Big Planet Comics Bethesda hosted creator John K. Snyder III on July 14 for a signing for his adaptation of Lawrence Block’s Eight Million Ways to Die, published by IDW.

There was a steady crowd throughout the two hours, including several friends stopping by to say hello to Snyder, who lived in the area for many years.

Eight Million Ways to Die is getting good reviews so far, including from Publishers Weekly and The Oregonian. While it’s been out in comic shops for few weeks now, it hits regular bookstores tomorrow, July 17.

While that’s Snyder’s most recent release, I was happy to have him sign my copy of the collected edition of Fashion In Action, released last year by Bedside Press after a successful Kickstarter campaign.

Now, if you know a few things about me, you probably know them in this order: I like comics, I like music, and I like clothes. This is a delightful intersection of all those things and I, of course, love it.

Snyder gives us a great collection of heroines that are thoughtful, complex and powerful. True to the name, there is a lot of great fashion and action, but there’s also an exploration of fame and mortality.

That may make it sound heavy, but it’s not — it’s also so much fun with a great post-punk sensibility. It’s clearly a product of the ’80s but it feels surprisingly relevant now.

(I may actually own a few issues of Scout where some it originally appeared. Or I may have just meant to buy them and never did. I should go through some more boxes.)

Fashion in Action is fun and I’m glad it’s in print in such an accessible format so more people can read it.

Penelope Bagieu discussed her latest book, California Dreamin’: Cass Elliot Before the Mamas & the Papas (2017, First Second), with Michael Cavna from the Washington Post. She said the book was “not a documentary” and that “I’m here to write a story” being clear that it was her version of Cass. Referencing her upcoming Brazen (out in English from First Second in 2018), she said “you never have enough books about strong women doing what they want to do.”

The second panel discussed the process of creating comics. It featured Ru Xu (Newsprints, Scholastic Graphix, 2017), Alexis Frederick-Frost (the Adventures in Cartooning series, First Second) with guidance and moderation by Gareth Hinds (the upcoming Poe: Stories and Poems, Candlewick Press, 2017). Each discussed their own approach to creating comics, showing there was no one way to make a comic or graphic novel. They each attempted to demonstrate of how they worked, which was mostly successful (to be fair, they were all using Hinds’ computer and weren’t the most familiar with it).

The final comics-related panel of the day was about First Second’s Science Comics imprint, edited by Dave Roman (although, as he pointed out, he didn’t edit the two books featured here). It featured Alison Wilgus and Molly Brooks, creators of Flying Machines: How the Wright Brothers Soared (First Second, 2017) and Falynn Koch, creator of Bats: Learning to Fly (First Second, 2017).

After a brief discussion about how much they liked science — Brooks said she was more excited about the idea of science and Wilgus said she was really interested in space — they all talked about how much they had to learn for their books. Brooks said she took the job very seriously because she was “terrified of lying to children on accident.” Koch joked about making bats cuter because there were a lot of “uggo bats” out there. She also has the upcoming Plagues: The Microscopic Battlefield and talked about the challenges of making plagues cute.

They then called up a young cat expert as a volunteer and created a four-panel comic using the information she provided. Wilgus was the writer, Roman was the editor and Brooks and Koch handled drawing duties. It was fast-paced and fun.

Below is a gallery of photos from the event.

While the duo is known for the Louis series of books, they’re currently promoting two adaptations of Hans Christian Andersen stories, The Red Shoes and Other Stories (2015) and The Little Mermaid (2017), both published by Papercutz.

Marrs did sketches in each of the books at the signing, sometimes enlisting Chalmers to help color. Both signed each of the books.

Metaphrog has a stop at The Million Year Picnic in Boston tonight from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. before heading to New York City and Gainesville, Florida.

Bagieu laughed off being a Chevalier des arts et des lettres, saying it mostly consisted of getting a hug and a heavy pin, it did set the tone for her conversation with George O’Connor at the Gaithersburg Book Festival on May 16.

Bagieu, who is a recent transplant to the U.S. (Brooklyn, specifically — she joked the next thing she’s working on is finding a couch), discussed with O’Connor the recent translation of her first graphic novel, Exquisite Corpse (First Second, 2015) into English as well as her life, her work and being a rock star (she’s a drummer! Despite the fact she said her former band sucks, she was still a drummer in a rock band and that’s amazingly cool).

Bagieu got her start drawing a comic called Josephine for Swiss magazine Femina. While she had a background in animation, she had never drawn a comic before, so she said she learned as she went. After she completed a year, she realized she had a book. After three years, she had enough and liked the idea of writing a complete story. That became Exquisite Corpse.

O’Connor asked about why it took so long for the book, originally published in France in 2010, to appear in English. Bagieu talked about meeting First Second editor Mark Siegel in France and how he expressed interest in her work, but because of translation and rights issues, it just took a long time. She also discussed the differences between French and American markets. In France, books are just released; in the U.S. there are worries about if it’s for adults or if it’s for kids. She also laughed that books can’t be “too French” for American audiences.

Bageiu said she’s enjoying her time in America and loves that people are connecting with her work. She finds it amazing and delightful her book was translated. She joked that she doesn’t even care if people come up to her and say Exquisite Corpse is “crap” because they “said it in English.”

O’Connor asked about the main character of Exquisite Corpse, Zoe. Zoe wasn’t a reader and O’Connor found that intriguing. Bagieu said that was actually something she could relate to, mentioning that famous people were the people on TV in her world. She also mentioned that despite making comics, she didn’t really read them until some bookstore clerks helped her out. She mentioned My Mommy: Is in America and She Met Buffalo Bill by Jean Regnaud and Mile Bravo as the breakthough comic for her. It left her “crying like a fountain” and made her realize that comics aren’t just adventures or “boyish.” She said she now gives all her friends comics as gifts, and she pointed out, she’s “never wrong.”

Bageiu and O’Connor then discussed her process. She writes a lot before she ever starts drawing, and said no one else can really understand her scripts but her. She plans things out because the moment she starts to draw, it’s “scary.” She said the one thing she’s really careful about and clear about is the dialogue.

When asked about her influences, Bageiu said her mom had a lot of picture books, and she spent a lot of time with those. She mentioned ’50s and ’60s illustrators, especially, and cartoons. She used to tell people she wanted to grow up to be Tex Avary.

As far as upcoming projects go (other than a couch), she just completed a book about the ’60s folk scene, focusing on Mamma Cass, called California Dreaming. While there’s no promising it will be out in English, she’s hopeful.

In conclusion, O’Connor asked if Bageiu had any dream projects. She said she doesn’t really think that way, but at a panel at Toronto Comic Arts Festival, she and other panelists were asked what all illustrators dreamed of doing. Everyone one of them said “the cover of The New Yorker.” While she didn’t say she hopes for that, it doesn’t seem out the realm of possibilities for her.

After all, there are so many things she wants to do. She wants to live “one hundred years” because she has so many stories to tell.

But since Bageiu has already been knighted, I don’t think any of us should worry about what the future holds for her.

I first saw Jacob Mazer of Animal Kingdom Publishing discuss his work and the anthology of comics, prose, poetry and criticism he edits. It’s still a young publication, but I definitely think there’s room in the world for more things like this, allowing comics to reach audiences they may not otherwise. Not everything in the second issue is to my tastes, but there is some thought-provoking work in it.

Then I saw Gareth Hinds, whose adaptation of Romeo and Juliet came out last year. He talked about always loving to draw as a child and comics ended up coming naturally to him. He worked in video games for a long time before quitting to create graphic novels full-time. He broke down his process for each book and I was interested to hear he changes techniques and styles for each specific book. He also spoke about the challenges of adapting classic literature.

After that, it was my turn. I talked about comics by women (what else?) and I think it went well for it being such a big topic. My concept was not to give history but offer up titles that people can buy right now. I had a good discussion with the attendees too.

You can download my PowerPoint presentation or a PDF of it, but I’ve also created a list of the creators and titles I discussed below (with links to their websites where appropriate).

I have reviewed some of these books and written more about some of these creators. You should be able to find what you need through the tags.

History/background

• Trina Robbins: Pretty In Ink

 Mainstream: Superheroes

• Kelly Sue DeConnick: Captain Marvel
• G. Willow Wilson: Ms. Marvel
• Gail Simone: Birds of Prey, Batgirl, Red Sonja

Mainstream: Sci-fi/Fantasy

• Kelly Sue DeConnick and Emma Rios: Pretty Deadly
• Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson, Brooke A. Allen: Lumberjanes
• Carla Speed McNeil: Finder
• Fiona Staples: Saga

Children and Young Adult Comics

• Raina Telgemeier: Smile, Drama, Sisters
• Faith Erin Hicks: The War at Ellsmere, Friends With Boys, The Adventures of Superhero Girl
• Hope Larson: Chiggers, A Wrinkle in Time
• Jennifer Holm: Babymouse

Autobiographical

• Alison Bechdel: Fun Home and Are You My Mother?
• Marjane Satrapi: Persepolis
• Mari Naomi: Kiss and Tell, Dragon’s Breath
• Ellen Forney: Marbles
• Ulli Lust: Today is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life
• Nicole J. Georges: Calling Dr. Laura

Manga

• Kyoko Okazaki: Pink, Helter Skelter
• Moto Hagio: A Drunken Dream, The Heart of Thomas
• Takako Shimura: Wandering Son
• Moyoco Anno: In Clothes Called Fat, Insufficient Direction

UK, Europe and Around the World

• Mary Talbot: The Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes, Sally Heathcoate: Suffragette
• Isabel Greenberg: Encyclopedia of Early Earth
• Julie Maroh: Blue is the Warmest Color
• Marguerite Abouet: Aya series
• Rutu Modan: Exit Wounds, The Property

Online comics

• Molly Ostertag: Strong Female Protagonist
• Allie Brosh: Hyperbole and a Half
• Meredith Gran: Octopus Pie
• Kate Beaton: Hark! A Vagrant
• Danielle Corsetto: Girls with Slingshots
• Kate Leth: Kate or Die!

Minicomics & cutting-edge creators

• Seo Kim
• Corinne Mucha
• L. Nichols
• Yumi Sakugawa
• Andrea Tsurumi
• Whit Taylor
• Jen Vaughn
• Jenn Woodall

Publishers, groups and events

• Koyama Press
• Team Girl Comic
• Dirty Diamonds
• Laydeez Do Comics
• Drink & Draw Like a Lady

Top Picks of Comics by Women for 2014

• Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast
• How to Be Happy by Eleanor Davis
• Operation Margarine by Katie Skelly
• Over Easy by Mimi Pond
• This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki
• Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

I would always happily point out that one of the top-selling graphic novels in recent years is an autobiographical tale about a girl’s experiences with dental trauma.

I am, of course, talking about Raina Telgemeier’s Smile.

And after mentioning that, people do begin to realize just how huge the topic of comics dealing with health, illness and medicine can be.

In so many ways, comics are uniquely suited to communicating about health, whether it’s personal stories or instructive information. After all, comics marries visual elements with words and it becomes more effective than either one could be alone.

I attended Comics & Medicine as a guest of Small Press Expo (we were one of the sponsors) and while I was only able to attend on Saturday, I was so thrilled I got to go.

To be clear: This was, at its core, an academic conference. While many comic creators were involved, the focus was on presenting papers and sharing knowledge. This was absolutely reflected in the sessions I attended.

The first featured Nicola Streeten discussing a project she was involved in where she told a story from the perspectives of both the doctor and the patient. Army Capt. Joshua M. Leone presented his paper about how comics can help servicemembers heal from trauma through the closure they can provide. MJ Jacob shared personal insights into how creating comics — or being unable to — helped her deal with her depression in unexpected ways. (Henny Beaumont was scheduled but unable to attend.) All three presenters were discussing personal stories — whether they were their own stories or someone else’s — and how comics could provide different perspectives and connection to the world in an intimate and powerful way.

I then attended most of the Health Education and Accessibility presentations, which brought up topics I hadn’t thought much about. Two from Research Triangle Institute International discussed their process of creating two comics in partnership with Naval Health Research Center and Headquarters Marine Corps to help servicemembers with psychological stresses. Dana Marlowe then discussed accessibility issues when it comes to online comics.

The outreach to military servicemembers — both in terms of creating comics for them and helping them create their own comics — seemed to be a small focus of the conference. I was unable to attend it, but James Sturm did discuss some of the work he’s done with a VA medical center in Vermont. Overall, the therapeutic aspects of comics is one most people there seemed very excited about exploring further.

Ellen Forney was the final keynote speaker for Saturday. She presented in abbreviated form the first two chapters of Marbles, her honest, emotional and informative account of learning she had bipolar disorder and then learning to cope with it. It was book I’ve read and loved (it’s a tough read in places but also fun and often funny) but I didn’t quite realize until Saturday just how educational it was. She outlines not only her personal experiences with bipolar disorder but also offers a great deal of factual information about it and its treatment.

And I think that was really the best part of this experience — I certainly felt like I knew about the connection between comics and issues of health, illness and medicine, but I began to realize just how much comics had taught me about these subjects. Reading Marbles, I didn’t realize how much about mental illness I was actually learning. And I know that Smile often gets passed between young friends when they first get their braces. I also think about the delightful work people like Cathy Leamy (who it was great to see briefly!) when it comes to issues of women’s health (Mindful Drinking was one of my favorite comics from last year, period!).

I think more so than anything else, comics offer an easy point of connection. Maybe you don’t want to watch a graphic video of a surgery; maybe a medical text is too dry; but a comic can find the right balance of personal, informative and entertaining.

As someone who is not in the field of health or medicine, or even someone who really creates comics, it was incredibly inspiring to see what wonderful work all these people are doing. I know I left wanting to know more and how I can contribute to this field somehow.

(Special thanks to conference organizer Lydia Gregg and John Hopkins University for hosting.)

Jillian and Mariko Tamaki’s discussion of their new graphic novel, This One Summer (First Second/Groundwood Books, 2014) at Politics and Prose on May 17 was introduced by what seemed like an unlikely choice: A young man named Frans. In his metal T-shirt and camouflage pants with long hair and a beard, he didn’t seem like someone who would be too into a young adult graphic novel about two girls created by two women. But that was the point: Frans told us that while he came into comics through ’90s titles like Cyberforce, he found a lot to connect with in This One Summer.

If that’s not an endorsement, I don’t know what is.

For about an hour, the Tamaki cousins discussed their book and their work overall in an intimate chat, taking questions from the audience of a few dozen. The two had a playful, easy chemistry with each other, which showed why they are such effortless collaborators.

Many questions focused on their creative process. Mariko said she gives Jillian a script that’s written in a play format, but mostly trusts what Jillian will do with it. And the idea of “trust” was a big theme in how they work with each other. Jillian said she felt entitled to ignore some of Mariko’s dialogue and direction, and Mariko was OK with that, saying that most of those things were for her own understanding.

As opposed to their first collaborative graphic novel, Skim, this story was more complicated so there was more back and forth and more editing (and many Skype conversations). Both spoke of the strengths comics as an artform has — Mariko said that part of writing comics is writing very sparsely and letting the visual elements do much of the work.

Many people had questions about the editing process for this book and comics in general. The Tamakis did a lot of their own editing, but they did work with their publishers. They both said they were fortunate to have publishers who understand what they’re doing and because they did Skim, both publishers knew what sort of subject matter to expect.

That led to a question if they were ever forced to make changes. Mariko said they never felt forced to make any changes and Jillian said she didn’t know why anyone would be surprised by what they were creating. Mariko said that the things that define “young adult” literature have changed and Jillian added most kids aren’t going to pick up a book unless it has edgier elements in it.

When asked about writing about female protagonists, Jillian shrugged it off. She said she only wants to make books she wants to read and she doesn’t understand the trends. She’s more interested in realism and didn’t think, at the time, that Skim was really a YA book. Mariko commented that the subtitled on the mini-comic version of Skim was “This is the diary of Skim Takota. So fuck off” and she wasn’t interested in writing to market. She said she can’t write a dystopian adventure story and her characters would be “the first two characters to be killed off in the Hunger Games.“

Both talked about the hard realities of doing what they do. As much as Jillian loves making comics, it’s subsidized by the other things she does — teaching, illustration work and more. Because of that, she said “I should just make the comics I want to make.” Mariko laughed about having to teach a class about working as a writer and said it should’ve been a class on “Working four jobs.” But both felt their other jobs is what gives them material and depth and keeps them motivated. Jillian said she creates comics for comics audiences primarily, since they’re the ones who know the medium. If others like it, then that’s just a bonus.

They joked about the differences between U.S. and Canadian literature — mostly that Canada isn’t into that whole “hero” thing but instead, just surviving, and they liked that Canadian literature is full of “cranky, frustrated women.”

When asked about how she’s able to convey such subtle emotions, Jillian offered this advice: “If you want to learn how to draw, make a comic.” She’s someone who’s still learning and growing as an artist, despite her years of experience. Mariko offered her praise, saying that in anyone else’s hands, the moments Jillian draws would be melodramatic.

As a perfect summary to the talk, as the two discussed their expectations for This One Summer going forward, Mariko said simply “What I wanted this book to be, it already is.”

But if the reaction from everyone — including Frans — is any indication, it’s going to be much more than that.

(Also on Saturday was the Gaitherburg Book Festival. I have a few photos and few thought on Tumblr.)

Her presentation at the National Book Festival on Sept. 22 was hilarious and insightful and it’s really hard to do it justice by writing about it (I think video should be up on the National Book Festival website eventually). Her points where made mostly through anecdotes which were all entertaining. The 45 minutes she was allotted weren’t nearly enough (sadly, there was too much glare on the screen so she abandoned using her slideshow).

She started her talk by saying this was the sort of thing she would’ve made up when she was in the second grade — she gets invited by the Library of Congress to talk to a bunch of people! — and her delight at being in front of this crowd was always clear. She said art was a form of “transportation.” Basically, since she had drawn a picture, she got to be here. And while that’s a really simple way of looking at it, when Barry says it, it’s absolutely true. Art can and does take us places.

She talked a bit about her family life (making jokes about her amazing Filipino grandmother and her Norwegian heritage) before asking the audience to remember their first phone number and say it out loud (I, sadly, do not remember mine). In our minds, our phone numbers are images. This introduced the recurring theme throughout her talk — that we are attracted to and attached to images.

She told a few funny stories about the objects children get attached to, including one friends’ daughter had named Mr. Banana. She joked that when you ask kids if their favorite stuffed toy is “alive,” they know you’re a grownup messing with them. But when you ask if their favorite stuffed toy is dead, it completely changes. Objects have meaning beyond their physical reality.

She then joked about how she never had an imaginary friend as a kid and tried to make one up — an imaginary imaginary friend, but that didn’t quite work. She knew she’d never succeed because she had a friend who had an imaginary friend named Sprinkles that she could only talk to through a fan. Nothing about that was rational, which made it both satisfying and real.

Because of that kind of thing, Barry said she always likes talking to kids. They’re honest and intense in their play. And play is essential to who we are. She basically said adults are crazy because we don’t play enough (that’s something I absolutely agree with).

Probably the most powerful story she told was about research into mirror therapy. People who have phantom pain after having a limb removed often feel better after they see the opposite limb relax in a mirror. The only way to resolve pain is to see it reflected, she said. And that’s what art does. We can hear a song or read a book or see a painting and suddenly feel like we’re understood. It lessens our pain because it’s reflected back at us.

Consuming art is fine, she said, but making art is better. That’s what makes life worth living. It’s not about if it’s “good” or “bad” — it’s about doing it, about expressing something. It’s a good lesson for everyone.

And that reminds me: I’ve done some abstract paintings off and on in the past year. I said to someone that “Oh, they’re not good but I don’t really care.” This person told me “They’re good because you made them.” That seems to be Barry’s point, ultimately. All art is good if you’ve made it. So just go make it.

I really only have a couple of things for this week (I won’t collect every single link about Small Press Expo, after all) but I thought I’d take this space to talk a little bit about Small Press Expo 2013.

It was, as always, exhausting and amazing. I really didn’t get to spend as much time walking the floor as I would’ve liked nor did I get to see so many people I wanted to see. But I’m kind of resigned to the fact that this is how the show goes for me now. I was already pretty wiped out on Saturday (but astonishingly, actually managed to eat three meals, mostly because Greg Bennett made sure of that. I am incredibly grateful for that).

The entire process of the Ignatz was pretty intense this year. I don’t think a lot of people submitted until after table registrations happened. But then the books just kept coming. And coming. And coming. I know none of us expected to get so many books. I know I didn’t.

But I think the strength of the nominees really showed the depth of the titles we got. There were many a few usual suspects but I know the jurors were extremely thoughtful in their choices. So many of the categories were tough choices for me.

And yes, I was clearly delighted when all the Outstanding Graphic Novel nominees were women. That just happened organically and all of those books absolutely deserved to be there.

And speaking of that, I was so thrilled Liza Donnelly agreed to host this year. She’s spoken at the United Nations! When she said she was thinking about having all the presenters be women, I basically said “I would love that.” While we both worked to pick a good list of presenters, she definitely gets all the credit.

The whole ceremony and experience meant a lot to me. In my earliest days of reading and writing about comics, I never thought I’d get to do something like this. I’ve had a rough couple of years and so it felt satisfyingly wonderful to be able to be a part of something so amazing.

(I was so happy Ulli Lust won! Today is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life is amazing and I loved it so much. And I am so jealous of my friend who got to hang out with her quite a bit. When he said “You two are on the same page about so many things,” that really didn’t help.)

Onto your regularly scheduled and short D.C. Area Scene.

News/reviews/interviews: 

• Author Of American Born Chinese Talks To Fans In Bethesda, Jenny Chen, Asian Fortune
• SPX 2013: Liza Donnelly’s Ignatz Awards make some history ‘to celebrate’ women cartoonists, Michael Cavna, Comic Riffs/Washington Post (the only SPX-related link I’ll post, probably)

Kickstarter:

• Mechanaflux #2 – All-Ages Fantasy Comic Book by Shawn Padraic Murphy

Events:

• Now through Nov. 3: Comics Making Studio with Members of the DC Conspiracy, Artisphere, Arlington, Va. Residencies every Thursday. Meet and greet on Sept. 21.
• Now through Nov. 10: Awake in the Dream World: The Art of Audrey Niffenegger, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.
• Sept. 17: Gene Luen Yang signing, 7 p.m., Cleveland Park Neighborhood Library. Sponsored by Politics & Prose. (You could still make it!)
• Sept. 21-22: National Book Festival, Washington, D.C. With Lynda Barry, Jaime Hernandez, Gilbert Hernandez, Fred Chao and Jonathan Hennessey (Book Festival is two days, but graphic novel/comics programming is on Sept. 22.)
• Oct. 10: Paul Pope, 7:30 p.m., Takoma Park Library, Takoma Park, Md. Sponsored by Politics & Prose.

Have comic news or events related to the D.C. area to share? Email me by 4 p.m. Tuesday. More information is here.

We’re in the middle of an amazing era of comics for children and teenagers. There’s truly something for all interests and reading levels right now with more and more comics coming out every week.

Still, as much as both children, parents and educators are embracing comics, some still view them with some doubt and suspicion. Growing Up With Graphics at Politics and Prose on April 27 tried to answer some of these lingering questions and enlightened the audience about this medium.

Moderated by the Washington Post’s Michael Cavna, the lineup of creators was diverse, in both subject matter and audience. Eleanor Davis is known for both her Stinky books for Toon Books and Secret Science Alliance. Nathan Hale is illustrator of Rapunzel’s Revenge and Calamity Jack and creator of his own series, Hazardous Tales. Andrés Vera Martínez is probably best known for Little White Duck, based on his wife’s childhood in China. While Mark Siegel is a comics creator in his own right (like with last year’s Sailor Twain, which as was pointed out at several times during the panel, is not for children), he’s probably more significantly known as the editorial director of First Second.

Cavna offered some background and context for the panel with a story about his daughter having a book report rejected because it was about David Small’s Stitches. The teacher decided since it was a comic, it was not a “real” book. He then had the panel introduce themselves by saying how they got into comics.

Davis said she grew up with comics. Her parents really liked classic newspaper strips so they were always around. In junior high school, she started reading manga and by high school and later, developed an interest in zines, minicomics and self-publishing. Hale said since he didn’t have a comic book store in his town, his only exposure to comics were through newspaper strips and it was his interest in illustration that lead him to comics. Siegel talked about growing up in France, where comics are much more accepted, and how his family had a set of Tintin books that got passed down through the generations.

Martínez’s story was more at the heart of what the panel was about. He said he was a reluctant reader and his uncle introduced him to Marvel Comics. He was attracted to the art initially and the majored in art in college. He did some illustration work and storyboards for ad agencies (which he called “comics on speed”). His agent found him the job working on Before They Were Famous: Babe Ruth and while the subject matter didn’t particular interest him, the artform of comics did.

Cavna noted that all of the panelists had collaborated with someone else, and most with a family member or spouse. He asked what the best and worst parts of such collaborations were.

Martínez said his wife didn’t think her stories were interesting enough to be shared, so she took some convincing. But, he said, once the book found a publisher and he told her their trips to China could be tax write-offs, she got more and more excited. Probably the best part of it, he said, is when they got to be on NPR and his wife was starstruck by the whole experience.

Davis said that while Secret Science Alliance is “technically my book” she kept showing pages to her husband Drew Weing and getting his advice on them, that it got to the point where she wondered if she needed to give him credit. As it turned out, she ended up facing a time crunch and had him ink the book for her.

She said it was pretty great working with him and it was “a relief to work with someone you can fight with.” She said she loved that she knew there was one other person who was as emotionally involved in the book as she was.

Cavna then asked what obstacles they face when creating comics for children.

Siegel said that he thinks when it comes to booksellers and librarians, the battle has been won. There are so many comics for children right now, they can fill bookstores on their own. Hale said that while a few educators may not be fans, reluctant readers usually turn them around.

Davis said that she felt the people who say comics aren’t “real” books just don’t like comics, period. She said it’s “like me talking about video games” – that’s just not something she’s interested in. Her attitude seemed to be that not everyone was going to enjoy comics regardless of what anyone did and that was OK.

Martínez said technology has helped – with PowerPoint and projectors, you can bring comics into classrooms and to school groups and everyone gets to see what they’re about and how the children react to them. The children tend to love it and he likes visiting them.

There was then a discussion about comics literacy – that some people, especially adults, find comics hard to read. Hale mentioned he only started reading comics when he was 19 or 20 and he struggled a bit initially. He said it’s more like watching a movie with subtitles.

Siegel agreed that prose and comics do different things and use different circuitry in the brain. He said “you read the words and you read the pictures” and sometimes that can be a difficult skill for people to learn.

Cavna then asked about demographics – both in terms of age groups and gender.

Siegel said First Second tries to have something for all age groups each publishing season – from younger readers to teens. He said that graphic novels do need to be sold into a specific age category, for good or bad.

Davis said she thinks that reading comics gives children a lot of confidence and they don’t mind reading above or below their age level as long as the comic is good. She said she has older children who like Stinky and younger ones who like Secret Science Alliance.

As far as gender goes, she said when she started reading comics “it was a boys’ club” and the general consensus was there was “something about girls that makes them hate comics.” The manga boom proved that to not be true, though, and she’s delighted at how many great comics there are right now for girls.

Martínez said he did set out to make his wife a role model for girls and he did have his daughter in mind when doing that. He wasn’t trying to write for a specific age with Little White Duck but liked that having everything take places through a child’s eyes made the events and history more accessible.

Hale said that while his publisher markets Hazardous Tales toward boys, girls like it too, especially the dark and gross parts. He said his next one is about the Donner Party and it was the girls who wanted to know everything. “Little girls are morbid,” he said.

Cavna asked how they balance the growing digital market when it comes to their comics. Davis laughed and said “I pray every day my younger readers don’t find my online stuff.” Martínez agreed and mentioned he did some comics for the TV show Dexter, which he has tried to bury a bit (lest you think he’s ashamed, he also laughed and said “Dexter bought us a car!”) Hale said his online site is very clean and he finds it good for exercising his skills but he likes print more.

Siegel mentioned his experiences serializing Sailor Twain online before it was published. He said it was good for research and gave him time to revise and work things over and it led to other things that may not have happened if he had just published it in book form.

Cavna concluded by asking what memorable things people have said or written about them. Martínez bowed out, saying GoodReads and such was too scary.

Hale laughed and said a review said his art was “wobbly” and he suffered from “same face syndrome” which he didn’t even know it was a thing until he read that.

Siegel told a story about the Prince of Persia graphic novel First Second published. He said he read on a video game message board that someone wrote “The art sucks! It looks hand drawn!”

After that, the panelists tookquestions from the audience (I couldn’t stay for this portion, though).

The four creators did make a good case for comics and their abilities to reach a wider audience of readers. I’d like to think skeptical members of the audience were convinced and will be happily buying titles by them and others for the children in their lives. At the very least, I think everyone left with the impression there is clearly something to this whole comics-for-kids thing, and I couldn’t ask for anything else.