Monkey Covers

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

Maxwell Tiberius poses with partner Ann O'Brien and the kids from Gen13 on Arthur Adams' cover for Gen13/Monkeyman & O'Brien #1 (1998).


(Standard disclaimer about super-intelligent other-dimensional gorillas not really being monkeys applies.)

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

Amazon Top 50

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


1 (-). 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth (And Other Useful Guides)
2 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid 5: The Ugly Truth
3 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book
4 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
5 (+1). Dork Diaries (Kindle edition)
6 (+1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid Box of Books
7 (+2). Dork Diaries 2 (Kindle edition)
8 (-3). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
9 (+4). Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale
10 (+6). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
11 (-). Big Nate: From the Top
12 (+7). Batman: Year One
13 (-3). Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Boxset
14 (N). Cartooning: Philosophy and Practice *
15 (+2). Batman: Time and the Batman
16 (-2). Dork Diaries 2: Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl
17 (-9). Daytripper
18 (-3). Walking Dead Volume 13
19 (-1). Fables Vol. 15: Rose Red *
20 (-). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
21 (+4). Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne
22 (+16). Batman: The Killing Joke
23 (+26). Big Nate Boredom Buster: Super Scribbles, Cool Comix, and Lots of Laughs *
24 (+4). The Walking Dead, Book 6
25 (+16). Superman: Earth One
26 (N). Dragonbreath: Lair of the Bat Monster
27 (R). Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 8: Last Gleaming *
28 (-1). Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life
29 (-). Watchmen
30 (-7). The Walking Dead, Book 1
31 (+8). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
32 (+2). Walking Dead Volume 12
33 (R). The Walking Dead Volume 11: Fear The Hunters
34 (R). Prince Valiant: 1941-1942 (Vol. 3) *
35 (N). Dork Diaries 3: Tales from a Not-So-Talented Pop Star *
36 (R). Batman: Hush
37 (N). Big Nate Out Loud *
38 (R). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
39 (+3). The Walking Dead, Book 2
40 (R). The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become
41 (N). Gotham Central Book 4: Corrigan
42 (R). Serenity, Vol. 2: Better Days
43 (+5). Captain America Lives Omnibus *
44 (+1). The Walking Dead, Book 5
45 (-1). Odd Is on Our Side
46 (N). The Unwritten Vol. 3: Dead Man's Knock *
47 (-4). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
48 (+2). The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain
49 (-37). The Thanos Imperative
50 (R). The Walking Dead, Book 3


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

N = New listing appearing on list for first time
R = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks


Commentary:

* The Oatmeal collection maintains its #1 spot on the comics chart and hangs on at #48 on the overall chart. Looks like it wasn't a one-week fluke.

* Of the rest of the top 10, six are either Wimpy Kid or Dork Diaries items.

* The top debut this week is a pre-order of Ivan Brunetti's Cartooning: Philosophy and Practice. Also new is the latest Dragonbreath from Ursula Verson; pre-orders for new entries in the Dork Diaries & Big Nate series; a Gotham Central hardcover; and the pre-order for the latest collection of The Unwritten.

* The Scott Pilgrim box set remains relatively strong, but the only single volume to stay on the chart is vol. 1 way down at #47.

* Dead Watch: Ten Walking Dead collections in the top 50 this week, an improvement over recent weeks. (Book 3, at #50, is #2,834 overall.)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Veronica Lodge & Yet Another Comics Blog wish for you the Luck of the Irish!

(Cover from Veronica #23 (1992) by Rex Lindsey.)

Monkey Covers

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

Beast Boy turns into a gorilla to fight Grodd on Rick Hoberg's cover for Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew #20 (1983).


(Standard disclaimer about green super-heroes and world-conquering gorillas not really being monkeys applies.)

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

Amazon Top 50

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


1 (N). 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth (And Other Useful Guides)
2 (-1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid 5: The Ugly Truth
3 (-1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book
4 (-1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
5 (+5). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
6 (-). Dork Diaries (Kindle edition)
7 (+2). Diary of a Wimpy Kid Box of Books
8 (-4). Daytripper
9 (-4). Dork Diaries 2 (Kindle edition)
10 (+1). Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Boxset
11 (+3). Big Nate: From the Top
12 (-5). The Thanos Imperative *
13 (-5). Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale
14 (+3). Dork Diaries 2: Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl
15 (+3). Walking Dead Volume 13
16 (-1). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
17 (-1). Batman: Time and the Batman
18 (+12). Fables Vol. 15: Rose Red *
19 (+1). Batman: Year One
20 (+19). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
21 (+14). V for Vendetta
22 (N). Batman Beyond: Hush Beyond
23 (R). The Walking Dead, Book 1
24 (R). Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
25 (-13). Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne
26 (R). Identity Crisis
27 (+5). Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life
28 (-5). The Walking Dead, Book 6
29 (-16). Watchmen
30 (-3). The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel
31 (-6). Scalped Vol. 7: Rez Blues
32 (R). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
33 (+9). Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour
34 (+3). Walking Dead Volume 12
35 (+9). Fables Vol. 14: Witches
36 (+5). Scott Pilgrim Volume 5: Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe
37 (-8). Scott Pilgrim, Vol 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
38 (+8). Batman: The Killing Joke
39 (R). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
40 (N). Skullkickers Volume 1: 1000 Opas and a Dead Body *
41 (-22). Superman: Earth One
42 (+1). The Walking Dead, Book 2
43 (-19). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
44 (-4). Odd Is on Our Side
45 (-7). The Walking Dead, Book 5
46 (-24). All Star Superman, Vol. 2
47 (-14). Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition)
48 (N). Captain America Lives Omnibus *
49 (N). Big Nate Boredom Buster: Super Scribbles, Cool Comix, and Lots of Laughs *
50 (-). The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain


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

N = New listing appearing on list for first time
R = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks


Commentary:

* In a shocker, the Oatmeal collection 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth debuts at #1 on the chart (and is #41 overall). An amazing feat to debut at #1, especially for a property with no tie-in to other media.

* The last time a non-Wimpy Kid book was #1 was a Scott Pilgrim volume in August 2010. The last time a non-WK non-SP book was #1 was Troublemaker in June 2010. The last time a book debuted at #1 was the Twilight Graphic Novel in January 2010.

* Other debuts this week are Batman Beyond: Hush Beyond at #22; Skullkickers at #40; Captain America Lives Omnibus at #48; and Big Nate Boredom Buster at #49.

* Dead Watch: Just seven Walking Dead collections in the top 50 this week, though the Compendium hops up to #5.

* I have no idea why the Identity Crisis hardcover shows up out-of-the-blue at #26. Sometimes the charts are just weird...

Project IITS Update

Hey folks,

I promised I'd give an update with a few details on the Project IITS, uh...project. The game stars Kayli, of course, and while it was the intent to feature her prominently for the game, I'm a great believer in allowing gamers to create their own persona within the world we want them to spend a great deal of time in. The scope of the project has scaled back and forth a few times but we needed a Kayli character in any version. For the game, I felt a smaller, cuter Kayli was more appropriate so we needed to re-imagine her a bit to fit into the game world. Below is the dynamite little package that we came up with:


While our readers will surely recognize Genevieve's distinct touch and style, I needed someone to create Kayli in 3D for the game. I was lucky enough to catch a former co-worker of mine, Mark Kobrin, in between gigs (he is now in NZ working at WETA Digital, no less) and he banged out a great 3D Kayli for me. Here's the result:


Given that Genevieve has been so busy, I've had to look elsewhere for some help in doing some concepts for environments that will later be turned into digital versions. My friend and former co-worker, Brandon Luyen (who is an instructor at the Academy of Art University in S.F.), suggested that a former student of his might be a good fit for the general style of the game and I contracted Cecilia Wong to do a few pieces for Project IITS...here is a re-imagined "Gordo's Island" that will be one of the set pieces for the game:


Hope y'all enjoyed this tiny taste of the Project IITS game. Thanks again to all our faithful readers for continuing to believe in IITS, supporting Genevieve and I, and spreading the word.

- Joseph

Tezuka's Notebooks

Last week at the library we received our copy of Tezuka Osamu sōsaku nōto to shoki sakuhinshū (手塚治虫・創作ノートと初期作品集), a reproduction of several of Osamu Tezuka's hand-drawn notebooks. As you might expect, the whole package is gorgeous. It's going straight down into storage for safe keeping, but I managed to snap a few photos: