New This Week: November 14, 2007: Best Week Ever!

We have a new Best New Comics Week Ever!

I previously declared March 29, 2006 as the Best New Comics Week ever, but I think that this week supercedes it.

At the very top of the list is Zombies Calling, the debut graphic novel from Faith Erin Hicks. Back in May I declared my enthusiasm for this comic based on the preview pages I'd seen, and now it's finally here! You may think you're burned out on zombie comics, but ZC looks to be a fun take on an old trope.

Many have expressed great enthusiasm for Brian Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim, so if you're one of those people I suspect you'll be awfully excited that the fourth volume, Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together, is out this week from Oni.

Oni also have the new Courtney Crumrin and the Fire Thief's Tale from Ted Naifeh. Naifeh's Courtney Crumrin is one of the best comics starring a kid ever, and can be enjoyed fully by readers of all stripes.

Also also from Oni is the eigth (and for the time being final) volume in Greg Rucka's Queen and Country series, Operation Red Panda.

Also hitting stores (at least in the U.S.) is The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier, the long awaited OGN from Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neil. Despite all the drama involved in this comic's production, it's sure to be a good read.

Are you looking for a comic with plenty of smashing? The finale of World War Hulk (#5) finally arrives. And if you want your super-hero action a bit less angsty, Marvel obliges with the fourth Marvel Adventures The Avengers digest, collecting Jeff Parker's final issues.

You want even more great comics? There's a new issue of Morrison & Quitely's All Star Superman (#9), which is always worth the wait. Also from DC is a collection of Morrison's JLA: Ultramarines, as well as new collections of Ex Machina (vol. 6) and Jonah Hex: Origins; plus a Showcase Presents volume for Sgt. Rock!



There's plenty of other good stuff as well, including large batches of manga from TokyoPop and Viz. So rush out to your friendly local comic store and be prepared to part with some cash in exchange for some fine entertainment!

New Library Comics: Week of November 5, 2007

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


DeMatteis, J. M. Seekers into the mystery / New York : DC Comics, 1996-1997. nos. 3-5

Grist, Paul. Kane / England : Dancing Elephant Press, c1993- nos. 3-8

Pope, Paul. THB / Columbus, Ohio : Horse Press, c1994- nos. 1-5

Pulgarcito. Barcelona : Editorial Bruguera. nos. 154-155

Shrigley, David. Let's wrestle / San Francisco, CA : Chronicle Books, 2007.

The Starjongleur collection. Portland, Or. : Trylvertrell Press, 1986- nos. 1-2

TBO (Barcelona, Spain) TBO : almanaque humorístico. Barcelona : Ediciones TBO, nos. 1966, 1969, 1972, 1980


This listing is now available as an RSS Feed!

Veterans Day

Cover by Joe Kubert from Our Army at War #297.

(Veterans Day was technically yesterday, but we're honoring it on Monday, just like the post office and the banks.)

Monkey Covers

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

Tarzan fights some kind of monkey/ape thing on the cover of Tip Top Comics #47.

(Standard disclaimer about monkey/ape things possibly not really being monkeys applies.)

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

Enchanted

LA Times has a feature story about Disney's upcoming Enchanted, along with a video clip from the movie featuring Amy Adams singing "That's How You Know."



I was on the fence about his movie, but after seeing the clip I'm totally in. Sure, one look at the trailer and you can figure out exactly how the movie is going to play out, but it's got big all-singing all-dancing musical numbers in Central Park!

Gun-toting Yotsuba&! Netflix wha...?!

IMG_2951.JPG
Originally uploaded by edcool1

Stumbled across this weird flickr photoset, featuring a gun-toting Yotsuba&! toy and a Netflix envelope. Bizarre...

I swear Marvel, if you keep doing this crap I'm going to stop buying your floppies

Notice anything about many of your Marvel comics this week. They're thicker! No, Marvel didn't give you extra pages of story, they gave you extra pages of ads.

For example, Astonishing X-Men increased from 32 to 48 pages (not counting covers). Those 48 pages are:

1 'previously on' page
23 pages of story
18 pages of ads
6 pages of dubious editorial material

Basically the thing is half advertising.

Why do I care? After all, they didn't raise the price, so I'm still getting the same story value for my $2.99.

One, the plethora of ads really breaks up the flow of the story. It's often a page of story, then a page of ads, then a page of story, then three pages of ads. (Unlike when DC ads an extra insert of advertising, you cannot 'debone' the Marvel comics of their extra bulk.) So why not just wait for the trade, where I can read the story uninterrupted by advertising?

Two, the extra-thick comics add up to extra bulk. 50% more. That 50% more weight that your retailer has to pay in shipping, which eats into his/her profits. Retailers raised holy heck before when Marvel did this, and Marvel promised to knock it off. Guess they forgot.