Got to participate in some awesome summer camp programs with young artists in the past week!
First was the Imagination Academy at NYPL
That was followed up with an afternoon with the Summer Illustration Art Academy at Society of Illustrators and a trip to the Hayden Planetarium.
On Sunday June 23rd the first ever KCR! Comics Awards ceremony was held at the Kids Read Comics Festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The nominees were selected by a committee of teachers, librarians, and retailers, then voted on by kids online and via paper ballots.
The awards themselves were presented as customized LEGO trophies provided by the Ann Arbor District Library, and included a mix of serious and silly categories from Best Graphic Novel to Excellence in Drawing Delicious-Looking Food.
Dave Roman and Jerzy Drozd were the hosts, and introduced all of the amazing presenters.
House band The O-Matics (fronted by Happyloo cartoonist Mark Mariano) provided live music and sound cues to help keep things moving!
Presenters included comics creators Ben Hatke (Zita the Spacegirl), Rafael Rosado (Giants Beware!), Raina Telgemeier (Smile), John Green (Teen Boat!), Dan Mishkin (Amethyst), Thomas Zahler (Love and Capes) and library superstars Scott Robins and Eli Neiburger.
As each winner was announced, the trophies were stolen by evil kidlit villain Vordak the Incomprehensible (played by the book’s illustrator, John Martin)!
Guest presenters also included Aang and Naruto, performed by Kevin Coppa (Puppetbenders). Sadly, because of their felt arms, these heroes couldn’t stop Vordak from continuing to take the awards from the podium!
The final award for “Best Cartoonist/Author” was presented by three talented young artists, Natalia, Olivia, and Ellie (who had also exhibited at the Kids Read Comics festival). The trio tried their best to stop Vordak but were no match for his nefarious tricks!
Luckily, the day was saved thanks to a surprise visit from Doctor Who (played by Kevin Coppa), who convinced the thieving Vordak to come along in his time traveling TARDIS and deliver the trophies to their rightful owners.
The entire ceremony was filmed in front of a live audience, and will hopefully be posted online soon!
Huge thanks to all the presenters and performers, AADL for hosting, Chris Duffy and Nickelodeon Magazine for inspiring, everyone who voted, and the teachers and librarians who encouraged kids to vote!
Let’s do this again, next year!
CONTINUE FOR FULL LIST OF NOMINEES & WINNERS…
Raina Telgemeier, John Green & I are on the road for the next two weeks and we hope you’ll come out and see us at one of the following stops!
Kids Read Comics
Ann Arbor District Library
June 22nd-23rd
A totally free comic convention featuring Ben Hatke (Zita the Space Girl), Rafael Rosado (Giants Beware!), John Martin (Vordak), Jim Ottaviani (Feynman) and so many more!
I’ll be hosting the Comics Quickfire! on Saturday at 12:30 & Sunday at 12:30.
KCR! Comics Awards
Ann Arbor District Library
4th Floor conference room
June 23rd at 4pm
The first ever comics awards voted on by kids. I’ll be the co-host and there will be puppets, cosplay and tons of surprises. So you won’t want to miss it!
Green Brain Comics
13210 Michigan Ave Dearborn, MI 48126
June 24th from 2-5PM
Come celebrate the re-opening of this awesome comic shop!
Challengers Comics + Conversation
1845 N Western Ave #2R
Chicago, IL 60647
June 27th 6-8pm
An all-ages comics party! Live drawing games! Book signing!
ALA American Library Association Conference
Chicago, IL
June 28th-July 1st
We will be appearing in the graphic novel artist alley and on several panels on the Graphic Novel Stage! Come check out our live comics readings, podcasts, and drawing competitions!
FRIDAY:
Comics Quickfire!
6:00 – 6:45 pm
SATURDAY:
Saturday Supercast: TV to comics & back again!
1:00 – 2:00 pm
To Astronaut Academy and beyond!
3:00 – 4:00 pm
SUNDAY:
Kids Comics Revolution! Live recording
10:00 – 11:00 am
The Angst of Being a Teen, the Thrill of Being A Boat!
1:00 – 2:00 pm
Here’s what people are saying about Astronaut Academy: Re-Entry…
“A sequel just as goofy and sweet as the original book..brings the action-packed story to a satisfying conclusion.”
-Shelf Awareness
“A delightful and often clever voyage that will remind you of middle school even when it’s completely packed with robots and panda bears.”
-iO9
“Smart, inventive, and funny.”
-Comics Waiting Room
“I laughed out loud several times”
-Guys Lit Wire
“It was pretty much love at first sight.”
-The Armchair Librarian
My favorite part of author visits is encouraging kids to draw. Here’s some photos from my recent trip to Toronto.
Come celebrate the release of Astronaut Academy: Re-Entry at two awesome events!
May 21st at 4pm at The Voracious Reader! Signing + drawing!
The Voracious Reader
1997 Palmer Avenue,
Larchmont, NY 10538
Phone: (914) 630-4581
May 22nd at 7pm at WORD. Free drinks and snacks! Drawing Jam!
WORD
126 Franklin St.
Brooklyn, New York
Facebook RSVP encouraged, but not required.
SATURDAY
I’ll be appearing at the Gaithersburg Book Festival on May 18th, 2013
Location: Jim Henson Pavilion
Time: 12:15pm
On the Jim Henson stage! How cool is that? Followed by a book signing sponsored by Politics and Prose.
SUNDAY
Excited about returning to the the Maine Comics Arts Festival on May 19th, 2013
I’ll be sharing a table with Raina Telgemeier and John Green.
It’s a book! Introducing our new baby to the world!
Two years in the making… Astronaut Academy: Re-Entry, my latest full-length graphic novel, is on store shelves now!
Astronaut Academy: Re-Entry was a labor of love, and I couldn’t have made it without the support of all my friends and family! I know how lucky I am, and hope that I can continue to keep making offbeat comics for kids for years to come!
Help spread the word (and win cool stuff in the process):
Use the hashtag #AstronautAcademyDay on social media sites like twitter, google+, tumblr, & instagram. Tell people on Goodreads, Amazon, & Facebook why you think they might like the Astronaut Academy series.
You will be entered to win awesome prizes like original art, books, skype visits for schools, and more!
Contest details: http://comicsaregreat.com/aaday
KIDS’ COMICS REVOLUTION! INVITES KIDS TO PICK THEIR FAVORITE
GRAPHIC NOVELS, COMICBOOKS, WEBCOMICS, AND MORE WITH THE
KCR! COMICS AWARDS!
Kids vote online or by ballot from now through June 23rd, 2013
May 8th, 2013 – Kids’ Comics Revolution!, a podcast dedicated to spotlighting the expanding worlds of kids comics and kid lit, announces the first annual KCR! Comics Awards, honoring the best comic books and graphic novels for kids published across the U.S and Canada. From now through June 23rd, 2013, kids vote online at http://www.kidscomicsrevolution.com or by filling out the paper ballot at the Toronto Comics Art Festival or the Kids Read Comics celebration. Voting will be filmed and posted online. Results will be announced June 23rd at a special ceremony during the Kids Read Comics celebration at the Ann Arbor District Library.
Kids’ Comics Revolution! hosts Dave Roman and Jerzy Drozd collaborated with editor Chris Duffy (Nickelodeon Magazine, Nursery Rhyme Comics, SpongeBob Comics) and the Ann Arbor District Library on the KCR! Comics Awards to fill the void left by the Nick Magazine Comics Awards, which ran only one year before the popular kids’ magazine ceased publication. Nominees were selected by a council of educators and retailers.
Read the full press release HERE!
The KCR! Comics Awards offers kids the opportunity to share their enthusiasm for comics of various styles and format. Kids cast a vote for their favorite comics and characters across eight categories both serious and silly.
Check out the complete list of nominees and online ballot form HERE!
A PRINTABLE PDF ballot for distributing at your school or library! Just be sure to send them in before June 10, 2013!
(click the image to download the PDF)
The official book trailer for Astronaut Academy: Re-Entry is here!
If you like, please head over to Youtube and give this video a thumbs up + comment about the trailer and/or the book. It helps people discover the the world of Astronaut Academy!