November 16, 2011
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.
*****
JUL110053 DRAWING DOWN THE MOON SC $29.99
I greatly enjoyed this book of Charles Vess art in hardcover form a great deal, to the point I could turn my head just now and locate it on my shelves in a couple of seconds. Just a really smartly put-together book. There was a time in a lot of comics readers' lives where staring at fantasy art and reading comics were part of the same visual arts experience, and of course Vess is of interest to hardcore comics-and-only-comics readers, too. That's a Swamp Thing image above.
JUN110268 LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT MARSHALL ROGERS HC $49.99
JUL110403 ARCHIE BEST OF SAMM SCHWARTZ HC VOL 01 $24.99
Two intriguing artists with work collected on characters for which they're best known. I think the Rogers is the more compelling offer here -- that's almost 500 pages, and features a lot of later work by the late artist on the character that kind of slipped through the cracks along the way.
AUG110383 BLOOM COUNTY COMPLETE LIBRARY HC VOL 04 LTD SGN ED $50.00
These Bloom County books are quite something; I'm glad to see they're still coming out. I think they've been a nice reminder just how popular that strip was in its heyday, practically light-bending popular.
AUG110387 BOB POWELL TERROR HC $24.99
SEP110350 FELIX THE CAT GREATEST COMIC BOOK TAILS SC $27.99
Two books from the Craig Yoe division of IDW -- I think the Felix The Cat book is either a new edition or even a re-offer, but it'd be new to me if I were in a store. Bob Powell is one of the more interesting creators in the entire "Golden Age" period of comics production, although he worked well into the '60s. I would pick up any take a look at any book with his name on it.
SEP110330 HAWKEN #1 (OF 6) $3.99
SEP110363 MUDMAN #1 $3.50
AUG110616 CAPTAIN AMERICA #4 $3.99
I didn't see a ton of old-fashioned, mainstream and sort-of mainstream, comic-book comics that caught my attention this week, but it's worth noting new series out this week from two cartoonists working from their traditionally strongest suits: Tim Truman (a western) and Paul Grist (a retro-superhero story). There's also a new Captain America comic from Ed Brubaker, a superhero series I try to follow. I have to say, that $3.99 price tag just doesn't look right next to a comic book like that, as much I love the old-fashioned comic-book comics.
AUG110457 WHO IS JAKE ELLIS TP VOL 01 $16.99
I had two prominent mainstream creators individually tell me out of the blue that they thought a lot of this series, although I have to admit it didn't make an impression on me in serial form. It's pretty, though.
JUN110726 MARVEL ART OF JOHN ROMITA JR HC $49.99
I have no idea what this is, but JR JR became a very interesting image-maker during his three-decades plus career, and is probably his generation's greatest mainstream comic-book artist in that "talented man churning out pages like some sort of furious creative furnace" way.
SEP111065 ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY VOL 18.5 PX PORTFOLIO (O/A) (MR) $32.00
This is D+Q's publication of Chris Ware's notable Thanksgiving
New Yorker covers and their accompanying comic strip, all done up fancy-like (although not the fanciest presentation; there was a signed edition, I think). I'd want to look at this if it were sitting in my store, for sure.
SEP110846 SERGIO ARAGONES FUNNIES #5 $3.50
Wait, here's another comic-book comic for you to buy; it made a lot of the recent "Five For Friday" lists of "serial comics I read," too.
SEP110961 BONE ONE VOL COLOR 20TH ANN SLIPCASED ED $150.00
There are a few books that are out on the marketplace this week -- and the next couple and the last couple -- that seem maybe aimed at a holiday purchase. Several $50+ books hitting shelves is a far cry from the day when this was celebrated in about a half-dozen serial comics, that's for sure. This is one of the holiday season's big-ticket items. It's a bit unfair on a cosmic scale that considering how great
Bone looked as a black-and-white book how well its pages now hold color, but they really do.
JUL111105 FRACTURE OF THE UNIVERSAL BOY GN (MR) $27.99
I'm sort of dying to place my hands on a copy of this one -- Michael Zulli's long-rumored, lengthy-in-the-making personal project to end all personal projects.
*****
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.
*****
*****
*****
posted 7:05 am PST |
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