Tuesday, 8 March 2011

Tezuka's Notebooks

Last week at the library we received our copy of Tezuka Osamu sōsaku nōto to shoki sakuhinshū (手塚治虫・創作ノートと初期作品集), a reproduction of several of Osamu Tezuka's hand-drawn notebooks. As you might expect, the whole package is gorgeous. It's going straight down into storage for safe keeping, but I managed to snap a few photos:

Tezuka's Notebooks

Tezuka's Notebooks

Tezuka's Notebooks

Tezuka's Notebooks

Tezuka's Notebooks

Tezuka's Notebooks

Tezuka's Notebooks

Tezuka's Notebooks

Monday, 7 March 2011

New Library Comics: February 2011

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


Brave old world nos. 1-3  / New York, N.Y. : DC Comics, 2000.

Ciencin, Scott. Silent Hill omnibus / San Diego, Calif. : IDW, 2010

Costa, Ben. Pang : the wandering Shàolín monk (vol. 1) : refuge of the heart. / [n.p.] : Iron Crotch University Press, 2010

De Haven, Tom. Our hero : Superman on Earth / New Haven [Conn.] : Yale University Press, c2010

Edington, Ian. Hellgate. London / Milwaukie, Or. : Dark Horse, 2007.

Ellis, Warren. Global frequency nos. 1-12 / La Jolla, CA : WildStorm Productions, 2002-2004.

Encyclopedia of comic books and graphic novels / Santa Barbara, Calif. : Greenwood, c2010

Englehart, Steve. Big town nos. 1-4 / New York, N.Y. : Marvel Comics, 2001

Fulp, Charles. Harry Johnson : and the case of the Crabbes nos. 1-2 / [S.l.] : Fulp Fiction, Inc., c2004

Furman, Simon. Starcraft / La Jolla, CA : Wildstorm, 2010

Gallardo, Adam. 100 girls nos. 1-7 / [United States] : Arcana Studios, 2004-

Gen 13 (La Jolla, Calif. : 2002) Gen 13. nos. 0-16 / La Jolla, CA : WildStorm Productions, 2002-

Harmon, Paul. Mora nos. 1-4 / Berkeley, Calif. : Image Comics, 2005-

ICandy. nos. 1-3  / New York, NY : DC Comics, c2003-c2004.

Johns, Geoff, 1973- The vision nos. 1-4 / New York, NY : Marvel Entertainment, 2002-

Johnston, Antony. Dead space : salvage / San Diego, Calif. : IDW, c2010

Kanan, Nabiel. Now & then / Derby, United Kingdom : New Flame Publishing, 2003

Krueger, Jim. Galactic. nos. 1-3 / Milwaukie, Or. : Dark Horse Comics, 2003.

Labelle, Simon, 1958- Le suicide de la déesse / [Montréal] : Mécanique générale, c2010

Leblanc, Samuel, 1982- Parfum de lilas / [Montréal] : Mécanique générale, c2010

Manga : an anthology of global and cultural perspectives / New York : Continuum, 2010

Manga and philosophy / Chicago : Open Court, c2010.

Michael Moorcock's multiverse. nos. 1-12 / New York, N.Y. : DC Comics, 1997-

Mishkin, Dan. Creeps. nos. 1-3 / Orange, CA : Image Comics, 2001-

Nelson, Arvid. London falling / Hamburg ; Los Angeles : Tokypop, 2008

Oprisko, Kris. Metal gear solid : omnibus / San Diego, Calif. : IDW ; London : Diamond [distributor], 2010.

The rise and reason of comics and graphic literature : critical essays on the form / Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., c2010.

Searle, Ronald, 1920- St. Trinian's : the cartoons / London : Penguin Books, 2008.

Shelton, Daniel, 1965- Ben : à deux, c'est mieux! / Montréal : Les 400 coups, c2010.

Siu-Chong, Ken. Wages of sin / Richmond Hill, Ont. : Udon, c2009

Sonic the Hedgehog archives. vols. 1-3 / Mamaroneck, NY : Archie Comic Publications, [2006]-

Speers, Megan, 1986- Wanderlust : a story told in 50 wood engravings / Erin, Ont. : Porcupine's Quill, c2010

Starlin, Jim. Infinity abyss nos. 1-6 / New York, NY : Marvel Comics, 2002

Storrie, Paul D. Robin Hood and the minstrel / Calumet City, IL : Moonstone and Paul D. Storrie, c2001

Tadano, Nobuaki. 7 billion needles. Volume 2 / New York : Vertical, c2010

Van Ness, Sara J. Watchmen as literature : a critical study of the graphic novel / Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland & Co., c2010.

X-Factor (New York, N.Y. : 2002) X-Factor. v.2 nos. 1-4 / New York, NY : Marvel Comics, 2002


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

Sunday, 6 March 2011

Monkey Covers

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

Peter Panda helps a monkey get coconuts down from a tree on the cover of Peter Panda #3 (1953).

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

Saturday, 5 March 2011

Long Time No Post!

Hey Folks,

Sorry for the extended silence, I feel bad for keeping everybody in the dark for so long but there really hasn't been a lot going on with Islands in the Sky for awhile. First the bad news, Genevieve and I have no IITS related shows currently planned for 2011. We're currently taking a bit of a break from the comic project but are collaborating on a few other smaller projects here and there...if we feel there is potential interest among our IITS readership regarding these other projects, we'll post the info here.

The good news is, neither of us have given up on IITS...but it's just a matter of the planets aligning correctly for Genevieve and I to find the time to get back to the comic. In regards to the comic, we were originally going to do a direct sequel to the first issue we put out but decided to reboot the series midway through. We're simply not capable of putting out a regular book so we've decided to put out a "one shot" IITS graphic novel that will give readers a complete story. Rebooting the story requires quite a bit of work in terms of figuring out what format we want the book to be and most importantly, coming up with a great story from start to finish. This is all on me and it will take awhile for me to put together the original storyboards for the book. I think the first step is to contact some printers about the technical aspects of the book type we want but I've been putting that off. When there is progress on the storyboards...I'll let everyone know here.

The other good news is that I'm currently working on an indie video game project that I've codenamed: Project IITS. As some of you may know, Islands in the Sky started off as a video game idea that was a natural evolution of game ideas that, as a game designer, I've developed over the course of several years. Now, I know a video game isn't of much interest to those of you simply wanting more of the comic but I love comics AND video games and I'm doing my best to be true to the feel of the IITS world and its characters. This post is already getting TLDR so I'll save some of the details about the game that I can share in the next post...probably a few days from now.

For all of you who still hold out hope that we're nearing the completion of a second book, thank you for keeping up the faith...we will do our best not to let you down and want to make sure that the IITS graphic novel will meet and exceed all your expectations.

- Joseph

Penthouse ComiX (Nov-Dec 1995)


Penthouse ComiX (Nov-Dec 1995)
English | PDF | 83 pages | 41.8 MB
Download MIRROR #1

Download MIRROR #2

Friday, 4 March 2011

Amazon Top 50

Here are the Top 50 Graphic Novels on Amazon this morning. All the previous caveats apply.


1 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid 5: The Ugly Truth
2 (+1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book
3 (+1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
4 (-2). Daytripper
5 (+5). Dork Diaries 2 (Kindle edition)
6 (-1). Dork Diaries (Kindle edition)
7 (N). The Thanos Imperative *
8 (-2). Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale
9 (+6). Diary of a Wimpy Kid Box of Books
10 (+1). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
11 (+15). Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Boxset
12 (-5). Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne
13 (+17). Watchmen
14 (+21). Big Nate: From the Top
15 (-6). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
16 (N). Batman: Time and the Batman *
17 (+5). Dork Diaries 2: Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl
18 (-6). Walking Dead Volume 13
19 (-). Superman: Earth One
20 (-12). Batman: Year One
21 (-3). All Star Superman, Vol. 1
22 (-8). All Star Superman, Vol. 2
23 (+2). The Walking Dead, Book 6
24 (-1). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
25 (+7). Scalped Vol. 7: Rez Blues
26 (-9). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2: Scott Pilgrim Versus The World
27 (R). The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel
28 (N). Prince Valiant: 1941-1942 (Vol. 3) *
29 (-1). Scott Pilgrim, Vol 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
30 (+4). Fables Vol. 15: Rose Red *
31 (N). The Stand: Hardcases
32 (+8). Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life
33 (+11). Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition)
34 (N). Morning Glories Volume 1 TP
35 (-6). V for Vendetta
36 (-15). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 3: Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness
37 (-6). Walking Dead Volume 12
38 (+5). The Walking Dead, Book 5
39 (-23). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
40 (-4). Odd Is on Our Side
41 (-21). Scott Pilgrim Volume 5: Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe
42 (-28). Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour
43 (R). The Walking Dead, Book 2
44 (+4). Fables Vol. 14: Witches
45 (R). The Arrival
46 (R). Batman: The Killing Joke
47 (-23). The Flash, Vol. 1: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues
48 (N). Popeye, Vol. 5: Wha's a Jeep? *
49 (-2). Nemesis
50 (-). The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain


Items with asterisks (*) are pre-order items.

N = New listing appearing on list for first time
R = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks


Commentary:

* Daytripper slips back down below the Wimpy Kid offerings to #4 on the comics charts and #499 on the overall chart.

* In fact, six of the top ten this week are hybrid prose/comics offerings for kids from the Wimpy Kid and Dork Diaries series.The top book is #82 on the overall chart.

* A relatively good week for Marvel; they debut a pre-order of The Thanos Imperative in the top ten and The Stand: Hardcases in the middle of the list. Nemesis hangs on near the bottom as well.

* Other debuts this week include a couple of strip collections, Prince Valiant & Popeye; the latest Grant Morrison Batman collection; and the first Morning Glories collection.

* The Scott Pilgrim universe rights itself this week, with the box set jumping back up and the individual volumes going back down.

* Dead Watch: Just six Walking Dead collections in the top fifty this week. Vol 9, the #50 book this week, is #2,507 on the overall chart.

Be Gentle

Last week, you voted that Unicorn and Robot will surely...

rescue Poo (54%)
make love (43%)
ignore Poo (7%)
break up (7%)

I'm over-ruling your votes to allow a little robot-on-unicorn action.