test heading
Lovely piece in response to the new First Second catalog, from Beth Davies-Stofka at BROKEN FRONTIER…
And she sure throws down a gauntlet for someone to start the Graphic Novel’s Rotten Tomatoes…
It would be great if graphic novels had the same channels of exposure as the movies. It’s easy to find out what’s playing, just by looking in the newspaper. Internet sites like the Internet Movie Database tell you what’s showing and what’s hot, and lists forthcoming releases in theaters and on DVD. Film critics abound, their reviews easily obtained online. Rotten Tomatoes even gathers up and analyzes all the reviews of a movie and provides a critical consensus, along with hot links to all the reviews. And all the large cities have art houses that show some of the quality independent films that don’t go into wide distribution.
Graphic novels are slowly gaining greater exposure, and you can at least count on a few year-ending “best of” list to tell you what you shouldn’t miss. But unlike the movies, it isn’t simple to track what’s new, what’s hot, and what’s forthcoming. Certainly not as simple as walking out to your front lawn and opening the paper to the movie page.
Nor is it simple to track down critical reviews. While a Rotten Tomatoes for graphic novels would be most welcome, it’s not here yet.
Hey John, Even better: you can get printed versions by writing us at mail@firstsecondbooks.com —
‘To illustrate the point, the catalog’s covers are filled with photographs of regular people of all ages and interests reading First Second Books (you can see these photos in the intro that plays when you visit the web site, http://www.firstsecondbooks.com).’
I look forward to the new intro. Is it possible to get a pdf copy of the catalog? I would happily pay P&P for a copy too. Best wishes,