Artemis Fowl Graphic Novel Review

Artemis Fowl Graphic Novel Review

A couple days after reading and reviewing Artemis Fowl, I was walking through the book store when I saw a graphic novel version of that same book. “Preposterous!” I thought (with a British accent). “Downright farcical. The cheek! To turn Artemis Fowl into a comic. . . well!” OK, I didn't think that at all; that was pretty much my Artemis Fowl impression. Terrible, I know.

As it happens, I'm actually a big fan of graphic novels. Artemis Fowl is a very visual book, with lots of descriptions of the fairy world, Artemis's enormous manor, and crazy fairy inventions tearing Artemis's manor apart, so I couldn't resist the urge to pick up the comic and see that world come to life.

I'm not sure if the graphic novel version quite lives up to the (admittedly high) standard of the book, but pretty much everything is there – all the characters, all the plot points, all the sweet action and gadgets and magic and mayhem. I had small quibbles with the way some characters were drawn, but that's inevitable, I suppose. Personally, I pictured Foaly and Mulch much more like traditional Centaurs and Dwarves, and Artemis kind of like Malfoy from the Harry Potter movies . . . but again, that's personal taste, and I shouldn't complain about the art. In general, it was colorful, vibrant, creative, and well-executed.

— Jack, STACKS Writer

NEW Harry Potter Illustrator Kazu Kibuishi

NEW Harry Potter Illustrator Kazu Kibuishi

Meet Kazu Kibuishi, the illustrator of the new Harry Potter book covers coming out in September 2013. If you have read his Amulet series, then you know he is an awesome artist. If you have never heard of him before, you might be worried about his credentials. Is he worthy of the epic task of illustrating the book covers to the ultimate series of all time??

Click here to see the first new Harry Potter cover.

I had the chance to interview him a few years ago and he is so, so nice! For those Harry Potter fans who are worried about the new Harry Potter covers, I can assure you we are in good hands with this illustrator!

Watch my interview with him where he talks about being an artist.

And this interview where he shows us his real live, actual sketchbook!

He seems super-cool, right?  Leave a Comment to tell us what you think of the new Harry Potter covers!

— Sonja, STACKS Staffer

EPIC Graphic Novel Series, Amulet!

If you love graphic novels with fantasy and adventure, then you definitely need to check out the Amulet series by Kazuo Kibuishi. As you can see from this video, it's EPIC!

Dav Pilkey Ook & Gluk Game

Hi! You may know by now that Dav Pilkey, the creator of the Captain Underpants series has a new book out called The Adventures of Ook and Gluk: Kung Fu Cavemen From the Future. There were some hilarious comments about the book cover when we previewed it a few months ago. And now Dav Pilkey created this Spot the Difference game with an image from the book. There are 26 differences between the two images. Can you find them all? 

EXCLUSIVE Smile Comic from Raina Telgemeier

Raina Telgemeier Smile Exclusive

Do I have something for you! Raina Telgemeier, author and illustrator of the new graphic novel Smile, drew a new comic just for Ink Splot 26 readers!

Smile is the true story of how Raina tripped and fell, severely injuring her two front teeth in sixth grade. What follows is a frustrating journey with on-again, off-again braces, surgery, embarrassing headgear, and even a retainer with fake teeth to fix it! But, life doesn't stop in the meantime. . . Raina still has to deal with middle school, a major earthquake, friend drama, and boys. Read the full review here.

There is one thing Raina left out of the book. . . Novocaine. But, now you can see that right here in Raina Telgemeier's exclusive comic strip:

 
(Click to view larger)

UPDATE: Also see Raina Telgemeier's newest book, Drama.

—Carly H., STACKS Staffer

Copyright 2010 Raina Telgemeier

Dental Disasters!

Smile by Raina Telgemeier

Aah, hanging out with your friends. You laugh. You go shopping. You have sleepovers and you always have fun. Well, imagine this: you and your friends are chasing each other one day and you trip. When you fall, you hit the cement. You hit the cement so hard that you knock out your two front teeth! This is exactly what happens to the character of Raina in the graphic novel Smile by Raina Telgemeier.

After an emergency trip to Dr. Golden's office, the dentist glues Raina's teeth back into her mouth. He covers them in gauze that soon becomes soggy and gross. When Raina takes off the gauze, she discovers that the teeth have been inserted too far. Now she looks like a vampire! Going to school looking like a vampire will definitely make boys notice her, but not in a good way.

Luckily, Raina's dentist can fix her teeth, but there is one problem – it's going to take years! So many trips to the dentist's office to get fake teeth, braces and even head gear! How would you like to be called your dentist's star patient and see him more than you see some of your friends? It's no fun at all. And while suffering from this dental humiliation, she still has to find time to do all the things that normal middle school girls do. She needs to do homework, attend dances, try out for the school basketball team and secretly stalk Sean, the boy she has a huge crush on.

Will Raina's teeth ever grow back? Will she ever look "normal" again? Or is she doomed to a lifetime of surgery, all because she tripped?

Find out more about the author and illustrator, Raina Telgemeier.
See an exclusive Smile sneak peek!

— Jen, Scholastic Booktalker

Get a Sneak Peek at ROSE, the prequel to BONE

If you thought BONE, the graphic novel series by Jeff Smith, was over when book 9, Crown of Horns, came out, well then you'd be . . . only sort of right. On August 1st, the prequel to BONE, ROSE, comes out. (That's the story that happened before the story.)

BONE is the story of the three little Bone dudes who get lost in the woods, and wind up battling the Lord of the Locusts to help Thorn reclaim her family's kingdom. Their story is over.

Drawing Phineas and Ferb with Swampy and Dan

Hey, Splotters! I hope you're taking Dan and Swampy's advice and having an awesome and creative summer (unless, of course, your school hasn't let out for the summer yet, in which case I'll take it on good faith that your summer will rock once it starts).

But if you're busy saying "Dan and Swampy? Who are they?" let me fill you in. Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh are the creators of Phineas and Ferb, the Disney cartoon which follows two stepbrothers in their quest to have the best summer ever.

Swampy and Dan invented the characters, write the stories, and come up with all the crazy tunes that accompany Phineas and Ferb's inventions and adventures. And now Swampy and Dan are challenging you to use your imagination this summer to invent, draw, write, create, and have fun.

If you need a little help getting your creative juices going, Swampy and Dan have something for that too. Check out these step-by-step instructions for how to draw Phineas and Ferb. Ferb's up first:

 

Now instructions for Phineas:

Summer Fun with Phineas, Ferb, Swampy, and Dan

<~~~See these two guys right there? You might recognize them. They're Phineas and Ferb from the popular Disney cartoon called -- duh! -- Phineas and Ferb. The show follows the two stepbrothers as they try to make their summer AWESOME! How do they do that? In every episode, they build a crazy-impossible invention, much to the frustration of their sister Candace, who is always trying to catch them in the act. She never quite manages it — she should get some tips from Dr. Doofenshmirtz, who in every episode manages to trap Phineas and Ferb's pet platypus, Perry. Perry is a secret agent for the OWCA (Organization Without a Cool Acronym), which is pretty darn awesome. But even more awesome than secret-agent pet platypuses are these two guys:

You probably don't recognize them. They are Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, the guys who invented Phineas and Ferb. And this summer, they want you to stretch your creative awesomeness, Phineas and Ferb style. So they got in touch with The Splot and shared 20 ways to go out, have fun, and create something this summer. Check it out!

1. Swampy says . . . KEEP IT CHEAP!
   "When it comes to art, you don't need special equipment. You can draw on anything and use anything to draw with, so it shouldn't cost too much to get into it. Whether it's a pen, pencil, crayon, or even a piece of chalk you find in the park, you can use whatever you want. And who says you need a blank piece of paper to draw on? Use scraps or anything you find that might work!"


2. Dan says . . . COPY AWAY
   "One of the things that helped me a lot in cartooning was the art of copying. If I saw a drawing I really liked in a magazine or comic book, I would copy that drawing line-for-line and it showed me a lot of shortcuts. It taught me a kind of cartooning shorthand. I don't mean trace these pictures. I'd just look at a drawing, analyze it, and copy it line-for-line to see how the artist drew the picture in the first place. I'd then incorporate the techniques into my own art."


3.  Swampy says . . . THERE IS NO RIGHT AND WRONG
   "One thing I'd love to teach children is the fact that there is no right or wrong way to draw. Draw what makes you happy and never worry about somebody saying, 'Oh, that isn't a good drawing.' There are so many, infinite drawing styles out there. Your work doesn't have to look like it's straight out of a comic book or straight out of an art book. As long as you're expressing yourself and you're getting a reaction, then that's good."

Favorite Sunday Comics

I love Sundays! It's the one day of the week where you get to rest, finish your errands, be a complete couch potato, catch up on your reading, and/or relax with your breakfast and take in the Sunday comics. I must say, I do all of these quite well -- with the exception of finishing my errands.

When I was home in Minnesota in March, I remembered how much I love reading the Sunday comics while eating breakfast with my parents. Unfortunately, I do not receive the Sunday edition of The New York Times, but even if I did, it just wouldn't be the same. For one thing, The New York Times doesn't have the same comic strips as the Minneapolis newspaper. And secondly, I don't have a kitchen table where I can sit down to read the paper and eat my breakfast. (Yes, it's a problem.)

While many of you probably don't find yourself dealing with my kitchen table dilemma, I am sure many of you are not offered all of the same comics as I was in Minneapolis.

So get ready to laugh as I present you with my top five favorite Sunday comics!

5. Baby Blues
Not only will you laugh, but your parents will get a kick out of this comic too!

4. The Flying McCoys
This is definitely one of those comics that just makes you laugh even though you're not always sure why. Maybe it's because of the kooky drawings?

3. Zits
Oh, teenagers! They can be so dramatic sometimes, but oh can they be funny!

2. Ballard Street
Totally quirky, utterly bizarre, completely eccentric, and absolutely hysterical.

1. Mother Goose and Grim
I love this comic because you never know what random jokes and illustrations will come next.

That concludes the list of my favorite Sunday morning comics, but I want to know what some your favorites are!

— Carly M., STACKS Staffer

Bone in Color

A while back we received this question on the Graphix message board, from DrVSP:

Q: I loved the Bone books, "Out of Boneville" and "The Great Cow Race". I especially liked the color schemes. In the bookstore, I saw a thick version with a lot of Bone books together, but there was no color. Do all the smaller paperback versions have color? It's really hard for me to tell with on-line bookstores because they only show the cover. I don't want to buy the big book (in black and white) if I can get the small ones in color. Please let me know.

A: Well, Hi DrVSP (and Graphix fans all over) — I can, in fact, let you you know! Jeff Smith, the writer and illustrator of BONE, wrote ALL 9 books a while ago in black and white — and Scholastic decided that BONE is so cool, it should be in color! (Well, except for the Bone cousins . . . they are white. Literally.) So, any BONE book that is published by Scholastic is in color. All 9 of the books are currently available from Scholastic as individual books in full color.

AND! Coming this August, the BONE Prequel: Rose will also be available from Scholastic in full color.

If you haven't seen what the books look like in color, you can go to the BONE website and click on "SEE INSIDE!" to get a preview.

— Nancy, STACKS Staffer

The Buzz on Queen Bee

Queen Bee is a cool graphic novel for ages 12 and up about two middle-school girls with psychokinetic powers . . . and a major rivalry! It's been out for a while now, but we're still getting questions about it. Check out the Queen Bee website for sneak peeks, and here are some burning questions from some fans:

Q: How old are each of the kids in Queen Bee? — angelbaby
A: The kids are all about 12 years old.

Q: the second book of queen bee out?? — sweetlucy11
A: At the moment, we don't have another Queen Bee book scheduled.

Onward!
— Sheila, Scholastic Graphix Editor