YAFQ: This Year's "Wow" Comic?

It's the return (for one week at least) of Yet Another Friday Question! This week's question is:

Has there been a "WOW" comic yet in 2007?

We're already more that halfway through the year. Has a comic come out that's really made you stand up and take notice? That you can't stop telling people about?

For me, not really. Don't get me wrong, there have been some very good comics: Jeff Lemire's Tales from the Farm; a new volume of Yotsuba&!; a couple of issues of All-Star Superman; Marvel Adventures: The Avengers #12.

But nothing that's really Wowed me. Nothing on the order of Fun Home or We3 or Ganges yet.

Of course there's still 5 and a half months left in the year. And with all the comics coming out these days, I'm sure to have missed something really good.

So tell me: Has a comic come out this year that's Wowed you?

New Library Comics: Week of July 2, 2007

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


Chadwick, Paul (Paul H.) World below /Milwaukie, Or. : Dark Horse ; Enfield : Publishers Group UK [distributor], c2006.

Goff, Cindy. Tales from the heart /Brooklyn Center, Minn. : Entropy Enterprises, 1987- no. 1

Hurd, Damon. Temporary /Newburgh, N.Y. : Origin Comics, 2004- no. 1

Kochalka, James. Super f*ckers /Marietta, GA : Top Shelf, 2005- nos. 271, 277

Kouno, Fumiyo. Town of evening calm, country of cherry blossoms /San Francisco, Calif. : Last Gasp, 2006.

Kraatz, Rebecca. House of sugar /[Canada] : Tulip Tree Press, 2006.

Kupperman, Michael, 1966- Tales designed to thrizzle /Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics, 2005- no. 1

Lasko-Gross, Miss. Escape from "special" /Seattle : Fantagraphics, 2006.

Moebs, Chris. Taters and gators /Taylor, Mich. : Lefty Comics, 2004- no. 1

Richie Rich & Casper. /New York, N.Y. : Harvey Publications, 1974- nos. 9, 17

Roberts, Scott. Patty Cake & friends /San Jose, Calif. : SLG ; 2006.

Ryan, Johnny. Back in Bleck /Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics ; London : Turnaround [distributor], 2007.

Sandlin, David, 1956- Swamp preacher /Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics Books, 2006. no. 1

Spain (Cartoonist) Subvert comics /San Francisco, Calif. : Rip Off Press, c1970- no. 1

Suburban high life. /San Jose, Ca. : Slave Labor Graphics no. 2

Superior showcase. /Richmond, Va. : AdHouse Books, 2006- no. 1

Takashige, Hiroshi. Striker : the armored warrior /San Francisco, Calif. : Viz Communications, c1992. nos. 1-4

Tales from the crypt (Prescott, Ariz.) Tales from the crypt. /Prescott, AZ : Gladstone Pub., c1990-1991. no. 1

Tales of the closet. /New York, NY : Hetrick-Martin Institute, 1987- nos. 7-8

Tomine, Adrian, 1974- Optic nerve. /Montreal, Que. : Drawn & Quarterly Publications, 1995- no. 11

Tytler, Cassandra. Relax baby /[Melbourne, Vic. : s.n., 199-?- ] nos. 1-2, 7

Quick Boom! Reviews

Two recent comics from Boom! Studios showcase the worst and best that the publisher has to offer.

Unfortunately, Warhammer: Forge of War #1 is a muddled mess. The story by Dan Abnett & Ian Edginton would appear to be about some sort of fantasy-era battle, flashing back to the minutes of preparation before the battle. But as a reader I could neither follow said battle nor did I care one whit about who the participants were. The art by Rahsan Ekedal is on the surface competent but lacking in any sort of fluidity or dynanism required of an issue-long battle scene. Perhaps this comic will make sense to a die-hard Warhammer fan, but I suspect that even they will find a better use of their $2.99.


On the other hand, Cover Girl #2 is a joy to read, even better than the first issue. Last time we were introduced to up-and-coming leading man Alex Martin, an actor who witnesses something he shouldn't and whose live is placed in jeopardy because of it. This time out we and Alex meet Rachel, Alex's new no-nonsense bodyguard, along with Rachel's partner Dwight. The story by Andrew Crosby and Kevin Church moves along at quick pace, the dialog crackles, and there's plenty of action, plot, and character to go around. The art by Mateus Santolouco and R. M. Yankowicz fits the script wonderfully, clear and dynamic with just the right touch of cartoonishness when needed. Here's a comic that not only gets the big things right but also the little things, such as introducing the characters by name within the first couple of pages and providing a recap of the previous issue that fits organically with the story in just a third of a page. And there's plenty of story here to make it $3.99 well spent.


Ratings:
Warhammer: Forge of War: 1.5 (of 5)
Cover Girl: 4 (of 5)

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

New This Week in Brief: July 11, 2007

Pressed for time, so here's a shorter look at what's good on the comic shelves today:

Librarian comic book fans get a one-two punch of Showcase Presents Batgirl vol. 1—500+ pages of the original kick-ass comics librarian—and the first collected edition of Rex Libris—the latest kick-ass comics librarian—with more library-funny per page than any other publication ever.

Frank Miller & Dave Gibbons provide the long-awaited end to the Martha Washington saga with the Martha Washington Dies one-shot.

Samurai Commando Mission 1549 from DC/CMX looks interesting and I think it's only two volumes long. Bu tthen again it's seinen and nobody reads that, right?

Nexus returns after a long absence with issue #99.

The second NextWave hardcover comes out, just in case you're one of those who weren't buying it in floppy.

Lettering Flashback

Letterer extraordinaire Todd Klein has a basic how-to guide on his Website, and he talks about using an Ames Letter Guide:



Which caused me to flashback to high school drafting & architecture classes, where I made use of just such a guide extensivey. Although admitedly lettering was the weakest part of my drafting, I did have a legible print style, which 20 years later has atrophied into chicken scratch.

(link via Dirk)

While We Were Out...

You all may have noticed that posting was very light this past week. That's because I was on vacation and decided to take a vacation from blogging as well.

Unfortunately we missed the latest comics blogosphere hysteria, the whole OMG Seinen isn't selling bruhaha. The initial reaction was that it's because the manga market is dominated by females, and isn't it tough/just that male comics fans now have to see what it's like to be in the consumer minority.

However, missing such things means that there's a chance for more rational thoughts to prevail. Jason Thompson rightly points out that it's not a girl-boy thing, but a teen-adult thing, as josei sells just as poorly as seinen. How the whole manga-targeted-to-males-don't-sell idea even got started is something of a mystery, since titles like Naruto and the monthly anthology Shonen Jump are among manga's best sellers. Chris Butcher also points out that, in comics stores, seinen actually sells quite well thank you very much; not surprising since the male 18-35 audience typically gets its comics fix in comics stores. In other words, when its audience can find it, seinen is being bought.

The issue that interests me in all of this is what happens to manga when its readership grows up? I see one of three possibilities:

1) It's like the US comics market pre-1980, when kids grow up, discover the gender of their choice, and leave manga behind, whilest at the same time new kids come in to take their place.

2) It's like the US comics market of the past 20 years, where the kids grow up into their 20s and 30s and want more of the same that they read as kids, just with more 'adult' content.

3) It's like comics markets in Japan (and other parts of the world), where people become lifelong comics/manga readers and new kids are constantly being added into the stream as well.

Obviously the best outcome is #3, as long as there's material available for all who are interested. #2 presents interesting challenges, especially if the manga publishers don't see it coming and keep on turning out kids manga for an audience that doesn't want it. #1 would be the most comfortable for the publishers, as they can continue with what they know works.

(I don't think that a fourth possibility, manga flames out in a few years, is very realistic at this point. Despite many early naysayers going on about how manga was just a flash-in-the-pan, it's become pretty clear that it's here to stay for a while.)

Monkey Covers

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

Richard Jenkins draws the cover to 2006's Sky Ape: King of Girls #1.

(Standard disclaimer of the fact that, while an ape with a jetpack may be the third best idea ever in comics, it is not really a monkey.)

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