Comics and More

Here are the things that excited me over the past week... . 1. Funny People - A new Judd Apatow movie opens up in theaters today!! I love both of the director's previous films, The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up , the latter of which is up in my top favorite comedies ever, so obviously, I'm really looking forward to his latest movie starring Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen. . 2. Alice In Wonderland theatrical trailer - Tim Burton's highly-anticipated adaptation of the classic Lewis Carroll story is visually stunning and every bit as imaginative as his other films...if the new trailer has anything to say about it. I'm still a little skeptical about it, to be honest, even though Anne Hathaway looks awesome as the White Queen. See the trailer here . . 3. Miracleman rights go to Marvel Comics - The character Miracleman (aka Marvelman) who has been caught in legal limbo for years now (despite fans chomping at the bit to see the character's body of work collected featu...

Here are the highlights of books coming to comic shops tomorrow! . Pick of the Week . The Complete Peanuts (Volume 12): 1973-1974 HC - The latest volume of Fantagraphics' comic strip reprints of the entirety of Charles Schulz' masterpiece arrives with an adorable cover featuring Woodstock. Also available this week in stores is the two-in-one Complete Peanuts Box Set: 1971-1974 slipcase. . Other Noteworthy Releases . Air Gear (Volume 13) Al Williamson's Flash Gordon: Lifelong Vision of the Heroic SC/HC Birds of Prey: Platinum Flats TP Bizenghast (Volume 6) - Final Volume! Children of the Sea (Volume 1) Cirque du Freak (Volume 2) GN Citizen Rex #1 (of 6) Civil War: Heroes For Hire TP Civil War: Punisher War Journal TP The Complete Chester Gould's Dick Tracy (Volume 8) HC Evil & Malice Save the World TP Free Realms #1 Hayao Miyazaki: Starting Point 1979-1996 SC Invincible Iron Man (Volume 2): World's Most Wanted HC Jersey Gods (Volume 1): I'd Live & I...

Black Bird (Volume 1) Kanoko Sakurakoji . Misao is a high school girl with issues. She's always been seen by her peers as strange because she's constantly zoning out and tripping over herself. But there's a reason for these episodes: ever since she was young, Misao has been attuned to a world around her that most humans don't see, that of the supernatural world. Most demons seem to be just mischievous little things that do their best to embarrass Misao or cause her to injure herself in minor ways, but there are demons who take more of an interest in Misao and it gets quite dangerous for her. This all occurs because Misao is the bride of prophecy, and if she marries a demon, that demon's clan will prosper. However, a greedy demon may eat her to keep that power and strength for himself. Misao's dilemma is that she met a boy when she was young, Kyo, who protected her and vowed to come back for her. And as she's attacked by a demon for her blood, he returns to s...

. Here are five things that I was excited about this week. . 1. More Bone - At San Diego Comic-con, Jeff Smith announced that he will be illustrating and co-writing (with Tom Sniegoski) four new Bone books! First up, we'll see Bone: Tall Tales coming out in Summer of 2010, followed by a new trilogy of books entitled Bone: Quest For the Spark , which will be published between Fall 2010 and Summer 2011. It's a bit of a wait, but it's sure to be worth it! . 2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - I just saw this movie and it was the best of the film series so far. Watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix beforehand really reinvigorated my interest in Harry Potter (it's been two years since the final book already), and set me up to enjoy the new movie, a nice balance of character interaction and action. The filmmakers have really learned how to adapt the books to film by this point, cutting whatever is necessary to make it a good film . I love Ballatrix Lest...

Here are the highlights of books coming to comic stores tomorrow! . Pick of the Week . Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 HC - Finally, the second volume of David Petersen's Mouse Guard is collected. I love this series, and the second book is even better than the original mini-series, with some amazingly beautiful winter scenes. . Other Noteworthy Releases . Adventures of the Mask Omnibus TP Amazing Spider-Man #600 Awakening (Volume 1) HC Beanworld (Volume 2): A Gift Comes HC Cable Classic (Volume 2) TP Captain America: Reborn #1 (of 5) Captain Britain and MI-13 #15 - Final issue! Case Closed (Volume 30) Creepy Archives (Volume 4) HC Delphine #4 Elephantmen: Damaged Goods TP Emily the Strange III #1 (of 4) Flight (Volume 6) TP George McManus' Bringing Up Father HC Halo: Hell Jumper #1 (of 5) Immortal Weapons #1 (of 5) Incredible Hulk #600 Lenore (volume II) #1 Myspace/Dark Horse Presents (Volume 3) TP New Avengers (Volume 10): Power HC Nexus Archives (Volume 9) HC Oishinbo (Volume 4):...

Kitchen Princess (Volumes 1-10) Natsumi Ando & Miyuki Kobayashi . This series is really addicting, which is why I kind of kept going passed the first volume until I had read the entire 10-volume series (the final volume of which was just recently released). The story begins as Najika Kazami leaves her home for orphans, Lavender House in Hokkaido, to join Seika Academy's special class, where she quickly proves her abilities in the kitchen. Not only is she the product of two top chefs from Japan, but she's inherited their gifts as well. With one taste, a smell even, she's able to replicate any recipe and discern its ingredients and exactly how to prepare them. She's also a very kind girl, who wishes to make people smile with her food, and caters each dish to the consumer. But the reason behind her kindness grew out of a scene from her childhood, following her parents' accident that left her alone. She nearly drowned, but was saved by a boy, who gave her his flan t...

Jeff Lemire . Jeff Lemire ( Tales From Essex County ) brings us a new tale of H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man in his latest graphic novel, which was recently released in a hardcover edition from DC's Vertigo line. The book takes place in the small American town of Large Mouth, where everybody knows everybody and gossip runs rampant at the smallest scrap of scandal. So, of course, when Mr. Griffen arrives in town, wrapped completely in bandages, it throws the entire town into a tizzy, speculating on his story, whether it be some horrifying accident or to keep his identity under wraps so authorities won't locate him. After long, Griffen begins to blend into the background noise of the town and befriends a local girl, Vickie, who's taken an interest in him, until it becomes harder and harder for him to keep his secret from the locals and things slowly spiral out of control. . I really enjoy Jeff Lemire's art on this book, cartoony and detailed, and a nice fit to pain...

Here are five things that I was excited about this week! . 1. Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern - The fanboys were going to get upset no matter who was chosen for the role of Hal Jordan, but let's face it: Hal Jordan's the typical boy next door type, so really anyone could have filled his shoes. Except maybe Justin Timberlake . Not sure why he was a top contender... I was kind of crossing my fingers for Bradley Cooper, but Ryan Reynolds, despite being tied to Deadpool , is a fine choice. A good leading man to make the film a success. He's certainly got the body to fill out the suit... . 2. New Craig Yoe imprint at IDW - IDW Publishing announced that Craig Yoe ( Modern Arf ) will have his own imprint of books beginning this Fall. The first book due out is The Art of Ditko , featuring full-color original art by Steve Ditko with essays galore. Next from Yoe we will see The Complete Milt Gross Life Story and Comics , featuring a complete biography of Gross, as well...

Here are the highlights of books hitting comic shops tomorrow! . Pick of the Week . Blackest Night #1 (of 8) - DC's big new crossover event launches this week, featuring the "Black Lanterns" from the various rainbow-colored lantern that have been popping up in Geoff Johns' Green Lantern books over the past few years. The premise sounds like a lot of fun. . Other Noteworthy Releases . Angel: After the Fall (Volume 4) HC Annihilation Classic TP Artesia Besieged #3 (of 6) - Returning from a hiatus. Astro City: The Dark Age (Book One) TP Batman: Whatever Happened To the Caped Crusader HC Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #1 (of 3) Captain Britain by Moore and Davis Omnibus HC Creepy Comics #1 Dan Dare Omnibus (Volume 1) TP The Dreamer (Volume 1): Consequence of Nathan Hale Essential Marvel Two-In-One (Volume 3) TP Fallen Angel: Reborn #1 Guardians of the Galaxy: The Power of Starhawk HC IDW: The First Decade HC Incredible Hercules: Smash Titans HC Madame Xanadu (Volum...

Aaron Williams & Fiona Staples . North 40 is a new DC/Wildstorm mini-series that launched this week, featuring a small Southern town off of the highway that is under siege by demonic forces. And can I just ask...what is with cthulhu in comics? Cthulhu comics seem to outnumber vampire comics two to one - it just seems odd. I mean, Lovecraft is great, but I don't get the fascination. There's Cthulhu Tales, The Fall of Cthulhu, Mnemovore (maybe not technically cthulhu, but might as well be), Arkham Woods ... Anyways, I guess I can't fault this comic based on that, especially since using cthulhu in this story (and in the others, which is probably why he's used so much) allows the creative team to just do a lot of crazy things with the characters in Conover County: possession, weird psychic nonsense, transformations, vampirism...all that weird demon stuff goes down from a few whispered syllables out of a book with cthulhu on the cover. And if any of those other ct...

Here's what I was most excited about over this past week! . 1. Archie collections from IDW - IDW Publishing , who has done some pretty impressive comic strip archival projects through their Library of American Comics line ( Dick Tracy, Terry and the Pirates, Little Orphan Annie ), is going to be putting out collections of classic Archie strips! This is a reprint project that's definitely been missing from the shelves. We will see the original Archie strips by creator John Goldwater, and artist Bob Montana, as well as "Best Of" volumes featuring runs by great artists such as Dan DeCarlo and Stan Goldberg! . 2. The Collector theatrical trailer - The trailer for this upcoming thriller looks pretty fantastic. A man breaks into a rich family's home to steal money from their vault only to discover that the family is being harassed and tortured by a maniac. . 3. The Things We Did Last Summer by A Fine Frenzy - A Fine Frenzy blew me away with their debut CD a few y...

Various . DC's new weekly comic book is an anthology in the form of a newspaper that folds out into 14" x 20" broadsheets. There are fifteen one-page stories within the anthology, each by a different top-notch creative team that are focusing their stories on a different character (or characters) from the DC Universe. My initial impression when going through this was that I was reading previews of stories, they were mostly set-up and I wasn't very familiar with some of the characters like Metal Men . And having watched a few movie trailers prior to this undertaking, I guess that was how I kind of felt about the stories - like they were more or less advertising, selling, the stories that were to come, especially since I'd had no prior knowledge as to what these individual stories were going to be about. It's interesting to see how certain creators approached this endeavor, many with continuing arcs that hardly slowed down for the page's end like Adam and...

Here are the highlights of books coming to comic shops tomorrow! . Pick of the Week . Asterios Polyp GN - I just picked this up yesterday from my bookstore and I'm excited to start digging in. A new graphic novel from David Mazzucchelli that's been getting a lot of buzz and acclaim. This will probably be a big contender for book of the year. . Other Noteworthy Releases . 100 Bullets (Volume 13): Wilt TP BPRD 1947 #1 (of 5) Captive Hearts (Volume 5) Dark X-Men: The Beginning #1 (of 3) Fairy Tail (Volume 7) Fruits Basket (Volume 23) - Final volume! High School Debut (Volume 10) Honey Hunt (Volume 2) Kitchen Princess (Volume 10) Leave It To PET! (Volume 2) Marvel 70th Anniversary TP Nana (Volume 17) Naruto (Volume 45) Negima (Volume 23) New Warriors Classic (Volume 1) TP Nobody HC North 40 #1 (of 6) Pixu (Volume 1): Mark of Evil TP Prince Valiant (Volume 1): 1937 - 1938 HC Runaways: Teenage Wasteland HC Showcase Presents: Batlash TP Superman: Whatever Happened To the Man of To...

Rosario + Vampire (Volume 1) Akihisa Ikeda . Rosario + Vampire starts out with the same sort of premise as Animal Academy : student with low grades gets into a single school, not realizing that it is a school for supernatural students, where they are the only human. But Rosario + Vampire was serialized in Japan prior to Animal Academy , so obviously Rosario + Vampire is the more original of the two. The protagonist of this supernatural comedy/drama is Tsukune Aono, who only stays at this scary school full of werewolves and shapeshifters and killer mermaids for the sake of the beautiful Moka Akashiya, who's the envy of the entire school. Lucky for Tsukune, she has her eyes set on him...well, on his neck perhaps, but on him. One taste of Tsukune's blood and Akashiya is hooked, but it turns out she really does like the guy, even when she realizes that he is only a puny human. This also makes Tsukune quite the target, given the jealousy that courses through the veins of th...

Here are the highlights of books shipping to comic shops this September! . Abstract Studios . Strangers In Paradise Omnibus Limited Edition - This was a no-brainer. The entirety of Terry Moore's Strangers In Paradise , collected in three hardcovers within a slipcase. Should be nice! . Archaia Studios Press . The Grave Doug Freshly HC - Love that play on words... Josh Hechinger and mpMann's comedy/western skips the floppies and goes right to a hardcover release . Okko (Volume 2): The Cycle of Earth HC - The second book in Hub's Okko series is collected this month - I loved the first one , so I've been looking forward to this. . Boom! Studios . Mr Stuffins TP - How cute! This is a comic about a Teddy Bear who happens to be a super spy! . Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #699 - Along with Mickey Mouse and Friends #296 , this will be among the first releases of Disney comics published through Boom! since Gemstone gave up their rights. . Conundrum Press . Hipless Boy G...

Here are five things that I was excited about this week! . 1. Dreamstar by Gilbert Hernandez - A short superhero story by Gilbert Hernandez (co-creator of Love & Rockets ) appears in the 24th issue of Dark Horse's on-line comic anthology...and it's awesome! Read it here . There's also a short Buffy the Vampire Slayer story by series creator Joss Whedon, with art by cover artist for Season Eight , Jo Chen, in the issue here . . 2. Daria on DVD - Finally, Daria the MTV spin-off of Beavis and Butthead , featuring their sarcastic classmate, will be available on DVD next year. I loved this show... Here 's the article. . 3. Moby's "Shot In the Back of the Head" music video - This music video by Moby from his latest (and very well-received) CD Wait For Me , is pretty fantastic and eerie, which is very suiting for the song. Even better is that David Lynch of Twin Peaks fame directed it! Watch it here . . 4. Red Revelations by Jace Everett - The latest C...

Paul Dini & Guillem March . Following the launch of his other new Batman title a few weeks back ( Batman: Gotham Nights ), Paul Dini (writer/producer on Batman: The Animated Series ) returns to his girls in the new book Gotham City Sirens , which pairs up buds Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn with the recently-traumatized Catwoman. I didn't follow the whole Batman: Battle For the Cowl crossover that led to the new reinvigorated Bat-universe that seems to be exploding, but apparently Selina went through some trials, which is why she finds herself being crushed by D-level villain Boneblaster, who's new to the whole supervillain gig. But together with Pamela and Harley, the guy doesn't stand a chance. This book also guest stars The Riddler and Zatanna. . I like the idea of a book dedicated to the supervillainesses of Batman, especially since I loved Harley and Ivy's dynamic in Batman: The Animated Series and the webcomic that paired them was such a fan-favorite. Poi...