Coming in July from GT Labs

Pal Jim Ottaviani has two new books coming out in July:

Levitation: Physics and Psychology in the Service of Deception is about the development of one of the most dazzling illusions performed on stage. It has art by Janine Johnston.

Wire Mothers: Harry Harlow and the Science of Love is the story of a rogue psychologist's experiments into the nature of the mysterious emotion. It has art by Dylan Meconis.

Both books--part of a series of graphic narratives about the science of the unscientific--will retail for $11.95, and will surely be available from all fine booksellers and enlightened comic shops.

Missing Manga

MangaCast's list of on hiatus/abandoned/canceled manga is interesting, and in places a bit sad.

While many of the titles are no big loss for not finishing, there's some real quality work scattered throughout the list.

We all know of course what a crying shame it is that ADV isn't publishing any more volumes of Yotsuba&! And I'd really like to read the remainder of Blue Inferior.

CPM's list is nearly as long as ADV's; I think they're out of the manga biz all together, so fans of the popular Slayers may never get to see the end of that manga.

At Dark Horse, both The Legend of Mother Sarah and Shadow Star deserve to continue; strangely enough, both Mother Sarah and 3x3 Eyes have both been abandoned twice, as they were originally being published in comic-sized floppy format back in the day.

DMP's abandonment of Bambi and Her Pink Gun is a shame, but not surprising given that the nihilistic manga had a hard time finding its audience. Maybe DMP will make enough money from their Yaoi lines to be able to publish a quality title with a low readership that can take the time to find its legs.

And then there's Viz. Even the premiere manga publisher can't seem to find an audience for many of its oldest titles, like Area 88, Bio-booster Armor Guyver, and Pineapple Army, which were all initially published in floppy back when today's manga kids were still in diapers. The real surprise though is that Rumiko Takahashi's Urusei Yatsura and Osamu Tezuka's Black Jack are on the list; when the works of two manga masters cannot continue, there is something deeply wrong.

All hope is not lost; there's always a chance that some of the missing titles may be continued, or even picked up by another publisher. This is what happened with the original abandoned manga title, Lone Wolf & Cub — after disappearing for year when First Comics folded, it was eventually picked up and finished by Dark Horse.

So let's all hope for a few resurrections!

New This Week: March 14, 2007

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 tomorrow:


The Pick of the Week is Buffy the Vampire Slayer #1 from Dark Horse. Written by Buffy creator Joss Whedon, this issue kicks off the official "Buffy Season Eight." From the preview pages I've seen, it looks like the comic will have the feel of the Buffy tv show, but with a much larger special effects budget.


In other comics:

ALC have the fourth Yuri Monogatari anthology.

Amaze Ink have the third issue of the Disney-esque Wonderland.

Archie have a new issue of Sabrina (#83).

Boom! have the second issue of Tag: Cursed and a new What Were They Thinking: Go West Young Man.

Claypool have (what I think is) the final issue of Soulsearchers (#82).

Dark Horse debut a new BPRD series, Garden of Souls.

DC have two classic reprint collections: the second volume of Crisis on Multiple Earths: The Team-Ups, and Superman/Batman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told; a new volume of one of my new fave mangas, Emma (vol. 3); plus new issues of 52 (week 45), Fables (#58), Stormwatch PHD (#5), Superman (#660), and Wonder Woman (#5--completely redone for timeliness!)

Fanfare/Ponent Mon have the third volume of The Times of Botchan.

IDW have the final issue of Angel: Auld Lang Syne (#5).

Image have the massive Complete Invincible Library, vol. 1 HC for you big-pocket comic buyers.

Last Gasp have the one-volume manga Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms, which probably would have been the Pick of the Week if I wasn't such a Buffy fanboy.

Marvel have a new Franklin Richards, Son of a Genius comic ("March Madness"); plus new issues of Blade (#7), The Irredeemable Ant-Man (#6), Punisher War Journal (#5), and Thunderbolts (#112).

Thrud have a new issue of Thrud the Barbarian (#5).

TokyoPop debut the new OEL titles, like Divalicious and King City.

Top Shelf have a second volume of James Kochalka's American Elf: Sketchbook Diaries.

Vix have the final volume of Please Save My Earth (vol. 21).


Plenty of comics to make your wallet thinner this week. Enjoy!

New Library Comics: Week of March 5, 2007

Here's a list of the comics we added to our library collection last week:


Arnold, Adam. [Alpha Omega Iota] house /[Los Angeles, CA] : Seven Seas Entertainment, c2005- vol. 1

Aronofsky, Darren. [Pi] : the book of ants /[New York?] : Artisan Entertainment, c1998.

Battaglia, Dino, 1923-1983. Till Ulenspiegel /Castiglione del Lago (Perugia) : Di, 2005.

Berrio, Juan. Siempre la misma historia : un álbum de Juan Berrio /[Spain] : Astiberri, c2004.

Chauvel, David. The wonderful Wizard of Oz /Berkeley, Calif. : Image, 2006.

Christopher. Adventures from Mauretania /[United States?] : Magic Symbol ; Printed on demand by Lulu.com, c2005.

City life : ground floor : convention exclusive preview /U.S. : PENCILs, PAPER, ACTION!, c2005.

Cole, Jack, 1914-1958. The Jack Cole reader /Brooklyn, NY : Pure Imagination Publishing, c2006.

Dennis Cramer's Mara : 10th anniversary collection /Seattle, Wash. : Eros Comix, 2001.

Fontdevila, Manel Mas mejor de la Parejita. /Barcelona : Ediciones el jueves, 2003.

Forges, 1942- Arte de am@r : cualquier parecido con tu vida en pura coincidencia /Barcelona : Ediciones El Jueves, [200-]

Geary, Rick. The invisible man /New York : Berkley/First Pub., 1991.

Georgeles, Fotis. Luna /Seattle, Wash. : Eros Comix, 2003.

Hamm, Nils. Astro /Berkeley, Calif. : Image Comics, c2006.

Hidalgo, Manolo, 1967- Mudo /Madrid : Ediciones Sinsentido, c2003.

Katoh, Tadashi. Cup noodle : Kappunūdoru : the miracle of 8.2 billion served : the magic noodle : Nissin cup noodle /Gardena, Calif. : Digital Manga, 2006.

Laura. Amores locos : tres historias de amor y muerte libremente inspiradas en "Las lágrimas de Eros" de Georges Bataille /Onil (Alicante) : Edicions de Ponent, [2005?]

Lee, Jae. Shadow master : an exclusive comic based on the ultimate fantasy shooter-- /[United States?] : Psygnosis, c1997.

Marcel, Swen. David : das Spielzimmer /Koln : Mattei Medien, c2005.

Max, 1956- El prolongado sueño del Sr. T. /Barcelona : Ediciones la Cúpula, c2005.

McNeil, Carla Speed. Finder : five crazy women /Annapolis Junction, MD : Lightspeed Press, c2006.

Monteys, Albert. Lo más mejor de Tato /Barcelona : Ediciones El Jueves, 2004.

Ortega, Pavel. El Señor "K" : la verdadera historia /Barcelona : Pavel Ortega Comics, 2004.

Ortega, Pavel. Happy to eat shit /[Spain?] : Polen Comix, 2006.

Project : romantic. /Richmond, Va. : AdHouse ; London : Diamond [distributor], 2006.

Snyder, John K., 1961- Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde /New York, N.Y. : Berkley Pub. Group ; Chicago, Ill : First Pub., 1990.

Som, Bishakh K. Angel /Brooklyn, NY : Hi-Horse, c2004.

The supervillain book : the evil side of comics and Hollywood /Canton, MI : Visible Ink Press, c2006.

Vazquez, Alberto. Psiconautas /Bilbao : Astiberri, 2006.

Ware, Chris, 1967- "Jimmy" Corrigan, the smartest kid on earth. /Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics Book Co., c1999.

Ware, Chris, 1967- My new novelty library. /Seattle : Fanta-Graphics & Sons Co., [1999]

Wilber, Ron. Hells mistress /Seattle, WA. : Eros Comix, c2003.

Yaro, Kono. The sexual misadventures of Kung Fu Girl /Seattle, Wash. : Eros Comix, 2003, c2002.

Monkey Covers

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

An alien space ape steps out of the television on the cover to Creatures on the Loose #13, a revised (by Marie Severin) version of Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers' cover to Tales to Astonish #25.

(Standard disclaimer about alien space apes not really being monkeys applies.)

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

YAMR: Celtic, etc.

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, it's Celtic, etc. over on our Internet radio station, Yet Another Music Radio.

You'll find the music of Ireland, Scotland and more through Celtic, Gaelic, and other related music. The music of such artists as:

Áine Minogue, Alisa Jones, Altan, Ancient Beatbox, Angels of Venice, Antionette McKenna, Anuna, Aoife Ni Fhearraigh, Arcady, Ashley MacIsaac, Bill Whelan, Black Watch Pipes and Drums, Blackmore's Night, Bohola, Capercaillie, Carreg Lafar, Celtic Orchestra, Celtus, Cherish the Ladies, The Chieftains, Chloë Agnew, Clannad, Connie Dover, The Corrs, Cran, Danú, Darby DeVon Zimmerman, Deiseal, Dervish, Dolores Keane, Dropkick Murphys, Elyra, Emer Kenny, Emma Shapplin, Enter the Haggis, Enya, Equation, Gaelic Storm, Hevia, James Galway & Phil Coulter, John Mock, Karan Casey, Kate Bush, Keltik Elektrik, Laïs, Llan de Cubel, Loreena McKennitt, Luar Na Lubre, Lunasa, Maddy Prior & June Tabor, Máire Brennan, Máiréad Nesbitt, Máirín Fahy, Mary Black, Mary Jane Lamond, Mary McDowell, Maura O'Connell, Méav Ni Mhaolchatha, Moving Hearts, Mutenrohi, Mychael Danna & Jeff Danna, Niamh Parsons, Nightnoise, Órla Fallon, Peatbog Faeries, Pentangle, Ronan Hardiman, Runrig, Seven Nations, Shannagh, Sharon Shannon, Shooglenifty, Sinead Lohan, Solas, Talitha MacKenzie, The Tannahill Weavers, The Touchstones.

Over 100 different tracks, seven continuous hours of music. Tune in today--it's free!
 

Ultimates 2 vs. All-Star Batman & Robin Contest

Current shipping date for Ultimates 2 #13: 02 May 2007 (issue #12 came out 27 Sep 2006)

Current shipping date for All-Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder #5: 16 May 2007 (issue #4 came out 17 May 2006)

Which will come out first?

Place your guess in the comments section (include your name or uniquely identifyable pseudonym).

Those who pick correctly will be placed in a drawing for cool prizes! (Must live in the U.S. and be 18 or older.)

(Contest open until I cut off comments.)