This Isn't A Library: New And Notable Releases To The Comics Direct Market
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Here are the books that jump out at me from this week's probably mostly 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 -- but were I in a comic book shop tomorrow I would likely pick up the following and look them over, and as a result, my retailer might put in for a government bail-out.
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SEP080042 GOON #30 $2.99
Thirty?
SEP080194 EX MACHINA #39 (RES) (MR) $2.99
Thirty-nine?
AUG080231 HELLBLAZER #249 (MR) $2.99
Oh, never mind.
JUL080159 JACK KIRBYS THE DEMON OMNIBUS HC $49.99
I'm not sure that $50 judiciously spent wouldn't get you the whole series in comic book form, but I enjoy those comics very much so I'm not going to quibble. It's sort of like The Demon doesn't have any of the quantifiable things that other series of that period offer -- it's not thematically ambitious, it's not the best written, it's not the most visually splendid -- but it's Kirby at that point in his career where if he stood up too quickly a planet fell out of his pocket, and that's more than enough.
SEP088005 SPIRIT SPECIAL #1 $2.99
This is the book that retailers asked for to give to anyone that might ask about the forthcoming Frank Miller Spirit movie, so it will be interesting if it does well. Believe it or not, a low-cost book that retailers can put in someone's hands like this is a rare thing in comics.
SEP083987 SKITZY HC $19.95
The "Whoa, are you serious?" entry of the month -- apparently a reprint of the 1950s comics story by book illustrator Don Freeman.
SEP083754 FREAKANGELS HC VOL 01 (MR) $27.99
This is the print edition of the Warren Ellis webcomic. Ellis is maybe uniquely poised to take advantage of the full power of on-line marketing, so it should be interesting to see how well this does. I assume very well.
SEP084030 FUZZ AND PLUCK SPLITSVILLE HC $24.99
Ted Stearn's oddball sort-of adventure comic may be the last of its type we'll ever see. I almost can't imagine anything this weird and almost doggedly anti-commercial being published in serial form and then collected in the old-fashioned manner. I quite liked it.
AUG084107 ISADORA DUNCAN GRAPHIC BIOGRAPHY HC $18.95
This is another one of those graphic novels of the kind that book publishers seem to really get behind.
JUL083998 LAGOON HC $14.99
Lilli Carre's version of the Peter Lawford of the Classic Monsters set, the Creature of the Black Lagoon, takes on as its recurring thematic element the comforts of sound. That isn't something you see a lot of cartoonists engage.
JUL083999 PETEY & PUSSY HC $19.99
If art comics had ended up being built on the model of MAD instead of the springing out of the single cartoonist-focused aspect of the undergrounds, John Kerschbaum would be one of the potent heavy-hitters of whatever the biggest hit magazine there was right now. His comics are the kind of funny that makes me uncomfortable.
AUG083893 LEONARD STARRS MARY PERKINS ON STAGE TP VOL 05 $24.95 AUG083894 STAN DRAKE HEART JULIET JONES TP VOL 01 $24.95
Hello, gorgeous.
SEP084091 STANS SOAPBOX THE COLLECTION TP $14.99
You know you want it.
JAN088699 SWALLOW ME WHOLE $14.95 JUL084290 SWALLOW ME WHOLE $14.95
I don't know which one is the Nate Powell book from Top Shelf, or if both codes work, but it's a compelling book by an interesting talent just now beginning to do longer work of this type.
JAN088700 VEEPS HC $19.95 JUL084291 VEEPS HC (MR) $19.95
The other Top Shelf project of interest, this is a rare foray for that publisher into something other than comics, in this case illustrated non-fiction.
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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.
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 and probably a bit high, 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.
If I didn't list your comic, it's because the voices in my head told me not to. Voices that all sound like Jim Backus.
