Thursday, 14 June 2007

FCBM3 Day 38

The third annual YACB Free Comic Book Month continues into extra time with day thirty-eight!

Our next selected entry is from Chris Long. The five comics that Chris likes are:

1. Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen
2. All-Star Superman
3. Metal Men
4. Astonishing X-Men
5. Planetary

For Chris I have the first issue of Ian Carney & Garry Marshall's Axis Mundi.

Chris's comic should be in the mail within the next week. Enjoy!


Current FCBM Statistics:
48 entries
105 free comics sent so far
2 days remaining

Wednesday, 13 June 2007

FCBM3 Day 37

The third annual YACB Free Comic Book Month continues into extra time with day thirty-seven!

Our next selected entry is from Franco Ippolito. The five comics that Franco says he likes are:

1. Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen
2. All-Star Superman
3. Metal Men
4. Astonishing X-Men
5. Planetary

For Franco I have the first issue of Doug Moench & Paul Gulacy's Epic sci-fi series Six from Sirius.

Franco's comic should be in the mail within the next week. Enjoy!


Current FCBM Statistics:
48 entries
104 free comics sent so far
3 days remaining

Tuesday, 12 June 2007

New This Week: June 13, 2007

Based on the NCRL, here are some comics you may want to look at picking up at your friendly local comic shop tomorrow:


The Pick of the Week is Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise #90. Not only is it the final issue of the popular, long-running series, but it may also mark the end of the self-published serial comic as a viable publication option.


In other comics:

Adhouse Books have The Aviary, a collection of Jamie Tanner's various minicomics and anthology pieces. If you've ever read any of them, you know you're in for a surreal treat (though I wouldn't recommend reading all 300+ pages at once!)

AiT/PlanetLAR have the first issue of Black Diamond.

Angry Dog Press have the sixth volume of their Potlach Project anthology.

Antarctic have the landmark 150th issue of Ben Dunn's Ninja High School.

Boom! have new issues of Dominion (#2) and Tag: Cursed (#4).

Dark Horse have a new issue of BPRD: Garden of Souls (#4) and the eigth volume of Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures.

DC have the first oversized hardcover volume of Jack Kirby's Forth World Omnibus; new collections for Fables (vol. 9) and Gotham Central (vol. 5); a Showcase Presents volume for The Atom; the fourth volume of Emma; the second Minx title, Re-gifters; and new issues of Countdown (#46), DMZ (#20), Fables (#62), Hawkgirl (#65), and StormWatch PHD (#8).

IDW collect Angel: Auld Lang Syne into a trade.

Image have a new issue of Noble Causes (#30) and a "pilot" issue of Elephantmen.

Marvel kick off their big summer crossover World War Hulk and also collect the whole Planet Hulk story into one massive hardcover. Also a massive hardcover is the second Fantasic Four Omnibus; not quite as masive is the Killraven hardcover collection. There's a seventh volume in the Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne series; a new Franklin Richards One-Shot; and new issues of Blade (#10); Kabuki Reflections (#8); and Punisher War Journal (#8).

TokyoPop have the second (and final) volume of Amy Kim Ganter's Sorcerers and Secretaries.

Viz have the third volume of Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs.


Plenty of comics to drop some coin on this week. Enjoy!

FCBM3 Day 36

The third annual YACB Free Comic Book Month continues into extra time with day thirty-six!

Our next selected entry is from Martin Moretti. The five comics that Martin says he likes are:

1. Marvel Adventures The Avengers
2. The Flash
3. The Question
4. Hitman
5. Manhunter

For Martin I have the first issue of The Professional: Golgo 13 by Takao Saito.

Martin's comic should be in the mail within the next week. Enjoy!


Current FCBM Statistics:
48 entries
103 free comics sent so far
4 days remaining

Monday, 11 June 2007

New Library Comics: Week of June 4, 2007

Here's a list of the comics we added to our library collection last week:


Berenstain, Adam. Last wish /Ithaca, N.Y. : Silver Bullet Comic Books, [2001]- no. 2

Campbell, Eddie. Little Italy /Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics Books, 1991- no. 1

Cooper, Dave (David Charles) Dave Cooper's Underbelly : additional observations on the beauty/ugliness of mostly pillowy girls. /Seattle, WA : Fantagraphics Books, [2004?]

Frost, Sean. Johnny public /Manchester, Mich : Strang-Frost Productions, LLC, 2001- nos. 0-8

Hachigian, Jennifer Lynn. Lore /Burbank, Calif. : Ragdoll Cat, 1995- vol. 1 nos. 1-2

Hernandez, Gilbert. Luba's comics and stories /Seattle, WA : Fantagraphics Books, 2000- no. 8

Itchy planet. /Westlake Village, CA : Fantagraphics Books, 1988- no. 1

Justice League unlimited (Comic book) Justice League unlimited. /New York, N.Y. : DC Comics, c2004- no. 1

Kerosene : combustibile per la mente = Brain fuel. /Roma : Mare Nero, [199-?]- no. 6

Laugh in the dark. /Berkeley, Calif. : Last Gasp Eco-Funnies, c1971. no. 1

Legal action comics. /New York : Dirty Danny Legal Defense Fund, c2001- vols. 1-2

Limace. /[Berlin, Germany?] : Cénoukonlafé, [2004]- nos. 3-4

London, Bobby. Left-field funnies /San Francisco, Calif. : Apex Novelties, 1972- no. 1

May, Ted. It lives : comics /Portland, Or. : Sparkplug Comic Books, 2003- no. 1

Milk & wodka continental comic book. /Zürich, Switzerland : Milk & Wodka, 1999- no. 6

Mrongovius, Alice. Porridge /Fitzroy, Vic. : Bandit Fox, c1999.

Okazaki, Tsuguo. Justy /San Francisco, Calif. : Viz Communications, 1988-1989. nos. 1-9

Porcellino, John. King-cat comics & stories /San Francisco : Spit and a Half, [1989]- no. 63

Rizzotto, Max. Rina Fort : cronaca a fumetti : [la donna che passò alla storia come la belva di Via San Gregorio] /Levada di Ponte di Piave (Treviso) : BeccoGiallo, 2006, c2005.

Shirow, Masamune. Appleseed /Forestville, CA : Eclipse International, 1988-1991. vol. 1 nos. 1-3

Takahashi, Rumiko, 1957- Inu Yasha ani-manga. /San Francisco : Viz Media, c2006. vol. 18

Takahashi, Rumiko, 1957- InuYasha /San Francisco, CA : Viz, LLC, c2003- vol. 29

Takahashi, Rumiko. Lum : Urusei Yatsura /San Francisco : Viz Comics, 1989- nos. 1-8

Week, Jason. Dunce comics /[United States? : J. Week, 200-?]- no. 2

Quick Boom! Reviews

Let's take a look at some recent #1s from Boom! Studios (all comics $3.99 ea.):

From top to bottom, Salvador #1 (writers: Mark Polish, Michael Polish & Sebastian Jones; artist: Steph Stamb) look sand feels like a repurposed Silver Surfer proposal. A mysterious, silver-tinged, faceless humanoid falls to Earth, gliding on a couple of large feathers. In this wordless issue, full of many full-page splash panels, he just kind of glides around. It looks pretty, but it's over very quick and feels very derivative.


Also somewhat derivative, but this time overtly, is Dominion #1, a repackaging of Keith Giffen & Ross Richie's aborted Image series from a few years back. This time out the action moves from Australia to Chicago, courtesy of writer Michael Alan Nelson & artist Tim Hamilton. All over the city random people break out with barely controllable super-powers, apparently as a prelude to some sort of alien attack. Hopefully this time out the series will last long enough that we'll get a feel of what's going on.


Hunter's Moon #1, written by Oscar winner James L. White and drawn by Dalibor Talajic, is the story of a corporate mover-and-shaker who takes him estranged son on a rural hunting trip. But things veer into thriller territory when things go wrong. Having the main characters be an African-American family in what would typically be the domain of white protagonists is not only encouraging from a diversity point of view, but also brings race issues subtly into the mix. This is an effective first issue that leaves the reader wanting to see what happens next.


2 Guns #1 is one of the most effective first issues I've read in a while. The story starts off with what looks like an homage to Pulp Fiction, but quickly veers off in a multitude of direction. At the core there's an undercover DEA agent who ends up planning a bank heist, with motives that may or may not be entirely pure. Veteran writer Steven Grant shows that he's still got plenty of writing chops, and artist Mat Santolouco is with him every step of the way (and special notice for colorists from Popart Studios, whose bright colors help the story to pop off the page). The story if full of plot, action, and characterization, without ever feeling too rushed or condensed.

Ratings:
Salvador #1: 2 (of 5)
Dominion #1: 3 (of 5)
Hunter's Moon #1: 3.5 (of 5)
2 Guns #1: 4 (of 5)


(review copies of the above comics were provided by the publisher)

Sunday, 10 June 2007

FCBM3 Day 35

The third annual YACB Free Comic Book Month continues into extra time with day thirty-five!

Our next selected entry is from Doug Blocksma. The five comics that Doug says he likes are:

1. Ex Machina
2. Sandman
3. anything by Grant Morrison
4. Planetary
5. Astonishing X-Men

For Doug I have the first issue of Metal Hurlant, which includes work by Alexandro Jodorowsky, Marc Riou, Kurt Busiek, Gérald Parel, Pierre Wazem, and Fred Beltran, among others.

Doug's comic should be in the mail within the next week. Enjoy!


Current FCBM Statistics:
48 entries
102 free comics sent so far
5 days remaining