New Library Comics: Week of December 17, 2007

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


Art Spiegelman : conversations / Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, 2007.

Cham, Jorge. Life is tough and then you graduate : the second Piled higher and deeper comic strip collection / Los Angeles, Calif. : Piled Higher and Deeper Pub., c2005.

Cham, Jorge. Piled higher and deeper : a graduate student comic strip collection / Palo Alto, Calif. : Piled Higher and Deeper Pub., c2002.

Coudray, Jean-Luc. Nous sommes tous morts / Jean-Luc Coudray & Lewis Trondheim. Paris : L'Association, 1995.

Dazieri, Sandrone, 1964- Pinocchio / Roma : BD, 2006.

Howarth, Matt, 1954- The comix of two cities / Seattle, Wash. : Aeon,; 1996. nos. 1-6

Trondheim, Lewis. Galopinot / Paris : L'Association, 1998.

Trondheim, Lewis. Les aventures de la fin de l'episode / Paris : L'Association, 1995.


This listing is now available as an RSS Feed!

Satrapi on NPR

NPR's Bob Mondello interviews Persepolis author Marjane Satrapi on the event of the release of the Persepolis movie: "Story of Growing Up in Revolutionary Iran"

Christmas Covers - December 25

For each day of December until Christmas I've been featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version.

We finish this season's celebration of Christmas covers with an image of Madonna and Child from Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact #194.

We'll be back in December 2008 with twenty-five more holiday-themed covers (and for those of you who have been patiently waiting, we'll be back to Monkey Covers on Sunday!)

(2006: Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact #35)
(2005: Dell Four Color #1274)
(2004: Captain Marvel Adventures #19)

(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Christmas Extravataganza 2007 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)
 

Christmas Covers - December 24

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)

Superman gives Santa a helping hand down the chimney on Wayne Boring's cover to Action Comics #105.

Come back tomorrow for our final Christmas cover of the year.


Just 1 more 'get-up' until Santa!

(2006: Dell Four Color #666)
(2005: Dell Four Color #1274)
(2004: Captain Marvel Adventures #19)

(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Christmas Extravataganza 2007 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)
 

Christmas Covers - December 23

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)


Dennis is gift-wrapped on the cover of Dennis the Menace Pocket Full of Fun #22.

Come back tomorrow for our penultimate Christmas cover of the year.


Just 2 more 'get-ups' until Santa!

(2006: Girls Bravo vol. 6)
(2005: All-New Collectors' Edition #C-53)
(2004: Impulse #34)

(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Christmas Extravataganza 2007 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)
 

Christmas Covers - December 22

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)

Lulu makes like a Christmas Tree on the cover of Marge's Little Lulu #90.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 3 more 'get-ups' until Santa!

(2006: Dell Giant #26)
(2005: Man-Thing #3)
(2004: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer #9)

(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Christmas Extravataganza 2007 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)
 

Christmas Covers - December 21

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)

Bugs Bunny chows down on his favorite Christmas gift: Carrots!, on the cover of 1955's Bugs Bunny #46.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 4 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2006: Wacky Squirrel #2)
(2005: Archie Giant Series Magazine #15)
(2004: DC Comics Presents #67)

(Polite Dissent's 2006 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Christmas Extravataganza 2007 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)
 

Christmas Covers - December 20

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)

Love is where it's at on the cover of Archie Giant Series Magazine #218 featuring Archie's Christmas Love-in!

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 5 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2006: 52 week 33)
(2005: Strangers in Paradise #70)
(2004: The Amazing Spider-Man #314)

(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Christmas Extravataganza 2007 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)
 

Christmas Covers - December 19

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)

Woody Woodpecker serves as look-out for Santa on the cover of Walter Lantz New Funnies #167 from 1950.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 6 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2006: Omaha the Cat Dancer vol. 2 #1)
(2005: Marvel Comics Super Special #39)
(2004: The Spirit #12)

(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Christmas Extravataganza 2007 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)
 

Christmas Covers - December 18

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)

Guy Gardner tries to play Santa to his fellow super-heroes on Dan Davis & Joe Phillips' 1995 cover to Guy Garder: Warrior #39.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 7 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2006: Impulse #45)
(2005: Adventures of Superman #487)
(2004: Mutt & Jeff #32)

(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Christmas Extravataganza 2007 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)
 

Christmas Covers - December 17

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)

God bless us, everyone, and also the cover to Classics Illustrated #53, featuring Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol."

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 8 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2006: Patrick The Wolf Boy Christmas Special)
(2005: A Patty Cake Christmas)
(2004: Superman #165)

(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Christmas Extravataganza 2007 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)
 

Christmas Monkey Covers - December 16

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. In addition, Sunday is Monkey Covers day here at YACB, because there's nothing better than a comic with monkeys on the cover!

So to celebrate this first Sunday in December, I present you with a Christmas cover featuring monkeys! Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)

A couple of cheeky monkeys angle to get more in their stockings on Dick Ryan's cover to Funny Pages vol. 2 #4 from way back in 1937.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 9 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2006: Katy Keene #33)
(2005: Bone Holiday Special)
(2004: Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #76)

(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Christmas Extravataganza 2007 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)
 

Christmas Covers - December 15

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)

Scrooge McDuck does his part to conserve energy (and his pocketbook) during the holidays on Niels Rydahl's cover to Donald Duck & Co. #49/1964.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 10 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2006: 2000 A.D. #763)
(2005: Incredible Hulk #378)
(2004: Batman #45)

(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Christmas Extravataganza 2007 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)
 

Christmas Covers - December 14

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)

Today's selection is Sheldon Mayer's Sugar & Spike #68. Hey DC: For next Christmas, I want a Showcase Presents: Sugar & Spike volume, okay?

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 11 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2006: Sugar & Spike #38)
(2005: Sugar & Spike #26)
(2004: Sugar and Spike #32)

(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Christmas Extravataganza 2007 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)
 

Well, Crap

From BBC: Author Pratchett has Alzheimer's

Christmas Covers - December 13

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)

Nothing says Christmas like a harem manga, such as Ken Akamatsu's cover to Love Hina vol. 6.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 12 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2006: Green Lantern: Mosaic #9)
(2005: Jonah Hex #34)
(2004: Starman #27)

(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Christmas Extravataganza 2007 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)
 

Brighter Minds Media 40% off Discount

Our friends over at Brighter Minds Media are offering readers of this blog a 40% discount when ordering directly from their website. BMM publishes educational games, toys and software. Among the licenses they hold is one for Marvel Heroes; I previously reviewed their Marvel Heroes Breakout DVD Game.

To get the discount, enter the code BLOG at checkout.

The offer is good through March 1, 2008.

Christmas Covers - December 12

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)

Brandy gets ready to play Santa on Frank Cho's cover to Liberty Meadows #24.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 13 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2006: Veronica #6)
(2005: Dell Movie Classic #725)
(2004: Treasure Chest vol. 23 #8)

(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Christmas Extravataganza 2007 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)
 

Christmas Covers - December 11

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)

Sean Wang draws the cover to The Tick: Big Red-N-Green Christmas Spectacle #1 from 2001. Spoon!

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 14 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2006: The Best of DC #58)
(2005: Batman #27)
(2004: The Brave and the Bold #148)

(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Christmas Extravataganza 2007 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

Christmas Covers - December 10

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)

Paul Dini's Jingle Belle meets Kyle Baker's The Bakers on the cover to last year's The Bakers Meet Jingle Belle, art by Kyle Baker.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 15 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2006: A Distant Soil #26)
(2005: Classics Illustrated #15)
(2004: Action Comics #93)

(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Christmas Extravataganza 2007 mix with over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)
 

Christmas Covers - December 9

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)

From 1958 it's Spaceman Discovers Christmas!

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 16 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2006: All-American Comics #10)
(2005: Roy Rogers Comics #49)
(2004: Pogo Possum #11)

(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)

(Looking for a little Christmas cheer of your own? Tune in to free Yet Another Music Radio for our Christmas Extravataganza 2007 mix for over six and a half hours of seasonal songs.)

Christmas Covers - December 8

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)

Mickey and Minnie and the rest of the Disney gang go out caroling on the cover of 1959's Dell Giant #26 by Tony Strobl & Norm McGary.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 17 more 'get-ups' until Santa!


(2006: X-Men #108)
(2005: Liberty Meadows #29)
(2004: Top Ten #6)

(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)

Christmas Covers - December 7

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)

It's Ha Ha Ho from Tim Sale and The Joker on the cover to Batman: The Long Halloween #3 from 1996.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 18 more 'get-ups' until Santa!

(2006: Sgt. Rock #21)
(2005: Pinky and the Brain #19)
(2004: Alf Holiday Special #1)


(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)

Quick Review: Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain!

Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain!: Cartoonist Ignores Helpful Advice
by Scott Adams
Penguin, $24.95

Dilbert creator Scott Adams' latest book of prose is an example of a recent publishing trend: the blog book, in which a writer keeps a daily-ish blog, the collects the best entries and assembles them into a collection printed on dead trees. As former blog entries, all of the chapters are short, which makes this book perfect for bathroom reading. That's a not a slam on the book, just an observation of what type of book it is.

A few of the pieces relate to creation of the Dilbert strip--mostly encounters with censors--but most of the book is filled with Adams' observations of his daily life or world events. Adams can be a funny writer, so if you're a fan of Dilbert you'll probably find many chuckles inside. Sometimes though he gets a bit pedantic, and his occasional anti-religion swipes seem a bit unthinking. Still, overall a pleasant way to pass the time.

Rating: 3 (of 5)

(a review copy of this book was provided by the publisher)

Christmas Covers - December 6

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)

Everybody in Smallville wants to fly for the holidays on Kevin Maguire & Ty Templeton's 1991 cover to The Adventures of Superboy #12.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 19 more 'get-ups' until Santa!

(2006: The Maze Agency #11)
(2005: Spider-Man's Tangled Web #21)
(2004: Ambush Bug Stocking Stuffer)

(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
 

Christmas Covers - December 5

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)

Rudolph helps Santa in the North Pole Workshop on the cover to 1950's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer #1 by Rube Grossman.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 20 more 'get-ups' until Santa!

(2006: Animaniacs: A Christmas Special #1)
(2005: Shanda the Panda #14)
(2004: Famous Funnies #125)

(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
 

Making Rain Online

Way back in 2004, one of the very first comics I reviewed on YACB was Making Rain, a graphic novella by Ursula Murray Husted. I gave it 4.5 stars and named it one of the Best of 2004. At the time I stated that the only drawback to Making Rain was its relatively high price. But now Husted has put Making Rain up online, for free! That's a price that cannot be beat. So if you haven't read it yet, go and give it a try.

Christmas Covers - December 4

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)

From waaay back in 1936, Dick Tracy graces the Christmas-themed cover to Popular Comics #12.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 21 more 'get-ups' until Santa!

(2006: Yogi Bear #11)
(2005: The Batman and Robin Adventures #3)
(2004: Dell Four Color #1154)

(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)
 

Christmas Covers - December 3

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)

It's a Web-Swinging Holiday when Spider-Santa comes to town, courtesy of George Pérez on the cover of the Marvel Holiday Special 1994.

Just 22 more 'get-ups' until Santa!

(2006: Tom-Tom and Itchi the Monk #2)
(2005: Marge's Little Lulu #18)
(2004: Superman #369)

(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)

Christmas Covers - December 2

For each day of December until Christmas I'm featuring a Comic Cover Advent Calendar. Just move your mouse over the image to reveal today's special Holiday comic cover. Click on the image to get a larger version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)

We're making snowmen with old-school Sabrina on Dan DeCarlo's cover to Sabrina, The Teen-Age Witch #77.

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.


Just 23 more 'get-ups' until Santa!

(2006: Dennis the Menace Bonus Magazine Series #111)
(2005: Limited Collectors' Edition #C-43)
(2004: Walt Disney's Christmas Parade #9)

(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)

Christmas Covers - December 1

It's time once again for our annual Christmas Covers event: twenty-five more comic covers with a holiday theme, in our little virtual comic book advent calendar.

Hover over the image to reveal today's cover, and click on it to see the larger-sized version. (If you're on a feed reader you may need to click through to the blog to get it to work.)

To kick things off, The Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman join Santa Claus in wishing you a happy holiday season on Frank Harry's cover to Comic Cavalcade #5 from 1943!

Come back tomorrow, and every day this month, for a new Christmas cover.

Just 24 more 'get-ups' until Santa!

(2006: Justice League Unlimited #16)
(2005: Walt Disney's Christmas Parade #3)
(2004: Limited Collectors' Edition #C-34)
(Polite Dissent's 2007 Comic Book Cover Advent Calendar)

YAMR: Christmas Extravataganza 2007

It's December, and that means it's time for our annual Christmas Extravataganza on Yet Another Music Radio!

Tune in and listen to more than one hundred tracks, including music by:

Adrienne Pierce; Aimee Mann; Ali Lohan; Allison Crowe; Aly & AJ; Antigone Rising; The Apples in Stereo; Asleep at the Wheel; BarlowGirl; Bethany Dillon; The Beu Sisters; Bianca Ryan; Big Bad Voodoo Daddy; Billy Dean; Billy Paul Williams feat. Nicole Henry; The Bird and the Bee; Blackmore's Night; Blondfire; Brad Paisley; Britt Nicole; Built for the Sea; c. basinet; Celtic Woman; Chris Isaak; Chris Rice; Christine Evans; Christy Carlson Romano; Cliff & Danielle Young; Colbie Caillat; Cyndi Thompson; Deana Carter; Deanna Kirk; Derri Daugherty, Julie Miler & Third Day; Ellis Paul; Emily Richards; Enya; Erin Alden; Fountains of Wayne; Hayley Westenra; Hillsong; Iain Archer; Ingrid Lucia; Israel & New Breed; Jack Ingram; James Taylor; Jane Monheit; Jars of Clay; Jason Mraz; Jeff Black; Jessie Daniels; Joan Osborne; Johanna Stahley; John Tesh; Joy Williams; Kelly Willis; Kimberly Locke; KT Tunstall; Kutless; Lauri Carrigan; Leigh Nash; Lisa Loeb; Lisa Theriot; Los Straitjackets; Luscious Jackson; Martin Sexton; Matt Costa; Mediæval Bæbes; Melanie Doane; MercyMe; Michelle Tumes; Mindy Smith; Moya Brennan; Méav Ni Mhaolchatha; Natalie Grant; Nazanin; Nichole Nordeman; Nnenna Freelon; Olivia Olson; Over the Rhine; Persephone's Bees; The Pipettes; Play; Point of Grace; Rebecca St. James; Relient K; Rhonda Vincent; Rihanna; Sara Groves; Sarah McLachlan feat. Diana Krall; Saturday Looks Good to Me; Sister Hazel; Skye Sweetnam; Sleigh Ride; Sonicflood; Starfield; Sufjan Stevens; Tears for Beers; Tiffany Giardina; TRALALA; The Trophy Fire; Tywanna Jo Baskette; Universa Honey; Venus Hum; Whigfield; The Young Playthings; and ZOEgirl.

It's six and a half hours of not-your-typical Christmas music to get you into the holiday mood!

The Simpsons on Hulu

I've now got a Hulu beta account, so here's "Husbands & Knaves," the recent episode of The Simpsons that featured Alan Moore, Art Spiegelman & Dan Clowes as The League of Extraordinary Freelancers (complete with ads).

New This Week: November 29, 2007

New comics arrive Thursday this week, I guess because Thanksgiving was last week? No, it doesn't make sense to me either.


Boom! have a trade collection of their rather enjoyable Talent mini. While the story by Christopher Golden and Tom Sniegoski reads like the pilot for a television series, it's a rather good one, and the art from Paul Azaceta works well. (I reviewed issues #1, #2, #3-4.)

There's a third collection of Eric Shanower's retelling of the Trojan War, Age of Bronze. I haven't finished the second one yet, which means I'm a good-for-nothing slacker.

The first Popgun anthology is 400 full-color pages of stories from some nifty comics creators; a good bargain which some very likely good stories within.

DC have the third collection of Douglas Rushkoff's Testament, a comic which seems so tailored to my reading interests that it's no surprise that hardly anyone else is reading it; and Garth Ennis's Midnighter: Killing Machine, which I thought was good for what it was, and has art from the always-nifty Chris Sprouse.

Speaking of Ennis, he and Gary Erskine resurrect Dan Dare for Virgin Comics. (Last resurrected by Grant Morrison & Rian Hughes, so they have a lot to live up to.)

Other floppies of interest include Casanova (#11), Madman Atomic Comics (#5), Jack of Fables (#17), and All Star G-dd-amm Batman and Robin (#8)

Tons of manga this week, though not from the usual suspects (although Viz have a handful), but rather from Seven Seas, NetComics, Digital Manga, Del Rey and Dark Horse. And Fanfare/Ponent Mon have Ice Wanderer, a collection of six man vs. nature stories by the master manga-ka Jiro Taniguchi.

Why Isn't Previews Free Online?

Why isn't Diamond's Previews catalog available online for free? Seriously, they could just create a PDF file from the InDesign (or whatever program they use) file and let people download it. Sure it would be a large PDF, but so what? Then more comics and graphic novels would get exposed to those who don't get the paper version, and people who never set foot in a comic store may find something they like. Most comic stores I know of either provide Previews for free to their regular customers, or sell them at cost; so they could save on shipping charges by not having to get multiple boxes of the print version. Seems like a win-win-win situation to me.

(Of course, the information from Previews is already out there each month from the various online comic shops; but a PDF version provided by Diamond would I think be more user-friendly.)

New Library Comics: Week of November 19, 2007

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


Cohen, Michael, 1950- Strange attractors / Bellingham, Wash. : RetroGrafix, 1993-1997. no. 8

Moore, Terry. Strangers in paradise / Houston, TX : Abstract Studio, c1994- nos. 5, 8

Oakley, Mark, 1970- Thieves & kings / Toronto : I Box Pub., 1994- nos. 1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10

Smith, Jeff, 1960 Feb. 27- Bone / Worthington, Ohio : Cartoon Books, 1992 nos. 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 19

Smith, Jeff, 1960 Feb. 27- Bone holiday special / [Lombard, IL : Warrior Publications], c1993.

Smith, Jeff, 1960 Feb. 27- Bone sourcebook. / Anaheim, CA : Image Comics, 1995-


This listing is now available as an RSS Feed!

New This Week: November 21, 2007

While last week saw the release of some great OGNs, this week is the Week of the Floppy at your local comics store.


Topping the list is the first issue of Angel: After the Fall, the officially blessed Angel Season 6 comic. If this sees even half the sales of Dark Horse's Buffy continuation, it will probably be IDW's best-selling comic ever.

Pulling in at a close second is the latest issue of my favorite romantic comedy super-hero comic, Thom Zahler's Love & Capes (#6).

Matt Wagner returns to his most famous creation, Grendel, in the first issue of Grendel: Behold the Devil.

Also in new issues are the librarian sci-fi/fantasy/action/humor comic Rex Libris (#9); The first issue of the ongoing Hawaiian Dick; Groo: Hell on Earth (#2); Ex Machina #32; Castle Waiting II (#9); Gødland (#20); Captain America (#32); and Powers (#27).


So go grab yourself some comic books, and spend the four-day weekend reading your favorite stories!

YAFQ: Do You De-Bone Your Comics?

Last week when I ranted about Marvel's extra ad pages I mentioned without explaining a process that I call de-boning. So what exactly is de-boning?

You know how your magazines usually come with one or two (or more) cardstock inserts (usually subscription cards) that bridge the saddle? I find it very hard to read with that cardstock flopping up, so I tear them out.

I do the same thing to my comics, and not just the occasional cardstock insert. I take out those bound-in eight-page advertainment comic-like things too.

When DC adds extra ad pages, it's usually in the form of an extra four-page signature that's bound in; it quite often is of a slightly different paper quality, and you can tell by the fact that each of the four pages has an ad. I rip those out too. I can slim a DC comic down to its natural 32-page size.

One of the reason why I hate it when Marvel adds extra ad pages is that hey do it in such a way that you can't be-done the comic without tearing out story pages; a sheet will have three ad pages and one story page on it. Boo.

I know that some people would be shocked and horrified at this, as the comic is no longer near-mint or whatever. I decided that I don't really care; I buy comics for reading, not collecting, and it's easier to read without extra ads in the way.

So, after that long explanation, my Yet Another Friday Question to you is this:

Do you de-bone your comics?

Empty Graphic Novel Shelves

The comics & graphic novels shelves are empty, because Google has come to take them away for scanning. (They'll be back in a week or so.) Not sure how much useful they'll be having been scanned; they cannot be presented online because they're under copyright, and I imagine that the OCR for searching on the hand lettering in most comics will be hit-or-miss.







(For info on the Google Scanning and the Michigan Digitization Project, see http://www.lib.umich.edu/mdp/)

New This Week: November 14, 2007: Best Week Ever!

We have a new Best New Comics Week Ever!

I previously declared March 29, 2006 as the Best New Comics Week ever, but I think that this week supercedes it.

At the very top of the list is Zombies Calling, the debut graphic novel from Faith Erin Hicks. Back in May I declared my enthusiasm for this comic based on the preview pages I'd seen, and now it's finally here! You may think you're burned out on zombie comics, but ZC looks to be a fun take on an old trope.

Many have expressed great enthusiasm for Brian Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim, so if you're one of those people I suspect you'll be awfully excited that the fourth volume, Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together, is out this week from Oni.

Oni also have the new Courtney Crumrin and the Fire Thief's Tale from Ted Naifeh. Naifeh's Courtney Crumrin is one of the best comics starring a kid ever, and can be enjoyed fully by readers of all stripes.

Also also from Oni is the eigth (and for the time being final) volume in Greg Rucka's Queen and Country series, Operation Red Panda.

Also hitting stores (at least in the U.S.) is The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier, the long awaited OGN from Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neil. Despite all the drama involved in this comic's production, it's sure to be a good read.

Are you looking for a comic with plenty of smashing? The finale of World War Hulk (#5) finally arrives. And if you want your super-hero action a bit less angsty, Marvel obliges with the fourth Marvel Adventures The Avengers digest, collecting Jeff Parker's final issues.

You want even more great comics? There's a new issue of Morrison & Quitely's All Star Superman (#9), which is always worth the wait. Also from DC is a collection of Morrison's JLA: Ultramarines, as well as new collections of Ex Machina (vol. 6) and Jonah Hex: Origins; plus a Showcase Presents volume for Sgt. Rock!



There's plenty of other good stuff as well, including large batches of manga from TokyoPop and Viz. So rush out to your friendly local comic store and be prepared to part with some cash in exchange for some fine entertainment!

New Library Comics: Week of November 5, 2007

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


DeMatteis, J. M. Seekers into the mystery / New York : DC Comics, 1996-1997. nos. 3-5

Grist, Paul. Kane / England : Dancing Elephant Press, c1993- nos. 3-8

Pope, Paul. THB / Columbus, Ohio : Horse Press, c1994- nos. 1-5

Pulgarcito. Barcelona : Editorial Bruguera. nos. 154-155

Shrigley, David. Let's wrestle / San Francisco, CA : Chronicle Books, 2007.

The Starjongleur collection. Portland, Or. : Trylvertrell Press, 1986- nos. 1-2

TBO (Barcelona, Spain) TBO : almanaque humorístico. Barcelona : Ediciones TBO, nos. 1966, 1969, 1972, 1980


This listing is now available as an RSS Feed!

Veterans Day

Cover by Joe Kubert from Our Army at War #297.

(Veterans Day was technically yesterday, but we're honoring it on Monday, just like the post office and the banks.)

Monkey Covers

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

Tarzan fights some kind of monkey/ape thing on the cover of Tip Top Comics #47.

(Standard disclaimer about monkey/ape things possibly not really being monkeys applies.)

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

Enchanted

LA Times has a feature story about Disney's upcoming Enchanted, along with a video clip from the movie featuring Amy Adams singing "That's How You Know."



I was on the fence about his movie, but after seeing the clip I'm totally in. Sure, one look at the trailer and you can figure out exactly how the movie is going to play out, but it's got big all-singing all-dancing musical numbers in Central Park!

Gun-toting Yotsuba&! Netflix wha...?!

IMG_2951.JPG
Originally uploaded by edcool1

Stumbled across this weird flickr photoset, featuring a gun-toting Yotsuba&! toy and a Netflix envelope. Bizarre...

I swear Marvel, if you keep doing this crap I'm going to stop buying your floppies

Notice anything about many of your Marvel comics this week. They're thicker! No, Marvel didn't give you extra pages of story, they gave you extra pages of ads.

For example, Astonishing X-Men increased from 32 to 48 pages (not counting covers). Those 48 pages are:

1 'previously on' page
23 pages of story
18 pages of ads
6 pages of dubious editorial material

Basically the thing is half advertising.

Why do I care? After all, they didn't raise the price, so I'm still getting the same story value for my $2.99.

One, the plethora of ads really breaks up the flow of the story. It's often a page of story, then a page of ads, then a page of story, then three pages of ads. (Unlike when DC ads an extra insert of advertising, you cannot 'debone' the Marvel comics of their extra bulk.) So why not just wait for the trade, where I can read the story uninterrupted by advertising?

Two, the extra-thick comics add up to extra bulk. 50% more. That 50% more weight that your retailer has to pay in shipping, which eats into his/her profits. Retailers raised holy heck before when Marvel did this, and Marvel promised to knock it off. Guess they forgot.

New This Week: November 7, 2007

What looks good at the comic shop this week?

The Middleman: The Third Volume Inescapability is a new OGN from Javier Grillo-Marxuach & Les McClaine. The first two volumes (released as mini-series) were a good deal of fun with plenty of action, so this should be good too.

I'm a huge fan of Kiyohiko Azuma's Yotsuba&!, but I've never really warmed to her earlier comic, Azumanga Daioh. However, many other people have, so if you're looking to give it a try, ADV has a massive omnibus edition collecting the first three volumes.

Lots of manga from both Viz and TokyoPop (nothing that particularly excites me, but YYMV).

Dark Horse makes a bid for your pocketbook with a new issue of Buffy (#8); the first issue of the new Groo mini, Hell on Earth; and a new volume of Eden: It's an Endless World (vol. 9).

Marvel send new issues of Astonishing X-Men (#23) and Criminal (#10) your way.


Enjoy your new comics!

Comic Blog Popularity Contest

I've always been a bit too fascinated by Website statistics. Waaay back in the mid-90s (an eternity in Internet years) I wrote one of the first programs for doing transaction log analysis of Web server logs.

So of course I obsessively pour over my blog statistics.

I always figured I was on the third tier of comics blogs in terms of readership. The first tier being the blogs that nearly everyone reads, namely Dirk, Tom & Heidi. The second tier being those who have been around for a while and who post either long, highly entertaining posts or who blog frequently, like Mike and Chris¹ and Johanna and Dave and others. The third tier being schmoes like me who have been at this for a while but who don't post every day. There's probably a fourth tier as well, mostly those bloggers who are just getting started and who haven't found a readership yet.

Based on the stats I get--and let's be clear, Web stats are an imprecise science at best--I figure that I have about 300 regular readers, and another 250 or so a day who come at me from random linkage² or Google searches³. So put my total daily-ish readership at 550 people more or less.

In a post today, Johanna reveals that she gets over 3,555 readers a day, which puts her an order of magnitude higher than me and confirms my supposition that she's in a higher 'tier' of the comics blogosphere than me.

So, anyone else want to reveal their comics blog readership numbers?

---

¹ Man, if I worked in a comic shop, I'd no doubt have no end of things to blog about!

² Getting linked to by ¡Journalista! or When Fangirls Attack or Mangablog is a surefire way to pump up one's blog stats for a day or two.

³ Seriously, if you ever want to get a permanent boost to your Google search stats, write a post titled "Girls in Mini Skirts Kicking People" and get it linked to by Dirk; your Google page rank will soar!
 

Monkey Covers

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

Peter Cannon — Thunderbolt! battles in the Ape Arena on the cover to Secrets of the Unknown #229. That's right: The Ape Arena! I love comics!

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

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

The Librarians and Other TV News

ITEM! A writers' strike is looking imminent, and it appears that the first casualty is the Heroes: Origins series, as NBC needs to free up the budget money for non-scripted programming (i.e. crappy reality programs).

ITEM! One quote I read about the upcoming strike (I forget from whom and where) was that "a lot of novels are going to get written." With the number of writers from television moving into comics these days, I suspect there will be a lot of comics scripts written too; who knows, maybe this'll mean that Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk finally gets finished!

ITEM! Despite the troubles, FOX has greenlit a new series from Joss Whedon starring Eliza Dushku called Dollhouse for probably the 2008 season (unless the strike is still going on...) Reportedly Tim Minear will be involved too. Hmm, Minear + FOX = Cancelled within four episodes, so don't get too attached.

ITEM! Not really comics or television, but related to both, is the news that a new X-Files movie will begin shooting in December for a Summer 2008 release.

ITEM! And from a land (Australia) where there is no strike looming: I've always thought that a public library would be a perfect setting for a television comedy, and finally someone agrees with me! Yesterday marked the debut of The Librarians, a six-episode series on ABC (That's the Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Of course you can't see it on the telly outside of Australia, but for the time being you can go to the ABC Website and watch the pilot episode in YouTube-like-quality streaming video. It's not a laugh-a-minute sitcom, but rather a workplace comedy in the humour mode of the UK version of The Office. There were also some great background gags, and those of you who have worked in libraries will recognize the characters who work at the fictitious library, no matter which country you are from.

X-Halloween

Parker + Coover + X-Men + Halloween = Fun!

(via TCR)

New This Week: October 31, 2007

Hey, it's Halloween. Instead of going out for tricks or treats, you're going to your local comics store for new comics day. What treats await you there?


Do you like dinosaurs? Do you like animals? Do you like manga? If you answered yes to any one of those questions, you should pick up Gon vol. 2 by Masashi Tanaka (from CMX). It's the most entertaining six bucks you'll spend all week. (Don't worry if you missed volume one--each installment of Gon can be read and enjoyed on its own.)

Dark Horse publish the "already-best-selling-on-Amazon" collection of Nicholas Gurewitch's Webstrip The Perry Bible Fellowship.

Ready for some mind-blowing so-square-it's-hip-again Bob Haney madness? Then hook yourself up with the second Showcase Presents Teen Titans volume!

For some Halloween scares, you can pick up Osamu Tezuka's horror manga MW, the latest in Vertical's noble effort to bring the "Godfather of Manga"'s work into translation.

In floppy-land, there's the first issue of Greg Rucka's Crime Bible (starring Batwoman and The Question); the debut of Kyle Baker's war satire Special Forces; Gary Frank's debut on Action Comics (#858) with the old-school Legion of Super-Heroes; and the third issue of Josh Howard's The Lost Books of Eve.


After getting your comics, hurry home to hand out candy (or better yet, comics!) to all the neighborhood little goblins.

Hey DC, Where's My Love Syndicate?

Over at Gad Sir, Comics!, Steve Flanagan reminds us of the Love Syndicate of Dreamworld, an alternate version of the JLA featured briefly in an issue of Grant Morrison's Animal Man. Little is known of the Love Syndicate, except that is featured heroes such as Sunshine Superman, Speed Freak, and Magic Lantern. In other words, a world with a 'hippie' JLA.

At least one Internet denizen has attempted to extrapolate a history of Dreamworld (confusingly interspersed with a history of an 'Earth-17') which adds in forgotten DC properties Brother Power the Geek, President Prez Rickard, and the 'Emma Peel' version of Wonder Woman to the mix.

So somewhere amongst the 52 worlds of the New Multiverse I'd like to think that Dreamworld is one of them. If looks like we won't be getting a Countdown Presents the Love Syndicate mini, even though I would totally buy such a thing. But with Morrison writing Final Crisis, we can hope that maybe Sunshine Superman and his pals will be making an appearance.

New Library Comics: Week of October 22, 2007

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


Gallagher, Fred (Fred M.), 1968- Megatokyo = [Megatōkyō] / Milwaukie, OR : Dark Horse Comics, 2004- vol. 3

Howarth, Matt, 1954- Konny and Czu / San Antonio, Texas : Antarctic Press, 1994- nos. 1, 3-4

Howarth, Matt, 1954- WRAB Pirate Television : the graphic novel / Langhorne, PA : Howski Studios, 1985

Kolossal. Roma : Lancio, [1973]- nos. 407, 420

Lancio color. Roma : Lancio, [1978]- no. 339

Lanciostory. Roma : Eura, [1975]- v. 31 no. 39

Raiti, Ashly. Mark of the succubus / Los Angeles, CA : Tokyopop, Inc., 2005- vol. 1


This listing is now available as an RSS Feed!

Monkey Covers

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

Detective Chimp is on the case on the cover of this week's Shadowpact #18 by Tom Derenick & Wayne Faucher.

(Standard disclaimer about magnifying glass-using chimpanzees not really being monkeys applies.)

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

Review: Old Boy vol. 1

Old Boy vol. 1
by Garon Tsuchiya & Nobuaki Minegishi
Dark Horse, $12.95

Old Boy is pretty much what I'm looking for in a seinen manga. The story is straighforward: an unnamed man, having been held captive for ten years, is released onto the streets of Tokyo. Not knowing why he was a captive or who arranged his captivity, he starts to put a life together with the aim of the one thing he has left: revenge. There's not much of the 'revenge' component yet, as this first volume is mostly set-up; but this is obviously a slow build story and the revenge will surely be that much sweeter when it arrives.

While I hold out to see if Tsuchiya's story will pay off, I can definitely recommend the art by Minegishi. In layout and pacing it compares favorably to Goseki Ikegami; he is able to use an eleven-panel page to give a simultaneous sense of timelessness and time passing, or break out a two-page spread at the moment of maximum impact. The backgrounds are often detailed to the point of gorgeousness and the figures are expressive without veering into cartoonishness.

If future volumes can hold up the level of quality and move the story forward, Old Boy should make for a worthwhile ride over its eight volumes.

Rating: 3.5 (of 5).