Starting in February the Barnes & Noble Review has been featuring reviews written and illustrated by Ward Sutton, a cartoonist who has done work for the New York Times, the New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, The Onion, and TV Guide, as well as the weekly political cartoon in the Village Voice until 2007.

The monthly reviews have mostly spotlighted non-fiction titles (and one fiction “biography”), which gives Sutton the luxury of not having to figure out what a particular character looks like, and in fact allows him to indulge in caricature from time-to-time.

He sets up each book well, giving you an idea of what the story of the book is, then outlining the strengths and weaknesses of each book, as a good book review should.

Four titles have been featured so far in book reviews, check them out at the Barnes & Noble website:

• The Women by  T. C. Boyle
• Under Their Thumb: How a Nice Boy from Brooklyn Got Mixed Up with the Rolling Stones (and Lived to Tell About It) by Bill German
• The Sound of Freedom: Marian Anderson, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Concert That Awakened America by Ray Arsenault
• Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life by Winifred Gallagher

Using comics to teach science is not a new concept. Even if a person had never picked up a comic in their life, it was likely that they had at least read a storybook or textbook with comic-like elements that were meant to liven up the discussion of genetics or geology or whatever else was on the curriculum at the time. One notable example are the Magic School Bus books, a series which featured the wacky adventures of Mrs. Frizzle and her class venturing to such exotic locations as the Solar System, Inside the Earth, and Inside the Human Body. As the scientific lesson was explained in the main narrative, there was often smaller, more humorous things taking place in the artwork and dialogue bubbles above the character’s heads.

Even though the Magic School Bus franchise eventually became very commercial with spinoff series and a TV show, the lesson of using comics to teach science was not lost on the scientific community at least, and several universities have used comics to reach out to kids and help them understand the world around them, as well as what role university laboratories play.

First up we have an entire series of manga published by the Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory (STEL) at Nagoya University. Using comics to teach is nothing new in manga-crazy Japan, but to their credit many of the booklets have been translated into English so that students outside of Japan can stand to benefit from this light-hearted approach to potentially tricky subjects such as the geomagnetic field or the solar wind.

Each booklet follows the adventures of cute blue-haired Mol and her little robotic dog Mirubo. She is described as a “science-lover” and actively seeks out different phenomenona, which are then explained to her by a series of mysterious and convenient senseis who are only happy to tell her and Mirubo everything they need to know about the phenomenon—including the negative effects:

The comics are created by Hayanon, a mangaka who graduated from the Department of Physics of Ryukyu and does a lot of work illustrating both science comics and promotional comics for magazines and websites.

On the other side of the world we have the Center for Space Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas, who have created a special comic to explain the Coupled Ion Neutral Dynamics Investigation (CINDI), a series of plasma sensors in the upper atmosphere c0-funded by NASA and the US Air Force.

In a few parallels to the Mol comics, the main character of these comics is also a young girl with an android dog. Except the girl is also an android, and flies through space… counting space dogs.

The counting of space dogs is a metaphor for what the real CINDI does, which is counting neutral and positive atoms (neutrals and ions) in orbit so that scientists on the ground can predict when the the interaction of these atoms will cause satellite interference. It’s a trickier subject than the simple phenomena that the STEL comics explain, but it does its best to explain the actual concepts logically and clearly.

The CINDI comic itself has a slight manga-influence to the character designs, but the title page of the comic uses an art noveau design. And while the STEL comics are available in Japanese and English, the CINDI comic is available in English and Spanish.

Hey, all!  Hope you listened to Hugh Jackman and went to your local comic book shop this past weekend for Free Comic Book Day!

Oh, and only the comic books were free.  There is no Free Comic Book Movie event.  You all have to PAY to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  Sorry, guys.  See, we don’t advocate piracy here!

In other news, Free Comic Book Day was an overall success, with sales up as much as 39% at some stores, while others reported at least double the amount of people as last year.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled Nonfiction Comics blog, already in progress.

Some of the amenities of New York Comic Con 2009 were sponsored; for example, the press room was sponsored by Sherrilyn Kenyon, and they had free bags, books, and fortune cookies available for the taking. The shuttle buses that transported attendees between the convention center and hotels/train stations were sponsored by Adult Swim, and they certainly made that fact clear with their own unique branding (more images after the break):

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The New York Comic Con was held at the Jacob Javits Center this past February 6–8, and with the number of TV, movie, and video game panels/booths available it’s quickly starting to rival the San Diego Comic-Con in size and scope, though it still lacks the prestige and probably will so for years to come. They’ve had trouble nailing down a date for their first four years, and the next installment will take place in October of 2010, a date they assure us will be steady for the next few years.

Buried in amongst the industry panels and Hollywood premieres were a few nuggets of intellectual or artistic goodness; there was a panel on “Asians and Superheroes” that talked about the role of Asian characters in general in superhero comics, promoting a new anthology that comes out in April featuring the work of numerous creators like Bernard Chang and Gene Luen Yang.

Saturday saw an actual nonfiction Comics panel called “Telling a Story With Imagined Pictures,” featuring various panelists who worked on non-fiction narratives for publishers like First Second and Random House. Present at the panel were:

• Michael Crowley, author of 08: A Graphic Diary of the Campaign Trail
• Mike Dawson, creator of Freddie & Me: A Coming-of-Age (Bohemian) Rhapsody
• Sabrina Jones, creator of Isadora Duncan: A Graphic Biography
• George O’Connor, artist of Journey into Mohawk Country

They answered a lot of questions about the creative process, especially the research involved in depicting real events. Both Crowley and Dawson noted it was difficult depicting events that people would have their own memories of. A lot of fact-checking was involved; Jones studied dancing and old travel guides to get the visual look of the book right, and she later had her dance drawing fact-checking to make sure they were correct. O’Connor had a different problem in that photo-reference wasn’t available for his subjects. He mentioned that the book has a whole scene depicting Mohawk armor, except that no visual records existed of the armor for him to accurately depict it. Instead, he had to rely on the cartoony visual style of the book to cover up the specifics of the armor.

When asked about the editorial process for graphic novels, all agreed that their editors have been largely hands-off, and speculated that it might be due to the newness of major publishers (like Random House) to the graphic novel scene.

It’s been two weeks since Election Day in the United States, but the excitement hasn’t died down one bit. Bluewater Productions didn’t waste time, announcing an addition to their Female Force line—a biography of future First Lady Michelle Obama.

“Mrs. Obama is a dynamic force and one of the most influential women in the world,” said Bluewater Productions President Darren G. Davis. “Her potential influence on future policy decisions makes her a fascinating figure to feature.”

 “In creating an image of our new first lady, Michelle Obama, it was my goal to represent her class, beauty and intelligence,” said artist Vinnie Tartamella. “I hope I reflected these qualities and characteristics in this historical piece. I’m truly honored to have been asked to create this.”

I wonder when Mr. Tartamella was commissioned to do the cover—probably before the election, which makes me wonder if this artwork would have ever seen the light of day had Barack Obama lost. Would they even produce a comic about Michelle at all? Given that Hillary is getting one despite losing the primaries months ago, and Sarah Palin’s was announced weeks ago, it’s likely Michelle Obama still would have gotten a comic, sans White House.

In other political news, Sean Tevis lost his bid for Kansas State Representative, 48% to 52%. No wrap-up comic has been produced yet, though he did mention the possibility of a sequel.

It’s déjà vu all over again! We previously reported on a bunch of comic books being put out about important politicians involved in the upcoming election; namely Barack Obama, John McCain, Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton. While there still appears to be no Joe Biden comic, you can add two more Obama and McCain comics to the fold.

These two are being put out by Antarctic Press, a company which up until now has focused more on fantasy and manga and less on biographical content. From the Previews posted on their site, I will say I am enjoying the art on the Obama book, which is done by Chris Allen. Both the cover and interiors are striking and manage to evoke an image of the man that looks and feels like he does in real life. The same can be said for the McCain comic, done by Allen along with co-collaborator and President of Antarctic Press, Joeming Dunn. The comics try to capture as much of both candidate’s lives as possible in 24 pages and they do not pull any punches, bringing up anti-Obama sentiment by some and McCain’s involvement with The Keating Five.

In an interview with The San Antonio Press News, Allen explains that they tried to stay as close to the middle as possible with these comics, even though he identifies himself as on Obama supporter.

“Again, we’re presenting biographies of people who have gotten to a very important place in American society,” Allen says. “We want to give a balanced picture, as balanced as you can in 24 pages. But at the same time we don’t overly dramatize one thing or another.”

What’s also neat is that when you stand both comics next to one another, the covers form one connected image. Unlike the IDW books focusing on McCain and Obama, these ones are in black and white instead of full color. Nevertheless, the comics are available for order on the Antarctic Press website for $4.99 a piece if anybody is interested in checking out a second take on these two individual’s life experiences. And thanks to Blog@Newsarama for bringing the comics to my attention!

A common assertion—among Democrats, at least—is that the 2000 and even the 2004 US presidental elections were “stolen” by the GOP. In many cases they’re referring to voter suppression, of which there is substantial evidence. In many cases, it only seems to be getting worse; Time magazine has a feature article outlining 7 Things That Could Go Wrong on Election Day. It’s a bipartisan problem—one only needs to look at the recent ACORN scandal to see the Democrats stumble the same as the Republicans.

Recognizing that this problem isn’t going away before such a crucial election, Greg Palast and Bobby Kennedy Jr. have created a comic (and film) to educate voters on what shenanigans they’re likely to encounter on Election Day, and how to avoid them.

Head over to the website to download the comic by either making a donation or filling in your e-mail address, or order print copies for a group. Next Tuesday is Election Day—make sure your vote is counted!

The Presidental Material comics featuring the life stories of U.S. presidental nominees John McCain and Barack Obama went on sale October 8, but the political fun doesn’t stop there. Bluewater Productions announced their intention to release a series of “Female Force” comics, a continuing series spotlighting influential women in modern history. Note the “modern” part—no Susan B. Anthony or Harriet Tubman. Their first subject? Senator Hillary Clinton.

“Female Force: Hillary Clinton” will explore both sides of the issue, from her positive contribution to the new feminist ethos to the detractors who argue against her attempt to secure the nomination to the bitter end. Though the battle for the presidency now comes down to John McCain and Barack Obama, interest is still strong and steadfast for what might have been the first female presidential nominee in history. Join Bluewater Productions as we examine the enigma of Hillary Clinton.

The cover design strongly evokes the imagery of the IDW comics, though they’ve already had to redo the cover once—the flag had the wrong number of stripes.

The mistake has been corrected, but they’ve gone and done it again, putting too many stripes on their upcoming Sarah Palin comic:

Palin’s life story from PTA president to the Alaska governorship to her surprise nomination as John McCain’s running mate is scheduled to be the second story in the recently announced “Female Force” comic. A final chapter is yet to be written.

“Regardless of your opinion, Governor Palin is a phenomenon. Her historic nomination has helped shape the national debate of arguably the most important presidential election in over 75 years,” said Bluewater president Darren Davis. “No matter what happens in this election, people will still be talking about Sarah Palin, she is indeed a female force!”

For both Mrs. Clinton and Mrs. Palin, they better hope interest is high—Hillary’s comic isn’t due for release until January 2009, and Sarah’s will be released in February.

Food-themed manga is not new to Japan, but talking about wine? Certainly a new thing in a country known for its sake and beer. That all changed with the publication of Kami no Shizuku (Les Gouttes de Dieu, “The Drops of the Gods”). It follows the trials of a young man tasked with finding 12 legendary wines so he can inherit his father’s collection of rare vintages.

The comic has become so popular that restaurants and wine sellers adjust their stocks according to whatever wine is featured in the latest installment of the manga, because those are the ones sure to sell out. Kami no Shizuku has helped raise the profile of wine in the Far East, spurring sales in Korea, China, and Taiwan. The manga has been spotlighted in the Japan Times, the Daily Mail, and today, a feature in the Dining & Wine section of the New York Times.

Unfortunately, though a French translation has been produced, the same can’t be said for English no release is planned (yet).