For her part, Lela Lee is preparing for Comic-Con her back-to-school line, with products including pencils, calculators that say, "Stupid people get on my nerves" and alarm clocks that say, "I hate school." In addition to her "Angry Little Girls" books, Lee's handbags, shirts, wallets and other merchandise has been available in Hot Topic, and will be available in San Rio stores.

Sean Chen and Bernard Chang strike a pose at their Artists Alley table at the New York Comic-Con. For more about Chen and Chang, visit www.theblvdstudio.com.

"Warbound" #5, another book written by Greg Pak, also hits stores today. Click here for a six page preview.

Best known recently for his work on Spawn and Spawn: Godslayer, DC Comics has confirmed for Newsarama that artist Philip Tan has signed an exclusive contract with the company. The length of the contract was undisclosed.

Congrats to all!

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)
Johnny Hiro #1, by Fred Chao (AdHouse)

Best New Series
Johnny Hiro, by Fred Chao (AdHouse)

Best Humor Publication
Johnny Hiro, by Fred Chao (AdHouse)

Best Reality-Based Work
The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam, by Ann Marie Fleming (Riverhead Books/Penguin Group)

Best Graphic Album-New
The Arrival, by Shaun Tan (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic)
Bookhunter, by Jason Shiga (Sparkplug Books)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material
The Arrival, by Shaun Tan (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic)

Best Writer/Artist
Shaun Tan, The Arrival (Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic)

Best Writer/Artist-Humor
Fred Chao, Johnny Hiro (AdHouse)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
Jae Lee, Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born (Marvel)

Best Painter or Multimedia Artist (interior art)
Ann-Marie Fleming, The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam (Riverhead Books/Penguin Group)

Best Cover Artist
James Jean, Fables (Vertigo/DC); The Umbrella Academy (Dark Horse); Process Recess 2; Superior Showcase 2 (AdHouse)
Jae Lee, Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born (Marvel)
Jim Lee, All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder (DC); World of Warcraft (WildStorm/DC)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
Comic Foundry, edited by Tim Leong (Comic Foundry)

Best Publication Design
Process Recess 2, designed by James Jean and Chris Pitzer (AdHouse)

Although this my first Usagi Yojimbo comic I ever read, I've known of the character from his cameos on Teenage Mutants Ninja Turtles TV series back in the early '90s (which I imagine was a lot of people's introduction to the rabbit ronin). That said the comic surpassed my expectations. I anticipated a cutesy cartoon with outlandish plots and soon-to-be action-figure characters.

Instead, Usagi Yojimbo is a samurai adventure akin to Samurai Executioner and Lone Wolf and Cub, geared for all ages. There isn't bloody splattering violence or lewd sexual behavior, but the morality tale set around the noble bushido bunny is no less moving than its Japanese roots. The completeness of issue's story follows the hallmark of the genre while letting new readers to pick it up easily. Usagi Yojimbo #110 is accessible and enjoyable without requiring knowledge of earlier issues or a degree in Japanese culture. Or anthropomorphic physiology.

If it were just big, action-packed, melodramatic, funny fun The Incredible Hercules would still be well worth a reader's time, but co-writers Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente don't just stop there. This concludes the opening story arc of the Herc-hijacked book, and it does an incisive, even touching job of defining the characters of Hercules and Amadeus Cho. That it happens to also be a blast to read is just a bonus. This has very quickly become my favorite Marvel comic.

What was it about "Nausicaa" and "Bone" that really spoke to you?

I actually came across the books pretty late in my life. I discovered "Nausicaa," along with the other works of Hayao Miyazaki, while at the end of my college years. It was when I started looking into inspirational storytelling in animation that I went to a screening of "Princess Mononoke" and fell in love with his work. "Bone" was something I was familiar with for a long time, beginning in high school, but it wasn't until after graduating college that I really gave it a strong look, and was blown away by Jeff Smith's amazing comic. I keep both of these books very close to me while I work on "Amulet."

In other news, Will Smith's kids have been tapped to star in the feature film adaptation of "Amulet." VFXWorld.com has more.

Secret Asian Man has appeared in AsianWeek since 2002, and since July 2007, the mouthless, bushy-eyebrowed Asian American cartoon has been syndicated in daily newspapers nationwide, challenging stereotypes and provoking thoughts about race while making readers laugh. The series is based on Toyoshima's life and regularly deals with Asian American issues in a hip, refined manga style.

Before it became syndicated and read by a mainstream audience, the strip dealt mainly with Asian American issues. Early strips were angrier in tone, but as time went on and Toyoshima matured as an artist, the tone lightened. He raised questions in his strips for readers to ponder rather than merely venting. But he's not afraid to still tackle heavy subjects like Vincent Chin, the Chinese American who was beaten to death in 1982 by two white autoworkers who believed they had lost their jobs to the Japanese.

... it was surprising when Gene Yang's graphic novel, "American Born Chinese" was nominated for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 2006.

And nobody was more surprised than Yang.

"When I first started publishing 'American Born Chinese,' it was a mini comic," he said. "I would finish a chapter, take it to Kinko's and Xerox it and sell it at different comic book conventions. My big plan was to just get it collected as a graphic novel and that would be it."

"I do get some reactions to the Cousin Chin-Kee that worry me a little bit," said Yang, who will be discussing and signing "American Born Chinese" and his other books at Big Planet Comics in Bethesda on Wednesday. "There's some people that come up and tell me, 'He's so cute, so funny, endearing.' That's definitely not what I was going for,"

Yang believes that most people understood the purpose of a character like Chin-Kee -- acting as the juxtaposition against his popular, assimilated cousin.

"I think the vast majority of the responses are positive, but I have had some Asian-Americans and come up and tell me I was perpetuating the stereotype by explicitly showing it," he said.

Via the Beat.

Boston Comic Spectacular Welcomes DC Artist Cliff Chiang April 13th

BOSTON - The Boston Comic Book, CD/Record & Pop Culture Spectacular returns with its next big show on Sunday, April 13, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel, located at 200 Stuart St. in the 6th floor Convention Center.

Artist Cliff Chiang tops the show's guest list, which also features a large sampling of talented locals.