Comics and More

High School of the Dead (Volume 1) Daisuke Sato & Shouji Sato I'm always up for a good horror story, and while zombies have been done to death, I still have quite a fondness for the shambling dead, which is why I picked up this new manga from Yen Press.  High School of the Dead features a small group of high school students who see a zombie invasion take place while in class.  Very quickly, the school is overrun with zombies, and mayhem ensues, but a few lucky students keep their heads through the bedlam and escape to see what has become of their families and the world at large.  This is a very typical zombie story.  No new ground is being tread here, but this book offers up plenty of fan service with big-breasted women, pantie shots galore and even one ridiculous scene where one girl tears another girl's skirt half off so she can run faster.  Yeah, it's that kind of book.  Along with the prominently featured female assets, there's gore ga...

Here is the book you should be paying attention to, due in comic shops on Wednesday... Stigmata HC - This new graphic novel from Italian creators Lorenzo Mattotti and Claudio Piersanti boasts that wonderful moody swirling artwork that we got a glimpse of with Mattotti's Chimera #1 that was released through Fantagraphic's Ignatz line a few years ago.  Expect this to be one of the year's major releases. Other Noteworthy Releases Age of X: Alpha #1 Angel: The John Byrne Collection HC Artifacts (Volume 1) TP The Art of Red Sonja HC Avengers Academy (Volume 1): Permanent Record HC Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis (Volume 1) HC Blecky Yuckerela (Volume 4): $$$$ You A-Hole GN The Complete Bad Company TP Ice Haven TP Infestation #1 The Killer (Volume 3): Modus Vivendi HC The Last Unicorn HC Magneto #1 New York Five #1 Robert Jordan's New Spring GN Saga of the Swamp Thing (Book 4) HC Shazam #1 Twilight Guardian #1

It's not technically Monday anymore, but better late than never, right? Itsuwaribito (Volume 1) Yuuki Iinuma Utsuho is an itsuwaribito.  Itsuwaribito have a bad reputation as violent thieving liars, like pirate samurai.  But Utsuho isn't your typical itsuwaribito.  He's made it his code to lie in life, like an itsuwaribito, since he believes that the truth only gets people hurt.  When he was a child, his entire household was slaughtered because he was gullible enough to answer the questions of some bandits truthfully.  So despite the monk's rebukes who raises a village full of orphans, Utsuho can't stop lying, and won't.  When the entire village is destroyed by a group of itsuwaribito, however, Utsuho makes it his mission in life to continue helping others, like the monk taught him, but he will do it his way - through lies.  It's an odd idea, but Itsuho thinks that there are good lies and bad lies, and unlike other itsuwaribito, he wants to use go...

Caanan Grall Celadore was the last of the Zuda products from DC to see print before the line was discontinued, but they definitely ended on a high note, as this is a really fun supernatural romp.  Including all sorts of creatures of the night, such as ghosts, frankensteins, elves and genies, the story revolves around a Buffy-like monster hunter whom the vampires fear, wise-cracking all the while, laughing in the face of death.  Unfortunately, the opening scene is the last we see of that Celadore, as she is struck with some mystic mojo that pushes her soul from her body.  But Celadore isn't done yet, as she wakes up to find herself in the body of an eleven-year-old girl.  While not the strikes-fear-into-her-enemies menace that she used to be, she still kicks plenty of undead butt along with a nosy neighbor boy with a knack for finding trouble and a shape-shifting ex-boyfriend, among others.  It's just a lot harder getting into bars to follow mon...

Here is the book you should be paying attention to, in comic shops on Wednesday... Buffy the Vampire Slayer #40 - The very last issue of the eighth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer . Other Noteworthy Releases Age of Reptiles (Volume 1) TP B.P.R.D.: Plague of Frogs (Volume 1) HC Denis Kitchen's Chipboard Sketchbook HC Fraggle Rock (Volume 2) #1 Jurassic Park: The Devils In the Desert #1 Lovebunny & Mr. Hell (Volume 1) TP Myspace Dark Horse Presents (Volume 6) TP Rat Catcher HC The Smurfs (Volume 4): The Smurfette Wolverine & Jubilee #1

Here are ten books that caught my eye in the latest Previews Catalogue , for books that ship to comic shops in March... Sugar and Spike Archives (Volume 1) HC - It's not the ideal format for this material, but at least it's being reprinted.  Fans have been waiting for years for this to see the light of day, and finally the first ten issues of Sheldon Mayer's classic will be available again. The Comics Journal #301 - It's been awhile, but the new issue of The Comics Journal is coming out with over 600 pages of goodies, including an interview with Joe Sacco and a dissection of Crumb's Genesis . Dan Clowes' Mister Wonderful: A Love Story TP - This is an expanded edition of the story that was serialized in The New York Time Magazine , with forty pages of new material. Sigil #1 (of 4) - The science fiction series originally published by Crossgen is being reimagined with a 16-year-old girl as the protagonist caught in the middle of a war because of the sigil ...

Alright, back to regular posting this week after a little post-holiday read-as-many-comics-by-the-end-of-the-year-for-the-best-of-list respite.  Another light week in comics, but here is the book you should be paying attention to, in comic stores on Wedneday... The Sixth Gun (Volume 1) TP - Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt's supernatural western from Oni Press ended up on quite a few best of the year lists.  Issue one was a Free Comic Book Day offering and seems to have garnered some dedicated fans as it's continued.  Now's a perfect time to check out what the hubbub is about. Other Noteworthy Releases Avengers: Coming of the Beast HC BPRD: Hell On Earth - Gods #1 Casanova: Gula #1 Daredevil Reborn #1 Fantastic Four: Resurrection of Galactus HC Spawn #200 Wonder Girl #1

Here's the book you should be paying attention to in comic shops on Wednesday... Batman Beyond #1 - I've heard good things about the recently-concluded, soon-to-be-collected Batman Beyond mini-series from Adam Beechen, Ryan Benjamin and John Stanisci, and obviously sales have warranted an ongoing series, as the first issue offering a glimpse of the future of Gotham City comes out this week. Other Noteworthy Releases Captain America: War & Remembrance HC The Complete Little Orphan Annie (Volume 6) HC Deadworld Omnibus (Volume 1) SC Death Note Black Edition TP Fallen Angel: Return of the Son #1 (of 4) Lady Death #1 The Mighty Thor Omnibus (Volume 1) HC Steel #1 Superman: Nightwing and Flamebird TP Ultimate Comics: Captain America #1 (of 4) The Walking Dead Weekly #1 Weird Worlds #1 (of 6) Women of Marvel: Seven Decades Omnibus HC