7/31/2006

Another one starts.

*What a big week it was.

LAST WEEK'S REVIEWS:

Batman #655 (first Morrison issue, a bit too 'clear broth' for my tastes)

Meat Cake #15 (Dame Darcy - worth reading)

Shatter (new collection of the trailblazing digitally-produced action comic)

The World on Sunday: Graphic Art in Joseph Pulitzer’s Newspaper (1898-1911) (a great collection of pages from the New York World - fascinating!)

The Drifting Classroom Vol. 1 (of 11) (oh, so that's why Kazuo Umezu is considered a legend in Japan)

And don't forget my little special up at Comics Should Be Good, if you haven't already.

Almost like the week has never left.

*Updates Dept: Diamond apparently reconsiders, takes on PictureBox.

*No, really, it’s Monday already?

THIS WEEK IN COMICS!

Skibber Bee~Bye: About time! Drawn & Quarterly finally presents a new edition of the 2000 Highwater-published graphic novel by writer/artist Ron Regé, Jr. It’s a 256-page journey into fantastic-yet-relatable images and a deeply personal iconography, by far the creator’s longest sustained single work. If you’ve enjoyed any of Regé’s works in the past and have not read this (due to, say, Highwater going under), now is your chance - check out a short preview here, and get ready to spend $19.95.

I Am Going To Be Small: A teeny tiny 384-page clump of one-page gags and strips from Jeffrey Brown, $14.00 from Top Shelf. Not much more to say - if you like the pure humor corner of the Brown bibliography, you’ll probably enjoy this. Actually, you’ll probably already have read some of this, since a bunch of it is reprinted from a minicomic of the same title that won an Ignatz in 2003.

Concrete Vol. 6: Strange Armor: Ah, here’s one I’ve been waiting for. Strange Armor represents writer/artist Paul Chadwick’s revised and expanded 192 page origin for his signature creation, Concrete, produced in 1997-98 and apparently based off of material intended for the never-produced Concrete movie. The original collection has been out of print for a long time, so it’s going to be good to have it back (so I can actually read it), despite all the colors having been stripped out and the size shrunk down. Here’s a preview, so you can enjoy the tones as well as Chadwick’s still-lovely visuals.

Eden: It’s an Endless World! Vol. 4: Continuing the still-ongoing (in Japan) sci-fi series from Hiroki Endo; Dark Horse is apparently satisfied enough with the reception for the creator in the US that they’re prepping a release of at least two volumes of Endo’s (often excellent) short stories for release in January and April of 2007.

Q-Ko-chan Vol. 1 (of 2): A Del Rey presentation of the 2003-04 series by Ueda Hajime, the man who brought you the berserk 2000-01 manga version of the lovely anime FLCL. Tokyopop’s US edition of the manga famously outsold its original Japanese release; I can still find copies of the damned thing sitting around in chain bookstores, despite being roughly three years old. The bookstores I’ve been in have been stocking up pretty heavily on this one too, so maybe they’re hoping Hajime’s uniquely delicate-chaotic visual style can thrive apart from a cherry anime tie-in; from what I’ve read of it so far, it’s a lot more subdued that what’s on display in FLCL (which someone once described as ‘Fort Thunder manga’), so maybe wide appeal will fill in for media attachment. The plot concerns a young man who discovers a deadly alien robot that’s also a cute girl - not the freshest plot imaginable, but it’s not like FLCL sounds all that great in pure premise either. It’s pure execution (and in the end, what isn't?).

Marvel Milestones: Millie the Model & Patsy Walker: I’m sure there’s some reason why Marvel is releasing a $3.99 compilation of ‘60s and ‘70s material from the pages of Millie the Model and Defenders, but I can’t put my finger on it now. Featuring the talents of Stan Goldberg, David Kraft, and Don Perlin. Call me detail-obsessed, but when I see Marvel’s unfortunate ‘Rated A’ mark in regards to this, I find myself making erroneous assumptions about stories like How Millie First Met Chili! I can’t imagine it being that interesting.

The Punisher MAX #36: In which Enron is, in all likelihood, shot.

BPRD: The Universal Machine #5 (of 5): Hey, the last issue of this storyline. It's a good one.

The All-New Atom #2: Apparently, John Byrne is only sticking around as penciler on this fun book through issue #3, after which he’ll be replaced by Eddy Barrows. Kind of sad, as I thought his work of the first issue of this was strong (Trevor Scott will remain onboard as inker). Anyway, this one involves shambling creatures and a “Dwarfstar,” which sounds good to me.

The Creeper #1 (of 6): This also suddenly sounded good after reading the preview in Brave New World, which surprised me; it was the only piece in there besides the Atom one to really grab me, so I might look into what writer Steve Niles and artists Justiniano & Walden Wong have in store. Judging from the preview, it looks like some very straightforward, if amusing superhero origin hi-jinx, though I hope the rest of the issue gets a little more creative.

52 #13 (of 52): Reaching the quarter mark. Also featuring Kevin Nowlan (Jack B. Quick) on the back-up short.