This Isn’t A Library: New, 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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AUG151476 COMPLETE WIMMENS COMIX HC BOX SET $100.00
I like this work so much I'm happy to produce with this post one of those ugly three-quarters view of the cover, and I almost never do that. Twenty years of great cartooning, some of it ignored, some of it only recently reclaimed via admirable single-cartoonist omnibus projects. There's a precursor comic included here as well as some contextual writing from Trina Robbins. If you can only get one thing this week... this is it.

SEP150464 GRAHAM INGEL EC STORIES ARTIST ED HC PI
This will have to be really beautiful, as Graham Ingels was a killer image-maker and this is the presentation that most routinely flatters great image-makers. It's also an artist's edition, which mean all original art being used instead of a mix.

JUL150524 TOME HC VOL 01 VAMPIRISM $150.00
JUL150525 TOME HC VOL 02 MELANCHOLIA $150.00
IDW-produced combination art book/music/comics/prose by theme featuring nearly all of the cartoonists with whom they've done this kind of work on perhaps a slightly smaller scale. I'm dying to see one of each in the shops. Go big or go home.

JAN160743 BLACK WIDOW #1 $3.99
JAN160129 JOE GOLEM OCCULT DETECTIVE #5 $3.50
DEC150579 DEADLY CLASS #19 (MR) $3.99
NOV158283 DEADLY CLASS #19 CVR B (MR) $3.99
DEC150584 FUSE #18 (MR) $3.99
DEC150610 REVIVAL #37 $3.99
JAN160624 WALKING DEAD #152 (MR) $2.99
This doesn't strike me as a strong week for serial comics, which usually means I'm wrong and missing something. Of what's there, I'd look at the Black Widow comic from the accomplished recent Daredevil team. That sounds like it should be accomplished and fun. I'm always up for Mignola, in whatever form that appears. The three Image comic I note for how far along they are as serial comics. Revival in particular strikes me as a solid performer for that company without ever breaking through to fervent hit status. The Walking Dead comics I enjoy although this latest military preparations storyline doesn't seem to match up to the situation depicted in the comics: it's a group of people making martial plans that were betrayed by security lapses, not a shortcoming in military might. I don't have a comic that's run that long, though, or any kind of comic at all.

SEP150855 DAREDEVIL BY MILLER AND JANSON OMNIBUS HC NEW PTG $125.00
SEP150856 ELEKTRA BY FRANK MILLER OMNIBUS HC NEW PTG $100.00
I don't always understand Marvel's thinking with its reprints, but I frequently like the individual books and these are two groupings of work that sound to me like they should be in print. It also took me a long time not to cast aspersions on other people's choice of formats -- not everyone made a solemn, Batman-like vow to never spend more than cover price for any comic book series. Of these two books, it seems to me the Elektra volume would offer up a bit more variety in terms of approach, but the work in both books would be a proud part of any superhero or Miller oriented collection.

NOV151233 KELLY GREEN COMPLETE COLL HC $59.95
OCT151676 MANDRAKE MAGICIAN HC $39.99
Two giant collections of key comics serials from two completely different times. Leonard Starr and Stan Drake did Kelly Green for European publication at a time when interest in the kinds of comics they did best were lighter in the US. It's striking-looking, mature work and having it all in one place is a treet. Mandrake is an important character in terms of that last hard left curve down the stretch that led us to superhero comics, and it's not material of which I've read a lot. So again: lucky.

JAN161601 ART OF CHARLIE CHAN HOCK CHYE REG HC $30.00
Sonny Liew is probably best known for his collaborative work on The Shadow Hero with Gene Luen Yang, but he's been around for a whole spin of the comics-generation wheel and is always an artist to consume and enjoy. A fake biography of a Singaporean cartoonist and the works he (didn't) make sounds like a great use of Liew's talents and the kind of handsome platform that will flatter Pantheon's usual sharp-looking contributions in that area. We need more giant, new, out-of-left-field work, and I hope you'll spend 50 percent more time than you might otherwise figuring out if you can support work like this one.

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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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