First Second

We live in politically charged times, and it seems that more people are finding their voice and speaking out about the very many negative aspects of modern politics and politicians. If you have someone in your life that seeks to shake up the system and speak truth to power, we've assembled a holiday gift guide packed with comics perfect for the dissident in you life.

The holiday season is fast approaching, and that means it's time to hit the shops! If you're looking for inspiration for gifts for all the important people in your life, ComicsAlliance has put together a series of guides centered on different themes and personalities! It's likely that everyone read some form of comics as a child, and for many of us it's where our passion for the medium first began. If you've got a young reader in your life who can't get enough of comic books, or you're ready to start them on that adventure, we've put together a list of some of the best titles for young readers available to buy today.

One of the biggest strides in the comic industry over the past decade has come in the form of a wave of exciting and accessible educational comics by established creators. It's something that First Second has noticed too, as the publisher is throwing its weight behind its established line of Science Comics and announcing thirteen more titles in the series, covering a wide range of topics, from cats and dogs to robots and drones.

Families come in all shapes and sizes, but The Big Bad Fox, an upcoming graphic novel by cartoonist Benjamin Renner, features a configuration that you're unlikely to find in nature. It's about a fox who steals some chicken eggs in the hope of a meal, but is imprinted upon and embraced by the chicks who hatch from those eggs, forcing him to become a surrogate parent to creatures he'd prefer to see as prey. We have an exclusive reveal of the book's cover, above, and Renner sent us a delightfully illustrated account of how he came up with the idea, which you can read below.

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!

The question most often asked of the ComicsAlliance staff is a variation of, “Which comic books should I be reading?” or, “I’m new to comics, what’s a good place to start?” The Wednesday deluge of new comic books, graphic novels and collected editions can be daunting even for the longtime reader, much less for those totally unfamiliar with creators, characters and publishers, and the dark mysteries of comic book shopping like variants, pre-ordering, and formats. It’s with these challenges in mind that we’ve created Best Comic Books Ever (This Week), an ongoing guide curated by the ComicsAlliance staff. This is where new comics readers and seasoned Wednesday shoppers alike can find our picks of the best books the medium has to offer.

If you ever wondered where magical beings went to get the very latest in mystical gear, it turns out there's a one-stop shop for all of their supernatural needs. In 2018, cartoonist Mike Cavallaro will take readers inside Vulcan's Celestial Supply Shop to explore the lives of the staff who work there, and to see what happens when they realize they have to stop an adventurer succeeding with his quest.

Who’d have thought in a world where we have Chopped and Cutthroat Kitchen that one of the most popular cooking shows is about a group of British people being nice to each other in a tent? Great British Bake Off --- or The Great British Baking Show if you’re watching PBS --- has proved to be an international hit and people around the world are enthralled with the competition to find Britain’s next best baker. It may surprise you that there are actually a host of great cooking and baking based comic books, and the genre seems to be, excuse me, on the rise. If you love GBBO or baking and cooking in general, we’ve got a list of five great independent comics that might whet your appetite.

Whenever Laika put out a new film, it's worth sitting up and paying and attention, and between films like Paranorman, Coraline and The Boxtrolls, the studio has proved itself one of the best places for nuanced and touching approaches to films aimed at children. Laika's newest release, Kubo and the Two Strings, is based on classic Chinese stories and traditions, and comics is a medium that has provided opportunities for creators from around the world to tell their own cultures' stories and traditions. If you loved Kubo and the Two Strings, we've put together a list of five comics to check out next. Love that? Try this!

San Diego Comic Con is without a doubt the biggest event on the industry's calendar, and people will be flying from around the world to attend panels, watch trailers, meet creators, and make friends. This year's event is bigger than ever, with so much going on every single day that it can be difficult to sift through all that information and decide how to spend your time. With the event only days away, we've looked through the schedules and hand-selected some of the best events happening on Thursday and Friday for fans of comics, collectibles, TV and film, so you can be sure you don't miss that must-see panel or signing.