The home for everything Smash!
We just found out that SMASH: TRIAL BY FIRE has been nominated for a 2014 YALSA* Great Graphic Novels for Teens award! It's quite an honor, especially considering how many very distinguished titles were nominated along with us.
* FYI, YALSA stands for Young Adult Library Services Association. In case you were wondering.
Happy Halloweek! We love Halloween so much, we can't contain it to a single day. Here's a little trick (or treat) from SMASH artist Kyle Bolton, who wonders if Dr. Jekyll should perhaps not take a sip from that serum... (Click on the image for a bigger look)
A great review from Richard Dansky at The Sleeping Hedgehog:
SMASH: Trial by Fire sits squarely at the intersection of Spider-Man and Calvin and Hobbes. And this is a good thing....Although specifically targeted at kids, SMASH: Trial By Fire isn’t condescending or simplified. There’s plenty here for adult comics fans...
Happy October-ween!
Smash artist Kyle Bolton poses with a bunch of Little Smashes at the Mockbingbird Books reading in Seattle last Friday.
Wow, what a busy weekend! On Sunday, we were at Portland's terrific Wordstock Festival of Words, where we read from Smash: Trial by Fire, answered questions, and signed books. Then we were off to the Nightcapper event for the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association's annual conference, where we signed and handed out copies of Smash to booksellers and librarians from around the region. We were overwhelmed by all of the enthusiastic responses to the book, to say the least!
Kyle and I pose in the iconic Wordstock red chair.
At our table at the PNBA Nightcapper event, waiting for the doors to open so we can unleash our powers.
Huge thanks to Jennifer and all the folks at Portland's Green Bean Books for providing copies of Smash for sale and for signing at Wordstock!
Kyle checks his notes before the Wordstock reading.
Answering questions after the reading.
Kyle autographs a copy of Smash at the signing table.
The Bolton brothers, posing with a young fan.
Girls love Smash, too!
I had the unexpected honor of being a fill-in moderator for the Visual Narrator panel, featuring some wonderful comic artists: Gene Luan Yang, Colleen Coover, Shannon Wheeler, Nicole J. Georges, and Mark Russell. It was great meeting them all!
Sitting with one of our colorists, the amazing Christina Mackin!
This is how most of our story conferences look. Kyle and I always make sure to respect the other's opinion, hear each other out, and come to a reasonable compromise.
And, no matter how tough it gets, we always make up afterward.
Arriving at the PNBA Nightcapper event.
Before the event, books piled high.
From the minute the doors opened, booksellers showed up to tell us how excited they were for Smash!
The line started long...
And got longer...
And longer...
And stayed long...
Until we were completely cleaned out!
Enthusiastic Smash fans!
We had a fantastic time at both shows, and can't wait for next year! Thanks for checking out our photos.
We love Halloween. But to us, Halloween isn't just a single day at the end of October — it's the entire month of October! We're celebrating the first Monday of October-ween with an oldie but a favorite: Smash vs. the Great Pumpkin. Enjoy!
We'll be reading at noon on Sunday, October 6th, at Wordstock, Portland's premiere literary festival. Click here for details!
Kyle and I are brothers, we've made no secret of that. And the most common question we get is, "How do you and your brother work together on SMASH? Have you always worked together on projects?" This three-page comic (first published on the Charlotte's Library blog) is the best answer we can offer. Enjoy!
(Click on the images for a larger view)
That's Cosmic Monkey Comics in Portland, OR. We'll be signing copies of Smash: Trial by Fire at noon on Saturday, September 28th. Hope to see you there!