First Second Archives

REVIEW: Emily Carroll’s A Guest in the House Beckons with Gothic Fantasies

October 25, 2023

The genre of gothic horror is replete with imagery from an imagined past of crumbling castles and abandoned graveyards. Even in the Victorian era, whose media culture evinced a strong interest in the gothic, these spooky stories were often set in isolated country manors far away from the ...

Comics

REVIEW: The Bubble Graphic Novel is Beautiful But Empty

September 14, 2022

Bubble, the graphic novel adaptation of the Maximum Fun podcast, feels a lot like fanfiction. I don’t mean that to denigrate fanfiction, nor necessarily even Bubble. If you’re the audience for it, you’re the audience for it, and as it turns out, I am most definitely not the ...

Comics, Pubwatch

First Second Pubwatch: March 2020

March 5, 2020

Welcome to the new Pubwatch series for First Second Books! Stories about the magic of friendship and social issues that affect young people dominate my reviews of the graphic novels this month from the publisher First Second. This will regularly be the new place to learn about what’s ...

Comics, Indie & Small Press, Reviews

Kitten Construction Company is a Sure Hit for Reluctant Readers

December 11, 2019

Kitten Construction Company: A Bridge Too Fur John Patrick Green First Second October 1, 2019 Welcome back to another edition of Melissa and Alenka Review a Comic about Cats! In past installations we talked about cats and identity in Finding Molly from Emet Comics and the delightful strangeness ...

Comics, Reviews

Shannon Hale’s Best Friends is an Unintentionally Helpful Guidebook for Parents of Preteens

August 27, 2019

Best Friends Shannon Hale (writer), LeUyen Pham (illustrator), Hilary Sycamore (colourist) First Second August 27, 2019 Shannon Hale’s Best Friends is a graphic memoir of her elementary school experiences. The sequel to 2017’s Real Friends, it covers everything from body image ...

Comics

Learn to Be a Supportive Friend with The Breakaways!

April 3, 2019

The Breakaways Cathy G. Johnson (Writer and artist) and Kevin Czap (Colorist) First Second March 2019 Faith just started middle school, and on her very first day, she joined the soccer team—but not because she’s a confident go-getter. She maybe did it because Amanda, the pretty upperclassman ...

Comics, Reviews

On a Sunbeam is Beautiful, Kind, and Not About Men

March 21, 2019

On a Sunbeam Tillie Walden First Second (US), Avery Hill (UK) October 2, 2018 In Tillie Walden’s On a Sunbeam, kids go to school in giant floating buildings. The world is awash in rusty reds, sunny yellows, and dusky blues, and construction workers fly from world to world in spaceships that ...

Comics, Reviews

Young Love is Perfectly Baked in Bloom

March 1, 2019

Bloom Savanna Ganucheau (artist), Kevin Panetta (writer) First Second Books January 29, 2019 Bloom is the story of Ari Kyrkos, a Greek teenager who feels suffocated by the expectation he’ll continue working in his family’s struggling bakery. Unable to afford to go to music school, he wants to ...

Comics, Indie & Small Press, Reviews

WWAC’s Favorite Small Press Comics of 2018

January 11, 2019

There are some amazing comics that came out this past year, and we unfortunately don’t have the capacity to showcase every incredible indie book. The to-read pile is high, stacked with promise and adventure. But, we took a crack at it anyway! Below is a selection of what small press ...

Comics, Interviews, Profiles & Primers

Women Making Comics: Gina Gagliano on Her Career, Her Journey into Comics and Her Move to Random House

September 28, 2018

Gina Gagliano is nothing less than a powerhouse in the comics industry. Creating a name for herself at First Second, Gagliano has been a force for good when it comes to making sequential storytelling accessible, exciting, and interesting. It was with great pleasure that I chatted with Gagliano ...

First Second

REVIEW: Emily Carroll’s A Guest in the House Beckons with Gothic Fantasies

REVIEW: The Bubble Graphic Novel is Beautiful But Empty

First Second Pubwatch: March 2020

Kitten Construction Company is a Sure Hit for Reluctant Readers

Shannon Hale’s Best Friends is an Unintentionally Helpful Guidebook for Parents of Preteens

Learn to Be a Supportive Friend with The Breakaways!

On a Sunbeam is Beautiful, Kind, and Not About Men

Young Love is Perfectly Baked in Bloom

WWAC’s Favorite Small Press Comics of 2018

Women Making Comics: Gina Gagliano on Her Career, Her Journey into Comics and Her Move to Random House

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