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.

*****

FEB131025 NEW SCHOOL HC $39.99
If you go to the comics shop hoping to read major works by artists growing into their prime and trying to knock the cover off the ball every time out, this is your choice for sure. Dash Shaw's book is fascinating-looking, and he's doing a lot of things with presentation and color that I think should drive you to at least check this one out at your comics shop.

MAR131349 UTSUBORA STORY OF A NOVELIST OMNIBUS TP $18.95
I know very little about comics-maker Asumiko Nakamura other than that she's relatively young and I think is best known for her yaoi manga. This isn't that material, but a recent two-volume work presented here under one cover and I am a sucker for devouring work from an unknown-to-me, younger artist in that way. I like the art I've seen, too.

MAR130264 BEFORE WATCHMEN MINUTEMEN SILK SPECTRE DLX HC (MR) $29.99
MAR130263 BEFORE WATCHMEN OZYMANDIAS CRIMSON CORSAIR DLX HC (MR) $29.99
This is likely the biggest story of the week from a pure-publishing standpoint, the release of the first two of four Before Watchmen into a bookstore-ready format of the kind that drove the original series to celebrated sales success. It looks like it breaks down by writer. I wasn't so hot on the project, but I think these volumes look handsome and some of the comics are by first-rate comics makers.

APR130409 ARCHIE COMPLETE DAILY NEWSPAPER COMICS HC VOL 02 $39.99
APR130408 COMPLETE CHESTER GOULD DICK TRACY HC VOL 15 $39.99
FEB130054 ORIGINAL DAREDEVIL ARCHIVES HC VOL 01 $49.99
I don't know that I'm personally familiar with anyone that's routinely snapping up the $40 to $50 collections that seem to hit the market three to five a week, but this is the week's list of such items as much as I was able to discern from the text. It's amazing that the Gould is up to Volume 15 already. My dad's favorite comic book as a little kid was the Daredevil material and that book certainly features a bunch of Golden Age stalwarts. I don't remember being all that impressed with the comics themselves, though.

APR130024 MASSIVE #13 $3.50
APR130025 MIND MGMT #12 $3.99
APR130117 BATMAN SUPERMAN #1 $3.99
APR130258 UNWRITTEN #50 (MR) (NOTE PRICE) $4.99
APR130530 BOUNCE #2 (MR) [DIG] $2.99
MAR138377 BOUNCE #2 CVR B PICHELLI (MR) $2.99
APR130570 SEX #4 (MR) [DIG] $2.99
APR130421 FATALE #15 (MR) [DIG] $3.50
APR130544 JUPITERS LEGACY #2 CVR A QUITELY (MR) [DIG] $2.99
APR130545 JUPITERS LEGACY #2 CVR B HITCH (MR) $2.99
APR130546 JUPITERS LEGACY #2 CVR C JOCK (MR) $2.99
APR130556 MORNING GLORIES #28 CVR A ESQUEJO (MR) [DIG] $3.99
FEB130458 PROPHET #36 [DIG] $3.99
APR130684 DAREDEVIL #27 $2.99
MAR130694 HAWKEYE #11 $2.99
APR130702 FURY MAX #13 (MR) $3.99
This seems like sort of a colossal week for high-end genre and superhero comic books in something close to the standard serial format. The first two listed above are works featuring the talents of Brian Wood and Matt Kindt as they head into double-digits serial-comics wise. The Batman/Superman comic book is another effort to capitalize as much as possible on the bigger DC Comics names and features the art of Jae Lee. I read that one; it's very pretty but the story is... well, it's a story starring Superman and Batman and seems to depend pretty heavily on an investment on particulars of those comic-book universes. The Unwritten comic is a crossover into the Fables comic book; both of those series are solid performers for Vertigo, but my guess is that the latter outperforms the former by a significant amount. The Bounce and Sex books are from writer Joe Casey and continue his recent run of odd, compelling genre series. The Jupiters Legacy book is the Mark Millar/Frank Quitely effort that combines Millar's penchant for focusing on the solid execution of pretty basic high concepts with Quitely's ability at depicting strange-looking, pulpy pictures and the authority a skilled mainstream artist brings to depicting everything in a world. Prophet is one of the solid performers in sort-of superhero comics of the last couple of years. Finally, there are three Marvel books -- the Mark Waid-written reliable performer Daredevil, another issue of the Matt Fraction/David Aja collaboration on the smart-fan favorite Hawkeye, and the last issue in the latest cycle of writer Garth Ennis' work with the Nick Fury character. Fifteen-year-old me would be very broke and very happy.

APR130765 ALTERNATIVE COMICS #4 (MR) $5.99
MAR130802 MOUSE GUARD LEGENDS O/T GUARD VOL 2 #1 $3.50
There are so many more standard genre comic books out this week, let me pull one each of the traditional alternative and indy kinds: I swear the Alternative Comics anthology return was already listed as coming out, but it's fine to do so again. That realm of comics could use as many platforms to see a mix of new and old artists as is possible. The David Petersen book looks like the beginning of a new cycle for that reliable performer; those books are so not my cup of tea just on a personal taste basis, but they're lovingly executed and there's not a whole lot of company for books like that these days. I don't begrudge Petersen a single reader, and I hope there are a lot of them.

APR130447 CHANGE TP (MR) $14.99
APR130422 FATALE TP VOL 03 (MR) [DIG] $14.99
FEB130039 USAGI YOJIMBO TP VOL 27 TOWN CALLED HELL $16.99
I have this theory -- it's not exactly a startling, forward-thinking one -- that a lot of comics fans in their 30s through their 50s hit the comics shop and buy softcover trades with the same devotion they used to buy serial comic books. If I'm right, there are at least three pretty strong offerings in the high-end genre portion of the shop out there today: two of the latest from Image (one a talked-about comer; the other a reliable performer), and the latest from the great Stan Sakai. Those Stan Sakai trades have really become iconic comics in their own right, and it seems appropriate to spotlight one of Kim Thompson's favorite comics-makers on a list like this one.

MAR138319 FLIGHT GN VOL 01 NEW PTG $24.00
APR130767 TRUE SWAMP STONEGROUND & HILLBOUND (MR) $4.95
These are the two books that looks like they're being offered again -- although I guess the Flight is a new printing because it says so right there -- and that you might want to look at if you don't own them. The latter is the Jon Lewis material, and I believe more copies of work from about a decade ago that Alternative Comics released back then. Flight didn't revolutionize comics as we were once told it would, but a lot of people enjoy those comics, and they're certainly packaged in a high-end, flattering way.

JAN131163 ZIPPY DINGBURG DIARIES TP $29.99
If I had to bet on one comic being way better than a lot of comics fan realize and potentially due for a "the major work that walks among us" re-appreciation, it would be Bill Griffith's Zippy work. Reading the trades is a way to down a lot of the work in big gulps, although I think reading it every day in the newspaper may be the way to go.

JAN130368 JOHN BYRNE FANTASTIC FOUR ARTIST ED HC PI
Finally, John Byrne seems perfect for Scott Dunbier oversized AE format, if only because he fits right in with the other mainstream comics talents that have done extremely well with their own books. If you were reading Walt Simonson's Thor or David Mazzucchelli's Daredevil when they came out in comic books, you were likely reading the John Byrne-era Fantastic Four book as well. I remember the art on these being pretty lively and I think this format should flatter what Byrne was doing there.

*****

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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