This Isn’t A Library: Notable Releases To The 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.

*****

MAY121295 AMERICAN ELF VOL 04 SKETCHBOOK DIARIES JAMES KOCHALKA (MR) $24.95
We should all jump the gun and start appreciating James' work again right now as opposed to waiting until someone tells us it's fashionable to do so. These are really big books of really intriguing, very influential comics.

MAY120986 ROGER LANGRIDGES SNARKED #10 $3.99
MAY120053 BPRD HELL ON EARTH DEVILS ENGINE #3 FEGREDO CVR $3.50
MAY120012 CONCRETE THREE UNEASY PIECES ONE SHOT $2.99
MAY120019 FATIMA THE BLOOD SPINNERS #2 $3.99
MAY120061 RESET #4 $3.50
MAY120608 GLORY #28 $2.99
MAY120624 SAGA #5 (MR) $2.99
MAY120994 ADVENTURE TIME #6 $3.99
Super-solid work for comic-book comics in the store, especially if you're a fan of what I affectionately call "genre comics." I didn't even look at the Marvel and DC stuff because I'm not angry at me today, and I'm sure there are some of those worth picking up, too. That Glory artwork by Ross Campbell gets more and more good-looking, I think. What a weird design sense to inflict upon Image superhero comics fans. Plus Peter Bagge and Gilbert Hernandez!

MAY120023 DARK HORSE PRESENTS #14 $7.99
This is a comic book, too, really, but gets its own entry because it is out of the usual price range for that kind of offering. I'll always look at it to see who's featured. I'd buy this one for the Steve Rude alone. No one my age that lived between the coasts doesn't like Steve Rude.

APR121303 OOKU INNER CHAMBERS GN VOL 07 (MR) $12.99
MAR121062 WANDERING SON HC VOL 03 $19.99
These are you two solid manga offerings today. I have yet to catch up with either series' last efforts, so it's been a while. Also, I need to stop using the world "solid."

FEB121042 ADVENTURES OF VENUS HC $9.99
I think children's comics benefit from stand-alone collection more than most because it enables you to get on the wavelength being offered a bit more fully than in a serial comic book. So while I'll miss this Gilbert Hernandez work appearing next to back-up shorts featuring slightly inappropriate Rick Altergott comics, I think this book works super-well. I forgot how charming those comics are. This is also a good one to buy in anticipation of his forthcoming autobiographically-oriented work. Price point kills, too. Yeah, buy that one.

MAY121156 BLOODY CHESTER GN $18.99
Haven't caught up with this one yet, but Mark Siegel was "NBA basketball player that shoots a lot" confident about his forthcoming offerings and I'm a sucker for acts of personality that tell me what to do.

MAY121182 NOT THE ISRAEL MY PARENTS PROMISED ME GN $24.95
I like that Harvey Pekar still has work coming out because this puts him first in line for a hologram version.

APR121171 SMURFS GN VOL 12 SMURFS VERSUS SMURFS $5.99
APR121172 SMURFS HC VOL 12 SMURFS VERSUS SMURFS $10.99
These Smurfs book are super-solid, and work far better at a size reduced from the French-language album format than I ever thought they would.

MAR121060 JACK DAVIS DRAWING AMERICAN POP CULTURE HC (RES) $49.99
Mike Baehr said in casual conversation -- which I think means, "Oh yeah, use this on the site as if I gave you an actual quote" -- that this book did extremely well for Fantagraphics at SDCC. Really handsomely mounted book featuring a great cartoonist.

MAY121294 WORLD WAR 3 ILLUSTRATED #43 (MR) $7.00
Let's end with another comics work that should be getting our attention again after all of these years, even if it's not yet the right time to get back to appreciating it.

*****

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 on me. I apologize.

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