In 1973, Art Spiegelman published a three-page comic strip in a small underground publication called "Funny Animals." It was the first installment of what he called "Maus," the biography of Spiegelman's father, Vladek — a Holocaust survivor — with anthropomorphic mice standing in for Spiegelman, Vladek, and his fellow Jews. The complete graphic narrative was eventually published in two volumes. In 1992, nearly twenty years after he began work on the project, "Maus" was given a special award from the Pulitzer Prize Committee — to date, the only graphic novel honored by the Committee.

Everybody was talking about Spider-Man this week. But it wasn't the dangers of the Broadway show, or the latest actor to be playing Spidey on the silver screen. Most conversation revolved around the comic book itself, and the death of longtime character Peter Parker in the Ultimate Spider-Man series from Marvel. He's been replaced with a new protagonist: a half-Latino, half-African-American teenager named Miles Morales. We had two expert guests on the show to talk about their perspectives: Vice Magazine's Nicholas Gazin, and Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso. See how our coverage of the new Spider-Man character developed, what listeners and guests had to say. 

The latest issue of the long-running Spider-Man comic book series comes out today, and there's a brand-new protagonist. Miles Morales, a half-Latino, half-African-American teenager is taking over the blue and red tights from Peter Parker, who was killed off recently. Marvel creators seized the opportunity to diversify the beloved American superhero series. Will comic enthusiasts come to love the new, multiethnic Spider-Man?

Today through Sunday, tens of thousands of people will descend upon San Diego for the 41st annual Comic-Con International Convention. The largest such convention in the world, Comic-Con has gone from attracting a small handful of comic book enthusiasts to serving as one of the premier pop culture events in the world, with stars like Tim Burton, Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie stopping by to present their latest projects.

This week, thousands of book industry retailers, agents, authors, and hangers-on have been gathering in New York for the annual BookExpo America conference.

Patrik Henry Bass, senior editor of Essence magazine, is among those attending the show. And what he’s noticed is that the enormous popularity of graphic novels is continuing to grow even bigger.

He explains why graphic novels are so huge right now, and walks us through some of his favorite titles from the past year.

We talk with John Romita, Jr., co-creator of the "Kick-Ass" comic book series, and regular illustrator on "Daredevil," "Iron Man," "Wolverine," and "Spider Man." Romita tells us how it feels to see his characters make the transition from print to screen; what it was like producing "Kick-Ass" and directing its animated flashback scene; and why fans seem to identify so strongly with the self-made superheroes Hit-Girl, Red Mist, Big Daddy, and, of course, Kick-Ass.

And we want to know, If you could be any super hero, who would it be?