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.

*****

JUL141182 BUMPERHEAD HC (MR) $21.95
This is a really good book from an artist working like no other cartoonist in the world is working right now -- vastly prolific, daring, out there. It was not what I expected, which is shocking because I thought I'd trained myself to expected anything with Gilbert Hernandez. I think it's also a book about which people will write well, so check out some of the reviews.

MAY140474 MARVEL COVERS ARTIST ED HC PI
I'm a mainstream covers nerd as I think making an appealing cover images has meant so many different things at different points in publishing history that you can almost read at a glance what year a cover was done. It's also a way with one of these Artists Editions that you get to see original work from a lot of artists at once.

JUN140083 LONE WOLF & CUB OMNIBUS TP VOL 06 $19.99
I want this work in some form at one point, and I bet it's going to be these when I'm at a point I can acquire comics instead of thinking of every way I can to get rid of them.

MAY140383 FLASH OMNIBUS HC VOL 01 $99.99
This is the Silver Age material. I don't like reading comics in these giant hardcovers as much as I thought I would, and I can't figure out why. I'm not particularly precious with how I read comics, or at least I didn't use to be that way. Still, these are fun, solidly crafted stories. I spent a big chunk of my childhood reading comics reprinted here, just in ratty old-comic versions and as re-runs in annuals and giant-size issues. They were amiable companions. It makes sense to have this out as the TV show hits.

MAR140459 THUNDER AGENTS THE BEST OF WALLY WOOD HC $34.99
I will always always always stop and look at Wally Wood's art.

JUL140483 FATALE TP VOL 05 CURSE THE DEMON (MR) $14.99
This is the final book in the Brubaker/Phillips series in the format where it's most likely to be read moving forward by a lot of comics fans (even though it's of a size a one-volume edition will probably have similar traction). I always thought the series was fun, and loosened up about halfway through in a way that was way more horrific than the first seven or eight issues. I also like that there was an ending, hard stop.

JUL140079 CONAN THE AVENGER #6 $3.50
JUL140571 SAGA #23 (MR) $2.99
JUL140572 SEX #16 (MR) $2.99
Not a lot of standard comic-book format comics jumped out at me this week. Comic shop owners will be happy to see Saga fans in the store this week; I'm told by just about every shop owner I encounter that it's a bestseller store to store. The Conan series I read and enjoyed -- I have a soft spot for Conan, because there was a time when he represented a significant portion of what I believed my non-superhero options to be. I think these stories work, but I'm not sure that all Conan stories work, nor am I certain that modern compression of plot and decompression of scenework isn't a bad thing for fantasy series like this one.

JUL140628 SECRET AVENGERS #8 $3.99
The content of this comic book series is a secret to me. I assume it's Spy Avengers or Dirty Works Avengers or Black Ops Avengers or something similar. I guess it could be Secret Societies Avengers, too. One thing I like about comics like this is there always seems to be a character or two that's upset they've been cast in a second-run Avengers title. Maybe that's just what it seems like to me.

JUN141217 21 STORY OF ROBERTO CLEMENTE GN $19.99
This is a re-issue of Wilfred Santiago's graphic novel about the major league baseball player and cultural icon, which I liked very much in its previous iteration.

JUL141395 ANGIE BONGIOLATTI GN (MR) $20.00
I'm pretty sure this isn't a re-issue of the Mike Dawson original graphic novel perhaps better known as the trigger for an on-line back and forth about the problems of being a working cartoonist and building a modest audience; I think this is the initial issue of that graphic novel through direct market retailers. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. It's a difficult work; Dawson is interested in interpersonal nuances that I think a lot of readers might need to be convinced are worth following through characters with which they're much less familiar than he is. I look forward to seeing how it does.

JUN141373 ARIOL GN BOX SET VOL 1-3 $38.99
I'm a great, great fan of this series -- there's something about these unremarkable stories of a little kid's life that resonates with me, particularly the feeling of slowed-down time that I think is a part of a lot of kids' perception of the world -- and if this is another way to get at it, then I'll recommend it. Just buying the books would do the trick, too.

JUL141292 BARBARELLA DLX ED SUPER OVERSIZED HC (MR) $79.95
This is your broadly appealing feature story of the week, for writer Kelly Sue DeConnick's in shaping the translated narrative and dialogue for the French comics-for-adults classic. It's a fun comic all the way through, increasingly loopy as it goes and as attractive as any comic of its era. I look forward to seeing this version.

JUL141571 GA GEIJUTSUKA ART DESIGN CLASS GN VOL 06 $17.00
I'm just excited to see this listed, because sometimes I think Sean Gaffney makes up some of the titles he reviews just to mess with me.

JUL141396 GET OVER IT GN (MR) $15.00
This is the other Secret Acres graphic novel that's been out a while if you're an attendee of shows but is brand new if you count on your local comics shop to put something on the shelf in front of you. It's Corinne Mucha.

MAY141246 LEONARD STARRS MARY PERKINS ON STAGE TP VOL 13 $24.95
It's amazing we live in a world where 13 volumes of this particular work of Leonard Starr's can exist and find an audience. This is one of my Mom's favorite comics, so it's been great for me to bring these home every now and then. Starr is one of the great under-appreciated talents of his generation of strip-makers, and it's hard for me to imagine him making art I wouldn't want to at least check out.

JUL141219 WALT DISNEY DONALD DUCK GN VOL 01 GHOST GROTTO $12.99
This is a re-formatted, alternative set of duck comics from Fantagraphics. I have yet to check one out, but again: Carl Barks is one of the masters.

JUL140753 WARREN COMMISSION REPORT HC $29.95
JUL140752 WARREN COMMISSION REPORT SC $17.95
Passion for the Kennedy assassination has fade the same way that interest in certain comics and comics characters has -- it's just aged out of the population for the most part in a way that the original set of people interested would swear at the height of their focused obsession would never, ever happen. Still, using comics as a way to test alternate theories one against the other, that sounds fascinating and an appropriate use of comics' spatial relationshipos. I want to at least see this one to see how that's done.

JUL141314 CAT DAD KING OF THE GOBLINS GN $12.00
This is awfully pretty-looking in a year where Koyama Press is making a lot of attractive books. If comics is about going to the store and finding new work with which you're not already familiar -- and it isn't that way for lots of people, and that's sad -- then this is oneyou should at least pick up. If your comic store doesn't have it, remember it for the next show Koyama attends -- they're very nice, those people.

*****

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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