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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MAR171737 UNCOMFORTABLY HAPPILY GN (MR) $29.95
This is an intriguing week, and no comic this year provides as different and remarkable a reading experiences Uncomfortably Happily. A lot of this year's best books have taken comics' ability to stretch time in order to bring about a practiced effect: the hours of boredom and borderline hopelessness in Guy Delisle's Hostage, the feeling of routine and peace and building accomplishment in On The Camino, by Jason. In this book we get page after page of descriptive comics and incremental emotional change in order to mark one of those periods in a life where very little happens but everything in your life falls into place around that lack of frantic change. I enjoyed it a ton, and have read it twice since snagging an early copy.

APR171751 VAGUE TALES HC (MR) $16.99
Eric Have is a funny man and fun cartoonist who hasn't come close to achieving the audience that might be entertained by his daffy, destructive, uniquely energetic work. His comics have the heaving rhythm of a man playing golf without a club: sprinting and throwing, sprinting and throwing. In Vague Tales the story never quite cohere except when they connect into a cycle. I could read a thousand pages of this stuff.

APR170731 BITCH PLANET TRIPLE FEATURE #1 (MR) $3.99
APR170811 GREEN VALLEY #9 (OF 9) $3.99
APR170723 WINNEBAGO GRAVEYARD #1 (OF 4) CVR A SAMPSON $3.99
FEB171107 REICH #7 (OF 12) (MR) $4.00
Here are the comic-book comics that jumped out of me this week: the curtains close on the Bitch Planet mainstage for a little near-the-audience short vignette work from sympathetic authors. Andrew Aydin -- whom I think would really like to do a lot more work in comics -- is among those participating. Green Valley ends as corny as you probably thought it might, but it works pretty well. There's a sly lesson here about intent and outcome, but I'd have to spread the comic out on my kitchen table and pick at it like a surgeon until I figured it all the way out. Crowdpleaser, though. Winnebago Graveyard contains artwork from the well-liked Alison Sampson, working in a genre that should suit her: horror. The old issues of Reich continue to be re-issued and God bless your comic shop if those comics are being carried. Buy them. Kiss the owner.

FEB170070 ADVENTURES OF SUPERHERO GIRL HC EXPANDED ED $16.99
MAR170098 GARY GIANNI MONSTERMEN & OTHER SCARY STORIES TP $19.99
APR170876 SHE WOLF TP VOL 02 (MR) $12.99
FEB171310 GIANT DAYS TP VOL 05 $14.99
APR171741 RIPPLE HC PREDILECTION FOR TINA (MR) $24.99
JAN178426 VALERIAN COMPLETE COLLECTION HC VOL 01 $29.99
Here's a bunch of trades of various interest, which I'm collecting together for speed of description. Adventures Of Superhero Girl is work by Faith Erin Hicks, and is very cute -- it's nice if you know a Hicks fans that this fully-formed a work is out there for a subsequent buy after devouring one of the bigger-company books she's been doing. Gary Gianni's work is always pretty, and I always look at it. Same with Rich Tommaso, who now moves to Spy Seal. I will always consider buy John Allison, and I wonder how this work function as serials trades. Ripple is artist Dave Cooper's great comics work, and it's nice to see it back. Influential in a quiet way, that book. I enjoy the Valerian work and Jean-Claude Mezieres is one of comics' great, charming citizens. It seems to me well-suited for the movies because the warmth of having actors instead of drawings at center stage might warm some of the arch, continental quality out of which the series builds its tone.

MAR160903 BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS CRIME NOIR OMNIBUS HC (MR) $125.00
MAR172324 LINE OF BEAUTY ART OF WENDY PINI HC $50.00
Here's two collections I'm glad to see although might be out of my budget range. It's good for Marvel to support one of their great writers with a collection of past work, and good for close readers as well. Wendy Pini is an influential artist for being one of the first Western comics-makers to let her characters act on the page the way that manga characters might. I'd certainly look at both of these.

DEC160605 JACK KIRBY FOREVER PEOPLE ARTIST ED HC $125.00
Jack Kirby or "Artist Ed" in a description is an automatic list-with-picture for this column. It's sick how well and for how many years the Artist Edition series has held our interest by going after major work after major work. I want this one, too.

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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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