Four people I met in Chicago

This is the third of three posts about my recent trip to Chicago, and this one is about four very cool artists I met there, and the very cool books that they make. These people are well-known names in the US, but might not be so familiar in the UK. If you can get hold of their books, you won't be disappointed.

First up is Gene Luen Yang. I'd list every award that Gene has won but that would use up this whole post, suffice to say that one of his previous books; American Born Chinese, was the first graphic novel to win the incredibly prestigious Printz Award.

Here's his latest project: Boxers and Saints:














It's such a simple but brilliant idea; while reading about the Boxer rebellion that happened in China at the end of the 19th Century, he found himself unable to decide which side he felt more sympathy with; the result therefore is not one but two books on the subject. The genius of this is obvious; all stories have two sides, but history is very good at sometimes forgetting one of them. Not so with Boxers and Saints, and the result is very powerful stuff that I suspect will win Gene more awards.

Second, here's a couple of books by Faith Erin Hicks, a Canadian illustrator with a wonderful modern edge to her work.














I should point out that Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong was written by Prudence Sen. Faith explained to me how the book was serialised online, for free, before publication as a physical book. It's an interesting approach and one that might worry some authors, but Faith reckons it's a model that has worked well and has helped build her reputation since her previous book; Friends with Boys.

Third up is the 'rock star of graphic novels' (as he was described to me): Paul Pope. Paul is certainly a very cool gentleman; it was enough to learn that he lives in Brooklyn, knows Thurston Moore, and that his girlfriend is a trapeze artist to realise the truth of that introduction.

Paul's clients include LucasArts, Paramount, Diesel, DKNY, Dargaud, Marvel, DC... the list is seemingly endless.

He was a charming guy to hang out with, and always had something interesting to say whatever we were talking about. He also disproves that widely-held belief that the biggest names have the biggest egos - his modesty was extremely refreshing. Here's the cover of his latest book; Battling Boy.  It simply bursts with energy, and I loved it.

Now, the final artist of these fantastic four: Mark Siegel, and his extraordinary work; Sailor Twain.

I can't do this book justice in a few words; let me just say that it's beautiful, funny, touching, exciting, dark and sexy, and not for nothing did the book become a New York Times bestseller. Mark's soft charcoals give a lovely mysterious edge to this tale of a steamboat captain who becomes entranced by a wounded mermaid he takes into his care. It's just wonderful and here to give you a flavour is the full page splash when Twain finds the mermaid on the deck of his boat.

Isn't that the most beautiful thing you've seen in a while?


So there's four wonderful and very different artists who it was my very great pleasure to meet in the States, and I hope you find something to love there too.

First Second :01

Today I did two things I never thought I'd do.

I'm on my way to Chicago for ALA 2013, but stopped over in New York for a couple of days to meet the people at First Second. First Second is an incredibly exciting graphic novel list, and I'm really pleased to say I'm about to sign a contract with them for a book written by me, and illustrated by my old friend, Thomas Taylor.

I headed down for lunch with Mark Siegel and Calista Brill. I'd only met Mark once briefly before and never met Calista except virtually, so it was a great chance today to discuss comics in general and in particular the one Thomas and I are going to make over the next couple of years.

Now the first thing to say about First Second is that, being part of the Macmillan US group, they work out of the coolest possible offices:

Yes, you're right, that is the Flatiron building.

Of course there are bigger, taller skyscrapers in Manhattan, but once upon a time, this was the tallest, and it's still the coolest, with the possible exception of the Chrysler. More than that, from a comics point of view, it's iconic; as Mark pointed out, this building is the home of the Daily Bugle in Spiderman. So it gets a few points for that.

Arriving at the lobby, I rode up in the (original) elevator to meet Mark and Calista who kindly found me when I was looking a little lost, and we headed out for lunch. It was here that I did the first unexpected thing today. We went to a great middle-Eastern place called Ilili, and Mark wondered if I'd like to try this:

Yes, you're right, that is bone marrow.

We ate it, only afterwards wondering what it might have come from.

I digress. After a delicious lunch, we yakked about comics and discussed the project in hand - this is far too early to talk about it much, but it's called Scarlett Hart, and it looks like this:

Yes, you're right, that is very cool. Which is not down to me but the superb skills of Thomas. I cannot wait to get cracking on this book properly, though that's going to be a while off yet.

Then, after lunch, we headed back to nose around Calista's office, which is very cool, since the walls are covered with very cool art (did I mention that these First Second guys are cool? Well they are).

Yes, you're right, I do look like I've just eaten bone marrow. Calista, it turns out, once studied Finnish. Cool, no?

So then came the second thing I never thought I'd do:
Mark said: 'Do you want to go on the roof?'
Me: 'The roof? Of the Flatiron?'
Mark: 'Yes. The roof.'
Me: 'You're kidding..?'

He wasn't:

Here's Mark, by the way:

Mark is of course a superb creator of graphic novels himself: his extraordinary work Sailor Twain is testament to that.


I know the rooftop photos look a little fake, but it was a hazy afternoon and the whole of Manhattan was laid out like a film set. And really, at this point, any pretence that I might be as cool as these guys who make awesome graphic novels in an unbelievably iconic building went out of the window, as I stared around me like the slack-jawed yokel from a tiny village near Cambridge that I am.

Still, who needs to be cool?

If you don't know the great books that First Second make, have a look at their website - it's a great place to explore, and you get a real sense of what they're doing in that fantastic old building on 23rd Street.