Embarrassingly Late Review of DirtBoy #1

When I saw that DirtBoy #1 was on the Diamond shipping list for this week, I remembered that the fine folks at Moronik Comics had sent me a review copy several weeks ago. I read it at the time and intended on writing a short review, but it somehow slipped off the to-do list and I neglected to do so. To make matters worse, I went looking for the comic last night and I can't seem to find it (I have over 25,000 comics--these things happen some times!) I'm sure that it'll show up again at some point, but for now I'll try to do this from memory:

DirtBoy is one of the 'bad kids'--you know, the kids that your mother didn't want you associating with when you were young. As his name implies, DirtBoy is a little, um, lacking in the personal hygeine department. He also has violent tendencies, which come in handy when he's attacked by a patchwork zombie dog. The art is appropriately scruffy for this comic and tells the story fairly clearly. It was a bit too decompressed for my tastes, as I felt that at the end of the first issue I didn't really get much of what was going on. It's all done well enough, but I expected to like it more than I actually did.

Rating: 2.5 (of 5)

PSA: Hurricane Disaster Relief

By now it's apparent that Hurricane Katrina is one of the biggest natural disasters to ever hit the U.S.

In the comic books, when a disaster hits Superman and the rest of the Justice League can move quickly into action to save lives and help to rebuild from the devastation. But in the real world we must rely on the heroic efforts of the Red Cross and other relief agencies.

For help with immediate disaster relief, The American Red Cross should be your agency of choice. As always, the Red Cross is on the scene providing relief and aid in this disaster, and they need your monetary donations. You can donate to the Red Cross online. (And hey, the Red Cross can always use your blood too!)



For longer-term relief efforts, my organization of choice is UMCOR, the not-for-profit international humanitarian aid organization of The United Methodist Church. UMCOR works in conjunction with relief agencies and local congregations to provide disaster relief, and is especially active in later phases of the process and long-term recovery as people work to reassemble their lives. Relief is provided by volunteers and the agency, and is done without proselytizing. Because administrative costs for UMCOR are paid out of other sources from within the church, 100% of your donation to UMCOR will go directly to disaster relief. You can donate to UMCOR online--they are a 501(c)(3) organization.

As good as many of the comics are that are coming out today, consider redirecting some of that money to disaster relief. Even a small donation can help--if every person who bought All-Star Batman and Robin gave just $5, that would be over a million dollars contributed to disaster relief. You may not be able to change the course of mighty rivers with your bare hands, but you can help people affected by the disaster by donating today.

New This Week: August 31, 2005

Based on the NCRL list for this week's comics shipping from Diamond, here are a few things to look for at the local comic shop tomorrow:


The Pick of the Week is AiT/PlanetLAR's Smoke & Guns by Kirsten Baldock & Fabio Moon. I've been in love with Moon's art ever since I read Rock 'n' Roll, and it will be great to see that art for a full 100 pages of action-packed fun!


In other comics:

Amazing Aaron Productions debut the first volume of A College Girl Named Joe (I hope it's good, because I've already pre-ordered vol. 2...)

Antarctic have a new issue of the Ben-Dunn-ified Ninja High School (#131) and the 2005 Gold Digger Annual.

Dark Horse have the debuts of the latest BPRD series, THe Black Flame, and Humberto Ramos's Revelations.

DC have new issues of Astro City: The Dark Age (#3), Ex Machina (#14), Flash (#225), Green Lantern (#4), JLA: Classified (#11), The Losers (#27), Solo (#6), Tom Strong (#34), Wonder Woman (#220), and the final issue of Seven Soldiers: Shining Knight (#4).

Drawn & Quarterly have the third issue of Kevin Huizenga's sublime Or Else.

GT Labs have the autobiography of Charles R. Knight--not a comic book, but it does have lovely illustrations by Mark Schultz.

IDW have collections of 30 Days of Night: Bloodsuckers Tales and Desperadoes: Banners of Gold.

Image have new issues of The Expatriate (#3) and Freshmen (#2), and the long, long delayed final issue of Dawn: Three Tiers (#6).

Jetpack Press have a new issue of Johnny Raygun Quarterly (#6).

Marvel have new issues of Captain America (#9), Powers (#12), Runaways (#7), and X-Men: Kitty Pryde--Shadow & Flame (#3); the final issue of Supreme Power (#18); and in the long delayed camp there's the final (for now) issue of Astonishing X-Men (#12), Wha Huh?, and Daredevil: Father #2!

(Good golly, next thing you know a new issue of Miracleman will be coming out... :) )

Moronik Comics debut both Bug Girl and Dirtboy.

Oni press have a new volume of Love As a Foreign Language (#3).

Pantheon have a paperback edition of Persepolis 2.

Renaissance Press have a new issue of Amelia Rules (#14).

Speakeasy have a trade collection of Jamie Delano's old Vertigo series 2020 Visions.

TokyoPop debuts Girl Got Game.

Wilson Place have a second volume of WJHC: Hold Tight.


Gee, that's a lot of comics--must be the end of the month or something...

My Latest Time-Sink

I spent waaay too much time over the weekend contributing to Tegan's new Comic Book Series Wiki. The goal of the Wiki is to provide people with an introduction to various on-going comic series. (She explains her whole rationale here. It's a worthwhile project, and I have that obsessive librarian personality combined with too many damn comics, so this helps me channel my geekdom constructively.

I started with just the intention of maintaining a couple of pages, but soon got really obsessed and now my fingerprints are all over the place on it. There's still plenty of information that could be filled-in, so if there's a comic series or two that you like/are obsessive about, please come on in and contribute!

(Of course, I *should* have spent my time more constructively by writing either the comics & libraries areticle that's due tomorrow, or the blogs in libraries article that's due next month. At least I can justify this time as learning more about Wikis...)

Infinite Crisis?

So last night I dreamed about Infinite Crisis. I don't normally dream about comics books, but it happens sometimes. It was one of those dreams where soemtimes I was reading a comic, sometimes I was watching it unfold like a movie, and sometimes I was actually in it. And since this was a dream, it followed dream logic. And I don't remember it all. But here's what happened:

'Issue #1': Superman decides that he's sick and tired of all the negativity happening around him--the killing and the secrets and the lies and the mind control and the whatnot--when it used to be that his adventures, while exciting, always ended well. So he rounds up a bunch of other heroes who feel the same way, and they 'pierce the veil' into the 'real world' and into the offices of DC Comics (really cool special effect of space-time ripping up like turning the corner of the page of a comic book, and Superman stepping through!) The heroes then confront Paul Levitz about the dire state of all the negativity. Levitz agrees that things need to change, so he calls an emergency story summit of DC's writers & editors; they meet with the heroes and plot out a massive cross-over series called Infinite Crisis which will return brightness and adventure to the DCU.

'Issue #2': The heroes return to the DCU and start to enact the plan/plot to restore the DCU to its glory days. Realizing that a bunch of heroes are of fighting in the Rann-Thanagar War and unaware of the plan, a team of heroes is dispatched to outer space to inform them. Meanwhile a couple of heroes (one of whom is me in the dream--know, I don't know which one) return to the 'real world' to ask Levitz to clarify a couple of unclear plot points in the story. But instead of a bustling workplace, we find the offices of DC Comics to be completely deserted. We soon learn that this is not the 'real world' at all, but rather a simulacrum designed to fool us and the other heroes. We deduce that this is really a pocket universe created by... The Time Trapper! The Time Trapper was posing as Paul Levitz and his true plan for 'saving' the DCU is not to return it to the old happy days, but rather destroy it and create a new universe that will play according to his rules. We want to return to the DCU and warn the others, but the Trapper is preventing us.

At this point I woke up. Which is a shame, because I really wanted to see where this was all going.

OF course, I'm sure the real Infinite Crisis won't resemble this at all. But I will be tickled pink if The Time Trapper ends up being the one behind it all...

Using the Library for your Manga Fix

Over on Animefringe, Shannon Fay has written an article for manga and anime fans on how to use your local public library to read manga and view anime: "Club Scene: Library Carded":

What kind of manga will the library have, if it does have any? Don't expect anything released last week. Although it will be unlikely that the library will have any hot new series, it may have classic titles anywhere from a few years to a decade old. If you ever wanted to read some of VIZ Media's older series, such as Sanctuary, or other titles from their Pulp line, but you weren't willing to shell out $19.99 for a manga, the library may be able to help you out. It also may have a few out of print or rare series that you can borrow as well.

She goes on to talk about how to use the library's online catalog to get on the hold list for titles that are checked out, and how to encourage your library to but more manga and anime. About the only thing she leaves out is how to use Interlibrary Loan (ILL) to get things that your library doesn't own from other libraries that do.

New Library Comics: Week of August 22, 2005

Here are the comics we got in for our library collection last week:


Break 21 : International Festival of Young Independent Artists (2001 : Ljubljana) Break comics through art /Ljubljana : Studentski Kulturni Center, 2001.

Crumb, R. Robert Crumb : yeah, but is it art? : Museum Ludwig, Koln /Koln : Konig, c2004.

Hernandez, Jaime. Whoa, Nellie! /Seattle, WA : Fantagraphics Books, 2000.

Monkey Covers

Sunday is Monkey Covers day here at YACB. Because there's nothing better than a comic with a monkey on the cover.

Today's cover is Superman #324, from June 1978. The cover by Rich Buckler and Dick Giordano features the origin of Titano, the giant ape who shoots deadly beams of Kryptoniite from his eyes. Beams of Kryptonite. From his eyes. A giant ape. Man, that's just beautiful. This same comic story (writeen by Martin Pasko) also features the Atomic Skull, and the Supermobile. That's right, the Supermobile. This surely must be one of the greatest comics of all time!

(standard disclaimer about apes not really being monkeys applies)

Image courtesy of the GCD. Click on the image for a larger version.

Unshelved Book Club

While Unshelved, the best online comic strip about libraries ever, has always had strips on Sundays, they've just recently taken to having over-sized color strips. Featuring the Unshelved Book Club, these strips have Dewey, teh young adult librarian, giving a book talk in his own inimitable fashion. Last week was Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, and today is Neil Gaiman's Coraline.

This Week on YAMB

This week on Yet Another Media Blog:

Yes, I changed the name to Yet Another Media Blog, to reflect a broadening of the scope. In addition to music, I may talk about television, movies, books, games, etc.

First off in the new blog I discussed this week's Celebrity Poker Showdown.

The new program on Yet Another Music Radio is Country Women of the 90s, featuring over 3 hours of music from female country singers from the previous decade.

(A reminder to those of you who joined Yet Another Fantasy League that we'll be having the autodraft on Monday, so be sure to rank your pre-draft selections this weekend.)

Infantino & Toth

Over in this thread on the TCJ message boards someone has posted scans of a short story from a 70's-era Creepy magazine. The story is a triffle, totally ripping off an old Twilight Zone, but the art, by Carmine Infantino & Alex Toth, is just amazing. Toth's inks are rather overwhelming, but it really works. I'm reminded of how great these old masters were, and how much better a lot of the stuff from that era looks in black and white, instead of suffering under the horrible coloring technology of the day.

(link via Adam on Completely Futile)

Review: Para Para

Para Para
by Andy Seto
ComicsOne, $13.95


With Para Para, crator Andy Seto has now firmly established himself on my list of favorite artists.

I have previously praised Seto's abilities to represent the furious motion of cinematic martial arts on the static printed page in his adaptation of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. In Para Para, he goes one step further by representing a singing and dancing movie musical so effectvely you can practically hear the music swelling and see the characters dancing.

The story in Para Para is a variation on the classic Romeo and Juliet story (in fact, several of the secondary characters in the comic comment on the resemblance), as rich girl Yuki falls for gangster Dennis. their romance swirls around Para Para, a dance craze that is also one of those electronic dancing arcade games. It's a story that's complete in this one volume, which doesn't give a lot of time to explore the characters in depth. But that's fine, as the real purpose of the plot is to give the characters an excuse to break out in song and/or dance at various opportunities.

It's the song and dance sections that give Para Para its strength. Seto is at the very top of his game here. Witness the opening scene: as autumn leaves fall, we see various young people milling about, with close-ups of the Para Para logo on their clothing. The word 'Dance' appears as a bright red sound effect. There's a voice-over going on, which we realize is probably meant to be song lyrics, and the 'camera' focuses on one of these young people, identified as Dennnis Lingmu, obviously caught up in the music and dancing. The camera then pulls back, and we see a chorus of dancers has formed behind Dennis ina two-page spread. Turn the page, and in another two-page spread the camera has pulled back further: we see that the dancers are in a large courtyard, with a large office building on one sid, an elevated train track on the other, a city and mountains in the background, and a large clocktower in the the foreground on the right chiming away. Turn the page again and Dennis's song concludes over the image of orange leaves falling against a stark white background. The title Para Para floats over the leaves, while a giant leaf in the bottom right is superimposed with the face of Yuki, her eyes pensively looking to the right and up, leading us visually to the top of the next page, where the next scene fades in with Yuki at swimming practice.

It's a stunning scene, expertly rendered. And there are several more just like it throughout. The scene where Yuki and Dennis first meet is on a rainy Hong Kong street: the color has been completely leached out of the background, leaving it in stark black and white, while Yuki and Dennis appear in color, and Yuiki has one of those soul-bearing songs that seem to happen frequently in musicals. Of course, this being a dance musical, there are a couple of dance contests, which Seto depicts such that you can practically feel the rhythm of the music as you watch the characters move across the pages.

Yes, the plot isn't terribly deep and the emotion sometimes runs to hysteric heights, but this is a musical created for the comics page. Para Para wins in presenting a dynamic example of comics artistry and, despite the tragic ending (it is loosely based on Romeo & Juliet after all) is still a joyful comics experience.

Rating: 4 (of 5)

Hoy: Batman!

Here are several 'Batman' strips I ran across literally randomly on a blog. They're in Spanish and my Spanish is so rusty as to be non-existant, so I have no real idea what they're about or what's being said (I hope they're not dirty or anything...), but I doubt that they're approved by DC/Warner...

Free Books

Yes, I give away comics and graphic novels from time to time, but did you know that I'm always geving away free books?

It's true! Head on over to BookCrossing and check out my bookshelf. Any of the books that are listed as available are free for the asking (as long as you live in the U.S., and you don't get too greedy). However, you must ask me via a BookCrossing personal message (which means that you'll have to sign up as a BookCrossing member first).

Lots of science fiction, some fantasy, some mystery, some other random stuff. I just want to give the books a good home.

Free Manga

TangognaT is paying it forward with a Manga Giveaway. No strings attached--just tell her which one you want an she'll send it to you. It's first come, first served, so act now before the good stuff is gone!

Previews-o-Rama part 2: The Middle

We continue now with the second half of our monthly stroll through the lastest Previews for items scheduled to come out in October (more or less...)


AAA Pop has the fourth volume of MIke Allread's The Golden Plates.

Abstract Studios have more of Terry Moore's Strangers in Paradise (#77) and the 17th collected volume as well.

ACC Studios has liberality for All, which shows what would happen if those evil liberals had taken over the country. Yeah, right, like that's going to happen. I like how the conservative saviors of America include convicted felon G. Gordon Libby and overturned-on-a-technicality Oliver North. Brings a whole new meaning to Neo-'Con', doesn't it.

More Yotsuba&! (vol. 3) and Cromartie High School (Vol. 4) from ADV Manga.

Woo Hoo! Not only is Aeon reprinting Matt Howarth's Keif Llama series in a handy collected edition, they also have a brand-new Keif Llama series as well.

AiT/PlanetLAR's intriguing GN for the month is Rob Osborne's Sunset City, about mysterious goings-on in a retirement community.

Alias don't have any new series debuting this month, although you'll want to take note of the final issues of Opposite Forces (#4) and David: Shepherd's Song (#3).

Oddball project of the month is Amaze Inks new Disney collabortation, Haunted Mansion, with Roman Dirge. Worth getting I think just to see what the heck it ends up being...

Aaron Warner's Amazing Aaron Productions releases the second volume of A College Girl Names Joe just a month after the first volume. You may want to slow up on the release schedule there Aaron, to give your readers (and, more importantly, retailers) a chance to get interested in the first volume before committing pre-orders to a second...

If you still haven't discovered the guilty joy that is Fred Perry's Gold Digger, Antarctic this month has a five-pack of Gold DIgger Pocket Manga for the discount price of just $30.

Archie get an early jump on the holiday comic season with Christmas-themed issues of Betty & Veronica Spectacular (#72) and Archie's Holiday Fun Digest (#10). They also have a new issue of Sabrina (#71).

Dynamite Entertainment want to be the next Avatar, with five covers for Red Sonja #5, but they're going to have to work harder, as Avatar's Lady Death: The Wicked #1 has at least seven covers.

Del Rey has the third volume of Genshiken.

Digital Manga Publishing has the second violence-filled volume of Bambi and Her Pink Gun.

DR Masters have the fifteenth volume of Iron Wok Jan.

Drawn & Quarterly are heavily pushing Guy Delisle's Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea.

Fantagraphics have a long-awaited new issue of Chris Ware's Acme Novelty Library (#16)--too bad it's a $16 64-page hardcover. (I love the sly solicitation text though!)

New Publishers Go!Comi & Ice Kunion both enter the crowded manga market with several new manga voluems from each. (Actually, Ice Kunion are focusing on Korean Manwha.)

ibooks have a new GN from Joe Kubert: Jew Gangster: A Father's Admonition.

IDW have the final issue of Angel: The Curse (#5) and the fourht collected volume of Te Legends of Grimjack.

Kyle Baker Publishing have the second issue of Kyle Baker's Nat Turner biography.

Lost in the Dark have the second issue of Fragile Prophet.

Moronik Comics have the second issues of Bug Girl and Dirt Boy.

Oni have the final issue (#4) of Banana Sunday. Final issue?! Please tell me that there will be more!

Renaissance Press wraps up Jimmy Gownley's "Superheroes" storyline in Amelia Rules #16.

Speakeasy have the third issue of Rocketo.

Apparently Bill Jemas's new comic company, 360ep, apparently isn't even going to pretend that it's more interested in comics than in merchandizing.

New OEL manga from TokyoPop include Mark of the Succubus by Askly Raiti & Irene Flores; and A Midnight Opera by Hans Steinback.

Viper conclude The Middleman with issue #4.

Viz seem intent on making manga fans sound like babbling idiots when they ask their friendly comic retailer for a book called BoBoBo-Bo Bo-BoBo (or, as I'm sure it'll end up being called, "That Bo-Bo-Bo-Bo manga").


Sorry I'm light on the snark this time around, but this Previews-o-Rama is late enough as it is. I'll try to squeeze in double the snark next month.

New This Week: August 24, 2005

Based on the NCRL list for this week's comics shipping from Diamond, here are a few things to look for at the local comic shop tomorrow:


The Pick of the Week is Banana Sunday #2 by Root Nibot & Colleen Coover, from Oni Press. The first issue was fun fun fun, and this second issue is sure to continue the monkey joy!


In other comics:

More monkey fun as Alias bring us Monkey In a Wagon vs Lemur On a Big Wheel #1.

Antarctic have a new issue of Fred Perry's Gold Diggers (#66).

Cryptic Press have a new issue of Quicken Forbidden (#13).

Dark Horse have a new issue of Conan (#19) and a new volume of Little Lulu (vol. 5)

DC have the final collection of Catwoman with the good art: Wild Ride; the fourth post-Crisis Superman: The Man of Steel collection that includes a rather excellent crossover with Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes; a new edition of the soon-to-be-a-major-motion-picture A History of Violence; the debut of Warren Ellis's Jack Cross; and new issues of City of Tomorrow (#5), Hellblazer (#211), Legion of Super-Heroes (#9); and Otherworld (#6).

DR Masters have a new volume of Iron Wok Jan (vol. 12).

Fantagraphics have a new issue of The Comics Journal (#270).

IDW go all Whedonverse with a new issue of Angel: The Curse (#3) and Peter David's Spike: Old Times one-shot.

Image have new issues of Invincible (#25) and The Walking Dead (#21).

Marvel have the final issue of Spellbinders (#6), the first Ultimate X-Men Annual, and new issues of Daredevil (#76), Hulk: Destruction (#2), Machine Teen (#4), and Wolverine (#31).

Viper have the second issue of The Middleman.

And both TokyoPop and Viz have a slew of manga volumes.

Quick Manga Reviews

Bambi and her Pink Gun, vol. 1
by Atsushi Kaneko

Take the Mature Readers rating on this volume very seriously: it is brutal, violent and nihilistic (and there's a good dose of sex and nudity too). Teenager Bambi doesn't seem to be quite all right in the head, but she's got pink hair and a pink gun, knows her way around a fight, and has kidnapped a young boy to deliver to the mysterious "Old Men." There's now a 500 million yen bounty out for her head and the safe return of the boy, but she's not going to let him go without a fight. Kaneko is a masterful storyteller: he brings us right in the middle of the action, and doesn't let up as he propels the story forward and fills us in on the backstory as we go along. The art doesn't look like typical manga, nor does it look like anything else either; the closest I can compare it to is the work of Eduardo Risso on 100 Bullets. It's also printed in a red/pink/brownish ink, which gives it a unique look as well. This book certainly isn't for everyone, but if you're in the mood for stylized violence and nihilism, this is the book for you.
Rating: 3.5 (of 5)



Blue Spring
by Taiyo Matsumoto

Confession time: I'm not a big fan of Matsumoto. Despite all the critical raves his work gets, I've never quite gotten it myself. part of it, I think, has to do with the reaction I had when I first encountered his work in the form of Black and White (in the pages of Pulp). I had an intensely visceral reaction to the art: it made me nauseated. Oh, I tried to read it, but could never quite wrap my head around what was going on on the page. At one level I suppose that I admired what Matsumoto was able to do, in being able to disorient a long-time comics reader such as myself; but that didn't mean I had to like it. Combined with the thouroughly unlikable characters, it was the one feature in Pulp that I eventually just skipped over. Blue Spring is likewise filled with unlikable characters--in this case a bevy of bored juvenile delinquents--but at least the art, while still distinctive, is toned down to the point where I can at least stand to look at it. In fact, I find much to admire in the art here, particualrly in the way it is layed out mre like a western comic that typical manga, with what would seem to be the influences of Gene Colan & Neal Adams. Truth be told, I spent more time examining the art than paying attention to the stories, which I really couldn't connect with at all (perhaps I'd have a better chance of doing so if I were a disaffected youth). Blue Spring falls into the category of comics that I realize have merit, but don't appeal to me personally.
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)

New Library Comics: Week of August 15, 2005

Here are the comics we got in for our library collection last week:


Cook, Greg. Cecelia Crocodile's really really good day /Gloucester, Mass. : Oatmeal Press, c1999.

Hart, Tom. The angry criminal /Seattle : [s.n.], 1991.

Hart, Tom. Love looks left /[Seattle : s.n.], c1993.

Kelso, Megan, 1968- Artichoke tales : chapter two /Cambridge, Mass. : Highwater Books, 2004.

Kelso, Megan, 1968- Artichoke tales : chapter three /Brooklyn : Highwater Books, c2002.

Zettwoch, Dan. Ironclad /St. Louis : [The author], c2002.

FGNW Day 7: Winners

The winners for Free Graphic Novel Week Day 7 are:


Epileptic 1 goes to Raphe Cheli, who writes:

I guess I'd like to get this because it just sounds so damn interesting. I've picked it up a couple of times at shops, flipped through it, and thought, "Next time I have a little more money, I'll get this." What I've read of this (in various online previews, what I've seen in the shops while browsing), it sounds something just up my alley.

Also, this is the third time I've entered, and they say "three times a charm"!

Indeed it is, Raphe, so expect to see Epileptic 1 heading its way towards you real soon. (I should point out that the copy of Epileptic 1 was provided by the multi-talented Jim Ottaviani, whose own new GN Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards is at the printer and should be in comic shops and bookstores near you sometime in September!)


Andrew Kleimola is the winner of the big Sky Ape three GN prize package. Andrew writes:

So, it's a big gorilla... and he's a millionaire... and he has a jetpack? These graphic novels look so friggin' weird I just need to read them! I'm trying to think of something clever and/or witty to write so you will choose my entry, but my kid is crawling around right now chewing on an A/V cord, making my Big Drill Car record skip and playing with one of our dog's toys, so I should probably go take care of that.

Andrew, you go take care of the kid, and later you'll get to read some wacky Sky Ape comics!


Finally, as a bonus, I'm sending an unanounced GN to long-suffering Martin Moretti. Martin cranks up the guilt factor by writing:

I would like to win Sky Ape because, despite the fact that I entered the very first day, I didn't win any of the comics in Free Comic Book Month. It was so depressing to watch the running tallies of comics given away and entries recieved, as my odds of winning decreased accordingly, and absurdist jetpack-wearing gorillas would cheer me to no end.

Turns out that it's true: poor Martin was the only person who entered Free Comic Book Month on the first day who didn't end up with any comics! Well Martin, the Sky Ape GNs are going to someone else, but looking over your 5 FCBW picks I think that you'll enjoy the copy of the 21 Down: The Conduit graphic novel that I'll be sending you.


This wraps things up for Free Graphic Novel Week. I had six entries for this final day: 2 for Epileptic and 4 for Sky Ape. In all honesty I thought that participation in this week-long give-away would have been much higher--after all, who wouldn't want a chance to win a free graphic novel? Thanks though to everyone who participated--I ended up finding good homes for all of the lonely GNs.

Monkee Covers

Sunday is Monkee Covers day here at YACB. Because there's nothing better than a comic with a Monkee on the cover.

Today's cover is Tippy's Friends Go Go and Animal #6, from October 1966. The cover by an unknown artist features Go-Go rocking out with The Monkees.

Image courtesy of the GCD. Click on the image for a larger version.

FGNW Day 7: Epileptic & Sky Ape

The the final day of Free Graphic Novel Week, celebrating one year of Yet Another Comics Blog!

Today's first selection is the critically aclaimed Epileptic 1 by David B. Publisher Fantagraphics describes it:

The most acclaimed European graphic novel of the last ten years is finally published in English. The most acclaimed European graphic novel of the 1990s, Epileptic is author David B.'s story of his brother's battle with epilepsy—but it turns into a penetrating and sometimes lacerating self-examination on the author's part, as he delves into his own complex emotions and his family's troubled history, as well as his own youthful fantasy life. Particularly pointed is his description of the family's journey from one attempted cure to another (including acupuncture, spiritualism, and macrobiotic diet), the book is drawn in David B.'s spare but detailed, straightforward but elegant style. We would have called this A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius if it hadn't been taken already.

One of the most extraordinarily well-received graphic novels in France and the winner of the French national cartooning award "Alph'Art," Epileptic will intrigue American readers with its sharp yet (mostly) sympathetic treatment of the '70s alternative-health milieu and its often harrowing depiction of a family under siege by this singular and devastating malady. Co-published with France's L'Association.

The final selection for FGNW is actually *three* graphic novels in one prize package: all three Sky Ape graphic novels published by AiT/PlanetLAR, written by Phil Amara, Tim McCarney & Mike Russo, and drawn by Richard Jenkins.

Sky Ape:

Millionaire. Crimefighter. Big friggin' gorilla. Kirk Madge, a.k.a. Sky Ape, is not your average gorilla with a jetpack. When danger rears its head, this freelance crimebuster doles out ass-whoopings like the President hands out free cheese. Join him as he unravels the secrets of his hazy past! This volume collects the complete sleeper hit comic book series.

Sky Ape: Waiting for Crime:

The millionaire gorilla with a jetpack is back again for a second adventure! The world's hairiest crime-fighter returns in an all-new lip-smackin' adventure! Fed up with saving the world, Kirk Madge - also known as Sky Ape, millionaire gorilla and freelance detective - doffs his jetpack to become a certified public accountant. But as the malevolent force know only as O'Donnelly's Roofing sets the world teetering on the brink of destruction, you can bet it won't be long till Kirk stops crunching numbers and starts bustin' heads!

Sky Ape: All the Heroes:

When the megalomaniacal genius known only as MISTER DOCTOR POWERFUL orchestrates a global prison break, freeing the world's most vile (and, in some cases, inept) super-villains, Sky Ape and his crew must enlist the aid of all the heroes--every last, second-string crime-buster the universe has ever forgotten, including The Swimsuit Bastards, Caibo the Puerto-Rican Snowman and Hall & Oates--to set things right again. To make matters worse, the literature-fueled force Poeticus, the Liberal Arts Robot, threatens to level London, powered by his two-ton chromium fists and unparalleled pomposity. If you're not smiling at the thought of a millionaire talking gorillas wearing a jetpack, you must be an orthodontist, or something.

Now you just knew that I wasn't going to let a Sunday go by without giving away any graphic novels with monkeys on the cover, right? (Yeah yeah, apes aren't monkeys. Deal.)


To enter for a chance to win one of these graphic novels, simply do the following:

Send me an email with your name, your postal address, which graphic novel you want, and a sentence or two telling me why you want it. Please put 'FGNW' and the title of the graphic novel you want in the subject of your email.

You can enter once per day (but only once)--that means that you have to choose which of the two graphic novels you want. Also, you can only win once, so if you are picked you can't enter any more. But you can keep entering each day until you win. (You must be 18 or older and live in the United States.)

Entries must be received by 11:59 pm EDT, and the winners will be announced tomorrow morning. That's it--these are the last free graphic novels. After this, we're done.

(Full details, including the fine print, are available here.)

FGNW Day 6: Winners

The winners for Free Graphic Novel Week Day 6 are:


Mortal Souls goes to Stephen Frug, who writes:

I'd like to read Mortal Souls because I've never read anything by Steven Grant, and I'm always interested in new writers -- and because I just have a thing for zombies (because, y'know, zombies, how can you not?)

Zombies indeed. They're the new monkeys, you know.


Go Boy 7 goes to Daniel Wales, who writes:

I've never read Go Boy 7, but it looks like it is drawn in the manga style. I would like this graphic novel for my collection because I don't have any comics in the manga style yet.

Well, it's not exactly 'manga style,' bu I think that Daniel will enjoy it nonetheless.


Those were the only two entries that I received yesterday! It certainly made the decision easy this time. Se how simple it is to win? Today is the last day of FGNW, and I'll be announcing the offerings later this morning. Do'nt miss out on your last chance to win!

This Week on YAMB

This week over on Yet Another Music Blog:

Not much, as I was busy doing the Free Graphic Novel week here, but I did briefly discuss the soundtrack to Songcatcher, and put together a new program on Yet Another Music Radio: Cover Songs 1, featuring over three hours of 50 different covers songs.

FGNW Day 6: Mortal Souls & Go Boy 7

It's Day 6 of our Free Graphic Novel Week, the penultimate day of our celebration of one year of Yet Another Comics Blog!

Today's first selection is Steven Grant & Phil Xavier's Mortal Souls, a sex & violence filled zombie-noir published by Avatar Press:

From Steven Grant, the man who taught Marvel how to do The Punisher, comes a bloody, bitter mix of crime and horror. Pursuing an unpredictable killer, police detective Eric Sharpe watches his life turn into a waking nightmare when his investigations reveal more than he ever feared--and more than he ever wanted to see.

The second selection is Go Boy 7: Ready Set Go! by Tom Peyer, Jon Sommariva & Kris Justice, published by Dark Horse:

A mysterious plane crash claims the life of Jonny Zero's parents and leaves him critically injured. Enter Professor Zero, Jonny's uncle, who uses his experimental robotic nonplasm to rebuild the boy. Jonny is transformed into Go Boy 7, the human action machine! This collection of the first four issues of the series feature flash-fire action and high sci-fi drama.

To enter for a chance to win one of these graphic novels, simply do the following:

Send me an email with your name, your postal address, which graphic novel you want, and a sentence or two telling me why you want it. Please put 'FGNW' and the title of the graphic novel you want in the subject of your email.

You can enter once per day (but only once)--that means that you have to choose which of the two graphic novels you want. Also, you can only win once, so if you are picked you can't enter any more. But you can keep entering each day until you win. (You must be 18 or older and live in the United States.)

Entries must be received by 11:59 pm EDT, and the winners will be announced tomorrow morning. Then I'll announce the final two graphic novels for the very last day of FGNW.

(Full details, including the fine print, are available here.)

FGNW Day 5: Winner

The winner for Free Graphic Novel Week Day Five is Kurt Addams, who writes:

I’m putting in a request for Buster's Neighborhood: Kid Comet vs. The Agents of Doom for my soon to be 8-year-old-son CJ because it sounds just like the kind of thing he’d love to read. (Of course I’ll read it too.) Probably a quarter of our conversations start off with, “Wouldn't it be cool if…” and then he launches into a wild tale of spies and superheroes and bad guys.

Kurt, I hope that both you and CJ enjoy this graphic novel!


I had three entries for Buster's Neighborhood, but amazingly no one asked after The Devil Does Exist, making this two days in a row that one of the free graphic novels couldn't attract a single person. Will anybody care about either of the next two selections? I guess we'll find out when I post them later this morning...


Update: TangognaT writes in to say:

If you're still sending away The Devil Does Exist, I'd like to read it. I was going to write in before because I was interested in reading it, but I thought since I have so much manga anyway it would be better for it to be given away to someone else.

So if it is still around and you want to send it along, that would be nifty. But if someone else wants it, that's fine. No worries either way!

It would seem that no one else wants it, so I'll be sending it off to her to her to enjoy.

Previews-o-Rama part 1: The Front

Yeah yeah, I know that everyone else is already talking about the solicits for November, but I'm still going through the August Previews for items supposedly shipping in October. It's okay, you still have about a week and a half to get your pre-orders in to your favorte comical-book retailer.


Dark Horse

Another Conan mini debuts: Conan and the Demons of Khitai, by Akira Yoshida & Paul Lee. I wonder if Dark Horse is starting to go to the Conan well too often--remember when they had just one Star Wars comic at a time, and it sold like gangbusters, but now they have several series and they don't sell nearly as much?

Good news: Nexus Archives. Bad news: expensive $50 hardcover. Unknown news: Will there be a softcover edition? Wildcard: will this Nexus reprint project get past the first couple of volumes, or will it sputter and die like previous collected series?

Kelley Jones has a new mini: The 13th Son: Worse Than Waiting, which is all monster-on-monster action (no, that *that* way--eww!) I'm sure there will be a trade, as there is with most Dark Horse minis, for those of us who tend to want to wait for such things.

The Goon 25 Cent Comic repritns the original The Goon #1, plus an all new sotry, for just two bits. So go on, buy several for you and your friends! (And Goon fans: don't miss the little half-page Goon strip on page 49 in Previews--apparently to be an ongoing feature.)

It's hard to tell if Eden, the new manga from Hiroki Endo, will be worthwhile or not. It could be just another post-apocalyptic story, but the little art I've seen looks rather nice.

More expensive hardcovers, this time in the form of the second set of Frank Miller's Sin City Library. You know, if I hadn't just dumped a wad of cash on the recent 2nd edition trades, I just might have been insterested in these instead.

Kool: King Kong Chess Set. Not Kool: $475.




DC Comics

Batman in the suburbs, courtesy of Steve Niles and Scott Hampton in Batman: Gotham County Line (a title that, everytime I read it, puts that Willie Nelson/Lee Ann Womack song in my head...) It's a three-issue prestige series, so I'm sure it'll get collected at some point, but whether that's next year or in 2009, who knows?

In All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder #3, "Frank Miller, Jim Lee & Scott Williams continue their striking new vision of the Dark Knight"--funny, I thought it was just a striking new vision of Vikki Vale's ass...

Okay, sure, Arkham Asylum was not the best effort of either Grant Morrison or Dave McKean, but it wasn't that bad and makes for an interesting look at the early efforts of two creators who would go on to big things. It's being reissued in a softcover "Anniversary Edition"--but who the heck releases an Anniversary Edition in honor of the 16th anniversary, except those fascinated by base-2 (or perhaps the same folks in charge of the Image Comics 10th Anniversary hardcover...)

Batman: Underthe Hood gets collected as an inexpensive trade, while Catwoman: When in Rome (by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale) gets collected ina fancy hardcover.

Solo #7 gets taken over by Mike Allred--dig that groovy Dancing Batman cover!

Every single DCU title crosses over with every other title this month--it's the 37-issue Rann-Thanagar Day of OMACs United!

This month's Showcase Presents takes focus on Metamorpho, with 560 pages of black & white silver age goodness.

The Klarion the Witchboy & Zatanna minis come to an end.


Three new CMX manga series debut: Cipher, Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne and Kikaider Code 02--I'd like to see more about Kikaider before commiting, but golly-gee that robot on the cover looks cool.

Captin Atom in the WildStorm Universe? For nine issues? Hmmm...

Astro City: Local Heroes gets collected.

Don't forget to pre-order The Winter Men #3--I'm telling you, there may not be a trade fo this one, especially if the retailers don't order any copies.

Brian Azzarello & Marcelo Frusin's new hard-ass western, Loveless, debuts. you can be nearly certain that there will be a trade of this, so this'll be a case of me getting the first issue and, if it's any good, waiting for the trades.

Speaking of trades, there's actually a third Doom Patrol trade--with the first apeparance of Fl*x M*ntallo (which is spelled with asterisks to keep the Charles Atlas folk from using Google to find out that this is happening). It also will have the debut of my favorite Doom Patrol member ever: Danny the Street--that's not a nickname, he's an actual street: a sentient, tranvestite street. No, really. You can't make up genius stuff like that--okay, Grant Morrison can, but not us mere four-dimensionally-thinking mortals.

Dave Gibbons' The Originals gets a softcover collection.

Following up on Vertigo: First Taste, there's now another $5 sampler, Vertigo: first Offenses, with the first issues of The Invisibles, Fables, Preacher, Sandman Mystery Theatre, and The Sandman Presents: Lucifer.

Oh, and there's a little series flying under the radar called Infinite Crisis, though I doubt you've heard much about it. You might want to be sure to pre-order and let your retailer know that you want it, because he might not order any copies otherwise.



Image Comics

I'll never quite understand why Beckett Comics didn't take off, with their low price-point, quality production, and pretty good stories and art. But now that they're going through Image, maybe folks will give them another chance. You can start with the collected edition of Ruule: Ganglords of Chinatown.

Okay, I like The Walking Dead well enough, but is there really a demand for a The Walking Dead Script Book?

I'm now officially waiting-for-the-trade on Age of Bronze, but those of you buying in floppies will want to be sure to snag issue #21.

I'm pretty much the only person buying Hunter-Killer, aren't I?



Marvel

So, "Spider-Man: The Other" is "the first Spider-Man crossover in five years!"--they could have waited at least five more, as far as I'm concerned. This presents a dilema for me, I really want to read Peter David & Mike Wieringo's new Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man series, but seeing it kick off like this is just annoying.

She-Hulk returns with a new series. I really liked the previous series, though I was wait-for-trading on those, so I'll probably do likewise with the new series.

Now Nick Fury's Howling Commandos just looks to be a howling good time. I'll pretty much grab the first issue of just about anything that Keith Giffen in involved in.

Pretty art by Seth Fisher on the Fantastic Four/Iron Man: Big in Japan mini; and I'm sure it'll still look good in the trade when it comes, so no need to spend $3.50 an issue just to see it interrupted every page or two by ads.

The Goon creator Eric Powell comes aboard the Mighty Marvel Machine for a special Halloween event, Marvel Monsters, and he's got Steve Niles, Duncan Fegredo, Roger Langridge, Peter David, Jeff Parker, Arnold Pander, and Keith Giffen in tow. Could actualyl be a lot of fun!

Speaking of Jeff Parker, did you know that the Interman creator is writing Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four? No? Well, you should; the man writes a good classic FF.

Power Pack returns in a new mini by the same creative team, Marc Sumerak & Gurihiru, who made the first mini such a joy to read. This time though it's X-Men and Power Pack, so maybe retailes will order it and customers will buy it...

J. Michael Straczynski & Colleen Doran team up for a new ongoing series from Icon: The Book of Lost Souls. I don't even really care what it's about; I'll buy it just for the art by Doran.

Did you forget to order the big ol' Powers hardcover? Don't worry--Marvel forgot to print it! So now they're resoliciting so you've got a second chance.

Although as far as lateness goes, you can't do much better (worse?) than Roy Thomas & Dick Giordano's Stoker's Dracula, thirty years in the making and now in a snazzy hardcover.

Young Avengers cover together in a hardcover collection of the first six issues.

In digest land, you can pick up Adam Warren & Rick Mays' Livewires and Mike Carey & Mike Perkins' Spellbinders in affordable editions.

Double your fun on Daredevil trades, as the Daredevil: Redemption mini and the Decalogue story from the main title both get collected this month.

Supreme Power gets a third trade, collected the last os the Max version of the series. (Presumably the new version will have less profanity and fewer nipples.)

And just to keep you guessing, Geoff Johns & Ivan Reis's The Vision mini from a few years back gets collected, for no discernable reason (unless that is it has something to do with the conclusion of Mouse of Him...)



Okay, that wraps it up for part 1--part 2, the middle, will be along sometime next week...

FGNW Day 5: The Devil Does Exist & Buster's Neighborhood

It's Day 5 of our Free Graphic Novel Week, celebrating one year of Yet Another Comics Blog!

The first selection for today is Mitsuba Takanashi's The Devil Does Exist, vol. 1. Here's how CMX Manga describes it:

High school is hard for Kayano. When she tries to confess her love to the kind but distant Yuichi, the school bully Takeru makes her life hell. But things get worse when Kayano's mother gets engaged to Takeru's father, the school principal! How will she cope with having the devil himself living in her own home?

The second selection is Buster's Neighborhood: Kid Comet vs. The Agents of Doom an all-ages adventure by Kaja Blackley & Alex Hawley, published by Mutant Toast Productions:

Buster Jones is no ordinary eleven year old boy and his quiet suburban life is about to change forever.

Nestled in his gentle neighbourhood are aliens and monsters hiding in the shadows. When they emerge from the darkness, bringing terrible secrets to light, his fragile world crumbles, and Buster is faced with a destiny that will ultimately champion the universe or enslave the human race.

To enter for a chance to win one of these graphic novels, simply do the following:

Send me an email with your name, your postal address, which graphic novel you want, and a sentence or two telling me why you want it. Please put 'FGNW' and the title of the graphic novel you want in the subject of your email.

You can enter once per day (but only once)--that means that you have to choose which of the two graphic novels you want. Also, you can only win once, so if you are picked you can't enter any more. But you can keep entering each day until you win. (You must be 18 or older and live in the United States.)

Entries must be received by 11:59 pm EDT, and the winners will be announced tomorrow morning. Then I'll announce the next two graphic novels, and this will continue all week.

(Full details, including the fine print, are available here.)

FGNW Day 4: Winner

The winner for Free Graphic Novel Week Day Four is William Burns, who writes:

I'm not a cat burglar or a snitch, my landlord is reasonably cool, and I don't have anyone trying to kill me (that I know of) but other than that I think I'm a lot like Sammy. The only thing that could render my Very Sammy Day bearable is receiving a free graphic novel!

William, I hope that when you copy of A Very Sammy Day arrives in the mail that it makes your life a little more bearable!

Wait a minute--winner? Singular? Wasn't I giving away 2 graphic novels every day? Well I'm certainly trying; but, while four people entered for A Very Sammy Day, *nobody* sent in an entry for Ultimate Elektra. Not a one! Apparently there are some comics you can't even give away... We'll see if I have better luck when the Day 5 choices are announced later this morning...

Update: Alan David Doane just wrote in to say:

My daughter is a huge Elektra fan, but I didn't know about that particular giveaway until it was too late...if you still want to get rid of it and have it end up in the hands of someone who will appreciate it, my daughter would love to have it.

Yes, I do want Ultimate Elektra to have a good home, so I'll be sending it off to Alan for his daughter to enjoy.

FGNW Day 4: Ultimate Elektra & A Very Sammy Day

It's Day 4 of our Free Graphic Novel Week (the half-way point!), celebrating one year of Yet Another Comics Blog!

The first selection of the day is Ultimate Elektra: Devil's Due by Mike Carey & Salvador Larroca. Marvel descibes it:

Matt Murdock - desperate to see Elektra Natchios again - makes an attempt to contact this mysterious young woman, putting himself squarely in the crosshairs of the biggest crime boss in New York City: Ultimate Kingpin!

Wilson Fisk enters the life of Elektra as well, along with a mystery killer who's right on target. Can the young warrior face this deadly assassin alone? Matt doesn't think so.

The second selection for today is A Very Sammy Day by Azad:

The origin of the world's unluckiest cat burglar! Samuel Little has been sleeping with one eye open with good reason: He's a snitch, and everyone knows it. After ratting out his old crew to the cops, he's finding it difficult to adjust to normal life in his old neighborhood. But a cranky landlord, pesky fumigators, and an overly friendly stray cat aren't all he has to worry about. Associates of his former crew are dead-set on making this not just the worst day of Sammy's life, but the last.

To enter for a chance to win one of these graphic novels, simply do the following:

Send me an email with your name, your postal address, which graphic novel you want, and a sentence or two telling me why you want it. Please put 'FGNW' and the title of the graphic novel you want in the subject of your email.

You can enter once per day (but only once)--that means that you have to choose which of the two graphic novels you want. Also, you can only win once, so if you are picked you can't enter any more. But you can keep entering each day until you win. (You must be 18 or older and live in the United States.)

Entries must be received by 11:59 pm EDT, and the winners will be announced tomorrow morning. Then I'll announce the next two graphic novels, and this will continue all week.

(Full details, including the fine print, are available here.)

FGNW Day 3: Winners

The winners for Free Graphic Novel Week Day 3 are:

Genshiken, vol. 1 goes to Annie Jo Cain, who writes:

I just read 'Wrong about Japan' and suddenly found myself very curious about manga. My local library is having a backup problem and the titles I have put on hold still haven't come in so I am dying to be introduced to a Japanese graphic novel.

We shall thus help Annie to sate her manga curiosity with this story about manga fans in Japan.


Will Eisner's A Family Matter goes to Andrew Wales. Andrew writes:

Will Eisner is one of my heroes. He wasn't much more than a teenager when he decided to try to make his living doing comic book art -- in the midst of the Great Depression, no less! He was a pioneer in so many ways. He was one of the first to open a studio, the Eiger-Eisner Shop. He was the first to have the audacity to suggest that if comics are both words and art, then they have the potential to be both great works of literature and fine art. Even his fellow cartoonists scoffed at that. He was one of the first to suggest that comics could be used to teach. He was the first to write a graphic novel. In spite of the awe I have for him, I do not own a Will Eisner graphic novel! If I am chosen, this contest could change all that! Here's hoping!

Well Andrew, now you own a Will Eisner graphic novel (or at least you will once the post office delivers it) and I think that you'll appreciate it.


Response was much better for day three: 3 people requested Genshiken, while a whopping 10 people requested A Family Matter. That's more like it! If you weren't picked this time, there's still four more days left in my blogiversary give-away, and you're welcome to enter again if something else catches your eye. The GNs for Day 4 will be announced later this morning.

Kochalka-rama

Self-confessed big-time James Kochalka fan Alan David Doane has started a blog devoted entirely to the indy-comix fave: KOCHALKAHOLIC!

Meanwhile, Jumbotron 6000's Jim McGrath has extended the deadline on his James Kochalka's Sketchbook Diaries, Vol. 3 giveaway contest to this Friday, so you still have time to enter.

FGNW Day 3: Genshiken & A Family Matter

It's Day 3 of our Free Graphic Novel Week, celebrating one year of Yet Another Comics Blog!

The first selection for today is Genshiken, vol. 1 by Kio Shimoku. Here's how publisher Del Rey describes this popular manga:

It’s the spring of freshman year, and Kanji Sasahara is in a quandary. Should he fulfill his long-cherished dream of joining an otaku club? Saki Kasukabe also faces a dilemma. Can she ever turn her boyfriend, anime fanboy Kousaka, into a normal guy? Kanji triumphs where Saki fails, when both Kanji and Kousaka sign up for Genshiken: The Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture.

Undeterred, Saki chases Kousaka through the various activities of the club, from costume-playing and comic conventions to video gaming and collecting anime figures–learning more than she ever wanted to about the humorous world of the Japanese otaku!

The second selection for today is Will Eisner's classic graphic novel, A Family Matter:

In the span of twenty-four hours, the darkest family secrets are revelaed.

In the span of twenty-four hours, long suppressed memories surface--betrayal, abuse, greed, incest, and worse.

In the span of twenty-four hours, a strained family comes together, only to be torn apart.

In the span of twenty-four hours, witness a family that might live next door--or might even be your own.

To enter for a chance to win one of these graphic novels, simply do the following:

Send me an email with your name, your postal address, which graphic novel you want, and a sentence or two telling me why you want it. Please put 'FGNW' and the title of the graphic novel you want in the subject of your email.

You can enter once per day (but only once)--that means that you have to choose which of the two graphic novels you want. Also, you can only win once, so if you are picked you can't enter any more. But you can keep entering each day until you win. (You must be 18 or older and live in the United States.)

Entries must be received by 11:59 pm EDT, and the winners will be announced tomorrow morning. Then I'll announce the next two graphic novels, and this will continue all week.

(Full details, including the fine print, are available here.)

FGNW Day 2: Winners

The winners for Free Graphic Novel Week Day 2 are:

Daydream Lullabies: A Billy Dogma Experience goes to Roger Green. Roger writes:

I'm someone who has gone from collecting comics to working in a comic book stores (FantaCo, Midnight Comics) for a decade to dropping the funny books cold turkey when I got my job as a librarian a dozen years ago. I've (most tentatively) become more interested in the art form, and so reading about someone with a tenuous grip on reality, trying to make ends meet - you know what librarians make - seems appropriate.

I certainly do know what librarians make, and hopefully Billy Dogma will help push Roger back over the edge into comic-land.


Remains goes to Rick Gebhardt because, well, just read this:

I would really dig getting this graphic novel mailed to me as I am in love with zombies. Seriously, if I could have a zombie girlfriend that would marry me at a zombie wedding ceremony in a zombie church so we could make little zombie babies and have a zombie farmhouse with zombie chickens and zombie pets, I would be in heaven… zombie heaven. So until that happens, could I read that copy of Remains that you have?

Rick, while at this point I'm starting to fear for your immortal soul, you are obviously in need of more zombies in your life, so Remains is yours!


Congratulations to Roger & Rick. Surprisingly, I only received four entries for Day 2--Come on people, what does it take to get you to send off an email for a chance at a free graphic novel? Maybe you'll like what I have for Day 3, which will be announced just a little later this morning...

New This Week: August 17, 2005

Based on the NCRL list for this week's comics shipping from Diamond, here are a few things to look for at the local comic shop tomorrow:


The Pick of the Week is James Turner's Rex Libris from Slave Labor. It's two-fisted librarian action--how can you go wrong?


In other comics:

Archie have a new issue of Sabrina (#69).

DC have new collections of Terra Obscura (vol. 2), Swamp Thing (vol. 2), JSA (vol. 9), and The Maxx (vol. 5); the debut issue of the Alan Moore-less Top Ten: Beyond The Farthest Precinct; and new issues of Authority: Revolution (#11), Birds of Prey (#85), Green Lantern (#3), Lucifer (#65), Manhunter (#13), and Seven Soldiers: Klarion the Witch Boy (#3).

Graphix have Chynna Clugston's new Queen Bee OGN.

Image have the second issue of Gødland and the fourth collected volume of Noble Causes.

Marvel have the Power Pack digest collection; the first Ultimate Spider-Man Annual; and new issues of Defenders (#2), New Thunderbolts (#11), and Ultimate X-Men (#62).

Pantheon have Joann Sfar's GN, The Rabbi's Cat.

Serve Man Press have The Runners: Bad Goods in a collected edition.

Speakeasy debut Rocketo.

TokyoPop have many many things, including the third volume of Dead End.


Hmmm, that appears to be it for this week. Kind of small, but I'm sure you'll find something to spend your money on (as long as it isn't the second Superman: For Tomorrow hardcover...)

FGNW Day 2: Daydream Lullabies & Remains

It's Day 2 of our Free Graphic Novel Week, celebrating one year of Yet Another Comics Blog.

The first of today's graphic novels up for grabs is Daydream Lullabies: A Billy Dogma Experience by Dean Haspiel. Here's how the publisher, Top Shelf, describes it:

Billy Dogma--the last romantic antihero--is so confused, his guns shoot everything but bullets. Jane Legit, Billy's career-driven girlfriend, questions his grip on reality, yet unconditionally encourages his imagination to foil The Under Color Cop, bamboozle The Human Barcode, escape The Loneliest Photobooth In The World, and tranquilize Dr. Eros, while trying to make ends meet in Trip City.

Today's second option is IDW's Remains by Steve Niles and Kieron Dwyer:

When the world goes mad, a blackjack dealer and an exotic dancer are mysteriously spared. But now they're trapped in Reno, surrounded by a veritable army of the undead - and with no idea what might wait for them beyond the city limits if they can escape. Are they the last man and woman on Earth? And if so, how long can they last?

To enter for a chance to win one of these graphic novels, simply do the following:

Send me an email with your name, your postal address, which graphic novel you want, and a sentence or two telling me why you want it. Please put 'FGNW' and the title of the graphic novel you want in the subject of your email.

You can enter once per day (but only once)--that means that you have to choose which of the two graphic novels you want. Also, you can only win once, so if you are picked you can't enter any more. But you can keep entering each day until you win. (You must be 18 or older and live in the United States.)

Entries must be received by 11:59 pm EDT, and the winners will be announced tomorrow morning. Then I'll announce the next two graphic novels, and this will continue all week.

(Full details, including the fine print, are available here.)

FGNW Day 1: Winners

The winners for Free Graphic Novel Week Day 1 are:

District X, vol. 1: Mr. M goes to Chris Brown. Chris writes that his reason is:

I've wanted to read District X for a while, but with my limited budget, I was going to get it through Inter-library loan (which I use QUITE a bit). But, man if I get get my hands on my very own FREE copy, that would be cool.

So I'll save Chris's library the ILL costs and send him his very own copy of District X to read.


The signed copy of The Sandman: Brief Lives goes to Brendan Creecy. Brendan's reason:

I've been reading your blog for awhile and I would like to enter your contest to win The Sandman. I just started reading this series at the recommendation of a friend and I would love to have volume 7 even though I'm not that far into it because I am pretty poor as of late. It's a great series, possibly one of my all time faves.

I'm always happy to help out a fellow comic reader who is down on his luck.


Congratulations to Chris and Brendan. For anyone keeping score at home, I only received five submissions for FGNW day 1, two for Distric X and three for Sandman, which is surprising. I figured that more people would want a chance to win a free graphic novel. Perhaps today's prizes (which I'll be announcing later this morning) will be more to your liking.

Also, I'd like to remind all entrants to please be sure to include your postal address and put 'FGNW' and the title of the graphic novel you want in the subject of your email. That'll be a big help to me. Thanks!

New Library Comics: Week of August 8, 2005

Here are the comics we got in for our library collection last week:


Crumb, R. R. Crumb sketchbook. Seattle, WA : Fantagraphics, 1992- v. 1, 2, 5

Crumb, R. The complete Crumb /Seattle : Fantagraphics Books, [1987?]- v. 1, 3-7, 10, 15, 16

Gonick, Larry. The cartoon history of the universe /New York : Broadway Books, 2001- v. 1-2

Griffith, Bill, 1944- Griffith observatory : the classic strips from 1977-1980 : with 16 previously uncollected pages /Seattle, WA : Fantagraphics Books, c1993.

Ryan, Sara. Flytrap episode one : juggling act /[Portland, Or. : Cold Water Press], 2005.

Ryan, Sara. Me and Edith Head /[Portland, Or. : Cold Water Press], c2002.

Strip XEN /Ljubljana : Studioosem, 2004.

FGNW Day 1: District X & Sandman

It's Day 1 of our Free Graphic Novel Week, celebrating one year of Yet Another Comics Blog.

The first graphic novel up for grabs is District X, vol. 1: Mr. M by David Hine, David Yardin, Lan Medina, Mike Perkins, Alejandro Sicat & Drew Hennessy. Marvel describes it thusly:

Welcome to Mutant Town, the dark corner of New York City where the long arm of the law has been severed clean. Here, the mutant population doesn't sport GQ style or champagne dreams. They eke out each day in squalid tenement rows and filthy streets where only one man and one law can be trusted: the X-Man Bishop.

Today's second choice is The Sandman: Brief Lives, book seven in Neil Gaiman's award-winning series, featuring art by Jill Thompson & Vince Locke with Dick Giordano. As a bonus, this volume has been autographed by Locke along with a small head sketch of Dream.

Delirium, youngest of the Endless, prevails upon her brother Dream to help her find their missing sibling. Their travels take them through the world of the waking until a final confrontation with the missing member of the Endless and the resolution of Dream's painful relationship with his son, Orpheum, change the Endless forever.

To enter for a chance to win one of these graphic novels, simply do the following:

Send me an email with your name, your postal address, which graphic novel you want, and a sentence or two telling me why you want it. Please put 'FGNW' and the title of the graphic novel you want in the subject of your email.

You can enter once per day (but only once)--that means that you have to choose which of the two graphic novels you want. Also, you can only win once, so if you are picked you can't enter any more. But you can keep entering each day until you win. (You must be 18 or older and live in the United States.)

Entries must be received by 11:59 pm EDT, and the winners will be announced tomorrow morning. Then I'll announce the next two graphic novels, and this will continue all week.

(Full details, including the fine print, are available here.)

FGNW: Free Graphic Novel Week starts tomorow!

That's right: In honor of my 1st Blogiversary, tomorrow will kick off a week-long give-away of free graphic novels!

Here's how it will work:

Every morning I'll announce at least two graphic novels that I'm giving away for free that day. To enter for a chance to win, send me an email with your name, your postal address, which graphic novel you want, and a sentence or two telling me why you want it. That's it--it's just that easy!

Please put 'FGNW' and the title of the graphic novel you want in the subject of your email.

You can enter once per day (but only once)--that means that you have to choose which of the two graphic novels you want. Also, you can only win once, so if you are picked you can't enter any more. But you can keep entering each day until you win.

Entries must be received by 11:59 pm EDT, and the winners will be announced the next morning. Then I'll announce the next two graphic novels, and we'll continue all week.

Of course, there's some fine print:

* You must be 18 or older, and you must live in the United States.

* Winners are chosen by me, based on whatever criteria I decide to employ that day. All decisions are final.

* If you are chosen to win, your name and entry will be used on this blog for the announcement of winners.

* All of the graphic novels will be registered on BookCrossing, and there may be a registration sticker inside the front cover. In other words, there won't be any collectible value to these--they're meant to be read!

Come back tomorrow morning for the announcement of the first two graphic novels I'm giving away!

Monkey Covers

Sunday is Monkey Covers day here at YACB. Because there's nothing better than a comic with a monkey on the cover.

Today's cover is Sky Ape: Waiting for Crime, which I'm assuming is by artist Richard Jenkins.

Strange thing about my copy of this comic: I got it in a trade via BookCrossing, and someone has gone through and used white-out to remove all of the curse words. Now granted, pretty much all of the cursing in here is gratuitous, and honestly I'm not a big fan of gratuitous swearing when a simple $#%@! would work just as well. But still, defacing the text of a comic because you don't like the language used, that's uncool.

As for the comic itself, I liked it, certainly a lot more than I did the original Sky Ape collection. There's still an element of the ridiculous, but the story actually coheres into a narrative that can be followed. The story by Philip Amara, Tim McCarney & Michael Russo finds Kirk Madge, aka Sky Ape, and his crew traveling back in time to stop a group of home contractors from ruining ancient buildings (like pyramids and whatnot) with vinyl siding and hot tubs. It's a bunch of silly fun.

Hmm, this Monkey Cover entry has managed to turn into a quick review. So: Rating: 3 (of 5).

(standard disclaimer about apes not really being monkeys applies)

Click on the image for a larger version.

(Be sure to come back to this blog later today for our big First Blogiversary Give-Away Announcement!)

This Week on YAMB

This week over on Yet Another Music Blog:

I blogged about releases by Jenny Queen & Tristan Prettyman, and debuted the first 'real' program on Yet Another Music Radio: Live Tracks 1, featuring three and a half hours of some of my favorite live tracks.

Our first First YACB Blogiversary kicks off officially on Monday the 15th, but tune in here tomorrow for the announcement of our big week-long give-away event!

Quick First Issue Reviews

Wildsiderz #1
by J. Scott Campbell & Andy Hartnell

Another blogger (sorry, I forget who) descibed this as Saved by the Bell with artificial super-powers, and that pretty much hits the mark. You've got 'Styler the Sk8ter,' 'Kat the Hottie,' 'Bam the Meathead,' ' Zak the Hunk,' and 'Jess the Brain'--all of whom end up with devices (developed by a military contracter) which allow them to form colorful hard-light extensions of their bodies. If you think about the premise too hard (or, really, at all) it will fall right apart, but if you just take it as is and run with it it works. Campbell's art is the same as always, and the hard-light powersactually look kind of cool as rendered by colorist Roger Delgado. I suspect that Campbell & Hartnell actually have within them the ability to do a rather good high school dramedy sans any super-powers, but let's face it, in today's market that's not going to fly for a 32-page full-color glossy from DC.
Rating: 3 (of 5)



Gimoles #1
by Mike Bullock & Theo Bain

Take one part The Smurfs and mix it with the Heat/Freeze Miser parts of The Year Without a Santa Claus and you get Gimoles, a competently done new comic that's strictly for the kids. The Gimoles are little green elves who are resposible for he season fo Spring, but they can't get started because the evil Ichabod Cornelius Frost, lord of Winter, has kidnapped the Groundhog on Groundhog Day, ensuring that his winter-machines can not be turned off. So of course it's up to two young Gimoles to rescue th Groundhog from Frost's ice castle so that spring can come again to the land. The art is a nice style and the story is clear (though it gets a bit too bogged down in exposition in the middle), but it all seems highly derivative. Still, for just 75 cents, you may want to pick up the first issue to see if your kids like it.
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)



Brian Pulido's Gypsy #1
by Brian Pulido & Paulo Siqueira

Actually better than any comic that has seven different covers should be, Pulido's latest comic about hot babes in historical supernatural action is set at the dawn of the industrial revolution as old and new cultures collide. Liza and Antoinette are two hot young sisters who nevertheless are subject to persecution because they're gypsies, despite, you know, their hotness. And of course there's a supernatural threat lurking in the woods. Siqueira makes a valiant effort in the art to represent the period, although he could stand o vary his line weight to give his art an added dimension, and his women all have the same height, body shape and faces, distinguishable only by their hairstyles.
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)



Supergirl #1
by Jeph Loeb, Ian Churchill & Norm Rapmund

One might think that DC would use the occasion of a new Supergirl comic to at least try to produce something that would be of interest to the young female manga kids. But seriously, with Loeb & Churchill spinning this series out of Superman/Batman, can you really expect anything else than a story steeped in DCU continuity and a two-page spread with Supergirl in her bare midriff costume fighting a busty Power Girl? Of course not. This one is strictly for the fanboys. It succeeds in being what it is and what it aims for; while direct market sales will probably be strong, I just think that it's aiming in the wrong direction.
Rating: 2.5 (of 5)



Gødland #1
by Joe Casey & Tom Scioli

Super Cosmic Mind Candy! Scioli made a name for himself by channeling Jack Kirby for his The Myth of 8-Opus, and now he's back with another Kirby riff with writer Joe Casey in tow. Four years ago Commander Adam Archer was in charge of a disasterous Mission to Mars in which although the rest of his crew died, Archer ended up with Cosmic Powers. Now a Cosmic Menace threatens Earth, so it's up to Commander Adam Archer to save us! The story is bold! The art is bold (and looks like Kirby)! Even the color is bold! It's Big! It's Bold! It's Cosmic! (And the bad guy on the last page whose head is a skull floating in a tank of green water? He looks kind of cool...)
Rating: 3 (of 5)

Salon on Finder

Salon's Douglas Wolk discusses Carla Speed McNeil's Finder in general and the most recent volume, The Rescuers, in particular: "Yurts, robot secretaries, and talking dinosaurs." (link via Jumbotron 6000)

Yet Another Fantasy League

If you're like me, not only do you love comics, you also love American football.

Okay, so maybe you're not like me; I've found that the overlap of comic fans and sports fans is rather small...

But I've decided to try creating a Fantasy Football league tied to this blog anyway.

So, I invite everyone reading this blog to join Yet Another Fantasy League for some fantasy football fun.

To join, simply follow this link and register your team. To increase the fun, please choose the name of a super-hero team as your team name. (I've already taken Kickers, Inc.!) If you join, please use the comments for this post to tell us who you are and what your team name is.

Registration will continue until all 12 team spots have been filled, or until August 29 (the date for our autopick draft) whichever comes first.

It'll all be good fun, I'm sure!

This is part of our month-long 1st Blogiversary Celebration. Don't forget to check in here on this blog this coming Sunday for the announcement of our next big giveaway event!

New This Week: August 10, 2005

Based on the NCRL list for this week's comics shipping from Diamond, here are a few things to look for at the local comic shop tomorrow:


The Pick of the Week is Paul Chadwick's Concrete, vol. 1: Depths from Dark Horse, the start of a complete reprinting of the entire Concrete saga (in story chronological order). Finding the original Conrete #1 in a quarter bin back in the 80s was one of the events that led me into the wonderful world of non-Marvel/DC back in the day, and it will be good to have all of this stuff back in print, including the scattered short stories.


In other comics:

Alias have the third issue of Penny & Aggie colorized reprints of the Webcomics.

Arcana have the delayed fifth issue of 100 Girls.

DC have the trade collection of the Adam Strange mini; the debut issues of Supergirl and The Winter Men (buy this--John Paul Leon on art!); and new issues of 100 Bullets (#63), Action Comics (#630), Fables (#40), Majestic (#8), Seven Soldiers: Zatanna (#3), and Villains United (#4).

Fantagraphics have Richard Sala's Peculia & The Groon Grove Vampires (which would have been the Pick of the Week if not for Concrete), and also the first volume of Mome.

Image have the debut of Ferro City and the third issue of Pigtale.

Lightspeed Press have the seventh Finder collection by Carla Speed McNeil: The Rescuers (also a potential contender for Pick of the Week--there's a lot of good GNs and collections this week!)

Lost in the Dark have the debut of Fragile Prophet.

Marvel have a collection of Peter David's return to Hulk: Tempest Fugit; new issues of Captain America (#8), Gravity (#3), Mouse of Him (#5), Incredible Hulk (#85), Kabuki: Reflections (#5), The Punisher (#24), and the first Ultimates Annual; plus a big ol' hardcover collection of the first 18 issues of Runaways.

Speakeasy have the debut issue of Hero at Large.

TokyoPop have the debut volume of the OEL manga Bizenghast by M. Alice LeGrow, which--artwise at least--looks pretty damn sweet.

Top Shelf have a trio of new OGNs: Tricked by Alex Robinson; King by Rich Koslowski; and Spiral Bound by Aaron Renier (which has been good some pretty good advance press). It's great that Top Shelf has several good books coming out, but maybe they could have spread them out a bit more?

Viz have the ninth volume of Banana Fish and the third issue of Shojo Beat.