The American Library Association’s Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table and the Will and Ann Eisner Family Foundation are pleased to announce the 2020 recipients of Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grants for Libraries. The grants, funded by the Will and Ann Eisner Family Foundation, are administered by ALA's Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table (GNCRT).

The Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grants for Libraries consists of three annual grants given in two categories. This year two libraries have been selected to receive the Will Eisner Graphic Novel Growth Grants – these provide support to a library that would like to expand its existing graphic novel services and programs. The Will Eisner Graphic Novel Innovation Grant provides support to a library for the initiation of a graphic novel service, program or initiative.

The 2020 Will Eisner Graphic Novel Growth Grants are awarded to:

Ryan LaFerney of the Avon – Washington Township Public Library, Avon, IN. The project “Will Eisner Memorial Comic Book Convention” seeks to grow their adult graphic novel collection to include more diverse, iconic and classic graphic works as well as raise awareness of the importance of graphic literature, sequential art, and comics as a literary medium. They plan to host a one-day comic convention at the library in honor of Will Eisner featuring displays on the history of graphic novels, the educational benefits of the medium, activities, lectures and more.


Cathy Burwell of the Cape Fear Community College Library, Wilmington, NC.Their existing program, “Get BiblioGRAPHIC with CFCC,” will be expanded by the grant to include librarian led discussions, partner displays and activities with local public libraries, rotating collections of graphic novels to classrooms, and author and illustrator visits to the early college high schools in their area.

The 2020 Will Eisner Graphic Novel Innovation Grant is presented to:

Deanna Nebenionquit of the Ontario Library Service – North, Sudbury, ON Canada. OLSN’s project, “Northern Ontario First Nation Graphic Novel Collective,” is to engage 29 indigenous communities in Northern Ontario through the First Nations public library system. This engagement effort will include book discussions around a unique collection of graphic novels produced by indigenous authors and artists, storytelling groups, and a plan for a group project. The collective will seek to build community, embrace indigenous heritage, and encourage life-long literacy and creativity. The Ontario Library Service – North is the first Canadian library to be awarded one of the Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grants since the eligibility was opened to include all of North America in 2019.

Each of these grants awards the winning libraries with a $2,000 voucher to purchase graphic novels from Diamond Book Distributors, the grants’ distributor-partner, as well as $1,000 to host a graphic novel-themed event. Additionally, the recipients will receive the Will Eisner Library (a graphic novel collection of Will Eisner’s in-print work and biographies about the acclaimed writer and artist) and a selection of this year’s Will Eisner Award winning graphic novels. The grant recipients also receive a $1,000 travel stipend to be used for ALA Annual Conference. Due to the cancelation of this year’s ALA Annual Conference, the travel stipend funds will be used for the 2020 grant recipients to attend next year’s 2021 ALA Annual in Chicago.

Nancy and Carl Gropper of the Will and Ann Eisner Family Foundation said, “Since 2014, the Foundation has deeply enjoyed its relationship with the ALA, and more recently with The Graphic Novel and Comics Round Table, in sponsoring the Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grants for Libraries. Each year the selected grant winners have exhibited outstanding proposals and accomplishments. Despite horrific conditions, this year was no exception and we understand that as always the judging was difficult. Our congratulations to Ryan LaFerney, Cathy Burwell, and Deanna Nebenionquit, our 2020 grant recipients. Their projects are enriching, visionary, and champion diversity. Their unique programs center around building graphic novel collections for adult, intergenerational, and indigenous populations while advocating the growth of partnerships for sharing graphic novel material. The professional challenges presented by their proposals, and their plans to meet them, are inspiring. In this, Ryan, Cathy, and Deana will join Will Eisner who loved to meet the professional challenges he faced.”

Deanna Nebenionquit of the Ontario Library Service – North and recipient of the 2020 Eisner Innovation Grant said “We would like to extend a chi-miigwetch to the Will and Anne Eisner Family Foundation, the Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table of the American Library Association, and to the Will Eisner Graphic Novel Innovation Grant Jury for selecting the Northern Ontario First Nation Graphic Novel Collective as the first Canadian recipient. Seeing positive Indigenous representation in graphic novels is empowering and long overdue. We would like to acknowledge the many Indigenous storytellers, illustrators, and designers who are contributing to the recent influx of Indigenous graphic novel content. Your work is appreciated, and will now be in the hands of patrons from 29 First Nation Public Libraries in Northern Ontario who will use your work as content for book clubs, and sparking inspiration before embarking on their own photography-based graphic novel projects.”

More information on the grant and the application process can be found on the Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table website.

Deadline reports that after the Hall H triumphant of 2019, Jean-Luc Picard will be back in the Comic-Con house again this year. However, due to concerns and restrictions over the coronavirus pandemic, the Sir Patrick Stewart-led CBS All Access series will be making its appearance remotely at this year’s Comic-Con@Home on July 23.

Comic-Con will be releasing another part of its schedule later today, but, setting phasers to shock and awe, Star Trek: Picard will be the headliner in another behemoth Star Trek Universe panel later this month. That sprawling Trekverse shindig also includes 2020 virtual appearances from Star Trek: Discovery, the lead cast of newest franchise addition Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and the August 6th premiering animated Star Trek: Lower Decks.

Helping to kick off the first full day of what would have been SDCC 51, the Trekverse panel starts at 10 AM PT on the 23rd with a welcome and overview from executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin, and moderated by myself.

In the spirit of inclusion and adventures in the final frontier that has always been defined by the Gene Roddenberry created franchise, Secret Hideout’s Kurtzman and Kadin will be followed by a virtual table read of Star Trek: Discovery’s Season 2 finale with Commander Michael Burnham herself Sonequa Martin-Green and the rest of the cast.

Additionally, forthcoming Strange New Worlds stars Rebecca Romijn (Number One), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), and Ethan Peck (Spock) will be a part of the read with Discovery EP and co-showrunner Michelle Paradise and EP Olatunde Osunsanmi, who helmed the show’s 2-part Season 2 finale. With that much star power in one setting and Discovery getting ready for lift-off on its third season soon-ish, the Q&A following the table read could prove a hard-hitting energy pulse of its own.

Deadline reports that ABC has handed a pilot production commitment to The Wonder Years, a new iteration of the network’s 1980s family comedy-drama. It comes from Dave executive producer Saladin K. Patterson, Empire co-creator Lee Daniels, the original series’ breakout star Fred Savage and 20th Century Fox TV.

Written by Patterson inspired by his experiences growing up in Montgomery, AL, the new incarnation of Wonder Years chronicles how a middle-class Black family in Montgomery in the turbulent late-1960s — the same era as the original series — made sure it was the Wonder Years for them too.

The approach is reminiscent of the successful current reimagining of the classic family sitcom One Day at a Time with a Latinx family.

Archie Comics and Spotify have signed an exclusive first-look deal to adapt the publisher’s critically acclaimed and bestselling characters and stories into multiple podcasts on the streaming platform. The anticipated slate of series will span the entire Archieverse of characters, including mainstays Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead, Sabrina, Josie & The Pussycats and many more and is the next part of Archie’s continued effort to expand to new audiences and story-telling mediums with its wide array of world famous characters. 

"The podcast and audio space is so vibrant, and Spotify is, hands down, the industry leader there," said Archie Comics CEO/Publisher Jon Goldwater. "Bringing the iconic Archie library of characters to Spotify is a perfect match, and we're so excited to partner with them to explore new, compelling stories featuring our characters. It's an amazing frontier and we can't wait to unveil what we've been working on."

The creative team at Archie Comics will collaborate with Spotify Studios on the development of multiple series, with potential for all-ages content as well as content aimed at older audiences. Archie Comics continues to expand its multimedia offerings as the brand's digital and print partnerships include deals with Scholastic, Comixology and Little Bee Books. It’s television deals include partnerships with Warner Brothers Television which has produced worldwide hits including as The CW's Riverdale, Katy Keene, and Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. 

Deadline reports that Quibi has given a green light to Tomie, a series based on Junji Ito’s cult hit horror manga series of the same name, with Adeline Rudolph attached to star in the title role. The series hails from director-producer Alexandre Aja (High Tension), writer David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (Aquaman), Sony Pictures Television and UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group.

Written by Johnson-McGoldrick, Tomie is the story of a beautiful high school girl (Rudolph) who goes missing and pieces of her body are discovered scattered around a small town. But what starts out as a murder mystery turns into something even more horrific.

Aja and Johnson-McGoldrick executive produce. Hiroki Shirota is co-producer. Sony Pictures Television co-produces with UCP.

The clock is ticking! Just five days remain to get Lucio Parrillo's breathtaking crowdfunded Vampirella cover. Make sure you don't miss out on this exclusive collectible of the Daughter of Drakulon. A limited run of this cover will be produced based on the number of backers.

We also did some digging and we've got some sweet add-ons added to the campaign for collectors to check out. We were able to find extremely limited quantities of some of Lucio's rare virgin covers from recent bestselling issues. We're talking Vampirella, Vengeance of Vampirella, Sacred Six, Red Sonja: Age of Chaos, Red Sonja: Birth of the She-Devil, Dejah Thoris, and more. Some of them only had two copies available, so they're already off the shelf. But if you go to the campaign right now, there are still a few left.



Get Yours Today! 5 Days Left

Dynamite announces its trio of exciting, newsbreaking virtual panels for this year's virtual San Diego Comic Con. Fans can tune in across three days in July for deep dives on the latest series announcements, teases for future plans, and commentary on their favorite comics from some of today's top creators.

Though circumstances are different this year, with fans having to engage with a "virtual" convention experience, Dynamite is showing up in full force to this seminal annual event in comics, with heavy-hitting reveals and more. This marks exactly a year after Dynamite kicked off celebrations for Vampirella's 50th anniversary with the debut of the new series written by Christopher Priest and a star-studded panel. It was an anniversary extravaganza, with Dynamite as a publisher also celebrating 15 years in business. And last but certainly not least, Executive Editor Joseph Rybandt sat down with legendary artist Darick Robertson to discuss a massive career in comics and the then around the corner release of the streaming adaptation of his co-creation The Boys.

This year anniversaries officially come to a close, but the party never stops. Across three stacked panels featuring a diverse lineup of talent, Dynamite fans will get the scoops and enjoy discussion of their favorite titles.

On Thursday July 23 at 11 AM PST, all things Bond, James Bond 007 in comic books will be discussed by a deep roster of writers. Current writer Danny Lore (Ironheart) is joined by preceding 007 chronicler Greg Pak (Star Wars, Incredible Hulk) and Reflections of Death contributor Mark Russell (Red Sonja, Swamp Thing). Editors Nate Cosby and Matt Idelson chime in as well. And the real surprise guest is... Steve Orlando of Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman fame. Who may or may not be discussing a new series with more details coming soon, such as in this panel. The bursting panel go back and forth, sharing their interpretations of Bond as a character and their own works, past, present and future.



The huge anniversary comes to a close, even with Dynamite celebrating a full 365 days, with the Vampirella 50th Anniversary Finale panel on Friday at 4 PM PST. The writers of Vampirella and Vengeance of Vampirella return and are joined by two of the fanbase's favorite cover artists, and one unruly editor. That would be the one and only Christopher Priest (Black Panther, Deathstroke), the ever-amazing Tom Sniegoski (Bone, Punisher), renaissance man Lucio Parrillo, whipsmart Meghan Hetrick, and lastly the adjectiveless Matt Idelson. This cast discuss the lasting appeal of the Daughter of Drakulon, how they approach her across their different trades, their current storylines, and tease the future. Here's to another 50!



Then on Saturday at 10 AM PST, all bets are off as Dynamite's Two Huge Crossovers are revealed! Keeping hush with more details to come, this much can be slipped out. Two completely separate huge storylines are coming this fall and winter, setting the tone for the ambitious future of Dynamite. Declan Shalvey (Moon Knight, Bog Bodies) is bringing his attuned writing to the cheeky titled DIE!namite. Declan is joined by his artist collaborator Justin Mason, who close followers of Dynamite already know is about to really break out. Then legendary writer Dan Abnett (Guardians of the Galaxy, Aquaman) unveils the biggest Dynamite project since Swords of Sorrow. Jonathan Lau, just one of the artists attached, joins the discussion. While Eisner-winning editor Nate Cosby rounds out the table. Almost every Dynamite character will appear across these bombshell series.



James Bond - 007 in Comics!
Thursday July 23 - 11 AM PST

Vampirella 50th Anniversary Finale
Friday July 24 - 4 PM PST

Dynamite's Two Huge Crossovers Revealed!
Saturday July 25 - 10 AM PST

Image Comics is pleased to announce that recent Humble Bundles have generated over $140K in proceeds to benefit the Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation, that's core program provides assistance to employees and shop owners who have a demonstrated financial need arising from severe hardship and/or emergency circumstances.

Over $35K was raised to benefit Traveling Stories, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that seeks to empower kids to outsmart poverty by helping them fall in love with reading by the fourth grade. In a joint Bundle with multiple other publishers, over $4M was raised to benefit Race Forward, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and The Bail Project charities to support the Black community during the Black Lives Matter movement.

The “The Walking Dead by Image Comics/Skybound Entertainment” Bundle, “Creator Spotlight on Jonathan Hickman”, and the currently running “Image Comics Showcase” Bundle purchases all contributed to the total amount so far raised for Binc Foundation.

The “Image Comics Showcase” Bundle is live now and, in fewer than 24 hours, is already on track to be the highest ordered Image Central Humble Bundle in the past five years. Its proceeds will go toward Binc Foundation too, as well as to The Hero Initiative.

For more than twenty years, the Binc Foundation has helped bookstore and comic book store employees and owners who encounter unexpected financial crises. The Binc Foundation works to keep book people in their homes, in their jobs, and with their families – stabilizing the brick and mortar bookstore community. The Foundation is the only 501(c)(3) in the country dedicated exclusively to strengthening the book industry by supporting the people who work in bookstores and comics shops.

The Hero Initiative is the first-ever federally chartered not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic book artists and craftsmen in need. Hero Initiative creates a financial safety net for yesterday's creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work.

Variety reports that Universal Pictures is pushing back the openings of Candyman and its two Halloween sequels, marking only the latest release date delays amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Candyman will move back three weeks from Sept. 25 to Oct. 16. Halloween Kills has been delayed for a year from Oct. 16, 2020, to Oct. 15, 2021, and Halloween Ends will move from Oct. 15, 2021, to Oct. 14, 2022.

The studio also announced that The Forever Purge, the latest chapter in Universal Pictures’ dystopian horror franchise, would be released on July 9, 2021. The title was indefinitely delayed in May.

Universal’s moves come with most North American cinemas having been closed for nearly four months, with major chains having pushed back re-openings until the end of July. AMC recently said it now expects to open 450 of its more than 600 theaters on July 30. It hopes to be essentially fully operational by early August.

Deadline reports that Chilling Adventures of Sabrina will end its run with its upcoming Part 4, which will be released in late 2020, leading to “a spooky, sexy & supernatural series finale,” Netflix has announced.

Originally developed for The CW, the Riverdale offshoot migrated to Netflix when the streamer offered a two-season order. The show’s seasons, referred to as Parts, ranged from 11 episodes, including a holiday special, in Part 1, 9 episodes in Part 2 and 8 each in Parts 3 and 4.

This is a typical lifespan for a successful recent Netflix scripted series; Ozark, one of the streamer’s most popular dramas, was just renewed for a fourth and final season. Sabrina‘s end date comes a few days after the other Riverdale offshoot, The CW’s Katy Keene, was canceled after one season. It is unclear whether any characters from either ending series would make their way to the mothership Riverdale. That would include Kiernan Shipka’s title character from Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

Netflix has released a trailer for the second season of The Umbrella Academy.

The Umbrella Academy Season One is streaming now on Netflix. Season Two debuts on July 31.

Trailer: https://youtu.be/Me0eoCwLj-A