New Library Comics: Week of July 10, 2006

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


Africa comics : antologia delle migliori storie a fumetti del Premio Africa e Mediterraneo : riflessioni sui diritti umani, storie e cronache. /Sasso Marconi (BO) [i.e. Bologna] : Africa e Mediterraneo : Lai-momo, [2002]

Baker, Kyle. You are here /New York, NY : DC Comics, c1999.

Capp, Al, 1909- Li'l Abner : dailies /Princeton, Wis. : Kitchen Sink Press, c1988- vol. 9

Doucet, Julie, 1965- Leve ta jambe, mon poisson est mort! = Lift your leg, my fish is dead! /Montreal : Drawn & Quarterly Publications, 1993.

Edginton, Ian. H.G. Wells' The war of the worlds /Milwaukie, OR : Dark Horse Comics, 2006, c2005.

Espinosa, Rod. Neotopia /San Antonio (Tex.) : Antarctic Press, 2003- vol. 2

Hanuka, Tomer. The placebo man /Gainesville, Fla. : Alternative Comics, 2005.

Hernandez, Gilbert. Luba : the book of Ofelia /Seattle, WA : Fantagraphic Books : Distributed in the U.S. by W.W. Norton and Co., 2005.

McLachlan, Brian. No dead time /Portland, OR : Oni Press, 2004.

Ruijters, Marcel, 1966- Sine qua non /Amsterdam : Oog & Blik, c2005.

Slate, Barbara. Sex, lies, and mutual funds of the yuppies from hell /New York, NY : Marvel Comics, c1992.

Slate, Barbara. Son of yuppies from hell /New York, NY : Marvel Comics, c1990.

Stassen, Jean-Philippe. Deogratias, a tale of Rwanda /New York : First Second, 2006.

Takahashi, Rumiko, 1957- Maison ikkoku /San Francisco, CA : Viz Comics, c1993- vols. 12, 14

Trondheim, Lewis. A.L.I.E.E.E.N., archives of lost issues and earthly editions of extraterrestrial novelties /New York : First Second, 2006.

Vertigo : first taste. /New York, NY : DC Comics, 2005.

Watson, Geoff. A lot of love /San Jose, CA : Slave Labor Graphics, c2002.

YACB Bulletins

ITEM! PWCW on Harlequin's plans to relaunch its manga line. I still think it's a good idea, even if the first round didn't take off. At least the trade dress is better. Now if they'll just stay away from the colored ink...

ITEM! Beth Davies-Stofka writes a pretty good Superman Returns Superman-as-Jesus column for broken frontier: "Jesus Christ Superman."

ITEM! Mike Sterling gives us the low-down on The Winslow

ITEM! For those of you who purchase your manga at chain bookstores, Borders has a sale on all Viz mnaga: buy 3, get 4th free. Through July 24.

SNAP! Returns

Good news! The good folk at Green Brain Comics have announced that SNAP! will be back for a second go around, once again bringing a taste of a mini-comix and small press festival to our little corner of southeast Michigan (Dearborn, to be precise). I went last year and it was a great show; I met lots of good artists and picked up some good comix too. (recap 1, recap 2, recap 3, recap 4)

If you're in the area, circle Saturday, November 4, 2006 on your calendars and plan on attending!

New This Week: July 12, 2006

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 Ait/PlanetLAR's collection of the early issues of Shatter by Peter Gillis & Mike Saenz. Back in 1985 Shatter was the very first comic with artwork completely done on computer (a first-gerneation Mac) which gives it a novelty factor, but it's a darn good action/cyberpunk yarn too. (preview)


In other comics:

Antarctic have a 2-DVD set collecting every Gold Digger story ever done by Fred Perry. That's well over 100 issues of fun adventure!

Archie have a new issue of Sabrina (#77).

Boom! have the second issue of the Hero Squared Ongoing.

Dark Horse have the bargain-priced first issue of The Escapists.

DC have the debut of Garth Ennis's A Man Called Kev; and new issues of 100 Bullets (#74), 52 (week 10), DMZ (#9), Fables (#51), Firestorm (#27), and Superman (#654).

Drawn & Quarterly have two hardcover GNs from French cartoonists Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian: Get a Life (preview) and Maybe Later (preview).

Illusive Arts have the sixth issue of Dorothy.

Image have a new issue of The Walking Dead (#29) and the long-awaited final issue of Hawaiian Dick: The Last Resort (#4).

Marvel have a digest collection of Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane; and new issues of Kabuki Reflections (#6), Squadron Supreme (#5), Thunderbolts (#104), and Ultimate Spider-Man (#97).

Oni have a new edition of Bryan Lee O'Malley's Lost at Sea.

Vertical havea paperback edition of the second volume of Tezuka's Buddha.

Viper have a collection of Oddly Normal.


As always, you're sure to find something to suit your tastes this week!

New Library Comics: Week of July 3, 2006

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


Aihara, Miki. Tokyo boys & girls /San Francisco, CA : Viz Media, c2005- vol. 1

Bliss, Pam. Dog & pony show : cartoon stories /Valparaiso, IN : Paradise Valley Comics, 2001.

Capp, Al, 1909- Li'l Abner : dailies /Princeton, Wis. : Kitchen Sink Press, c1988- vols. 7-8

Clowes, Daniel. Art school confidential : a screenplay /Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics Books, c2006.

Katchor, Ben. Julius Knipl, real estate photographer : the Beauty Supply District /New York : Pantheon Books, 2000.

Manjula Padmanabhan. Double talk /New Delhi : Penguin Books ; New York, N.Y. : Penguin Group (USA), 2005.

Manning, Tom. Runoff /Richmond, VA : Oddgod Press, c2003- vol. 1

Moore, Alan, 1953- A small killing /Urbana, IL : Avatar, c2003.

Morrison, Grant. Skrull Kill Krew /New York, NY : Marvel Comics, c2006.

Myrick, Leland. The sweet collection /Pasadena, CA : Adept Books, c2000.

Tezuka, Osamu, 1928-1989. Buddha /New York, NY : Vertical, 2003- vol. 7

Tinsley, Kevin. Stonehaven : milk cartons & dog biscuits /Brooklyn, NY : Stickman Graphics, c2004.

Vollmar, Rob. Bluesman : a twelve bar graphic narrative in the key of life and death /Lincoln, CA : Absence of Ink Comic Press, 2004- vol. 1

Monkey Covers

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

We took a week off due to the holiday weekend, but we're back with a vengeance with the cover of Mighty Mouse #165. A super-powered mouse fighting ape-creatures on Mars? This is why I love comics!

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

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

Random Thoughts on Superman Returns

Potential mild spoilers--stop reading now if that worries you

I actually saw Superman Returns over a week ago, but as you may have noticed blogging has been a bit sparse here over the past week. So now I'm playing catch-up with the rest of the comics blog-o-sphere:

* I rather liked it. Didn't love it to pieces, but liked it. It's either a 3.5 or a 4 on the Dave rating scale.

* I nearly had a nerd-gasm when the opening titles swooshed by in that late-70s S:TM style.

* While it was positioned as a sequel to the Richard Donner Superman films, in many ways it was really a remake of S:TM, down to the story and plot structure. It was trying to have its cake and eat it too. While I appreciated some of the refer-backs and references, I'd have appreciated a bit more originality in the plot.

* I bought Kate Bosworth as a love interest, but not as a Pulitzer-level reporter. It was like they were casting for just half the role.

* Brandon Routh, however, pulled off both sides of his role. Three really, as Clark Kent on the farm was different from Clark Kent in Metropolis.

* Kevin Spacey was a great Lex Luthor. Through his delivery and eye and facial expressions he brought more to the role than was on the page.

* As I recall it, Luthor's plan wasn't to sell new real estate. It was to create a huge disaster while at the same time creating a motherload of Kryptonian technology that he alone would control. And it was clear that he was a bit insane. Of course it wasn't a logical plot--if Luthor thought about it logically, he'd make a killing with patents and IPOs.

* I rather liked the fact that Superman didn't throw a single punch and only used his powers defensively or in rescue mode. With all his power, Superman has to show restraint or risk becoming a dictator/ruler/evil overlord.

* Yes, the Christ-imagery was laid on thick in some places. But it has long been part of the Superman mythos, just not usually played up to this extent. Both Superman and Jesus come out of the Jewish savior/messiah theology/mythology; in a Campbellian way they both emerge from the same archetype. Neither Jesus nor Superman should solve our problems, even though they could with just a wave of their figurative hands; instead, they "show us the way" but we have to save ourselves.

* The special effects were spectacular. Seemlessly integrated, it was almost as if Superman really were flying around. I really liked how the take-offs and landings were done--no coming in off a trampoline or anything. This movie really raises the bar for how a super-hero movie will look in the future.

* I'm really scratching my head trying to figure out where the PG-13 rating came from. FilmRatings.com says "for some intense action violence", but except for the scene with Luthor's thugs beating the smack out of Supes, this was probably the least violent super-hero movie ever. Compare the level of violence in X-Men 3 to Superman Returns--both got the same rating. Just another example of how screwed up the CARA system is.

* There was apparently a lot of footage that ended up on the cutting room floor, a lot of it Smallville stuff. Hopefully it'll show up on the DVD.

* Were a fan of the movie to walk into a comic store looking for Superman comics, there would be a lot of good accessible stuff to hand him or her: The Superman Returns prequel comics; All Star Superman; and even the current story in Action Comics & Superman, with Supes returning after a year-long absence and fighting Lex Luthor in a plot involving Krytonian technology.

* Has anyone seen the IMAX version? If so, would it be worth seeing it again in that format?


I may have more thoughts later. It was a good movie. If you're inclined to go see it, do so.