Monkey Covers

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

We're Lost in Space with the Robinson family as they take on a giant four-armed cycloptic gorilla on the cover of Space Family Robinson #59.

(Standard disclaimer about giant four-armed cycloptic gorillas not really being monkeys applies.)

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

Review: Siberia

Siberia
by Nikolai Maslov
Soft Skull Press, $19.95

Like I suspect most Americans who grew up and the end of the cold war, I really only knew two things about Siberia: 1) It was cold; and 2) it's where the Soviets sent their dissidents to live out their lives in misery. In the back of my mind I must have assumed that there were 'regualr folks' who lived in Siberia, but up front was the idea that everything there was like One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

Siberia is a graphical memoir by Nikolai Maslov, one of the 'regular folks' from a small farming village in Siberia. An aspiring artist and Francophile, Nikolai has dreams that, due to the circumstances of his life, may never be realized. He grows up; gets drafted and serves in Mongola; and returns to Siberia, where life revolves around labor during the day and swimming in vodka in the evening. Nikolai seems destined to live a life a quiet desperation, until a fortuitous trip to the big city leads him to art school, a wife, and eventually to Moscow. But Nikolai's dreams are halted as his prefered western art style does not agree with the Party's idea of what Soviet art should be.

As a story, Maslov's memoir is alas somewhat lacking in a narrative drive. It mostly seems to be a series of events in a life (which, let's face it, most of our lives would seem like if put to paper!) Where Siberia succeeds quite admirably is in painting a picture of that life. Done entirely in soft pencil, both the desperations and the small pleasures come through. Over the course of nearly 100 pages, Maslov's art pulls you into his world.

In the afterword, Emmanuel Carrère, the original French publisher of Siberia, tells the story of how he visited Russia and came upon Maslov and his memoir. It is quite remarkable to learn that, outside of a few Corto Maltese volumes, Maslov had little exposure to western comics. It is also said that Maslov has no future plans to do any more comics; which I think would be a shame.

Rating: 3.5 (of 5).

(a review copy of Siberia was provided by the publisher)

YAFL2: Week 2

Here are the results from Week 2 of Yet Another Fantasy League 2:


Star City Archers 66
Kickers Inc. 78

Delphi Oracles 53
www.rickgebhardt.net 52

Superteam 47
The Defenders 65

Flex Mentallo 74
Power Pack 58


Current Standings:

   Team                 Record  Pct    Points  Streak
   -------------------- ------  -----  ------  ------
1. Kickers Inc.         2-0-0   1.000  156.00  W-2
2. Flex Mentallo        2-0-0   1.000  146.00  W-2
3. Delphi Oracles       2-0-0   1.000   93.00  W-2
4. Star City Archers    1-1-0    .500  144.00  L-1
5. The Defenders        1-1-0    .500  133.00  W-1
6. www.rickgebhardt.net 0-2-0    .000  100.00  L-2
7. Power Pack           0-2-0    .000   96.00  L-2
8. Superteam            0-2-0    .000   79.00  L-2

Week 3 Games:

The Defenders
vs.
Kickers Inc.

Star City Archers
vs.
www.rickgebhardt.net

Superteam
vs.
Power Pack

Delphi Oracles
vs.
Flex Mentallo


Good luck to all!


In my other fantasy leagues, I won 75-69 in my public league (1st place); won 90-55 in my friends & family league (1st place); and scored 404.05 points in my pass 7 kick league (moved up to 2nd place).

Dave's Dozen: Mainstream Comics

Each month (usually...) I go through Previews to highlight twelve items worthy of attention in three categories: Mainstream Comics, Indy Comics, and Collections/GNs.

First up for the September Previews (comics supposedly available in November) are the following baker's dozen mainstream comics picks:


Batman/The Spirit
(DC, $4.99, p. 65)
Sure, Will Eisner might not approve. But with Darwyn Cooke handling the art, I bet that this comic will at least look fantastic. As for the story, well, that will depend on whether or not the good Jeph Loeb or the bad Jeph Loeb shows up. For the sake of the project, let's all hope that it's the good Loeb.



Superman Confidential #1
(DC, $2.99, p. 74)
You know how it goes with these kind of books: for the first two or three story arcs they have superstar creative teams, then they drop off to mid-level teams, and after a few years they're using the books to try out new talent. But hey, it's the first issue, so we get Darwyn Cooke (him again!) writing this time out, and Tim Sale drawing (though in a style decidedly different from what he used on Superman for All Seasons).



Birds of Prey #100
(DC, $3.99, p. 81)
Who'd've ever thunk that book staring second-tier female characters would survive this long? Just goes to show that sometimes a good idea and good writing will make it. Of course this book is about change more often than not, so this big anniversary issue feature the formation of a new Birds of Prey team.



Guy Gardner: Collateral Damage #1
(DC, $5.99, p. 85)
Howard Chaykin and... G'Nort? Two things that really, really shouldn't go together. And yet, it all seems so right (in a really wrong sort of way).



Midnighter #1
(DC/WildStorm, $2.99, p. 110)
When I think of Chris Sprouse artwork, I think of good and fundamentally bright comics like Tom Strong or Legionnaires. But then I see that mister anti-super-hero Garth Ennis is writing this comic, and I'm fascinated to see how it will all turn out.



Wildcats #2
(DC/WildStorm, $2.99, p. 111)
I skipped doing a Dave's Dozen in July, so I didn't get a chance to mention that GRANT MORRISON AND JIM LEE ARE DOING A COMIC TOGETHER. That is all.



The Nightly News #1
(Image, $2.99, p. 140)
Based on the solicitation text, I really have no idea as to what this comic is about. Based on the preview art, this comic by Jonathan Hickman looks to be one of the most visually interesting comics to come about this year. So I'll buy it for the eye candy, and hope that the story matches up.



Casanova #6
(Image, $1.99, p. 157)
Each month Matt Fraction and Gabriel Bá give us sixteen pages of pure cool 60s sci-fi spy thriller goodness. Don't you owe it to comics to be reading this? (answer: yes you do!)



Spider-Man and Power Pack #1
(Marvel, $2.99, p. M16)
I don't care if none of the rest of you are buying this. It must be making money *somewhere*, because Marvel keep putting out this fun Power Pack comcis by Marc Sumerak & Gurihiru, so I get to keep reading and enjoying them.



Bullet Points #1
(Marvel, $2.99, p. M25)
JMS seems to have given up on television for now and is devoting his writing to comics. That's fine with me, because he's able to get Tommy Lee Edwards to draw a tale of World War II super-heroes.



Franklin Richards: Happy Franksgiving!
(Marvel, $2.99, p. M37)
Everyone's favorite son-of-a-genius returns for an all new special from Marc Sumerak & Chris Eliopoulos. Vootie!



X-Factor #13
(Marvel, $2.99, p. M71)
New regular artist Pablo Raimondi comes aboard, and Peter David has him drawing 22 pages of X-Factor in therapy!



Walt Disney's Christmas Parade #4
(Gemstone, $6.95, p. 288)
If it's September, it must be time to pre-order your Christmas comics! This 80-page compilation includes Carl Barks' classic "Christmas in Duckberg."



Look for the other two parts, Indy Comics & Collections/GNs, sometime soon, I hope...

New This Week: September 20, 2006

Based on the NCRL list for this week's comics shipping from Diamond, here are a few things to look for at the local comic shop today:


The Picks of the Week are the three volumes of Jimmy Gownley's Amelia Rules, re-issued in 'bookshelf editions' in hardcover and paperback. Smart comics about kids.


In other comics:

A-V and Win-Mill have a new issue of Following Cerebus (#9).

Abstract have a new issue of Strangers in Paradise (#84).

Dark Horse have the debut issue of Dwight T Albatross' The Goon Noir; and a new issue of Conan (#32).

DC kick off the new wave of WildStorm with Wetworks #1; debut Krypto the Superdog #1 as a tie-in to the kids tv show; and have new issues of 100 Bullets (#76), 52 (week 20), Birds of Prey (#98), Catwoman (#59), Hellblazer (#224), Superman (#656), and Testament (#10).

Image have a second collection of Gødland, and new issues of Negative Burn (#4) and The Walking Dead (#31).

Marvel finally ship Civil War #4; debut the Howard Chaykin-drawn Blade and the Jeff Parker-written X-Men: First Class; and have new issues of Astonishing X-Men (#17), Nextwave (#8), Runaways (#20), and X-Factor (#11).


A relatively sane week, but I'm sure that you'll find something to your liking at the LCS this week!

Ahoy, Mateys!

Ahoy, ye scurvy landlubbers! Today be Talk Like a Pirate Day. Arrr!

New Library Comics: Week of September 11, 2006

Here are the comics we added to our library collection last week:


Creature features /Austin, TX : Mojo Press, c1994.

Tezuka, Osamu, 1928-1989. Adolf : an exile in Japan /San Francisco, Calif. : Cadence Books, c1996. vol. 2

Thorne, Frank. The iron devil /Seattle, WA : Eros Comix, 1995.

Thorne, Frank. Lann /Seattle, WA : Eros Comix, 1995.