July 1, 2014
This Isn’t A Library: New And Notable Releases Into Comics’ Direct Market
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Here are the books that make an impression on me staring at this week's no-doubt largely accurate list of books shipping from Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. to comic book and hobby shops across North America.
I might not buy all of the works listed here. I might not buy any. You never know. I'd sure look at the following, though.
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MAR140464 LOAC ESSENTIALS HC VOL 05 BUNGLE FAMILY 1930 $24.99
I love
The Bungle Family; reading it is basically the comics equivalent of when you're sitting down to watch some 1930s movie on AMC or TCM and the whole time you're thinking, "This is super, super modern." I also think it's engagingly drawn. That we get huge chunks of strips like this one presented the way they will be in this volume is a freaking miracle.
MAR140069 USAGI YOJIMBO TP VOL 28 RED SCORPION $17.99
I remain fascinated by Stan Sakai's long-running samurai adventure
Usagi Yojimbo, full of beautiful cartooning and possessed of the same assured storytelling that makes watching this kind of material in film form so engrossing and entertaining. I've lost several Saturday afternoons to this unlikely -- for me -- comics companion, and I'll likely lose a few more.
FEB140012 FRANK MILLER ART OF SIN CITY TP $25.00
It's hard for me to read these comics, but the iconography of it is a hugely appealing factor for a lot of folks. I would certainly give it a look in a comics shop were I to see it today.
MAR140010 LONE WOLF & CUB OMNIBUS TP VOL 05 $19.99
Already five volumes! This is a series I've only read in fits and starts and have no real grasp on its artistic value in any of the way that can be expressed. I'll rectify that someday, and will keep track on this latest archival publishing effort until I do.
APR140271 CINDER & ASHE TP $14.99
I couldn't believe when I saw this that this might actually be the Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez drawn detective series almost three decades old at this point, but apparently, that's exactly what it is. I enjoye it a lot when I read it in high school, and have to imagine there are people out there that will enjoy it now. It's pretty, like everything Garcia-Lopez draws.
JAN140600 LAZARUS #9 (MR) $2.99
JAN140606 MORNING GLORIES #39 (MR) $3.50
MAR140592 SATELLITE SAM #9 (MR) $3.50
APR140600 SOUTHERN BASTARDS #3 (MR) $3.50
Here are the Image books that jump out at me. That
Lazarus book I'm enjoying ahead of my prediction of how much I'd enjoy it. Greg Rucka and Michael Lark are able to suggest a world while foregrounding these very immediate short narratives, which isn't an easy thing to do. I'm not emotionally invested, but I look forward to seeing it. The
Morning Glories I enjoy because I find it fundamentally baffling, I have read all 39 issues and I can maybe tell four characters apart from the rest of them. It's like crashing a perpetual wedding reception for complete strangers.
Satellite Sam has settled into a tone and rhythm that I think works;
Southern Bastards isn't quite there yet, I don't think. Still, I'll read anything that features either the early TV industry or evil high school football coaches.
MAY140819 100TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL #1 FANTASTIC FOUR $3.99
MAY140909 ALL NEW X-FACTOR #10 $3.99
APR148272 AVENGERS #29 2ND PTG YU VAR SIN $4.99
APR148314 AVENGERS #30 2ND PTG YU VAR SIN $3.99
MAY140843 BLACK WIDOW #8 $3.99
MAY140840 CAPTAIN AMERICA #22$3.99
MAY140846 DAREDEVIL #0.1 $4.99
APR148275 DEADPOOL VS CARNAGE #3 2ND PTG FABRY VAR $3.99
MAY140886 DEADPOOL VS X-FORCE #1 $3.99
MAY140796 FIGMENT #2 $3.99
MAY140848 GUARDIANS OF GALAXY GALAXYS MOST WANTED #1 $3.99
MAY140857 IRON FIST LIVING WEAPON #4 $3.99
MAY140804 LEGENDARY STAR LORD #1 ANMN $3.99
APR148273 MAGNETO #3 2ND PTG SHALVEY VAR ANMN $3.99
MAY140902 MAGNETO #6 $3.99
MAY140830 MILES MORALES ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #3 $3.99
MAY140875 MIRACLEMAN #8 $4.99
MAY140862 MOON KNIGHT #5 $3.99
APR148274 MS MARVEL #3 2ND PTG MCKELVIE VAR ANMN $2.99
MAY140866 NEW WARRIORS #7 $3.99
MAY140764 ORIGINAL SIN #5 $3.99
MAY140872 PUNISHER #8 $3.99
MAY140797 ROCKET RACCOON #1 ANMN $3.99
MAY140873 THOR GOD OF THUNDER #24 $3.99
So these are the Marvel comic books out today, with the highest number of any comic book being #30. Is this really more accessible to people than long-running series, one to a character? I sort of doubt it. I mean, I suppose it is to some folks on some titles, but those would have low numbers anyway. People that extol the virtues of the UK TV model of doing series/seasons underplay the value of institutional numbering, I think. Then again, it's all about maximizing the short-term value. It's weird in that we don't talk about it as much, but it does seem like the Marvel publishing policies can sometimes get in the way of what are pretty effectively done genre entertainment comics reaching their full audience and getting out there in a way that maximizes that effectiveness. They've sold a ton of that Rocket Raccoon book, which features the art of Skottie Young. My superhero-loving pals also seem to really like that
Magneto book.
MAY141402 DKW DITKO KIRBY WOOD ONE SHOT $4.99
This Sergio Ponchion tribute to those three great American mainstream comic book masters is the comic I'm most dying to see, and all by itself would get me to the comic book store this week where it would be on top of my pile. Interesting cartoonist, interesting approach, ideal format.
MAY141527 LA PERDIDA TP NEW PTG $18.00
MAY141571 UNTERZAKHN GN $24.95
Two if you don't have you likely want.
MAY141405 LUBA AND HER FAMILY GN $18.99
This is the tenth volume of that awesome paperback series collecting the Hernandez Brothers' work. This is from that Gilbert Hernandez period where Luba had come to America and the focus is on the former Palomar residents and their family members living in greater LA. It's really dense, really rewarding work.
MAR148157 SNOWPIERCER GN $14.99
I found this graphic novel to be solid and kind of cool in its big-picture ambition, but it was also sort of dull as dirt. I have to imagine the movie version will play a
lot differently than this.
MAR141599 ALTER EGO #126 $8.95
APR141664 FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND #274 GODZILLA & MOTHRA COVER $9.99
APR141245 HEAVY METAL #269 (MR) $7.95
FEB141660 JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #63 $10.95
I'm just sort of amazed by all the issue numbers here, for various reasons. Sixty-three issues of a magazine devoted to the King of Comics! That's a wonderful thing.
MAY141797 ESSENTIAL WONDER WOMAN ENCYCLOPEDIA SC $30.00
Given the weirdness that seems to have settled in on the rollout for DC's plans on the regular series, this may be a character that exists to greater effect in every place
but new serial comic books. At any rate, most of the little kids that I know that I read comics that are girls love the supporting material like this, really love to dive in to the deep end of the content presented this way. So this might be perfect for some of them.
APR141208 TWELVE GEMS TP $19.99
I'm reading this one right now -- Lane Milburn's expansive genre odyssey. I haven't figured it out yet, but I'm trying, and the exuberance of Milburn's approach to the material charms.
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The full list of this week's releases, including some titles with multiple cover variations and a long, impressive list of toys and other stuff that isn't comics,
can be found here. Despite this official list there's no guarantee a comic will show up in the stores as promised, or in all of the stores as opposed to just a few. Also, stores choose what they carry and don't carry so your shop may not carry a specific publication. There are a lot of comics out there.
To find your local comic book store,
check this list; and for one I can personally recommend because I've shopped there, albeit a while back,
try this.
The above titles are listed with their Diamond order code in the first field, which may assist you in finding comics at your shop or having them order something for you they don't have in-stock. Ordering through a direct market shop can be a frustrating experience, so if you have a direct line to something -- you know another shop has it, you know a bookstore has it -- I'd urge you to consider all of your options.
If I failed to list your comic, that's because I hate you.
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posted 5:25 pm PST |
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