New This Week: September 28, 2005

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 later today:


The pick of the week is the SPX 2005 Anthology, which is not only a smorgasbord of indy comics stories, but the proceeds go to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. You get good comics, and you help out a good cause. You can't go wrong!


In other comics:


Abiogenesis have Strangehaven #18--which is funny, because the trade collection that included issue #18 came out *last* week...

Antarctic have three pocket manga collections: Chronicles of the Universe: Desperado Brothers, Mighty Tiny, and Gold Digger vol. 6. I'd recommend Mighty Tiny, seeing as it's a fine furry comic by Ben Dunn.

Archie have a new issue of Sabrina (#70).

Dark Horse have BPRD: The Black Flame #2.

DC debut their first two Essential Showcase collections of silver age stories in black and white: Showcase Presents Green Lantern & Showcase Presents Superman. You can also grab new issues of The Authority: The Magnificent Kevin (#2), JLA Classified (#12), Jack Cross (#2), Legion of Super-Heroes (#10), The Losers (#28), Otherworld (#7--last issue before the hiatus), Plastic Man (#18--buy it!), and the final issue of The OMAC Project (#6).

Evil Twin have a new Action Philosophers comic: Self Help For Ugly Loosers.

IDW have Angel: The Curse #4.

Image have a new issue of Invincible (#26) and the first collection for Sea of Red: No Grave but the Sea.

Kenzer & Co. have a new Knights of the Dinner Table (#107).

Marvel debut Black Widow 2, Drax the Destroyer, and Sentry; new issues of Daredevil (#77), Ultimate Spider-Man (#83), and X-Men Kitty Pryde Shadow & Flame (#4); the hardcover Black Panther: Who Is Black Panther collection; and a fourth Runaways digest collection.

Oni debut the Polly & The Pirates mini.


And if all that's not enough, there are 50 new volumes of manga. Yeah, that's right, FIFTY. Way to spread 'em out, guys! Burried in the listings are the OEL debuts: I Luv Halloween, Dramacon, and Steady Beat, all three highly anticipated.

New Library Comics: Week of September 19, 2005

Here are the comics we got in for our library collection last week:


Bennett, Jonathan. Esoteric tales no. 1 /New York : Smallest Press, 2002.

Bennett, Jonathan. Esoteric tales no. 2 /New York : Smallest Press, 2003.

Biggs, Brian. Dear Julia /Montreal, QC : Black Eye Productions, c1996-1997. no. 1-4

Biggs, Brian. Frederick & Eloise : a love story /Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics Books, c1993.

Bipolar /Gainesville, FL : Alternative Comics, [2002]- no. 3-5

Buzzard #19 /Hudson, MA : Cat-Head Comics, c1998.

Harder, Jens. Leviathan /[Angouleme] : Editions de l'An 2, 2003.

Herpich, Tom. Cusp /Gainesville, FL : Alternative Comics, 2003.

Herpich, Tom. Gongwanadon /Gainesville, FL : Alternative Comics, 2004.

Kreitz, Isabel. Die Entdeckung der Currywurst /Hamburg : Carlsen, 2005.

Mainka, Matz. 1928 : eine Hamburger Geschichte /Alicante : Ponent Mon, 2003.

Max, 1956- The extended dream of Mr. D. /Montreal, Que. : Drawn and Quarterly, c1998-1999. no. 1-3

Pepo. Condorito gigante No. 607 /Mexico : Editorial Televisa, [c1988]

Ribon. /Tokyo : Shueisha,. 2001 no. 5, 12; 2002 no. 1-9, 11; 2003 no. 1-10, 12; 2004 no. 1-10

Salazar, Souther. The monster that ate stars /Pasadena, CA : The Author, [200-?]

Monkey Covers

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

All September we've been featuring Jungle Girls vs. Apes--a very common theme for comic book covers!

For our final Jungle Girl vs. Ape cover we're going back to 1948 for Zoot Comics #15 and witness Rulah the Jungle Goddess ready to stab an ape as she gazes into its eyes.

(standard disclaimer about apes not really being monkeys applies)

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

Me, Live, on The Internet

This Saturday morning, at 10:30am EDT, I'll be part of a panel discussion at the "Internet Public Library Symposium: A Global Standard for Digital Librarianship". If you have QuickTime 7, you'll be able to watch it live over the Internet at http://www.ipl.org/div/symposium/video.html. (The whole symposium will be broadcast live. Many good things, but if you can watch only one, I'd recommend tuning in for Joe Janes' talk Friday morning at 9:30am EDT.)

New This Week: September 21, 2005

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 later today:


The pick of the week is Strangehaven: Conspiracies, the third collected volume in Gary Spencer Millidge's excellent series. Given the slooow pace that the comic comes out, it's good to have several issues all collected to be read at once.


In other comics:

Speaking of comics with a long time between issues, Amaze Ink/Slave Labor have a new issue of Lenore (#12).

Antarctic have a new issue of Gold Digger (#69).

Dark Horse have new issue of Conan (#20) and The Goon (#14), plus a collection of BPRD: The Dead.

DC have the final Sleeper collection (vol. 4: The Long Way Home); the debuts of Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle and Green Lantern Corps: Recharge; and new issues of Birds of Prey (#68), Hellblazer (#212), JSA: Classified (#3), Lucifer (#66), and Manhunter (#14).

Del Rey have the first volume of Gacha Gacha.

El Capitan have a new issue of Stray Bullets (#39).

Illusive Arts have a new issue of Dorothy (#4).

Image have a new issue of Gødland (#3).

Marvel have the second Hulk Visionaries: Peter David volume; the first volume of The Essential Ghost Rider; the debut of Supreme Power: Hyperion; and new issues of Captain America (#10) and Runaways (#8).

Speakeasy have the second issue of Rocketo (although I got mine last week...)

Viz have the latest issue of Shojo Beat (#4).


Okay, that does it. Don't forget to save a few bucks to donate to hurricane relief!

Yet Another Fantasy League: Week 2 Results

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

www.rickgebhardt.net 48
Kickers Inc. 46

Inferior 5 plus 6 80
The Inferior Five 50

Nine Pound Hammers 87
Moon Knights 32

Danger Unlimited 67
B.P.R.D. 101

Secret Six 60
Power Pack 54

The Maxx Squad 69
Tomorrow Syndicate 39


Current Standings:

   Team                 W-L-T  Pct    Pts  Streak
   -------------------  -----  -----  ---  ------
1. B.P.R.D.             2-0-0  1.000  171  W-2
2. Inferior 5 plus 6    2-0-0  1.000  139  W-2
3. Nine Pound Hammers   2-0-0  1.000  129  W-2
4. Power Pack           1-1-0   .500  140  L-1
5. Secret Six           1-1-0   .500  123  W-1
6. The Maxx Squad       1-1-0   .500  109  W-1
7. Moon Knights         1-1-0   .500   97  L-1
8. Kickers Inc.         1-1-0   .500   80  L-1
9. www.rickgebhardt.net 1-1-0   .500   72  W-1
10.Danger Unlimited     0-2-0   .000  113  L-2
11.Tomorrow Syndicate   0-2-0   .000   95  L-2
12.The Inferior Five    0-2-0   .000   78  L-2

Week 3 Games:

Moon Knights (1-1-0)
vs.
Kickers, Inc. (1-1-0)

www.rickgebhardt.net (1-1-0)
vs.
The Inferior Five (0-2-0)

Nine Pound Hammers (2-0-0)
vs.
B.P.R.D. (2-0-0)

Danger Unlimited (0-2-0)
vs.
Power Pack (1-1-0)

Secret Six (1-1-0)
vs.
Tomorrow Syndicate (0-2-0)

Inferior 5 Plus 6 (2-0-0)
vs.
The Maxx Squad (1-1-0)


Good luck to all!


(In my other Fantasy Leagues, I lost 78-68 in my friends & family league, lost 77-49 in my public league, and scored 358.00 points in my Pass & Kick league, which moved me up to first place. I also reached the finals in the playoffs in my fantasy basebell league.)

Manga Math

So I'm reading over Sarah Glazer's article on Shojo manga in yesterday's New York Times, and a little throw-away line in the lead paragraph catches my eye: "Last year, Del Rey sold a million copies of its first 16 releases combined."

Okay, let's pull out our calculators: That's 1,000,000 copies divided by 16 volumes, or an average of 62,500 copies per volume. That's of an $11 book, or $687,500 in sales per book.

The top seller via Diamond for August 2005 was Justice #1 with $190,400 copies of a $3 comic, or $571,200 in sales.

Which means that, dollar for dollar, each release from Del Rey--a second-tier manga publisher--is right up there with the most that Marvel & DC can do. And they're doing it completely outside of the direct market.

(Dollar figures are calculated here as if the books actually sold for cover price, which of course is not always the case. But I think it makes for a fair comparison.)