We’ve been getting a lot of questions about Battling Boy — specifically the question, what’s the difference between the hardcover edition and the paperback edition that we’re publishing?

This is now a question we can answer with pictures, as we have gotten super-advance copies of the finished books in the office.  (No, this doesn’t mean that we have our final book shipment — we print our books in China, so the vast majority of the copies are still on a boat traveling over here.)

The short answer is: basically, the hardcover edition has a hard cover.  The paperback cover is soft.  But here are some images that’ll explain better than we can with words.

Here’s a shot of the two books together.  The front cover looks great!  You can’t see in this afternoon light, but there’s spot gloss on the type and on the monster.  Everything is very shiny!  (The left one is the paperback; the right the hardcover.)

And the back cover!  As opposed to the front cover, these actually look different — mostly because the hardcover has a jacket, and the information that’s on the back cover of the paperback is on the flap of the hardcover.  (So — the paperback is again on the left; the hardcover on the right.)

But: white band!  Logos!  Copy!  Gray type!  Can you spot the differences?

Here are the two spines lined up together.  The hardcover is on the left; the paperback on the right.  You can see that the hardcover is taller; the pages of the books are actually exactly the same size; it’s just that the cover adds a quarter of an inch of height to the spine.

Also I love the small jumping Battling Boy!

Here are the two books opened up to their inside front cover.  You can see on the left that the hardcover has black endpapers and a flap with monsters on it.  On the right, the paperback has white endpapers and no monsters.  And a white half-title page.

Here’s a close-up of the monsters on the hardcover flap!  Because they are so excellently ominous (and difficult to see in the lighting of that previous photo).

And here are the two back inside covers.  On the left, you can again see the white endpapers for the paperback; on the right, you’ve got the black endpapers for the hardcover, and a flap (with a dinosaur, because why not?).

Excited?  You can pre-order a signed copy of the book (hardcover or paperback!) now from Paul’s local independent bookstore, WORD!

(We are also excited!)

Have you always been longing for a glimpse inside Paul Pope’s studio?

Now you can have one — courtesy of ‘BEA In Your Space,’ Book Expo America’s video studio tour program.  Paul’s going to be doing some promotion for Battling Boy at BEA next week, and they have kindly produced for you this video giving you a glimpse into his creative process.

Check it out!

Book Expo America!  It’s (oh god) next week!

We’ll be exhibiting with our parent company, Macmillan, at booth #1557.  And here’s what we’ll be doing at the show.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 29th

5:30 – 7:30pm / ABFEE Art Auction
All the cool kids will be going to the ABFEE Art Auction on the evening of Wednesday the 29th!  We’ll be there with author Gene Luen Yang (Boxers & Saints), and original art by Faith Erin Hicks, Paul Pope, Dave Roman, and Gene Luen Yang will be auctioned off to the highest bidder.  Check out all of what’ll be on offer at the auction on their flickr site.  Plus!  If you buy art, you’ll be supporting free speech!  What could be better than that?

THURSDAY, MAY 30th

2:30-3:00pm / Paul Pope Signs Battling Boy Galleys at Autographing Area, Table 15
(For all you Paul Pope fans, we just got advance books in the office right now, and we’ll be bringing a few to the show to show off.  You should come get a galley autographed for that experience alone!)

2:30-3:00pm / Gene Yang Signs Boxers & Saints BLADs at the Autographing Area, Table 8
(For all you Gene Yang fans, we’ll also have some advance finished copies of the book to show off!  We just got them in a week or so ago, and they look amazing!)

4:00-5:00pm / ‘The New Graphic Novel’ at the Uptown Stage
A panel featuring authors Faith Erin Hicks, Ed Piskor, Paul Pope, and Gene Luen Yang, moderated by Calvin Reid.  All these graphic novelists have new books coming up this fall!  This should be awesome.

FRIDAY, MAY 31st

2:00-2:45pm / Paul Pope Signs Battling Boy Galleys at the Macmillan Booth #1557
(There will also be a secret surprise give-away of things.  So you should really come out for this.)

3:30 – 4:45 / CBC Tea with Authors with Gene Luen Yang (Boxers & Saints)
(Tea!  Plus authors!  Plus conversation!  We will also have finished books at this event to show off.)

THE END!

If you’re actually looking to talk to someone from First Second at BEA, it’s best to try to a) e-mail us in advance and arrange a meeting, or b) show up at one of the scheduled things we’re doing with our authors.  We appreciate people dropping by the Macmillan booth; unfortunately, we won’t be able to have a representative there the whole show.

We went to TCAF!

Here is a picture of Toronto when we arrived.  It rained on us!

One of the first things we got to see when we got there was the convention program, with art by Maurice Vellekoop.  It was very attractive!

And here’s the whole skid of programs that showed up at Little Island.  Luckily there were TCAF minions to unpack them!

We showed up in the library before TCAF opened on Saturday to take this picture especially for you.  Notice how there are banners of the posters from the former years all around the outside wall of the second floor.  Neat, eh?

Then TCAF opened and many more people showed up.

Zack Giallongo with his book Broxo!

Zack had made heatpads of one of the animals in his book — Migo, the snowbeast!  Apparently if snowbeasts get very warm, they smell like mint.  Who knew?

We tried to get a good picture of Lucy Knisley, the author of Relish: My Life in the Kitchen, but she kept being surrounded by babies.  Babies!  They have thwarted us for the last time.  We shall not be so cavalierly set aside by them at our next convention.

Here is a picture of Faith Erin Hicks’ table, with her TCAF debut book Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong at it.

Luckily, we came across Faith only a few moments later, coming back from her panel.

Here is Cecil Castellucci, the author of Odd Duck, which debuted at TCAF this year!  (You can also see two other :01 people in the background of this photo if you look hard.)

And Dave Roman, whose Astronaut Academy: Re-Entry debuted at TCAF as well.

Here is a photo of Matt Kindt, who is looking vaguely confused because he is developing laryngitis.  He is about to sign a copy of Red Handed!

We did promise people books getting lit on fire if they requested them, but unfortunately Matt ended up sitting under the sprinkler system, so we nixed that idea.  Next time!

Here Matt signs a copy of Red Handed (with no fire involved).

Matt also fills in an empty wanted poster image in the book with a picture of diabolical-you (eyepatch optional)!

Maris Wicks, the author of our upcoming graphic novel Primates, also came to TCAF this year.  She had on display an advance copy of her graphic novel.

And she made a print of the Primates cover, which is exceedingly attractive!  We can’t wait for this one.

Then we went home and slept because we were exhausted.  Yay TCAF — once again a show filled with delightful and talented cartoonists (many of whom we don’t even publish . . . yet) in a lovely location!

You like quantum electrodynamics, don’t you? Of course you do!

Who doesn’t, am I right?

All I’m gonna say here is if you think you don’t like physics, or physicists, this book will change your mind. And now it’s out in a gorgeous, sleek, affordable paperback edition!

So if you’re looking for a fantastic biography that’ll open your mind a little to the quantum world, look no more, my friend. I can promise this is the book you’re looking for.

An easy mistake to make when you’re setting out to write comedy — especially pop-culture inflected comedy — is to focus on the referential and satirical and to neglect, well, the heart of the story. But the best writers know that comedy only works when there’s an anchor for the audience — when there’s a real point of connection and sincerity and care.

One of the things I love about the Astronaut Academy books is that they’re funny, and ridiculously chock-full of crazy pop culture references, but they’re not satire. There’s nothing cynical or unkind about Dave Roman’s writing. And they story isn’t as random and aimless as it first appears, either. As you work your way through Astronaut Academy: Re-Entry, you discover that each character gets her or his own little arc, and nobody is left out in the cold, dark, merciless vacuum of space. (Nobody who doesn’t want to be there, anyway.)

There’s a reason this series has developed a rabidly devoted readership — kids know what good writing is, no matter where they find it.

Oh, the joys of being an Odd Duck. If you’re a Theodora-style Odd Duck, maybe you’re a little fussy, a little particular about your life. You’ve got your funny ways, and you stick to them. You might not be super sociable–you’ve got your own thing going, after all. If you’re a Chad-style Odd Duck, you might be into strange, loud, flamboyant gestures – maybe you dye your feathers or make crazy art, or have crummy table manners.

Anyone who’s met me can guess which kind of Odd Duck I am. But just like Chad, I’m friends with a bunch of Theodoras, and we have more in common than you might think!

Odd Duck was a joy to work on, and it’s a joy to read. It’s a simple story about accepting differences — your own, and others’ — but it’s also kind of a profound look at friendship. The best books — whether they’re for children or for adults — tell us something about ourselves, and help us understand something about others.

Odd Duck stands with the best, without a doubt. And it has the advantage over many other similarly profound works in that it’s funny, and light-hearted, and as sweet as mango salsa.

We’re super-excited about our upcoming graphic novel anthology Fairy Tale Comics, which comes out in September.  It is full of wonderful fairy tales by wonderful authors, including (in book order):

Bobby London, Emily Carroll, Gilbert Hernandez, Vanessa Davis, Gigi D.G., Ramona Fradon, Jaime Hernandez, Luke Pearson, Brett Helquist, Joseph Lambert, Raina Telgemeier, Charise Mericle Harper, Graham Annable, Jillian Tamaki, Karl Kerschl, David Mazzucchelli, and Craig Thompson!  With editing by Chris Duffy.

Pictures!

Here’s the front cover, by Eleanor Davis.  Aw, isn’t it adorable?  The wolf has become friends with Little Red Riding Hood!  All because of comics!  Comics are so transformative, you guys.

And here’s the front cover again, on an angle.  It still looks good!  It is amazing the way these artists and designers make that happen.

And the back cover, with art by Raina Telgemeier (who is also in the book).  The back cover also includes: a list of what fairy tales people are adapting and illustrating!  Great quotes!

I took this picture as the sun set on this pile of copies of Fairy Tale Comics.  It is a heartwarmingly dramatic sight.

Here is that pile of books again, but closer.  The spine looks rad!  We like it extremely.  See how clear and easy to read it is!

My favorite part of the book (possibly) — the Spine Bears, from Goldilocks, adapted and illustrated by Graham Annable.  It’s so good, you guys.

Here’s the inside front cover and the front flap.

And the back flap, with a cut-out illustration from each book.

Title page!  Every book has got to have one, in this one a very attractive object with type made out of trees.

Here’s a sample interior spread, from Little Red Riding Hood, adapted and illustrated by Gigi D. Gi.

And here’s another — Baba Yaga, adapted and illustrated by Jillian Tamaki.  It’s gorgeous!

Fairy Tale Comics comes out at the end of September.  If you liked Nursery Rhymes at all, you should buy this one, too!  It has more magic!  More authors!  More fairy tales!  All good things!

From the drawing table of Odd Duck author Sara Varon

Initially Odd Duck was supposed to be a chapter book, and I got hired to do just a few spot illustrations.  Cecil and I were each working only with the editor, and things were not going well, so we asked if we could work together.  What a great idea!  We decided it should have full page illustrations, half picture book and half graphic novel.  After that the project came together very smoothly.

For me, this was the first time I’d ever illustrated a book that was not from my own story.  The difference in working with another author’s story is that you have to find your way in, which is no small task.  When writing my own stories, I always start with a character in mind.  That character is already part of me; I know what he or she looks like, what her world looks like, what she thinks about, who her friends are, etc.  So it takes some time to figure out how to identify with someone else’s character.  With Theodora, it wasn’t so hard because, of course, I like animals (especially ducks) and I am an odd duck and a loner myself.

I didn’t know what her world looked like, but the story told me she lived in a house with a big yard and a pond.  I usually take inspiration from things around me, and there are no houses with big yards in New York City.  However, I was going to visit a friend in Seattle, and I thought Theodora could live in (what I think of as) a Pacific Northwest style house, one made of wood and painted bright colors with a lush yard.  I am a runner, so I ran for miles up and down the streets in Seattle looking for the house Theodora might live in.  And I took a lot of reference photos during my visit.

Next I thumbnailed the story.  Timing is always an important part of storytelling.  The spaces in between the words are really important, and I always like to have parts where the story is told only in pictures, a sort of silence where the reader has to take in information only by images.  So the 11 page prose story became a 64 page set of thumbnails which eventually became 96 pages.  Another important idea in translating a written story into a graphic novel/picture book is that the words and pictures should never say the same thing.  So I took out all Cecil’s verbal descriptions and conveyed that information with pictures.

Then Cecil looked over the thumbnails, we made some changes together, the editors made some changes, and voila!  It was a book!  I am pleased with the result.  Cecil and my ideas were complementary.  We worked well together, and Odd Duck is something neither of us would’ve been able to make working solo.

Odd Duck is written by Cecil Castellucci and illustrated by Sara Varon; it’s on sale May 14th (tomorrow)!

Many of our authors (and editors) are going to TCAF this weekend!  It’s going to be delightful; who doesn’t love Toronto and comics and lots and lots of programming?

Here’s where you’ll find our authors at TCAF this weekend (when they’re not at their tables).

SATURDAY

11:00 – 12:00pm / Fortuna: Mark Siegel Storytelling Workshop

12:15 – 1:15pm / Fortuna; Paul Pope Inking Demo

1:30 – 2:30pm / Fortuna: Memoir Workshop w/ Lucy Knisley

1:30 – 2:15pm / Kids Area: To Astronaut Academy and Beyond w/ Dave Roman

1:30 – 2:30pm / Marriott 400: Moebius Legacy Panel w/ Paul Pope

2:30 – 3:15pm / Kids Area: Kids Comics Quickfire w/ Dave Roman, Cecil Castellucci

2:45 – 3:45pm / Pilot: Memoir Panel w/ Lucy Knisley

SUNDAY

11:15 – 12:00pm / Marriott 400: Comics Editing Panel w/ Mark Siegel

12:15 – 1:15pm / Learning Center: Live Drawing Thing w/ Paul Pope

12:15 – 1:15pm / Marriott 400: Show Debut Spotlight Panel w/ Matt Kindt

12:15 – 1:15pm / Fortuna: Teen Comics w/ Faith Erin Hicks

1:30 – 2:30pm / Fortuna: Editing Comics Workshop w/ Calista Brill

2:30 – 3:15pm / Kids Area: Heroes & Villians! w/ Cecil Castellucci and Faith Erin Hicks

3:30 – 4:15pm / Kids Area: Kids Comics Quickfire w/ Dave Roman, Zack Giallongo

4:00 – 5:00pm / Learning Center: Upcoming Graphic Novels w/ Calista Brill

4:00 – 5:00pm / Pilot: Live Drawing w/ Lucy Knisley