Comic books
The X-Men Little Golden Book Is Out NOW!
As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I wrote a children’s book called The X-Men Little Golden Book, which came out TODAY from Penguin Random House. It’s an adaptation of X-Men: The Animated Series, the iconic TV series from the 1990s. I think the book really turned out well and I’m very proud of it. The X-Men LGB was illustrated by Shane Clester, who did an X-cellent job. (See what I did there?)
And as I type this, The X-Men Little Golden Book is already the #1 New Release in Children’s Superhero Fiction on Amazon!
Here’s the official publisher description of the book:
Inspired by the 1990’s animated series , Marvel’s mightiest mutants—the X-Men—arrive to save the day in their first ever Little Golden Book! Perfect for kids 2 to 5 as well as collectors and fans of all ages.
Born with amazing mutant abilities and trained by Dr. Charles Xavier, the X-men stand ready to defend the world even though that world doesn’t always trust them. These action-packed full-color pages will introduce Wolverine, Rogue, Storm, Cyclops and the other mutants on their team as well as their friends and foes. Kids 2 to 5—along with Marvel fan and collectors—will love this Little Golden Book based on X-Men: The Animated Series.
You can order the book HERE and HERE.
And to see all of the other books I’ve written for Penguin Random House, click HERE.
I’m In the “Free Comic Book Day” Issue of MAD!
Hey! Tomorrow, Saturday May 4th, is Free Comic Book Day, and if you don’t know what that is, well, it’s…uh, kind of what it sounds like. It’s an event where comic book stores give out free comics, and it usually happens during the first Saturday in May.
Why am I mentioning this? Well, for one thing, Free Comic Book Day is an event you should take part in, if you can. Support your local comic book store! But also, I wrote a Batman parody story that will be reprinted in the FCBD issue of MAD Magazine, which is among the items that will be given out for free tomorrow.
The story I wrote was originally published five years ago and was called, “What if Batman Were Actually 80 Years Old,” because at that point – in 2019 – Batman had been around for 80 years. But the story has been retitled for this FCBD issue of MAD, where it’s now called “What if Batman Were Actually 85 Years Old” (because this year is the Caped Crusader’s 85th birthday).
“What If Batman…” was illustrated by the amazing Pete Woods, and when it was first published in 2019, there were previews of the story in Nerdist and Yahoo News, which you can check out HERE and HERE (respectively). Out of all the humor pieces I wrote for MAD over the years – and in total, there were approximately 29 or 30 of those – this is one of my personal favorites. I hope you enjoy it, too!
The cover of the Free Comic Book Day issue of MAD was illustrated by the wonderful Kerry Callen, who also did some of the interior art.
Oh, and the issue is also available on Kindle via THIS link. (Meaning that you can pre-order it today and it’ll be auto-delivered to your Kindle tomorrow, in time for FCBD.)
BTW, if you’d like to check out some of the other humor pieces I’ve written for MAD, you can see them HERE.
Enjoy the Spring Semester with Spidey and Stitch!
Recently, I wrote a Spidey and His Amazing Friends board book titled Search for the Missing Teddy Bear. And I wrote a Lilo & Stitch activity book called Scratch and Sketch with Stitch! Both books are out NOW from Scholastic, just in time for the spring 2024 semester!
(Of school. The spring 2024 semester…of school. Because these are books for very young children. Who are in school. Just wanted to clarify that, in case you thought that these books were for college students or something, as colleges have semesters too. But the fact that one of these books is a board book probably tells you that it’s not for college-age people, right? Hmm. I think I’m doing that thing I sometimes do, where I overexplain stuff way too much. Like, WAYYYY too much. Moving on…)
Here’s Scholastic’s official description of Search for the Missing Teddy Bear:
Missing teddy? Never fear! Team Spidey is here to save the day! In this fun board book, Spidey’s head is a tactile, slow-rise squishy built into the back cover and pops through die cuts on every page! Swing through various locations with Spidey to find the missing teddy!
I just want to emphasize something the above ad copy mentioned: In this book, Spidey’s head is a tactile, slow-rise squishy! Isn’t that adorable? (Yes. Yes, it is.)
And here’s the official publisher description of Scratch and Sketch with Stitch:
Scratch to reveal cosmic colors and supercool patterns as you go on adventures with Stitch, the little blue alien with a big heart!
BTW, many of the aforementioned “adventures” in this Stitch book are games, puzzles, and activities. And one of the activities involves candy
hearts, the kind you give and receive on Valentine’s Day. Which of course is quite fitting, since Valentine’s Day is just a few short weeks away!
And just in case you’re interested, the back cover copy for Scratch and Sketch with Stitch tells you a little more about what you can expect from that book:
This Stitch-tastic activity book is brimming with intergalactic illustrations! Scratch away to reveal what outfit Stitch wears on an outer space trip, complete a maze to help him get through a space nebula, draw a new musical instrument for him, and a whole lot more!
The book includes a wooden stylus (for the whole “scratch away” part), 20 scratch-off pages, and 20 notebook pages. Pretty cool, eh?
I should also mention that both of these books are only available for distribution through the school market. In other words, they’re exclusively available through Scholastic Reading Events, so you won’t be able to find them on Amazon.
Last but definitely not least, if you’d like to see some of the other books I’ve written for Scholastic over the years, you can click HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.