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.

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JUN140342 WALTER SIMONSON MANHUNTER ARTIST ED HC PI
I know a lot of folks for whom the Archie Goodwin/Walt Simonson "Manhunter" serials was at one point and ideal superhero comic book but became less so over the years as different approaches became ascendent for that type of comic book. I feel that those comics are on the upswing again, and an AE presentation of that material should be a lot of fun. I love looking at the pages, and the way the information is presented in that dense, textured way that only '70s comics had. I could not tell you a single plot point where a mauser aimed at me.

SEP140551 HUMANS #1 (MR) $2.99
SEP140049 USAGI YOJIMBO SENSO #4 $3.99
SEP140256 GRAYSON #4 $2.99
JUL140586 VELVET #8 (MR) $3.50
These are the comic-book comics that caught my interest. The Tom Neely-drawn Humans series gets off to its formal start after an unofficial #0 last summer. I look forward to seeing the new issue. I always look at and usually buy anything Usagi Yojimbo-related, although I haven't been in a comic book store since this first one started coming out. The minute I am, though... Grayson is a well-liked comic from DC. I don't see it from the couple of issues I've seen, but I'm hardly the best judge of that kind of material. Velvet is the Ed Brubaker/Steve Epting collaboration about an older female spy, and it's about to kick into a really high gear.

JUL140114 BOB POWELL COMPLETE CAVE GIRL HC $49.99
JUN141293 WALT KELLY POGO COMP DELL COMICS HC VOL 02 $60.00
It's another odd week for me at the comic shop in that there's a lot of material of interest just maybe not a ton of books that hold a surpassing interest where I'm concerned. I love looking at Bob Powell's old comics, although it never occurred to me that a complete Cave Girl volume would ever exist, let alone if I'd want one. I love looking at comic-book era Walt Kelly, too, although that price point might keep me that material for a while.

JUL140103 NEW YORK FOUR DARK HORSE ED TP $19.99
This is Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly, part of what I believe was Dark Horse picking up a bunch of Brian Wood-written projects over which he had publishing control after initial deals expired. This one is about a young woman learning to live in New York as a freshman at NYU; like most of the projects I imagine it's aimed less at people that age than to younger readers who wonder what that age could be like.

JUL140431 WORST OF EERIE PUBLICATIONS HC $27.99
Great title, anyway.

JUN140715 MARVEL 75TH ANNIVERSARY OMNIBUS HC $99.99
I don't have any idea what this upon first glance. Let me go look. Oh, it's 75 comics chosen from the company's 75-year publishing. I bet my list would be different than theirs, but I bet their list will be better than I might dread it is when I'm in a bad mood. I'd certainly take a look at it on the shelves, even though the price tag is out of my range.

SEP140594 KINSKI TP $14.99
Gabriel Hardman is a well-respected comic book illustrator, and deservedly so. This series about a man trying to save a dog no matter what that he both wrote and drew received a lot of praise when it appeared in serial form on-line through Monkeybrain. The nice thing about this is that you can sample an issue before you jump on board.

AUG148384 MEN OF WRATH BY JASON AARON #1 2ND PTG GARNEY VAR (MR) $3.50
SEP140913 MEN OF WRATH BY JASON AARON #2 (MR) $3.50
JUL140281 WAKE HC (MR) $24.99
The two projects most mistaken for Image Comics projects are Jason Aaron/Ron Garney's Men Of Wrath and the Scott Snyder/Sean Murphy effort The Wake. The former has a new issue out and the latter a hardcover collection. I have no exposure to Men Of Wrath as of yet, although I like many of the comics written by Jason Aaron just fine. The Wake comics seemed really slow pace-wise in serial form that I imagine might work much better in collection.

SEP141176 ADVENTURE TIME ORIGINAL GN VOL 04 BITTER SWEETS $12.99
One of these times one of these Adventure Time books is going to be the one I read to try and figure out Adventure Time comics.

JUL140419 SUPERMAN GOLDEN AGE SUNDAYS 1946-1949 HC $49.99
Superman comics are weird in that there are very few specific stories to have in one's libraries but all sorts of interesting periods from which to have samples. The newspaper comic material is one of the more important conceptions of the character in terms of hammering him into the public consciousness, and it's not a bunch of comics I've even seen.

SEP141506 ART SCHOOLED GN $22.95
This is Jamie Coe, and I think might be a first book-length work although maybe there's been a smaller collaborative project that comes close.

SEP141478 ATTACK ON TITAN GN VOL 14 $10.99
SEP141755 BLEACH GN VOL 62 $9.99
SEP141737 ALL YOU NEED IS KILL 2IN1 MANGA GN $14.99
Similarly to this week's superhero comic-book formatted comics, these three books strike me as popular, well-produced, action-adventure manga in accessible format. I'm not sure I'd buy these at all in a comics shops just from a shift in my interest, but I bet 16 year old me would try to guy all three.

MAY141466 BEATLES WITH AN A HC (KNOCKABOUT) (MR) $19.95
At first I thought that this was "Beatles with an MC," but it's actually a loose re-telling of the Beatles' earliest days as told by Mauri Kunnas, whose work I've never seen before now. It looks fun, though, I'd certainly check it out. That is one of the great arts stories of the 20th Century, particularly if you exclude those where the devil is involved.

AUG140979 GET FUZZY TP YOU CANT FIGHT CRAZY $14.99
AUG140980 MUTTS TREASURY LIVING THE DREAM SC $19.99
AUG140981 PEARLS BEFORE SWINE TP BREAKING STEPHAN $14.99
SEP140983 ZITS TREASURY TP PEACE LOVE & WI FI $18.99
This has to be about 60 to 80 percent of the really solid, well-regarded performers on the newspaper comics page right now, all with books out on the same day. If I had a newspaper, I'd have all of these strips on my Sunday pages.

JUL140113 GRANDVILLE NOEL HC $19.99
This series is already up to its fourth volume, which means I'm at least one behind. The material I've read was fun, though, and interesting visually, so I'll catch up sooner rather than later. I'm glad to see Bryan Talbot so relatively prolific these days.

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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 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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