Long yesterday, longer today.
*The life never stops.
LAST WEEK'S REVIEWS:
Booster Gold #1
Comic Foundry Vol. 1 Issue 1
Plus!
Column #5 (on Valérian: Spatio-Temporal Agent)
The Programme #2 (of 12)
all at The Savage Critics!
*Right. Go straight to tomorrow. Lots of varied stuff.
THIS WEEK IN COMICS!
Comic Foundry Vol. 1 Issue 1: New comics magazine; I talk about it here.
Krazy & Ignatz: The Kat Who Walked in Beauty: Oooh, this will be nice. Usually, right about now Fantagraphics would be releasing another big softcover collection of Krazy Kat Sundays for our reading pleasure, but that's not happening this time. Instead, we're getting a 114-page, 15" x 7" landscape-format hardcover that compiles some of the best from the Krazy daily page, including a nine-month stretch of 1920 strips that engaged in some interesting design activities, along with various rarities from 1911 onward, plus illustrations from the 1922 Krazy Kat jazz ballet. Only $29.95! The Krazy dailies I've seen have a different tone from the Sundays, less poetic and more focused on vaudeville-type verbal exchanges and the like. You know I'll buy it.
The Complete Terry and the Pirates Vol. 1 (of 6): In other Golden Age of Reprints news, here's IDW's latest entry in their vintage comics catalog (now officially dubbed The Library of American Comics), a full-scale collection of Milton Caniff's beloved adventure epic. Collects materials from 1934-36, dailies and color Sundays, in a 11" x 8.5", 368-page package for $49.95. Introduction by Howard Chaykin, with the expected informational bonuses. Hell, while you're at it, Fantagraphics has also got The Complete Peanuts Vol. 8: 1965-1966 out this week. Our riches embarrass us...
Amazing Fantasy Omnibus Vol. 1: The hell with this newspaper stuff! What about the vintage funnybooks?! NO PROBLEM - this here is a $74.99, 416-page hardcover from Marvel, collecting the 15 issue whole of Amazing Adventures, Amazing Adult Fantasy, and Amazing Fantasy. Steve Ditko admirers will obviously want to take note, although damn that's pretty expensive.
Akira Club: Holy fuck, is this for real?! Yes folks, it's Dark Horse's much, much delayed English-language presentation of the official companion art book to Katsuhiro Otomo's famed manga and anime creation. Over 100 images never seen in the Akira manga collections (see some here), plus sketches, promotional materials, alternate drawings, and comments by Otomo himself. It's 256 pages in full color at $29.95.
Golgo 13 Vol. 10 (of 13): Wasteland: Shit, this one took a while to get to the Direct Market. My bookstore-powered review from August 9th is here. I got some especially worthwhile comments at the bottom of that one.
The Drifting Classroom Vol. 7 (of 11): On the other hand, I never seem to find this in bookstores. Ah well, I get one ahead of time, and I wait for the other. Truly, my life is in balance. Don't forget Naoki Urasawa's Monster Vol. 10 (of 18), while you're at it.
Death by Chocolate - Redux: From Top Shelf, collecting some odd, food-based crime capers by David Yurkovich, starring an FBI man made of organic chocolate. Review coming up.
Scrap Mettle: This week is going to bleed you dry no matter what. Some will want to save their $39.99 for this new Image production, a 400-page collection of sketches and paintings by Scott Morse, produced since his employment with Pixar, I believe.
Lucky Vol. 2 #1: Hey, a pamphlet-format comic book thingy from Drawn & Quarterly. The new incarnation of Gabrielle Bell's solo series, first a group of minicomics then collected into a recent D&Q book - I picked this up at MoCCA, and I wasn't even aware it hadn't gotten out to shops yet. It's nice stuff, containing two stories in each of Bell's favored 'modes' - the first story is a wandering, day-by-day account of autobiographical adventures, while the second story is a fable involving giants and things. The second story also often appears in the first as a slideshow Bell is performing with, and feel free to draw comparisons between the themes and emotions on display between both portions. Only $3.95.
Raisin Pie #5: Hey, a pamphlet-format comic book thingy from Fantagraphics. It's Ariel Bordeaux's and Rick Altergott's ongoing series, although Bordeaux is actually wrapping up her serials this issue and apparently leaving the book, so I guess it's nothing but Altergott's Doofus after this. A scant $3.50.
Ramayan 3392 AD Reloaded #1: Oh, this was my favorite of Virgin's ongoing series in its initial incarnation, kind of a thumping Heavy Metal vision of the saga of Rama. Now it's back, with Ron Marz as story editor. I'll try it out. Also from Virgin: Guy Ritchie's The Gamekeeper #4, a series that apparently actually will form the basis of a new Guy Ritchie film, even though I don't get much of Guy Ritchie feel from the comic.
Black Summer #2 (of 7): Ah, rolling along at a nice clip. More bloody superhero clashes (physical and philosophical) from Warren Ellis and Juan Jose Ryp.
Batman #668: I like it when J.H. Williams III is bi-weekly, although the concluding issue #669 won't be around for three weeks to make room for the Peter Milligan-written Batman Annual #26, which itself relates to the upcoming weekly Ra's al Ghul Bat-crossover that'll be written by Grant Morrison, Paul Dini, Milligan (on Robin), and Fabian Nicieza (on Nightwing). Which... that's still a pretty strong writing team, even if I've never been huge on Nicieza, and Dini & Milligan are pretty hit-and-miss these days.
Batman/Lobo: Deadly Serious #1 (of 2): In other Bat-news this week, Sam Kieth writes and draws this Prestige Format story. Preview here, looks pretty. Remember everyone - it may be $5.99 per issue, but since you get 48 pages of story with no ads, you're really getting slightly more than two normal issues of story at just under the price of... two normal issues. Which isn't a stunning deal, yes, but it's enough to get me puzzled over complaints that the format is per se too expensive. Now, if you're saying comics in general are too expensive, that's another thing.
Wolverine #56: Double-sized issue, worth noting for the presence of guest writer Jason Aaron (of Vertigo's The Other Side), and the debut of new regular artist Howard Chaykin, who'll actually be skipping next issue when his Blade cohort Marc Guggenheim begins as new regular writer.
The Order #2: Issue #1 was pretty good, with a few nice spins on the old 'superhero as media stars' plot.
The Immortal Iron Fist #8: Fight!
Tank Girl: The Gifting #3 (of 4): Concluding several thrilling serials in high style.
Halo: Uprising #1 (of 4): I don't know if I'm going to buy this thing, but you can be sure I'll flip through it on the stands. I suspect there's still plenty of good vibes left over for writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Alex Maleev from their much-loved run on Daredevil, so I expect many will be interested in seeing them reunite for this video game tie-in, if only to see what the hell happens. This one's 40 pages for $3.99.
The Ultimate Spider-Man 100 Project: Your odd thing for the week - a $10 collection of a whole lot of sketch covers for Ultimate Spider-Man #100, with proceeds going to the Hero Initiative, which benefits older cartoonists in financial need. The original art was also auctioned off. A lot of expected superhero names, like George Pérez, Frank Quitely, J.G. Jones, JRJR, JRSR, Joe Q., Greg Land, Mark Bagley, Frank Cho, etc. Plus, some interesting names like Neil Gaiman and Guillermo Del Toro. I think I saw Tim Vigil involved! However, some of the sketches, like Todd McFarlane's, will not be included at the request of the artists. Worth looking at.
LAST WEEK'S REVIEWS:
Booster Gold #1
Comic Foundry Vol. 1 Issue 1
Plus!
Column #5 (on Valérian: Spatio-Temporal Agent)
The Programme #2 (of 12)
all at The Savage Critics!
*Right. Go straight to tomorrow. Lots of varied stuff.
THIS WEEK IN COMICS!
Comic Foundry Vol. 1 Issue 1: New comics magazine; I talk about it here.
Krazy & Ignatz: The Kat Who Walked in Beauty: Oooh, this will be nice. Usually, right about now Fantagraphics would be releasing another big softcover collection of Krazy Kat Sundays for our reading pleasure, but that's not happening this time. Instead, we're getting a 114-page, 15" x 7" landscape-format hardcover that compiles some of the best from the Krazy daily page, including a nine-month stretch of 1920 strips that engaged in some interesting design activities, along with various rarities from 1911 onward, plus illustrations from the 1922 Krazy Kat jazz ballet. Only $29.95! The Krazy dailies I've seen have a different tone from the Sundays, less poetic and more focused on vaudeville-type verbal exchanges and the like. You know I'll buy it.
The Complete Terry and the Pirates Vol. 1 (of 6): In other Golden Age of Reprints news, here's IDW's latest entry in their vintage comics catalog (now officially dubbed The Library of American Comics), a full-scale collection of Milton Caniff's beloved adventure epic. Collects materials from 1934-36, dailies and color Sundays, in a 11" x 8.5", 368-page package for $49.95. Introduction by Howard Chaykin, with the expected informational bonuses. Hell, while you're at it, Fantagraphics has also got The Complete Peanuts Vol. 8: 1965-1966 out this week. Our riches embarrass us...
Amazing Fantasy Omnibus Vol. 1: The hell with this newspaper stuff! What about the vintage funnybooks?! NO PROBLEM - this here is a $74.99, 416-page hardcover from Marvel, collecting the 15 issue whole of Amazing Adventures, Amazing Adult Fantasy, and Amazing Fantasy. Steve Ditko admirers will obviously want to take note, although damn that's pretty expensive.
Akira Club: Holy fuck, is this for real?! Yes folks, it's Dark Horse's much, much delayed English-language presentation of the official companion art book to Katsuhiro Otomo's famed manga and anime creation. Over 100 images never seen in the Akira manga collections (see some here), plus sketches, promotional materials, alternate drawings, and comments by Otomo himself. It's 256 pages in full color at $29.95.
Golgo 13 Vol. 10 (of 13): Wasteland: Shit, this one took a while to get to the Direct Market. My bookstore-powered review from August 9th is here. I got some especially worthwhile comments at the bottom of that one.
The Drifting Classroom Vol. 7 (of 11): On the other hand, I never seem to find this in bookstores. Ah well, I get one ahead of time, and I wait for the other. Truly, my life is in balance. Don't forget Naoki Urasawa's Monster Vol. 10 (of 18), while you're at it.
Death by Chocolate - Redux: From Top Shelf, collecting some odd, food-based crime capers by David Yurkovich, starring an FBI man made of organic chocolate. Review coming up.
Scrap Mettle: This week is going to bleed you dry no matter what. Some will want to save their $39.99 for this new Image production, a 400-page collection of sketches and paintings by Scott Morse, produced since his employment with Pixar, I believe.
Lucky Vol. 2 #1: Hey, a pamphlet-format comic book thingy from Drawn & Quarterly. The new incarnation of Gabrielle Bell's solo series, first a group of minicomics then collected into a recent D&Q book - I picked this up at MoCCA, and I wasn't even aware it hadn't gotten out to shops yet. It's nice stuff, containing two stories in each of Bell's favored 'modes' - the first story is a wandering, day-by-day account of autobiographical adventures, while the second story is a fable involving giants and things. The second story also often appears in the first as a slideshow Bell is performing with, and feel free to draw comparisons between the themes and emotions on display between both portions. Only $3.95.
Raisin Pie #5: Hey, a pamphlet-format comic book thingy from Fantagraphics. It's Ariel Bordeaux's and Rick Altergott's ongoing series, although Bordeaux is actually wrapping up her serials this issue and apparently leaving the book, so I guess it's nothing but Altergott's Doofus after this. A scant $3.50.
Ramayan 3392 AD Reloaded #1: Oh, this was my favorite of Virgin's ongoing series in its initial incarnation, kind of a thumping Heavy Metal vision of the saga of Rama. Now it's back, with Ron Marz as story editor. I'll try it out. Also from Virgin: Guy Ritchie's The Gamekeeper #4, a series that apparently actually will form the basis of a new Guy Ritchie film, even though I don't get much of Guy Ritchie feel from the comic.
Black Summer #2 (of 7): Ah, rolling along at a nice clip. More bloody superhero clashes (physical and philosophical) from Warren Ellis and Juan Jose Ryp.
Batman #668: I like it when J.H. Williams III is bi-weekly, although the concluding issue #669 won't be around for three weeks to make room for the Peter Milligan-written Batman Annual #26, which itself relates to the upcoming weekly Ra's al Ghul Bat-crossover that'll be written by Grant Morrison, Paul Dini, Milligan (on Robin), and Fabian Nicieza (on Nightwing). Which... that's still a pretty strong writing team, even if I've never been huge on Nicieza, and Dini & Milligan are pretty hit-and-miss these days.
Batman/Lobo: Deadly Serious #1 (of 2): In other Bat-news this week, Sam Kieth writes and draws this Prestige Format story. Preview here, looks pretty. Remember everyone - it may be $5.99 per issue, but since you get 48 pages of story with no ads, you're really getting slightly more than two normal issues of story at just under the price of... two normal issues. Which isn't a stunning deal, yes, but it's enough to get me puzzled over complaints that the format is per se too expensive. Now, if you're saying comics in general are too expensive, that's another thing.
Wolverine #56: Double-sized issue, worth noting for the presence of guest writer Jason Aaron (of Vertigo's The Other Side), and the debut of new regular artist Howard Chaykin, who'll actually be skipping next issue when his Blade cohort Marc Guggenheim begins as new regular writer.
The Order #2: Issue #1 was pretty good, with a few nice spins on the old 'superhero as media stars' plot.
The Immortal Iron Fist #8: Fight!
Tank Girl: The Gifting #3 (of 4): Concluding several thrilling serials in high style.
Halo: Uprising #1 (of 4): I don't know if I'm going to buy this thing, but you can be sure I'll flip through it on the stands. I suspect there's still plenty of good vibes left over for writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Alex Maleev from their much-loved run on Daredevil, so I expect many will be interested in seeing them reunite for this video game tie-in, if only to see what the hell happens. This one's 40 pages for $3.99.
The Ultimate Spider-Man 100 Project: Your odd thing for the week - a $10 collection of a whole lot of sketch covers for Ultimate Spider-Man #100, with proceeds going to the Hero Initiative, which benefits older cartoonists in financial need. The original art was also auctioned off. A lot of expected superhero names, like George Pérez, Frank Quitely, J.G. Jones, JRJR, JRSR, Joe Q., Greg Land, Mark Bagley, Frank Cho, etc. Plus, some interesting names like Neil Gaiman and Guillermo Del Toro. I think I saw Tim Vigil involved! However, some of the sketches, like Todd McFarlane's, will not be included at the request of the artists. Worth looking at.
Labels: this week in comics
posted by Jog at 11:59 PM
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