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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JUN141357 ARIOL SC VOL 05 BIZZBILLA HITS BULLSEYE $12.99
It's a strange week at the comics shop for my very specific taste -- by which I mean I think it will be a very good week for a lot of comics fans, I'm just not included in their number this time around. That's fun, though, because you get to poke around and see some things you might not otherwise have the time to check out. I don't care what week it was, I would buy the new Ariol book; I very much like the rhythm and pacing of these stories, how ephemeral their stakes are except if you're a tiny kid negotiating these things. It's one of my favorite series, period.

APR140085 BURROUGHS TARZAN SUNDAY COMICS 1934-1936 HC VOL 02 $125.00
APR140084 ARCHIE ARCHIVES HC VOL 10 $59.99
MAR141213 JOHNNY HAZARD DAILIES HC VOL 03 1947-1949 $49.99
Three bigger collections caught my eye. The Hal Foster Tarzan work isn't as well known as his later, epic run on his own Prince Valiant, but those are some lovely-looking adventure comics in a way that comes through even now that we're removed as a culture from an automatic fascination with that character. I've seen two originals of that work, and they were pretty flawless. You can tell looking at old strip work when changes are made because a lot of times it's just a matter of the cartoonist rubbing out inkwork and drawing over a mistake. Didn't see any of that on those Tarzan's. The Archie stuff I always look out, although I'm totally lost as to what's out there and what I might want to buy. The Johnny Hazard stuff I'd look at just for the Frank Robbins art -- I couldn't tell you a single thing about that strip's basic storyline or its characters. That strip ran more than 30 years, I think.

JUN140640 ALL NEW ULTIMATES #7 $3.99
JUN140019 GOON OCCASION OF REVENGE #2 $3.50
JUN140043 GROO VS CONAN #2 $3.50
JUN140035 MIND MGMT #25 $3.99
JUN140567 REVIVAL #23 (MR) $2.99
JUN140570 SAGA #22 (MR) $2.99
JUN140497 SEX #15 (MR) $2.99
MAY141592 ALIEN LEGION UNCIVIL WAR #3 $3.99
JUN140980 REGULAR SHOW #14 $3.99
I'd take a lot of different thing this week. The All New Ultimates is Michel Fiffe writing, so I'm interested in that. Giannis Milonogiannis drawing, too, so ditto there. I haven't caught up on the Goon and Groo/Conan books, so I'd definitely take a peek there. Mind Mgmt and Revival are two longer-running works that are always sold when I read them in single-issues form; I'm not the natural audience there, but on a week like this one I'd check them both out. Saga is the Image heavy-hitter this time out. I'm actually more interested in what they do for the storyline after this storyline, and if you've been reading you might know what I mean. Sex I've been enjoying for its take on 1980s-style building of setting and milieu. Speaking of the 1980s, I had no idea someone was doing an Alien Legion book. Fourteen-year-old me was a big fan of Jugger Grimod and gang -- 14-year-old me being in charge until I was about 23. And, as always, there are animated tie-in for me to check out. That's a whole worl of comics I haven't accessed yet.

JUN141418 CHARLEYS WAR OMNIBUS TP VOL 01 $24.99
I suspect we owe the 100th anniversary of World War I this new iteration of the long-running 1970s/1980s Pat Mills/Joe Colquhoun serial. This makes the war totally worth it. Oh, of course it doesn't, but I'm thinking about acquiring this work in this specific form after taking a pass before now, so it looks like the timing works for a new collection.

JUN141626 HERGE & TREASURES OF TINTIN HC $49.95
I had to go looking for this one, and I'm glad I did -- this looks like an archives-informed process book, with supporting materials and facsimile documents standing side by side, all to tell the history of this great comics series' creation. I'm dying to see it.

JUN141322 INVINCIBLE DAYS HC $19.99
This is previewed here. This isn't the style I remember for Patrick Atangan, best known to me for The Yellow Jar, which has to be a decade in the rearview mirror at this point. I'd take a look at it for the visual style employed in the preview all by itself.

JUN141169 EVEN MORE BAD PARENTING ADVICE GN $12.95
Finally, if you have a little bit of summer left or, lacking the role as a primary caretaker for school-attending children, it's a season that extends into September when the lakehouse rentals are cheaper, maybe try out this one from Guy Delisle and Drawn and Quarterly. The first one made me laugh quite a bit, but felt like it needed a companion volume -- not for value, but it's just not a type of humor I wanted out of as soon as that first one took me there. Two books should be just about perfect. This might pair well for an afternoon's worth of reading with the Anouk Ricard and Pascal Girard books from earlier in the year.

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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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