This Isn’t A Library: New, Notable Releases Into 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.

*****

JAN161486 GLORKIAN WARRIOR HC GN VOL 03 MUSTACHE OF DESTINY $19.99
I don't know that I'm familiar with this particular series of kids comics, although of course I know James Kochalka's work from a variety of sources spaced out over two full deades. I'd be interested in seeing it, that's for sure. To be honest, I'm not sure I'd go into the comics shop this week. It seems so light, although I imagine with the first book of the next section that most shops will have a good week.

JAN160610 SAGA #35 (MR) $2.99
NOV150655 THEYRE NOT LIKE US #12 (MR) $2.99
JAN160862 DAREDEVIL #5 $3.99
JAN160812 DRAX #5 $3.99
JAN160858 HERCULES #5 $3.99
An odd mainstream comic book week to supplement the generally weird vibe emanating from the list entire. Saga is a best-seller with multiple entry points and works hard to keep that status. I enjoy Simon Gane's art in They're Not Like Us, and like Eric Stephenson's adventure-comic writing generally, although I get lost a bit in keeping the characters straight. That may be weird only in that the series is very diverse and thus the signifiers one character to another are larger than in many books. The final three listed above are Marvel books either on the cusp of or outright ending what will go into a first trade collection. That makes it a good time to read those books' reviews to see how they're getting over with the fans of that material a half-year or so into the run. It may be a more important sign than first-issue reviews.

DEC151453 GOLEM GN $19.99
DEC151718 NICHIJOU GN VOL 01 $10.95
JAN160520 TET TP $19.99
This is the kind of week where I would wander around the store, knocking children down. No, sorry, those last three words weren't typed by me. Plus there are few children in comic book stores, at least the ones where I shop. No, what I mean is that the lack of sure things, regular titles, established creators, would send me looking at stuff I might not check out in a busier week. These three books look like likely candidates. Golem looks like fun eye candy, from the well-liked artist Lorenzo "LRNZ" Ceccotti. Nichijou is a series with up to ten volumes to be translated. I like the look of it, and the gentle bend of reality in the make-up of its cast is something I'm always interested in as far as comics goes. Any series of this length with a commitment from Vertical is bound to be at least pretty good. Tet I remember mostly for its handsome cover in the serial format. It's a murder mystery with a direct tie into that particular piece of Vietnam-era nasty business. Somewhere in there is a book I'll like, I'm sure.

DEC151364 ROBOT DREAMS GN NEW PTG $17.99
I assume this is the Sara Varon effort from First Second as opposed to some hardcore sci-fi book I haven't exactly nailed down. I liked that book when I saw it originally.

FEB162031 ED BRUBAKER CONVERSATIONS HC $40.00
Ed Brubaker is a great talker, and I'm sure this bunch of interviews has some good stuff in it. I don't know if anything I talked over with Ed is in this; I tend to out of these kind of "donate your work for someone else's book" kind of projects these days. Still, given the way on-line sources have drifted and print sources before them faded, this may be a valuable bunch of books to have in libraries two decades from now.

*****

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.

*****



*****
*****
 
posted 5:25 pm PST | Permalink
 

---

 
Daily Blog Archives
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
 
Full Archives