Posted 5/6/13 4:10 pm EST by Eddie Wright in Comic Books, First Second
Watch: Boaz Yakin On Jerusalem
Writer and filmmaker Boaz Yakin sat down to tell us about his new graphic novel, from First Second Books, "Jerusalem." Yakin chose to tell the story of his family who have been living in Jerusalem since the 1890s. He told us, "I wanted to capture the spirit and the mood of what they experienced in the '40s. It was a pretty tumultuous and defining period there."
Posted 5/6/13 12:15 pm EST by Eddie Wright in Comic Books, First Second
Watch: Matt Kindt's Red Handed Book Signing
Matt Kindt's "Red Handed: The Fine Art of Strange Crimes" is out tomorrow, May 7, and First Second Books sent over this exclusive (and hot) look at how the creator is signing copies of his mystery graphic novel...and yeah, it's dangerous!
Posted 5/1/13 12:16 pm EST by Eddie Wright in Comic Books, First Second
Cartoonist and cook and Lucy Knisley invited us into her kitchen to cook up some delightful sauteed carrots and talk her new graphic memoir/cookbook from First Second Books, "Relish: My Life in the Kitchen."
Posted 3/25/13 2:45 pm EST by Eddie Wright in Comic Books, First Second
Watch: George O'Connor On 'Poseidon: Earth Shaker'
Throughout four volumes of his "Olympians" series, George O'Connor has told the graphic tales of "Hades," "Hera," "Zeus, " and others. Now in Volume 5, the cartoonist enters the underwater world of the sea-god in "Poseidon: Earth Shaker."
Posted 12/17/12 4:39 pm EST by Eddie Wright in Comic Books, First Second, Interviews
Santa Claus is feeling left behind thanks to the tech and video game-savvy youths of the 21st century who no longer need the fat man's elfmade goodies. So St. Nick, one of his elves and their pal the Knight decide to create a comic that'll hopefully get the kids to drop their fancy gadgets and pick up a pencil and paper to create their own comic books. James Sturm, Andrew Arnold and Alexis Frederick-Frost's rhyming all-ages graphic novel, "Adventures in Cartooning: Christmas Special" from First Second Books serves as both the story of a Christmas wish as a christmas wish itself, since the creative team hopes "Adventures" will inspire real-life kids to take a breather from all the screen-staring to embrace their creativity by producing homemade comics. In fact, at the end of the comic, children are asked to send a comic to Santa instead of the standard letter.
I spoke with James Sturm about the inspiration of "Adventures in Cartooning: Christmas Special," the Center for Cartoon Studies (which he co-founded) and the comics that "Christmas Special" has inspired so far.
Posted 10/11/12 10:30 am EST by Alex Zalben in Comic Books, First Second
Earlier this week, we posted an exclusive trailer for First Second's fun - but heartfelt - new barbarians versus zombies book Broxo. Now we've got a chat with the author of the book, Zack Giallongo... Though he's worked in mini-comics before, this is a remarkably assured debut OGN for the writer/artist, well worth checking out:
MTV Geek: Can you talk a little bit about the genesis of Broxo? It almost feels like we jump into a fully formed world right from the start, but I imagine that's a lot of hard work and outlining before you even got into the process...
Zack Giallongo: Yeah. Even though we only see a small glimpse of the region for a short period of time, I had to know what was possible on Peryton Peak, what the world beyond is like, and what had gone before in Penthosian history. I had thought, in the beginning, that I had a handle on it, but my editor, Calista Brill, had me step back and do some really serious world building before I went ahead with the story. There are hints in the final narrative as to what the rest of the region is like, but it all exists in notes and drawings. The Five Clans are all fleshed out as well as their history and customs. I love field guides and bestiaries, so over the summer I took my notes and created something like 15 D&D Monstrous Manual-style entries for the various creatures on Peryton Peak and posted them to the MacTeen blog. Read More...
Posted 10/8/12 5:00 pm EST by Alex Zalben in Comic Books, First Second
You guys like zombies, right? How about barbarians fighting zombies? Okay, how about semi-adorable, but still totally intense zombie fighting barbarians? Well good news: First Second has a book for you, and it's called "Broxo." But rather than listening to us crank on about it, right up above you can check out an awesome "live action" trailer for the book that'll give you the whole rundown of the plot.
Posted 9/26/12 2:00 pm EST by Alex Zalben in Comic Books, First Second
This October, First Second releases probably the most anticipated graphic novel of the year, writer/artist Hope Larson's adaptation of Madeline L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time." Having read the book, I can happily say it delivers, capturing the magic of the novel, while remaining firmly Larson's own. I also got a chance to chat with Larson over e-mail about the process of making the book, how she balanced Larson's "AWIT" with L'Engle's, and why Charles Wallace's eyes are so big:
Posted 9/17/12 1:30 pm EST by Alex Zalben in Comic Books, First Second, Indie
In the world of "Sailor Twain," the steamboat is king, and fairy tales do exist... In particular, mermaids, who are as beautiful - and dangerous - as you might imagine. Mark Siegel's graphic novel hits bookstores on October 2nd from First Second, but we got to chat with the author/artist in advance of the release to chat about his inspiration, the secret clues littered throughout the book, and Starbucks. Yup, Starbucks:
Posted 8/21/12 12:57 pm EST by Alex Zalben in Comic Books, First Second
Last year, writer/artist Ben Hatke published Zita The Spacegirl, the story of a girl lost far from Earth who becomes an intergalactic hero. This year, Hatke - and Zita - are back with more all-ages adventures, in the exciting, hilarious, and overall fun second volume: Legends of Zita The Spacegirl. We chatted with Hatke in advance of the books release by First Second to find out what's coming up for Zita, what the market is like for all-ages books, and which Joss Whedon show he draws inspiration from (hint: it isn't Golden Girls):
Read More...
Posted 9/27/11 11:35 am EST by MTV Geek in Comic Books, First Second, Marvel
The X-Men begin anew in 'X-Men Regenesis' and we've got a first look at the first two covers for the new title from Marvel Architect Jason Aaron and artist Chris Bachalo's take on Wolvie and the rest of the crew! Read More...
Posted 6/17/11 4:43 pm EST by Valerie Gallaher in First Second, Graphic Novels
Level Up, by Gene Luen Yang and Thien Pham, uses the iconography of classic video games to tell a unique and touching coming-of-age story. When talented gamer Dennis' father dies, he is haunted by the late man's request for his son to become a doctor. Dennis trades his joysticks for medical textbooks, ironically attempting to overcome his own delicate stomach on the road to becoming a gastroenterologist.
Assisting Dennis on this journey are four angels (who appear as though they were designed by Sanrio). When the identity of this quartet of incorporate beings is discovered, it brings the whole video game metaphor together in a most ingenious fashion. Further, while it seems as if the story is going to end in one particular way, close to the end it completely changes direction; it is that non-cliched resolution that I think makes Level Up stand out. Read More...
Posted 1/10/11 11:10 am EST by Valerie Gallaher in Comic Books, First Second
"Unwanted Carnival", the latest graphic novel project by Molly Crabapple and John Leavitt, has been acquired by First Second Books, the award-winning graphic novel division of Macmillan. Crabapple and Leavitt are the co-creators of "Scarlett Takes Manhattan" (Fugu Press), "Puppet Makers" (DC Digital), and "The Dr. Sketchy's Official Rainy Day Colouring Book".
Crabapple -- who has illustrated for Marvel Comics, New York Times, and the Wall Street Journalin addition to creating Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art Show -- told MTV Geek that she was ecstatic about the sale of "Unwanted Carnival" --
"When I found out I got the book deal from First Second, I was drinking scotch in the Groucho Club in London. I did a little glee dance, and bought more scotch for friends, because, goddamn, First Second...To see that it sold, to a publisher that put out the first comic ever to be a finalist for a National Book award, that published beautifully done books I deeply admired -- well, there was squeeing to be had!" Read More...
Posted 12/10/10 4:26 pm EST by Valerie Gallaher in Comic Books, Digital Comics, First Second
Since today is Human Rights Day -- marking the anniversary of the UN General Assembly's adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 -- I thought it might be appropriate to take a look at First Second's webcomic "Zahra's Paradise." Set in Iran after the last election and the mass protests -- and violent government reprisals -- that followed, it is the work of Amir, an Iranian-American human rights activist, journalist and documentary filmmaker, and Khalil, a cartoonist and fine artist. Both names are pseudonyms, necessary for "obvious political reasons."
"Zahra's Paradise" is the fictional story of the strong-as-nails mother and blogger brother of a young protester, Mehdi, who has vanished in the Islamic Republic’s gulags. Mehdi's brother keeps his presence and spirit alive through the use of his blog -- using the Internet to help create social justice much the way the webcomic itself does. Read More...
