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.

*****

JUN181670 BAD FRIENDS GN (MR) (C: 0-1-2) $21.95
I know nothing about this book save for what the publisher Drawn And Quarterly has published here, but it sounds great and some day you just want to go to the comics shop and dive right into something new.

FEB180031 DAVE MCKEAN SHORT FILMS HC (C: 0-1-2) $24.99
This book on the other hand is something I wasn't aware would exist in this form but certainly knew that longtime comics artist and illustrator Dave McKean was a filmmaker. The film work here seems ably supported, and stills from that work might be a uniquely attractive entry point for fans of McKean's comics. That's a fine price point, too.

AUG180345 USAGI YOJIMBO #7 (OF 7) THE HIDDEN $3.99
AUG180373 BEASTS OF BURDEN WISE DOGS AND ELDRITCH MEN #3 (OF 4) CVR A $3.99
AUG180374 BEASTS OF BURDEN WISE DOGS AND ELDRITCH MEN #3 (OF 4) CVR B $3.99
Two solid series, including the conclusion of the latest cycle of work from the great Stan Sakai and his Usagi Yojimbo character. I'd be interested to know how doing the work as a mini-series had an impact on sales as Usagi supported multiple, more open-ended series over the years and there was something about that presentation that spoke to the general high quality of the work Sakai has done storyline to storyline. Mostly, however it's presented, the thrill is new Sakai work. This specific Beasts Of Burden work is comics I have yet to read, but the creators are swell and that's a solid concept that hasn't come near to playing itself out.

APR180447 BILL SIENKIEWICZ MUTANTS & MOON KNIGHTS ARTIFACT ED HC (NET) $125.00
These were some truly fantastic-looking and very odd comics when they were originally published, kind of late-period arguments for the notion that sprung out of the 1970s generation that the way forward for greater expression and literary value in comics was through its dominant genre rather than aside it or even in opposition to it. Any kind of reprinting or printing approach that isn't soft, toilet-paper like paper stock has to be an improvement in presentation. This is one of the few comics of its types where the visual approach has a significant effect on the storytelling in which it was used, giving the mutant work in particular a foreboding, slow pace festooned with peak moments of transformative splendor. Update: This is likely coming out next week now.

AUG18019 ROYALBOILER BRANDON GRAHAM DRAWN OUT COLL TP (MR) $24.99
It's interesting to me that this would be published during Graham's personal period of long reform within the comics industry over the content, direction and intent of some Internet arguments but I'm also never sure how deeply those issues -- which are real as can be -- cut into the consumer appetite for an artist's work. Many of the traditional tools for PR are lost for sure.

AUG181999 AMULET 1-8 BOX SET (C: 0-1-0) $103.92
Just in time for Christmas, one supposes. I'm a great Kazu Kibuishi fan even as I'm not the primary or secondary or tertiary audience for a long fantasy saga at this point in my life. I'm happy for the success of this work and look forward to its conclusion so I can read it all at once. I'm a little confused about a box set this close to the end of serial publication.

AUG182189 ANDY LIFE & TIMES OF ANDY WARHOL GN (C: 0-1-0) $34.99
JUN181907 BANANA SUNDAY GN $12.99
AUG181816 DOG SOLDIERS (MR) $19.99
JUL181884 DRAWN TO BERLIN HC COMIC REFUGEE STORIES NEW EUROPE (MR) (C: $24.99
AUG181543 NATHAN HALES HAZARDOUS TALES HC VOL 08 LAFAYETTE (C: 0-1-0) $13.99
AUG181524 PHOEBE & HER UNICORN GN VOL 08 IN UNICORN THEATER (C: 0-1-0) $9.99
JUN180365 BPRD HELL ON EARTH HC VOL 03 (C: 0-1-2) $34.99
And here we find ourselves in one of those weeks where it's a bunch of book-format comics that dominate the marketplace title-count wise than serial comic books. I would say that happens one our of every eight weeks now: less frequently if you don't count collections of serialized work; more so if you focus on publishing events with a little more oomph. Andy Warhol's work might lead nicely to a comics treatment of his life; it's the execution that will either make or break this SelfMadeHero book, although that's a publisher with a fine record in terms of its biographies. I don't know what iteration of Banana Sunday that is, but I like Colleen Coover's art. Dog Soldiers is the Fillbach Brothers and in its treatment of post-war mental trauma sounds more elegant than demented, like the recent World War I comic where all the soldiers were dogs. Drawn To Berlin features Ali Fitzgerald's work in refugee workshop, which is enough to sell me on its own; Fantagraphics' imprimatur helps, though, as they seem the kind of publisher averse to some of the work cliches that might pop up. I'm not a follow of the Nathan Hale stuff, but the cartooning looks dense and fun. You could argue that the Phoebe & Her Unicorn books are the primary publishing event for which the newspaper strip serves in support, and might not even get an argument from anyone. And there's your Mignola-verse work of the week.

NOV171713 WALT KELLY POGO COMP DELL COMICS HC VOL 06 (C: 0-1-0) $50.00
This is the final volume of comic-book reprints of material featuring Walt Kelly's newspaper strip colossus. I would want to look at this in the story as I think execution would mean a lot here, but it's certainly nice to have that work accessible to readers.

SEP182074 ALISON BECHDEL CONVERSATIONS SC (C: 0-1-0) $25.00
This is at a non-academic price point or really tiny. I try not to participate in this series any longer and only do when the subject matter makes a personal request and sometimes not even then. I just don't like turning my material over to editors I don't know, and I've been burned in the past. I do know that some people consider these interview books a great boon to academia. Anyway, Alison is a great interview: smart, funny and really digs into the questions rather than falls back on talking points.

AUG181944 FANTE BUKOWSKI GN VOL 03 THREE PERFECT FAILURE (C: 0-1-2) $16.99
Noah Van Sciver's third and I think final book with the characters read to me as much funnier than the first two volumes and even breezy. Van Sciver has a nice sense of structuring in his joke-telling, though, and I've become fond of the ridiculous title character and the drama he brings into close orbit. A nice goodbye to Van Sciver's time in Columbus, Ohio.

*****

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