Monkey Covers

Sunday is Monkey Covers day here at YACB. Because there's nothing better than a comic with a monkey on the cover.

Today we have the 1977 cover to 2000 A.D. #5, which features Judge Dredd taking on a giant cyborg gorilla. Giant Cyborg Gorilla. I love comic books!

(Standard disclaimer about giant cyborg gorillas not really being monkeys applies.)

Image courtesy of the GCD. Click on the image for a larger version.

Friday Meme

Via Sara, a Google Game:

"Dave needs to..."

Dave needs to be kept abreast.

Dave needs to start paying more attention to what Judi does around here.

Dave needs to learn how to interact with people like a human.

Dave needs to have that mole looked at, man.

Dave needs to come back home.

Dave needs to finish the login page.

Dave needs to inject some major caffeine into his team.

Dave needs to walk around a bit.

Dave needs to know what kind of information on phosphorus should be included.

Dave needs to take a nutrient-rich carbohydrate.

Dave needs to realize that money will not solve his problems.

Dave needs to straighten himself out, find the bullseye, and hit it.

Dave needs to win and him beating the odds makes him much more of a superstar.

YACB Bulletins

ITEM! Supergirl invents the Internet.

ITEM! Happy First Blogiversary to Dave's Long Box.

ITEM! What if Alan Moore didn't come to DC Comics? Karen Berger might have turned to Russell Simmons... (via Glyphs).

ITEM! Does X-Factor #5 succeed as noir? (via Johanna)

Quick Boom! Reviews

Planetary Brigade #2
by Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis, Fabio Moon, Zid of Ifs, Joe Abraham, Alfa of Ifs

Pretty much more of the same as the first issue. Most of the issue centers around a fight between the dysfunctional team and a batch of Lovecraftian nasties. Even though Giffen & DeMatteis through some character bits in, I still don't have a good feel for the team members, although the woman with the third eye is starting to develop a personality. I couldn't name any of them out of a line-up. The art round-robin continues as well, and even though this time there's a greater degree of consistency, I still think that a regular artist would be a better idea.

Rating: 2.5 (of 5)


Jeremiah Harm #2
by Keith Giffen, Alan Grant, Rael Lyra & Joe Prado

Harm arrives on Earth, hot on the trail of the three escaped mass murderers, and after a stop-off in an inner-city clinic to introduce some secondary characters, much mayhem ensues. If you enjoyed the Lobo-esque violence and mayhem of the first issue, you'll like this too.

Rating: 2.5 (of 5)


Zombie Tales: The Dead #1
by lots of people

A collection of six unrelated short stories about zombies. They're all pretty well done, good examples of how you can tell a decent story--world-building and all--in a short page count. My favorite of the bunch is Johanna Stokes and Cynthia Martin's "Zoombies," which features a monkey leading a group of zoo denizens against a zombie hoard--I would tially read a regular series based on this. This collection is strictly for zombie fans, but if you like zombie comics you'll like this.

Rating: 3 (of 5)


(review copies of these comics were provided by the publisher)

New This Week: March 29, 2006: Best Week Ever!

I am hereby proclaiming this, the final week of March, 2006, the Best Week Ever for new comics!

Normally I point out a Pick of the Week, that one item you really should get. Sometimes the pickings are slim, but I usually manage to come up with one.

This week however, there are just too many damn good comics to choose from.

At the very top of the list is the collection of Root Nibot & Colleen Coover's Banana Sunday, last year's best miniseries. All of you who claimed you were waiting for the trade, now's your chance. If you don't like Banana Sunday, you just don't like comics.

Also in collection is the Alias Omnibus, collecting every issue of Bendis's Marvel/MAX series in one big honking hardcover. Yes, $70 is a bit steep, but to but all 28 issues individually would have cost you $84, so it's a bargain (and if you shop around you can get it for less...). And if that's not enough Bendis for you, Marvel also have the final trade collection of his Daredevil run.

But that's not all! There's also the bargain-priced edition of the Superman Archives, vol. 1. And also Lost in Space: Voyage to the Bottom of the Soul, which finally completes Bill Mumy and Michal Dutkiewicz's story, collecting the first previously published issues with the final six issues that never saw the light of day when Innovation folded.

Manga? Yes, we have that too, with the final volume of Osamu Tezuka's Buddha hitting the stores.

You say you want comics? Those regular old floppies? There's great stuff there as well, starting with the fourth issue of Kevin Huizenga's Or Else, bringing what is sure to be more inspired cartooning from the master craftsman.

Also in comics there's the third issue of Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely's All Star Superman. And a new Star Wars: Tag & Bink comic. And the long-awaited return of Queen & Country to comics (did you read the novels--they're quite good!) And a new issue of Middleman...

And to top it all off, Becky Cloonan steps out on her own with the debut of her TokyoPop OEL title East Coast Rising.


So how's that for a huge bunch of Picks of the Week?


There are other comics of interest too, such as:

Antarctic have a new issue of Gold Digger (#73--#72 just came out last week...)

Dark Horse have a new issue of Usagi Yojimbo (#92).

DC continue the OYL fiesta with Action Comics (#837), Blue Beetle (#1), and Green Lantern (#10); and also have new issues of Lucifer (#72) & JLA Classified (#19); plus a collection of the Lady Constantine mini and a new Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives (vol. 18).

IDW have Peter David-ness with Fallen Angel #4 and Spike vs. Dracula #2.

Image have collections for The Ballad of Sleeping Beauty & Sea of Red (vol. 2); and new issues of Gødland (#9), Invincible (#30), and The Walking Dead (#27).

Marvel have the Captain America 65th Anniversary Special, the third New Avengers handcover, and new issues of Ultimate Spider-Man (#92) & X-Statix Presents Dead Girl (#3).

Top Shelf have the final issue of The Surrogates (#5).


See, what did I tell you? Best Week Ever! Just be sure to bring along your credit card when you visit your FNLCS--you're going to need it!

More Go-Go Adventures Make Dave's Heart Happy!

"Maybe we'll do a Go-Go adventure as a minicomic."

Publisher's Weeekly interviews Colleen Coover & Paul Tobin (aka Root Nibot) on the release of the collection of Banana Sunday, last year's best mini-series.

Manga News Round-up

Baltimore Sun: "For fans of manga, it's more than a comic"

Once publishers persuaded chain bookstores (as opposed to comics shop) to carry their manga girls could find it easily.

The Japan Times: "Modern teaching tools capitalize on 'Japan cool'"

...by playing on the current cachet of Japanese culture, teachers create an invaluable association between learning and fun.

Fort Worth Star Telegram: "East meets West at the library":

Alisa Mask, 13, of Double Oak sat next to a stack of 18 borrowed mangas Sunday. She said she appreciates the realism of mangas because they help her deal with problematic situations.