Comics and More

Here is the book you should be paying attention to, in comic shops tomorrow... The Complete Peanuts (Volume 15): 1979-1980 HC - The latest volume of Fantagraphics ' excellent Complete Peanuts reprint project dips into material from the 80's, and includes an introduction from Al Roker. Other Noteworthy Releases Age of X Universe #1 (of 2) Best of Dick Tracy (Volume 1) TP Chimo GN Dollhouse: Epitaphs One-Shot Fish Police (Volume 1) TP Godzilla: King of Monsters #1 James Patterson's Witch & Wizard (Volume 2): Operation Zero HC Jimmy Olsen #1 Kid K-OS (Volume 1): Agents of Doom GN Mome (Volume 21) GN Strange Tales II HC Superman: The Black Ring HC Tenken GN Vanguard Frazetta Classics (Volume 1): Johnny Comet HC Vanguard Frazetta Classics (Volume 2): White Indian HC

Jonathan Hickman & Steve Epting Fantastic Four relaunched this week as FF in wake of team member Human Torch's death, FF standing for Future Foundation, something that Hickman introduced earlier in his run on the series. The first issue of this new direction for the team continues the grieving process for the team, as seen through the eyes of Spider-Man, the latest person to join the Future Foundation. We see Ben's guilt for not being the one to have died in Johnny's place, Franklin's reluctance to enjoy things he otherwise would have, making it clear to Peter in an awkward scene that his uncle can not be replaced. The Human Torch's death certainly had to be addressed at the beginning of this series, but it really made for a downer of a first issue, although Hickman did interject a little action into the issue through a breakout attempt initiated by A.I.M. to bring one of the Fantastic Four's villains back into the picture. Also, there was a really neat ...

Many of you may not be aware that I write fiction, but my first YA novel, Twice Bitten has just become available through Barnes & Noble digitally for just $1.99!  It's a gay paranormal romance with the following official synopsis: Jesse Hartwick is a teen celebrity, recently out of the closet, and just beginning to take off as the next big thing in Hollywood. Distanced from his only family, Jesse puts his all into his career, leading a lonely life in the spotlight. Everything changes one day when he meets Kurt, a cute mysterious stranger who saves him from a mob of fans, beginning a romance that will change things forever, but is Jesse's celebrity status the only thing that Kurt is interested in? When Lane comes into the picture, it just confuses Jesse more, but he can hardly deny the strong feelings he has for him, especially since he didn't even know that Jesse was a celebrity when he met him, making him all the more appealing. Shortly after meeting these tw...

A little later than usual this month, here are some choice books from Previews Catalogue that I think may get overlooked or are just plain exciting to me, due in comic shops in May... Captain Britain (Volume 1): Birth of a Legend HC - Finally, the early adventures of Captain Britain are being collected in the US (for the first time), featuring talent such as Chris Claremont and John Buscema. Courtney Crumrin Tales #2: The League of Ordinary Gentlemen - Finally, Courtney Crumrin returns!!  This is a sequel to Portrait of the Warlock As a Young Man , featuring Uncle Aloysius. Jack Kirby Omnibus (Volume 1) Starring Green Arrow HC - Yep, collecting odds and ends from around the DC universe to headd to the Jack Kirby experience. Barks' Bear Book HC -  From Yoe! Books comes a collection of Carl Barks comedy series, collected for the first time, featuring a bear and a burro. Yeah! SC - Collecting a series that was a collaboration between Peter Bagge and Gilbert Hern...

Here is the book you should be paying attention to, in comic shops tomorrow... Stumptown (Volume 1) HC  - Stumptown was a mini-series published by Oni Press last year, from Greg Rucka and Matthew Southworth.  It was kind of an overlooked title, but it wound up on several best-of-the-year lists for 2010, and deservedly so.  This is one of the best outputs from Greg Rucka period.   Stumptown features a witty protagonist in the fully-realized Private Investigator Dex, who doesn't have the best of luck, but is good at what she does.  If you missed it the first time around, pick up this collection. Other Noteworthy Releases Arctic Marauder HC Cardboard Valise GN FF #1 Finder Library (Volume 1) TP Invincible Ultimate Collection (Volume 6) HC New Character Parade GN Phoenix Without Ashes HC Savage Dragon: Emperor Dragon TP Showcase Presents: The Witching Hour (Volume 1) TP The Story of Lee (Volume 1) GN Thing Classic (Volume 1) TP

Goong: The Royal Palace (Volume 1) Park So Hee I just got back from C2E2, but I'll probably talk more about that later.  While I was in Chicago, I scored some good manga, and had enough down-time to squeeze in a manga for today.  Goong: The Royal Palace is a book I've been eyeing for awhile now, just because I love the elaborate clothing and backgrounds on the beautiful covers, and I couldn't resist picking up the first volume when I saw it on sale.  This title is actually manhwa, from Korean creator Park So Hee, and sees a sort of Cinderella story with a reluctant heroine.  It takes place in a parallel world, where the monarchy still thrives in Korea, when it actually ended a long time ago.  It's sort of a what-if that sees the royals living in the palaces of Korea, and treated like celebrities, with their own breed of paprazzi following them around, the media going crazy over every little incident.  Chae-Kyung is drawn into this world when she is chos...

Here is the book you should be paying attention to, in comic shops tomorrow... Ruse #1 (of 4) - Another book from Marvel's Crossgen imprint debuts this week, the first issue in a four issue mini-series.  This was one of Crossgen's best titles, a Victorian mystery, and former Crossgen creator Mark Waid is writing, with Mirco Pierfederici on pencils.  Also, note that another comic company's resurrection is taking place this week (and not just as an imprint), as many Atlas Comics make their debut this week, including Grim Ghost and Phoenix . Other Noteworthy Releases Classic Jurassic Park (Volume 2): Raptors' Revenge TP Deadpool Max: History of Violence #1 Grim Ghost #1 IZombie (Volume 1): Dead To the World TP Krazy & Ignatz 1912-1921: Benevolent Brick TP Phoenix #1 Sea Ghost #1: Sea Ghost In the Machine Spider #1 Suddenly Something Happened GN Xombi #1

Amnesia Labyrinth (Volume 1) Nagaru Tanigawa & Natsumi Kohane Souji Kushiki returns home from going to school afar to live with his family and attend high school with people he grew up with.  He's good at everything he does, from sports to his high grades to his popularity, and he definitely leaves an impression on the female population.  In fact when he left to go to high school elsewhere, he left plenty of broken hearts in his wake.  But not Sasai, a girl from his class who's pretty blunt (and proud) about not having had feelings for him.  She's a strong-headed young woman who's really persistent in getting Souji to help her with a murder investigation.  During the summer, three students from their high school have been murdered and she thinks with his wits, and his father who works for the police, she can help solve the case and find out why one of the students, whom she had a crush on, was murdered.  The only thing each victim had in co...

Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Tan Eng Huat & Timothy Green II I'm a pretty big fan of the cosmic stuff that Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have done over the past few years at Marvel, particularly with Annihilation , War of Kings and Guardians of the Galaxy .  I was not a fan of The Thanos Imperative , which I dropped after giving it a few issues when it didn't click with me.  It appears quite a bit of stuff went down at the end of that series, since in the new mini-series Annihilators , we see that the Guardians of the Galaxy have either been killed or scattered across the universe, and a new team of mega heroes, consisting of powerful cosmic characters, have risen from the ashes of The Thanos Imperative to form a new team of heroes to stop any new threat to the universe before it reaches such a critical level.  And right from the first page of Annihilators , it's pretty clear that if you haven't kept up with the cosmic goings-on at Marvel, the story isn'...

I plan on getting back to more regular posts by the end of the week, as my free time's been pretty full lately.  Anyway, here is the book you should be paying attention to, in comic shops on Wednesday... Sigil #1 (of 4) - Crossgen is resurrected with this first issue of a four-issue mini-series from Marvel's new Crossgen imprint.  It's kind of an ultimatized version of the Crossgen fans may remember, with a great team at the helm: Mike Carey and Leonard Kirk.  The story features a sixteen-year-old girl who is suddenly burdened with a symbol on her chest that turns her world upside-down. Other Noteworthy Releases Asterix: Asterix & Obelix's Birthday TP The Comics: An Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art 1895-2010 HC Infamous #1 (of 6) John Stanley's Melvin Monster (Volume 3) HC Legion of Super Villains #1 Oresama Teacher (Volume 1) Power Pack Classic (Volume 3) TP Prince Valiant (Volume 3): 1941-1942 HC Thor: The Mighty Avengers (Volume 2) TP To...

Here is the book you should be paying attention to, in comic shops on Wednesday... Roy Crane's Buz Sawyer (Volume 1): War In the Pacific HC - From Fantagraphics, this is sure to be another beautifully-produced hardcover archival project, reprinting the Roy Crane comic strip. Other Noteworthy Releases Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth #1 (of 3) Batman: Time and the Batman HC Batman Beyond: Hush Beyond TP Binky the Space Cat (Volume 1) GN Captain America and Falcon #1 Conan (Volume 1): Frost Giant's Daughter TP An Elegy For Amelia Johnson HC Herculian #1 Hexed TP Intrepids #1 Johnny Hiro (Volume 1) TP Lewis and Clark GN Marvel Zombies: Supreme #1 (of 5) Marvelman Family's Finest HC Popeye (Volume 5): Whas a Jeep HC Popeye: The Great Comic Book Tales by Bud Sagendorf (Volume 1) HC The Smurfs (Volume 5): The Smurfs and the Egg GN Superpatriot: America's Fighting Force TP Takio GN Thor: Tales of Asgard TP Venom by Daniel Way Ultimate Collection TP Wildcats V...

Black Knight (Volume 1) Kai Tsurugi Black Knight is a yaoi manga published by Blu Manga a few years ago.  I flipped through it at a used bookstore and couldn't resist purchasing it.  Yaoi manga are a sort of guilty pleasure for me.  This particular work follows Chris, a young prince who's a real pretty boy, and who has been sent to a training academy by his father, where he learns to fight alongside commoners.  One of the trainers, Zeke, looks out for him and eventually the two begin a romantic relationship, despite the difficulties it presents.  Zeke is the black knight that the title is named for, and is destined to become Chris' guardsman with the high honor of Black Knight.  For a title pretty heavy on action, the action scenes aren't executed very well.  It's sort of hard to tell what's going on and where people are in relation to each other.  What Tsurugi does well is flush out the relationship between Chris and Zeke.  A few support...

Here is the book you should be paying attention to, in comic shops on Wednesday... Ghost Projekt (Volume 1) HC - From Oni Press comes this supernatural spy thriller by Joe Harris, Steve Rolston and Dean Trippe, surrounding a mysterious weapon from the Cold War that has been stolen, and the agents who try to uncover just what danger it poses. Other Noteworthy Releases Abyss: Family Issues #1 (of 4) Ayn Rand's Anthem GN Chronicles of Kull (Volume 4): Blood of Kings & Other Stories TP Crossed: Psychopath #1 (of 6) Eerie Archives (Volume 6) HC Freakangels (Volume 5) GN The Hunger of Seven Squat Bears HC John Carpenter of Mars: Warloard of Mars TP Justice League: The Rise and Fall HC Little Lulu: Giant Size (Volume 3) TP Nemesis HC Thor: Godstorm HC Thor: The Quest For Odin HC True Blood: Tainted Love #1 Seven Soldiers of Victory (Volume 2) HC Spawn Origins (Volume 3) HC

Fairy Tail (Volume 1) Hiro Mashima From the creator of Rave Master comes a story of a magical world of wizards.  Lucy, a loud, happy-go-lucky girl, wants to join a club that has the most powerful wizards in its ranks, Fairy Tail.  Even if Fairy Tail is always getting into trouble with the council for overdoing it, who doesn't want to be among its members?  Lucy has the ability to open gateways with magical keys, and makes contracts with the celestial beings on the other side of those gates to aid her when in times of need.  It's a powerful ability that she puts to the test several times in this first book, and there's limitless potential for future celestial beings as she acquires new keys.  While traveling to a small town to see what their magic shop has in terms of keys, she meets Natsu, a guy with a huge appetite, who dispels a charm that another wizard uses on the women in the area.  They have kind of a love-hate relationship that eventually lands t...

Here is the book you should be paying attention to, in comic shops on Wednesday... Captain America by Jack Kirby Omnibus HC - Collecting Jack Kirby's run with Captain America and Falcon, the omnibus edition of this material contains over 550 pages of Jack Kirby goodness. Other Noteworthy Releases Avengers and the Infinity Gauntlet TP Bayou (Volume 2) TP Finder (Volume 1): Voice GN Formic Wars: Burning Earth #1 (of 7) Hawkeye: Blind Spot #1 (of 4) Johnny Red (Volume 1): Falcon's First Flight HC Morning Glories (Volume 1): For a Better Future TP Noche Roja HC Silver Surfer #1 (of 5) Tarzan: The Jesse Marsh Years (Volume 8) HC True Blood (Volume 1): All Together Now HC Young Justice #1

Wading through the phone book that is Previews Catalogue to dig out the good stuff...here are some items of note that I thought were worth pointing out or that I'm just plain excited about, shipping to comic shops in April... 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 this month in the form of Floyd Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse comic strip. Herc #1 & #2 - Hells yeah! I was bummed out when Incredible Hercules concluded, so it's nice to see a new ongoing rolling out this month from Greg Pak, Fred van Lente and Georges Jeanty. Sensational She-Hulk by John Byrne (Volume 1) TP - Finally. Onward Towards Out Noble Deaths GN - More manga from Drawn & Quarterly, this one by important Gekiga creator Shigeru Mizuki. Congress of the Animals HC - Hot on the heels of Weathercraft comes another full-length graphic novel from Jim Woodring, featuri...

Ben Hatke Ben Hatke's Zita the Space Girl , from First Second Books , is an all-ages fantasy starring a brave girl who leaps through a portal after her friend has been abducted, unaware of the consequences of her actions or where it will lead her.  It turns out that Zita is transported across the universe to a strange world full of a variety of creatures, and it just so happens that everyone is trying to get off of the planet just as she arrives, because a meteor is about to hit that will destroy it along with whomever is left behind.  There's a mad scramble on the surface for passage off-world, but Zita is more concerned with finding her friend.  Very quickly on this odd little planet, Zita makes friends who help her on her quest, a quest that will eventually hold the fate of the entire world in its balance.  Among her newfound friends are a giant mouse who speaks through a collar around its neck that produces words on paper for her to read, a machine th...

Here is the book you should be paying attention to, in comic shops on Wednesday... Cinderella: Fables Are Forever #1 (of 6) - The second mini-series following popular undercover spy Cinderella from Vertigo's Fables , debuts this week.  I really enjoyed the first series, although I was still pretty surprised when the collection topped the graphic novel charts when it was released.  I'm glad Chrissie Zullo is back on covers, as she created some memorable ones the first time around.  Written by Chris Roberson, illustrated by Shawn McManus. Other Noteworthy Releases Acts of Vengeance Omnibus HC Amnesia Labyrinth (Volume 1) Atlantis Attacks Omnibus HC Captain America Lives Omnibus HC Creepy Archives (Volume 9) HC Femina and Fauna: The Art of Camilla D'Errico HC Flash: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues HC Hack/Slash Ongoing #1 Li'l Depressed Boy #1 Love and Capes: Ever After #1 Marvelman Classic (Volume 2) HC Namor: The First Mutant (Volume 1) TP Namor V...

Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (Volume 1) Hiroshi Shiibashi This new shonen manga follows Rikuo Nura, who lives in a house filled with yokai, creatures from Japanese myth who come in a variety of shapes and sizes.  Yokai are known for terrorizing humans, and while many yokai are evil and are slave to their instincts to devour children, etc, some are just harmless pranksters, like most of the variety that live in Nura's house.  Nura's grandfather commands the Nura Clan, and is responsible for protecting and watching out for the yokai in the area.  As his grandson, Nura, who is one quarter yokai, is expected to take on the title of "the third," the next leader of the Nura Clan.  Nura, however, is reluctant to accept this responsibility.  He learned at a young age that people fear and despise yokai and he doesn't want any part of that, even though he loves the household he's grown up in.  Nura is also very human and unsuited for the role before...

Here is the book you should be paying attention to, in comic shops tomorrow! Cursed Pirate Girl TP - Finally, Jeremy Bastian's work is collected, after a few delays.  I've been looking forward to this one for awhile now, reinforced by his beautiful contribution to the Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard anthology, which blew me away (a page from the Mouse Guard contribution, as well as an illustration from Cursed Pirate Girl are below). Other Noteworthy Releases Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne HC Darkwing Duck Classics (Volume 1) TP Dr. Strange: From the Marvel Vault #1 High School of the Dead (Volume 1) Ivy HC Jim Butcher's Dresden Files: Storm Front (Volume 2) HC Little Lulu (Volume 26): Feud and Other Stories TP Lynd Ward: Six Novels In Woodcuts Slipcase Scenes From an Impending Marriage HC The Stand: No Man's Land #1 Superman: War of the Supermen HC Uncle Scrooge #400