Monkey Covers

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

Uh oh! It looks like Sheena is in trouble of the cover to Jumbo Comics #99. Not only is she facing down a mean skeleton-carting gorilla in front of her, but it looks like there's another gorilla sneaking up behind her. Good thing she's got that knife!

(Standard disclaimer about skeleton-toting gorillas not really being monkeys applies.)

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

Too Many Comics

There are, I think, too many comics these days.

By that I don't mean that there's just too many in raw number of titles, although a look through the massive Previews tome that comes out each month shows that is a problem as well.

No, I mean that there are too many comics that I want to read. Too many original graphic novels. Too many manga paperbacks. Too many super-hero comics that serve as 'comfort food'.

This is ably illustrated by my growing Too Be Read pile, which now takes up three short boxes of comics and well over 100 graphic novels, manga & collections sitting on bookshelves. (Not to mention all the comics in the library that I could read if I had the time!)

It didn't use to be this way. Back in my college days I'd buy maybe 8-10 comics a week, and over the course of one or two evenings get them read. But today there are not only comics to buy--and more of them--but also a plethora of comics in book format.

I think it's a combination of several factors: the increase in the number of formats; a general increase in the amount of quality items available; too many other options for my time (including blogging about comics instead of reading them); and an increase in disposable income, so I can buy more comics than I have time to read.

Does anybody else have this problem, or is it just me?

New This Week: October 25, 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 today:


The Pick of the Week is Seven Soldiers #1, finally bringing to conclusion Grant Morrison's epic interlocking mini-series. With the series being true-to-form though, some comic shops may not be getting this until next week...


In other comics:

Boom! have the second issue of Tag.

DC have collections for American Virgin and Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes; a Showcase Presents for The Phantom Stranger; Richard Donner's debut on Action Comics (#844); and new issues of 52 (week 25), Jack of Fables (#4), Planetary (#26), Secret Six (#5), Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (#23), and Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters (#4).

D.E. have the first issue of Classic Battlestar Galactica. You remember, when Starbuck and Boomer were both dudes and they had that poor monkey in a robot dog suit.

Fantagraphics have the second issue of Linda Medley's new Castle Waiting series.

IDW have the Angel: Masks one-shot and the collected edition of Supermarket.

Image have a collection of the second Hawaiian Dick series; and new issues of Gødland (#13) and Negative Burn (#5).

Marvel have new collections for Daredevil and Runaways; and new issues of Captain America (#23), Daredevil (#90), Nextwave (#9), Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane (#11), and Ultimate Spider-Man (#101).

NBM have a color edition of the first Cryptozoo Crew volume.

Vertical have Osamu Tezuka's Ode to Kirihito--over 800 pages by one of the best cartoonists ever.


Okay, that's plenty of comics for you!

One Week to NaGraNoWriMo!

Just one week remaining until I start in on NaGraNoWriMo: National Graphic Novel Writing Month. It's my version of NaNoWriMo, in which I'm going to try to write the script to a 175-page graphic novel during the month of November.

I've pretty much decided on which of my ideas I'm going to attempt, but now I'm getting all nervous about whether or not I'll be able to make it through. I've never written a comic script for anything before, so 175 pages seems like a big task. I'm sure that I'll learn a lot in the process, and in the rules of NaNoWriMo, it doesn't have to be good, it just has to get done!

At least one other person has said that they'll join in as well. Any more takers? Who knows--maybe we can start a new movement!

Review: Action Figure #1

Action Figure #1
by Richard Marcej
Baboon Books, $3.50

In the first issue of Action Figure we are introduced to Richard Marzelak, a twenty-nine-year-old artist who works a 9-5 job at a toy company by day and draws comic strips for submission to the syndicates by night. Richard works in one of those offices we frequently see or read about in entertainment media that have the unfair, hard-ass boss; the sleazy sexual harasser, the impossibly unobtainable beauty, etc. In this first issue, Richard gets pulled off a plum assignment that is being given to the new artist and is instead stuck on a nowhere, no-brainer panda bear assignment instead, just as work comes down that the company has landed a plum contract with a Japanese anime property.

In his cover letter that came along with the review copy, Marcej as much as admits that he's drawing heavily on his own career as inspiration for this comic. He's no Harvey Pekar, and there's just too much in this first issue that feels like standard sitcom set-up. There are a couple of ways that Marcej could take the story to give it more of a unique vibe: bringing us deep inside the world of toys; and/or showing us why and how Richard Marzelak is a unique and interesting person in that world.

Fortunately Marcej has a couple of things going for him in this first issue. He has a good sense of storytelling and design; the comic flows very smoothly, and there's wonderful use of third color spot reds to highlight when Richard's active fantasy life takes over his attention. It's also an inherently interesting setting for a workplace comic, as long as the story gets beyond the standard office tropes.

According to Marcej this first issue did not meet Diamond's order threshold and will not be carried by the #1 distributor. Which is a shame, because this is an attractive, solid comic with an eye-catching cover and high production values, and one that shows promise. So while you probably won't be able to find it at your local comic store, if it sounds interesting you can order it directly from the self-publisher.

Rating: 3 (of 5)


(A review copy of this comic was provided by the creator.)

New Library Comics: Week of October 16, 2006

Here are the comics we added to our library collection last week:


Akahori, Satoru. Sorcerer hunters /Los Angeles, Calif. : Tokyopop, c2000- vol. 1

Arkas. You bring out the animal in me!-- Grunt! : crazy combinations /Athens, Greece : Grammata, c2004.

Baumann, Suzanne. Beasts of ball point : a sketchbook mini /Hamtramck, MI : Suzanne Baumann, c2005.

Bieri, Sean. From the desk of business chimp /[United States?] : Sean Bieri, c2005.

Bieri, Sean. Jape. /Hamtramck, MI : Sean Bieri vol. 2 no. 1

Brown, Jeffrey (Jeffrey David), 1975- Every girl is the end of the world for me : December 26 2003 - January 15 2004 /Marietta, Ga. : Top Shelf, c2005.

Campbell, Eddie. The dance of lifey death /Paddington, Australia : Eddie Campbell Comics, c1998.

Cater, Donovan. Moore /Eastland, Muskegon, Mich. : Powernut Comics, c2002- vols. 1-2

Davis, Andrew. Heavenly friends /Greensville, SC : Wide Awake Publications, c2003.

Davis, Andrew. Young Billy Clockout : somewhere between Memphis and Hawaii /Greensville, SC : Wide Awake Publications, c2002.

Dondero, George M. DirtBoy /Napa, CA : Moronik Comiks, 2005- no. 1

Feazell, Matt. AntiSocialMan. /[Minneapolis, Minn.] : Not Available Comics, 1982- no. 6

Feazell, Matt. CuteGirl. /Detroit, MI : Not Available Comics, c1994- nos. 1-3

Feazell, Matt. The amazing Cynicalman. /Hamtramck, MI : Not Available Comics vol. 2 nos. 5-13

Golden-age science fiction treasury /Longwood, Fla., AC Comics, c2006- vol. 1

Hotwire comix. /Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics, c2006- vol. 1

Japan : as viewed by 17 creators /[Wisbech, England?] : Fanfare ; [Tarragona, Spain?], Ponent Mon, c2005.

Kalesniko, Mark. Alex /Seattle, WA : Fantagraphics, c2006.

Keret, Etgar, 1967- Pizzeria Kamikaze /Gainesville, Fla. : Alternative Comics, 2006, c2005.

Kurata, Hidevuki. R.O.D., Read or die /San Francisco, CA : Viz Media, 2006- vol. 1

Manjula Padmanabhan. This is Suki! /New Delhi : Duckfoot Press, 2000.

Micheluzzi, Attilio. Johnny Focus /Roma : Lizard Edizioni, c2004- vols. 1-3

Moore, Alan, 1953- The complete future shocks /Oxford : Rebellion, 2006.

Moore, John Blair. Invaders from home!!! /New York, N.Y. : Piranha Press, c1990- no. 1

Panel (Columbus, Ohio) Panel. /Colmbus, OH : Panel, c2003- nos. 1-2

Put the book back on the shelf : a Belle and Sebastian anthology /Berkeley, Calif. : Image Comics and Belle and Sebastian, c2006.

Robot : super color comic /Carson, CA : Digital Manga Pub., 2005- vol. 2

Tales from the Inner sanctum : a horror anthology /[Los Angeles?] : Steveniles.com, c2004.

Thompson, Albert Benjamin. Husk /[United States?] : Lucky Cobra Pub., c2005.

Van Loon, Borin. The Bart Dickon omnibus : including, in its entirety, "a servered head", a graphic novella ; /Ipswich : Severed Head Books, 2005.

Weinstein, Lauren R. Girl stories /New York : Henry Holt, c2006.

Wide awake 666 : a horror anthology. /Greenville, SC : Wide Awake Press, c2006.

Monkey Covers

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

King Solomon leads the charge on Art Adams' cover to Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #5!

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

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