The Hub of Reid Harris Cooper

Master of Horror R.L. Stine Puts His Twist on Legendary Monsters in STUFF OF NIGHTMARES

Posted on 06/16/2022 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Discover the First Original Comic Book Series From ‘Fear Street’ &
‘Goosebumps’ Author in September 2022

LOS ANGELES, CA (June 16, 2022) – BOOM! Studios announced today STUFF OF NIGHTMARES, a brand new four-issue limited comic book series from R.L Stine, the legendary author of Fear Street and Goosebumps, who’s back with a chilling new take on iconic creatures from horror legend in his first creator-owned comic book series, with chilling art by A.L. Kaplan (Maw, Jim Henson’s The Storyteller), and colors by Roman Titov (Eat the Rich). Available in September 2022.

In the premiere of Stine’s reanimated reimagining, the monster you enounter isn’t the one you thought it’d be—you might be familiar with the classic tale of a mad scientist hell-bent on creating life, but what these two demented brothers have created is something else entirely! Get ready for a darker, more gruesome, and even more terrifying series for horror fans who are ready to face their fears in … STUFF OF NIGHTMARES!

R.L. Stine is one of the best-selling children’s authors in history. Now in its 30th year, Goosebumps has sold more than 400 million books. The Goosebumps series made R.L. Stine a worldwide publishing celebrity (and Jeopardy answer). His other popular children’s book series include Fear Street, (recently revived as a feature film trilogy), The Garbage Pail Kids, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room, and Rotten School. His newest Disney+ TV series is Just Beyond, based on his graphic novels for BOOM! Studios. Other titles include: It’s The First Day of School Forever, A Midsummer Night’s Scream, Young Scrooge, and two picture books, with Marc Brown—The Little Shop of Monsters and Mary McScary. R.L. lives in New York City with his wife Jane, an editor and publisher.

“AT LAST I’m free to let my most horrific fantasies out! Hey, kids– stay away from STUFF OF NIGHTMARES,” said R.L. Stine. “It’s my first horror comic book work for grownups. Ghastly, gory, and I hope, good stomach-churning fun!”

A.L. Kaplan is an American cartoonist and horror aficionado currently living, drawing, and blasting doom metal to his cats in the Wild West. He is best known for his work as the artist on Jude Ellison S. Doyle’s original series Maw, as well as Jim Henson’s The Storyteller from BOOM! Studios. He also self-published the comic Full-Spectrum Therapy.

“As a lifelong fan of horror, and especially R.L. Stine, it’s been an exciting experience to work with him on this dark and twisted series about the monsters that fuel our nightmares,” said Kaplan. “It was thrilling to get a chance to bring the truly macabre and creepy elements of the characters that Stine created onto the page so I hope readers get just as many chills down their spine as I did when they read this series for the very first time!”

Fans won’t want to miss celebrating the series premiere STUFF OF NIGHTMARES #1 with a main cover from acclaimed artist Francesco Francavilla (Afterlife with Archie) and highly collectible variant cover art by illustrators Miguel Mercado (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers), Adam Gorham (The Immortal Hulk), Jenny Frison (Wonder Woman), and Kyle Holtz (Savage Spider-man), as well as an incredibly rare variant cover from artist Björn Barends (Something is Killing the Children) signed by R.L. Stine and not one but two extra spooky glow-in-the-dark covers by Francavilla and original Goosebumps cover artist Tim Jacobus!

“For all of us who grew up reading R.L. Stine’s work, we now have something terrifying to sink our teeth into as adults, especially those who have a sordid love for Fear Street, EC Comics, and classic horror,” said Bryce Carlson, VP, Editorial & Creative Strategy BOOM! Studios. “I can’t wait for the Nightmare Keeper to lead everyone into this horrifying new series that is truly the STUFF OF NIGHTMARES!”

STUFF OF NIGHTMARES is the newest release from BOOM! Studios’ eponymous imprint, home to critically acclaimed original series, including BRZRKR by Keanu Reeves, Matt Kindt, and Ron Garney; Something is Killing the Children by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera; Once & Future by Kieron Gillen and Dan Mora; We Only Find Them When They’re Dead by Al Ewing and Simone Di Meo; Seven Secrets by Tom Taylor and Daniele Di Nicuolo; The Many Deaths of Laila Starr by Ram V and Filipe Andrade; Eve by Victor LaValle and Jo Mi-Gyeong; Basilisk by Cullen Bunn and Jonas Scharf; Faithless by Brian Azzarello and Maria Llovet; Alice Ever After by Dan Panosian and Giorgio Spalletta, and Grim by Stephanie Phillips and Flaviano. The imprint also publishes popular licensed properties, including Dune: House Atreides om Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson, and Dev Pramanik; Mighty Morphin and Power Rangers from Ryan Parrott, Mat Groom, Moises Hidalgo, and Marco Renna; and Magic from Jed McKay and Ig Guara.

Print copies of STUFF OF NIGHTMARES #1 will be available for sale in September 2022 exclusively at local comic book shops (use comicshoplocator.com to find the one nearest you) or at the BOOM! Studios webstore. Digital copies can be purchased from content providers like comiXology, iBooks, Google Play, and Kindle.

For continuing news on STUFF OF NIGHTMARES and more from BOOM! Studios, stay tuned to boom-studios.com and follow @boomstudios on Twitter.

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U.S. Selfies Winners Revealed

Posted on 06/16/2022 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Black Discos in New York, Historic Great Lakes Fiction and a Girl Engineer Named Amanda Take Top Honors at U.S. Selfies

– U.S. Selfies Winners Revealed at Virtual Awards Ceremony –

NEW YORK, N.Y.—June 16, 2022—A history of the Black-owned discos in 1970s New York, After Dark: Birth of the Disco Dance Party by Noel Hankin, won the top prize for the inaugural memoir/autobiography category at the U.S. Selfies awards ceremony this evening. The winner in the fiction category, Sisters of the Sweetwater Fury by Kinley Bryan, tells the tale of the Great Lakes Storm of 1913, with stories inspired by the author’s great-grandfather, who was at the helm of the four-masted schooner Golden Age, and his wife, Annabel, serving as ship’s cook, when the storm hit. Amanda, Toy Engineer by Aubre Andrus, won in the children’s category. A book for young readers about a mechanical engineer and marathon runner, Amanda teaches readers about science, technology and more.

Emcees at the virtual event were Jo Henry, managing director of BookBrunch, and Carl Pritzkat, president of BookLife, which administered the awards in conjunction with the award’s co-presenters, Publishers Weekly and BookBrunch.

“With the announcement of the winners of the third annual U.S. Selfies awards, the publishing industry has further testament to the advancements indie authors have made in bringing vital, captivating stories to life,” said Cevin Bryerman, CEO and publisher of Publishers Weekly.

Runners-up were The Puppet Maker’s Daughter by Karla M. Jay for adult fiction and Daughter of Light by Garrett Curbow for the children’s category. There was no runner-up in the memoir/autobiography category.

“The U.S. Selfies awards illustrate the wealth of talent in self-publishing today,” said Carl Pritzkat, president of BookLife and COO of Publishers Weekly. “Noel Hankin, Kinley Bryan and Aubre Andrus give us new worlds to explore—whether the dance party discos of New York, the early 20^th century danger of the Great Lakes or a new frontier of mechanical engineering for girls.”

“It was harder than ever this year to choose winners from such strong shortlists, and I’m delighted that the winning titles in each of the three categories showcase such an impressive range of great books now available from indie authors,” said Jo Henry, managing director of BookBrunch, founders of the Selfies Book Awards.

U.S. Selfies jurors for memoir/autobiography were Jo Henry of BookBrunch; Mary Webber O’Malley, a writer and a bookseller for Skylark Bookshop in Columbia, Missouri, and scheduling producer and co-host of the Blaze Boudoir on A Mighty Blaze; and Sophia Stewart, deputy editor of the Millions, an associate editor at Publishers Weekly and a 2021-2022 Emerging Critics Fellow at the National Book Critics Circle.

“Anyone with any sort of interest in ’70s music or music history will find this a fascinating read,” the jury wrote about the winning memoir, After Dark: Birth of the Disco Dance Party.

Sisters of the Sweetwater Fury was praised by the adult fiction jury as “[an] impressive debut. Packs a lot, but with a solid economy of language and good pacing. Well researched too.” Jury members included Robin Cutler, president of LMBPN Worldwide Publishing, CEO of HowToPublishBooks.com and creator and developer of IngramSpark; Rachel Kerr from BookBaby Publishing who previously worked with local Philadelphia radio and TV stations as a producer; and Gabino Iglesias, a writer, professor and book reviewer for NPR, the Boston Globe and the San Francisco Chronicle who lives in Austin, Texas, and whose work has been nominated for the Bram Stoker Award, the Locus Award, the Anthony Award, the International Latino Book Award and has won the Wonderland Book Award for Best Novel.

In the children’s category, jurors said, “Amanda, Toy Engineer is an informative, fun, and friendly insider’s look at what goes into toy design…. It’s approachable, dynamic, and effectively blends infographics with photographs, captions, and prose.”

Judges were Joshua Carlson, Librarian III: Manager, Youth Services at the White Plains Public Library; Leslie ‘Lam’ Miller, a published author, CEO and chief instigator at book production firm Girl Friday Productions and former executive editor of Seal Press, where she acquired and developed projects written by and for women; and Matia Madrona Query, BookLife editor and former associate children’s reviews editor for Publishers Weekly.

The winning authors each receive a $1,000 cash prize, promotional book displays valued at over $2,500 from Combined Book Exhibit (CBE) at major book fairs around the world, a feature in the CBE librarians’ newsletter reaching 30,000 librarians and a $5,000 package of print and digital advertising in Publishers Weekly.

About the Authors

Noel Hankin (After Dark: Birth of the Disco Dance Party, ISBN 9781736614907) is a founder of The Best of Friends, Inc. (TBOF), a group that promoted discotheques in New York City starting in 1971. They owned Leviticus, Justine’s and Bogard’s in midtown Manhattan, Brandi’s in Brooklyn and Lucifer’s in Queens. These nightclubs paved the way for Studio 54, Saturday Night Fever and the nationwide explosion of disco in the late ’70s. Hankin is a retired senior executive who managed some of the world’s most successful brands at Moët Hennessy USA and Miller Brewing Company. He also wrote speeches for CEOs and has been published in Vital Speeches. He has a B.A. from Queens College, a Marketing Certificate from the Wharton School of Business and an Honorary Doctorate from Medgar Evers College/CUNY.

Kinley Bryan applied her love of writing to the world of corporate communications before her fascination with historical fiction became too great to ignore. Her debut novel, Sisters of the Sweetwater Fury, is set during the Great Lakes Storm of 1913. It was inspired by stories of her great-grandfather Walter Stalker, who was at the helm of the four-masted schooner Golden Age, his wife, Annabel, serving as ship’s cook, when the storm hit. Bryan graduated summa cum laude from Kent State University with a degree in English and earned a master’s degree in communication from John Carroll University. Her love for the inland seas swelled during the years she spent in an old cottage on Lake Erie. She now lives on the Atlantic Coast, where she prefers not to lose sight of the shore.

Aubre Andrus is the award-winning children’s book author of The Look Up Series, a nonfiction biography series featuring real women in S.T.E.A.M. careers. She also has written dozens of books for National Geographic Books, Lonely Planet, American Girl, Disney, Scholastic and young YouTube stars. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her family where she’s the founder and CEO of Adjective Animal Publishing, an indie kids press.

About the U.S. Selfies

The mission of the awards initiative, which was the creation of BookBrunch and introduced to great acclaim in the U.K. in 2018, is to discover new talent and reward the best self-published titles each year. The U.S. awards’ first year focused on adult fiction published during 2019; in 2020 the categories were expanded to included children’s books (picture books, middle grade and YA). In 2022 the U.S. awards added the memoir/autobiography category. Awards are granted to books self-published in the year prior by authors and illustrators currently living in the U.S.

The 2022 U.S. Selfies book awards were co-sponsored by IngramSpark®, Ingram’s award-winning self-publishing platform; Combined Book Exhibit, which showcases published works at trade shows and expos around the world; Girl Friday Productions, a book production company; and BookBaby, a book publishing service provider for indie authors.

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Superstar Artists Michael Allred, Stephen R. Bissette, Jae Lee, Nick Pitarra, Paul Pope, and Bill Sienkiewicz Join Writer Chanan Beizer and Artist Vanessa Cardinali for THE GOLEM OF VENICE BEACH

Posted on 06/07/2022 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

An Original Graphic Novel Now on Kickstarter With Clover Press Featuring a Wrap-Around Cover by Sienkiewicz

(June 6, 2022) Superstar artists Michael Allred, Stephen R. Bissette, Jae Lee, Nick Pitarra, Paul Pope, and Bill Sienkiewicz and legendary letterer Clem Robins are teaming up with rising star artist Vanessa Cardinali and debut comic book writer Chanan Beizer to create an all-new graphic novel, The Golem of Venice Beach. This 152-page epic story about the adventures of a 400-year-old Golem spans from 16th century Europe, to the horrors of World War II, to modern day Venice Beach, where the Golem has become entangled in a war between a gang and the police. Both a riveting narrative and a celebration of Southern California, The Golem of Venice Beach is now on Kickstarter, featuring a wrap-around cover by Sienkiewicz.

In 2018, Chanan Beizer’s script for The Golem of Venice Beach won the very first ScreenCraft Cinematic Book contest for graphic novels. For the past three years, Beizer has been working with Eisner-Award winning editor Chris Stevens (Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream) to bring the story of the Golem to life with a dream team of artistic collaborators, including five Eisner-award winning illustrators (Allred, Bissette, Lee, Pope, and Sienkiewicz), as well as Nick Pitarra (co-creator of The Manhattan Projects), and the main artist, Vanessa Cardinali, a brilliant Italian artist who is currently making waves with Image Comics’ Slumber.

The Golem of Venice Beach features:

A wrap-around cover and a seven-page prologue by artist Bill Sienkiewicz (Moon Knight) that showcases the Golem’s creation in the year 1580.
A 10-page flashback sequence by Jae Lee (The Inhumans) and colorist June Chung that depicts how the Golem was resurrected during World War Two.
A 2-page spread and map of Venice Beach that captures everything weird and wonderful about the bohemian spirit that permeates the neighborhood by Michael Allred and colorist Laura Allred (Madman).
An eerie phantasmagoria by Stephen R. Bissette (Saga of the Swamp Thing).
A 2 page-splash page by Nick Pitarra (the creator of the highly anticipated Ax-Wielder Jon) that features every single person who is on panel in the book in one huge, cinematic crowd shot.
A stunning 2-page portrait, featuring the iconic Santa Monica Pier by Paul Pope (Battling Boy) and colorist Lovern Kindzierski.
Over 100 pages of gorgeous art by the book’s main artist, Vanessa Cardinali.

“As a writer I know that story is important, but in comics if the art isn’t working, the story really doesn’t matter,” said writer Chanan Beizer. “It’s been truly thrilling to witness the artistic interpretation of my words. Every artist involved has left a lasting imprint on The Golem of Venice Beach. They’ve elevated the story beyond what I could ever describe on a two-dimensional piece of paper. That is what art should do.”

In The Golem of Venice Beach, Adam is a Golem, a creature of vengeance and destruction, of violence and death. He was created 400 years ago, a world away in Eastern Europe, but today he lives in Southern California. Adam spends his days adrift on the sunny boardwalks of Venice Beach, pining for release from his lonely existence. His only hope is the clueless Jake Loeb, the sole remaining heir of the Golem’s creator. But when Jake becomes involved with a mysterious tattooed woman and a drug-dealing death worship cult, things get complicated and dangerous for Adam. Golems are not meant to walk the Earth forever. Can Adam make a difference? Can he find peace in the California sun? And can a monster have a soul?

“When Chris asked me to draw this story, the first thing that interested me was the presence of a fantastic component,” said artist Vanessa Cardinali. “Creating ‘not real’ characters or worlds like the Golem continues to be one of the parts of this job that I enjoy the most! It was also very interesting to work on a story specifically set in Venice Beach: I’ve seen so many of those photos that I feel like I’ve been there now! In addition, the opportunity to work with the long list of comic superstars involved was truly unmissable.”

Notable pledge tiers for The Golem of Venice Beach include early bird pricing specials, Kickstarter exclusive prints by all the artists, and a limited-edition deluxe Sienkiewicz variant hardcover. For updates, follow Clover Press on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. To support the campaign, visit Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cloverpress/the-golem-of-venice-beacha-graphic-novel-by-chanan-beizer?ref=1xgdii.

Posted in Books, Comics, Kickstarter | Comments Off

RISE Above the Competition in C.S. Pacat & Johanna the Mad’s FENCE

Posted on 05/31/2022 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

I (RHC) have truly enjoyed the Fence series. Drama, comedy, action, all in a well crafted world of intrigue that at first seems simple and intimate but expands just by being.

Discover a Brand New Graphic Novel Set in World of the GLAAD Award-Nominated Series in August 2022

LOS ANGELES, CA (May 26, 2022) – BOOM! Studios is proud to announce a new original graphic novel, FENCE: RISE, from the GLAAD Award-nominated series and best-selling novelist C.S. Pacat (Captive Prince), fan favorite artist Johanna the Mad, colorist Joana LaFuente (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers), and letterer Jim Campbell (Giant Days), presenting the next all-new thrilling chapter in the story of the Kings Row fencing team, available in August 2022.

Excitement is in the air as Nicholas and his friends celebrate their coveted invitation to the Halverton Training Camp. They immediately come face-to-face with the best fencing teams in the country, and Nicholas struggles as he suffers defeat after defeat by an old enemy. Will a new addition to a rival team bring Nicholas closer to the rest of the Kings Row team and awaken the resilience within that he needs to prevail?

But Seiji, in contrast to Nicholas, remains unchallenged and let down by the camp. With Seiji’s goal to learn (instead of win) stuck in his head, will Nicholas step up to pose a real challenge to Seiji, maybe even growing their friendship as a result?

FENCE: RISE is the latest release from BOOM! Studios’ award-winning BOOM! Box imprint, home to groundbreaking original series such as Lumberjanes by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, ND Stevenson, and Gus Allen; Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera and Celia Moscote; Giant Days by John Allison, Lissa Treiman, and Max Sarin; Buckhead by Shobo and George Kambadais; Mamo by Sas Milledge; Save Yourself! by Bones Leopard and Kelly and Nichole Matthews; Specter Inspectors by Bowen McCurdy and Kaitlyn Musto; The Last Witch by Conor McCreery and V.V. Glass; Ghosted in LA by Sina Grace and Siobhan Keenan; The Avant-Guards by Carly Usdin and Noah Hayes; Goldie Vance by Hope Larson and Brittney Williams; Misfit City by Kirsten ‘Kiwi’ Smith, Kurt Lustgarten, and Naomi Franquiz; educational series Seen: True Stories of Marginalized Trailblazers; and the upcoming Hollow by Shannon Watters, Branden Boyer-White, Berenice Nelle.

Print copies of the FENCE: RISE will be available in August 2022 at local comic book shops (use comicshoplocator.com to find the nearest one) and at the BOOM! Studios webstore. Digital copies can be purchased from content providers, including comiXology, iBooks, Google Play, and Kindle.

For continuing news on FENCE and more from BOOM! Studios, stay tuned to boom-studios.com and follow @boomstudios on Twitter.

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Books I learned of from U.S. Book Show 2022

Posted on 05/25/2022 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Kate Beaton’s DUCKS (Drawn & Quarterly) – Memoir about her life in Canada. First ever full graphic novel by Beaton. https://drawnandquarterly.com/books/ducks/

Adventuregame Comics by Jason Shiga, a decade year later follow up to Meanwhile, a series with book Two called The Beyond, published next year.https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/adventuregame-comics-leviathan_9781419757792/

TOR Nightfire, a new imprint has their first graphic novel, Where the black Stars rise https://tornightfire.com/catalog/where-black-stars-rise-nadia-shammas-marie-enger/

Two-Headed Chicken by Tom Angleberger from Walker Books US
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/714777/two-headed-chicken-by-tom-angleberger-illustrated-by-tom-angleberger/

Posted in Books, Comics, Conventions, Events & Expos | Comments Off

Rescue Rangers Obscure Easter Eggs

Posted on 05/25/2022 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Most sites have caught the many references and easter eggs and cameos within Rescue Rangers and before posting these I looked around the journalism square. Here are ones I saw mentioned no where else (in terms of pop culture news) before bringing them up. A version of this article originally appeared on the reidhcooper twitter.

At Fan Con some indie books can be seen with a quick eye. One of them are @Sheri_Fink aka Whimsical World. whimsicalworldbooks.com

Another book series you’ll see with a booth is Road House Sons @RoadhouseSons roadhousesons.com

One more book if you blink you’ll miss is just as the munks leap onto Voltron. The cover to Laura Levine’s Death of Neighborhood Witch.

A Star Wars easter egg I haven’t seen mentioned anywhere for Rescue Rangers is a parody of tennis versus poster with Greedo vs Salacious. In the same shot you also see what looks like a Fleischer studios character & a dog I can’t place.

Finally, The beer that Chip, Dale and Ellie share is Akupara, the fictional beer created for the film Palm Springs starring Andy Samberg.

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US Book Show 2022 Day One

Posted on 05/24/2022 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Virtual cons are really not the same as a the real thing. Getting to really breath in an elaborate booth, truly meet fellow fans and professionals, waiting in lines for that one ARC, or better yet in my opinion THE SWAG. Bookmarks, exclusive enamel pins, weird collectibles, tote bags promoting a publisher or book to use all over your city like a walking advertisement. That was different world though. Maybe it’ll return for those in the industry who aren’t librarians (but wishes they could be), maybe it won’t. None of that takes away from some of the pros of a Virtual con. One of those top ones I’d say is experiencing a panel while still exploring other things be it at the con, or websites related to books and entertainment.

Photo credit: Nancy Crampton

One such experience came during David Sedaris’ Monday afternoon sitdown where one could enjoyably chat with others watching from home or work, be engrossed but continuing to look through the exhibit halls. Sedaris was also a complete joy, I loved his statement of hating his work being lumped in categories such as humorist currently or in the past slotted as gay, when it should be considered writing. He even suggested his category be “King of Writing” and he said it so nonchalantly that it was charming as heck.

In those exhibit halls which I am still walking now on day 2 I discovered books I was unaware of either coming out soon or that escaped my radar. Aconyte’s line of UBISOFT fiction, original novels based in Assassins’ Creed, Watchdogs, and the Tom Clancy games with quote a few already out but ones such as The Magus Conspiracy by Kate Heartfield , Available August 2, 2022

Also was Welcome to St. Hell by Lewis Hancox. The graphic novel/memoir/coming of age transexual tale forthcoming from Scholastic is fascinating and I look forward to reading the ARC. Before this I had not known of Lewis Hancox either but now I am a huge fan. They are funny, their comic art style is also super fun. Check it out.

I look forward to learning of more books through the panel discussions and already have a few I really look forward to in the graphic novel reign from a Day 2 session.

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David Sedaris to Livestream Welcome to the U.S. Book Show

Posted on 05/19/2022 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

David Sedaris, author

– Happy Go Lucky Author to Riff on Life and Welcome Attendees to Book Show

NEW YORK—May 19, 2022—Humorist David Sedaris will livestream a conversational welcome to attendees of the U.S. Book Show from the Manhattan office of Publishers Weekly, “the bible of the book industry.” The half-hour livestream begins at 2 p.m. ET on Monday, May 23, 2022. Sedaris will be accompanied by Katharine Myers, his publicist, to discuss his latest book, Happy Go Lucky, a collection of essays due out this month.

“David Sedaris is the perfect person to warm up the book trade, which is often in need of some humor,” said Jim Milliot, editorial director of Publishers Weekly, which conceived, curates and manages the show. The industry trade show is virtual, runs May 23 – 26, 2022 and includes 15 panels and appearances 90 authors and editors.

“Sedaris has a knack for finding where the blithe and innocent intersect with the tawdry and lurid,” Publishers Weekly wrote in its review of Happy Go Lucky, noting that “Sedaris’s tragicomedy is gloomier than usual, but it’s as rich and rewarding as ever.”

David Sedaris is perhaps best known as America’s favorite Macy’s Santaland elf. Thanks to Ira Glass, who discovered Sedaris in Chicago in the early 1990s, Sedaris burst on the scene of NPR’s Morning Edition and This American Life, with droll essays and observations about his life and experiences read in his inimitable voice.

The author of 13 books, Sedaris won the Thurber Prize for American Humor in 2001 for Me Talk Pretty One Day. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim was a New York Times #1 bestseller. He also writes plays, some with his sister Amy Sedaris, creates audio recordings and had a popular show on the BBC called Meet David Sedaris. In 2019 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Since 1995 he has been an essayist for The New Yorker. He travels extensively in the U.S. reading essays and testing new material to live audiences. He lives in New York City and England with his longtime partner, Hugh Hamrick.

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New 1DP Videos

Posted on 05/10/2022 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

One Division Pro is heating up again and I am in the heat of it as a producer and director of talent relations.

Here are three recent videos promoting our next event and current happenings. In each I had a part from facilitating, writing, and/or being on camera.

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Prank Unleashes Ancient Evil in Your First Look at ORCS!: THE CURSE #1

Posted on 05/10/2022 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Discover Brand New Adventures with New Faces and Familiar Figures From
Christine Larsen in June 2022

LOS ANGELES, CA (May 10, 2022) – BOOM! Studios today revealed a first look at ORCS!: THE CURSE #1, the premier issue of an all-new original four-issue comic book series by cartoonist Christine Larsen (Adventure Time, By Night), spinning a new adventure in the world of the beloved misfit ORCS!, with some familiar faces and a brand new set of characters who could turn out to be the greatest friends—or foes—you’ll ever encounter, available in June 2022.

The fun and fantastical ORCS! return with a brand new adventure that’s darker and more rambunctious than ever! After returning from their travels and celebrating with a dance party, a prank gone wrong inadvertently unleashes something ancient and evil. Even worse, in a tower in the middle of a dark forest, a wizard with grand, sinister plans needs a real army, and his sight turns toward the Orcish tribe…

ORCS!: THE CURSE #1 features main cover art by Larsen and variant cover by artist Eric Powell (The Goon).

ORCS! is the latest release from BOOM! Studios’ award-winning KaBOOM! imprint, home to comics for middle grade and younger readers including original series Just Beyond by R.L. Stine, The Princess Who Saved Herself by Greg Pak, Jonathan Coulton, and Takeshi Miyazawa, Forever Home by Jenna Ayoub, Jo & Rus by Audra Winslow, Hex Vet by Sam Davies, Drew and Jot by Art Baltazar, Hotel Dare by Terry Blas and Claudia Aguirre, RuinWorld by Derek Laufman, and Pandora’s Legacy by Bones Leopard and Kelly & Nichole Matthews.

Print copies of ORCS!: THE CURSE #1 will be available for sale on June 8, 2022 at local comic book shops (use comicshoplocator.com to find the nearest one) or at the BOOM! Studios webstore. Digital copies can be purchased from content providers, including comiXology, iBooks, Google Play, and Kindle.

For more on ORCS! and other projects from BOOM! Studios, stay tuned to boom-studios.com and follow @boomstudios on Twitter.