Archie's Mad House

If that weren’t enough, he also was the head writer for thirty years for CRACKED magazine. CRACKED was the most successful of all the magazines that imitated MAD, and many of the thousands of pages written by George were illustrated by the incredible John Severin. If you never heard of MAD magazine, it’s the inspiration for PAPERCUTZ SLICES. MAD features all sorts of pop culture parodies, while PAPERCUTZ SLICES focuses on one main target in each volume.

More recently George collaborated with Stan Goldberg on the comic CINDY AND HER OBASAN. In 2007, George won the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing. And now he’s creating the new adventures of Moe, Larry, and Curly in their new Papercutz graphic novel series.

Tomorrow, we’ll talk about the guy bringing George’s scripts to comicbook life– the one and only Stan Goldberg!

Best of the Three Stooges Comicbooks #1

But that’s not all, we’re also publishing a deluxe hardcover series entitled THE BEST OF THE THREE STOOGES COMICBOOKS featuring great classic comics featuring Moe, Larry, Shemp, and Curly Joe! With comics written and illustrated by Norman Maurer, who went on to write, direct, and produce movies starring the Three Stooges, and by acclaimed comicbook artist and animator Pate Alvarado, there’s a lot of fun packed into these pages! Not to mention a special introduction by Joan Maurer, who also happen to be Moe’s daughter.

The Three Stooges #1

More on the Stooges tomorrow!

Classics Illustrated #12

We’re honored that the comics adaptation was included on the show, as it just goes to show how comics as a medium is being taken more and more seriously. And it’s just an extra bonus that it’s being shown now during the 70th Anniversary of CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED.

And we gotta admit, we love seeing the Papercutz name flash across our TV screens!

So, I decided to bring a couple of sample Papercutz graphic novels with me to play show and tell. But which ones? Well, titles such as NINJAGO, THE SMURFS, GARFIELD, and GERONIMO STILTON are already so popular, they really don’t need any more help from me. So, I decided to bring the holiday-themed “Monster Christmas” by Lewis Trondheim and ERNEST & REBECCA #1 “My Best Friend is a Germ” by Guillaume Bianco and Antonello Dalena.

The reaction was even better than I could’ve imagined! While almost everyone at this somewhat sophisticated comic art-gathering was aware of the work of award-winning cartoonist Lewis Trondheim, no one I met knew about ERNEST & REBECCA! Fortunately, once I told them about this remarkable six and a half year old girl named Rebecca, who has a weak immune system and is sick a lot, and is trying to keep her parents from breaking up with help from her friend, Ernest, who is a super microbe, and after they looked at the awesome artwork by Dalena, they were sold! They asked where they could buy a copy of their own.

It really is a great feeling to share something you love with your friends! If there’s a Papercutz graphic novel you love, why not let your friends know about it? They’ll thank you for it!

The man is a true cartooning legend. His work on MAD (both the comicbook and the magazine) and TALES FROM THE CRYPT, as well as the Harvey Kurtzman-edited EC war comics alone are an amazing accomplishment, showing how he was able to master three separate genres of comics. Yet he went on to become one of the top magazine cover and movie poster artists, also mastering the art of celebrity caricature. He also did a gazillion other things– everything from designing animated cartoon characters to tons of advertising work.

Anyway, I finally got the pleasure of meeting the man himself. It was at a signing event at the Strand bookstore for Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture – A Career Retrospective published by our friends at Fantagraphics. The evening started off with publisher/editor Gary Groth chatting with Mr. Davis, discussing the cartoonists’ long career. There was some Q&A afterwards, and then Jack proceeded to sign books. Of course, I had him sign mine! The event was held in the Strand’s Rare Book Room, and it gave the evening an extra touch of class. Mr. Davis is the sweetest man you’d ever want to meet– modest to a fault and kind to one and all. I’m very happy I saw him here, because even though he appeared the next night, on his 87th birthday, at the Scott Eder Gallery in DUMBO, and the next day on a panel, moderated by Drew Friedman and Garty Groth, at the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival, those events were so jam-packed and crowded, they simply couldn’t be as relaxed and intimate as that night at the Strand.

When I spoke to Jack at the Scott Eder Gallery, after meeting his delightful daughter, I told him how much I enjoyed his talk the night before. He replied saying his family criticized his performance, and said he wasn’t a good public speaker. I disagreed and told him he was perfect! Everyone came to see Jack Davis, not to hear a fancy speech. He seemed to appreciate that, while he generously sketched a self portrait in my copy of TALES FROM THE CRYPT #7 “Something Wicca This Way Comes”– the only Papercutz CRYPT to feature an original EC story in it– “Lower Berth” by Al Feldstein and Jack Davis.

I also ran into a lot of friends at these events, and a few of them seemed shy about actually talking to Jack Davis. They asked, “What do you say to Jack Davis?” My suggestion: “Thank you.”

So, I’m constantly asking all my comics-loving friends if they’re familiar with the incredible work of cartoonist Lewis Trondheim. While Trondheim is an incredibly popular cartoonist in Europe, he’s virtually a well-kept secret in North America, despite being published by First Second (Kaput & Zosky, Tiny Tyrant, A.L.I.E.E.E.N.), Fantagraphics (Approximate Continuum Comics), and NBM (Little Nothings, Mister i, Mister o, and the Dungeon series).

The MONSTER series of graphic novels feature the almost normal adventures of an almost ordinary family… with a pet monster. If you’re familiar with Little Nothings, then you’ll recognize the family as a younger version of Trondheim’s own family, even if they do seem somewhat bird-like with those beaks and everything. The Dad is a cartoonist, the Mom is a colorist, and everything is seen through the kids’ point of view. While Kriss is supposedly a monster created by the kids, he acts like a great big loveable family dog, in my humble opinion.

Which is why I’m thrilled to see that the first few reviews are so positive! First off is this perceptive review in The Comics Reporter, Tom Spurgeon’s Web site of comics news, reviews, interviews and commentary. We’re big fans of Tom’s columns, and truly appreciate his kind words.

Ian Chapman, writing for Chicago’s Book List, opined “Holiday trifles don’t come any zanier– nor as weirdly touching– as this, and the kids somehow wind up helping Santa save Christmas while Kriss  gets a gift-wrapped vending machine of his own.”

We’re also thrilled, that USA Today has chosen “Monster Christmas” as a great gift idea for comics fans. We couldn’t agree more!

Who knows, with all this positive press, “Monster Christmas” could turn into a hit! But best case scenario is that everyone would become familiar with the amazing comics of Lewis Trondheim. That would be yet another dream come true!

For example, it seemed like everyone else in the world was aware of how wonderful the original SMURFS comics by Peyo were, but they were virtually impossible to find in North America. Thanks to the efforts of Papercutz publisher Terry Nantier, after several years of chasing after the elusive publishing rights to THE SMURFS, we finally were able to make a deal to publish Peyo’s masterwork both in print — there are ten graphic novels available now– as well as digitally (go to comiXology.com). We’re really proud that we’ve been able to make these great comics available to generations of Smurfs fans.

Tomorrow we’ll discuss another series we’re eager to share with you!

But before I go any further, I want to get my two cents in on the topic of Smurf-Haters. I know, the very concept seems insane, but I’ve noticed that certain male Baby-Boomers of a certain age, have always had a strong dislike of our little blue buddies. My theory is that when the old animated series appeared on TV way back in the ’80s, these Boomers were at an age when they wanted to turn their back on all things they considered too “kiddie” for them. The Hanna-Barbera animated adaptation of Peyo’s classic comics characters could be a tad cloying at times, certainly far cutesier than the comics, but it was still a great cartoon show for children. The theme song also seemed to bug these Smurf-hating Boomers as well. Even in the new live action movie, Neil Patrick Harris’s character touches on the (to some) unbearably happy tone of the song. I’ve always thought that if these folks would just take a deep breath, and check out the original comics by Peyo (now published in north America by Papercutz) they’d be happily surprised. In fact, I’ve even asked several Smurf-Haters to do just that– I usually suggest they read “The Smurf King”– and sure enough, they all come back with a new-found  appreciation the Smurfs.

But aside from that one specific strain of Boomers, the rest of the world has embraced the Smurfs. Just as the original comics and the H-B animated series were huge hits, the new Smurfs movie and the Papercutz graphic novels have also been wildly successful, both critically and commercially. An all-new movie sequel is in the works, scheduled for release on August 2, 2013, while new printings of all ten THE SMURFS graphic novels are rushing back to bookstore shelves everywhere to meet demand. The graphic novels did well even before the movie was released, but once the movie hit, they’ve been selling out faster than we can print new ones!

One of the many things I loved about the Smurfs movie was its inclusion of Peyo’s original Smurfs comics– in French no less! While The Smurfs are known throughout most of the world as comicbook characters, in North America they are probably still best known as animated cartoon characters. So, it was incredibly cool to see Peyo and his original comics acknowledged not only in the movie’s credits, but slyly as part of the story as well.

But the really BIG NEWS is that available exclusively on the 3 disc Blu-Ray + DVD Gift Set of The Smurfs movie is an all-new Mini Movie “The Smurfs A Christmas Carol.” Fans of both the movies and the H-B cartoons will get a kick out of how the “real” portions of the story feature the computer-animated Smurfs seen in the movie, while the “dream” sequences are in 2D animation, like the H-B cartoons. Follow the links to see the trailer: http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/thesmurfs/

But perhaps the biggest Smurfy news at Papercutz is that today is our very own Smurf Consultant Matt. Murray’s Smurfday! The acclaimed author of the wonderful “The World of Smurfs: A Celebration of Tiny Blue Proportions” and “Smurfology:The Blog” (at http://smurfology.blogspot.com/ ) is also the Self-Proclaimed World’s Leading Smurfologist. But most importantly, he’s a friend, whose undying faith in the Smurfs inspired us at Papercutz to never give up until we acquired the publishing rights to THE SMURFS. We wish you all the Smurfy best, Matt.!

All in all, 2011 has turned out to be a great year for Smurf fans, wouldn’t you say? And there’s only more Smurfy greatness to come! Excelsismurf!

Papercutz publisher Terry Nantier released a statement saying “we’re very excited to welcome Janna to our team as Papercutz experiences explosive growth with such licenses as the Smurfs and now Ninjago which has debuted with a 200,000 copy print run. I’ve known her for a few years already and with her combined experience of editing and marketing children’s graphic novels from the very start of this category’s introduction and growth, she will bring an added dimension of knowledge and energy. Anybody who knows her can see what a dynamo she is! She will bring boundless enthusiasm to our line and aggressive goals.”

I join Terry in welcoming Janna to Papercutz. Marketing Director is a super-important job—merely creating and publishing great graphic novels is merely part of what it takes for Papercutz to ultimately succeed. We need to be able to stand out from the competition and let people know that we exist! I’m sure Janna will be able to do just that!

Janna herself adds “I love how graphic novels attract such a wide range of readers, from diehard bookworms to the most reluctant readers, so when Papercutz offered me the opportunity to help spread the word about their fun and burgeoning line of children’s graphic novels, I was happy to accept.”

And we’re happy to have Janna on our team! As I always say, watch out for Papercutz!