Tax-Exempt Status in Danger

On Thursday, the NY Times published an article about how up to 400,000 tax-exempt organizations — including charities and trade associations — may lose their exemptions on May 15. [F]ederal legislation passed in 2006 required all nonprofits to file tax forms the following year. Previously, only organizations with revenues of $25,000 or more — or the vast majority of nonprofit groups — had to file. The new law, embedded in the 393 pages of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, […]

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Archie’s First Openly Gay Character

Wow, I think this proves to me that the new management at Archie Comics is serious about making some well-needed changes to modernize the titles and brand. Archie Comics has announced that in September, new character Kevin Keller will be introduced. And he’s “openly gay”, to use their terms, which has led to speculation and jokes that someone else in the Archieverse is closeted. (Leading contenders: Jughead, Midge, and Miss Grundy, although that would be quite the stereotype.) Kevin will […]

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Mercury

Each of Hope Larson’s books is more accomplished than the one before, from Salamander Dream (2005) to Gray Horses (2006) to 2008’s Chiggers and now Mercury. The title refers to the liquid metal, which is contained within a mysterious pendant that ties together the stories of two girls living in the same small Nova Scotia town in different centuries. Tara is currently staying with her aunt, uncle, and cousins and preparing to enter 10th grade. She and her mother lost […]

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Smile

Raina Telgemeier, previously known for her excellent work adapting the The Baby-Sitters Club into four graphic novels, tells in Smile her own teen story, one of much dental trauma. One night, sixth-grader Raina trips and falls at a Girl Scout meeting. She hits the ground, is shaken for a moment, but sits up thinking everything’s ok … until she sees blood on the ground. Her front teeth are gone. (A personal note: about the same age, I had a similar, […]

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Foiled

Foiled is an oddly paced story of a girl discovering she’s intended for greater things and ultimately a prologue to a larger story yet to come. (A second volume is promised, to conclude the tale written by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Mike Cavallaro.) The plot’s familiar but well-told, as would be expected by Jane Yolen, who has hundreds of fantasy titles under her belt. Aliera’s not well-off, so her mother bought her fencing foil used, which is why it’s […]

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X-Men Misfits No More

X-Men: Misfits was a shojo twist on the superhero team that came out Summer 2009. Now, its future (or lack thereof) has been revealed on Twitter. First, @debaoki asked got a tweet from a reader that Del Rey has opted to not publish X-Men Misfits Vol. 2. true? not true? To which @yaytime, aka co-writer Dave Roman, responded Wow! News travels fast! @goraina [co-writer Raina Telgemeier] and I super disappointed since it was written as a 2-part story and it […]

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Aurora Pulls Online Manga From Netcomics

Netcomics, the online manga pay site, has posted a notice that reads, in part: In response to a request from our provider Aurora Publishing, we will be dropping all series from Aurora publishing, including those under Deux Press and Luv Luv Press imprints, promptly after midnight PST April 14th. Aurora last released a new title in October 2009 (a book originally promised for March). Throughout most of last year, and still ongoing, their books have been available at fire-sale prices. […]

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Archie on the Cover of Rolling Stone

To promote Archie #608, out April 21, Archie Comics has released this Rolling Stone magazine cover mockup hinting at the romance story between Archie and Valerie. These kinds of mashups make me giggle. And you know, there is so much more Archie could be doing with the Pussycats characters, in a world of Pussycat Dolls. I like that the company describes Valerie as the “beautiful songwriter/bassist” of the band, emphasizing her creative abilities. In this story, the Archies band and […]

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