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.

*****

JUN121314 VOYEURS GN $24.95
You could have a perfectly pleasant comics-buying experience this week just walking into your full-service shop buying this comic and leaving. In fact, I'm not sure that wouldn't be the optimal choice this week. It's a strange comics-buying Wednesday, but there's nothing weird about how good Gabrielle Bell for the last couple of years and this is a handsome presentation of a bunch of material worth owning. I guess I would only qualify by saying that I could also see how she might just not for certain aesthetic sensibilities, that there are smart people that might reject her on those grounds. But I'm a fiend for her stuff right now.

JUL120749 MOUSE GUARD LEGENDS O/T GUARD HC VOL 01 LEATHER BOUND ED (MR) $39.95
I'm not sure why you'd need a leather-bound comic, but this seems like a pretty good choice to receive that treatment as its fans love it a lot.

JUN120142 JUSTICE LEAGUE #12 $3.99
I'm told Wonder Woman and Superman do it, which I guess would have been very exciting for me that 31 hours in 1978 when I was no longer too young for this kind of thing and when I was not yet too old for this kind of thing.

JUN120288 SPACEMAN #9 (MR) $2.99
You could argue that the relative low-profile this book's maintained is one of the more important sales outcomes of the last five years. You'd probably get people really pissed at you if you argued the particulars of that line of thinking, though. I look forward to catching up to it.

JUN120027 AXE COP PRESIDENT O/T WORLD #2 $3.50
JUN120017 BPRD HELL ON EARTH RETURN O/T MASTER #1 SOOK CVR $3.50
JUN120395 POPEYE #4 [DIG/D+] $3.99
JUN128118 INVINCIBLE #92 2ND PTG $2.99
APR120548 MORNING GLORIES #21 (MR) [DIG] $2.99
FEB120510 MUDMAN #5 [DIG] $3.50
JUN120567 PROPHET #28 [DIG] $3.99
JUN120590 AVX VS #5 $3.99
JUN120658 FF #21 $2.99
JUN120640 WINTER SOLDIER #9 $2.99
JUN128134 ADVENTURE TIME MARCELINE SCREAM QUEENS #1 2ND PTG $3.99
JUN121218 SIXTH GUN #24 $3.99
Nothing really jumps out at me on that long list of comic books that my flash-memory tells me I've seen at least one person out there love. The belle of the ball is probably the Prophet, which seems to me is settling into much more traditional action-adventure pacing after a relatively ragged first trade volume's worth of fits and starts and careening off sideways. I don't really read the FF and the Winter Soldier series, but those are by quality mainstream comic book writers that are soon moving on, which means you could check in to see if you're missing something to keep an eye out for bargain-bin copies in the months ahead. I don't know, that's how I buy some comics anyway. A lot of people really like that Morning Glories but I have an almost superpower-like ability to not tell the characters apart in that one despite having read every issue and there being clear visual signifiers that tell you which character is which. I don't have anything blithely stupid and semi-insulting to say about the other comics, so I'll stop now. But I think it's fun to go to the shop and pick up random issues of comics that other people tell you they like every now and then. I'll miss that experience if it goes away -- I miss it now, being no longer near a shop -- and I'm not sure it transfers to digital the way I'd like it to.

JUN121162 AMULET SC VOL 05 PRINCE OF THE ELVES $12.99
JUN121170 BABY SITTERS CLUB SC VOL 04 CLAUDIA & MEAN JANINE NEW PTG $9.99
MAY121195 GON GN KODANSHA ED VOL 07 $10.99
Here's a trio of books for which you can argue "true mainstream" status in different ways. My suspicion is you could also make that argument from a sales-standpoint for Amulet; I think that one does well. I believe that's the last volume of Gon, which was quite the hot book in the industry 15 years ago or so and I imagine still has its fans.

JUL120742 DEVILS ADVOCATE ART OF COOP HC (MR) $39.95
I would take a look at this for sure, although whether or not you buy an art book usually depends on what you see in your hands as opposed to what you do when you're looking at a list of new comics out.

MAR121338 HISTORY OF UNDERGROUND COMICS 20TH ANNIV ED SC $29.95
I've been a fiend for underground comics recently, which means I need to double-check if I still have my copy of this book or if it's something I need to track down again.

JUN120650 INFERNAL MAN-THING #3 $3.99
This is the last issue of the Steve Gerber/Kevin Nowlan collaboration that was done from a found script by the late author. They are both very, very much mainstream (mostly) comics talents worth following, so I'm going to follow them. Gerber's worth following even though he's been dead a while. Marvel runs its trades department with a touch of dice-rolling madness, so while I assume this stuff will be collected at some point I suppose it isn't guaranteed.

*****

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.

*****



*****
*****
 
posted 7:00 am PST | Permalink
 

---

 
Daily Blog Archives
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
 
Full Archives