New Library Comics: Week of June 19, 2006

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


Attitude 2 : the new subversive alternative cartoonists /New York : Nantier, Beall, Minoustchine, c2004.

Blurred vision : new narrative art. /New York : Blurred Books, c2005.

Crumb, R. The complete Crumb /Seattle : Fantagraphics Books, [1987?]- vol. 17

Forge /Oldsmar, Fla. : CrossGeneration Comics, c2002- vol. 1

Keret, Etgar, 1967- Jetlag : five graphic novellas /New Milford, Conn. : Toby Press ; Godalming : Melia [distributor], [2006]

Konig, Ralf. Maybe-- maybe not, again! /New York : Ignite! Entertainment, c1999.

Krell, Jeff. Jayson : best of the 80s /Los Angeles : Ignite! Entertainment, c2005.

Krell, Jeff. Jayson : best of the 90s /Los Angeles : Ignite! Entertainment, c2005.

Larson, Hope. Gray horses = chevaux gris /Portland, Or. : Oni, 2006.

Nilsen, Anders Brekhus, 1973- Dogs and water /Montreal, QC : Drawn & Quarterly, c2004.

Robinson, James. Batman : collected legends of the Dark Knight /New York : DC Comics, c1993.

Shaw, Dash. Goddess head : short stories /San Jose, CA : Teenage Dinosaur, c2005.

Trondheim, Lewis. Mister O /New York : NBM/Nantier, Beall, Minoustchine, c2004.

Wein, Len. Roots of the Swamp Thing /New York, N.Y. : DC Comics, c1986. nos. 1-5

Monkey Covers

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

What could possible be better than a comic with a giant ape on the cover? How about a comic where a super-powered dog fights a giant ape? That's what we get on the cover of Underdog #10!

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

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

Dave's Dozen: Collections/GNs

Concluding my look through the June Previews (for items supposedly shipping in August or September), here are a dozen collections and graphic novels that I feel are worth your attention:


Jonah Hex: A Face Full of Violence
(DC, $14.99, p. 77)

If you're looking for not just one, but six stories of violent western action, then this is the collection for you! Follow along with Hex as he hunts bounty and exacts revenge.



Pride of Baghdad
(DC/Vertigo, $19.99, p. 114)

Brian K. Vaughan is a fave of YACB readers, so I'm sure you all will be lined up to get a copy of this new OGN about the adventures of a bunch of escaped animals from the Baghdad Zoo in the wake of the Iraq War. Artist Niko Henrichon is unfamilar to me, but the sample pages are sweet.



NextWave: Agents of H.A.T.E., vol. 1 - This is What They Want
(Marvel, $19.99, p. M88)

All those of you who haven't been reading Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen's NextWave have been missing out on one of the most wacked-out fun titles that marvel has published in years. Well now you have a second chance! (And yes, there will be a third chance when this hits paperback in a few months, but if you wait for the trade then the meta-terrorists have won!)



X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl
(Marvel, $13.99, p. M102)

The other fun comics from Marvel published recently gets its very own trade paperback collection. has Marvel killed off your favorite character? Then they're probably in here!



C'est Bon Anthology, vol. 1
(C'est Bon Kultur, $21.95, p. 251)

All your favorite international artists that you probably have never heard of before come together in a handsome anthology. Think of it as Flight for the int-indy-art-comix set.




Abandon the Old in Tokyo
(Drawn & Quarterly, $19.95, p. 281)

More classic 60's art-manga from Yoshihiro Tatsumi, a manga-ka who was way ahead of anyone on either side of the Atlantic.



The Louche and Insalubrious Escapades of Art d'Ecco
(Fantagraphics, $16.95, p. 285)

Early Roger Langridge comics that show what he was up to before creating the enjoyable Fred the Clown.



Fallen Angel, vol. 1
(IDW, $19.99, p. 303)

Not to be confused with the first Fallen Angel collection that came out from DC a while back, this collects the recent IDW series by Peter David & J. K. Woodward.



Fragile Prophet
(Lost in the Dark Press, $9.95, p. 308)

I screwed up my online ordering and missed out on getting this in floppy form, so as I really enjoyed Davidson & Buell's first comic, Video, I'm really looking forward to this collection.



Amelia Rules! vol. 3: Superheroes
(Renaissance Press, $14.95/$24.95, p. 323)

Jimmy Gownley doesn't really need you to buy this, as he'll be selling truckloads to libraries. But you should get it anyways, cause it's good. Oh, and despite the title it's not a super-hero comic, it's a comic about kids who dress up as super-heroes.



Star Trek
(TokyoPop, $9.99, p. 333)

The latest OEL manga from TokyoPop is an anthology of tales from the defunct sci-fi franchise. Can TP succeed where so many before have tried? (Gold Key, Marvel, DC, Marvel again, WildStorm...)



Lost Girls
(Top Shelf, $75.00, p. 352)

Safe to say that nobody is going to put down $75 for this thing and not know what it's about. Me? I'm trying to figure out how three, 122-page volumes can add up to 264 pages...



That's 12 big thick comics to make a dent in your wallet! (Earlier this month I had my picks for mainstream and indy comics.)

Which Oni GN Should Dave Read Next? 2

I did this before a while ago, and I think it's time to do it again.

I have a small stack of GNs/collections from Oni, and I'd like you all to decide which one I should read this weekend.

The candidates are:

Killer Princesses by Gail Simone & Lea Hernandez
Little Star by Andi Watson
Midnight Mover by Gary Phillips, Jeremy Love & Jeff Wasson
No Dead Time by Brian McLachlan & Tom Williams
Once in a Blue Moon by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir, & Jennifer Quick
One Plus One by Neal Shaffer & Daniel Krall
Scooter Girl by Chynna Clugston-Major
Three Days in Europe by Antony Johnston & Mike Hawthorne

Please use the comments on this here blog post to make the case for which of the above I should read over the weekend. I'll post a review or reviews of the Oni GN(s) I choose early next week.

Thanks!

Really Quick Boom Reviews

My review copies from Boom! are starting to back up on me. So here are some very quick takes:

What Were They Thinking?! Some People Never Learn: These remix comics cam be amusing, but the novelty is starting to wear thin. There are some amusing bits here, but if this stuff is going to continue, they're going to have to kick it up a notch. 2.5 (of 5)

Hero Squared Ongoing #1: There are lots and lots of words here--good thing that DeMatteis brings to funny more often than not. And the last few pages are silent, so I guess that he used up Boom!'s allotment of word balloons for the month and they ran out. A fun continuation of the mini, and hopefully a plot will kick into gear soon. 3 (of 5)

Tag #1: You'd think that zombie comics would have run their course by now, but Giffen finds a fresh spin to keep things interesting, and Kody Chamberlain has the perfect art style for this comic: inky with a touch of Jae Lee in there. And while a zombie blog may be pandering to all of us comics bloggers, it works. 3 (of 5)

Second Wave: War of the Worlds #3: Too much time is spent in the sewers in the first half of the book, but the art really opens up when the group finally gets out in the open. Still, I want to see the plot move quicker to keep my interest. 2.5 (of 5)

X Isle #1: Take one part Surface, add in some Lost, and you get X Isle. This makes for a good first issue, setting up the situation and establishing the conflicts. Greg Scott supplies the art, and he's improved since his fill-ins on Gotham Central and really makes this book work for him. I want to read more. 3.5 (of 5)

(review copies of these comics were provided by the publisher)

FCBM2 Wrap-up

It's been over a week since Free Comic Book Month 2 finally wrapped-up, and once again I'd have to label it a success. Sixty-two people entered, and this year I was able to send free comics to every person from whom I received an entry! Of course, I had to take an extra 11 days to do it, but I don't think there were very many complaints. I gave away a total of 150 free comics this time.

Looking at the site statistics, May was my biggest month traffic-wise in a year--since the last FCBM in May 2005. Part of that it turns out was from people looking for the Aquaman trailer, since I posted a link to it at one point and once it got pulled Google searches were leading people to me instead. (But then last year during May I got a huge boost from one of my posts getting linked to by a popular library blog.)

Last year there were several times when I matched people up with comics they had already read; this year that only happened once, and the person who I inadvertantly duplicated had only received the comic from another source two days prior. I heard back from most people that they enjoyed the free comic(s) they got, so I guess I was going a pretty good job on matching new comics with readers.

A couple of people sent me comics back in return, which while appreciated and a nice guesture was not necessary. (One of the reasons I'm giving away comics is because I have too damn many of them!) The knowledge that you've enjoyed the comics is thanks enough. If you really want to thank me, come back in December and contribute when I do my fund drive for the CBLDF (or heck, go and donate now!)

The most interesting part of FCBM--for me, anyway--is seeing which comics people list as their five choices for comics they enjoy. Like last year, I've broken down the numbers and here are the most popular comics:

9 people: Runaways
8 people: Ex Machina; Fables; Planetary; She-Hulk; Y, the Last Man
7 people: All Star Superman; Love & Rockets
6 people: The Goon
5 people: Legion of Super-Heroes
4 people: Astro City; Bone; Invincible; Sandman; Scott Pilgrim; Seven Soldiers; Starman; The Walking Dead
3 people: Astonishing X-Men; Birds of Prey; Cerebus; Daredevil; Hellboy; The Invisibles; New Avengers; Nextwave; Rocketo; Strangers in Paradise; Top Ten; Transmetropolitan; Ultimates; X-Factor
2 people: 100 Bullets; Animal Man; The Authority; Bacchus; Batman; Blankets; Captain America; DC The New Frontier; DMZ; Exiles; Fell; Finder; From Hell; Girls; Hard Times; Iron Man; Jonah Hex; Lucifer; Promethea; Queen & Country; Savage Dragon; Spider-Man; Superman; True Story Swear to God; Usagi Yojimbo

Plus many more titles mentioned by just one entrant--too many to list!

Of course it's impossible to draw any sort of conclusion from these statistics, but it does make for an interesting list (There appear to be a lot of Brian K. Vaughn fans who entered!)

Thanks to everybody who entered. It was fun matching up people with comics! I'll probably have another contest of some sort around the time of my second Blogiversary (in August), and come back again in May 2007 as I'll hopefully have Free Comic Book Month 3!

Summer!

It's the first day of summer.
Stay cool!

(Cover of Patrick The Wolf Boy: Summer Special 2001 by Art Baltazar, courtesy of the GCD.)