SMASH Is a Black-Eyed Susan Nominee!

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The Black-Eyed Susan Award is presented each year by the Maryland Association of School Librarians (MASL) to "authors and/or illustrators of outstanding books chosen for the award by Maryland students." The list of 10 nominees for the 2014 Black-Eyed Susan Award has been posted — and we're thrilled that Smash: Trial by Fire is one of them!

Smash Cover

We've made the list alongside such fantastic titles as Nathan's Hale's Big Bad Ironclad, Rob Harrell's Monster On the Hill, Jake Parker's Missile Mouse: Rescue on Tankium3, and Dave Roman's Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity.

Click here to see the full list of nominees — there's a ton of great reading to be found here.

Emerald City Comic Con Report, Part 3: Pictures from the Floor

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We had so many photos from this year's Emerald City that we couldn't fit them all into one post! If you've ever wondered what it's like to wander the floor of a sold-out comic convention, here's your photo tour. (Click any of the photos below for a larger image.) Smash ECCC 1 Outside the convention center.

Lego ECCC 1

Lego ECCC 2

Lego ECCC 3 Lego Rivendale! (We want to go to there.)

Smash ECCC lobby In the lobby, superheroes mingle with ordinary folk.

Crowd ECCC Crowd? What crowd?

Escalators ECCC Escalators are your best friend.

Batcave ECCC Welcome to the Batcave, kids!

Boom ECCC The Boom! Box.

Gotham ECCC Because we can't get enough of Legos... Gotham Park!!

R2D2 ECCC Life-sized Lego R2D2!

Fluffy ECCC Too fluffy and cute for words.

Alley ECCC Artists Alley took up three rooms this year — and we only got to see ours!

SMASH meets Super-Kyle!

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We received a fan letter from Matthew Dixson, who brought his son Kyle by our table at the Emerald City Comic Con. We found out Kyle has his own superhero character named Super-Kyle ("Great name!" says my brother), and real-life Kyle promised to show us his team-up with Smash. Well, here it is! (Click on the picture for a larger version.)

Super Kyle Meets Smash

Matthew writes:

After watching your panel, my son, the artist, was extremely excited to meet you, he kept saying he should make a comic of his own... We went to your booth to purchase Smash... We talked briefly with you about a Super-Kyle (that he has been drawing for years) vs. Smash team-up, where they both mistakenly thought they each were the villain, then after an epic battle they realized they were both friends.... So included is his "Smash vs Super-Kyle".... Enjoy!!! On the bottom it took me a minute to figure out what the little Superman getting bitten was.... Kyle explained that Superman bites Super-Kyle to give him his powers... Gotta love those 8-year-olds! Thanks for inspiring him. — Matthew

Thanks for sharing, Kyle — we're already huge fans, and we can't wait to see more of Super-Kyle!

If you have fan art, kids' comics, or anything else you'd like to share, please email us at smashcomic@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you!

Emerald City Comic Con Report, Part 2: Cosplay-O-Rama!

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Following up on our previous post about our experience at Emerald City: it wouldn't be a comic convention without a ton of great costumes! So now, please enjoy some Cosplay-O-Rama. (Click any of the photos below for a larger image.) Aquaman

Wonder ECCC 3

Cap ECCC 3

Ultimate Spidey Miles Morales is all grown up! (And forgot his mask...)

Smash ECCC 4

Cap ECCC 3

Family ECCC The family that cosplays together stays together.

Daft ECCC

Force ECCC

Robin ECCC

Uhhh ECCC

Tron ECCC

Korra ECCC

Group ECCC

Trio ECCC

Snow White ECCC

Sparrow ECCC

Halo ECCC

Halo 2 ECCC

Tomorrow: pictures from the floor, Lego-mania, and more!

Emerald City Comic Con 2014 Report, Part 1: SMASH!

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Click any of the photos below for a larger image. Smash ECCC 1 The Bolton brothers are open for business!

Q&A ECCC From Friday's "Comics are for Kids Again" panel, left to right: Kevin Konrad Hanna (Creature Academy), Jake Parker (Missile Mouse), Shelli Paroline (Adventure Time), Chris Giarrusso (G-Man), Kyle Bolton, and Chris A. Bolton.

Panel Size ECCC The Bolton brothers hosted a panel on Saturday called "Kids Make Comics!" Using the basic lessons in our pamphlet "How to Make Comics — the Smash Way" (click here for the PDF), they presented an interactive tutorial for a very large crowd of enthusiastic young talents. As Kyle and Chris assembled comic panels before their eyes, the kids helped out with dialogue suggestions, voted on an ending, and asked some fantastic questions.

Setup ECCC Setting up for a reading from Smash: Trial by Fire.

Reading ECCC Chris provides the helicopter sound effects as Kyle plays the role of Andrew Ryan.

Q&A ECCC Answering one of the many great questions from the enthusiastic young audience.

Smiling ECCC The panel was so much fun, the boys had the time of their lives.

Aftermath ECCC Chatting with many parents and kids after the panel.

Mary Lee ECCC Chris and Kyle with their editor at Candlewick, the fantastic Mary Lee Donovan.

Geoff ECCC Posing with longtime fan Geoff Sherwood (wearing his signed T-shirt) and his daughter, Saraya (who bought our last pair of goggles).

Chris Photo ECCC Chris takes a picture of Ariel and Prince Eric cosplayers.

Kyle Fans ECCC Kyle poses with two young fans.

Tomorrow: cosplayers galore!

Find Us at the Emerald City Comic Con!

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Come visit us at the Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, Washington, from Friday, March 28th through Sunday the 30th! You will find us at Artist's Alley table LL-14 (click here for a map). We'll be selling copies of Smash: Trial by Fire and the Emerald City-exclusive poster below.

Smash ECCC

In addition, we'll be at the following panels:

Comics are for Kids Again! Friday, March 28th - 1:00PM Room: TCC 302

For many years, the comic industry ran away from its kid-friendly roots, toward more serious, dark, "adult" work. Now a slew of comics and graphic novels are embracing younger readers and finding a new generation of eager comic lovers! Panelists include Jake Parker (Missile Mouse), Shelli Paroline Lamb (Adventure Time), Chris Giarrusso (G-Man), Kevin Konrad Hanna (Creature Academy), and Chris & Kyle Bolton (Smash: Trial by Fire).

Kids Make Comics! Saturday, March 29th - 5:00PM Room: TCC 302

Making comics is fun... and so easy, any kid can do it! Chris and Kyle Bolton, the creators of the all-ages comic SMASH, offer quick and easy instructions for kids of all ages to create their own comics, learn to work together, and have fun doing it.