Here are two web-links:  

 - - Vaneta Rogers interviewed me about my Captain Marvel project, Shazam: The Monster Society of Evil.  Read it on Newsarama.

 - -  Variety, the daily  Hollywood magazine asked a bunch of “experts” like Sen. James Webb, Sen. John McCain, Robert F. Kennedy Jr,Hugh Hefner, Kurt Vonnegut, and me (!), for our favorite films related to our line of work in a special called The Gold Standard. Read it on Variety's web site.

I love comics. I collected them when I was a kid. Now that more and more comics are appearing in completed, long form works called graphic novels that read and function like traditional books, letters pages are dissappearing. For those of you new to comics, letters pages ran in the back of comic books and printed reader comments.  It was a forum; a dialog of sorts. An important source of feedback and communication. Blogs are becoming the place where cartoonists and readers interact, so ready or not, here are a couple of e-mails I recently received at the Boneville Blog. The first one is about the Scholastic BONE books: 

Thank you so much, Jeff, for writing these fabulous books! I work with an Autistic boy who is 12 years old. He is just beginning to read. Autistic students are highly visual in their learning and your books have drawn him in like no others! They are age appropriate, which is wonderful! He was even able to predict what would happen and we were both thrilled when he read the words "Shut up!" from Book 2 on page 105. Then the 2 of us rolled over laughing! I am looking forward to reading Books 3 and 4 with him and look forward to Book 5 in February! I will strongly recommend your books at all Autistic Conferences I attend!

Once again, a HUGE THANK YOU!

Ms. Tobi Proulx 

The boy's name is Logan. Kathleen asked Ms. Proulx if I could send him a drawing…

 Dear Kathleen,

As you can see by the pictures, Logan was thrilled to receive his autographed picture from Jeff Smith! He was presented the picture at a whole school assembly. Our library has just ordered a set and the students are anxiously awaiting their arrival! Thank you so much for taking the time to make a little boy so very proud and pleased! You made me very proud and pleased also!   Sincerely,

Tobi Proulx

That was pretty cool… you never know. This next letter is funny… 

Dear Jeff Smith,

I thought I'd share a story with you from my youth. When I was a kid, my favorite superhero was Captain Marvel. I was obsessed with his TV show and the cartoon. The comics were hard to find, but when I did they were always my favorites. As were my Captain Marvel underoos. I loved Captain Marvel so much, and believed in the idea so strongly, that I asked my brother one day, "Is that real? That if a little kid says SHAZAM they can become Captain Marvel?" My brother told me, "Yes, but only if you believe. You have to believe for it to work."

The next day, I tied a towel around my neck, climbed up on the roof of my friend's house, stood on the peak, then ran along the peak to the edge of the roof. When I got to the edge, I screamed, "SHAZAM!" as loud as I could. I fell like a rock to the ground, bounced twice, ripped a hole in my jeans and got a bloody nose. I thought, "Why didn't that work?" At this point, the world became comic book. A thought bubble appeared above my head. In it, my brother appeared and said, "You have to believe for it to work." So, I climbed up on the roof, tried again, then knocked myself out on the second try.

Now, I'll tell you honestly that to this day, the reason why I think it didn't work is that I just didn't believe enough. Because I know that there's still magic in the world if you look in the right places. I'm eagerly awaiting your most magical comic book and can't wait to read it. Thank you again for creating it. I have a feeling that after I see it, I might be ready to tie that towel around my neck again and look for a roof …

Sincerely,

F. Chong Rutherford
Brooklyn, NY

All right! Clearly, the magic word doesn't work, but I'm glad you're excited about the project!

The BONE World Tour continues this weekend in Anguleme, France. If you are attending the Festival International de la Bande Dessinee — the largest comics festival in the world - - come see me!  On Saturday I will be at Espace Franquin doing a panel at 6pm on international Encounters. Earlier, I will be signing from 11 to 1pm. I’ll blog, of course. After Anguleme, I’ll be taking a couple of days off to rest with my family in India. 

Don’t forget, MSoE #1 in two weeks!
Have fun!