This Isn’t A Library: New Notable Releases Into Comics’ Direct Market



*****

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.

*****

DEC161626 SPANIEL RAGE GN $16.95
Vanessa Davis is a great treasure of comics and this is a welcome new edition of an early collection. I find most of what she does pitch-perfect, and I'm always pleased by some of the artistic flourishes she brings to sometimes more standard confessional or autobiographical stories.

OCT160072 EDGAR BURROUGHS TARZAN JESSE MARSH OMNIBUS TP VOL 01 $29.99
This is the best deal you'll find this week in terms of attractive pages per dollar, that's for sure. When I lived in Silver City I used to give my local charity thrift store a heads up if they had something in the quarter-bin that might be something they could eBay. I told them I'd do it until I found some comics I personally wanted. That happened with a big stack of Jesse Marsh Tarzan books, which are still in a small stack next to my guest room's bed.

NOV160329 COSMIC ODYSSEY DELUXE EDITION HC $34.99
I have this in either single-issues or an initial trade, but everyone has their format preferences. This is perhaps artist Mike Mignola's best-remembered extended effort with DC mainstream superheroes. There are some great pages in here, and the book itself has a 1970s cosmic charm.

OCT160547 JAY DISBROW MONSTER INVASION HC $24.99
Flames of Gyro, never stop burning. This is a Yoe-assembled collection of the idiosyncratic author's earlier material. I'd certainly pick it up to look at it.

DEC160721 MONSTRESS #10 (MR) $3.99
DEC160733 SHE WOLF #6 (MR) $3.99
DEC160666 SUN BAKERY #1 $4.99
DEC161010 BLACK PANTHER #11 $3.99
DEC160440 STARSTRUCK OLD PROLDIERS NEVER DIE #1 (OF 6) $4.99
OCT160318 ASTRO CITY #41 $4.99
DEC160047 VISITOR HOW AND WHY HE STAYED #1 (OF 5) $3.99
Hey, comic-book comics. Monstress is a hit. She Wolf is Rich Tommaso's latest stab at genre material, and as usual has a few pages to die for. Sun Bakery makes its Image debut after four self-published issues. Black Panther continues its most recent core title run, either near the end or the actual end of a politically-drenched storyline. The Starstruck I find extremely curious, essentially an expansion of old Epic material, but really expanded. Its creators are formidable, too. Forty-one issues of this latest round of Astro City! That's quite the accomplishment. I'm quite behind, but I enjoy those comics just fine when I read them and I always catch up. Don't be me. The last is a Paul Grist comic and I love Paul Grist comics. It's also this week's serial-format Mignola.

DEC160774 SNOTGIRL TP VOL 01 GREEN HAIR DONT CARE $9.99
The $9.99 price point indicates more to come where the lower-priced volume one acts as an inducement for folks to try the series out. I've liked the couple of issues I've read although it's so light I have a hard time remembering what's going on even issue to issue. It might be fun to read a big chunk at once.

DEC161229 BIG NATE WHATS A LITTLE NOOGIE BETWEEN FRIENDS TP $9.99
DEC161854 HILO GN VOL 03 GREAT BIG BOOM $13.99
Books from two kid series. The Big Nate books are really popular and represent an ongoing enterprise that does well in bookstores. The Judd Winick Hilo series I think is just three books and this is the concluding one. Winick's enjoyed a pretty eclectic career in terms of number of genres worked.

DEC161894 LITTLE NEMO BY WINSOR MCCAY LIFE OF IMAGINATIVE GENIUS HC (R $79.99
Books featuring Little Nemo isn't as difficult a thing to follow as EC and Archie reprint series, but it's up there. I don't know where this one fits in -- it's certainly not complete, and it may feature more biographical material than usual, but Little Nemo is an achievement where it is definitely worth having some of it on your shelves and this would be one way to achieve that.

AUG160479 ALEX TOTH BRAVO FOR ADVENTURE ARTIST ED HC $PI
The great stop-and-stare comic book artist of the 20th Century meets the great stop-and-stare format of the 21st. What's not to love? It's hard to gauge the cut-off date for interest in older artists -- characters seem to last longer -- but I think there's still enough oomph in the Toth name for this one to sell very well. It should be gorgeous.

*****

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.

*****



*****
*****
 
posted 3:25 pm PST | Permalink
 

---

 
Daily Blog Archives
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
 
Full Archives