Comics and More

Here are the standout books shipping to comic shops tomorrow! . Pick of the Week . American Elf: The Collected Sketchbook Diaries of James Kochalka (Book 3) - James Kochalka just passed ten years of keeping a sketchbook diary, and here's the third collected volume of his insightful, funny, strange daily strips. . Other Noteworthy Releases . . Black Jack (Volume 2) Body Bags One-Shot Bruce the Little Blue Spruce HC - An all-ages title, part of IDW's new ..... Shadowline imprint! Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight #19 Captain America: The Death of Captain America (Volume 3) ..... Premiere HC The Comics Journal #294 Fight Or Run #1 - New Kevin Huizenga! Harvey Pekar Conversations SC Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 #4 (of 6) - Finally! New Avengers (Volume 8): Secret Invasion Book 1 Premiere HC Showcase Presents Sgt. Rock (Volume 2) TP Sloth TP - Now in softcover! Umbrella Academy: Dallas #1 X-Men First Class: Band of Brothers TP

Slam Dunk (Volume 1) Takehiko Inoue . I'm not a fan of basketball. Or sports in general for that matter. But it turns out, the main character of this manga, Hanamichi Sakuragi, isn't either. In fact, he knows pretty much nothing about basketball. But he's tall, athletic, fast...and a pretty girl noticed him and thinks he should join the high school team. Hanamichi has never been a lady's man (he's been rejected fifty times), but he vows to win over Haruko Akagi, who happens to have a crush on a star basketball player, and whose brother is the coach of the high school team. In order to win a spot on the team, Hanamichi goes head-to-head with Haruko's brother and subsequently has to win him over, along with the rest of the team. But his battle doesn't end there, as he needs to get down the basics of the game (such as, you know, dribbling) before he can play with the other guys. Luckily, he has a lot of potential and is seen as worth the effort to teac...

Lora Innes . The award-winning webcomic The Dreamer saw print this past week, through IDW Publishing. The book, by Lora Innes, follows high school girl Beatrice Whaley, a popular drama nerd whose crush has finally noticed her in a big way. But following a recent dream where she's transported to 1776 during the American Revolution, she can't seem to get a man from the past out of her head. His name is Warren and he's part of Knowlton's Rangers, a group of teachers, farmers, etc. turned soldiers, and he courageously saves Beatrice's life from the enemy and sweeps her off her feet. I can definitely see the appeal of the book - there's high romance, an interesting contrast between her life in high school and the dreamscapes of war, and the art is charming (although a bit stiff at times). By the conclusion of the first issue of the series, the characters are still a bit flat, but that could certainly change as the story progresses, just as the art could get a l...

Here are the best-sounding books shipping to comic shops tomorrow! Kind of a light week... . Pick of the Week . Jack Kirby's The Demon Omnibus HC - From the early 1970's, this collects the entirety of the original beloved 16-issue series by Jack Kirby in a nice deserving format. That's 384 pages for just $50! . Other Noteworthy Releases . Daniel X: Alien Hunter GN Dead Space HC Fables (Volume 11): War and ..... Pieces TP Fuzz and Pluck: Splitsville HC Heroes (Volume 2): Standard ..... Edition HC Lagoon HC Punisher by Garth Ennis Omnibus HC Spider-Man: Kraven's First Hunt Premiere HC The Spirit Special #1 Star Trek: The Last Generation #1 Swallow Me Whole The Walking Dead (Volume 4) HC The X-Files #1 (of 6) X-Men: Magik: Storm and Illyana Premiere HC Young X-Men (Volume 1): Final Genesis TP Youngblood (Volume 1) HC

Astral Project (Volume 1) marginal & Shuji Takeya . Astral Project in a new manga from CMX, written by the author of Old Boy (as marginal is an alias for Garon Tsuchiya). The book is about Masahiko, whose sister has just died. He doesn't get along with his family, but takes a keepsake from his sister's room - an unlabeled CD that was in her player that must have been the last thing she listened to before she passed away mysteriously. On the CD is some jazz music that sends Masahiko outside of his physical body. He finds he can fly across the skies and move objects, unseen by others in his astral form, and can repeat the experience whenever he listens to his sister's CD. But this ability also raises plenty of questions, about his sister's death, about where the CD came from, and it only gets more complicated when he realizes that he's not the only one with the ability to leave his body. . I was really impressed with this manga. It's a great story, has...

Chris Ware . The latest installment of Chris Ware's Acme Novelty Library opens with a short science fiction tale called "The Seeing Eye Dogs of Mars," a disturbing little story about a pair of couples who are sent to Mars to establish a settlement. Not long after their arrival, things go wrong, as the first supply ship doesn't arrive. This is a pretty engrossing story, but quite strange, with the protagonist doing some pretty awful things. Within the context of this volume, this science fiction story is actually a short work written by Rusty Brown's odd father, W.K. Brown, for which he received some acclaim. The rest of this installment of Acme Novelty Library then shifts focus to follow not Rusty Brown, but secondary character W.K. Brown himself, mostly delving into his past just before getting friendly with his wife. W.K. Brown is odd and awkward, as we've seen throughout the initial chapters of this series, and this just goes one step further to ill...

I've been sick, so it took awhile for me to get around to doing a long post like this one, but finally, here are the noteworthy books shipping to comic shops in January, from items found in Previews Catalogue ... Dark Horse B.P.R.D.: The Black Goddess #1 (of 5) - A new B.P.R.D. tale! Clover Omnibus Edition - The manga has been out of print for a long time, so here's an omnibus edition of the classic story by supergroup CLAMP! DC Comics The Compleat Death Deluxe Edition HC - Both Death mini-series by Neil Gaiman, as well as short stories from various places featuring the fan-favorite character. Only $34.99. Final Crisis #7 - The final issue of Grant Morrison's epic crossover! The Losers by Jack Kirby HC - Jack Kirby's World War II stories are collected for the first time! Drawn & Quarterly Kaspar GN - Quebec artist Diane Obomsawin's first translated work to English follows the life of Kaspar Hauser, a man surrounded by mysteryduring his stay in Nuremberg in the...

Here are the most exciting books shipping to comic shops this week! . Pick of the Week . Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight (Volume 3): Wolves At the Gate TP - The latest collection of Joss Whedon's season eight of Buffy gets collected this week, this one written by Drew Goddard of Cloverfield fame, featuring the return of Dracula into the main slayer's life, and many other shocks and surprises. A very good read. . Other Noteworthy Releases . Batman: Cacophony #1 (of 3) - ..... Kevin Smith's return to comics... ..... er, they did get the finished scripts ..... before publishing this issue, right? Black Terror #1 Civil War HC The Cleaners #1 (of 4) The Dreamer #1 Fables Covers by James Jean HC Fruits Basket (Volume 21) Hulk (Volume 1): Red Hulk Premiere HC Jim Butcher's Dresden Files: Storm Front #1 (of 4) JLA/Avengers TP New X-Men by Grant Morrison Ultimate Collection (Volume 3) - ..... Final volume Powr Mastrs (Volume 2) GN Push #1 (of 6) Salt Water Taffy (Volume ...

We Were There (Volume 1) Yuki Obata . When Nanami Takahashi begins to go to a new school, all she wants is to make some new friends. Things don't go exactly as planned at first, but before long Nanami finds herself among friends and falling for an aloof boy, despite herself. Motoharu Yano also happens to be the most popular boy in school and seems determined to frustrate Nanami to no end. As the book proceeds, we see more of a tender side to Yano, however, and learn that things are much more complicated than they appear on the outside. That being said, it's kind of hard not to fall for Yano a little bit. This book actually won the 50th Shogakukan Manga Award, and it's no wonder with the beautiful art and the slow build of emotions and tension. I wasn't so sure I'd like this book from the initial chapters sampled in Shojo Beat a few months back, but I decided to give it a chance and I'm glad I did in the end. This is a fun romantic story and I'm genui...

Matt Maxwell & Luis Guaragna . With the sequel to the first Strangeways graphic novel, Strangeways: Murder Moon , beginning to be serialized at Newsarama (this time with vampires called Strangeways: The Thirsty ), I thought it would be appropriate to read and review that initial book in the series featuring werewolves in the Old West. The book follows Seth Collins (as does the new series), a former officer in the Army who travels to the town Silver Branch, seeking his sister who's written him for help. Unfortunately, once in the area, his wagon is attacked and all of the other passengers are murdered by a monster, save himself and a friend. It turns out that the town is being terrorized by a werewolf, and the citizens are eager to kill first, ask questions later with the new faces arriving in town. . So, fun premise. I'm not very excited about Westerns in general, but I was pleasantly surprised to find the story pretty engrossing. Unfortunately, there are quite a few cli...

Here are the books shipping to comic shops this week with the most potential for awesomeness! . Pick of the Week . Watchmen stuff! - In anticipation of the film (you may have heard of it), DC is releasing a hardcover edition of Watchmen this week, as well as Watchmen: The Absolute Edition . Also coming out by Titan Books (this has been in bookstores for a few weeks already, so you may have already seen and/or purchased it) is Watching the Watchmen , Dave Gibbons's account of the creation of this masterpiece, with plenty of goodies, designed by Chip Kidd and Mike Essl. . Other Noteworthy Releases . Absolute Sandman (Volume 4) HC Alan's War GN Aliens Omnibus (Volume 5) TP Angel Omnibus TP Claymore (Volume 13) Counter X (Volume 3): X-Man TP Daredevil by Frank Miller & Klaus Janson (Volume 1) TP Diana Prince: Wonder Woman (Volume 3) TP Disney's DuckTales: Gold Odyssey TP Drain (Volume 1) TP Essential Hulk (Volume 5) TP Final Crisis: Resist #1 Fishtown HC Freakangels (Volu...

Bat-Manga! The Secret History of Batman in Japan SC Chip Kidd, Geoff Spear & Saul Ferris . I've been anticipating this book's release for awhile now. I went to the Bat-Manga! panel at Comic-Con and heard Chip Kidd talk about putting this book together and it sounded just fascinating. And the final product is really quite beautiful. The book is mostly a collection of comics by Jiro Kuwata, which are some really fun comics. They were made after the campy Batman television show had debuted in America and are kind of in the same vain - a bit cheesy and over-the-top, but they are very good and exciting as well. Batman and Robin fight villains we've heard of such as Clayface, but also some weird guys like Lord Death Man, who has the uncanny ability to keep rising from his grave. And this version of Batman isn't shy about using guns either. It's just too bad that some of these rare strips aren't completed in this volume, as the editors were unable to trac...

Here's the run-down of November release dates for films, music, DVDs and books, as well as my box office predictions. In Theaters November 7th The Boy In the Striped Pajamas House JCVD Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Otto, Or Up With the Dead People Pray the Devil Back To Hell Repo: The Genetic Opera Role Models Soul Men The World Unseen Predictions: 1. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa ($55 million), 2. High School Musical 3: Senior Year ($8.5 m), 3. Role Models ($8 m), 4. Zack and Miri Make a Porno ($6.5 m), 5. Changeling ($5.5 m) In Theaters November 14th A Christmas Tale Dostana The Dukes Faded Memories House of Sleeping Beauties How About You Quantum of Solace Slumdog Millionaire (On Wednesday) Predictions: 1. Quantum of Solace ($52 m), 2. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa ($24 m), 3. High School Musical 3: Senior Year ($5.5 m), 4. Zack and Miri Make a Porno ($4 m), 5. Role Models ($3.5 m) In Theaters November 21st Bolt I Can't Think Straight Lake City Special Twilight Prediction...

Garth Ennis & Russ Braun . You don't hear too many war stories featuring female protagonists, which is part of the reason I was drawn to this three issue mini-series. Garth Ennis, known for his gritty storytelling, brings a harrowing story of war in the form of legendary female bomber pilots who flew over the Eastern front in flimsy wooden planes in 1942. Dubbed "The Night Witches" because of their gender, the wooden planes they flew (like brooms), and how they attacked in the dead of night, these women are all but massacred in the first issue of the series, after their initial mission to bomb a bridge. But ideas are brewing in the womens' heads for what strategies they can use on their night flights to be more successful. This book is violent and gory, like any good truthful war story, and beautifully drawn by Russ Braun. Garth Ennis paints a noble picture of these women, who are true soldiers despite the lukewarm welcome they receive when they arrive at Vostok F...

By Various . The Young Avengers Presents collection includes all six issues of the comic mini-series, each featuring a different character (or characters, often with a supporting cast), and each by a different creative team. The quality of each of the issues is pretty strong in the end. These are just great characters and I think the writers conveyed the voices of each of them pretty well. . The first issue concentrates on Patriot as he has some doubts about himself as a hero and what it means to be a hero. Bucky guest stars and offers some sage advice in a sweet, kind of sappy story by Ed Brubaker and Paco Medina. . Next we have Brian Reed and Harvey Tolibao focusing on Hulkling. This had the most interesting art of the issues, pretty nice with a fun fight at the beginning. Here we see Hulkling confront Captain Marvel about possibly being his father. . Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Alina Urusov spin a yarn featuring brothers Wiccan and Speed as they attempt to locate their mother to g...

Every year before Halloween, I put together a list of some specific sort of monster so people can get in the mood for the holiday and read some ghoulish comics. Last year it was vampires . Before that, werewolves and witches . This time around, it's zombies. Now, there are a hell of a lot of zombie comics out there, so this is only a sampling, but this is a good place to get started if zombies are your thing... . The Walking Dead Robert Kirkman's extremely popular book is very character-focused, and explores not only the darkness of zombies, but the dark side of humanity in a world besieged by a zombie plague. I highly recommend this book, but it takes a few volumes to really get good. . Zombie Powder This is an unfinished manga series by Tite Kubo , creator of Bleach . It follows a small group of people on a quest to find The Rings of the Dead, twelve rings that together, can resurrect the dead, but individually, drain the life force of those who touch it. . Escape of the ...

Here are the books with most potential shipping to comic shops tomorrow! . Pick of the Week . Bat-Manga: The Secret History of Batman In Japan SC - I just picked up my copy of this at work and it looks pretty damn awesome! There's a little half-slipcase that wraps around the bottom of the book to hide Robin with a badass gun in his hand. But anyways, Chip Kidd and friends pulled together this book of manga and merchandise of Batman up to some seriously weird stuff in his Japanese incarnation. . Other Noteworthy Releases . Acme Novelty Library #19 HC American Presidents SC - This is a flipbook of both presidential candidates' biographies. Also available are separate comics featuring Obama and McCain. Astonishing X-Men: Ghost Boxes #1 (of 2) Battlefields: The Night Witches #1 (of 3) Berrie Wrightson's Frankenstein HC Empowered (Volume 4) TP Essential Marvel Horror (Volume 2) TP Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns #1 Ghost Omnibus (Volume 1) TP Green Lantern: In Brightest ...

Black Jack (Volume 1) TP Osamu Tezuka . Osamu Tezuka's Black Jack follows the adventures of an extremely skilled (though unlicensed) surgeon, who will take pretty much any case on for the right price. Each chapter of the book is basically a short story unto itself, either following Black Jack himself, sometimes uncovering little pieces of his past, or following a patient, with Black Jack swooping in like a force of nature. As is the usual with Tezuka, this is beautifully illustrated and extremely dramatic. I really enjoy reading the stories with the especially outrageous procedures that Black Jack undertakes, like a brain transplant or putting together the body parts of an unformed baby to create a live one. It can get pretty weird, to put it mildly. But that's really the fun with this book. Things are intense and really captivating to the end, with Black Jack performing miracles left and right with hardly a hitch. I'm not sure how Tezuka sustained this format for sevente...

Sarah Ellerton . Every once in awhile I check in on TopWebComics.com and I recently saw that the webcomic The Phoenix Requiem was at the top of the list. The art caught my eye immediately - it was quite beautiful. And somewhat familiar, but I couldn't quite place it at first. This fantasy title is written by Sarah Ellerton, creator of Inverloch , another webcomic that had a few volumes published in paperback a few years back. There's even a reference to a character from that series in her newest title, which is really quite good. . Sarah Ellerton is about a volume and a half into the story of The Phoenix Requiem (eight chapters), and once I began reading, it was pretty hard to stop, especially as things came to a head at the end of the first volume. But it's not finished obviously, and I thought that a volume in would be a good place to stop for now. The story follows a young woman, Anya, who's training to be a nurse in a small Victorian-esque village where many peo...