Quick Comic Reviews

Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #4
by Jeff Parker, Patrick Scherberger & Norman Lee

Unlike previous issues, which were cribbed from classic Lee/Ditko Spider-Man stories, this issue features an all-new all-ages tale teaming up Spidey with the Human Torch. Parker, best known for his OGN The Interman, puts the fun back in everyone's favorite Webslinger with a story that's in the classic mold yet still fresh. The two heroes team up to stop the giant villainous Street before he tears up New York and finishes telling his boring origin story, and contain the giant monster Goom, accidentally freed by Johnny from the Negative Zone. The art by Scherberger & Lee is slightly cartoony and fits with the style of the story, and the fight scenes are easy to follow. This is good solid all-ages super-hero fun.
Rating: 3 (of 5)


City of Heroes #3
by Mark Waid, Nakayami, Basaldua, & Oback

I'd love to be able to tell you the full names of the artists who drew this, but there's nary a credits box to be found anywhere. Probably a good thing though, because in the years to come no one associated with this comic will want to have their names remembered. Oh, the art was competent enough for a standard super-hero book, but the problem is with the 'story.' Although I read the previous two issues leading up to this conclusion, I read so many comics per month that there's no way I can keep track of every continuing plot. But as with the credits box, any sort of recap is absent as well. So what we get are 20+ pages of generic characters in costumes hitting each other for reasons that aren't clear. In other words: extreme boredom. Meh--I expect better than this from Waid; hopefully the paycheck was large enough.
Rating: 1.5 (of 5)


Desolation Jones #2
by Warren Ellis & J. H. Williams III

While the first issue led us to believe that this was yet another take on the usualy Ellis archetypal main character, this second issue explores Jones further and proves him to have greater depth than we might have previously realized. Namely, this protagonist has something that other Ellis types do not: empathy. He also has a sense of compassion, all expertly realized in the extended scene between Joens & Emily Crowe, the woman whose body has been modified to produce fear and revulsion in every person (except for Jones). It's downright touching, something I wasn't expecting. If Ellis can keep playing against expectations, combined with the superb art by Williams (which I could go on about, but I don't have to since Jog does such a good job of praising the art on his blog) we might have another winner on our hands.
Rating: 4 (of 5)

Previews-o-Rama part 2: The Middle

We continue now with the second half of our monthly stroll through the lastest Previews for items scheduled to come out in September (for certain values of 'September'...)


Matt Howarth is on a roll, and now he's got a one-shot from Aeon: Those Annoying Post Bros. in: "Sex & Drugs & Heads Will Roll". Sure to be plenty of senseless violence--in full color!

AiT/PlanetLAR hits it out of the park with not one but two can't-miss GNs: the second Colonia collection from Jeff Nicholson: On Into the Great Lands; and a book I've really been looking forward to: Smoke & Guns by Kirsten Baldock & Fabio Moon.

Sure it'll be full of barely dressed women with impossible figures standing in disfiguring poses, but Alias's Victoria's Secret Service has one of the greatest titles in months. Alias also have the start of a new Lullaby series, a new issue of Opposite Forces, and the debut of David Alvarez's Yenny, which at 75 cents might be worth a look.

I figure that the folks who do Vampirella comics (Anarchy Studios/Harris Comics) must have a ton of money to throw at creators; why else would otherwise talented creators agree to work on such dreck all the time? This time out writer Mike Carey cashes in a payday with a 25 cent Zero issue of Vampirella: Revelations.

Arcana continue Adam Gallardo & Todd Demong's 100 Girls (#7).

Antarctic have a color manga colelction of Fred Perry's entertaining Legacy: First Inheritance, and a new Gold Digger Pocket Manga (vol. 6) as well. They also have new issues of Oz: The Manga (#4) and The Science Fair (#2).

Archie have a new issue of Sabrina (#70), and also debut a new Sonic the Hedgehog series: Sonic X. It just floors me that an old videogame character like Sonic the Hedgehog can not only have a comic series that's up to #154, but also have a spin-off series debuting.

Jeff Lemire's Xeric-winning Lost Dogs GN premieres from Ashtray Press.

Is it some sort of rule that every Avatar series must have at least five variant covers?

Bongo's latest Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror (#11) features work by industry greats John Severin, Angelo Torres, Al Willimson, Mark Schultz, Len Wein & Berni Wrightson, and Marv Wolfman & Gene Colan.

You know, I look at the cover for Jim Balent's Tarot: Witch Queen of Halloween Previews Exclusive and really worry about the sort of people that find that attractive. Then I'm somewhat comforted by the fact that such people are using this comic for their, um, attentions and not actually contributing to the gene pool.

Woo Hoo! Paul Sizer is back with a new OGN from Cafe Digital Press: Moped Army, vol. 1.

Not only are the annual Small Press Expo anthologies one of the best showcases of small press & indy comics around, but the proceeds benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. That's two good reasons to buy the 2005 edition, do you need any more? Okay, how about Charles Burns, Chester Brown, Scott Morse, Seth, Andy Runton, Mat Brinkman, and many more. So buy it!

Del Rey continue their string of interesting manga releases with Ghost Hunt, about a group of high school students who investigate the paranormal; and Moyoco Anno's Sugar Sugar Rune about young witch princesses.

Digital Webbing Presents #25 has a new Firebirds story from Jay Faerber.

Drawn & Quarterly have a relist of Drawn & Quarterly vol. 5, plus an anthology of Japanese Alt Comics from legendary manga-ka Yoshihiro Tatsumi: Push Man & Other Stories.

Evil Twin Comics have another issue of fun & informative philosophy comics from Fred Van Lente & Ryan Dunlavey: Action Philosopher's Self Help for Stupid Ugly Losers, featuring Sigmund Freud, Joseph Campbell, and Carl Jung.

Fantagraphics have the fourth colume of The Compelte Peanuts, plus two collections from Richard Sala: Mad Night Featuring Judy Drood, Girl Detective and The Chuckling Whatsit.

Gemstone's Donald Duck and Friends #332 features a full-length halloween story from Carl Barks.

iBooks have a third volume of Blacksad from Juan Diaz Canales & Juanjo Guarnido, one of the best-drawn comics today. They also relist the long-delayed second Mister X collection.

Shadowplay from IDW is a flip book, with Amber Benson & Ben Templesmith's "Demon Father John's Pinwheel Blues" on one side and Christina Z & Ashley Wood's "Shunt" on the other. Also of note is a comic adaptation of F. Paul Wilson's The Keep, written by Wilson himself. And those of you waiting for the trade on Grimjack: Killer Instrinct can wait no more--it's here!

Also for those waiting for the trade, Illusive Arts' Dorothy gets its forst collection; now there's no excuse for not picking up this intriguing photo-comic reinterpretation fo the classic OZ story.

Carla Speed McNeil's Finder #38 from Lightspeed Press kicks off a new storyline: "Five Crazy Women."

Moonstone have a 320-page anthology of Kolchak: The Night Stalker Chronicles, just in time for the new ABC tv series.

NBM have third volumes in their Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew OGN series, and they also have discounted two-pack collections of Marini Smolderson's Confessions of a Cereal Eater and Nabiel Kanan (the Birthday Riots and Lost Girl).

More Banana Sunday (#3) from Oni Press! Plus they debut Ted Naifeh's Polly & The Pirates, which will undoubtedly be worth reading when collected in a trade.

Pantheon have a hardcover colelction of Chris Ware miscellany in The ACME Novelty Library, and a hardcover collection of Charles Burns's masterful suburban horror story, Black Hole.

Amelia Rules #15 is resolicited from Renaissance Press.

The two new OEL manga from Seven Seas both look interesting: Captain Nemo by Jason DeAngelis & Aldin Viray is about a young Captain Nemo; and while Unearthly's premise is just like any number of high school romances with alien girls, it's written by Ted Naifeh (and drawn by Elmer Damaso) which means that it's definitely worth a look.

Speakeasy's new series Shotgun Wedding by Marc Bryant & Jason King looks like it could be interesting.

Thick as Thieves Productions has Zack Gardner's Xeric Award-winning Fauna

TokyoPop bing on the OEL manga with I Luv Halloween by Keith Giffen & Ben Roman; Svetlana Chmakova's love-at-the-anime-convention Dramacon; and Rivkah's Steady Beat--all of which look to be worthwhile. They also have an adaptation of the Square/Disney crossover video game Kingdom Hearts.

Top Shelf have a third Owly volume from Andy Runton: Flying Lessons. If you're not reading Owly, what's wrong with you? It's all-ages fun! They also have the second isse of Surrogates.

New from Viz is the Shojo Beat GN Socrates in Love, plus the latest volumes of Banana Fish (vol. 10) and Hikaru-no Go (vol. 5).

W. W. Norton pick up the Will Eisner Library with a massive hardcover collecting A Contract with God, A Life Force and Dropsie Avenue.

In the magazine section, the final issue of Wrapped in Plastic (#75) has a David Lynch interview.

In the books section, Neil Gaiman's long-awaited new novel Anansi Boys comes out; and Tom De Haven's It's Superman! A Novel has been getting great notices for its literary retelling of the classic Superman story in its original 30s milieu.


So much to buy, so little money. It'll be hard weeding the pre-orders this month. Best of luck!

New Library Comics: Week of July 11, 2005

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


Abel, Jessica. La Perdida. Seattle, WA : Fantagraphics Books, c2001- no. 5

Azad. A very Sammy day /Orange, CA : Image Comics, 2004.

Baudoin, Edmond, 1942- Piero /[Paris] : Seuil, c1998.

Bell, Gabrielle. Lucky /[San Francisco, Calif. : The Author, 2003?]- no. 1-3

Corman, Leela. Queen's day /Boston, MA : L. Corman, c1999.

Fred. Le mystère de la clairière des trois hiboux /Neuilly-sur-Seine [France] : Dargaud, c2003.

Fred. Y'a plus d'saison /Neuilly-sur-Seine [France] : Dargaud, c1978.

Hino, Hideshi, 1946- Hino horror /Tokyo : Cocoro Books, c2004- v. 1-13

Il velo di maya Marjane Satrapi o dell'ironia dell'Iran /Ravenna : Associazione Cultuale Mradam ; Lizard, [2003?]

Kosiak, Géraldine. Jours de pêche /Paris : Seuil, 2002.

L'important, c'est de participer! Paris : Cornelius, 2005.

Metaphrog. Louis : the clown's last words /Glasgow : Metaphrog, 2002.

Morrison, Grant. Seaguy /New York : DC Comics, c2005.

Schrag, Ariel. Likewise /San Jose, CA : SLG Publishing, 2002- no. 1-3

Sury, Caroline. Tourista dibujos : une compilation de carnets de voyage /[Marseille] : Le Dernier Cri, [2004]

Tsuge, Yoshiharu, 1934- L'homme sans talent /Angoulême : Ego comme x, c2003.

Willem. Anal symphonies /Paris : Éditions Cornélius, [1996]

Žeželj, Danijel. Caballo /[Zagreb] : Petikat, [2004]

Žeželj, Danijel. Small hands /[Zagreb] : Petikat, [2004]

Flytrap

As a rule I don't write reviews for works by friends, but I'm certainly not above promoting the heck out of the good comics that my friends do.

So when Steve Lieber offered to send along a copy of the new chapbook/mini comic that he and Sara Ryan did, I was more than happy to accept.

If the phrase "Steve Lieber & Sara Ryan have a new comic out" makes you joyous, then you've no doubt read their Eisner-nominated previous comic, Me and Edith Head. Flytrap looks to be a continuing (if irregularly published) series about Maddy, a PR specialist who loses her regular gig with an agency and ends up representing the independent Flytrap Circus. This first issue, "Juggling Act," introduces us to Maddy and sets up the situation. I enjoyed it and look forward to reading more.

It's 2 dollars (postpaid) for a fourteen page story with a cardstock cover, and well worth your while. You can order it directly from Steve via PayPal. (And while you're there you can grab some other great stuff from Steve and/or Sara too.)

Monkey Covers

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

Back 20 years ago, there was still room in the DCU for comics that were fun. Blue Devil #15, showcases that fun in this cover by Paris Cullins & Gary Martin, featuring Blue Devil himself facing off against a giant building-climbing gorilla (whose initials may or may not have been KK).

(standard disclaimer about gorillas not really being monkeys applies)

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

Quick Monkey Comic Reviews

Banana Sunday #1
by Root Nibot & Colleen Coover

Kirby Steinberg is the new girl at Forest Edge High School, but she's not just any new girl. Kirby comes with three talking monkeys in tow: Chuck, the super-intelligent orangutan ego; Go-Go, the always hungry gorilla id; and Knobby, the sensitive babe-magnet monkey superego. Kirby claims that her three talking monkey companions are the results of her scientist father's experiments with accellerated leaning abilities, but Nickels, Kirby's new best friend and reporter for the school paper, suspects that may not be the whole truth. Add in Martin, the cute boy photographer who comes to Kirby's aid when her clutziness gets the better of her, and you have the makings of a fun series. There's a general atmosphere of fun and the humor is often gentle and subtle, except for Go-Go whose antics at times are downright laugh-out-loud funny. The big attraction for this book of course is the wonderful art from Colleen Coover, stepping out from the erotic-comix ghetto to prove that she can do high school situational and physical comedy for an all-ages audience. It's all there: figures, backgrounds, storytelling, and a sureness of line; Coover makes it look easy, and gets to draw plenty of cute girls and talking monkeys. I'm sure you'll be tempted to wait for the trade, but there's plenty enough story and fun here to justify spending $3 on each individual issue; then you can get the inevitable trade when it comes out and share it with all your friends.
Rating: 4 (of 5)


Go-Go Gorilla and the Jungle Crew Summer Fun Special
by Mike Hall, Dustin Evans, and David Hedgecock

In Jungle City, humans live side-by-side with a variety of anthropomorphs, wherfe they're just as comfortable swinging to work on vines as they are driving in their wooden cars. Protecting the citizens of Jungle City are the super-heroic Go-Go Gorilla and the other heroes of the Jungle Crew. The first story in this comic tells the origin of Go-Go Gorilla (yes, another gorilla named Go-Go--must be something in the water!), a shy museum custodian named Simeon Sapien who is transformed by a radioactive meteor to fight crime with super powers. The second story introduces us to the rest of the Jungle Crew: the speedster, the aquatic character, the Egyptian queen, etc. There's a very old-school feel here, with a style of story that seems to be deliberately patterned on DC super-hero comics of the 50s & 60s; heck, both stories even have a male character who is too shy to ask out the obviously interested female character on a date. At the same time the comic also seems to be targeted towards kids, with extras in the back including a word puzzle, a maze, and a connect-the-dots picture. The art has a nice cartoonish feel, and they do a good job at visualizing the exotic Jungle City.
Rating: 3 (of 5)

JimO in the Freep

Today's Detroit Free Press has a very nice little feature article about GN writer and friend-of-YACB Jim Ottaviani (who I believe is presently out at SDCC, so if you're heading out there stop by and visit with him in the Cold Cut Indy Island).

"The Science of Comic Books"

If there's one thing Ottaviani doesn't want to be, it's pretentious or off-putting. He loves to learn about science, and he wants to share that experience with as many people as he can.