So kind of them.
*My neighbors are really yelling. They must not want this post to be late.
LAST WEEK'S REVIEWS (AND THINGS):
Seaguy: The Slaves of Mickey Eye #2 (of 3)
Désastre Hurlant: The Master List (i.e. a big list of comics released by Humanoids Publishing, 1999-2009)
Plus!
a helpful guide to franchise revival, the Star Trek way! (riches not included)
At comiXology.
*Oh, I liked Manohla Dargis' piece on the apparently old-school explosive Cannes showing of the new Lars von Trier picture, Antichrist, purportedly mixing talking animals and below-the-belt ultraviolence in ways unimagined since the last time I struggled against bathtub gin unconsciousness while playing Star Fox 64, which I believe was an hour before the Cannes showing, given time zone variation. Probably the least hysterical/chop-licking reaction I've come across, given the hype-prone nature of the major film festival experience. Although I do like hysterical chop-licking hype too. What're you gonna do now, Gaspar Noé? Hope you stepped up the game.
THIS WEEK IN COMICS!
The Photographer: Almost certainly your prestige French comics release of the season, this is First Second's all-in-one collection of a well-regarded 2003-06 biographical series from Emmanuel Guibert (script, drawings), Didier Lefèvre (subject matter, photographs) and Frédéric Lemercier (colors, design); it covers the late Lefèvre's camera-in-hand 1986 journey to Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders, a dangerous experience recorded in snapshots utilized by Guibert in a variety of ways, effectively raising Lefèvre to the level of 'co-artist.' It's a fascinating modification (and, to my mind, improvement) of the style Guibert utilized in Alan's War, in the service of a compelling story. Lavish, oversized (9" x 11.75") softcover production on this one; $29.95 for 288 pages. Extensive preview here. Expect a review later this week.
Flinch: Being a new 120-page, $11.95 b&w anthology from Gestalt Publishing, centered around interpretations of the term that's the title. Shaun Tan provides the cover, and a full list of contributers can be found at the above link. Lots more at the official site.
Dawn: The Worlds of Final Fantasy: This isn't a comic at all, but there's no excuse for not mentioning a new Yoshitaka Amano release, this one a $29.95 oversized hardcover art book presenting his designs and production art from the first four installments of the almighty J-RPG series. It literally took me years to finish Final Fantasy on the NES. Preview; from Dark Horse, 116 pages.
The Tick: Karma Tornado - The Compete Works: Yet more comprehensive Tick reprints from New England Comics, although this one may be of special interest due to the participation of Christopher "Jackson Publick" McCulloch (creator of The Venture Brothers) as co-writer of several issues with creator Ben Edlund. It's a 1993-95 spin-off, with various artists helping out; 256 pages in total, $27.95.
Heavy Metal July 2009 (Vol. XXXIII No. 4): Ah right, here it is - as mentioned last week, this issue contains vol. 3 of Alejandro Jodorowsky's & Milo Manara's historical smut epic Borgia, bearing the merry subtitle of Flames From Hell. The same team will be back for a fourth, possibly concluding volume whenever they finish it. It's only $6.95, and you get a bunch of other stuff too; I like to keep my anime porn logs current, so there's certainly extra value for my money.
Pluto Vol. 3 (of 8): In which Naoki Urasawa & co. continue to plunge stone-faced into the serious world of Osamu Tezuka and his biography of robot murders. I think there's some really neat twists in this one, but that pretty much covers every volume of every Urasawa series after the first two volumes or so.
Vagabond VIZBIG Edition Vol. 3: No volume number of termination on this one, Takehiko Inoue's popular, achingly pretty swordsman saga, but word has it the series is due to see its finale in 2010 or 2011. As usual, the $19.99 VIZBIG format collects three regular volumes into one, so this one covers vols. 7-9. Longtime readers should note that VIZ also has the $9.95 vol. 29 of the standard format series out this week, which brings the English editions right up to date with their Japanese counterparts, at least until the Japanese vol. 30 arrives in another week or so. Inoue diehards should also note that vol. 4 of basketball drama Real is additionally set to drop; there's no end in sight for that one.
Oishinbo Vol. 3: Ramen & Gyoza: Mmmmm, patriotism. There's gotta be at least one story in this 272-page VIZ production detailing how Japan's subtle refinement in noodle preparation unlocked the true soul of the dish as an ecstatic phantom visible only to the chosen gourmand in those fleeting perfect circumstances that every red-blooded idealist chases night and day like cherry blossoms pursuing the spring wind, although I think we all suspect that's every story. I'll probably never eat any of this awesome food, but it's somehow still $12.99 well spent. As always, these are themed collections culled from the jillion-volume ongoing series by Tetsu Kariya & Akira Hanasaki; VIZ must be excited, since plans have been made for at least four more collections after this.
Four Eyes #3: Max Fiumara vs. the dragons. Joe Kelly writes. Still Image, $3.50.
Hellblazer #255: Peter Milligan writes Constantine; last breather issue before the next big-ish story.
Mysterius: The Unfathomable #5 (of 6): Jeff Parker & Tom Fowler, nearing the end for now.
X-Men Forever Alpha: Man, I sure am glad Marvel is reprinting these scarce early Jim Lee issues of plain vanilla X-Men (#1-3); I just exchanged my last copies the other month for a palace of onyx and a throne of souls. Now nobody needs to miss out on these winter pearls of 1991, which will lead into the upcoming 'picking up where he left off' X-Men Alpha project, in which writer Chris Claremont is basically set to pretend the last 18 years of mutant comics didn't happen. Preview here; $4.99.
Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance #1 (of 6): Probably the most anticipated of the post-Final Crisis brand miniseries (at least to readers of this site), catching up with Japan's Super Young Team as they continue onward with the superhero game. Written by Joe Casey with pencils by ChrisCross (and inks by four parties); have a look.
Herogasm #1 (of 6): And what better way to commemorate The Boys hitting its issue #30 halfway point than writer Garth Ennis teaming up with career-length cohort John McCrea (Troubled Souls, Hitman, Dicks) for half a year's worth of uncut spin-off? Even better, it's the first Boys story told primarily from the various corrupt/perverted superheroes' point of view as they gather together for a yearly direction-planning retreat (ho ho) and just maybe confront a terrible threat -- a regular Event, perhaps -- that could place everything in peril, and thus you'll certainly want to buy every issue it if you're following the main series, since Nothing Will Be the Same. The big joke: only in a 'fake' superhero universe thing like this do such threats actually carry weight. Only $2.99, so it costs less than the real deal too.
LAST WEEK'S REVIEWS (AND THINGS):
Seaguy: The Slaves of Mickey Eye #2 (of 3)
Désastre Hurlant: The Master List (i.e. a big list of comics released by Humanoids Publishing, 1999-2009)
Plus!
a helpful guide to franchise revival, the Star Trek way! (riches not included)
At comiXology.
*Oh, I liked Manohla Dargis' piece on the apparently old-school explosive Cannes showing of the new Lars von Trier picture, Antichrist, purportedly mixing talking animals and below-the-belt ultraviolence in ways unimagined since the last time I struggled against bathtub gin unconsciousness while playing Star Fox 64, which I believe was an hour before the Cannes showing, given time zone variation. Probably the least hysterical/chop-licking reaction I've come across, given the hype-prone nature of the major film festival experience. Although I do like hysterical chop-licking hype too. What're you gonna do now, Gaspar Noé? Hope you stepped up the game.
THIS WEEK IN COMICS!
The Photographer: Almost certainly your prestige French comics release of the season, this is First Second's all-in-one collection of a well-regarded 2003-06 biographical series from Emmanuel Guibert (script, drawings), Didier Lefèvre (subject matter, photographs) and Frédéric Lemercier (colors, design); it covers the late Lefèvre's camera-in-hand 1986 journey to Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders, a dangerous experience recorded in snapshots utilized by Guibert in a variety of ways, effectively raising Lefèvre to the level of 'co-artist.' It's a fascinating modification (and, to my mind, improvement) of the style Guibert utilized in Alan's War, in the service of a compelling story. Lavish, oversized (9" x 11.75") softcover production on this one; $29.95 for 288 pages. Extensive preview here. Expect a review later this week.
Flinch: Being a new 120-page, $11.95 b&w anthology from Gestalt Publishing, centered around interpretations of the term that's the title. Shaun Tan provides the cover, and a full list of contributers can be found at the above link. Lots more at the official site.
Dawn: The Worlds of Final Fantasy: This isn't a comic at all, but there's no excuse for not mentioning a new Yoshitaka Amano release, this one a $29.95 oversized hardcover art book presenting his designs and production art from the first four installments of the almighty J-RPG series. It literally took me years to finish Final Fantasy on the NES. Preview; from Dark Horse, 116 pages.
The Tick: Karma Tornado - The Compete Works: Yet more comprehensive Tick reprints from New England Comics, although this one may be of special interest due to the participation of Christopher "Jackson Publick" McCulloch (creator of The Venture Brothers) as co-writer of several issues with creator Ben Edlund. It's a 1993-95 spin-off, with various artists helping out; 256 pages in total, $27.95.
Heavy Metal July 2009 (Vol. XXXIII No. 4): Ah right, here it is - as mentioned last week, this issue contains vol. 3 of Alejandro Jodorowsky's & Milo Manara's historical smut epic Borgia, bearing the merry subtitle of Flames From Hell. The same team will be back for a fourth, possibly concluding volume whenever they finish it. It's only $6.95, and you get a bunch of other stuff too; I like to keep my anime porn logs current, so there's certainly extra value for my money.
Pluto Vol. 3 (of 8): In which Naoki Urasawa & co. continue to plunge stone-faced into the serious world of Osamu Tezuka and his biography of robot murders. I think there's some really neat twists in this one, but that pretty much covers every volume of every Urasawa series after the first two volumes or so.
Vagabond VIZBIG Edition Vol. 3: No volume number of termination on this one, Takehiko Inoue's popular, achingly pretty swordsman saga, but word has it the series is due to see its finale in 2010 or 2011. As usual, the $19.99 VIZBIG format collects three regular volumes into one, so this one covers vols. 7-9. Longtime readers should note that VIZ also has the $9.95 vol. 29 of the standard format series out this week, which brings the English editions right up to date with their Japanese counterparts, at least until the Japanese vol. 30 arrives in another week or so. Inoue diehards should also note that vol. 4 of basketball drama Real is additionally set to drop; there's no end in sight for that one.
Oishinbo Vol. 3: Ramen & Gyoza: Mmmmm, patriotism. There's gotta be at least one story in this 272-page VIZ production detailing how Japan's subtle refinement in noodle preparation unlocked the true soul of the dish as an ecstatic phantom visible only to the chosen gourmand in those fleeting perfect circumstances that every red-blooded idealist chases night and day like cherry blossoms pursuing the spring wind, although I think we all suspect that's every story. I'll probably never eat any of this awesome food, but it's somehow still $12.99 well spent. As always, these are themed collections culled from the jillion-volume ongoing series by Tetsu Kariya & Akira Hanasaki; VIZ must be excited, since plans have been made for at least four more collections after this.
Four Eyes #3: Max Fiumara vs. the dragons. Joe Kelly writes. Still Image, $3.50.
Hellblazer #255: Peter Milligan writes Constantine; last breather issue before the next big-ish story.
Mysterius: The Unfathomable #5 (of 6): Jeff Parker & Tom Fowler, nearing the end for now.
X-Men Forever Alpha: Man, I sure am glad Marvel is reprinting these scarce early Jim Lee issues of plain vanilla X-Men (#1-3); I just exchanged my last copies the other month for a palace of onyx and a throne of souls. Now nobody needs to miss out on these winter pearls of 1991, which will lead into the upcoming 'picking up where he left off' X-Men Alpha project, in which writer Chris Claremont is basically set to pretend the last 18 years of mutant comics didn't happen. Preview here; $4.99.
Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance #1 (of 6): Probably the most anticipated of the post-Final Crisis brand miniseries (at least to readers of this site), catching up with Japan's Super Young Team as they continue onward with the superhero game. Written by Joe Casey with pencils by ChrisCross (and inks by four parties); have a look.
Herogasm #1 (of 6): And what better way to commemorate The Boys hitting its issue #30 halfway point than writer Garth Ennis teaming up with career-length cohort John McCrea (Troubled Souls, Hitman, Dicks) for half a year's worth of uncut spin-off? Even better, it's the first Boys story told primarily from the various corrupt/perverted superheroes' point of view as they gather together for a yearly direction-planning retreat (ho ho) and just maybe confront a terrible threat -- a regular Event, perhaps -- that could place everything in peril, and thus you'll certainly want to buy every issue it if you're following the main series, since Nothing Will Be the Same. The big joke: only in a 'fake' superhero universe thing like this do such threats actually carry weight. Only $2.99, so it costs less than the real deal too.
Labels: this week in comics
posted by Jog at 11:00 PM
|
<< Home