all ages comics

The weekend is here! Take a look back at what’s happened in the past seven days. New comics, new stories, new podcasts, new art being made — it’s all part of the ComicsAlliance Weekender!

For the last two years, comics artist and writer Brian Shearer has been telling the grand tale of William the Last as a webcomic, the story of a young orphan boy who lives on a small island with only his grandfather for company. But when he finds himself all alone, William starts climbing the huge mountain right in the center of the island. He climbs, and he climbs.... and finds a strange new world where cities are in ruins and chaos has taken hold of the people. William the Last is a passion project for Shearer; each page is beautifully designed and illustrated. With the first few stories now told online, Shearer has brought the project to Kickstarter to raise funds for a print edition. ComicsAlliance spoke to him about the book, and how it came to life.

Raina Telgemeier, the biggest name in comics today, made a major announcement at San Diego Comic-Con this past weekend --- her next project will be a graphic novel called Ghosts, scheduled for release by Scholastic Graphix in 2016. Ghosts will be Telgemeier's second major work of original fiction following 2012's Drama, in contrast to her autobiographical works Smile and Sisters, and centers on a young girl called Catrina and her family as they move to a new town and attempt to settle in.

Cartoonist Jamie Smart, best known for his work in The Phoenix Magazine and the ongoing series Whubble, improved the comics industry forever yesterday by announcing a new comic series called Superhero Bunny League. It's about a world much like our own, only a giant laser blast from evil Dr Fuzzleglove has given every single bunny rabbit in the world a set of miraculous superpowers.

Writer/artist Ben Hatke caught the attention of readers with his Zita The Spacegirl series, a trio of YA graphic novels from First Second that tell the story of an average earth girl who tries to save her best friend from an alien invasion -- and in the process becomes a spacefaring superhero. His latest project, Julia's House For Lost Creatures, is a picture book featuring a strange young girl who opens her home to goblins, faeries, mermaids, and all manner of fantastical monsters. ComicsAlliance sat down with him to discuss his approach to storytelling, and his upcoming projects.

Dark Horse Comics have announced a renewed strategy to expand the number of all-ages graphic novels they publish, with a concentrated push into the market for 2015 with the launch of four new titles: Rexodus, The Courageous Princess, Veda: Assembly Required, and The Return of the Gremlins.

Each week in January, Dynamite Entertainment will unleash a burst of cuteness upon the world. The Li'l Dynamites series of one-shots takes five series -- Battlestar Galactica, Vampirella, Bionic Man, Evil Ernie and Red Sonja -- and makes them adorable.

When it comes to all ages comics, one body of work that tends to hide in plain site is Mo Willems's massively popular series of Pigeon picture and board books for younger children (and anyone who reads to or with children). Circulating in bookstores, libraries and generally anywhere where kids are found since the 2003 release of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Willems' series of word-balloon infused titles exude all the charm and humor you'd expect from a Sesame Street, Codename: Kids Next Door and KaBlam! veteran and, ten years later, are probably owed for familiarizing an entire generation with the mechanics of sequential art. Today Disney Publishing Worldwide adds yet another dimension to the creator's work in comics and cartooning with the release of the aptly titled Don't Pigeonhole Me! Two Decades of the Mo Willems Sketchbook, which as the name makes plain, collects 20 of the creator's more personal works.

Lego's line of Hero Factory toys now has a digital home for its tie-in comic series via a new iOS app care of DC Comics and comiXology. It's not bad timing considering the recent launch of Lego's line of DC Universe SuperHeroes toys, which include Hero Factory compatible figures of Batman, the Joker and Green Lantern...