Comics and More

Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples Brian K. Vaughan returns to comics with a new ongoing series from Image Comics , his first work for the comic publisher.  The story centers around two young people from opposites sides of a war, Alana and Marko.  Their people are fighting a galaxy-spanning war.  On one side, we have magic users from a moon, while on the other are a tech-heavy sort of people who employ robots, from the planet that moon orbits.  Not only have Alana and Marko defected from their people, but are in love and have conceived a child.  Neither side is happy about the child, and more than one bounty hunter is in place to track them down before word of their union spreads.  It's a very epic, ambitious story that Vaughan has planned here, obviously influenced by Star Wars .  Fiona Staples does his vision justice with some fantastic art work and beautiful coloring.  She paces this double-sized first issue perfectly, letting readers get to know the many characters, with pl

Jan Strnad & Richard Corben Ragemoor is a new horror mini-series from Dark Horse Comics that sees a castle that's been in a family for years, literally come alive.  Built in blood and nursed with blood over the centuries, Ragemoor is a living thing that only allows people to come and go as it pleases.  Late at night, the people who live there can hear the groans of stone and timbers before discovering new rooms and additions to hallways.  Vines and granite serve as its limbs, enabling it to seek out new victims to feed its thirst for blood.  This first issue serves as a nice little single story actually, as we witness a man who grew up at Ragemoor as a little boy return, scheming to claim it for his own and tear the place apart.  Obviously, Ragemoor doesn't like this idea one bit, and him and his companion are terrorized after laughing off warnings from those who live there.  It's a nice little story, but Corben's art brings it to another level, drenching the blac

Here is the book you should be paying attention to, in comic shops Wednesday... Avengers vs. X-Men #0 - Kicking off Marvel's huge crossover event that pits Avenger versus X-Man, this leads into the main twelve-issue mini-series that promises big things this Summer. Other Noteworthy Releases Art of Daniel Clowes, Modern Cartoonist HC Atomic Robo: Real Science Adventures #1 Black Charity HC Bloodstrike #26 Cinema Panopticum GN Dark Shadows (Volume 1) TP Dorothy of Oz Prequel #1 (of 4) Gone To Amerikay HC House of Odd GN Legion of Monsters TP New Deadwardians #1 (of 8) Rachel Rising (Volume 1): Shadow of Death TP Rohan At the Louvre GN Secret Avengers: Run Mission Don't Get Seen Save the World HC The Sincerest Form of Parody: Satirical Comics TP Tezuka's Dororo Complete Edition TP

This is the book you should be paying attention to, in comic shops on Wednesday.... Nancy Is Happy: The Complete Dailies: 1943-1945 HC - The first volume in a new archival project from Fantagraphics, collecting Ernie Bushmiller's classic  Nancy strip, with an introduction by Daniel Clowes. Other Noteworthy Releases BPRD: Plague of Frogs (Volume 3) HC Cartoon Monarch: Otto Soglow & the Little King HC Dinopopolous HC Dominique Laveau, Voodoo Child #1 Eerie Presents: Hunter HC Elektra: Assassin HC Ichiro GN John Carter: Gods of Mars #1 (of 5) Ragemoor #1 (of 4) Rebel Blood #1 (of 4) Sammy the Mouse (Volume 1) TP Sonic Genesis HC Star Trek Ongoing (Volume 1) TP Supercrooks #1 (of 4) Take What You Can Carry GN Ultimate Comics: X-Men by Nick Spencer (Volume 1) HC

The Earl and the Fairy (Volume 1) Ayuko, based on the novels by Mizue Tani The Earl and the Fairy was a story originally published as a series of light novels in Japan, by Mizue Tani.  It has since been adapted to manga by Ayuko, who breathes new life into the world of fairies and mystery with some really nice illustration work and a nicely-paced story.  I feel like Ayuko really gets the story and gives the characters time to breathe, drawing out scenes so readers can take things in, and arranging panels clearly and thoughtfully.  The story follows the young "fairy doctor" Lydia, who is one of the few people alive able to see and interact with fairies.  Most people think her strange, but her gifts have attracted the attention of two men, both hoping to enlist her help in tracking down a sword.  At first she is kidnapped by a man with a gang of henchmen, but is soon rescued and hired by Edgar, who wishes to find the sword so that he can authenticate his birthright, as a des

On the latest Comics-and-More Podcast , Patrick Markfort and I discuss the most recent volume of Kramers Ergot . Reviewed: Kramers Ergot (Volume 8) Edited by Sammy Harkham Part One: Part Two: Part Three: For further reading: Kramers Ergot (Volume 7) Edited by Sammy Harkham Prison Pit (Volume 1) Johnny Ryan The Heavy Hand Chris Cilla MOME (Volume 1) Summer 2005 Edited by Eric Reynolds & Gary Groth

Bill Willingham & Phil Jimenez Fairest is a new spin-off series of the popular Vertigo title Fables , which features classic fairy tale characters in the modern world.  There has previously been one other ongoing Fables spin-off series, Jack of Fables , which lastest for an impressive fifty issues, and a few mini-series featuring popular fable Cinderella, as she plays the spy game.  Mini-series such as Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love will now be contained in this new ongoing series Fairest , which will have storylines featuring a rotating cast of female characters.  Now, this debut issue of the series actually picks up on one of my favorite ongoing stories from Fables proper.  When the Fables defeated the oppressive Emperor, they first took out his right hand, Lumi, the Snow Queen, by placing Sleeping Beauty in the castle where she was stationed and putting into play Beauty's curse, wherea she is pricked by a needle and the entire castle falls asleep and is encased

Here is the book you should be paying attention to, in comic shops on Wednesday... The Complete Peanuts (Volume 17): 1983-1984 HC - There are some really exciting releases this week, but I'm going to have to go with Fantagraphics' latest volume in its continuing reprint project of Charles Schulz' all-time great comic strip, Peanuts . Other Noteworthy Releases Archie Americana (Volume 3): Best of the 60's HC Avengers Assemble #1 Avengers: The Children's Crusade HC Classic Next Men (Volume 3) TP Corto Maltese (Volume 1): Ballad of the Salt Sea TP Crime Does Not Pay Archives (Volume 1) HC DC Universe by Alan Moore HC Elektra by Greg Rucka Ultimate Collection TP Monstermen and Other Scary Stories HC Queen Crab HC Saga #1 Saucer Country #1 Showcase Presents: Young Love (Volume 1) TP The Smurfs (Volume 11): The Smurf Olympics GN Sunday Funnies Collected (Volume 1) The Uglies: Shay's Story GN Uncanny X-Men by Kieron Gillen (Volume 1) HC Womanthol

This week, I tried out a few different yaoi titles on my nookcolor.  I'm a fan of yaoi manga, but I do find that there are very few that meet or exceed my expectations.  The only recent example I can think of before the manga I just read is Black Sun , and even the second volume of that, I found to be lacking.  So one of the book I tried out was Kaname Itsuki's Interval , about a cocky athlete (Sawatari) who discovers that the protagonist of the story, Ayumu, is gay and has a crush on a classmate, and exploits him to keep his secret.  Sawatari forces Ayumu to do things for him sexually, at the same time as he develops feelings for him.  Nothing particularly interesting happens here, as this is kind of your typical high school yaoi romance.  The sex scenes are decent, but overall, this is a rather forgettable tale, I'm sorry to say. Next, I checked out the first volume of Makoto Tateno's Blue Sheep Reverie , which has a decent fan base.  In this story, Kai gets hims

Here are the books that caught my eye in Previews Catalogue , for books shipping to comic shops in April... Courtney Crumrin #1 - A new full-color Courtney Crumrin series is certainly cause for celebration!  Creator Ted Naifeh returns to his beloved character, writing and illustrating this new series. Are You My Mother?: A Comic Drama HC - One of the most anticipated graphic novels of the year is Alison Bechdel's follow-up to her hugely-successful and acclaimed  Fun Home , this book focusing on her mother, whereas Fun Home was about her father. Avengers vs. X-Men #1 (of 12) - The big Marvel crossover that has a ton of hype around it brags shocking revelations and one-on-one battles we've been waiting for. Time to see if it lives up to expectations, like few recent crossovers from the House of Ideas have. Challengers of the Unknown by Jack Kirby Omnibus HC - More Kirby collections!  This collects all of Kirby's work on the team title, good timing as the Challenger

Patrick Markfort and I discuss Carla Speed McNeil's Finder on this week's Comics-and-More Podcast ! Reviewed: The Finder Library (Volume 1) Carla Speed McNeil The Finder Library (Volume 2) Carla Speed McNeil Part One: Part Two: Part Three: For further reading: Finder: Voice Carla Speed McNeil

Here is the book you should be paying attention to, in comic shops this Wednesday... Fairest #1 -  Instead of mini-series spin-offs like we've seen from fan-favorite character Cinderella, Fables co-creator Bill Willingham is launching a new ongoing series that will have a rotating cast of female characters from the Fables universe, the first arc continuing events from a Fables story in which Briar Rose is taken from the castle where she lay dormant after dealing the Empire a blow. Other Noteworthy Releases Age of Apocalypse #1 Blue HC The Compleat Terminal City TP The Earl and the Fairy (Volume 1) Girl Genius Omnibus (Volume 1): Agatha Awakens HC Hana Kimi 3-in-1 Omnibus Edition (Volume 1) Hellboy (Volume 12): The Storm and the Fury TP Infestation 2: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (of 2) King City TP Lynda Barry: Girlhood Through the Looking Glass HC/SC The Manhattan Projects #1 Night Force #1 (of 6) Skip Beat 3-in-1 Omnibus Edition (Volume 1) Soulless: The Ma