New Library Comics: Week of August 7, 2006

Here are the comics we got in for our library collection last week:


5 o'clock shadow. /Ann Arbor, MI : M. Madden,. nos. 20-22

Blackburn, John. Coley running wild /Seattle, WA : Eros Comix, [1997]- vol. 4

Cadelo, Silvio. The romantic flower /New York : Catalan Communications, c1990.

Coe, Sue, 1951- Sheep of fools : --a song cycle for five voices /Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics, c2005.

Coleman, Joe. Muzzlers, guzzlers and good yeggs /Seattle, WA : Fantagraphics, c2005.

Comics quarterly : CQ. /North Brighton, Vic. : Fine Art Comics,. 1999

Dirty stories. /Seattle, WA : Fantagraphics Books, 1997- vols. 2-3

Fingerman, Bob. Finger filth /Seattle, WA : Eros, c1997.

Fonteriz. XXX women /Seattle, WA : Eros Comix, 1999.

Get bent! /York, PA : Ben T. Steckler,. no. 7

Hernandez, Gilbert. Birdland /Seattle, WA : Eros Comix, 1999, c1994.

Historietas de Walt Disney. /Mexico, D.F. : Organizacion Editorial Novaro. nos. 1013, 1014

Levis, Georges. Coffee, tea, or me? /Seattle, Wash. : Eros Comix, 1998, c1991.

Linterna Verde. /Mexico : Editorial Novaro,. no. 1280

Love and rockets (Fantagraphics Books) Love and rockets. /Stamford, CT : Fantagraphics Books, 1982- vol. 2 no. 15

Olexa, Steve. War fix /New York : NBM ComicsLit, c2006.

Schulz, Charles M. The complete Peanuts /Seattle, WA : Fantagraphics Books, c2004- vol. 5

Solano Lopez, F. (Francisco), 1928- The young witches /Seattle, WA : Eros Comix, 2000.

Tarsis, Brian. City of dreams : a tale of erotic fantasy /Seattle, WA : Eros Comix, 1996.

Thorne, Frank. The complete Ghita /Seattle, WA : Eros Comix, 2001.

Ware, Chris, 1967- Rusty Brown /[Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics Books, 2005?]

Willingham, Bill. Ironwood /Seattle, Wash. : Eros Comix, c 1997- vol. 1

Wright, Paul. Smelling a rat /London : Jonathan Cape, 2005.

Yui, Toshiki. Hot tails /Seattle, WA : Eros Comix, 1998- vol. 1

Two Years!

Today marks my two year blogiversary with Yet Another Comics Blog.

Um, Yay?

Anyway, the big event, the 100 Comics Giveway Contest, is still going on; you have until 6pm EDT today to get your entries in. I'll announce the winner tomorrow morning.

Undiscovered Gems Day 6

Here is today's batch of recommendations/entries for the 100 Comics Giveaway Contest; undiscovered gems of which you may not have been aware:


From Joshua G.:

My pick is Talent, a miniseries from Boom that is currently on its second issue... I think. The premise is that a man is on a airplane that crashes into New York harbor, he wakes up with the memories and skills (Talents) of everyone who was on the plane. He is now wanted in connection with the crash, with people thinking he is a terrorist. Additionally, some sort of mysterious and powerful organization wants him eliminated for reasons unknown. The art is bold (I don't really explain art well) and the storytelling has been great so far. I got this recomended by the guy at my local shop and it is not getting nearly enough support. I am hoping that if we can get enough backing, they may agree to expand it, rather than finish it in the 4(6?)-book arc they currently have planned. You should be able to find the minis at most stores at this point. My friend on the West Coast just recently had issue #1 released there, so I think it varies regionally.

From Gordon D.:

I don't know why more people aren't reading Rocketo - it's one of those genre-mixing books that doesn't feel cliche. Strong art and unusual coloring that pulls you into a far-future world that you have never seen; twists and turns that occur naturally; and just a very unique premise. This is one of those books that, once I got started, I now can't stop reading...and it's all thanks to Yet Another Comics Blog

From TangognaT:

My undiscovered gem is Chikyu Misaki by Iwahara Yuji - Misaki moves to her grandfather's house in a remote town near lake Hohoro. Life quickly becomes complicated when she discovers a legendary lake monster and deals with her repressed childhood memories. The sleepy town quickly fills with intrigue due to a kidnapped heiress, missing gold, and an airplane crash. The characters lives intersect in interesting ways, and the art is very cute.

From Matthew R.:

I'm a bit of a comics newbie, so this may not be as "undiscovered" as I think it is, but I'll go with Daisy Kutter. This was a four-part series from 2004, written by Kazu Kibuishi. I think it's available in a trade paperback, but I recently picked up the four issues from the back issue boxes at the comics shop I frequent. It's a western, but there are robots (which may be enough recommendation already). The main character is a woman who has retired from robbing trains. She's getting bored in her new role as a small town shopkeeper when she receives an offer to do one last job. The plot keeps things moving along, and the characterization and the pacing are great. It's just plain fun, with some nice character moments, some humor, and a few surprises. Plus, there are killer robots in the wild west-- what else do you need? (And, if it's okay to plug the place I shop at-- many thanks to Paula at Spy Comics in Federal Way, WA, for the recommendation.)

From The Dane:

There are so many great books out there that just simply have never found an audience that it's difficult to choose what should be chosen. I've thought quite a bit about it and have narrowed my recommendations to two books (both published, incidentally, by SLG): Sparks by Lawrence Marvit; Mister Blank by Christopher Hicks. Both books accomplish their goals marvelously in my view. Sparks offers a unique and touching narrative through a very common and cliched framework. The art isn't grand or particularly special, but it serves the story - and if Sparks is about anything, it's the story. Mister Blank on the other hand, offers wonderfully playful illustrations with the kind of bold lines that can really make a black-and-white book sing. Hicks is an amazing visual storyteller and the tale he tells here is some of the most fun I've ever had reading a book. If you haven't read either of these, I highly recommend taking the time to enjoy them for what they are: good comics.

Thanks to everyone above for your recommendations; you have all been entered into the drawing for the 100 Comics Grand Prize. There's still time for you to enter, but be sure to do so before Tuesday at 6pm EDT!

Feazell Comics Online

I'm sure the rest of the comics blogosphere already knows this, but I just discovered that the World Famous Comics site is posting old Matt Feazell mini comics onine: Not Available Comics.

Matt makes up part of the holy trinity of midwest mini comics creators; so you should go take a look and be prepared to be entertained!

New Library Comics: Week of July 31, 2006

Here are the comics we got in for our library collection the week before last:


Adams, Jonathan. Truth serum /[San Francisco?] : City Cyclops, [2005?]

Cadelo, S. (Sylvio) Mark-of-the-dog /New York : Catalan Communications, 1991.

Foley, Dan. Critturs : hairballs from Hell /Seattle, WA : MU Press, 1992.

Heavy metal. /[New York : HM Communications] (various issues ca. 1998–1999)

Hernandez, Jaime. Ghost of Hoppers /Seattle : Fantagraphics, 2005.

Herriman, George, 1880-1944. Krazy & Ignatz : 1937–1938 /Seattle : Fantagraphics Books, c2002-

Hornschemeier, Paul. The collected Sequential /Richmond, Va. : Adhouse Books, c2004.

King, Frank, 1883-1969. Walt & Skeezix : 1921 & 1922 /Montreal : Drawn & Quarterly Books ; New York : Distributed in the United States and abroad by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005.

Nunnemacher, John. Buffalo wings /San Antonio, Tex. : Antarctic Press, 1993.

Rege, Ron. The awake field /Montreal : Drawn & Quarterly ; New York : Distributed in the USA by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006.

Turner, James. Nil /San Jose, Calif. : SLG Pub., c2005.

Undiscovered Gems Day 5

Here is today's batch of recommendations/entries for the 100 Comics Giveaway Contest; undiscovered gems of which you may not have been aware:


From Zoe H.:

My pick is Cromartie High School. I don't read any manga, so I was a little wary and unsure when a friend sent me a volume of this series, but I'm really glad they did. It's a completely strange book, about Japanese school boys trying to becoming "badasses" and win fights with other schools, but it's more about making everything ridiculous and out of the ordinary. It's just really, really bizarre. For example, one of the classmates is a robot, who then gets turned into a motorcycle. Another is Freddie Mercury. Yeah, that Freddie Mercury. It's a wonderful and funny series that's includes many things near and dear to my heart, like surreal humor and savage mockery of teenaged boys. Plus there's a gorilla.

From Wheeler Joseph Hall:

I recommend Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Parts 1-5 (1988; 27 issues) by Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki's fantasy is groundbreaking and revolutionary. It was first published in 1982 in Japan and is even more relevant 24 years later. Honestly, could there be a topic more appropriate theme for today's world than a story about the attempt to create peace between kingdoms torn apart by war, battling over the last of the world's precious natural resources? A story that is at the same time haunting and heartwarming, disturbing and gentle deserves our attention once again.

From Martin Moretti:

My pick is the clever and classy autobiographical comic And Then One Day... by Rockin' Ryan Claytor (www.elephanteater.com). Ryan bares his soul for the reader with his frank and honest chronicling of his day-to-day life, and he manages to do it with a quirky sense of humor that endears him to the reader. His cute and cartoony art manages to convey his joy in creating the comics you are reading. Ryan is as interested in the production side of creating a comic, and puts a great deal of effort into designing an attractive package for his stories. His latest work, a daily sketchbook diary, is terrific but is sadly his only book currently in print, so hopefully we'll see a collection of his back-catalog in the future. And I am NOT just saying all this because Ryan is a good friend of mine and I occasionally appear in the books.

From Joshua R.:

Chynna Clugston and Ian Shaughnessy's Strangetown. It's basically Twin Peaks done in Rumiko Takahashi style, and the characters are fun and well realized in one issue (which, unfortunately, is all they've put out so far). So people should read it, and hope for more.

From Kate M.:

I'm going with Amanda and Gunn (by Jimmie Robinson), published via Image. This is in the same 'universe' as CyberZone, and involves a semi-distopic techno-future. I, meanwhile, have never read CyberZone, and liked Amanda & Gunn because it was funny at one moment and emotionally affecting the next. It had solid art, solid characterization, and surprised me in ways many comics don't. The fact that the protagonist is an African-American lesbian is just icing on the cake.

From Jeff G.:

My recommendation is the 2004 Veitch/Edwards Question mini series. It's a really interesting revamp of the character, making him a TV reporter with shamanistic powers who interacts with Superman and Lois Lane - I'm pretty disappointed that it's all being retconned by 52, but what are you gonna do.

Thanks to everyone for your recommendations; you have all been entered into the drawing for the 100 Comics Grand Prize. There's still time for you to enter, but be sure to do so before Tuesday at 6pm EDT!

Monkey Covers

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

Dave Dorman paints the cover to 1999's Batman / Tarzan: Claws of the Cat-Woman #2, featuring the dark knight and the lord of the jungle battling a big ol' mean gorilla.

(Standard disclaimer about a big ol' mean gorilla not really being a monkey applies.)

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