Comics and More

Here is the book you should be paying attention to, in comic shops on Wednesday... Salvatore (Volume 2): An Eventful Crossing GN - French cartoonist Nicholas de Crecy's ( Glacial Period ) series of animorphic characters is a fun, crazy tale about an auto repair mechanic dog, who, in volume two, traverses the land in search of his sweetheart. Other Noteworthy Releases The Complete Alan Moore Future Shocks TP The Complete Invincible Library (Volume 3) HC The Definitive Flash Gordon & Jungle Jim (Volume 1) HC Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Volume 6): Cabin Fever HC RASL (Volume 3) TP Rust (Volume 1) HC Spider-Man Marvel Team-Up by Claremont & Byrne TP Thor by Kieron Gillen Ultimate Collection TP T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents (Volume 2) #1 (of 6) Wonder Woman Chronicles (Volume 2) TP X-9: Secret Agent Corrigan (Volume 3) HC

I just wanted to let my followers know that Hunters of the Dark  is now available in an omnibus edition through Amazon and Barnes & Noble . This edition includes the first three books of the series plus the prequel, and a few goodies like a never-before-seen bonus chapter and an author interview. It's going to be on sale for $2.99 for a limited time only, which is cheaper than the cost of the second two books and the prequel individually. It's also available in four different colored covers, so you can pick which one you like best (check out the illustrated covers below).

On the latest episode of the Comics-and-More Podcast , Patrick Markfort and I take a look at Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon #175 and the anthology based on Erik Larsen's characters in Twisted Savage Dragon Funnies . Reviewed: Savage Dragon #175 Erik Larsen Twisted Savage Dragon Funnies TP Edited by Michel Fiffe Based on characters created by Erik Larsen Part One: Part Two: Part Three: For further reading: Savage Dragon #1-174 Erik Larsen Freak Force #1-18 Erik Larsen & Keith Giffen

Here are the books you should be paying attention to, in comic shops on Wednesday... Fantagraphics Collections - Damn, this is a great week for comics!  The collection of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles material or Lynda Barry's  Everything  could have easily been the pick of the week, but even those massive projects were overshadowed by Fantagraphics' releases this week!  Two big archival projects that people have been anticipating for a long time have finally arrived, making their debut this week: Walt Kelly's Pogo: The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips (Volume 1): Through the Wild Blue Wonder HC  and Walt Disney's Donald Duck (Volume 1): Lost In the Andes HC from Carl Barks. Other Noteworthy Releases Everything (Volume 1): 1978-1981 HC Fantastic Four #600 Green Lantern Omnibus (Volume 2) HC The Innocent GN The Mighty Thor by Matt Fraction (Volume 1) HC Milk & Cheese: Dairy Products Gone Bad HC Rovers GN Royal Historian of Oz T...

Since the latest book in my Hunters of the Dark series has been released, I wanted to offer the first e-book in the series to my followers for FREE!  Who doesn't like free stuff, right?  It's about a group of monster hunters, and has been compared to Cassandra Clare's City of Bones , Buffy the Vampire Slayer and X-Men (it was definitely influenced by comics books).  If it sounds good, check out Her Dark Destiny (Hunters of the Dark #1) for free at Smashwords .  Just use coupon code NL95K when checking out and sideload it to whatever e-reader device you use.  The coupon will work through the end of November.  And hopefully, you will check out the sequels and prequel. Hunters of the Dark series: Her Dark Destiny (Hunters of the Dark #1) Night Cries (Hunters of the Dark #2) Face the Dark (Hunters of the Dark #3) The Tomb (Hunters of the Dark prequel)

Kekkaishi 3-in-1 Omnibus Edition (Volume 1) Yellow Tanabe I really love these omnibus editions.  Just having so much material together in one volume somehow makes it much more appealing to me (576 pages in this thick collection).  Anyways, Kekkaishi is about a teenage demon hunter who has inherited the mark to become his family's next Kekkaishi, or demon hunter.  His family is actually in a feud with a neighboring family who also have a mark passed down through their bloodline, over which family are the "true practitioners."  I don't really see what the big deal is either way, since the current Kekkaishi can both do pretty much the same things, and doesn't having more than one make it easier?  Oh, well.  The families are feuding over who has the right to this title, but in the meantime, our protagonist, Yoshimori Sumimura is learning the craft despite having little interest in carrying on the family work.  The rival family's daughter however, ...

A Zoo In Winter Jiro Taniguchi I had a blast reading Jiro Taniguchi's The Quest For the Missing Girl recently, so was excited to pick up his new book A Zoo In Winter , in which he recounts scenes from his youth surrounding his beginnings in manga.  I love Taniguchi's art style.  It's very realistic and lush, very detailed with beautiful scenery.  While this book had less breathtaking surroundings than The Quest For The Missing Girl , his cityscapes are just as dazzling as the mountains he portrayed in that book, and the cartooning he brings to the expressions of his characters is just a perfect marriage of art.  Of course, reading this autobiographical account of breaking into manga brings to mind Yoshihiro Tatsumi's recent A Drifting Life and it's hard not to compare this unfairly to that master work.  This is a much shorter glimpse into Taniguchi's life, whereas Tatsumi's work is a sprawling masterpiece.  But A Zoo In Winter is a really riveting, we...

Stargazing Dog Takashi Murakami Stargazing Dog is a story about a man and his relationship with his dog.  After he loses his job and his wife leaves him, "Daddy" (as his dog calls him) drives south on a road trip where we get to see the two bond.  We know from the opening scene that things aren't going to end well for the two, as their bodies are found in his car near a camp site, long dead, but we get to see the events that lead to that lonely tragic scene.  Much of the story is told through the eyes of the dog, with a naive, loyal voice, as we see "Daddy" spiral closer and closer to his death.  I found seeing this story from the dog's point of view kind of irritating, to be honest.  It's something else when a manga like Chi's Sweet Home is all about a cute animal doing cute things and getting some laughs out of it, but  Stargazing Dog  is a pretty bleak, serious story, and the dog's naive voice just kind of clashes with the overal...

I hope you're enjoying Manga Week here at Comics-and-More !  Here's a little break to take a look at the books hitting comic shops today.  This is the book you should be paying attention to... Mudman #1 - Kind of a slow week, but this could be a lot of fun.  A new superhero series from Paul Grist ( Jack Staff )! Other Noteworthy Releases Archie: The Best of Samm Schwartz (Volume 1) HC Bob Powell Terror HC Candlegrave GN Captain Swing GN Classic Next Men (Volume 2) TP Green Lantern: War of the Green Lanterns HC The Marvel Art of John Romita Jr. HC Next Men (Volume 2) HC X 3-In-1 Edition (Volume 1)

Princess Knight (Volume 1) Osamu Tezuka Originally beginning its serialization over fifty years ago (in 1953) in Shojo Club , Princess Knight was reworked and serialized three more times in different magazines, spawning a TV series, a film, and shaping the future of shoujo manga for generations to come.  The version that Vertical collects here, in the first of two collections, is translated from the Tezuka Osamu Manga Zenshu edition from 1977, but the story was very similar from one serialization to another. Princess Knight follows Princess Sapphire, who pretends to be a prince to inherit the throne one day.  A little trouble-making cherub named Tink gave her a boy heart to go along with her girl heart before she was born, so she has aspects of both genders (she's very courageous and good with a sword, and also gentle and empathetic).  Despite the significant risks involved, Sapphire does dress as a girl sometimes, and it's as a girl that she falls...

The Drops of God (Volume 1) Tadashi Agi & Shu Okimoto The Drops of God is an award-winning manga that actually influences the wine industry, and is highly-regarded in many countries, including France.  The story follows Shizuku, the son of a world famous wine critic, who has turned his back on wine his whole life since his father, Kanzaki, kind of forced techniques to enjoy wine down Shizuku's throat his entire life.  When his father dies, the terms of the will state that Shizuku must compete to inherit the fortune that is Kanzaki's wine collection, against a top wine critic whom his father recently adopted.  And so the competition begins to identify the twelve wines that Kanzaki has deemed "the drops of god."  Shizuku's motives are not profit-based, but are more about trying to understand his father, which makes his journey into the world of wine one where readers wish to see him succeed (especially against such an arr...

It's Manga Week at Comics-and-More , and to kick it off, this week's Comics-and-More Podcast is dedicated to Naoko Takeuchi's Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon and Codename: Sailor V !  Expect to see manga reviews all week here at Comics-and-More! Reviewed: Part One: Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Volume 1) Naoko Takeuchi Part Two: Codename: Sailor V (Volume 1) Naoko Takeuchi And for your further viewing pleasure, don't miss the Comics-and-More Podcast that sees us discussing the first volume of Shimura Takako's Wandering Son !

On this episode of the Comics-and-More Podcast , Patrick Markfort and I discuss the two big titles from the newly relaunched X-Men line. Reviewed: Part One: Uncanny X-Men #1 Keiron Gillen & Carlos Pacheco Part Two: Wolverine and the X-Men #1 Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo For further reading: X-Men Schism #1-5 Jason Aaron, Carlos Pacheco & Cam Smith X-Men Regeneration #1 Kieron Gillen & Billy Tan

Here is the book you should be paying attention to, in comic shops tomorrow! Princess Knight (Volume 1) - Finally somebody has translated this - thank you, Vertical!  Osamu Tezuka's manga that was extremely influential in shaping shoujo manga.  And on that note, next week Comics-and-More will be dedicated to manga for Manga Week!  See reviews of manga every week day (including Princess Knight ), as well as a podcast devoted to Sailor Moon ! Other Noteworthy Releases Dominion GN Essential Sgt Fury (Volume 1) TP Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec (Volume 2): The Mad Scientist and a Dusting of Mummies HC Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus (Volume 1) HC Lily Renee, Escape Artist GN Northanger Abbey #1 (of 5) The Occultist #1 (of 3) PC Cast's House of Night #1 (of 5) Point One #1 Return To Perdition HC Saga of the Swamp Thing (Book 6) HC Simon and Kirby Library: Crime HC Spy vs Spy by Prohias Omnibus HC

No Longer Human (Volume 1) Usamaru Furuya Based on the novel by Osamu Dazai Osamu Dazai's No Longer Human is the second bestselling novel in all of Japan, and Usamaru Furuya adapted that beloved story into a manga for Dazai's 100th birthday.  And is very successful.  This book sees a manga artist looking for inspiration for a new story, and stumbling across the on-line journals of Yozo Oba.  Oba is a student loved by his fellow classmates, smart but modest, and entertaining and funny, as well as handsome and rich.  But his life is a charade.  He's very calculating in how he acts around people and puts on a show so that people will like him.  He doesn't connect with other people, doesn't understand them, and so his life has become a farce.  Oba soon meets Masao Horiki, a bad boy who's used to indulging his whims: drinking, smoking and going to prostitutes for sex.  And it seems that Oba isn't new to this world.  When he sleeps with prostit...

I'm a little behind on my blogging, but I'm finally getting around to my picks from Previews Catalogue for December.  Here are the books that I think may get overlooked, or that I'm just plain excited about... Memorial #1 - This new title from Chris Roberson ( iZombie ) and Rich Ellis sees a young woman inherit a magic shop, and propels her into the world of the supernatural. Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes #1 - This 80-page one-shot kind of wraps up Grant Morrison's Batman Incorporated series, but with Batman Inc still a part of DC's New 52, this may not be the last we'll see of it. Defenders #1 - A relaunch of a title that has had several incarnations, this time with former members like Dr. Strange, and new faces like Red She-Hulk. Kramer's Ergot (Volume 8) - Smaller in scale (I'm talking content and physical size here), the new Kramer's Ergot anthology is sure to please, whatever the format. John Romita's The Amazing Spide...

Here is the book you should be paying attention to, in comic shops tomorrow... Ganges #4 - It's kind of a slow week, but it's always cause for celebration when a new issue of Kevin Huizenga's comic comes out! Other Noteworthy Releases Absolute Sandman (Volume 5) HC Batman: Noel HC Black Widow: Itsy-Bitsy Spider HC Hellboy: House of the Living Dead HC Joe the Barbarian HC No Longer Human (Volume 1) Peanuts #0 Savage Dragon #175 Six Guns #1 (of 5) Uncanny X-Men #1 Villians For Hire #1 (of 5)