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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JUN161552 RAINA TELGEMEIER GHOSTS GN (C: 0-1-0) $10.99
JUN161553 RAINA TELGEMEIER GHOSTS HC GN (C: 0-1-0) $24.99
I'm greatly looking forward to reading Raina Telgemeier's latest; she's a really interesting cartoonist both for what's on the page and the enormous, fervent reaction the works receive. I'm told this one reveals a skill in texture and atmosphere, so I'll look forward to it that much more. I guess there's an argument that I should put something else up top because this book will be everywhere and unavoidable but I think that's an intriguing element, too. This is what comics looks like.

JUL161547 NICOLAS HC (C: 0-0-1) $14.95
I was lucky to read this a long time ago, in a form that I think might have been a very limited edition. I remember it being quite good, and using comics' strength at straddling the grand and the quotidian by exploring grief played out across that tension. I'm glad it's back in print, and hope it hits wider.

JUL160288 ALL STAR BATMAN #2 $4.99
JUN160369 ASTRO CITY #38 $3.99
JUL160263 DOOM PATROL #1 (MR) $3.99
JUL160363 GOTHAM ACADEMY SECOND SEMESTER #1 $2.99
JUL168168 BLACK MONDAY MURDERS #1 2ND PTG $4.99
JUL160739 BLACK MONDAY MURDERS #2 (MR) $4.99
JUL161001 BLACK PANTHER #6 $3.99
JUL161100 DOCTOR STRANGE AND SORCERERS SUPREME #1 ALBUQUERQUE POSTER $8.99
JUL161400 ADVENTURE TIME #56 (C: 1-0-0) $3.99
JUL161791 KAIJUMAX SEASON 2 #4 $3.99
Interesting week for comic-book comics, if not particularly noteworthy in terms of comics as a literary form; I like all the comics, and those comics, too, so I don't mind. This seems like it might be the Batman comic to watch if you're looking for how the character exists in the newest iteration of the DC superhero universe. I'm happy to see Astro City a whopping 38 issues in. That's a comic that's had some production issues over the years, so it's just nice to see the work come out. Doom Patrol is I'm guessing the jewel in the crown that is the Gerard Way mini-line within the Vertigo imprint -- a rehabilitation of those initial DC crossover properties by some who owes a great deal to their group aesthetic. The Gotham Academy book is one of the newer DC concepts that I suppose can now be said to have survived its first full death/revival. The Black Monday murders getting a second printing of #1 with its second issue is always a good sign of some expansion that can happen with the initial sales figures. Black Panther works familiar territory in a slightly different -- for Marvel -- way, and I've enjoyed reading it so far. I don't know if that Dr. Strange comic has a poster as a cover or if it's an actual poster, but it looks like they're re-doing the title to get a little mid-run boost. I could be wrong. I'm impressed by 56 issues of Adventure Time. Zander Cannon's Kaijumax is well-crafted and decidedly odd, the kind of gloriously messy overlapping influences and tones that only comics can do and pretty much how things were all the time in a whole room of comics back in the '80s.

JUL160614 3 DEVILS TP $19.99
I will look at anything with a Hampton's name on it. Finding that elegant style that's both painterly and figure-oriented enough to take on most genre stories has to have a high degree a difficulty.

JUN160569 SADISTIC MAGICIAN SC VOL 01 JIM MAHFOOD SKETCHBOOK $29.99
IDW has their artists, and one of those artists is certainly Jim Mahfood. I'd look at this for sure.

JUL161311 LATE BLOOMER GN (MR) $10.00
This is the Maré Odomo book of poetry-type comics rather than a re-issue of the Carol Tyler one-person anthology. You should own both.

JUL162246 ALAN MOORE JERUSALEM 3 VOL SLIPCASE SC NOVEL (MR) $35.00
JUL162245 ALAN MOORE JERUSALEM HC NOVEL (MR) $35.00
I'm interested to know how it is. I'm not sure I'd want to live in that prose style for as long as it would take me to finish such a book, but I respect Moore's talent and determination to make a certain kind of work. I hope this round of PR doesn't end up with Moore insulting everyone and everyone shitting on Moore.

JUN162112 KING BABY YR HC (C: 1-1-0) $17.99
Another gimme, and another potential jumping-on point. It's a concept that's been done a bunch, the way the family warps itself around one of its members that exhibits a certain charisma or pull, but I trust in Beaton as a drawer of fun-looking figures and stretched-out energy to get me through a kids book. That's terrible, right? I should just enjoy the darn thing.

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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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