New All Ages Humor: Another Dirt Sandwich by Ray Friesen

Hivribody!

This is my first official post since becoming a team member of the KLC blog (Kids Love Comics having graciously let me insinuate myself into the group a few months ago anyway) So I thought I should introduce myself and shamelessly plug my work!

My name is Ray Friesen, I'm a cartoonist living in California. A few years ago, I was nominated for the Ignatz Award for Most Promising New Talent. I have delightfully poofy hair, a flamboyant taste in hats, and am fond of drawing penquins.

I have 3 published graphic-novels-of-the-humorous-persuasion: "A Cheese Related Mishap", "YARG!" and my latest and greatest, "Another Dirt Sandwich" which, by a strange coincedence, is available in this month's Previews catalog (Page 293, publisher Don't Eat Any Bugs Productions, order # Feb083715 in case you were wondering.) It got one of those cool 'kid friendly' icons, which I didn't even know they had....

Here is my shpiel for 'Dirt':

ANOTHER DIRT SANDWICH
Some Rambling & Hilarious Exploits of Tbyrd Fearlessness

Feeling a bit peckish? Try Another Dirt Sandwich! It's a graphic novel of the humorous persuasion with all the fixin's: Swindling! Mustard! Birds wearing hats! It's just chock full of cartoony goodness. A must read for kids and kids at heart. If you like silly, then giggling is guaranteed.

This book chronicles the ramblings adventures of inept ostrich con-man Tbyrd Fearlessness, and his gullible rube-turned-sidekick Hopalong Cassowary in their search for fame and fortune, or at least lunch.

If you eat only one book this year, make it this one. Chomp. Mmm! You can barely taste the gravel.

$12.95
100 pages
Full Color

Here are some nice things people said about me:

"...Friesen’s humor tends toward younger readers, while his language and ideas seem better suited to a more sophisticated audience. The art, however, ranges so widely (from digital Claymation to outright cartoons) that the pages remain visually engaging throughout, and the humor comes at a furious pace, with sometimes four of five jokes crammed into a single panel. Lots to look at here."
-- Jesse Karp, American Library Association Booklist


"Gr 5-8–The most impressive thing about this book is the author, who started his cartoon career at age 12 and is now 17. The comic follows the zany adventures of two young teens and a penguin as they race to save exploding cheese from chicken ninjas. ... it is a worthy effort from a young writer who obviously has a bright future."
--Scott La Counte, School Library Journal


"Raymond Q. Wonderfull’s madcap adventures get wierderand more hilarious with each issue. Writer/artist Ray Friesen packs his whimsical story with crazy characters and concepts..."
--Wizard Edge Magazine

"One of the first things you’ll notice about RQW is that there isn’t so much of plot, as an extended ramble. It’s sort of like those jokes that meander on and on with no signs of ending for a solid ten minutes… except that unlike most of those jokes, RQW is funny, and quite frequently at that. Plot twists happen at the drop of a hat, as do random shopping expeditions, goofy jokes, and shifts of location. It works, I think, because Friesen doesn’t seem to ever take RQW seriously. He may or may not be making it up by the seat of his pants, but he certainly does his best to give you that impression. As each non-sequitur shows up, it’s more over the top and bizarre than the one before, and it’s hard to keep from laughing. Each cliffhanger is resolved in a humorous way rather than trying to fit in strange plot twists, and that really sums up the entire book—humor over plot. We’re starting to see more all-ages adventure books hit the market these days, but RQW is definitely the silliest."
--Greg McElhatton, iComics.com


Well, that's about it really. All the pertinent tidbits anyway. Thanks for letting my ramble. You can read the first chapter of all my books, and my free weekly strip on my webular site, www.DontEatAnyBugs.com

Ray

Educator Resource: Judy Moody's brother Stink goes Graphic!

To educators, parents and comic shop owners...

Megan McDonald, author of the fantastic Judy Moody books, has offered up a create-your-own-comic pdf for kids, tying in with last year's Stink graphic novel/book hybrid. Story ideas, panel and page designs and more are offered up in a fun and inventive way-- I will be downloading this for my kids tonight!

YALSA ALEX Award Winners

YALSA ALEX Award Winners  were announced today-- congratulations!

From the site: 2008 Alex Awards

YALSA, the fastest-growing division of the American Library Association, named the recipients of the 2008 Alex Awards, ten adult books with specific teen appeal. The awards, sponsored by Booklist, were announced at the 2008 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, January 11-16.

The 2008 Alex Awards winners are:

American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China, by Matthew Polly, published by Penguin/Gotham Books (ISBN13:978-1592402625)
Bad Monkeys, by Matt Ruff, published by HarperCollins (ISBN13: 978-0061240416)
Essex County Volume 1: Tales from the Farm, by Jeff Lemire, published by Top Shelf Publications (ISBN13: 978-1891830884)
Genghis: Birth of an Empire, by Conn Iggulden, published by Delacorte (ISBN13: 978-0385339513)
The God of Animals, by Aryn Kyle, published by Scribner (ISBN13: 978-1416533245)
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah, published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux/Sarah Crichton Books (ISBN13: 978-0374105235)
Mister Pip, by Lloyd Jones, published by Random/Dial Press (ISBN13: 978-0385341066)
The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss, published by DAW (ISBN13: 978-0756404079)
The Night Birds, by Thomas Maltman, published by Soho (ISBN13: 978-1569474624)
The Spellman Files, by Lisa Lutz, published by Simon & Schuster (ISBN13: 978-1416532392)

The Alex Awards were created to recognize that many teens enjoy and often prefer books written for adults, and to assist librarians in recommending adult books that appeal to teens. The award is named in honor of the late Margaret Alexander Edwards, fondly called ìAlexî by her closest friends, a young adult specialist at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore. She used adult books extensively with young adults to broaden their experience and enrich their understanding of themselves and their world.

ALA report: TOON BOOK Launches

One of the most exciting KLC functions this week was the launch of Art Spegleman's TOON Books. With an introduction by Michele Gorman, TOON Books was launched, as Spiegleman, Francoise Mouly, and collection of cool graphic novelists met and greeted other creators, publishers, and some very eager GN Library experts, including Ally lyga and Robin Brenner The age rage is around 4-8, and Spegleman's clout should draw some much needed attention to Kids' Graphic Novels...

I had a chance to check these books out, and was especially excited to see work by the greatFrank Cammuso  (Max Hamm: Fairy Tale Detective), with Jay Lynch on Otto's Orange Day.

More from ALA

Just a few pics tonight-- KLC members Scott Sava, Jimmy & Karen Gownley, Rich Faber, Jamar Nicolas and others were in attendance at the show today-- here are a few pics...

ALA Starts with a Bang!

We saw a great start to the ALA Mid-Winter Conference, as attendees were enticed into the hall by mini-cheesesteaks, Philly style pretzels and cool books today. While it was a tight fit for all four of us in the 8x8 booth, we never had time to notice, as librarians came by in droves to take sample comics, reccomended reading lists and get a signature or two...

Michele Gorman came by to talk about her new book, "Getting Graphic: Comics for Kids." It seems it is really doing well in spreading the word on GN's for kids, and the best part-- it has a cover by KLC's own Jimmy Gownley!

The book is a comprehensive look at GN's and comics for kids, every libaraian and educator should have of a copy of this handy guide to elementary entertainment!

I told Michele about my new job as editor of the NASCAR-related all-ages "NASCAR Heroes," and we discussed a possible KLC workshop in Charlotte at her Uber-Library the week of Speed Week (a NASCAR related festival in NC)-- I can't wait!

Kids Love Comics Heads to Philly for ALA!

Kids Love Comics creators and publishers will be on hand at this year's American Library Association Conference, in the ever-popular graphic novel pavilion.

John Gallagher (Buzzboy, NASCAR Heroes), Josh Elder (Mail Order Ninja), Jimmy Gownley (Amelia Rules), and Scott Sava (Dreamland Chronicles) will all be in the KLC Booth, part of Diamond Book's mega-booth at the show.

Hello, and welcome to all our new library friends! Come back later for pics and reports on the ALA experience!

News Release - KLC at New York Comic-Con '08!

Excerpted from the official press release; link to full release here:

NEW YORK COMIC CON NAMES PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Kids’ Day Among First of New Initiatives; “Kids Love Comics” a Key Contributor to Programming Events and Ideas

Norwalk, CT, September 30: New York Comic Con (NYCC) has announced that it has appointed senior staff member Jay Williams to the post of Manager of Programming & Education.

In a related announcement, show organizers note that one of Williams’ first initiatives is the launch of Kids’ Day, a significant all-day program on Sunday, April 20 which will focus on events and activities designed to attract and entertain young fans. A key partner in the development of this program is Kids Love Comics (KLC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the development and growth of children’s comic books in North America.

“We are extremely fortunate to have someone like Jay to step to the plate,” notes Greg Topalian, Show Director for the Con. “Our kids’ stuff is only one small part, though a very important part, of a comprehensive schedule of approximately 125 special events that we’ll be offering, including author activities and conversations, screenings and premiers, and many panel discussions,” Topalian concludes. “As always, our goal is to provide something challenging, entertaining and educational for everyone who attends New York Comic Con.”

New York Comic Con will be held April 18 – 20, 2008 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City.


We at Kids Love Comics are very excited about this news, and can't wait to share updated info about the programming! Check back here for new information, as it happens! See you in New York in April!

Baltimore Comic-Con Wrap

Kids Love Comics at the Comic Book Diner in Baltimore. Left to right, Harold Buchholz, Jimmy Gownley and Steve Conley.



Well, it's been over a week since the Baltimore Comic-Con wrapped up, and we at Kids Love Comics are only just now catching our collective breath! The Comic Book Diner was a huge hit, and the free posters we had were flying off the tables! In all, we had 15 all-ages creators at the Diner, and folks were clamoring to have each and every one of us sign their posters! The coloring stations for kids were extremely active throughout the two day show, and kids of all ages, crayons flying, were creating new drawings by the minute! Many of the creators at the Comic Book Diner remarked that they'd never had so many kids visit their booths before, with KLC proving once again that kids really DO love comics! All in all, it was an outstanding weekend, both in terms of outreach to kids and families, as well as sales of the all-ages material we all had at our tables.

In addition, many of the CBD participants and friends attended KLC-sponsored panels for kids. On Saturday, KLC co-founder Jimmy Gownley (Amelia Rules!) and John Gallagher (Buzzboy) hosted a panel called "Kids Love Comics. Why Don't Comics Love Kids?" In it, they discussed the general industry trend of comics getting away from kid-oriented material, and what Kids Love Comics is doing to reverse that trend.

On Sunday, Rich Faber moderated the "Kids Love Comics" panel, featuring an interactive session of creating comics. Panelists were Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani of Patrick the Wolf Boy fame, and the brand new Tiny Titans from DC's all-ages Johnny DC imprint, as well as their super-enthusiastic editor, Jann Jones and their pal, Jamie Cosley; Jamar Nicholas of Tokyopop's Grosse Adventures; Thom Zahler of Love and Capes; and Mark McKenna, whose Banana Tail is a favorite of kids as well as Kids Love Comics. Kids and parents who attended the panel were treated to lessons on how a comic book is created from some of today's best all-ages creators, and were thrilled to be able to work with those creators to make their own comics and characters. All in all, it was a fun time for everyone involved!

Here are some pictures to hold you over until next year's show. We hope we'll see you there!


John Gallagher introduces the panel, as Mark McKenna looks on.


Jamar Nicholas teaches his new pals how to lay out the borders on a comics page.


"Aw, yeah man!" Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani show the kids how to create characters, as Jamie Cosley looks on.


Jamar got right into it with the kids!


Thom Zahler teaches the finer points of lettering and sound effects to Jann and the kids.



Even parents were getting into the act! Parents Love Comics too!


This young man is destined for museum work! Excellent dinosaur!


Art attempts to add to the Sky-Dog pantheon of characters with this entry... Roy Buzz Pink! Art will soon be hearing from Gallagher's attorney!

Rich Faber and John Gallagher show that even Babies Love Comics (and baseballs)!

Well, that's it for now. See you all soon!

Baltimore Comic-Con Welcomes KLC at the Comic Book Diner!

News Release: Kids Love Comics hosts the Comic Book Diner in Baltimore!
Sept 8-9, Baltimore Comic-Con Welcomes All-Ages Comics Pavilion, featuring Kids' Comics Creators.


Baltimore Comic-Con is recognized as a star-studded, family-friendly show; one of the few major conventions still focused primarily on comics. Kids Love Comics is a non-profit organization made up of comic creators, publishers, fans, educators and journalists, as well as those involved in the marketing, promotion, distribution, and retail end of the comic book medium. Together the Baltimore Comic-Con and KLC have formed the Comic Book Diner, an all-ages comics pavilion, offering up comics that are cool for all kids, from age 6 to sixty!


All-ages creators will be on hand in "The Diner" include Steve Conley (Star Trek, Astounding Space Thrills), Jimmy Gownley (Amelia Rules!), John Gallagher and Rich Faber (Buzzboy, Roboy Red), Art Baltazar and Franco Aurleani (Patrick the Wolfboy, Tiny Titans), Scott Neely (Scooby Doo), Josh Elder (Mail Order Ninja), Dean Trippe (Butterfly), Mark McKenna (Banana Tail, DC Countdown), Scott Cohn (Krypto, Ben 10), and Jamie Cosley (Fearnots). Also, Disney artist Ted Tucker will be on hand to draw super hero caricatures all weekend!


KLC will be presenting panels on the subject of the kids comics industry, as well as a special Sunday HowYaGonna comics tutorial session, with cool stations designed for kids and parents to learn how to create comic books. Comic Book Diner creators will be on hand to give personalized instruction in the process of creating a comic book, from initial ideas through completion. Also, a unique Comic Book Diner print featuring all of the Comic Book Diner creators' characters will be available for fans to have signed. Baltimore Comic-Con promoter Marc Nathan has been working with local libraries, as well as the Baltimore County Boy Scouts to make sure the Sunday panel is well attended, even offering up free admission to kids with a paying adult (Sunday Only).

"This is a great way to showcase the large variety of kids comics available," said Comic Book Diner organizer John Gallagher, whose own Buzzboy will be a part of the Comic Book Diner. "Marc Nathan has always supported kids comics, and when he offered us the opportunity to create an entire section at the Baltimore Comic-Con specifically devoted to kids, we jumped at the chance! Oh, and I almost forgot... we'll have an actual diner booth set up too!

There are plans for the Comic Book Diner to hit many of next year's comic shows, including the New York Comic Con, Charlotte's Heroes Con, San Diego's Comic-Con International, and of course, back to Baltimore for next year's Baltimore Comic-Con. But first, we'll save a seat for you this weekend, at the 'Diner!!

Pet Robots

More San Diego Comicon News!


We'll have more Comic-Con/ Kids Love Comics News and pics soon, but here's some breaking excitement: Scott Sava, KLC friend and super cool creator of Dreamland Chronicles, The Lab, and Ed;'s Terrestrials, has announced that his latest project had been optioned by Disney-- way to go Scott!

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117969503.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

While KLC's mission is to promote literacy through comics and GN's, it is always cool to see the valodation of how all-ages comics canb transition to other mediums.

Stay tuned for more KLC news soon!

San Diego Comic-Con continues for KLC!

It's been a very busy Comic-Con for all of us at Kids Love Comics, from speaking with fans, talking with entertainment companies, and prepping up for the year ahead, as KLC really gets rolling. It has been great seeing all the all-ages creators out here at the show-- we've even been considering a giant KLC booth for next year.

Here's some more quick picks for your amusement:

Kids Love Comics Comes to the San Diego Comic-Con!

KLC is set up at Booth 1732, with creators Jimmy Gownley (Amelia Rules), Josh Elder (Mail Order Ninja), John Gallagher (Buzzboy), and Rich Faber (Roboy Red). If you are in San Diego, come by and say hi! We will be handing out posters, signing copies of our books, and handing out the KLC reccomended reading list, featuring cool graphic novels every kid will love!

Meanwhile here are some pics, courtesy of the many sirtes out there promoting the show!

KIds Love Comics Day - Revisited

Since many of you may hjave stumbled upon KLC trhrough the blogosphere, I am taking it upon myself to link up to some early grass roots efforts to get kids reading (and creating) comics and graphic novels.

Organized by Jim Gownley and the Whitaker Center of Harrisbutg, PA, and with some support by Diamond Books, the KLC crew joined together one Saturday in March to share insights into the fun and creation of comics, as described by Rich Watson at the Blog@Newsarama - ...

Here's an excerpt ____________________________________________
KLC Day was held at the Whitaker Center, a science and arts cultural center on Market Street. The event took up parts of two floors, mostly inside the Kunkel Gallery on the second floor, a small but spacious area which contained a smaller room towards the rear for workshops. In attendance, besides Gownley and Buchholz, were Buzzboy’s John Gallagher, Jane Smith-Fisher of WJHC, and Nickelodeon Magazine cartoonist Todd Webb...
_____________________________________________

And here's a report by KLC friend Chris Mautner at Panels and Pixels (where I swiped afew of these pics-- thx Chris!)..

Kids Love Comics Heads to ALA!


This weekend, members of Kids Love Comics, including Jimmy Gownley (Amelia Rules!) and John Gallagher (Buzzboy) will be attending the American Library Association conference in Washington DC! Please visit us at Booth 2467, part of the Diamond Book Distributors Pavillion.

There will be signings, FREE GN samples, and KLC will be handing out the newly published KLC reccommended reading list sheet-- a must for any librarian or educator starting or expanding a kids graphic novel section in their library or classroom.

We hope to see you there!

ALA Report
KLC heads to the American Library Conference!

From ALA, here's my Graphic Novel Pavilion report, as I helped run the brand new KIDS LOVE COMICS! booth:

Although ALA attendance was apparently down a bit (this was my first ALA) in comparison with past shows (still over 20k, by official standings), you would not know it by the throngs (that's right, throngs!) of eager librarians packing the Graphic Novel Pavillion! While the big publisher booths were generally busy-- the Graphic Novel Pavillion was BUSY!--packed with librarians searching for the scoop on kids, and young adult GN's, manga, and anime. They were greeted by Diamond Books Library Division (the always friendly Allan Greenburg and Terry Hellman), as well as publishers and creators as varied as DC, Dark Horse, Batton Lash (Supernatural Law-- a big hit with the Law Libraries), TokyoPop, Viz, ADV, PaperCutz (which, to the uninformed) is a sister co. to NBM, publishing the super-popular Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys graphic novels...

Now, is where I've just lost some comics people-- Nancy Drew? Hardy Boys? Those books don't sell big numbers, right? Wrong! Terry Nantier of PaperCutz let me know sales on the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books are nearing hundreds of thousands in sales-- to libraries and book stores! I didn't know they were popular-- and, with my Buzzboy comics and trades, I am aimed squarely at this same market. The librarians agreed-- kids of all ages love comics and GN's-- they are just heading to their library to read them-- which I really hope leads them into the retail environment, for the sake of the direct market-- if the direct market steps up and supports these books... which brings me to my booth: KIDS LOVE COMICS!

KIDS LOVE COMICS! (www.kidslovecomics.com)was put together as an advocacy group to promote kids comics and graphic novels to yound people-- because kids are the most ignored audience in comics today. In retail shops, this is an uphill battle, but at the libraries, this organization is being welcomed, just if to offer up a list of kid friendly and appropriate comics to parents and librarians who can't make heads or tails of whether a comic is appropriate for a 12- or 21 year old. At ALA, Jimmy Gownley was there, promoting his new printings of Amelia Rules, Jane Fisher from WJHC and I was there with Buzzboy. But we were also pushing other Kids Comics-related projects, like Dave DeVries' Monster engine, and Mark McKenna's Banana Tail. Unfortunately, Top Shelf was unable to get the Owly books to us, but many libarians were already singing Owly (and Andy Runton's) praises. Okay, enough plugging, back to ALA...

Tying in with KLC, the biggest concern of the librarians was age-appropriate placement of the GN's in the library. DC and TokyPop were mentioned more than once as publishers in need of better descriptions of content (TokyoPop does have age ratings, but one librarian mentioned almost dropping DC's Identity Crisis in her juvenile section). Other librarians mentioned wantiong to have more creators come in and talk about creating comics. Many school librarians cited challenges in proving comics are educational, and I directed the to Diamonds's Bookshelf website, which offers up lesson plans, as well as Ally and Barry Lyga's book about using GN's in the Media Center.

Panels on graphic novels were PACKED! Like 200+ people in every GN panel, covering topics mentioned above, as well as the growing trends in GN's and Anime-- Robin Brenner, Michele Gorman, and Kat Kan may not be well names in comics shops-- but as librarian experts on GN's they are ROCK STARS!

Can you tell I had a good time! New Orleans was quieter but everyone was super friendly, and boy, do librarians know how to party!

In closing, let me plug my website, www.skydogcomics.com, you can see a preview of my new Buzzboy miniseries, launching in August from Sky-Dog Press. Thanks!

Welcome to Kids Love Comics-- working hard to get comics and Graphic Novels in the hands of kids! We hope to be an advocacy group for parents, librarians, and educators across the world!

--John Gallagher
creator of Buzzbot
www.skydogcomics.com