On June 6, at BookExpo America, a panel of graphic novel experts and afficianados--including Brigid Alverson (Good Comics for Kids), Josh Christie (iFanboy), Karen Green (Columbia University), Heidi MacDonald (The Beat), Emily Pullen (Skylight Books), and moderated by John Hogan, editor of GraphicNovelReporter--convened to pick the best of the best graphic novels of 2012. Some are already out, and some you can look forward to reading in the months ahead. See what they picked (and get a sneak preview) here!

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Our friends at Archie Comics shared their new cover designs for three of their most popular franchises. Get a jump on next year with this exclusive look at three blockbusters of the Archie lineup:

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The weekend of May 18–20, the University of Chicago’s Gray Center was the home to a new event: the Comics: Philosophy and Practice Conference, an unprecedented event comprising an amazing assortment of comics legends. Speaking on various panels throughout the weekend: Lynda Barry, Alison Bechdel, Ivan Brunetti, Charles Burns, Dan Clowes, R. Crumb, Phoebe Gloeckner, Justin Green, Ben Katchor, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Francoise Mouly, Gary Panter, Joe Sacco, Seth, Art Spiegelman, Carol Tyler, and Chris Ware. The event was organized by Hillary Chute, author of Graphic Women: Life Narrative and Contemporary Comics. We talked with Carol Tyler after she returned from the conference to get her thoughts.

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As more and more attention gets paid to comics, manga, and graphic novels, I was interested in seeing how the format appealed to women and girls. Manga, it has long been said, has an enormous female readership. Can traditional comics follow suit? And where does the graphic novel fit in? I wanted to know what female readers thought of the format in general and how it specifically appealed to (or drove away, possibly) girls and young women.

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Over the weekend, The Avengers set a monumental sales record: $200.3 million, which was $40 million more than the previous record-holder, last year's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. Did you see the movie over the weekend? If so, what did you think of it?

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Friend of the site Doré Ripley wrote to inform me that Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill California has awarded its annual James O'Keefe Annual Prize for Graphic Literature, which recognized students' graphic literature creations at the school. The prize is named after the late teacher who began DVC's Graphic Novels as Literature course. Doré served on the three-person panel that oversaw the awards, and the ceremony was held on April 18. Here's the list of winners and a description of their works:

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Kids Comic Con will be taking place in New York City on May 5th from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. It's still happening in The Bronx, but this year, the con has a new venue, the Church of the Mediator, 260 W. 231st St., which is on the corner of Kingsbridge Ave. The con's creator, Alex Simmons, had to change the venue because of a scheduling conflict at the usual location, but he promises the same (and perhaps even greater) levels of fun, excitement, and kid-friendly comics.

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Carla Speed McNeil's Finder: Voice was the winner in the graphic novel category of the prestigious 2012 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, awarded this weekend. The sci-fi series has been published since 1996, and McNeil created the original graphic novel Voice for Dark Horse in 2011.

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Don't forget: The hotel lottery for San Diego Comic Con opens on March 29 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific/noon Eastern time. Good luck to everyone...may you get the hotel you want, and may the system work flawlessly.

Also up this week: the second chance badge resale, which opens tomorrow, March 27, at 8:00 a.m. Pacific time. Here's the info Comic-Con released about it:

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Our friend Dave Roman is launching the hardcover release of his Teen Boat series in a very fun, very exciting way. He’s holding the release party on an actual boat, New York’s Waterfront Barge Museum, docked on the Hudson River Park. That’s at Pier 25, which is at West St. and N. Moore St. It’s an all-ages event and guaranteed to be a rockin’ party.

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