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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MAY141372 BENSONS CUCKOOS GN (MR) $19.95
This is a very funny and odd workplace comedy from a cartoonist, Anouk Ricard, best known for his kids' work. In fact, with Nick Maandag's Facility Integrity, this is a damn fine year for workplace comedies. My experience as lived is more like the Ricard, as remembered is more like the Maandag. I love Ricard's cartooning, too, how much fun she seems to have with the various talking animal denizens.

APR140823 MAGIC WHISTLE #14 (MR) $4.99
MAY140028 ABE SAPIEN #14 $3.50
MAY141177 LUMBERJANES #4 $3.99
MAY140744 WALKING DEAD #129 (MR) $2.99
MAY140772 ORIGINAL SIN #5.1 $3.99
A strange week for serial genre comic books -- it may be that they're clustered more immediately around San Diego Con, I'm not sure. The one I'd buy for sure is the Sam Henderson, and I'm glad to see Alternative doing Sam's work this way because I think it's the best way to encounter those comics. The Abe Sapien is the Mignola-verse entry. This would be a good week to dive into the well-received Lumberjanes series -- there are enough of them to go back and buy if you like what you read; heck, most stores probably still have a #1 if you want to go that route. The Walking Dead continues the post-war, jump-ahead storyline. The Original Sin is I believe the latest Marvel event series. I always have a hard time telling what's going on when they use that point-number formulation. The idea for that one confuses me: I don't know what they gain by making their characters' pasts more complicated than they already are. I haven't heard a thing about this one from any of the sites I frequent, except maybe an installment of the devoted column at ComicsAlliance.

MAY141492 HILDA & BIRD PARADE GN $24.00
MAY141489 HILDA & BLACK HOUND GN $24.00
MAY141491 HILDA & MIDNIGHT GIANT GN $24.00
MAY141490 HILDA & TROLL GN $18.95
You can get all volumes old and new of Luke Person's Hilda series this week. That is an extremely attractive bunch of books, and I know at least one kid that likes them quite a bit. I don't know a lot of kids, so this is a pretty good sample as far as I'm concerned.

MAY141454 ESSENTIAL DYKES TO WATCH OUT FOR HC (MR) $25.00
MAY141061 HOPE LARSON MERCURY GN NEW PTG $12.99
MAY141453 NOT THE ISRAEL MY PARENTS PROMISED ME TP $16.00
It's not just the Pearson -- it seems like we're getting a bunch of re-issues or reprintings this week. Here are three I'd be tempted to pick up if I didn't have them.

MAY141373 MOOMIN COMPLETE LARS JANSSON COMIC STRIP HC VOL 09 $19.95
I buy everything comics related with the "Moomin" and "Jansson" names on it, and this is no exception. I have no idea where we are in the series story-wise, but nine volumes to me is almost as shocking as the volume number in the entry right below this one.

MAY141685 NARUTO GN VOL 66 $9.99
If I've lost track of the various storylines offered up in the Moomin series, I have no connection to this series in any way. I was actually able to follow it one point, and for the life of me I can't remember how. Was it in one of the serial magazines? It might be that I was reading it in one of the serial magazines. My understanding is that One Piece sits squarely in the much-loved action hit slot that Naruto used to, at least for English-language audience; both series do violence very well. Sixty-six volumes. Huh.

MAY141795 IT HAPPENS AT COMIC-CON SC $35.00
This is a big book of ethnographic study-driven essays about the big gathering in San Diego. That would be an interesting way to kind of ramp up for the show, although I'll admit to a very meager appetite for comics culture studies as I've encountered them in the wild. I've liked a few, of course.

MAY140988 PEARLS BEFORE SWINE CROC ATE MY HOMEWORK TP $9.99
Stephan Pastis is one of the must-haves on the modern newspaper page, and it's no surprise if you follow that world that it might be his strip if Watterson were to do a guest run anywhere. He's a future Reuben winner, too. I like his books; this one's in the upright format that Andrews McMeel seems to be doing more of these days.

MAY141783 ROBERT CRUMB SKETCHBOOKS 1964-1982 6 VOL SET (MR) $1,000.00
I like it when they list this one because I always imagine some owner staring at it in someone's pull box with a furious look on his face.

MAY140055 USAGI YOJIMBO COLOR SPECIAL ARTIST ONE-SHOT $3.99
All hail Stan Sakai and the mighty achivement that is his long-running Usagi Yojimbo series. This is comic book gathering of recent short-stories in color, and it's hard to imagine a better way to introduce a skeptic to the pleasures of this broadly-appealing entertainment. It's the 30th year for the lead character.

*****

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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