Comics and More

Here is the book you should be paying attention to, in comic shops tomorrow! Lucille GN - From Top Shelf, this graphic novel about adolescence and anorexia, by Ludovic Debeurme, won the prestigious Rene Goscinny Prize. Other Noteworthy Releases Angel (Volume 3): The Wolf, The Ram and the Heart HC Angel Omnibus (Dark Horse Edition) (Volume 1) TP Aquaman: Death of a Prince TP Batman: Knight and Squire TP Betrayal Knows My Name (Volume 1) Creepy Archives (Volume 10) HC Farm 54 HC Forgotten Fantasy Sunday Comics: 1900-1915 HC Ghostface (Volume 1) Incal Classic Collection HC Iron Age #1 (of 3) Supernatural Noir

Kou Yoneda No Touching At All is a yaoi manga about a shy guy named Shima who begins a relationship with his boss at the office he just started working in.  Shima's first encounter with his boss is as the stinky hungover guy in the elevator on the way to his first day on the job, but over time, he begins to see past Togawa's tough exterior, and they see signals within each other that lead to the affair.  I was pretty impressed with this title.  This is a cut above a lot of yaoi manga out there.  The characters feel very real, and converse naturally with one another, relationships forming pretty much before our eyes organically.  The work relationships are nice, but of course, it's the intense love-hate relationship between Shima and Togawa that really makes things interesting, especially given Shima's self-loathing and his past that keeps him at a distance from people.  The story moves along pretty slowly, which only adds to the overall authentic feeling that you get

A bit behind on this, but here are the books, coming to comic shops in August, that I think may get overlooked, or that I'm just plain excited about... Habibi GN - Craig Thompson's long-awaited follow-up to Blankets , delving into the Islamic world. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 - A new ongoing Ninja Turtles series is definitely something to celebrate, especially as series co-creator Kevin Eastman is co-writing and doing layouts for the new title! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Collection (Volume 1) HC - Also available this month is the original stories featuring the heroes in half shells, in a deserving hardcover collection. Gunnerkrigg Court (Volume 3) HC - An amazing fantasy series continues.  Seriously, if anyone hasn't checked out this magical comic, please do! Angel and Faith #1 - Angel returns to Dark Horse as part of Joss Whedon's executed-produced Buffy-verse.  The fantastic Christos Gage is writing. Mark Twain's Autobiography

I'm moved in to my new place, and the old apartment is clean, so I should be posting more regularly again with all of the craziness behind me.  Anyways, here is the book you should be paying attention to, in comic shops tomorrow... Black Widow: The Name of the Rose TP - Marjorie Liu and Daniel Acuna's recent run on the red-headed Marvel spy-hero was a lot of fun.  Read the collection. Other Noteworthy Releases All Nighter #1 (of 5) The Archie Babies GN Art of Doug Sneyd HC Captain Easy: Soldier of Fortune (Volume 2) HC Chip N Dale's Rescue Rangers: Worldwide Rescue TP Creepy Comics (Volume 1) TP Deadpool (Volume 1) HC Dr. Strange: Into the Dark Dimension HC First Wave HC Miss Fury HC Mystique by Sean McKeever Ultimate Collection TP Negima Omnibus (Volume 1) Next Men (Volume 1) HC Roy Rogers: The Collected Newspaper Dailies and Sundays HC Scratch 9 (Volume 1): Pet Project TP Tenjo Tenge (Volume 1) Thing: Liberty Legion HC X-Men: Age of X HC

I'm moving this week, so I probably won't get back to posting until next week, but here is the book you should be paying attention to, in comic shops tomorrow... Anya's Ghost - From Vera Brosgol comes this new graphic novel that has Neil Gaiman's endorsement, about a lonely girl who befriends a ghost, to unexpected results. Other Noteworthy Releases Alpha Flight #1 (of 8) Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity GN Avengers: Infinity Quest #1 Avengers West Coast: Family Ties HC Captain America Corps #1 (of 5) A Certain Scientific Railgun (Volume 1) Fantastic Four by Waid & Weiringo Ultimate Collection (Book 1) TP Godzilla: Gangsters & Goliaths #1 (of 5) Green Lantern: Brightest Day HC Hellboy Library Edition (Volume 4) HC Kirby Genesis #1 Legion Lost HC Level Up GN Lil Depressed Boy (Volume 1): She Is Staggering TP The Sixth Gun (Volume 2) TP Uncanny X-Force: Deathloc Nation HC X-Men: Alpha Flight HC

Here is the book you should be paying attention to, in comic shops tomorrow! Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse (Volume 1): Race To Death Valley HC - One of the most exciting announcements of the year, the first of a massive reprint project debuts in the form of Floyd Gottfredson's beloved  Mickey Mouse comic strip. Other Noteworthy Releases 15 Love #1 (of 3) American Vampire: Survival of the Fittest #1 (of 5) Baltimore (Volume 1): The Plague Ships HC Bleach 3-In-1 Edition (Volume 1) Captain America: American Nightmare HC Captain America by Dan Jurgens (Volume 1) TP Congress of the Animals HC Dark Tower: The Gunslinger - Little Sisters of Eluria HC Fullmetal Alchemist 3-In-1 Edition (Volume 1) Iron Age: Alpha #1 Isle of 100,000 Graves HC Ka-Zar #1 (of 5) Lil Abner (Volume 3) HC Mister X: The Brides of Mister X and Other Stories HC Mystery Men #1 (of 5) Preacher (Book 4) HC

The Quest For the Missing Girl Jiro Taniguchi This is the first work I've read by the acclaimed creator Jiro Taniguchi ( The Walking Man , The Ice Wanderer and Other Stories ), but it certainly won't be my last.  The Quest For the Missing Girl is a very satisfying read, with a real depth to the characters, stunning art, and an engaging mystery. The Quest For the Missing Girl  is about a man who oversees a mountain refuge, who comes into the city to look for the missing daughter of one of his old mountain climbing partners, who died twelve years earlier, since he looks out for the family left behind.  Shiga carries a lot of guilt over the death of his friend, especially when it comes to his own resentment of his dead friend's relationships (he gave up climbing to marry a woman that Shiga was sweet on).  Shiga has come to see Megumi, his friend's daughter, as a niece of sorts, so he takes it very seriously when her mother calls to tell him that Megumi never came home

Barnes & Noble is expanding their comic book presence significantly in their newsstands early this June, and giving them a prime location at the front of the newsstand area alongside entertainment and music magazines.  Prior to this change, comics were mixed in to the "Games and Humor" category beside crosswords and sodoku magazines.  Now, it seems, the bookstore chain is taking notice of floppies and giving them a chance to thrive in the bookstore atmosphere.  I'm not entirely sure what to make of the expansion and aggressive push (the store I work at is going from about ten titles to filling five spaces worth of books across each gondola, which would mean over sixty titles, many of which we're seeing ten copies of each book coming in).  Most of the titles are Marvel and DC, with a good mix of kid-friendly titles like Sonic the Hedgehog and Archie as well.  It may be that comics are one of the few areas that the nook and nookcolor don't offer in their elect