Best Cartoonist; and two Eisner Awards for Best Graphic Album and Best Writer/Artist); Goodbye, Chunky Rice; and Carnet de Voyage. He lives in Portland, Oregon. Advance praise for HABIBI: “This is not just an epic that sprawls from desert to harem to modern urban waste…it’s a look at how the first and third worlds are divided, Islam and Christianity united, and humanity too separated from the natural world. Ambitious.” —Library Journal
Chip Kidd is a graphic designer and writer in New York City. His previous books about comics for Pantheon were Bat Manga!, Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz, and Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross. Two won the Eisner Award and were national bestsellers. As an editor, Kidd has most recently overseen the publication of Alex Ross’s Rough Justice (3/30/2010). http://goodisdead.com/
Pantheon Books works with some of the most iconic and innovative graphic novelists on the scene. Charles Burns, Dan Clowes, David Mazzucchelli, Alex Ross, Marjane Satrapi, Art Spiegelman, and Chris Ware are just a few of the many talents we publish, and information about them will be on hand at our booth.
It’s new comic day and we’re looking to check out what the pull box has in store, what are you picking up this week? What comic book news did you miss? Check out what caught our eye in the past 24 hours.
Around the Blogs:
Wired – Why Kickstarter May Save Independent Comic Books – Geekdad Dave Banks checks out why Kickstarter might save independent comics. I’ve dropped a few hundred dollars in the past year to support a few projects and pledged towards a few more that didn’t reach their goal.
ICv2 – Craig Thompson’s ‘Habibi’ Due Sept. 20th – The Islamic influence has made this yet to be published graphic novel square in the hater’s crosshairs (and we chose that word on purpose). It’s already been banned by one library, only to see that decision reversed.
Publishers Weekly – Bad News But More Good News for Boom! Studios – It’s been a weird couple of weeks for Boom! Studios. Check out what’s been up and the decision behind renaming their kids line kaboom!
Skip to content