New Library Comics: July 2009

Here are the comics we added to our library collection in July (yes, I'm way behind; I'll be catching up over the next several days...):


Adachi, Mitsuru. Tatchi = Touch vols. 2, 7 / Tōkyō : Shōgakukan, 1992-1994.

Adams, Scott, 1957- Stick to drawing comics, monkey brain! : cartoonist ignores helpful advice / New York : Portfolio, 2007.

Akimoto, Osamu, 1952- Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen mae Hashutsujo vols. 5, 74, 101 / Tōkyō : Shūeisha, 1977-1997.

Azuma, Kiyohiko. Yotsuba to! vols. 1-5 / Tōkyō : Media Wākusu : Hatsubaimoto Kadokawa Shoten, 2003-

Bagge, Peter. Everybody is stupid except for me : and other astute observations : a decade's worth of cartoon reporting for Reason Magazine / Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics Books, c2009.

Bilal, Enki. The Beast trilogy. Chapters 1 & 2. / Hollywood, CA : Humanoids : DC Comics, c2002.

Bliss, Harry, 1964- Luke on the loose : a toon book / New York : Toon Books, c2009

Brown, Jeffrey, 1975- Funny misshapen body : [a memoir] / New York : Touchstone Books, c2009

Chao, Fred. Johnny Hiro : (half Asian, all hero) / Richmond, Va. : AdHouse Books, c2009

Claremont, Chris, 1950- Wolverine / New York : Marvel, 2009.

Corben, Richard. H. P. Lovecraft's Haunt of horror / New York : Marvel, 2008

Cronin, Brian. Was Superman a spy? : and other comic book legends revealed / New York : Plume, 2009.

Fingerman, Bob, 1964- Connective tissue / Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics, 2009

Friesen, Ray. Lookit! : comedy & mayhem vol. 1 / Tehachapi, CA : Don't Eat Any Bugs Productions, c2005-

Hazuki, Kanae. Voices of love / [Torrance, Calif.] : Luv Luv Press, 2008.

Hernandez, Gilbert. Luba / Seattle, WA : Fantagraphics, 2009

Hōjō, Tsukasa, 1959- Kyattsu ai = Cat's eye vol. 10 / Hōjō Tsukasa. Tōkyō : Shūeisha,

Ikeno, Koi. Tokimeki tunaito vols. 1, 11 / Tōkyō : Shūeisha, 1998-

Jodorowsky, Alejandro. Megalex bk. 1. The anamoly / Hollywood, Calif. : Humaniods Pub. ; New York : DC Comics, c2005-

Jodorowsky, Alejandro. The Incal. [v.1] The epic conspiracy / Hollywood, Calif. : Humanoids Pub. ; New York : DC Comics, c2005.

Jodorowsky, Alejandro. The Incal. [v.2] The epic journey / Hollywood, Calif. : Humanoids Pub. ; New York : DC Comics, c2005.

Jodorowsky, Alejandro. The technopriests bk. 1. Initiation / Hollywood, CA : Humanoids Pub. ; New York : DC Comics, c2004-

Jodorowsky, Alejandro. The technopriests bk. 2. Rebellion / Hollywood, CA : Humanoids Pub. ; New York : DC Comics, c2004-

Kelly, Joe. Ballast / Los Angeles, Calif. : Active Images, 2005.

Kelly, Walt. Positively Pogo. / New York : Simon and Schuster, [1957]

Kieth, Sam. My inner bimbo / Portland, Or. : Oni Press, 2009.

Kim, Dong Hwa. The color of earth / New York : First Second, 2009.

Kim, Ho-sik. My sassy girl vol. 1. / Fremont, Calif. : ComicsOne, 2003.

Kyle Baker / Raleigh, N.C. : TwoMorrows, 2008

Lasko-Gross, Miss. A mess of everything / Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics, 2009.

Love, Jeremy. Bayou vol. 1 / New York : DC Comics, 2009-

Malki, David, cartoonist. Clever tricks to stave off death / Los Angeles, Calif. : Wondermark Enterprises ; Milwaukie, Or. : Dark Horse Books, 2009.

Matsumoto, Izumi, 1958- Kimagure orenji rōdo vol. 8 / Tōkyō : Shūeisha, 1991-1992.

Milligan, Peter. Johnny Nemo : existentialist hitman of the future vol. 1 / Somerville, MA : Cyberosia Pub., c2002-

Monath, Norman. Songs of the Pogo / New York : Simon and Schuster, c1968

More than mortal vol. 1 / [S.l.] : Liar Comics, 1998-

Morioka, Hiroyuki. Seikai trilogy v. 1. Crest of the stars / Los Angeles : Tokyopop, c2004

Morioka, Hiroyuki. Seikai trilogy v. 2. Banner of the stars. The shape of bonds / Los Angeles : Tokyopop, c2004.

Muth, Jon J. The stonecutter / New York : Feiwel and Friends, 2009

Niles, Steve. Freaks of the heartland / Milwaukie, Or. : Dark Horse ; London : Diamond [distributor], 2005

Nilsen, Anders, 1973- Monologues for calculating the density of black holes / Seattle, WA : Fantagraphics, 2008.

Nishi, Yoshiyuki. Muhyo & Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation, BSI vol. 1 / San Francisco, CA : Viz Media, [2007]-

Northeast, Christian. Prayer requested / Montreal, Quebec : Drawn & Quarterly, 2009.

O'Reilly, Sean. Ezra : Egyptian exchange / [British Columbia] : Arcana Studio Inc., 2005.

Okano, Reiko, 1960- Yōmi henjō yawa vols. 1-2 / Tōkyō : Heibonsha, 1999-2001

Ottaviani, Jim. T-minus : the race to the moon / New York : Aladdin, 2009.

Ploy, Anne. Transgenesis 2029 : fides / Hollywood, CA : Humanoids/DC Comics, 2004-

Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849. The raven and other poems / New York : Papercutz, 2009

Pope, Paul. 100% / New York : DC Comics/ Vertigo, c2009.

Power, Natsu Onoda. God of comics : Osamu Tezuka and the creation of post-World War II manga / Jackson [Miss.] : University Press of Mississippi, c2009

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

Rall, Ted. Silk road to ruin : is Central Asia the new Middle East? / New York : NBM, c2006

Robinson, James. London's dark / London : Titan Books, 1989

Saito, Takao. Golgo 13 vol. 1 / San Francisco, CA : VIZ Media, c2006-

Schultz, Mark, 1955- The stuff of life : a graphic guide to genetics and DNA / New York : Hill and Wang, 2009

Shimizu, Toshimitsu. Maico 2010 vol. 1 / Femont, Calif. : Comics One, 1997-

Shipman, Gary. Pakkins' Land. Paul’s adventure / Plymouth, MI : Caliber Comics, c1997.

Shuster, Joe. Secret identity : the fetish art of Superman's co-creator Joe Shuster / New York : Abrams ComicArts, 2009.

Stearn, Ted. Fuzz & Pluck in Splitsville pt. 2 / Seattle, WA : Fantagraphics, [2001?-

Tannenbaum, Felix. Chronicles of some made / Denver, CO : Passenger Pigeon Publishing, 2008

TenNapel, Doug. Power up / Berkeley, Calif. : Image Comics, 2009

Tezuka, Osamu, 1926- Black Jack : Best ... stories vols. 1-2 / Tōkyō : Akita Shoten, Heisei 5-15 [1993-2003]

Tezuka, Osamu, 1928-1989. Hi no tori vols. 4-5 / Tōkyō : Kadokawa Shoten, Heisei 4 [1992]

Tezuka, Osamu, 1928-1989. Tetsuwan Atomu = Mighty Atom vols. 1-2 / Tōkyō : Kōdansha, 2002.

Warren, Adam. Dirty pair : dangerous acquaintances / Milwaukie, OR : Dark Horse, 1997

Winick, Judd. The big book of Barry Ween, boy genius / Portland, Or. : Oni, 2008

Wolverton, Basil, d. 1978. Basil Wolverton's Powerhouse Pepper / Seattle, WA : Fantagraphics Books, c1994

Yamanaka, Akira. Spider-Man J. Japanese daze / New York : Marvel, 2009


As always, this listing is available as an RSS Feed.

Scary Health Care Reform

(click on the image to enlarge)

Bizarro is brought to you today by Two Sides of the Aisle.

Because of the cartoon above, I got a lot of hate mail from readers who are against government-run health care and/or are regular viewers of Fox News. I thought I'd spend a couple of minutes today explaining my position on health care reform, not as any kind of expert, of course, just from my vantage point as one who cannot afford health care in America.

I make a decent amount of money, but I'm not rich. I'm also self employed, so no one provides any kind of insurance for me, I have to buy it. Health insurance costs vary from state to state, but here in NYC, the cheapest I can find for my wife and I, with a large deductible, is over $1000 a month. That's another mortgage payment each month, into the pockets of super wealthy insurance execs, in all likelihood for nothing. Statistics show that if I ever want to use that insurance there is an excellent chance they'll find a way to deny me. That's how they make their profits. My wife had serious brain and heart surgery when she was 20, so just about anything that happens to her now will be called a "pre-existing condition." You can bet on it.

So here I sit, a reasonably famous guy who makes a decent living, unable to afford to get sick. Sure, I can afford the occasional doctor's visit or prescription, and do, but if either my wife or I are ever in an accident or get a serious disease, we're out of luck. We can't afford insurance and we can't afford to pay for the care. So we die.

This is clearly an unfair system tilted heavily toward the corporations running it. This dilemma does not exist in any other wealthy nation. Government run health care does. And it works. It's not perfect, but anyone who has spent any time going through America's current health care system knows that it is far from perfect, too. Most people describe it as a nightmare.

Yes, it is popular in the U.S. to be fearful of the government, and throwing around scary words like "socialism" is a very effective way to herd people in the direction you want them to go. There has virtually never been a time in human history when this kind of tactic did not work. But all of the top nations in the world are a combination of socialism and capitalism, including ours. Medicare, Social Security, VA hospitals, welfare, public schools, road repair, anything you pay taxes for is a form of socialism. Some people imagine it would be better if none of those things existed and we all got to keep all our money and just "pay as we go" for these services, provided by private companies. But history shows that private industry is just as likely to screw up and cheat the consumer as any government. A combination of socialism and capitalism works best, which is why it is so prevalent worldwide.

A public, non-profit health plan provided by the government is socialism, yes, but no moreso than Medicare or Social Security (which have worked well for decades, despite Fox News' inaccurate reports of their impending bankruptcy), and will not interfere with your option to pay a private insurer through the nose and take your chances when you make a claim, if that is your choice.

If you're getting your information from Fox News, that is your right, but you are kidding yourself if you think it is anywhere close to "fair and balanced." Any number of independent agencies and studies have invariably clearly shown FN is guilty of habitual misinformation, routine and obvious inaccuracies, and a consistent support of the will and benefit of a handful of the world's most powerful corporations, who already have far too much influence in Washington.

Simply put, Fox News is not journalism, it is propaganda. And not because their opinion disagrees with mine, because much of what they say is demonstrably false, and always supports the narrow interests of a small handful of the uber-wealthy. Millions of Americans are being tricked into fighting for the very corporations that threaten our freedom and welfare. When every other large news agency in the world is saying something is bright and Fox News is the only one saying it is dark, especially when the ten wealthiest and most powerful people in the world are selling light bulbs, be very suspicious.

People opposing health care are afraid the government will control their lives. Right now, huge corporations control our lives by controlling our health care and virtually every other aspect of our lives. At least I can vote against a government. I have no recourse against CEOs.

Your opinions may vary, that's fine. I'm just hoping there will be a way to afford to go to a hospital before I actually need it.