Day: April 24, 2023

‘Gender Queer’ once again tops the ALA’s list of most challenged books for 2022

For the second year in a row, a record number of books were challenged in libraries and schools.

Gender Queer, Maia Kobabe’s touching graphic novel memoir about gender identity, topped the American Library Association’s list of most challenged books for 2022. It’s the second year in a row that Gender Queer has landed in the No. 1 spot.

The ALA’s annual top 10 list of the most challenged books expanded to 13 for 2022, which saw a record number of 1,269 book challenges for 2,571 unique titles (many challenges include more than one book). Most of the targeted books in the top 13 were written by or about members of the LGBTQIA+ community and people of color.

“By releasing the list of Top 10 Most Challenged Books each year, ALA recognizes all of the brave authors whose work challenges readers with stories that disrupt the status quo and offer fresh perspectives on tough issues,” said ALA President Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozada. “The list also illustrates how frequently stories by or about LGBTQ+ persons, people of color, and lived experiences are being targeted by censors. Closing our eyes to the reality portrayed in these stories will not make life’s challenges disappear. Books give us courage and help us understand each other.”

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Can’t Wait for Comics | Discover the secret architecture beneath the internet in ‘Worldtr33’

New comics and graphic novels arrive this week by James Tynion IV, Fernando Blanco, Tim Seeley, Gisele Lagace, Jelena Dordevic, Paul Cornell, Valeria Burzo, Skottie Young, Humberto Ramos, Devin Kraft, Ryan Ottley and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital.

I’ve pulled out some of the highlights below, but for the complete list of everything you might find at your local comic shop and on digital this week, you’ll want to check out one or more of the following:

As a reminder, things can change and what you find on the above lists may differ from what’s actually arriving in your local shop. So always check with your comics retailer for the final word on availability.

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Smash Pages Q&A | ‘Boris Karloff’s Gold Key Mysteries’

Zane Barrow, Michael Conrad, Craig Hurd-McKenney and Jok discuss their work on the first title from the revived Gold Key Comics.

Gold Key Comics first began publishing comics in the 1960s, focusing heavily on licensed material from Disney, Warner Bros., King Features and Star Trek, among others. They also published some original material, including Solar, Turok and Magnus Robot Fighter. Their titles showcased a broad range of genres, from children’s titles to science fiction to superheroes to horror, through the 1970s and early 1980s.

It’s been almost 40 years since Gold Key was active, but one of 2023’s pleasant surprises has been the revival of the company. Entrepreneurs and comics fans Lance Linderman, Adam Brooks, Mike Dynes and Arnold Guerrero have not only relaunched the company, but also have revived one of its biggest titles from back in the day featuring iconic horror actor Boris Karloff.

The Kickstarter campaign for Boris Karloff Gold Key Mysteries, a new anthology title featuring new stories by Michael Conrad, Craig Hurd-McKenney, Jok, Steve Orlando, Kelly Williams and more, surpassed its funding goal very quickly. With three days to go, it’s just south of $40,000, so you still have time to get in on the ground floor.

I caught up with Hurd-McKenney, Jok, Conrad and editor Zane Barrow about the project, the draw of working on a Boris Karloff comic in 2023, their contributions to the anthology and more.

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Jeff Lemire’s ‘Fishflies’ comes to print this summer

Image Comics will publish the comic, which was first syndicated on Substack, starting in July.

Following its debut in print on Free Comic Book Day, Jeff Lemire’s Fishflies will launch as a series from Image Comics in July.

The series, which initially debuted as a subscriber-only digital series on Lemire’s Substack, is a tale of small-town surrealist horror set in Ontario. Each issue of Fishflies will be giant-sized at 56 pages each, and it’ll run for six bimonthly issues.

“For years the books I both write and draw seem to switch back and forth between grounded, slice-of-life human drama like Essex County and Royal City or more genre driven work like Sweet Tooth,” said Lemire. “With Fishflies I really tried to combine these two aesthetics into one big story. Fishflies has the scale and drama of my more grounded work but also the genre fun and mythology of things like Gideon Falls. I think the result makes it unlike anything I’ve done before, yet very familiar at the same time.”

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