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 armored gorilla punches some dude in the face on John Byrne's cover to Doomsday + 1 #6 (1976).

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


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

Fairy Tales

(Engorge this cartoon with 60% more biggerness by clicking the prince.)

Today's episode of Bizarro is brought to you by What Is This?

When I was a teenager, I liked me some M.C.Escher, as most kids my age did. I still appreciate his work, but for teens he's like the rockstar of graphic artists. The words "Dude, he must have been trippin'," have been uttered myriad times in reference to his images.

I can tell you from an artist's perspective that he almost certainly was not "trippin" or he would not have been able to achieve the level of detail, realism, and accuracy that he is famous for. He was, however, probably socially retarded. Most people who achieve such precision do so by locking themselves in their room for decades and obsessing over their work. This often leads to unease in situations in which one would be required to interact with humans.

If you were to transport yourself back in time to Escher's studio while he was working on one of his famous future blacklight posters, and you were to express your admiration and ask him a deep question about his concepts and philosphy, he would likely say something like, "I enjoy crackers."

Or maybe I'm totally wrong and he'd say, "Dude, wanna get dosed?"

Amazon Top 50

Here are the Top 50 Graphic Novels on Amazon this morning. All the previous caveats apply.

1 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
2 (-). Watchmen
3 (+3). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
4 (+13). Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? Deluxe Edition *
5 (+13). 100 Bullets Vol. 13: Wilt
6 (-1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid
7 (-4). Asterios Polyp
8 (+5). Maximum Ride, Vol. 1 Manga (kindle)
9 (-5). Final Crisis
10 (+13). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
11 (-1). The Complete Persepolis
12 (-5). Green Lantern: Rage of the Red Lanterns
13 (+12). The Boys, Vol. 4
14 (N). Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow? Deluxe Edition
15 (-3). Mercy Thompson Homecoming *
16 (+18). Parker: The Hunter
17 (+4). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
18 (-3). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
19 (-11). Fruits Basket Volume 23
20 (+22). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
21 (-5). V for Vendetta
22 (N). Nevermore *
23 (-9). Batman: The Killing Joke
24 (N). Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition)
25 (-5). Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War, Vol. 1
26 (N). Angel: After the Fall, Vol. 4 *
27 (N). Green Lantern: Rebirth
28 (+2). The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
29 (N). Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
30 (-11). Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps War, Vol. 2
31 (-5). Bone: One Volume Edition
32 (+11). Wolves at the Gate (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 3)
33 (N). Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 19 *
34 (-23). Naruto, Volume 45
35 (N). Serenity, Vol. 2: Better Days
36 (-8). Negima!: Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 23
37 (-8). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
38 (+12). Warriors: Tigerstar and Sasha #3: Return to the Clans
39 (+6). Star Trek: Countdown TPB
40 (-7). Batman: Year One
41 (N). Lost Girls Hardcover Edition
42 (-20). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
43 (N). The Arrival
44 (-35). Time of Your Life (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 4)
45 (-1). The Sandman Vol. 2: The Doll's House
46 (-22). Stephen King's Dark Tower: Treachery
47 (N). Green Lantern Corps: Sins of the Star Sapphire
48 (-9). No Future For You (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 2)
49 (N). The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale
50 (N). Fables, Vol. 11: War and Pieces


Items with asterisks (*) are pre-order items.


Commentary:

* Debuts this week include the latest Angel: After the Fall collection; Green Lantern: Rebirth; the latest Fullmetal Alchemist; and the new single-volume edition of Lost Girls.

* Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? continues to rise up the list; it's Neil Gaiman and Batman, two things that the Amazon Bestseller List loves, so I expect to see this new hardcover on the list for a good haul.

Butt Darling...

Berzarro is branged to you terday by Rusponsble Dranking.

Not only can I not believe those aren't buttocks, I can't believe that not a single editor from any of my client papers objected to this cartoon or asked for a replacement. That I know of.

It does my heart good to see that editors are loosening their Victorian standards for the funny pages, giving us all a little more room to be "funny." (Not that it helps most of the time.)

I know that the female caboose has always been a source of fascination for men – it's biology 101 – but it is interesting that in recent years the MONDO BOOTY has come into style so much in popular culture. When I was in my teens and twenties, in the late 1900s, women were concerned with keeping their buttocks shapely, but smallish. Nowadays, with the popularity of women like Kim Kardashian and J-Lo, the epitome of ass fashion seems to be expanding. It's all in the eye of the beholder.

Body styles go in and out of fashion like anything else. I hope mine comes into style before I'm too old to use it.

Darkness and Despair

Bizarro is brought to you today by Crappy Internet.

I've been without Internet and Cable TV for two days, living in the dark ages like Attila the Hun. I sat in damp darkness eating bugs, totally out of touch with the world, no way to find out what's going on, no way to find out what "Weeds'" Nancy Botwin's latest kerfuffle was, and worst of all, kept away from YOU, by beloved blog friends.

I'm back now and can't believe all I've missed. Republicans have aired a TV commercial linking Sotomayor with Puerto Rican terrorists and infamous unrepentant domestic terrorist, William Ayers. WHAT?!!

Okay, that was about all I missed, I think. I'm back now, until the tiny plastic box bulging with wires and rubber bands and globs of hot glue that services my entire neighborhood in Brooklyn with cable and Internet is bumped by a squirrel again. Keep your cyber-fingers crossed.

Serving Pervs

Bizarro is brought to you today by Nine Nekked Men.

This cartoon appeals to me not because I think that transvestites are perverts – what do I care what somebody wears?– but because it sort of represents the hypocrisy we've seen in the news lately.

Once again, politicians who had formerly been outspoken and very "Jesusy" about others for cheating on their wives have been caught cheating on their wives. A politician who was turned down for a federal judgeship by a Senate judiciary committee years ago for being a racist, is the ranking Republican on the committee reviewing Judge Sotomayor. And he is, of course, accusing her of being racist. Business as usual in Washington.

Back to transvestites, I'd much rather see a man dressed in drag than anyone dressed like this.

NOTE: Before the "what about Bill Clinton?" comments start pouring in, I'm not talking about politicians who cheat, I'm talking about politicians who use their religious beliefs as a cudgel and toss around terms like "family values" like a frisbee. Yes, Bill Clinton and many other Democrats have been cheating scum. The difference to my mind is that they don't whip up the religious right to vote for them by pretending to be otherwise. Just my opinion, not worth a nickle more than you paid for it.

Brief Manga Review: KimiKiss, vol. 1

KimiKiss, vol. 1
Story by Enterbrain, Inc.; Art by Taro Shinonome
TokyoPop, $10.99

Given my professional interest in video games, I decided to order a copy of the first volume of KimiKiss, based on the apparently very popular Japanese dating sim for PS2. The story, which is complete in this first volume, concerns shy high school student Kouichi. On the first day of school Kouichi meets Mao, the former girl next door is is All Grown Up. Kouichi desires to be popular with the ladies, so Mao agrees to teach him how to be the kind of guy that girls want to date. You can probably see where the plot is going. But despite the copious fan service there's a sweetness to this tale of teenage love for boys, and there are worse things they could be reading while getting titillated.

Rating: 2.5 (of 5)