This Isn’t A Library: Notable Releases To The 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.

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NOV111056 MONSTER MESS HC $9.99
This is the second in the English-language reprinting of Lewis Trondheim's series of popular monster books for Delcourt, which I remember once reading were super-popular and came at a crucial time in Trondheim's rise as a successful comics author in the French-language market. I enjoyed the Christmas-related book in the series; Trondheim is one of the few authors that can make this format work without seeming like you're getting too few pages for too much cash.

NOV110011 LOBSTER JOHNSON THE BURNING HAND #1 (OF 5) JOHNSON CVR $3.50
Another week, another no-doubt quality, genre-comics effort from the House Of Mignola. This series features art from the Who Is Jake Ellis artist, Tonci Zonjic.

NOV110840 ROGER LANGRIDGES SNARKED #4 $3.99
One of the three new comic-book comics I'd likely snap up this week if I were in a funnybook store, grumbling as the $10 bill left my hand but still happy to do so. I haven't really caught up with this one yet, and for all I know it has become the worst comic book in the world. I'm going solely on the Roger Langridge name here.

NOV110500 AVENGERS 1959 #5 (OF 5) $2.99
I'm on a Howard Chaykin mini-kick right now, and would buy this in a second were I to have a store nearby. As it is, I'll likely end up waiting a couple of years so that I can get individual issues for less than a dollar somewhere. Sad, but true: the flip side to the occasional threat that comics that don't sell super well won't have a trade is that except in rare, Flex-Mentallo-like cases the individual issues of just about any mainstream series eventually become really cheap no matter if there's a trade or not. I know that's something of a pillow to the sleeping face of comics, but one reason you want to have a broad audience for this kind of material and plenty of opportunities for people to buy them on impulse is that you don't have to then rely on readers choosing not to game the system a bit.

OCT110428 ARCHIE BEST OF DAN DECARLO HC VOL 03 $24.99
I like Archie and enjoy Dan DeCarlo, so even though I'm baffled by all the Archie collected material out there right now I'd be interested in looking at this one.

NOV111057 SMURFS GN VOL 10 RETURN OF SMURFETTE $5.99
NOV111058 SMURFS HC VOL 10 RETURN OF SMURFETTE $10.99
I wasn't aware she'd gone. These are very popular books with three different families of young children that I know, so it's hard to begrudge them anything. I was never a big fiend for Peyo, but I've certainly read all of these new books. Even Kim Thompson has praise for their handling.

SEP110345 BROOKLYN DREAMS HC $39.99
AUG110054 TARZAN THE JESSE MARSH YEARS HC VOL 10 $49.99
AUG110256 STEVE DITKO OMNIBUS HC VOL 02 $59.99
OCT111137 BEFORE THE INCAL CLASSIC COLL DLX HC (MR) $99.95
Here's a sign of the times: there are more comics out this week in the $40 or more category that I'd be dying to see in the store than there are in the comic books of the $5 or less variety that I'd likely pick up. The Brooklyn Dreams effort would be more of a curiosity look than an anticipation look. That's one of those lauded books from the 1990s that I heard about all of the time but can't remember ever seeing -- a Paradox Press effort, of all things, which I think is a nostalgic, fanciful look book at childhood in the borough so named. To think that there are ten volumes of Jesse Marsh Tarzan hardcovers out there for purchase is either alarming or awesome or both. Probably both. Emphasis on the awesome, though. I think that Steve Ditko material is the intermittent work he did in the late '60s and early '70s, but everything by the inventive Ditko is worth a look if not a blind purchase. As soon as I saw there was a Alejandro Jodorowsky book out this week -- a massive, slip-cased collection no less -- I knew that Jog's weekly round-up over at TCJ would have a much better description of the project than I could ever muster. And I'm right.

*****

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 on me. I apologize.

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