Features:
Behind the Scenes with James M. Burns
Jason M. Burns is an award-winning writer (A Dummy's Guide to Danger, Curse of the Were-Woman, and The Expendable One) and has recently been named the editor-in-chief of the newly formed Outlaw Entertainment. As a publisher and writer himself, Jason had a lot of background in the industry, and he shared his thoughts on collecting (and what he'd like to add to his collection) in this interview.

OP-ED: Phil Yeh Discusses Words, Pictures, and Learning to Read
Phil Yeh is a writer and the creator of the educational Dinosaurs Across graphic novel series from NBM Publishing. He also started a literacy tour nearly a quarter of a century ago, a tour that has taken all over the globe. Here, he writes of his experiences in the industry and how graphic novels could properly be used to help teach both children and adults.

Coming Soon: A Glimpse of Summer
There are a lot of great books coming out between now and July. We give you a look at what's ahead, including new books in the Marvel Masterworks series, 30 Days of Night: 30 Days 'Til Death, All Star Batman and Robin, Green Lantern, Wasteland, and many more.

Videos: Eternal Smile and Surrogates
Derek Kirk Kim's "assistant" takes you behind the scenes of the creation of the art for Eternal Smile in a funny new video. Turns out being an artist's assistant isn't the glamorous life one might have dreamed. Plus, there's a new Surrogates book coming, and Top Shelf has just debuted a new preview. Check out what's in store in this sequel from Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele.

Excerpts:
The Photographer by Emmanuel Guibert
The Photographer, which will be in stores on May 12th, is one of this season's most highly anticipated books. It marries the amazing pictures of Didier Lefevre with the images and text of Emmanuel Guibert (Alan's War). The result is a blazingly honest, riveting memoir that stands as one of the best examples of graphic literature: It's that good. Lefevre journeyed through Afghanistan in 1986 with Doctors Without Borders, taking pictures to document the entire time he spent there and the work of the doctors he met. Years later, working with his friend Emmanuel Guibert, Lefevre was finally able to tell his story. Laying bare the real life of doctors and citizens in Afghanistan in the mid-'80s, The Photographer is a mesmerizing experience. Sadly, Lefevre passed away in 2007, but not before seeing the completed work of his life in Afghanistan take shape in The Photographer. Take a sample look here at what Didier Lefevre and Emmanuel Guibert have created.

Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time fantasy series remains one of the most loved and bestselling series in publishing. Now, it's been adapted to the graphic novel format by writer Chuck Dixon and artist Chase Conley and published by Dabel Brothers. Adding new insight into Robert Jordan's classic, the upcoming Dragonmount is a beautiful and thrilling adventure. Here's a look at the first six pages of the book, coming out next week.

Recent Blogs:
The New Yorker Previews the New Clowes
A Little Wolverine Talk
Claremont and Manning Discuss Wolverine
Pryde and Glory
Dublin the Fun

Creator Interviews:
Darren G. Davis
Michelle Obama, Sarah Palin, and Hillary Clinton could probably not be any more different, but all three of them have had their life stories turned into Female Force comics. The company's president, Darren G. Davis, discusses his company and its success in this interview.

Rick Geary
Rick Geary has an eye on the past, but with a very modern sensibility. That's what's helped him create some very exciting adventures and mysteries that all have historically accurate ties, including The Adventures of Blanche.

Fiction Reviews:
Eerie Archives, Volume 1
Eerie Archives, Volume 1 makes five extremely difficult-to-find issues available once again, prettier than ever. Not only are the horror stories within excellent, but the overall attention to detail and quality of the book are top-notch.

The Perry Bible Fellowship Almanack by Nicholas Gurewitch
Dark Horse's The Perry Bible Fellowship Almanack highlights the consistently solid writing and art of Nicholas Gurewitch's now defunct webcomic. Printed beautifully and containing more than 20 pages of bonus material, it is a must-own collection for fans.

Arcade of Cruelty by Joseph Larkin
Joseph Larkin's Arcade of Cruelty is full of crass humor, but the author finds the right tongue-in-cheek approach to make many of the jokes work. It is by no means perfect, but Larkin's book provides enough laughs around a clever concept to make it worthwhile.

Teen Reviews:
NG Life, Volume 1 by Mizuho Kusanagi
High-schooler Keidai Saeki remembers his past life. He used to be Sirix, a great gladiator in Pompeii with friends at his side and his love Serena in his arms. Some 1,900 years later, Sirix is reborn as Saeki. Everyone from his past life has returned, except for his former love. When Serena finally reappears, he isn't what Saeki was expecting.

Huntress: Year One by Ivory Madison and Cliff Richards
The Huntress gets another reboot in Ivory Madison's story of a mob daughter fighting crime. Armed with a crossbow and her tough-as-nails determination, Huntress is no longer Batman's daughter --- but she is finally getting the storyline she deserves.

The Adventures of Blanche by Rick Geary
If you've read any of the books in Rick Geary's Treasury of Victorian Murder series, you know how his deliberate, deadpan delivery of the facts of the murder cases belies the detail in his artwork. This same technique is put to brilliant use in The Adventures of Blanche, a collection of three long out-of-print stories about an adventurous young woman living in the early years of the 20th century.

Kids Reviews:
The Adventures of Daniel Boom aka Loudboy: Game On! by D.J. Steinberg and Brian Smith
Daniel and his friends are back in the third installment of this superhero-light series that is perfect for grade school-level readers.

Adventures in Cartooning by James Sturm, Andrew Arnold, and Alexis Frederick-Frost
It's nonfiction! It's a story! It's possibly the best how-to book on cartooning for kids that has been disguised as an actual comic book ever! No, really!

Wolverine: Worst Day Ever by Barry Lyga
Somewhere between epistolary and graphic novel, Wolverine: Worst Day Ever tells the story of a student at Professor Xavier's School for Mutants, a student who doesn't quite love the powers he possesses and wants to emulate someone like Wolverine.

Reference Reviews:
Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
Subtitled The Invisible Art, Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics makes the format invisible no more. This is the definitive analysis of what makes comics work, how their stories are told and understood, and what their effect truly is.

Making Comics by Scott McCloud
Scott McCloud, comicdom's unofficial genius and universal translator, makes the leap from simply Understanding Comics to the equally challenging world of Making Comics. People who think they're the same thing probably also confuse apples and rhinoceroses.

Was Superman a Spy? by Brian Cronin
Facts and trivia from comics' golden age all the way up to the modern age fill the pages of Was Superman a Spy?, a fun and informative romp about the history of the industry. It's packed with things big and small, new and old, and famous and obscure.