A visit to Walker Books

I was fortunate enough to be invited to have lunch(Burritos) at Walker Books and discuss their forthcoming Graphic Novel and Manga line with Fiona MacDonald and a colleague (whose name escapes me at the moment).

The meal was excellent as I am a Burrito fan (picked that habit up from watching too much Invader Zim - but that is another tale altogether). What really made me excited was the books that they hav lined up for release starting next year. The first book we looked at was Skim a graphic novel written and drawn by Canadian cousins Jillian and Mariko Tamaki. This book has been nominated for a number of literary awards in the USA and Canada and has just been nominated for the Canadian Governor-General's Award which has sparked some controversy, for more details on that click here and here.

The other titles lined up for release include Glister by Andi Watson, Vermonia - a manga series by Studio YoYo. Vermonia will also contain hidden clues within the illustrations to enable readers to take part in an online game. Raven's Gate by Anthony Horowitz is also undergoing the Graphic Novel treatment, Salem Brownstone: All along the Watchtowers a gothic graphic novel by John Dunning and Nikhil Singh and finally (for now anyway) The Legend of Robin Hood.

For more details on Walker Books Graphic Novels click this link

Dimensional Manga

Dimensional Manga is a publishing company registered under the company name Fifth Dimension Limited. It specialises in producing manga (comic format) graphic novels. Its main titles include Demon Prince: Children of Gaia scheduled release February 2008. Titles to follow in the future include Origins: Energy Pattern Disruption, Discoveries: Fifth Dimensional LayerShift, Ghost Battle: Imprisoned by Progression, Incomplete: Detached, Hero Complex, Winning Tactics F.C and Monsters& Samurais.

Dimensional Manga believes in providing fans with a top quality experience through stunning storylines captured in amazing manga graphic novels. Dimensional Manga's ultimate aim is to push the barriers within the comic books arena and introduce never before seen concepts and content encapsulated in a perfect balance of action, comedy and excitement guaranteed to amaze.

Dimensional Manga was founded by Dil. He had been intrigued by the comic format especially manga for over 10 years and was captivated by this art form since. This art style inspired him to begin writing his own stories and creating original character designs. In 2006 Dimensional Manga was established. The aim of this was to promote manga and the comic format in the west and to release an original unique story that would entertain the masses. To do this Dimensional Manga needed to contract professional comic artists from all over the world inlcuding Canada, Malaysia, Philipines and UK. Manga and the comic format is a unique way to express ideas. Dil prefers this medium over conventional books/novels because of the combination of visuals and written text. As a result Dil was inspired by the comic format resulting in his decision to adopt this this style for his stories.

Dil is responsible for writing the story, the script, co-ordinating the story board and instructing the artists on how to create each frame. The goal was to ‘create’, not borrow, change or visually alter established concepts, but to make a fresh start. His ultimate aim is to show that there are always new possibilities still available, no matter what achievements have been accomplished. And his hope is that this message will inspire others to do the same.

The week that was

I received two interesting e-mails this past week (more than two actually - but these were the only two that will be of interest to Librarians and blog readers - hopefully) - the first was about a library activity called 'Library Trolley Dash' it will be run with a group of young offenders. It sounds really cool (I can never rember if one is still allowed to use that word as it amy be uncool) and I can't wait to hear how it went. The how-to follows below:

- Library trolley dash -

Find as many books as you can from this list.

Write the title and Dewey number underneath:

A true story of a sports person’s life written by a biographer

An award-winning story

A book you read at primary school or at home

A guide on a sport of your choice

A 2006 Dance CD

A DVD you would recommend

A guide to speaking a European language

An autobiography of a famous person of your choice

The group will be divided into two teams. The winner will have the most books and Dewey numbers on their sheet and will receive a small prize.

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The second e-mail concerned the creation of a new discussion list that has been created for the discussion of Graphic Novels in UK Libraries - it is based upon the GNLIB list in the USA but will have a UK bias.

To join the list go to: GNLIBUK - it will be an invaluable resource as so much of what is available has an American bias, it would be good to get an idea of the state of GN reading in UK Libraries.