And then the little bull slept for a thousand years.

BEA is hard, hard work, and I've got some well-deserved and heavy-duty sleeping to catch up on following my adventures in books. (Plus, my laptop is off to the shop to the wonderful folks at Tekserve.)

I'll be back this weekend, wide-awake and bushy-tailed on Saturday, just in time for "Saturday Morning Cartoon" and "Separated at Birth." Why not take a lengthy nap yourself and come back around then?

'Til then, be good to yourself and others, and see you on Satur

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

A Wodehouse a Week #6: Heavy Weather

Following a busy weekend at BookExpo America, there's no better Wodehouse book to delight myself with than Heavy Weather (1933), not merely because it's been muggy and hot both in Manhattan and in the setting of the novel, but because much of it is concerned with the threat of publication of a certain book (Galahad Threepwood's saucy memoirs). Heavy Weather even opens up in a publishing house, where Mammoth Publishing's agitated publisher has just learned Gally has refused to let his book be published. As Tilbury himself exclaims, "Cor!" Whatever is to be done?

But the delight of a novel concerned with my field of work and taking place in humid summer weather like I've been living with over the past few days is all secondary to my delight that this is one of Wodehouse's Blandings novels: the series concerning the denizens and guests of Blandings Castle, Shropshire. There are eleven novels (of which this is the fourth) and nine short stories about Blandings Castle, and to this little stuffed Wodehouse fan, there's not a dud among 'em. The joy and exuberance of Wodehouse shines exceptionally brightly in the Blandings books, and in the best of them he's at the tip-toppest of his sparkling career: intricate plots, howl-out-funny dialogue and narrative, loveable (and hissable) characters like dotty Lord Emsworth, Beach the butler, Lord Emsworth's terrifying sisters Connie and Julia, the outrageous Galahad Threepwood and his friend Uncle Fred Twistleton, assorted fake secretaries, maids, pig keepers and servants, and the single greatest non-speaking character in the entire Wodehousean canon: Empress of Blandings, prize-winning pig.

Also present in Heavy Weather is a now-familiar friend to readers of "A Wodehouse a Week"—why yes, it's Monty Bodkin of Pearls, Girls, and Monty Bodkin, sandwiched before that story and before the Mickey Mouse-smuggling antics of the (yet-to-be-reviewed by me) The Luck of the Bodkins. As in Pearls, Monty must hold down a job for an entire year to win approval to marry Gertrude Butterwick from Gertrude's father. As the story opens, Monty's serving as an editor of Tiny Tots ("that admirable children's paper") at Mammoth Publishing, but it's a sure bet that he'll be back on the street once Lord Tilbury reads the following Monty-contribution to Tiny Tots's latest number:

Well now, let's get down to it. This week, my dear little souls, Uncle Woggly is going to put you on to a good thing. We all want to make a spot of easy money these hard times, don't we? Well, here's the lowdown, straight from the horse's mouth. All you have to do is get hold of some mug and lure him into betting that a quart whisky bottle holds a quart of whisky.

Sounds rummy, what? I mean, that's what you would naturally think that it would hold. So does the mug. But it isn't. It's really more, and I'll tell you why.

First you fill the bottle. This gives you your quart. Then you shove the cork in. And then—follow me closely here—you turn the bottle upside down and you'll find there's a sort of bulging-ion part at the bottom. Well, slosh some whisky into that, and there you are. Because the bot. is now holding more than a quart and you scoop the stakes.

Useful info I would enjoy reading in any of my children's magazines, but it gets Monty tossed out into the street, jobless again and this (as they say) is where the fun starts.

Through the help of his friendly ex-fianceé and ex-chorus-girl Sue Brown, Monty secures a job as secretary to Lord Emsworth at Blandings Castle, where Sue is based (she's engaged to be married to Emsworth's nephew Ronnie). Double complications from the start: 1) Ronnie being the jealous type, Monty and Sue don't dare let on that they know each other, much less were once engaged, and 2) Monty's uncle is the notorious Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe, rival to Lord Emsworth in the annual Market Blandings agricultural fair pig competition...so Emsworth naturally assumes Monty has been sent there from Parsloe to hobble his pig, the serene and plump Empress of Blandings. Got that? Hang onto those facts. At the same time, Emsworth's brother, the Hon. Galahad Threepwood, has just finished his memoirs of club life at the turn of the century, the publication of which will embarrass members of cultured high society—including Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe—with true tales of their wild youthful antics. Gally has promised not to publish the book if Emsworth gives the engaged Ronnie his full trust fund in order to get married. Mammoth Publishing head Tilbury, with sparkling pound signs in his beady eyes, hires shady private detective Percy Pilbeam to steal it. Pilbeam's also been hired by Emsworth's sister Lady Constance to steal the manuscript to completely remove the threat of publication and public humiliation. Parsloe wants the manuscript stolen to avoid revealing his wayward past. Like Parsloe, Monty is suspected of trying to sabotage the Empress of Blanding's fair prospects but instead becomes entangled in the plot to steal the manuscript. With me so far? Did I mention one of the greatest butlers in the history of English literature, Beach? I did not, but he's vital to the plot, too. In short, it's the perfect Blandings novel: characters rushing to and fro, changing loyalties, being lightly blackmailed, and what Hitchcock might call a MacGuffin but which is a sheaf of manuscript pages entitled The Reminiscences of Galahad Threepwood to Wodehouse, shuffled back and forth from desk drawer to butler's pantry to pigsty in an elaborate game of hide the memoirs, until your head is quite dizzy at trying to remember who's in the game for money, who's in it for themselves and who's in it for love.



Aside from the always-captivating characters, intricate coincidences and carefully-planned plot, Wodehouse adds a rare third element he often comments on but does not usually make such a major point of as he does in this book: the titular heavy weather. It's deep summer in London and Shropshire, and weather influences and directs much of the plot and happenstances in ways I don't remember being evident in his other novels. It's not mere coincidence that Heavy Weather's first line is "Sunshine pierced the haze that enveloped London." The weather is warm and growing more oppressive: barometer's falling, and it ain't gonna be raining men in the world of Wodehouse, it's going to be directly the storyline. Like each of his cast of characters, Wodehouse's weather has an absolutely essential and important part to play. The action of the book spins and grows more elaborate and entangled straight through the first half, even as weather references pop up, warning of the turmoil ahead. Witness the following beautifully vivid paragraph, which could have come straight out of Thomas Hardy...until a typical Wodehousean turn pops in at the very last second:

It was four o'clock of a sultry, overcast, oppressive afternoon, and a sudden stillness had fallen on the world. The heat wave which for the past two weeks had been grilling England was in the uncomfortable process of working up to a thunderstorm. Shropshire, under a leaden sky, had taken on a sinister and a brooding air. The flowers in the garden drooped forlornly. The lake was a grey smudge, and the river in the valley below a thread of sickly tarnished silver. Gone, too, was the friendly charm of the Scotch fir spinneys that dotted the park. They seems now black and haunted and menacing, as if witches lived in crooked little cottages in the heart of them.

'Ugh!' said Sue, hating Shropshire.

The storm breaks midway through the novel, and like the storm in King Lear, it serves as a turning point for the lazy susan of the plot's action to take its specific turn. The rain traps Pilbeam on the estate grounds instead of fleeing across the back gardens, so he takes refuge in a gardening shed and hides the pilfered manuscript in a pile of hay rather than getting away scot-free with it. The heavy weather convinces Beach the butler, more portly than Adonis, to mop his brow and stop in for a beer at the local pub, where he overhears the plot to steal the manuscript. And the rain catches Monty Bodkin full force, soaking him to the skin, so that when he dashes to the house to towel off, Ronnie spots a telltale tattoo and assumes the worst: that Sue still loves Monty and Monty still loves Sue:

...Ronnie Fish uttered a quick, sharp exclamation.

Monty looked up, surprised. His benefactor had turned a vivid vermilion and was staring at him in a marked manner.

'Eh?' he said, puzzled.

Ronnie did not speak immediately. He appeared to be engaged in swallowing some hard, jagged substance.

'On your chest,' he said at length, in a strange, toneless voice.

'Eh?'

Eton and Cambridge came to Ronnie's aid. Outwardly calm, he swallowed again, picked a piece of fluff off his left sleeve, and cleared his throat.

'There's something on your chest.'

He paused.

'It looks like "Sue".'

He paused again.

'"Sue",' he said casually, 'with a heart round it.'

The hard jagged substance seemed to have transferred itself to Monty's throat. There was a brief silence while he disposed of it.

He was blaming himself. Rummy, he reflected ruefully, how when you saw a thing day after day for a couple or years or so it ceased to make any impression on what he rather fancied was called the retina. This heart-encircled 'Sue', this pink and ultramarine tribute to a long-vanished love, which in a gush of romantic fervour he had caused to be graven on his skin in the early days of their engagement, might during the last eighteen months just as well not have been there for all the notice he had taken of it. He had practically forgotten that it was still in existence.

It was a moment for quick thinking.

'Not "Sue",' he said. '"S.U.E."—Sarah Ursula Ebbsmith.'

'What!'

'Sarah Ursula Ebbsmith," repeated Monty firmly. 'Girl I used to be engaged to. She died. Pneumonia. Very sad. Don't let's talk of it.'

There was a long pause. Ronnie moved to the door. His feelings were almost too deep for words, but he managed a couple.

'Well, bung-ho!'

Weep no tears for shattered Ronnie and poor Sue, because Ronnie will see the light and the truth when Galahad forces them to sit down and talk to each other; like Sherlock Holmes, the outrageous older uncle untangled the skein of missing manuscripts, lost loves and pilfered pigs with incisive delight. This is a comedy, after all, and it all ends happily, with lovers clasping each other to their bosoms, marriages set to be scheduled (at least until the next Monty Bodkin novel) and while I won't tell you the final fate of an important MacGuffin, let's just say that like much of the novel's action, the problem is solved by nature...but not so much an Act of God as an Act of Pig.

Any Wodehouse book is a wonderful thing; even the lesser ones (I haven't gotten to The Coming of Bill yet but I shan't be as complimentary) have a few moments to recommend them. The Blandings novels, along with the Jeeves stories, are the cream of the crop, and you could do worse than to spend a humid summer day lazing in a hammock with a cold glass of lemonade and burying yourself in Blandings. Beach, Lord Emsworth, and Gally are among Wodehouse's top comic creations, and the more I read of the many adventures of Monty Bodkin the more I enjoy him as an epitome of Wodehouse's hapless heroes. You really should read the book instead of simply paging through my excerpts, but what the dilly: one more half-page excerpt then, to take you inside the befuddled, absent-minded, but utterly pig-focused world of Clarence, Lord Emsworth:

'God bless my soul!' said Lord Emsworth querulously.

He turned from the piano, and Lady Constance was enabled to see him steadily and see him whole. The sight caused her to utter a stricken cry.

'Clarence!'

'Eh?'

'What—what is that thing in your shirt-front?'

The ninth Earl squinted down.

'It's a paper-fastener. One of those brass things you fasten papers with. I lost my stud.'

'You must have more than one stud.'

'Here's another, up here.'

'Have you only two studs?'

'Three,' said Lord Emsworth, a little proudly. 'For the front of the shirt, three. Dashed inconvenient things. The heads come off. You screw them on and then you put them in and then you screw them on.'

'Well, go straight up to your room and screw on the spare one.'

It was not often that Lord Emsworth found himself in the position of being able to score a debating point against his sister Constance. The fact that he was about to do so now filled him with justifiable complacency. It seemed to lend to his manner a strange, quiet dignity.

'I can't,' he said. 'I swallowed it.'

I only have one edition in my collection of Heavy Weather: an early 1980s Penguin paperback with a cheery Ionicus illustration of Lord Tilbury confronting Gally. That edition's long out of print, but you can pick up this perfect piece of art in a newer Penguin edition with a doleful frog on the cover (A frog? Why not a hog?) by clicking on the Amazon.com link to the right. Extra bonus: this edition has an introduction by Nick Hornby, one of my favorite contemporary writers. Gee, now I'm going to have to get that edition too. See what Wodehouse inspires in me? I won't buy multiple copies of comic books anymore, but I'm a sucker for different editions of my favorite author. Whatever edition you pick up, this is one of Wodehouse's high points and a wonderful introduction or return to the world of Blandings.

BEA Day 3: Pop-Up Lightsabers, Lotsa Buttons and a Guy Who "Gets It"

I have proven that the people who run the BookExpo America actually read my blog, because the air conditioning was running wonderfully today on the final day of BEA. Third day's the charm! I know that by, say, Comic-Con standards, a three-day trade show is a piker, but it's a hard long show, especially if you're there to work either as an exhibitor or an attendee, and the comfortable decrease in temperature (it was almost a little too chilly in the hour previous to the floor's opening to attendees this morning!) took a little bit of the edge off. Sure, my legs and arms still ache, I haven't slept enough and am exhausted, and my hooves have bubbly blisters on them, but at least I wasn't soaking with sweat today.

It was another busy day. BEA Sundays are traditionally the lowest attendance of the three days, and this one kept to that pattern with a sparser crowd, but there were still plenty of folks sweeping through the aisles and stoppin' by to see our fine books and sales reps. We'll have to wait a few days for Publishers Weekly to report on the show attendance records, but every single day seemed to be the busiest and highest-attended BEA in many years, including the most recent New York City ones.

No signings or events in the Norton booth today, but there's still plenty of work to do: fun pals from all parts of the book industry stop by to say hi and hear about our books, and there's still plenty of time to wander hobble around the BEA pavilions, partly to pick up trade catalogues for later perusal, but mostly just to see if there was any more cool stuff to see. And there was! That's the beauty of BEA: it's so varied and vast that even over three days you don't always see it all. (Note to the people who run the BookExpo America, whom I have proven actually read my blog: do not make it longer!) I haven't had a chance to swing through the lower level children's' exhibitions, so a quick hop on the escalator and I'm into the wonderful world of kids. First stop: the Candlewick Books booth, where I get to cast my peepers on their upcoming X-Men Pop-Up:


I like this series because it actually uses classic art from the big-name artists who made the characters what they are, rather than the more modern and sometimes generic house art. What better way to introduce new comics fans to the energy and power of the art of Dave Cockrum and Jack Kirby than by pokin' 'em in the face with it?:


How entranced was I by this X-Men Pop-Up book? So entranced that I completely failed to notice there was free candy right behind it.

But the belle of the pop-up book ball at BEA certainly has to be Scholastic's Star Wars Pop-Up. How freakin' cool is this? So freakin' cool the lightsabers light up!:


Scholastic is also the home of Harry Potter, and I was kindly given a wonderful Harry tote bag by a smiling Scholastic rep. But no matter how much I asked she would not let me look at any copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. I guess they really are keeping that a secret! I had to satisfy my Harry fandom by stopping by the Klutz Press booth and examining the very-cool Build Your Own Hogwarts Castle Set:


And so I did! With a little help from the kind Klutz reps. Tiny little cardboard Dumbledore not included.


You can also meet plenty of fine pals around the children's floor:


Here's a cow friend who is afraid of pins:


But this guy is just plain noisy:


And look! I can learn Spanish with Batman! Repeat after me: Soy la maldición Batman del dios!


Back upstairs, I swing by the Newmarket Press booth to discover to my dismay that I did not win the Dreamgirls contest drawing. I will never get to meet Beyoncé at this rate!:


But at the HarperCollins booth, I'm instantly cheered up by the announcement that at last, David Michaelis's Charles Schulz biography is coming this fall. Good grief!:


I'm not a massive Artemis Fowl fan, but a free 16-page color preview of the upcoming Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel looks well-done and entertaining, with solid art by Giovanni Rigano. I'm all for anything that introduces kids to the medium of comics by using their favorite characters from lit:


And I'm absolutely gobsmacked at how wonderfully beautiful Little Brown's Tintin boxed set will be (this is the French edition, but the English one is coming soon):


Diligent Little Brown reps kept me from drooling all over their sample Tintin box and instead gave me a wonderful Tintin bag! I will sit in it and wait for the box set to come out:


And let's not forget the main reason to attend BEA: enough free promotional buttons to cover me from head to toe!:


In my final daily report from last year's BEA, I lamented some of the lost chances Marvel Comics had (and blew) to present and promote their graphic novels to a captive audience of trade booksellers. As I reported this past Friday, Marvel gets a slightly better grade, but today on my wanders through the BEA aisles I met and got a chance to chat with a guy who "gets it"—Boom! Studio's Ross Richie.

I stepped up to the Boom! Booth, stuck out my hoof and introduced myself to Ross as a friend of Kevin Church. To Ross's credit and professionalism, he did not reply "Aren't you a little short for a bottle of whiskey?" but instead greeted me energetically and enthusiastically, and we talked about the BEA show and the comics industry. Ross kindly gave me some cool Boom! comics:


...but more impressive than the gift of free comics, was a sheaf of thorough and professional color sales sheets for his upcoming titles that Ross gave me:


There's a lot of information on these sell sheets, and it's exactly the sort of information I didn't see Marvel offering visitors to its booth: sales handles and selling points, marketing, comparables, author biographies, and full book descriptions: absolutely everything a bookstore buyer or manager needs to get up to speed on a Boom! trade paperback. Ross also showed me an advance copy of the second Hero Squared trade paperback, which was beautifully done: great trim size (6" x 9"), excellent price point ($14.99), beautiful color and intriguing back cover copy. Boom! also is now distributed to the bookstore trade by publisher Perseus, a smart move which will increase Boom!'s presence in bricks-and-mortar chain and independent and internet booksellers...exactly the audience who is attending BEA. I don't care for every single one of Boom!'s comics, but I'm exceptionally impressed by their business plan and BEA presence, and I wish Ross and company all the best. I think that he "gets" it in ways some bigger companies...and I'm not even talking specifically comic companies...don't. And that, as I like to say, is a very Good Thing. In the end, it's what makes BEA worthwhile: not just the parties, not just the freebies, not even the chance to see Stephen Colbert...but a great place to meet bookstore managers and buyers and promote and sell your books. Getting a wider and more extensive range of graphic novels into general trade bookstores is definitely a good thing, and that's what BEA is all about.

It's now many hours later. We've torn down the big Norton booth ("The Grey Lady"), we've packed up our books, we've had our last BEA dinner and we've hobbled to our airplanes and homes. I'm aching and tired and exhausted but filled with the buzz and energy from an excellent and productive BEA. Why, I've got so much energy that I think can get lots more done tonight! Why, I'll finish that Wodehouse book and get a head-start on my blog entry for tomorrow, watch some of the shows Tivoed in my absence, play with my much-missed kittycat, maybe do the dishes and...then (yawnnnnnnnnn)...then I'll...

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Ten of a Kind (Special BEA Edition): Why do you think they call them comic books?

(More Ten of a Kind here.)

BEA Day 2: In which I am believed to be escaping from the Chronicle Books booth.

I started out writing last night's BEA report under the title "A short post about a hot day." It didn't turn out as short as I had thought it would. How can I tell? HBO was running the complete Star Wars saga in series order last night (hey, HBO! Why this Friday? Why not last Friday?), and I started blogging during the last half hour of Attack of the Clones and finished just as Han Solo and company reached the remains of Alderaan in A New Hope. Yes, folks, I blogged all the way through Revenge of the Sith. I highly recommend that as a decent way to watch that film.

While the BEA show wasn't quite as hectic-frantic as it was yesterday, it was still plenty busy, with lots of publishers, publicists, book agents, and yes, the precious "blue badge" of honest-to-gosh booksellers moving through the aisles.


Luckily it was cooler than yesterday...still hot, but a relief after the balmy tropical weather of Friday. How can I tell? The tarps lining the ceiling of the Javits Center at irregular intervals were fluttering weakly in the air-conditioned half-breeze. Have you stopped at BEA, craned your neck upwards, and wondered what those tarps were for? Well, take a look at the corners of BEA aisles—look for empty booth spaces occupied by big plastic barrels. Now look upwards again and note that hoses connect those tarps up there and the barrels down here. Yes, folks, the Javits Center ceiling leaks and this elaborate makeshift solution drips the lovely, far-from-crystal Manhattan rainwater right down into those big tubs adjoining your booth. Because that's the way we do things in New York, baby!

Wandering down the aisles cheerfully whistling "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head," I get to work for the day. Saturday is always a big day for author appearances and signings. From the balmy safety of the Norton booth I can see long, long snaking lines to see folks like James Patterson and Stephen Colbert. There's also no doubt massive crowds downstairs at the formal autographing areas, but today's you can't swing a cat (warning: do not actually swing a cat) in the publisher pavilions themselves without hitting a booth author signing. I don't stand on line to get autographed books or galleys mainly because I'm pretty busy with our own in-booth events! I am a little too short to help our authors directly (and we have wonderful sales reps helping them every step of the way), but there's always plenty of work for everyone to make a signing come off well: fetching and unboxing galleys, opening them and turning them to the correct page to be autographed, keeping the queue organized and lined up properly (don't block other people's booths if your line snakes outside your booth!) and the ever-important job of picking up after.

Since this is a working show for me, keeping busy with events in the booth means a little less time to wander the BEA show floor today, but I do get a chance to slip away and dash up a few aisles. First up: the Overlook Press booth to check out forthcoming editions of their P. G. Wodehouse reissues. Sadly, no one recognizes me as Bully, the Wodehouse-Blogging Bull, but with patience and perseverance, perhaps next year at this time they will be rolling out the red carpet to see me come into the booth. In the meantime, Jeeves looks happy to see me...hey wait, Overlook...isn't that the retired "Ask Jeeves" logo? Are you allowed to use that?


A friendly but warning sign in the Viz Comics section alerts me that while I'm in the booth, I may be filmed and used in upcoming promotional advertising material. To which I say, hooray! I'm gonna be in an anime cartoon, everybody! Hoo hoo!:


Costumed characters from Patrick McDonnell's Mutts comic strip are on hand to give BEA attendees much-needed hugs...except they're out to lunch when I stop by! Oh no! I coulda used a hug.


Some of the technology-oriented companies have display areas that don't even have any books in them. Ingram's booth area looks like an internet café. They would not, however, let me check my email.


I stopped by to see my good pals from Amazon.com, too. Hullo Miss Vicky! Hullo Miss Kim! Hullo Misters Rob and Brad!:


Entering the international publishing pavilion area, I am abruptly stopped by a sign in the plush rug. Eeek! Apparently I cannot enter this booth, as I did not bring my passport with me:


Chronicle has a cool-looking upcoming craft book (Knitted Icons) that instructs you how to knit dolls of famous celebrities like Madonna, Marilyn Monroe, Mister T. and Elvis. These are pretty cool and there are lots of knitted pals displayed around the booth, like the Fab Felt Four:


However, I was actually stopped as I headed out of the Chronicle booth because they thought I was one of their display dolls being carried away! Yikes! They were very pleasant and apologetic when they realized their mistake. Apology accepted from this little fuzzy guy, Chronicle. Now, knit me a Billie Piper!

Back in the Norton pavilion, I stop again in the Fantagraphics booth, where they are promoting a new book by Ellen Forney: Lust: Kinky Online Personal Ads from Seattle's "The Stranger". Yikes!! I do not think I am allowed to look at this book. I sure hope you glued on those stars pretty strongly, Miss Forney!:


I didn't pick up as much free BEA "swag" today as I did last year, but here's one of my favorites: The Onion is bringing out a brand-new book this fall, Our Dumb World: The Onion's Atlas of the Planet Earth, and I picked up the very funny promotional brochure they did for it (sorry, I wrinkled it a bit!):

I'm a big fan of The Onion, not merely because it's very funny but because it's free, but I'll gladly pony up the dough for this new Onion book as it's the first all-original volume since their first book, Our Dumb Century. Here's a sample inside spread focusing on "Chile: Preventing Argentina from Enjoying the Pacific Ocean Since 1818":


But when day is done and you head back to your assigned BEA hotel room to relax your achy achy hooves and crank up the AC to lower your temperature from the balmy day, the very best thing to have is a brand-new friend. You can't buy friends, but you can get one for free if you stop by the Regnery Publishing booth and pick up a happy squishy pig:


Because, in the end, that's one of the things I love best about BEA: the chance to meet new friends and see old ones again. The book world can be a demanding mistress, but there's a lot of great people working in it. I'm very pleased to be part of it. BEA oughta be fun...and it often is.

But please crank up the AC tomorrow, Javits Center!

Saturday Morning Cartoon (Special BEA Edition): Have You Got Any Castles

"Have You Got Any Castles," directed by Frank Tashlin (1938)
As I'm a great lover of books, this is quite possible my favorite Warner Brothers cartoon of all time. (But warning: some politically incorrect imagery.)
Here's a page on the cartoon's hidden gags and inside jokes.

Friday Night Fights: Bad animals/Bad animals/Got to push the grain or go insane

Bahlactus started it, but Streaky's gonna finish it.

BEA Day 1: Cool books, hot show

It's hot today at BEA. How hot is it? It's so hot that if this were San Diego Comic-Con, the Stormtroopers would be keeling over left and right. It's so hot that if Bahlactus's Friday Night Fights were held on the floor of BEA, both fighters would be dropping into the floor in a pool of sweat. It's so hot that if the Human Torch wandered into your booth, you'd be clustering around him just for the cool relief.

Okay, enough of that.

Seriously, it was busy and humid at the Javits Center for the first day of BookExpo America. It's always busier at BEA when the industry's big trade show is held in New York, the King City of Publishing, but this was more crowded and packed than I have seen it in years, including the last NYC BEA. The crowds poured into the aisles smack-dab at nine AM and never really let up: there were even big crowds right down to the wire at the show's 5 PM closing, a time when the throngs have usually thinned out. I'm sure the masses of people didn't help the Javits's apparently overstrained air conditioner systems, because (as I may have mentioned) it was pretty dang hot at the BEA today. If you stared far, far up in the overhead rafters of the big hall you could see some of the tarps that line the ceiling fluttering, but not much of that coolness was getting down to us on the big blue carpet of the Norton booth, and I do believe it passed eighty on the floor today. We were all pretty sweaty by the end of the day, and believe me, a sweaty bull is not something you want to be close to.

I'll say this: a busy day makes for a fast day. There are people to meet 'n' greet, catalogues and galleys to restock, places to go, people to see, and...one of the nicest perks of BEA, plenty of freebies to get...but like I advised you last year, don't be greedy! Don't grab every book you see, even if they're up for offer. In other words, don't be like this guy, loaded down with four bags of galleys and books a mere fifteen minutes after BEA started:


It was a worthwhile and productive day but I'm going to make this a brief post: my hooves, they are a-mooing, and I'm beat and tired. BEA oughta be fun, and it is, but it's hard, hard work! So sit back, relax, be grateful you're home in your lovely cool home, and imagine room temperatures creeping to eighty and above as you peer at my photos of BEA, Day One:

Everybody who's anybody is coming to the fabulous Norton booth! Why can't you see me? Because I am running underfoot carrying catalogues to and fro:



Fabulous Fantagraphics guy Eric Reynolds glances suspiciously at me as I attempt to take more than one free copy of Unseen Peanuts. I promise I am not going to sell them on eBay, Eric!


One of the best things about BEA is meeting face-to-face people I've only "met" so far over the internet. Here I am shakin' hooves with Dandy Douglas Wolk, the mastermind behind the definitive 52 Pickup blog and author of the amazin'-lookin' forthcoming book Reading Comics:


Douglas gave me a cool promotional postcard for the book (you can see it here on the book's MySpace page). Check out his "Seven Strong Opinions About Comics"...they make a compelling springboard for a different kind of book about comics and I'm very excited to read it when it comes out in July. (I pretty much agree with each of the seven points, but especially number seven: "Also, comics are awesome.") Preach on, brother Douglas!

There are all sorts of events and seminars to go to at BEA. One of these days I will be hosting one on how to blog if you are a cute stuffed animal. (Not for you, Giraffo...I said cute!) In the meantime, why not attend this fine event? I ain't needing any help because me write grammar good, but you may find it entertaining:


Like I said, there are lots of great giveaways and freebies at BEA. But sometimes the sweetest giveaway doesn't have anything to do with books at all! Remember though, don't' be greedy! Filling your pockets or tote bag are frowned upon:


Houghton Mifflin's forthcoming The Best American Comics 2007 features Chris Ware as editor and cover designer:


I love working in the book industry, but now I truly know what I wanna be when I grow up: a world-record balloon sculptor.


Adrian Tomine signs posters at the Drawn and Quarterly booth. Also exciting: a new Moomin collection is coming this fall. Hooray, D+Q!


At a busy BEA, it can be tough bein' a little stuffed bull. So it's especially lovely to meet a new friend just my size!:


I of course had to make a pilgrimage to the graphic novel section of the main floor, dominated by the DC mega-booth. Hey, it's the goshdarn Batman!:


I was taking photos in the DC booth when a booming voice called to me: "Hey, no photos of stuffed animals in the booth!" Far from being a tough security guard, it's actually old pal John Cunningham from DC, and we have a lovely chat for a few moments. I'm jealous of where he works, and we discuss the relative merits of working someplace where you not only get to see all the cool new comics, but also you don't have to wear a necktie to work. Now that's a dream job!

DC was displaying a lot of great upcoming stuff. I was told "this year for sure" on this eagerly awaited-book. We'll see!:


DC also had a great display of forthcoming titles from the Minx line, including some advance mock-ups of books and a nice sampler. I think even I want to read some of these. See, Minx comics aren't just for girls:


Hey, look, comin' this fall: 52: The Novel! I'm interested in this but I imagine the storyline is really truncated. We'll see:


Normally publishers at BEA only display their own books and products, but I think DC is pretty canny here in understanding they are also promoting their characters to booksellers when they set up a couple shelves of forthcoming books from other publishers spotlighting the DCU heroes.


And here's a cool display case of DC Direct action figures and statues. Not a wash bucket (or laundry basket) among them!:


Speaking of which, you may remember last year my lengthy discussion on Marvel's very tiny BEA display in comparison to DC. I'm happy to report their exhibition space, while still overshadowed by DC's, is much bigger and sharper this year. They're part of the big Diamond Comics stretch of booths and have a great slick professional set-up for this BEA:


Marvel had some busy traffic in their booth while I was there: Laurell K. Hamilton was signing copies of her Anita Blake comic to an eager line of fans. There is no truth to the rumor that beefy Marvel security guards were seen escorting Chris Sims to the exit, however.

As usual, Marvel was givin' away free comics (although they couldn't beat DC, who were giving away free copies of the Watchman paperback and the Alex Ross Justice hardcover!):

I'll give Marvel some "much improved" points for giving away The Dark Tower and Anita Blake, not to mention the bookseller-name-recognition of Neil Gaiman with free copies of Eternals #1. But Marvel, you've got to learn that giving away copies of Moon Knight #1 and last year's Free Comic Book Day offering of X-Men/Runaways aren't going to get you any interest from trade booksellers. And what's with that giveaway of Civil War: Opening Shot Sketchbook from over a year ago?

I ranted enough last year, so I'll keep it short here: Marvel, Marvel, Marvel. You have the number one opening weekend of all time for your recent movie. And you've got another massive movie coming out very soon. Why not promote and capitalize on those successes...and characters bookstores will recognize and perceive as ultra-popular...by giving away Spider-Man or Fantastic Four books...why not, especially, the Spidey/FF #1 comic that featured the Silver Surfer? But smart for Marvel, they did have an excellent flier of their top GNs with great sales potential for bookstores, plus a good display of Spidey graphic novels:


So, Marvel, I'll give you a better grade this year on your BEA appearance, but there's still plenty of room for improvement: "6 out of 10, can do better than this."

In addition to Marvel, many of the other big comics companies were well-represented by separate booths or half-booths in the Diamond Comics pavilion. Here's Image:


...plus Virgin, Udon, and a host of others:


Working at BEA can be tiring and hard work. Don't forget to keep your strength up with a hearty luncheon from the food court downstairs! Extra bonus: it's cooler down there. It is even cooler standing next to the hot dog grill than it is upstairs. Also, chocolate-covered peanuts!


Best non-comics book news of the BEA for this little stuffed British mystery fan: like last year, the announcement of a new Dick Francis book got me very excited and thrilled! Looks like he's working with his son Felix now. As many of Dick's books were written with the help of his late wife, I don't mind this development at all, just as long as I get a great horsey mystery out of it. Hooray! I love Dick Francis, If I ever finish my Wodehouse a Week project, maybe I'll do A Dick Francis a Week!:


Best book title of BEA (from Dilbert's Scott Adams):


This picture encyclopedia of DC action figures from Chronicle Books looks really cool!:


My little hooves were really hurty by this time, but I couldn't go back to the Norton booth without stopping off to visit Bully email-pen-pal Gina Gagliano at the First Second booth. Hi Gina! We will come over to play Trivial Pursuit some day, we promise!:


Gina was very kind to give me some ultra-cool stuff, including a beautiful Eddie Campbell Black Diamond Detective Agency poster and the new First Second catalogue. Their Fall list looks amazing—I especially am looking forward to Laika: Earth's First Astronaut (the story of the first Soviet spacedog, with beautiful Tintinesque artwork by Nick Abadzis) and the wonderfully whimsical Robot Dreams by Sara Varon. Great stuff! Here's a photo of me with some of their current books...I'm a big little First Second fan and they are publishing some amazing work. Thanks, Gina!


At last it's five o'clock and the lights dim to remind us to get the heck out, and I trot gratefully out of the sticky hot Javits Center into the sticky hot Manhattan afternoon to begin to long trudge across town back to the Jolly Hotel. I'm tramping wearily up Thirty-Eighth Street when I spot these advertising posters:


After a day like this, I got to agree.