Free Comic Book Day

362 days! If you missed Free Comic Book Day last Saturday, May 2, that’s how long you’ll have to wait until the next celebration. I, for one, will be marking my calendar. Since 2002, this annual freebie frenzy has gotten bigger and better every year, and this past weekend was no exception. Not only has the list of available comics grown (40 free comics this year!!), but the variety of comics has expanded as well. From Drawn & Quarterly’s retro pick Nancy & Melvin Monster and laughs for the little ones with The Simpsons to DC and Marvel’s contemporary superhero fare and more grown-up graphics like Mercy Sparks and Love and Rockets, Free Comic Book Day has something for everyone. So this coming week, I’ll be rereading my freebies, and hopefully kids (and adults) around the country will be doing the same. And, if you didn’t get your grab bag last weekend, there’s still a chance to pick up some great free reads (including Stone Arch Books) before next year . . . at the library.

Donnie Lemke
Senior Editor, SAB

The Next Round

I’m not a huge fan of sports analogies. Oftentimes, these clichés come out of left field and fail to hit their mark. That said, I’m also not someone who lays off a perfect pitch. I mean, everyone knows you gotta take a few cuts if you’re ever going to connect, right? So, if I WAS going to use a corny sports analogy to describe the graphic novel process, I might say it’s a lot like boxing: match up an author and an illustrator, promote their event, and hope the outcome pleases the audience.


At Stone Arch, we’ve already started our next round of graphic novels, scheduled for release in Fall 2009. One title, FLOAT AND STING: ONE ROUND WITH MUHAMMAD ALI, matches up celebrated author Davis Miller with illustrator Andres Esparza. In the book, Miller is a puny little mouse at Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. At least that's
what the other students call the 4' 7" senior. After years of being depressed, the sickly teen decides to take on an impossible dream. He decides to become a boxer. Then one day in 1975, Miller gets a chance to spar with Muhammad Ali — a bout that changes his life.


Unlike some matchups, Miller and Esparza haven't clashed with each other in these opening rounds (trust me, as an editor, I’ve refereed a few battles in the past); their combination of writing talent and visual storytelling has created a tale of excitement and inspiration. So for now, enjoy a few sneak peeks or, you might call them, pregame warm-ups. This book is sure to be a knockout! (Okay, that was a little corny.)



Donnie Lemke
Senior Editor
Stone Arch Books

Flipping Pages

Okay, I’ll admit it, this month I turned the page on my calendar a few days late. Normally, I wouldn’t mind (it’s not an unusual occurrence, after all); however, February is different. First, it’s already the shortest month of the year and doesn’t need additional editing (yes, even editors know when to say when). And, much more importantly, it’s Black History Month. For twenty-eight days (not counting those crazy leap years), we commemorate the enormous contributions of African Americans in our society. For twenty-eight days, we recognize Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, Jackie Robinson, Wilma Rudolph, Booker T. Washington, Martin Luther King, Jr., and hundreds of other African American icons. For a mere twenty-eight days, all people are given the chance to discuss the African American experience, to share stories, both fiction and nonfiction, of their struggles, triumphs, and perseverance throughout history. So, before flipping the page on your calendar next month, flip through the pages of a few good books and learn something you hadn’t yet known. Oh, and don’t worry if March comes a few days late.


Donnie Lemke
Senior Editor
Stone Arch Books

Staff Spotlight: Donnie Lemke

Name: Donnie Lemke

Occupation/role at Stone Arch:
Senior Editor. I work mostly on the graphic novel titles at Stone Arch Books, developing these authors, managing projects, and shaping manuscripts from inception to final product.

Years at Stone Arch:
About a year and a half, although I’ve worked within Capstone Publishers for nearly six years now.

Education:
Bachelor of Arts degree from Minnesota State University, Mankato. I’m currently working toward my Masters of Arts in Liberal Studies from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota.

What's your favorite SAB book?
Each season I have a new favorite, and this season it’s The Hound of the Baskervilles. Both the author and the illustrator did an amazing job of updating this classic Sherlock Holmes mystery into a modern graphic novel (you’d never guess Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published the original version more than 100 years ago!). I also really like the new Graphic Spin titles (Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, etc.). Each of these fairy tale retellings is unique in both mood and style, giving the stories a fresh new life for new readers. Great stuff!

What was your favorite book when you were a kid?
Like many young boys, I suppose, my favorite book was Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Every afternoon in sixth grade, my teacher, Mrs. Henderson, would read a chapter to the class (or, Heaven forbid, call on one of us to read), and each day I was left hanging in anticipation for the next installment. Will Brian find shelter? Will he learn how to build a fire? Will he ever see his parents again? Or will he succumb to the harsh Canadian wilderness? I tell you, it was torture. I also really liked another survival story called Avalanche by Arthur Roth. I can’t find this book anywhere today (believe me, I’ve tried), but if you can, be sure to check it out (and let me know where you found it!). It’s about a boy who’s trapped beneath the snow for a week, and the author gives all of the gruesome details of his survival. What’s not to love?

What were you like as an elementary/middle-school student?
I was a pretty quiet kid, got good grades, and stayed out of trouble. Actually, I distinctly remember the only time I was ever disciplined in elementary school. It was second grade, and I was standing in the lunch line. My teacher, who shall remain nameless, supposedly asked the class to stop talking. Now, even to this day, I don’t remember her (or him) giving this instruction. But anyway, I talked, and she (or he) gave me a “Sad Snoopy,” a disciplinary slip decorated with the frowning face of the Peanuts pooch. That night, I had to take the slip home and get it signed by my parents. Honestly, I still can’t look at a Peanuts comic without getting a little teary-eyed.

What's your favorite thing to do in your free time?
I spend most of the day with my face buried in a book or crammed against a computer screen. So, during my free time, I like to get outside as much as possible. During summer evenings, you’d probably find me relaxing by the lake or the pool. I also like to run, and I just recently completed my fourth marathon in an excruciating 3 hours, 9 minutes, and 26 seconds (Boston, here I come!).

Tell us a memorable Stone Arch Books moment from the past year.
Several months ago, the editors and designers at Stone Arch Books visited a nearby school library in Edina, Minnesota. While there, we had a chance to observe a classroom of elementary students. Seeing actual kids reading and enjoying the books we had created was extremely fulfilling—kind of like a publishing circle of life, or something like that.

What’s the best part of your job?
The constant variety. Every day at Stone Arch Books is different than the last. One day I’ll be editing a Graphic Sparks manuscript, trying to come up with a booger joke that’ll make boys laugh. The next day, I’ll be working on a Zone book, thinking of ways to make them scream. It’s never boring.

What’s the hardest part of your job?
Keeping up with the kids. The hottest trends are always changing, and we’re always trying to figure out the next big thing. Everyone at Stone Arch Books spends countless hours reading comics, playing with the latest action figures, and watching Saturday morning cartoons. Okay, I guess it’s really not so hard (Pass the Cap’n Crunch!).



This is the fifth post in a multi-part series that spotlights the members of the Stone Arch Books staff. Drawing of Donnie Lemke by Brann Garvey.

Have no fear!

Last week, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported on a new graphic novel course offered at Hazel Park Middle School in St. Paul, Minnesota. Not surprisingly, at least to Stone Arch staffers, the instructor, Linda Morrison, raved about her students’ interest in the course and their reading progress. All was good in the world . . .

The real story, however, came the day after the article’s publication. In several follow-up responses, a number of people voiced strong opposition to the course, stating, “Comic books have no place in a curriculum.” This type of public feedback shocked us, to say the least. Hadn’t graphic novels secured their place as a respected literary genre? Didn’t the New York Times, the National Book Foundation, and even the Pulitzer Prize Board embrace the format long ago? Wasn’t the Maryland State Department of Education Comic Book Initiative enough to prove the benefits of graphic novels for reluctant readers? Maybe we’ve read too many comic books, but it sure felt like we’d slipped into the Bizarro world.

Have no fear! We were rescued from the depths of disillusionment by the most likely of heroes—the students themselves. In the original article, one of Morrison’s students, Noushoua, exclaimed, “Reading graphic novels makes you want to read more.” Can entertaining, inspiring, and educating students really be that simple? Well, at Stone Arch Books, we believe it can!

Check out our website for tons of graphic novels your readers will want to read. And while you’re there, browse our Educator Resources, sure to help calm any, um, unearthly fears.


--Donnie Lemke
Senior Editor, Stone Arch Books

Girl (Super) Power!

Recently, Newsweek and the Guardian featured articles on the surge of women and girls in comics, both as creators and as readers. At Stone Arch Books, we’ve already started supporting this fast-growing trend. In fact, the Guardian included an interview with Stone Arch author Trina Robbins.

Robbins has written for Wonder Woman and Powerpuff Girls comics, Scholastic, Marvel, and Disney. She has translated Japanese manga into English, and has written award-winning books on comics for girls and superheroines. Her book, The Great Women Cartoonists, was named one of the top ten books on comics in 2001 by Time Magazine. In the Guardian article, Robbins expresses her excitement for the surge, stating, “There are more women creating comics than ever before. I hope it'll get even better.”

Stone Arch would like to see this happen as well. That’s why this season we’re offering even more graphic novels created by female writers and illustrators, which feature even more female protagonists.

Robbins’s newest graphic novel for Stone Arch, Freedom Songs: A Tale of the Underground Railroad, follows a 14-year-old girl named Sarah during her grueling journey out of slavery. The book is sure to satisfy any girl’s (or boy’s) appetite for comics and will be a welcomed addition to every Black History Month reading list.

Check out our website for other graphic novels your girl readers will love.


--Donnie Lemke
Editor, Stone Arch Books