Everyone was talking about kids' comics this week, thanks to Abraham Riesman's article at Vulture, an in-depth look at the children's comics market and how it evolved over the years, from the newsstand to the direct market to the new wave of graphic novels for young readers.  It's a long read but a good overview of the current landscape.

Deep Cuts at Papercutz:  The children's graphic novel publisher Papercutz laid off much of its staff, including vice president of marketing Sven Larson, a production coordinator, and several freelancers, Calvin Reid reports at Publishers Weekly.  Papercutz is a fairly prolific publisher (50-60 graphic novels a year) that has done well in the children's market, but in 2015 they lost the Lego graphic novel license (see "Papercutz Loses Lego License to Little, Brown"). They are still publishing a mix of licensed, original, and imported graphic novels, including a Gumby comic featuring Rick Geary and Kyle Baker (due out next month) and its new Charmz line of graphic novels for young teens.

More on Star Wars Adventures:  In April, IDW Publishing made a flurry of announcements, and this month they followed up with more information on creators and story arcs. Their Star Wars Adventures comics (see "IDW to Produce 'Star Wars' Kids Comics") will kick off with two issues in September, on Sept. 6 and Sept. 20, both by the creative team of writer Cavan Scott (known for his Doctor Who comics) and artist Derek Charm. Both will feature stories about Rey's younger days on Jakku, according to CBR.  Charm has been nominated for a 2017 Eisner Award for his work on Jughead (see "The 2017 Eisner Award Nominees"), and most of the promo art from the announcements was by him.

Blinding 'Em with Science:  Publishers have been ramping up the science graphic novels in the past two years, with First Second's Science Comics line (see "New 'Science Comics' Series") leading the pack.  I did a roundup of recent offerings and talked to some editors and creators at School Library Journal, and I interviewed Kevin McCloskey, author of three TOON Books science comics, at Good Comics for Kids.  To round out the overview, Dave Roman talks about his work as editor of the First Second Science Comics line at Kirkus Reviews.  The trend is toward entertaining, often story-driven books that get kids interested in a topic rather than laying out a series of undiluted facts; this works so well that one of the First Second Science Comics, MK Reed and Joe Flood's Dinosaurs, has been nominated for an Eisner Award.

In the Catbird Seat:  With a graphic novel adaptation of her novel The Handmaid's Tale slated for 2018, novelist Margaret Atwood is wrapping up her trilogy Angel Catbird (see "Preview: 'Angel Catbird' Vol. 1 HC") next month with volume 3.  She draws inspiration from Golden Age superhero comics because that's what she grew up with, she tells Nylon, and she notes that just like in the old days, there's an audio version coming—but instead of a radio play, it will be an audiobook.

Review Roundup:  Kirkus Reviews gives the thumbs up to Swing It, Sunny! by the Babymouse team of Jennifer and Matthew Holm; the book, due out in September, is the sequel to their 2015 title  Sunny Side Up (see "Review: 'Sunny Side Up'").  George O'Connor (creator of the Olympians graphic novels) reviews Philip Pullman's The Adventures of John Blake: Mystery of the Ghost Ship at The New York Times.