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 October (more or less...)


AAA Pop has the fourth volume of MIke Allread's The Golden Plates.

Abstract Studios have more of Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise (#77) and the 17th collected volume as well.

ACC Studios has liberality for All, which shows what would happen if those evil liberals had taken over the country. Yeah, right, like that's going to happen. I like how the conservative saviors of America include convicted felon G. Gordon Libby and overturned-on-a-technicality Oliver North. Brings a whole new meaning to Neo-'Con', doesn't it.

More Yotsuba&! (vol. 3) and Cromartie High School (Vol. 4) from ADV Manga.

Woo Hoo! Not only is Aeon reprinting Matt Howarth's Keif Llama series in a handy collected edition, they also have a brand-new Keif Llama series as well.

AiT/PlanetLAR's intriguing GN for the month is Rob Osborne's Sunset City, about mysterious goings-on in a retirement community.

Alias don't have any new series debuting this month, although you'll want to take note of the final issues of Opposite Forces (#4) and David: Shepherd's Song (#3).

Oddball project of the month is Amaze Inks new Disney collabortation, Haunted Mansion, with Roman Dirge. Worth getting I think just to see what the heck it ends up being...

Aaron Warner's Amazing Aaron Productions releases the second volume of A College Girl Names Joe just a month after the first volume. You may want to slow up on the release schedule there Aaron, to give your readers (and, more importantly, retailers) a chance to get interested in the first volume before committing pre-orders to a second...

If you still haven't discovered the guilty joy that is Fred Perry's Gold Digger, Antarctic this month has a five-pack of Gold DIgger Pocket Manga for the discount price of just $30.

Archie get an early jump on the holiday comic season with Christmas-themed issues of Betty & Veronica Spectacular (#72) and Archie's Holiday Fun Digest (#10). They also have a new issue of Sabrina (#71).

Dynamite Entertainment want to be the next Avatar, with five covers for Red Sonja #5, but they're going to have to work harder, as Avatar's Lady Death: The Wicked #1 has at least seven covers.

Del Rey has the third volume of Genshiken.

Digital Manga Publishing has the second violence-filled volume of Bambi and Her Pink Gun.

DR Masters have the fifteenth volume of Iron Wok Jan.

Drawn & Quarterly are heavily pushing Guy Delisle's Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea.

Fantagraphics have a long-awaited new issue of Chris Ware's Acme Novelty Library (#16)--too bad it's a $16 64-page hardcover. (I love the sly solicitation text though!)

New Publishers Go!Comi & Ice Kunion both enter the crowded manga market with several new manga voluems from each. (Actually, Ice Kunion are focusing on Korean Manwha.)

ibooks have a new GN from Joe Kubert: Jew Gangster: A Father's Admonition.

IDW have the final issue of Angel: The Curse (#5) and the fourht collected volume of Te Legends of Grimjack.

Kyle Baker Publishing have the second issue of Kyle Baker's Nat Turner biography.

Lost in the Dark have the second issue of Fragile Prophet.

Moronik Comics have the second issues of Bug Girl and Dirt Boy.

Oni have the final issue (#4) of Banana Sunday. Final issue?! Please tell me that there will be more!

Renaissance Press wraps up Jimmy Gownley's "Superheroes" storyline in Amelia Rules #16.

Speakeasy have the third issue of Rocketo.

Apparently Bill Jemas's new comic company, 360ep, apparently isn't even going to pretend that it's more interested in comics than in merchandizing.

New OEL manga from TokyoPop include Mark of the Succubus by Askly Raiti & Irene Flores; and A Midnight Opera by Hans Steinback.

Viper conclude The Middleman with issue #4.

Viz seem intent on making manga fans sound like babbling idiots when they ask their friendly comic retailer for a book called BoBoBo-Bo Bo-BoBo (or, as I'm sure it'll end up being called, "That Bo-Bo-Bo-Bo manga").


Sorry I'm light on the snark this time around, but this Previews-o-Rama is late enough as it is. I'll try to squeeze in double the snark next month.

New This Week: August 24, 2005

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 tomorrow:


The Pick of the Week is Banana Sunday #2 by Root Nibot & Colleen Coover, from Oni Press. The first issue was fun fun fun, and this second issue is sure to continue the monkey joy!


In other comics:

More monkey fun as Alias bring us Monkey In a Wagon vs Lemur On a Big Wheel #1.

Antarctic have a new issue of Fred Perry's Gold Diggers (#66).

Cryptic Press have a new issue of Quicken Forbidden (#13).

Dark Horse have a new issue of Conan (#19) and a new volume of Little Lulu (vol. 5)

DC have the final collection of Catwoman with the good art: Wild Ride; the fourth post-Crisis Superman: The Man of Steel collection that includes a rather excellent crossover with Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes; a new edition of the soon-to-be-a-major-motion-picture A History of Violence; the debut of Warren Ellis's Jack Cross; and new issues of City of Tomorrow (#5), Hellblazer (#211), Legion of Super-Heroes (#9); and Otherworld (#6).

DR Masters have a new volume of Iron Wok Jan (vol. 12).

Fantagraphics have a new issue of The Comics Journal (#270).

IDW go all Whedonverse with a new issue of Angel: The Curse (#3) and Peter David's Spike: Old Times one-shot.

Image have new issues of Invincible (#25) and The Walking Dead (#21).

Marvel have the final issue of Spellbinders (#6), the first Ultimate X-Men Annual, and new issues of Daredevil (#76), Hulk: Destruction (#2), Machine Teen (#4), and Wolverine (#31).

Viper have the second issue of The Middleman.

And both TokyoPop and Viz have a slew of manga volumes.

Quick Manga Reviews

Bambi and her Pink Gun, vol. 1
by Atsushi Kaneko

Take the Mature Readers rating on this volume very seriously: it is brutal, violent and nihilistic (and there's a good dose of sex and nudity too). Teenager Bambi doesn't seem to be quite all right in the head, but she's got pink hair and a pink gun, knows her way around a fight, and has kidnapped a young boy to deliver to the mysterious "Old Men." There's now a 500 million yen bounty out for her head and the safe return of the boy, but she's not going to let him go without a fight. Kaneko is a masterful storyteller: he brings us right in the middle of the action, and doesn't let up as he propels the story forward and fills us in on the backstory as we go along. The art doesn't look like typical manga, nor does it look like anything else either; the closest I can compare it to is the work of Eduardo Risso on 100 Bullets. It's also printed in a red/pink/brownish ink, which gives it a unique look as well. This book certainly isn't for everyone, but if you're in the mood for stylized violence and nihilism, this is the book for you.
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)



Blue Spring
by Taiyo Matsumoto

Confession time: I'm not a big fan of Matsumoto. Despite all the critical raves his work gets, I've never quite gotten it myself. part of it, I think, has to do with the reaction I had when I first encountered his work in the form of Black and White (in the pages of Pulp). I had an intensely visceral reaction to the art: it made me nauseated. Oh, I tried to read it, but could never quite wrap my head around what was going on on the page. At one level I suppose that I admired what Matsumoto was able to do, in being able to disorient a long-time comics reader such as myself; but that didn't mean I had to like it. Combined with the thouroughly unlikable characters, it was the one feature in Pulp that I eventually just skipped over. Blue Spring is likewise filled with unlikable characters--in this case a bevy of bored juvenile delinquents--but at least the art, while still distinctive, is toned down to the point where I can at least stand to look at it. In fact, I find much to admire in the art here, particualrly in the way it is layed out mre like a western comic that typical manga, with what would seem to be the influences of Gene Colan & Neal Adams. Truth be told, I spent more time examining the art than paying attention to the stories, which I really couldn't connect with at all (perhaps I'd have a better chance of doing so if I were a disaffected youth). Blue Spring falls into the category of comics that I realize have merit, but don't appeal to me personally.
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)

New Library Comics: Week of August 15, 2005

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


Cook, Greg. Cecelia Crocodile's really really good day /Gloucester, Mass. : Oatmeal Press, c1999.

Hart, Tom. The angry criminal /Seattle : [s.n.], 1991.

Hart, Tom. Love looks left /[Seattle : s.n.], c1993.

Kelso, Megan, 1968- Artichoke tales : chapter two /Cambridge, Mass. : Highwater Books, 2004.

Kelso, Megan, 1968- Artichoke tales : chapter three /Brooklyn : Highwater Books, c2002.

Zettwoch, Dan. Ironclad /St. Louis : [The author], c2002.

FGNW Day 7: Winners

The winners for Free Graphic Novel Week Day 7 are:


Epileptic 1 goes to Raphe Cheli, who writes:

I guess I'd like to get this because it just sounds so damn interesting. I've picked it up a couple of times at shops, flipped through it, and thought, "Next time I have a little more money, I'll get this." What I've read of this (in various online previews, what I've seen in the shops while browsing), it sounds something just up my alley.

Also, this is the third time I've entered, and they say "three times a charm"!

Indeed it is, Raphe, so expect to see Epileptic 1 heading its way towards you real soon. (I should point out that the copy of Epileptic 1 was provided by the multi-talented Jim Ottaviani, whose own new GN Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards is at the printer and should be in comic shops and bookstores near you sometime in September!)


Andrew Kleimola is the winner of the big Sky Ape three GN prize package. Andrew writes:

So, it's a big gorilla... and he's a millionaire... and he has a jetpack? These graphic novels look so friggin' weird I just need to read them! I'm trying to think of something clever and/or witty to write so you will choose my entry, but my kid is crawling around right now chewing on an A/V cord, making my Big Drill Car record skip and playing with one of our dog's toys, so I should probably go take care of that.

Andrew, you go take care of the kid, and later you'll get to read some wacky Sky Ape comics!


Finally, as a bonus, I'm sending an unanounced GN to long-suffering Martin Moretti. Martin cranks up the guilt factor by writing:

I would like to win Sky Ape because, despite the fact that I entered the very first day, I didn't win any of the comics in Free Comic Book Month. It was so depressing to watch the running tallies of comics given away and entries recieved, as my odds of winning decreased accordingly, and absurdist jetpack-wearing gorillas would cheer me to no end.

Turns out that it's true: poor Martin was the only person who entered Free Comic Book Month on the first day who didn't end up with any comics! Well Martin, the Sky Ape GNs are going to someone else, but looking over your 5 FCBW picks I think that you'll enjoy the copy of the 21 Down: The Conduit graphic novel that I'll be sending you.


This wraps things up for Free Graphic Novel Week. I had six entries for this final day: 2 for Epileptic and 4 for Sky Ape. In all honesty I thought that participation in this week-long give-away would have been much higher--after all, who wouldn't want a chance to win a free graphic novel? Thanks though to everyone who participated--I ended up finding good homes for all of the lonely GNs.

Monkee Covers

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

Today's cover is Tippy's Friends Go Go and Animal #6, from October 1966. The cover by an unknown artist features Go-Go rocking out with The Monkees.

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

FGNW Day 7: Epileptic & Sky Ape

The the final day of Free Graphic Novel Week, celebrating one year of Yet Another Comics Blog!

Today's first selection is the critically aclaimed Epileptic 1 by David B. Publisher Fantagraphics describes it:

The most acclaimed European graphic novel of the last ten years is finally published in English. The most acclaimed European graphic novel of the 1990s, Epileptic is author David B.'s story of his brother's battle with epilepsy—but it turns into a penetrating and sometimes lacerating self-examination on the author's part, as he delves into his own complex emotions and his family's troubled history, as well as his own youthful fantasy life. Particularly pointed is his description of the family's journey from one attempted cure to another (including acupuncture, spiritualism, and macrobiotic diet), the book is drawn in David B.'s spare but detailed, straightforward but elegant style. We would have called this A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius if it hadn't been taken already.

One of the most extraordinarily well-received graphic novels in France and the winner of the French national cartooning award "Alph'Art," Epileptic will intrigue American readers with its sharp yet (mostly) sympathetic treatment of the '70s alternative-health milieu and its often harrowing depiction of a family under siege by this singular and devastating malady. Co-published with France's L'Association.

The final selection for FGNW is actually *three* graphic novels in one prize package: all three Sky Ape graphic novels published by AiT/PlanetLAR, written by Phil Amara, Tim McCarney & Mike Russo, and drawn by Richard Jenkins.

Sky Ape:

Millionaire. Crimefighter. Big friggin' gorilla. Kirk Madge, a.k.a. Sky Ape, is not your average gorilla with a jetpack. When danger rears its head, this freelance crimebuster doles out ass-whoopings like the President hands out free cheese. Join him as he unravels the secrets of his hazy past! This volume collects the complete sleeper hit comic book series.

Sky Ape: Waiting for Crime:

The millionaire gorilla with a jetpack is back again for a second adventure! The world's hairiest crime-fighter returns in an all-new lip-smackin' adventure! Fed up with saving the world, Kirk Madge - also known as Sky Ape, millionaire gorilla and freelance detective - doffs his jetpack to become a certified public accountant. But as the malevolent force know only as O'Donnelly's Roofing sets the world teetering on the brink of destruction, you can bet it won't be long till Kirk stops crunching numbers and starts bustin' heads!

Sky Ape: All the Heroes:

When the megalomaniacal genius known only as MISTER DOCTOR POWERFUL orchestrates a global prison break, freeing the world's most vile (and, in some cases, inept) super-villains, Sky Ape and his crew must enlist the aid of all the heroes--every last, second-string crime-buster the universe has ever forgotten, including The Swimsuit Bastards, Caibo the Puerto-Rican Snowman and Hall & Oates--to set things right again. To make matters worse, the literature-fueled force Poeticus, the Liberal Arts Robot, threatens to level London, powered by his two-ton chromium fists and unparalleled pomposity. If you're not smiling at the thought of a millionaire talking gorillas wearing a jetpack, you must be an orthodontist, or something.

Now you just knew that I wasn't going to let a Sunday go by without giving away any graphic novels with monkeys on the cover, right? (Yeah yeah, apes aren't monkeys. Deal.)


To enter for a chance to win one of these graphic novels, simply do the following:

Send me an email with your name, your postal address, which graphic novel you want, and a sentence or two telling me why you want it. Please put 'FGNW' and the title of the graphic novel you want in the subject of your email.

You can enter once per day (but only once)--that means that you have to choose which of the two graphic novels you want. Also, you can only win once, so if you are picked you can't enter any more. But you can keep entering each day until you win. (You must be 18 or older and live in the United States.)

Entries must be received by 11:59 pm EDT, and the winners will be announced tomorrow morning. That's it--these are the last free graphic novels. After this, we're done.

(Full details, including the fine print, are available here.)