And clearly the star of the lineup was Amulet creator Kazu Kibuishi.

Kibuishi opened his talk by saying when he was 3 or 4, his mother had her sights on him becoming a doctor. As a child who already liked drawing, he figured the only chance he’d really get to make cartoons was by doing caricatures of his patients, and that didn’t seem good enough. He expressed his excitement for the Scholastic Book Fair at school, where he’d pick up Garfield collections And sometimes, if they were out, he’d begrudgingly get a Marmaduke one instead (he then jokingly clarified that since this was being recorded, he did want to state Marmaduke is great). He also said he’s delighted that his books are now published through Scholastic and being sold at the same book fairs he loved.

Kibuishi said he didn’t go to art school — as much as he loved drawing and comics, he realized he probably couldn’t make a living at it. So he picked what he thought was a safer bet — filmmaking. He said, basically, film school taught him “to watch movies really well” rather than the actual craft of making movies. Still, even he admits that his film background tends to give his comics a cinematic scope.

After graduating, seeing that his family was facing some financial difficulties, he got a job as a graphic designer. But he decided that wasn’t for him and after turning down a promotion, he landed in animation, including a stint at Disney. His frustrations there (he said he was being paid to not do anything) eventually decided to give comics another try.

Amulet began as a pitch for an animated movie and was inspired by his parents’ financial situation — or as Kibuishi put it, that he, in some ways, had to become his “parents’ parent.” He said that the siblings Emily and Navin are, in a good number of ways, based on his sister and brother.

Since Kibuishi was not able to use any computer-assisted visual aids, he drew for the audience instead as he talked. I know he’s quite used to drawing these characters at this point, but I was amazed at how quickly and casually he was able to do this, especially when his attention was elsewhere.

Kibuishi also talked about his high school teacher that encouraged him to write and that he feels like his training is stronger as a writer and storyteller rather than someone who makes comics.

Kibuishi then turned it over to audience questions (which probably took up about half of his allotted time). Many of the young fans of Amulet had questions, from specific plot points to his inspirations (there were a good number of children in the audience), which I think is great.

I liked his responses to the question of his recommendations for elementary and middle school students interested in drawing and making comics. He said that the technical aspects aren’t as important as just doing it. He said the main problem is trying to find a way to function while doing it (as well as making money) but that at this point, he feels like it’s his job to teach and encourage children to read.

When asked when the fifth book of Amulet was coming out, he pulled out his three-ring binder containing his thumbnails of pages and sketches. He said he’s working on it now. Later, when someone asked how long the series was going to be, he joked that he thought it was going to be 2 books and at this point, it will be over “whenever the story decides it’s over” but probably somewhere between 7 and 10 books. (In any case, we have more Amulet to look forward to.)

He talked a bit about the Flight anthologies he edited. Initially, he had seen other animators and artists in his position and wanted to give them a platform to showcase their works. He also mentioned being inspired by Hayao Miyazaki’s comic works (it should come as no surprised to anyone that Kibuishi is inspired by Miyazaki). Even though Flight has ended with volume 8 (which he said was for a variety of reasons, but partially just that anthologies are often hard to sell), the concept will continue in a format for younger readers called Explorer.

A few questions were asked about an Amulet movie and he said a live-action one is in the works with Will Smith’s children in the lead roles. He said he wrote a treatment but understanding how the film industry works, he doesn’t know if they’ll use it. When asked if he wanted to write the script, he said it’s still a possibility but he’s more interested in doing his comics.

Around that point, his time was up and he gave thanks as he began to leave the stage to make way for the next guest.

I am curious, though, what happened with his drawing that he created on stage. I did see two girls excitedly approach the stage and ask about it. I don’t know if they ended up with it but I would love it if they did.

It was a good first year for a dedicated Graphic Novel pavilion at the National Book Festival and I hope it’s back next year. Especially if they continue to bring in creators like Kibuishi.

Despite having little familiarity with the story, it felt very easy to pick up the plot. Kibuishi doesn’t spend much time explaining things, but the characters and motivations are instantly clear through the strength of his storytelling. It’s perfectly fine being thrown right into the action — the story moves so quickly there’s not much time to be lost.

Kibuishi’s simple, strong lines for his characters give them a distinctive and clear charm. He draws their emotions plainly on their faces and communicates as much through composition and wordless panels as he does through dialogue. There’s a real sense of movement in these pages, and his experiences as an animator definitely give this book a cinematic quality. Large, scene-setting shots of cities or landscapes are given weight, as are close-ups on our lead characters. Color adds to the effect — strong blues provide watery shadows as our lead Emily makes her escape from peril and warm gold tones fill the outside spaces of Cielis.

While it’s a story about a world in peril with many international conspiracies, it’s also clearly a story about a girl discovering who she is. I love the strength of Emily’s relationship with her family and her bravery despite the odds she faces and the doubt she has about what she’s doing. Although I’ve only seen her in action in this book, I admire her progress and I think I’ll enjoy where she’ll end up.

The sci-fi-meets-fantasy setting is beautiful and evokes everything from Star Wars to various role-playing games. There are space ships but there’s also elves. The everything-goes aesthetic gives Kibuishi plenty of room to play — characters are everyone from the fox-faced Leon to a couple of robots (one of which looks a lot like a toy rabbit). It always feels fresh and fun and nothing feels out of place. Rather, the openness of this world gives the book its strength. The complexity and completeness of Kibuishi’s world makes it feel lived-in and familiar.

Clearly, I’m going to go read the other three parts and eagerly await the fifth. I need to know what happened before, yes, but I absolutely need to know what happens next.

So here’s the fun part.

Scholastic Inc. is offering five copies of Amulet Book Four: The Last Council (prize is valued is $10.99 per book) for me to give away. I am going to make this easy. You can watch the book’s trailer below (which is awesome and will make wish they would make a beautiful animated big-screen version of these books), read the synopsis and tell me why you want to read this book in the comments. Or just leave a fairly relevant comment. (Please leave a valid email address so I can contact you.) On Sunday evening (Sept. 25, 9 p.m. EDT), I will pick five winners at random (if more than five people comment) and let you know.

Come on, it’s a chance at a free book! What do you have to lose?

Kazu Kibuishi’s thrilling, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling series continues!

Emily and her friends think they’ll find the help they need in Cielis, but something isn’t right. Streets that were once busy are deserted, and the townspeople who are left live in fear. Emily is soon escorted to the Academy, where she’s expected to compete for a spot on the Guardian Coucil, a group of the most powerful Stonekeepers. But as the number of competitors gets smaller and smaller, an awful secret is slowly uncovered – a secret that, if left buried, means the certain destruction of everything Emily fights for.

Speaking of Sunday, Kazu Kibuishi will be at the National Book Festival on the National Mall. He’ll be speaking at 1:55 p.m. and signing books from 4 to 5 p.m. I will be there, at the very least, for his talk. There’s also some other interesting comics/graphic novel-related programming on Sunday that I will likely stick around for.

Review copy provided by Scholastic.