4/21/2008

Trip Report Intermission

*We've got features that need regularity!

LAST WEEK'S REVIEWS:

Nothing but NYCC Part 1, and the second half's up tomorrow. And I made an index for my reviews in The Comics Journal, which can be found on the sidebar.

*The hell? I've bought enough books already.

THIS WEEK IN COMICS!

Klassic Komics Klub: Ah, this was floating around at the Con too; it's the new collection of Johnny Ryan one-pagers (three minicomics' worth) from Buenaventura Press, taking on over 100 classic works of fine literature. You know you want it, and $14.95 won't stop you. I think the deluxe 'art comics' presentation -- a sleek, 6 3/4" x 8 1/2" hardcover with fancy page edges -- makes it all funnier.

Injury #2: Buenaventura also has a pamphlet-format release this week (since Diamond loves nothing more than popping out every blessed one of a small publisher's upcoming books in a single shot), a sequel to last year's Ted May-headed Injury Comics. It's now 40 b&w pages for the same $4.95, and features the same mix of youth autobiography and cyborg smashing, with cohorts Jeff Wilson & Jason Robards aboard. Exciting preview map here.

Welcome to the Dahl House: I liked the two issues I've seen of Ken Dahl's minicomic series Monsters, a detailed and vivid look at life with herpes, so I'd probably be up for checking out this Microcosm Publishing collection of his short stories from 1997-2007. Only $7.00 for 128 pages too.

X-O Manowar: Birth: This is the second in Valiant Entertainment's line of hardcover collections for ye olde hype bookes of the early '90s, collecting all six pre-Unity exploits of the barbarian in the kill suit, plus the later issue #0 with art by Joe Quesada & Jimmy Palmiotti. Note the special guest layouts by Barry Windsor-Smith on issue #1 and Steve Ditko(!!) on issue #6. With a new story by Bob Layton & Mike Leek, and digital colors all around. Yeah, I'm one of those fools that misses the airbrush effects, but I think the materials have been lost. It's 192 pages for $24.95.

Metronome: I am told that this 68-page, $13.95 NBM graphic novel, the first sequential medium release by conceptual and 'fine' artist Véronique Tanaka, is "something new in the comic medium" and "a 'silent', erotically-charged visual poem, an experimental non-linear story using a palette of iconic ligne clair images." Which means it's a wordless comic spread across 16-panel square grids, with each row marking a shift in perspective or visual direction. Bryan Talbot and Jeff Smith have stepped up to bat for it; maybe worth a look. Interview and preview here, Flash movie version here (for $4.10).

Don Pendleton's The Executioner - Devil's Tools #1 (of 5): Here we have IDW's newest licensed series, and it's got a special funnybook pedigree, in that prose vigilante Mack Bolan (THE EXECUTIONER) is typically cited as a core inspiration for one Frank Castle. This miniseries will take us back to the source, with franchise vet Doug Wojtowicz on the script and one SI. Gallant providing art. Short preview here.

The Complete Terry & the Pirates Vol. 3 (of 6): 1939-1940: And for the old school, IDW also has some $49.99 Milton Caniff this week. Anyone know what happened to their Little Orphan Annie series? I'm itchin' for bootstraps.

Gødland #22: Always a pleasure.

Batman #675: I think this is a 'breather' issue of sorts, taking stock before writer Grant Morrison launches into his Batman R.I.P. storyline next issue, as Final Crisis arrives.

Slowpoke: One Nation, Oh My God!: Being a collection of Jen Sorensen's weekly strip, covering politics and society and so forth. I found this one sitting in the Merchandise section of Diamond's list for the week, along with TwoMorrows' Modern Masters Vol. 16: Mike Allred and something called the "Speed Racer Role Play Helmet," which I'd very much like to turn off the computer and think about now!

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