Scholastic – SMASH PAGES

Quick Hits | NFT collectibles company VeVe launches a digital comics platform

Plus: Dog Man teams with Little Free Library, the direct market at 50, Todd Klein and more.

Here’s another story coming out of Marvel’s South by Southwest panel in Austin yesterday — VeVe, an online collectibles site that sells NFT collectibles and artwork, has launched a digital comics storefront that now includes more than 300 titles from Marvel.

VeVe already has partnerships in place with Marvel, DC, Todd McFarlane and more to sell NFTs. Now they’ve expanded to selling digital comics that can be read in their app (much like Amazon), as well as “limited edition” versions of those same comics. These cost more but are collectible NFTs that can be sold in their marketplace and read using their augmented reality reader (which I’m very curious to see, especially if it can be used with the Apple Vision Pro). Each limited edition comic comes in a variety of variant covers, which apparently you buy “blind” and hope you get a rare one.

While Marvel is the only company currently on the platform, VeVe says they plan to expand that in the future.

“Being passionate readers and collectors ourselves, we recognized that digital comics fans have been calling for a more immersive experience,” said David Yu, CEO and co-founder of VeVe. “Our aim is to create a platform that makes comics discovery fun and easy—one that’s centered on function and design, fosters community and accessibility for all. We understood those pain points and created VeVe Comics to be the solution.”

Slugfest | ‘Antarctica’ will continue as an ongoing

Plus: a new ‘Alien’ series, Marv Wolfman returns to ‘Tomb of Dracula,’ ‘The Walking Dead’ tribute covers and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. Hit the links for more information.

Antarctica by Simon Birks and Willi Roberts, the Top Cow miniseries that debuted in July, will continue as an ongoing series after issue #5.

“If readers already love the first two issues of volume one, they’re going to love this new arc as we get the chance to delve deep into the previous events surrounding the Fracture and explore the Hannahs’ stories,” Birks said. “We’re thrilled to once again be working with the team at Top Cow. Not only have they been professional, but they’ve really taken the time to get to know us, and I’m delighted they love the book as much as we do. Antarctica takes no prisoners, and I’m excited to share our adventure with the readers. Willi and I have created something exceptional; an incredible experience full of unique twists and turns to keep everyone guessing right up until the end. As if one married The Fugitive with The Cabin in the Woods.”

‘Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder’ will arrive in 2024

The best-selling graphic novel series returns with a new book next March.

Scholastic has announced that the next book in Dav Pilkey’s mega-hit Dog Man graphic novel series will arrive next March. Dog Man: The Scarlet Shedder follows this year’s Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea, which is the top-selling children’s book of 2023 in North America thus far.

“Dog Man started out as a character I created when I was in second grade, but the series has evolved into a love letter to my parents,” Pilkey said. “Looking back as a kid growing up with dyslexia and ADHD, my parents, who were my best advocates, let me choose whatever books I wanted to read—with no judgment. Their support and love was life-changing and helped me to become the reader, author and illustrator that I am today.”

Slugfest | Scholastic outlines their plans for the new ‘Dog Man’ book

Plus: The Oloris, Poison Ivy, The X-Cellent, Whistleblowers, Patrick McDonnell and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. Hit the links for more information.

The graphic novel phenomenon Dog Man will return at the end of the month with a new book, Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea, continuing the adventures of our hero, Li’l Petey, 80-HD and the rest of the gang.

Scholastic has announced their promotional plans for Dav Pilkey’s latest, which include a Free Comic Book Day issue, the return of Dog Man: The Musical and Dog Man Day celebrations.

Marvel + Scholastic will release a new Shang-Chi graphic novel this fall

Victoria Ying will write and draw the adventure of a young Shang-Chi and his sister Shi-Hua.

Victoria Ying will write and draw a new all-ages Shang-Chi graphic novel as part of the partnership between Marvel and Scholastic.

Shang-Chi and the Quest for Immortality will take a young Shang-Chi and his sister Shi-Hua out of their father’s castle and into the larger world, as Shang-Chi seeks a means to help his father restore his immortality.

“One of the things that intrigued me the most about Shang-Chi as a character was his complicated relationship to his father,” Ying told Marvel.com. “I wanted to explore what it would be like to be a young person and what it felt like to constantly crave and strive for approval, before throwing it all away and rejecting the need for understanding from his father. It’s a journey I can relate to and I wanted to show Shang-Chi in the years before he set out against his father.”

Maia Kobabe has a new graphic novel arriving from Scholastic in 2025

Kobabe will team with artist Lucky Srikumar on ‘Saachi’s Stories.’

Gender Queer creator Maia Kobabe’s next graphic novel will arrive from Scholastic in 2025, according to a report on Publisher’s Weekly. Kobabe will team with artist Lucky Srikumar for Saachi’s Stories, a middle-grade graphic novel being released through Scholastic’s Graphix imprint.

“I have sold my second book!” Kobabe said on Tumblr. “It’s called Saachi’s Stories and I wrote it with my wonderful, smart, hot, funny, talented friend @diamoric-comix! It’s due out from Scholastic Graphix in 2025. It’s fiction, and it’s aimed at a younger audience than Gender Queer but it is once again about a character wrestling with gender, identity and sexuality, this time in the crucible of junior high. I am really excited about this book, and can’t wait to share it with you in a couple more years.”

A new ‘Dog Man’ book will arrive in March

The 11th volume of the popular graphic novel series by Dav Pilkey arrives next year, along with a special anniversary edition of the first ‘Captain Underpants’ book.

Dav Pilkey’s world-conquering Dog Man series will return to shelves next March with its 11th volume — Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea.

This will be the first new Dog Man volume since 2021, when Mothering Heights was released. But Pilkey hasn’t been resting — several volumes of his Cat Kid Comic Club series, a Dog Man spinoff, have filled in the gaps, with the fourth volume, Collaborations, set to arrive in November.

“I am humbled and grateful to do what I love for a living,” Pilkey said in the press release. “Since the pandemic began, I have been inspired to create even more stories and to learn and grow as an artist–from experimenting with various mediums to make comics using photography, poetry, and calligraphy, to building character models and sets by hand, as well as exploring different themes and storylines. My hope is that my books foster creativity and imagination, and instill a lifelong love of reading.”

Scholastic to publish ‘Colin Kaepernick: Change the Game’ graphic novel

Kaepernick will work with co-writer Eve L. Ewing and artist Orlando Caicedo on the project.

Following the release earlier this year of the children’s book I Color Myself Different, athlete/advocate Colin Kaepernick and Scholastic have announced the upcoming publication of Colin Kaepernick: Change the Game, a graphic novel memoir detailing his high school years before he entered the spotlight of professional sports.

The graphic novel will be co-written by Kaepernick and Eve L. Ewing, who wrote Ironheart for Marvel, and illustrated by Orlando Caicedo. It’s also the latest project from Kaepernick Publishing, which also has another graphic novel, Dreamer, set to be released in February.

“I’m excited to continue to grow and expand Kaepernick Publishing’s relationship with Scholastic,” said Colin Kaepernick. “Change the Game is the true story of my high school years–a period punctuated by the trials and triumphs of adolescence. It was during this time that I began to grow unapologetically into my own identity, into my own sense of self. I hope this graphic novel encourages readers to nurture their own evolution and to trust their power—in a phrase—to change the game.”

Smash Pages Q&A | Amy Kim Kibuishi

The creator of ‘The Rema Chronicles: Realm of the Blue Mist’ discusses the recently released graphic novel from Scholastic.

Amy Kim Kibuishi was part of a generation of cartoonists who emerged as a force in the early 2000s. Kibuishi was an acclaimed web cartoonist, one of the contributors to the legendary Flight anthologies and a winner of the Rising Stars of Manga competition. Her Sorcerers and Secretaries duology were released through Tokyopop in 2006 and 2007.

Her new book The Rema Chronicles: Realm of the Blue Mist has been a project that Kibuishi has carried with her for many years. It began with her webcomic Reman Mythologies and has evolved into this new graphic novel series, the first volume of which is out this month from Scholastic’s Graphix imprint.

It’s great to have new comics from her again, and she was kind enough to answer a few questions about carrying the story with her for so long, and how the meaning has changed.

Comics Lowdown | Marvel editors participate in #DisneyWalkout

Plus: ‘Persepolis’ under fire in Pennsylvania school district! David Gallaher, real-life superhero! News on Behemoth, Zestworld, Julie Doucet and more!

Marvel employees joined their colleagues from Pixar, Lucasfilm and other Disney-owned divisions in a walk-out on Tuesday to protest the company’s response to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education act, which has become to be known as the “Don’t Say Gay bill.”

The bill bans lessons about sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade and prohibits lessons in other grades unless they are “age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate.” Critics say the law could stigmatize LGBTQ+ students, and lead to bullying and attacks. The bill has yet to be signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, but it’s just a matter of time, as the governor has expressed his support for it.

A third ‘Cat Kid Comic Club’ graphic novel will arrive in April

‘Cat Kid Comic Club: On Purpose,’ the third graphic novel in Dav Pilkey’s popular series, hits stores April 5.

Dav Pilkey’s Cat Kid Comic Club: Perspectives arrived in stores this week and currently sits at #6 on Amazon’s best-selling books list, but Pilkey isn’t resting on his laurels. Scholastic has announced that the third volume in the series, Cat Kid Comic Club: On Purpose, will arrive in stores next April.

The series spins out of the popular Dog Man series and features Li’l Petey, aka Cat Kid, as he teaches readers — and a bunch of baby frogs, — about making comics.

“With the Cat Kid Comic Club series, my hope is that kids find joy in reading, appreciate different ways of thinking, and find their purpose as they dream up their own stories,” Pilkey said in a press release.

Marvel + Scholastic send Black Panther + Shuri ‘Into the Heartlands’

Roseanne A. Brown, Dika Araújo, Natacha Bustos and Claudia Aguirre present a new graphic novel starring the brother and sister duo.

Marvel and Scholastic have announced another graphic novel in their ongoing partnership, this one featuring T’Challa, the Black Panther, and his sister Shuri.

Shuri and T’Challa: Into the Heartlands will follow the Miles Morales and Ms. Marvel graphic novels that have already been released (I saw both at my kid’s book fair today, flying off shelves alongside the new Cat Kid Comic Club book). It’s by YA author Roseanne A. Brown and illustrators Dika Araújo, Natacha Bustos and Claudia Aguirre.

The story will be one of sibling rivalry, as Shuri deals with an older brother who will one day be king and an invention that goes awry, causing her mother to become sick.

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