Sunday, May 31, 2009

FCBM5 Day 31

It's the final day of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our final entry is from Steve Myers. The five comics that Steve listed are:

1. Captain America
2. Usagi Yojimbo
3. Incredible Hercules
4. GI Joe: Cobra
5. Agents of Atlas

And his other thing of interest is Spy Shows on tv.

For Steve I have all four issues of the first Middleman mini-series by Javier Grillo-Marxuach & Les McClaine.

For Steve's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Peanuts Halloween comic.

Steve's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!


That wraps it up for this year's Free Comic Book Month. Thanks to everyone who entered!


Current FCBM Statistics:
31 entries
76 free comics sent so far
0 days remaining -- we're done!

Saturday, May 30, 2009

FCBM5 Day 30

It's day thirty of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Paul Abbamondi. The five comics that Paul listed are:

1. Scott Pilgrim
2. Dork Tower
3. Bone
4. Watchmen
5. Uncanny X-Men

And his other thing of interest is the tv series Lost.

For Paul I have X-Men: First Class #13-14 by Jeff Parker & Roger Cruz (with back-up art by Colleen Coover!)

For Paul's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Donald Duck Halloween comic.

Paul's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!


Current FCBM Statistics:
31 entries
71 free comics sent so far
1 day remaining

Friday, May 29, 2009

Amazon Top 50

Here are the Top 50 Graphic Novels on Amazon this afternoon. All the previous caveats apply.

1 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
2 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
3 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid
4 (-). Watchmen
5 (-). Time of Your Life (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 4)
6 (N). The Photographer: Into war-torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders
7 (-1). Star Trek: Countdown TPB
8 (-1). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 3: Century, No. 1: 1910
9 (-). Mercy Thompson Homecoming *
10 (+22). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
11 (+1). Serenity, Vol. 2: Better Days
12 (-2). Stephen King's Dark Tower: Treachery
13 (N). Warriors: Tigerstar and Sasha #3: Return to the Clans *
14 (N). Final Crisis *
15 (N). Rising Stars Compendium
16 (+4). The Long Way Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 1)
17 (-4). Batman: The Killing Joke
18 (-4). V for Vendetta
19 (+10). Y: The Last Man, Vol. 2 (Deluxe Edition)
20 (N). Bleach, Vol. 27 *
21 (-10). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
22 (N). Alan's War: The Memories of G.I. Alan Cope
23 (+1). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
24 (-9). Wolves at the Gate (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 3)
25 (-9). Bone: One Volume Edition
26 (+5). No Future For You (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 2)
27 (+18). Angel: After The Fall Volume 1
28 (+19). The Joker
29 (-4). Blueberry Girl
30 (N). Thor, Vol. 2 *
31 (N). Angel: After the Fall, Vol. 3
32 (N). Rosario+Vampire, Volume 7 *
33 (-12). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
34 (N). Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
35 (N). The Gunslinger Born (The Dark Tower Graphic Novels, Book 1)
36 (N). Fables Vol. 1: Legends in Exile
37 (N). Batman: Mad Love and Other Stories HC
38 (N). The Adventures of Tintin: Tintin in America / Cigars of the Pharaoh / The Blue Lotus
39 (-16). Negima!: Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 22
40 (+1). The Complete Persepolis
41 (N). The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain
42 (-24). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
43 (N). The Marvel Encyclopedia
44 (-8). The Arrival
45 (N). Dark Tower: The Long Road Home (Exclusive Amazon.com Cover)
46 (N). Fables Vol. 2: Animal Farm
47 (+1). Bone Volume 4: The Dragonslayer
48 (-20). The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
49 (N). The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle
50 (N). The Complete Peanuts 1971-1974 Box Set *


* The Photographer: Into war-torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders was featured in the New York Times Book Review, and thus dutifully leaps up into the top 10.

* Another debut, Alan's War: The Memories of G.I. Alan Cope, earlier in the week was way up in the top 5, but I cannot figure out why it had such a strong burst.

* I likewise have no clue as to why the Rising Stars Compendium suddenly charts up.

* The Walking Dead Compendium, which had been a top 10 item the past two weeks, mysteriously falls out of the Top 50 this week.

* The pre-order for the Final Crisis hardcover debuts strong, as does the third volume of Warriors.

FCBM5 Day 29

It's day twenty-nine of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Suzanne Moran. The five comics that Suzanne listed are:

1. Secret Six
2. Green Arrow/Black Canary
3. Fables
4. Birds of Prey
5. Wonder Woman

And her other thing of interest is the tv series 30 Rock.

For Suzanne I have the twelfth issue of Global Frequency by Warren Ellis & Gene Ha.

For Suzanne's bonus comic, I'm sending her the Peanuts Halloween comic.

Suzanne's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's just a couple of days left to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
31 entries
68 free comics sent so far
2 days remaining

Thursday, May 28, 2009

FCBM5 Day 28

It's day twenty-eight of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Tom Bondurant. The five comics that Tom listed are:

1. Dr. 13
2. Secret Six
3. JLA
4. American Flagg!
5. Nexus

And his other thing of interest is the tv series Arrested Development.

For Tom I have the first issue of Alan Davis's recent Clandestine mini-series.

For Tom's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Peanuts Halloween comic.

Tom's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
29 entries
66 free comics sent so far
3 days remaining

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

I Need More Entries for Free Comic Book Month

The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed that we're now on day twenty-seven of the 5th Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month, and so far I've received twenty-seven entries. Which means that unless I get more entries, there won't be any free comics given out tomorrow :(

So if you haven't entered yet, don't delay! And tell your friends!

Movie Trailers

Surrogates, based on the comic book:




9:




And now, quite possibly the greatest film of 2009:

FCBM5 Day 27

It's day twenty-seven of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Ge Oh. The five comics that Ge listed are:

1. Invincible
2. BlokHedz
3. The Walking Dead
4. Ghost Tank
5. Scott Pilgrim

And Ge's other thing of interest is music.

For Ge I have the first issue of Chynna Clugston's latest Blue Monday series, Thieves Like Us.

For Ge's bonus comic, I'm sending the Peanuts Halloween comic.

Ge's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
27 entries
64 free comics sent so far
4 days remaining

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

FCBM5 Day 26

It's day twenty-six of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from William Burns. The five comics that William listed are:

1. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
2. Captain America
3. Incredible Hercules
4. Daredevil
5. Comic Book Comics

And his other thing of interest is Coen Brothers movies.

For William I have the first two issues of Kevin McShane's comic books-as-Hollywood comic Toupydoops.

For William's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Donald Duck Halloween comic.

William's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
27 entries
62 free comics sent so far
5 days remaining

Monday, May 25, 2009

FCBM5 Day 25

It's day twenty-five of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Francene Lewis. The five comics that Francene listed are:

1. Chiggers
2. Fullmetal Alchemist
3. Castle Waiting
4. Finder
5. La Perdida

And her other thing of interest is Hayao Miyazaki movies.

For Francene I have the first issue of Rod Espinosa's Prince of Heroes.

For Francene's bonus comic, I'm sending her the Donald Duck Halloween comic.

Francene's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
27 entries
60 free comics sent so far
6 days remaining

Sunday, May 24, 2009

FCBM5 Day 24

Banana Sunday #1It's day twenty-four of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Kristin Munson. The five comics that Kristin listed are:

1. Castle Waiting
2. Box Office Poison
3. Love & Rockets
4. Rapuzel's Revenge
5. X-Men Classic

And her other thing of interest is "cute, fuzzy animals."

So for Kristin I have the first issue of Banana Sunday, featuring cute monkeys by Paul Tobin & Colleen Coover.

For Kristin's bonus comic, I'm sending her the Peanuts Halloween comic.

Kristin's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
27 entries
58 free comics sent so far
7 days remaining

Saturday, May 23, 2009

FCBM5 Day 23

It's day twenty-three of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Maude Earhart. The five comics that Maude listed are:

1. Wonder Woman
2. Archie
3. Spider-Man
4. The Far Side
5. Casper the Friendly Ghost

Maude says she's looking for an "If Stan Lee created a When Harry Met Sally kind of thing."

For Maude I have the first issue of Mary Jane, Sean McKeever & Takeshi Miyazawa's recasting of Spider-Man as a high school romance.

For Maude's bonus comic, I'm sending her the Donad Duck Halloween comic.

Maude's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
27 entries
56 free comics sent so far
8 days remaining

Friday, May 22, 2009

Amazon Top 50

Here are the Top 50 Graphic Novels on Amazon this afternoon. All the previous caveats apply.

1 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
2 (+2). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
3 (+2). Diary of a Wimpy Kid
4 (-1). Watchmen
5 (+1). Time of Your Life (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 4)
6 (-4). Star Trek: Countdown TPB
7 (-). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 3: Century, No. 1: 1910
8 (+1). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
9 (+6). Mercy Thompson Homecoming *
10 (-2). Stephen King's Dark Tower: Treachery
11 (+3). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
12 (+9). Serenity, Vol. 2: Better Days
13 (-3). Batman: The Killing Joke
14 (-3). V for Vendetta
15 (N). Wolves at the Gate (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 3)
16 (-3). Bone: One Volume Edition
17 (-1). Invincible: The Ultimate Collection Volume 4
18 (+21). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
19 (N). Achewood Volume 2: Worst Song, Played On Ugliest Guitar *
20 (+8). The Long Way Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 1)
21 (+17). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
22 (N). Y: The Last Man Vol. 7: Paper Dolls
23 (N). Negima!: Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 22
24 (N). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
25 (-8). Blueberry Girl
26 (N). Y: The Last Man, Volume 6: Girl on Girl
27 (N). Complete Chester Gould's Dick Tracy Volume 7
28 (-3). The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
29 (-17). Y: The Last Man, Vol. 2 (Deluxe Edition)
30 (N). Wrapped-Up FoxTrot: A Treasury with the Final Daily Strips
31 (+1). No Future For You (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 2)
32 (-1). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
33 (+1). Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 18
34 (N). Freedom's Just Another Word for People Finding Out You're Useless (Dilbert)
35 (N). The Perry Bible Fellowship Almanack
36 (-10). The Arrival
37 (+5). Vindication (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Vol. 6)
38 (N). The Sandman Vol. 4: Season of Mists
39 (N). Y: The Last Man, Volume 5: Ring of Truth
40 (-3). Serenity, Vol. 1: Those Left Behind
41 (-11). The Complete Persepolis
42 (N). Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels
43 (-14). Batman: R.I.P.
44 (N). The DC Comics Encyclopedia, Updated and Expanded Edition
45 (N). Angel: After The Fall Volume 1
46 (N). The Sandman Vol. 2: The Doll's House
47 (-20). The Joker
48 (N). Bone Volume 4: The Dragonslayer
49 (N). Superman: New Krypton Vol. 1: Birth
50 (N). The Absolute Sandman, Vol. 1


Items with asterisks (*) are pre-order items.


Commentary:

* Amazon had another search glitch earlier in the week, which may have had some affect on the sales rankings.

* With Watchmen interest waning, The Wimpy Kid volumes regain their usual dominance at the top of the chart.

* The middle volumes of Y, the Last Man make a surprising surge up onto the chart. The only explanation I can think of is that the people who bought the second deluxe edition last week felt the desire to continue the story immediately and not wait for a third deluxe volumes.

* The Wolverine movie halo has completely eroded.

FCBM5 Day 22

It's day twenty-two of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Justin Fain. The five comics that Justin listed are:

1. Ex Machina
2. The Walking Dead
3. Fables
4. Invincible
5. Kick Ass

And his other thing of interest is live music.

For Justin I have all three issues of Robert Kirkman & Mark Englert's Capes.

For Justin's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Peanuts Halloween comic.

Justin's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
27 entries
54 free comics sent so far
9 days remaining

Thursday, May 21, 2009

FCBM5 Day 21

It's day twenty-one of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Franco Ippolito. The five comics that Franco listed are:

1. Planetary
2. Iron Fist
3. Incredible Hercules
4. Locke & Key
5. Booster Gold

And his other thing of interest is football.

For Franco I have the first issue of Boom! Studio's Lovecraftian Necronomicon by William Messner-Loebs & Andrew Ritchie.

For Franco's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Peanuts Halloween comic.

Franco's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
27 entries
50 free comics sent so far
10 days remaining

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Lessons Not Learned from Watchmen

One of the reasons I believe that the Watchmen collection has been a perennial best-seller for over twenty years is the fact that it is complete in one volume. An interested reader can pick up the entire story at once and not have to worry about finding Watchmen Book 2.

But for some reason, DC has been releasing their collections of their limited series in multi-volume chunks. This week sees the release of Rann/Thanagar Holy War, vol. 1, which collects just issues #1-4 (of 8) and the attendant Hawkman Special. The War That Time Forgot, a twelve-issue series, is being released as two separate volumes. And possibly the worst offender of all, Justice, the twelve-issue series from Alex Ross & co., has been released as three separate hardcover volumes (later as paperbacks), each collecting just four issues of the series! If you want the entire series in one volume, your only choice is the $100 Absolute edition.

While there may be some short-term gain for DC in releasing their collections this way, in the long term I think they'd be much better served by releasing an entire limited series together in one volume. Much easier for stores to stock, and much more attractive for readers to get the complete story in one purchase.

FCBM5 Day 20

It's day twenty of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Edgardo Ortiz. The five comics that Edgardo listed are:

1. Barry Ween
2. Scott Pilgrim
3. Persepolis
4. Alan's War
5. Green Lantern

And his other thing of interest is The Lord of the Rings.

For Edgardo I have the first issue of Aaron Williams' humorous fantasy series Nodwick.

For Edgardo's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Donald Duck Halloween comic.

Edgardo's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
27 entries
48 free comics sent so far
11 days remaining

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

FCBM5 Day 19

It's day nineteen of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Justin Karguth. The five comics that Justin listed are:

1. Comic Book Comics
2. Daredevil
3. Jughead
4. Walking Dead
5. Spider-Man

And his other thing of interest is the tv show Boston Legal.

For Justin I have the first issue of Mark's Waid's brand new supernatural detective series The Unknown.

For Justin's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Donald Duck Halloween comic.

Justin's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
26 entries
46 free comics sent so far
12 days remaining

Monday, May 18, 2009

FCBM5 Day 18

It's day eighteen of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Paul S. The five comics that Paul listed are:

1. Sandman
2. Black Hole
3. Ice Haven
4. Percy Gloom
5. Watchmen

And his other thing of interest is heavy metal music.

For Paul I have the one-shot Lucifer: Nirvana by Mike Carey & Jon J. Muth.

For Paul's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Peanuts Halloween comic.

Paul's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
26 entries
44 free comics sent so far
13 days remaining

Sunday, May 17, 2009

FCBM5 Day 17

It's day seventeen of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Jordan Lyall. The five comics that Jordan listed are:

1. New Avengers
2. Thor
3. Captain America
4. Amazing Spider-Man
5. Batman

And his other thing of interest is the Los Angeles Dodgers.

For Jordan I have the first three issues Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do by Kevin Smith & Terry Dodson.

For Jordan's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Peanuts Halloween comic.

Jordan's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
26 entries
42 free comics sent so far
14 days remaining

Saturday, May 16, 2009

FCBM5 Day 16

It's day sixteen of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Steve Wass. The five comics that Steve listed are:

1. Green Lantern
2. The Walking Dead
3. New Avengers
4. Mighty Avengers
5. Sgt. Frog

And his other thing of interest is target shooting.

For Steve I have the first issue of Joe Casey & Andy Suriano's Charlatan Ball.

For Steve's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Peanuts Halloween comic.

Steve's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
26 entries
38 free comics sent so far
15 days remaining

Friday, May 15, 2009

Amazon Top 50

Here are the Top 50 Graphic Novels on Amazon this afternoon. All the previous caveats apply.

1 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
2 (+3). Star Trek: Countdown TPB
3 (-1). Watchmen
4 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
5 (-2). Diary of a Wimpy Kid
6 (-). Time of Your Life (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 4)
7 (+10). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 3: Century #1
8 (-). Stephen King's Dark Tower: Treachery
9 (+19). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1 *
10 (+1). Batman: The Killing Joke
11 (-4). V for Vendetta
12 (+35). Y: The Last Man, Vol. 2 (Deluxe Edition)
13 (+23). Bone: One Volume Edition
14 (-5). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
15 (+4). Mercy Thompson Homecoming *
16 (-2). Invincible: The Ultimate Collection Volume 4
17 (-1). Blueberry Girl
18 (N). Blazing Combat
19 (N). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 2
20 (+11). Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition)
21 (-8). Serenity, Vol. 2: Better Days
22 (N). A Drifting Life
23 (+1). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1
24 (-9). Wolverine: Origin
25 (+4). The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
26 (N). The Arrival
27 (+17). The Joker
28 (-8). The Long Way Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 1)
29 (+4). Batman: R.I.P.
30 (-). The Complete Persepolis
31 (+6). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
32 (-). No Future For You (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 2)
33 (-7). Batman: Year One
34 (+12). Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 18
35 (N). The New Brighton Archeological Society
36 (-15). Angel: After the Fall, Vol. 3
37 (+1). Serenity, Vol. 1: Those Left Behind
38 (-16). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
39 (+4). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
40 (N). Secret Invasion
41 (N). The Gunslinger Born (The Dark Tower Graphic Novels, Book 1)
42 (+7). Vindication (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Vol. 6) *
43 (-18). Weapon X (Wolverine)
44 (N). The Marvel Encyclopedia
45 (N). Return to Labyrinth Volume 3
46 (N). B.P.R.D. Volume 10: The Warning
47 (N). Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
48 (N). The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain
49 (N). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier
50 (N). Creepy Archives Volume 3



Items with asterisks (*) are pre-order items.


Commentary:

* The Star Trek Movie prequel overtakes Watchmen, the first non-Wimpy Kid item to do so since Watchmen's movie bump.

* Speaking of movie bumps, Wolverine's seems to be fading, withe the related titles slipping or falling off the list.

* Movement upwards on League of Extraordinary Gentlemen titles, as the new volume's release also provides interest in the previous volumes.

* The highest debut belongs to Fantagraphics' Blazing Combat hardcover. Also debuting strongly is The New Brighton Archeological Society, a kid-friendly book from Image.

* A good week for compendiums, with volumes for Y, the Last Man and Walking Dead making big moves, and Invincible remaining strong.

FCBM5 Day 15

It's day fifteen of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Matt Pfaff. The five comics that Matt listed are:

1. Green Lantern
2. Fables
3. Ignition City
4. Batman
5. Ender's Game

And his other thing of interest is steampunk.

For Matt I have the first issue of Daniel Hogan's girl-and-her-robot comic Tinn Man.

For Matt's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Donald Duck Halloween comic.

Matt's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
25 entries
36 free comics sent so far
16 days remaining

Thursday, May 14, 2009

FCBM5 Day 14

It's day Fourteen of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Tom Proven. The five comics that Tom listed are:

1. Green Lantern
2. Amazing Spider-Man
3. Fables
4. Y, the Last Man
5. Elephantmen

And his other thing of interest is Guitar Hero.

For Tom I have Jen Van Meter's rock-n-roll comic Hopeless Savages: B-Sides, drawn by Becky Cloonan, Vera Brosgul, & Mike Norton.

For Tom's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Donald Duck Halloween comic.

Tom's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
24 entries
34 free comics sent so far
17 days remaining

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

FCBM5 Day 13

It's day thirteen of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Bill Doughty. The five comics that Bill listed are:

1. Starman
2. All-Star Superman
3. Captain Britain & MI13
4. Scott Pilgrim
5. 20th Century Boys

And his other thing of interest is Doctor Who.

For Bill I have the first issue of Fantastic Four: True Story, by Capt. Britain scribe Paul Cornell and artist Horacio Domingues.

For Bill's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Donald Duck Halloween comic.

Bill's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
21 entries
32 free comics sent so far
18 days remaining

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

FCBM5 Day 12

It's day twelve of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Bruce Fields. The five comics that Bruce listed are:

1. Monsieur Jean
2. Dungeon
3. American Splendor
4. Ethel & Ernest
5. Paul Moves Out

And his other thing of interest is musicals ("any movie could be improved with the addition of some song and dance.")

For Bruce, I have all three issues of Vimanarama, the Kirby-meets-Bollywood comic by Grant Morrison & Philip Bond.

For Bruce's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Donald Duck Halloween comic.

Bruce's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
19 entries
30 free comics sent so far
19 days remaining

Monday, May 11, 2009

Interview with Jim Ottaviani

Jim Ottaviani is the writer of highly-regarded comics that feature the true stories of science and scientists, comics such as Two-Fisted Science; Dignifying Science; Fallout; Suspended in Language; and Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards. Last week I interviewed Jim (via email) on the occasion of his new graphic 'novel' T-Minus: The Race to the Moon, due out next week from Simon & Schuster's Alladin imprint. Along with artists Zander Cannon & Kevin Cannon (with whom Jim last worked with on Bone Sharps), in T-Minus Jim tells the story-behind-the-story of the famed space race.


YACB: Your new book, T-Minus, is about the race to the Moon. What made you decide to cover this topic?

JimO: There are a bunch of reasons, but here's the one that comes to mind today, in part because I know you're an engineer: I find the space race inspiring because of the tremendous achievements made by U.S. and Soviet engineers in the 1960s, and the way it captured the whole world's imagination. It's rare that something that is essentially a technology-driven endeavor results in such great drama and interest -- I mean, I rely on and enjoy owning a personal computer as much as the next guy, but can't see "Macintosh: The Graphic Novel" as something I'd want to write or someone would want to read.

Now that I've said that, someone will probably do it and prove me wrong, and that would be great.

But back to your question, it was fantastic theater, and the whole world watched it.


YACB: How do you think doing this story as a comic makes it different from the many books/movies/etc. that have covered this topic in the past?

JimO: Besides being comics? That makes it different right off the bat, never mind that Zander Cannon and Kevin Cannon are great visual storytellers, so you get really good comics as well. Because it's comics, I think we were able to pack a great deal of story into relatively few pages, so that's another departure. Finally, most of the books you'll read focus only on the astronauts and cosmonauts. Those people were courageous, smart, and interesting, but the scientists and engineers they put their trust in rarely appear in the popular histories. So that's the last one.


YACB: I know that you do copious research for your books. What did you discover about the space race that was surprising?

JimO: One thing I half-knew, and the other thing I didn't know at all. The part that I had an inkling of was the amount of effort that went into this adventure. I knew a lot of people worked hard, but the amount of unpaid overtime put in by hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. amazed me. You sometimes hear criticism of the space program as a bad way to spend taxpayer dollars. I believe there is and was waste in NASA, and I believe many things could have been done better. But I think we got a lot of bang -- rocket-fueled pun intended -- for our buck.

The other thing that struck me was the environmental message that the astronauts brought back from their journeys. These men, hard-core pragmatists all, type-A test pilots down to the last of 'em, unsentimental almost to a fault...when they saw the whole earth from space they all commented on how fragile and precious it was, and how it put the problems of taking care of the world into appropriate perspective. Read the address to Congress that Aldrin, Armstrong, and Collins made:

http://usinfo.org/PUBS/LivingDoc_e/moonlanding.htm

It reads almost as if it was a manifesto of the nascent environmental movement. While that's overstating it some, their statements are not what you'd expect from ex-military guys who most would consider representatives of the establishment. I find that remarkable, and uplifting.


YACB: Previously most of your comics work has been self-published, but T-Minus is coming from a 'regular' book publisher (Aladdin). Why the change? Who approached whom?

JimO: No particular reason for the change, other than to try something new. I can't remember the exact sequence of events, but I'm pretty sure they approached my agent. He was putting together a number of non-fiction book proposals, and asked me what I'd do if given the chance. "T-Minus!" I said. Or something to that effect. As you might guess, the original proposal is a distant cousin to the finished book, but the basic idea of telling the story of the space race from an engineering/science perspective, with the Soviet program prominently featured, was there from the start.

As for why... at the risk of sounding nonchalant and careless with my so-called career, it's at least partly true to say that I figured, why not? If they didn't like the proposal, it would get me started thinking about this story, which is one I knew I wanted to do someday, either on my own or with a larger company.


YACB: Your artists on T-Minus, Zander Cannon & Kevin Cannon, previously worked with you on Bone Sharps. How did this pairing come about again? Did working with artists you've worked with before make things easier/better? What strengths do you feel that Zander & Kevin bring to illustrating your scripts?

JimO: The pairing came about because here again, my agent asked me who I'd want to work with, and who could we suggest that would convince them to say yes. I figured it would be easy for them to say yes if we could show Aladdin that if they just let us do our thing, the worst case scenario is that they'd get something as nice as Bone Sharps. Which, as worst-case scenarios go, is pretty sweet.

So Zander and Kevin were my first choice for it, and they were interested, and boom -- just like that we were off and running. And running in step, so to speak, since working with them was easy. It was easy on Bone Sharps, and we'd never done a project together before, and now they knew what to expect from me, and I from them. I don't know how to describe it other than in terms of picking up a relationship right where we left off.

As for strengths, I don't know where to start. They can draw anything. They always serve the story, and never show off their artistic chops just for the sake of showing off their artistic chops... of which they have many. When they make changes to what I specify in the script, they have reasons. They're not always ones I agree with, but they're always worth thinking about and discussing and often worth changing the script and the upstream or downstream storytelling to accommodate their ideas. They fill in the visual gaps in my research. They can draw convincing people and machines and dinosaurs and scenes on earth and in space and in the past.

Is that enough? I'm not done, but I think you get the idea... they're professionals in all the best senses of the word, and yet they're also friends. As collaborators they're as easy and as enjoyable to work with as can be.


YACB: Having now examined in-depth the engineering side of the space program, do you agree with the assertion that what we learned from the process of going to the Moon was worth the cost?

JimO: I don't know if it was worth the engineering cost -- those sorts of things are too hard to quantify. Sorry to punt on that one, but I just can't draw a firm conclusion.

My gut says yes, though, and here's why. I just attended a talk by former astronaut and now Engineering Dean here at U-M Tony England, and in it he pointed out shortcomings of the International Space Station in terms of its scientific significance. One of the things he said struck me as an interesting contradiction, though. In the process of trying to design advanced manufacturing processes that they hope will take advantage of microgravity to produce better chips and such, engineers often come up with ways to make the improvements they wanted in the chips right here on earth. Sort of as a by-product of trying to figure out how to make things happen in space. So sure, that makes the space part beside the point, but there's still obvious value there, right? We got we wanted by virtue of being forced to think differently. And that's what we get when we put ourselves in these situations.

And as far as cost is concerned I will say this: Having looked at the numbers and made comparisons with things like the cost of the Vietnam war and what people spent on alcohol and tobacco during the Apollo era, the space program was a bargain. And as Andrew Smith pointed out in his wonderful book Moondust, if nothing else we got great theater out of it. And the cost of the space race in human lives was very low. Not zero, and we have to remember that always, but compared to war and booze and smokes? The human and dollar cost was very, very low.

And... we got more than great theater. Perhaps the most important is thing we learned is that if we really dedicate ourselves to a goal as a nation, as a species, we can do things in a few years that were unimaginable and inspiring.


YACB: What is your opinion of the current state of the US space program? Do you think that returning to the Moon is a good idea? How about going to Mars? Or should we keep doing near-Earth manned missions and unmanned probes and explorers?

JimO: My opinions are not as informed as I wish they were, but I will press on and not let ignorance get in the way of spouting off!

Current state: The Hubble telescope is magnificent, as are the Mars rovers. The shuttle is going away, about which some will say good riddance. The International Space Station is up there. It's international. It's a space station. It could be better, and better serve science, but...international! space station! I think those are good things for the human spirit. I just read about a possible change to the moon-base plans, so there's not much to say there other than Moon base! I like the idea, but maybe it's not a good one for all its appeal.

Return to the Moon: I've heard a number of convincing arguments, some directly from astronauts, that this isn't the best use of our resources. So I'm neutral to negative on it. But... Moon base! It's hard to let go of that idea.

Go to Mars: It will be very hard, and hard on the people that go. But I think we will try, and I think we should.

near-Earth and/or robotic probes: Gotta keep doing both, I think. Combining those with all of the above is a problem in terms of money, but you didn't ask me how to pay for any of this -- for which I thank you -- so I choose not to make any hard decisions today.


YACB: Knowing what you know, would you want to go into space yourself?

JimO: Yes. Full stop, sign me up, I'm ready to go right now.


YACB: Your publisher, Aladdin Paperbacks is Simon & Schuster's imprint for late elementary and early middle school kids. While all of your previous books have certainly been enjoyed by all ages, were there any challenges in making T-Minus as a book that is specifically targeted towards kids?

JimO: This is the second book I've written specifically with a young adult audience in mind, but the first won't come out for a while longer, so this is the first that readers will see.

Chronology aside, yes, there are challenges, but I was lucky to have my editor at Aladdin, Liesa Abrams, help me both understand them and figure out how to deal with them. They didn't involve dumbing the book down -- I think there's plenty of heft to the story and that adults will enjoy it too. I've been putting it this way when people ask: The young readers will have to bring their A game to the book.

But besides detail stuff like not depicting smoking and keeping a tight rein on the language to make sure it was age appropriate, one of the many things Liesa helped me do was find the right balance between gosh-wow technical material and the human element. It was hard, since we were dealing with iconic figures and far more story than you can fit between the covers of a single book, but our focus on the engineers and behind the scenes helped with the human element.


YACB: What's next for Jim Ottaviani and/or GT Labs?

JimO: Two books from First Second, and I'm working on two other books right now, about which I don't have a lot to say. Or rather I do, but I want to say it to myself first and be sure I mean it before talking about anything as basic as the general outline. But, to prove I'm crazy, one may not be comics and may not be non-fiction. The other is about Alan Turing. I'm excited about both stories! And after that, I think I found an angle on a third book in my science of the unscientific series. And after that... something else, I'm sure. I have a lot of story ideas waiting in the wings!


That concludes our interview. A big thanks to Jim for taking the time to answer my questions. You can read more about T-Minus, including an excerpt, at Jim's GT Labs Website.

FCBM5 Day 11

It's day eleven of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Jon Lunsford. The five comics that Jon listed are:

1. The Walking Dead
2. Marvel Zombies
3. Pax Romana
4. Transhuman
5. Batman: The Long Halloween

And his other thing of interest is photography.

For Jon, I have the first issue of The Programme, the comic about cold war superpowers' super-powers by Peter Milligan & C. P. Smith.

For Jon's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Donald Duck Halloween comic.

Jon's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
18 entries
26 free comics sent so far
20 days remaining

Sunday, May 10, 2009

FCBM5 Day 10

It's day ten of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Daniel Monson. The five comics that Dan listed are:

1. Transmetropolitan
2. Buffy
3. Rising Stars
4. Sandman
5. Green Lantern

And his other thing of interest is sci-fi & fantasy novels.

For Daniel, I have Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Spike & Dru: All's Fair by Christopher Golden & Eric Powell.

For Daniel's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Peanuts Halloween comic.

Daniel's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
18 entries
24 free comics sent so far
21 days remaining

Saturday, May 09, 2009

FCBM5 Day 9

It's day nine of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Max C. Bosshart. The five comics that Max listed are:

1. Marvel Zombies
2. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
3. Outsiders
4. Detective Comics
5. GI Joe

And his other thing of interest is Doctor Who.

For Max, I have the first three issues of Robert Kirkman's Tech Jacket.

For Max's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Peanuts Halloween comic.

Max's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
17 entries
22 free comics sent so far
22 days remaining

Friday, May 08, 2009

Amazon Top 50

Here are the Top 50 Graphic Novels on Amazon this afternoon. All the previous caveats apply.

1 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
2 (-). Watchmen
3 (+1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid
4 (-1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
5 (-). Star Trek: Countdown TPB
6 (+5). Time of Your Life (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 4) *
7 (+2). V for Vendetta
8 (-2). Stephen King's Dark Tower: Treachery
9 (-1). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
10 (+8). Wolves at the Gate (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 3)
11 (+1). Batman: The Killing Joke
12 (N). The New Yorker Book of Mom Cartoons
13 (+3). Serenity, Vol. 2: Better Days
14 (N). Invincible: The Ultimate Collection Volume 4
15 (+11). Wolverine: Origin
16 (+7). Blueberry Girl
17 (-7). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 3: Century #1 *
18 (N). Deadpool Classic, Vol. 1
19 (-6). Mercy Thompson Homecoming *
20 (+17). The Long Way Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 1)
21 (+3). Angel: After the Fall, Vol. 3
22 (-1). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
23 (+20). Deadpool Classic, Vol. 2
24 (-4). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1
25 (+10). Weapon X (Wolverine)
26 (-4). Batman: Year One
27 (+21). Marvel Zombies 3
28 (N). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1 *
29 (-1). The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
30 (N). The Complete Persepolis
31 (-16). Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition)
32 (+15). No Future For You (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 2)
33 (+11). Batman: R.I.P.
34 (N). What the World Needs Now: A Resource Book for Daydreamers, Frustrated Inventors, Cranks, Efficiency Experts, Utopians, Gadgeteers, Tinkerers and Just about Everybody Else
35 (N). The Manga Guide to Databases
36 (+6). Bone: One Volume Edition
37 (-1). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
38 (-6). Serenity, Vol. 1: Those Left Behind
39 (N). Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
40 (N). Justice Society of America: Thy Kingdom Come, Part 3
41 (N). Wrapped-Up FoxTrot: A Treasury with the Final Daily Strips *
42 (-35). Dilbert 2.0: 20 Years of Dilbert
43 (-5). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
44 (-27). The Joker
45 (-31). Ignorance, Thy Name Is Bucky: A Get Fuzzy Collection
46 (N). Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 18 *
47 (N). Y The Last Man Deluxe Edition Book Two *
48 (-21). The Perry Bible Fellowship Almanack
49 (N). Vindication (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Vol. 5) *
50 (N). Angel: After The Fall Volume 1


Items with asterisks (*) are pre-order items.


Commentary:

* Marvel's Wolverine-related comics trend way up, bucking the trend wherein comics sales fall after a movie's release. Will the halo effect last long?

* The other big mover are the Buffy season 8 collections, as volume four's release is imminent.

* The highest debut is for The New Yorker Book of Mom Cartoons, no doubt due to the impending Mothers' Day holiday.

* Naruto is nowhere to be seen, but The Manga Guide to Databases debuts at #35, and a preorder of a new volume of Fullmetal Alchemist pops up near the bottom.

Shameless Friend Promotion: JimO Q&A

The National Post has a Q&A with pal Jim Ottaviani, in advance of his appearance as a guest at this weekend's Toronto Comic Arts Festival.

(I just last evening completed an email interview with Jim, which I'll be posting here on the blog early next week.)

FCBM5 Day 8

It's day eight of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Paul Freitag. The five comics that Paul listed are:

1. Justice Society of America
2. Ex Machina
3. Wasteland
4. Birds of Prey
5. Hero Squared

And his other thing of interest is cult film.

I'll be sending Paul the first issue of War Heroes, drawn by Ex Machina's Tony Harris.

For Paul's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Peanuts Halloween comic.

Paul's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
16 entries
18 free comics sent so far
23 days remaining

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Free Digital Comics from the US Goverment

More Free (Digital) Comics!

The library at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has put up a Government Comics Collection. These are scanned copies (TIFF files in a PDF wrapper) of comics produced by the United States Federal Government. Some of the creators represented include Milton Caniff, Will Eisner, Scott Adams, Peter David, Al Capp, Walt Kelly, Charlz Schulz, Eduardo Barreto, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Joe Orlando, Marv Wolfman, George Perez, and Dr. Seuss. There are 167 comics in all!

FCBM5 Day 7

It's day seven of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Billy Hogan. The five comics that Billy listed are:

1. Superman
2. Watchmen
3. Planetary
4. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
5. Powers

And his other thing of interest is David Weber's Honor Harrington novels.

I'll be sending Billy the fourth issue of the old First Publishing Crossroads series, featuring a meeting between Grimjack & Judah Maccabee (from Nexus).

For Billy's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Donald Duck Halloween comic.

Billy's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
16 entries
16 free comics sent so far
24 days remaining

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

FCBM5 Day 6

It's day six of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from BJ Bancroft. The five comics that BJ listed are:

1. Green Lantern
2. Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight
3. Rex Mundi
4. All Star Superman
5. The Dreaming

And his other thing of interest is History.

As a follower of history, I suspect that BJ will appreciate the first two issues of Nat Turner, Kyle Baker's adaptation of the famous slave narrative.

For BJ's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Donald Duck Halloween comic.

BJ's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
13 entries
14 free comics sent so far
25 days remaining

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

FCBM5 Day 5

It's day five of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Fred of the blog/Webstrip . The five comics that Fred listed are:

1. Blue Beetle
2. The Question
3. Batman (Greant/Breyogle era)
4. Magnus Robot Fighter
5. X-O Manowar

And his other thing of interest is retro video games. (If only I had an issue of Atari Force to send him!)

For Fred I have the first issue of Planetary Brigade: Origins, the super-hero team comic by Giffen & DeMatteis.

For Fred's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Donald Duck Halloween comic.

Fred's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
10 entries
11 free comics sent so far
26 days remaining

Monday, May 04, 2009

FCBM5 Day 4

It's day four of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Rob McMonigal of the blog Panel Patter. The five comics that Rob listed are:

1. The Walking Dead
2. House of Mystery
3. Fables
4. Invincible
5. Amazing Spider-Man

And his other thing of interest is being part of the shadowcast of the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

For Rob I have the first two issues of the 2003 Demon: Driven Out miniseries by Josh Dysart & Pop Mhan.

For Rob's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Peanuts Halloween comic.

Rob's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
10 entries
9 free comics sent so far
27 days remaining

Sunday, May 03, 2009

FCBM5 Day 3

Banana Sunday #1It's day three of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our third selected entry is from Sara Sandstedt. The five comics that Sara listed are:

1. Tintin
2. Girl Genius
3. Sluggy Freelance
4. The Rabbi's Cat
5. Bone

And her other thing of interest is the classic tv comedy Get Smart.

Sara obviously enjoys a good humor comic, so I have for her the most excellent and very funny Banana Sunday #1, by YACB faves Paul Tobin & Colleen Coover. (It's also got a monkey on the cover, thus fulfilling our Sunday Monkey Cover duties.)

For Sara's bonus comic, I'm sending her the Peanuts Halloween comic.

Sara's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
8 entries
6 free comics sent so far
28 days remaining

Saturday, May 02, 2009

FCBM5 Day 2

It's day two of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our second selected entry is from Jonathan Soweidy. The five comics that Jonathan listed are:

1. Nova
2. Fables
3. Captain America
4. Daredevil
5. Amazing Spider-Man

And his other thing of interest is Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog.

I think that Jonathan will appreciate Kick-Ass #1, the first issue of Mark Millar & John Romita, Jr.'s take on kid super-heroes.

For Jonathan's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Donald Duck Halloween comic.

Jonathan's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
7 entries
4 free comics sent so far
29 days remaining

Friday, May 01, 2009

Friday Night Fights: Fin Fang Foom vs. Googam vs. Elektro vs. Gorgilla vs. Doc Samson



From Giant-Size Avengers #1 (February 2008). Story & Art by Scott Gray & Roger Langridge. Color by J. Brown. Letters by Dave Lanphear. (click pic for larger)

One Panel? Biff! Sock! Crack! Wham! Thump!

Amazon Top 50

Here are the Top 50 Graphic Novels on Amazon this afternoon. All the previous caveats apply.

1 (+1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
2 (+1). Watchmen
3 (+1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
4 (+1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid
5 (+1). Star Trek: Countdown TPB
6 (+2). Stephen King's Dark Tower: Treachery
7 (-6). Dilbert 2.0: 20 Years of Dilbert
8 (+5). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
9 (+3). V for Vendetta
10 (+4). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 3: Century #1 *
11 (+7). Time of Your Life (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 4) *
12 (+4). Batman: The Killing Joke
13 (-4). Mercy Thompson Homecoming *
14 (+20). Ignorance, Thy Name Is Bucky: A Get Fuzzy Collection
15 (+12). Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition)
16 (+3). Serenity, Vol. 2: Better Days
17 (N). The Joker
18 (+11). Wolves at the Gate (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 3)
19 (+12). The Complete Peanuts 1971-1972
20 (+3). The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1
21 (N). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
22 (-2). Batman: Year One
23 (-6). Blueberry Girl
24 (+12). Angel: After the Fall, Vol. 3
25 (+12). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
26 (N). Wolverine: Origin
27 (-16). The Perry Bible Fellowship Almanack
28 (-). The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
29 (-14). A Drifting Life
30 (N). The Sandman Vol. 2: The Doll's House
31 (N). B.P.R.D. Volume 10: The Warning
32 (-). Serenity, Vol. 1: Those Left Behind
33 (-3). Dark Tower: The Long Road Home (Exclusive Amazon.com Cover)
34 (N). Naruto, Volume 43
35 (N). Weapon X (Wolverine)
36 (-14). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
37 (-13). The Long Way Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 1)
38 (+6). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
39 (-32). Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman's Co-creator Joe Shuster
40 (N). The Gunslinger Born (The Dark Tower Graphic Novels, Book 1)
41 (-15). The Saturday Evening Pearls: A Pearls Before Swine Collection
42 (-17). Bone: One Volume Edition
43 (N). Deadpool Classic, Vol. 2
44 (-23). Batman: R.I.P.
45 (N). Batman: The Long Halloween
46 (-5). Marvel Zombies 3 *
47 (+2). No Future For You (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 2)
48 (-6). The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle
49 (N). The Marvel Encyclopedia
50 (N). Watchmen (Absolute Edition)

Items with asterisks (*) are pre-order items.


Commentary:

* Amazon has debuted a couple of new features on their bestsellers charts: one is a green-up/red-down arrow--fairly useless since they don't indicate over what time frame the movement happens--and the other tells how long the book has been in the top 100, which gives some indication of staying power.

* The new Wolverine movie seems to have helped Marvel a bit down near the middle and bottom of the charts, with Wolverine: Origin hopping up onto the chart, Barry Windsor-Smith's Wolverine origin story Weapon X as well, along with a volume of Deadpool (who I believe is a character in the movie).

* Last week I wondered why the Perry Bible Fellowship Almanack had suddenly popped up on the rankings; mystery solved: I've since learned that on that very day, Cory Doctorow gave the book a very positive review over on BoingBoing, so it presumably got the BoingBoing bounce.

* Speaking of bounces, we now get an opportunity to see how the effects of various types of sales bounces can linger: The Huntress Year One collection, which saw a major bounce up to #1 when one person purchased a ton of copies, has now fallen completely off the charts. The Dilbert 20th Anniversary book, which last Friday was the featured Gold Box sales item, is still lingering up in the top ten. The Joe Shuster fetish book had an NPR bounce, and A Drifting Life had an New York Times bounce, and both are steadily falling down the charts.

* A lone volume of Naruto pops up onto the chart after being absent for a couple of weeks. Huh.

FCBM5 Day 1

It's day one of the Fifth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our first selected entry is from Michael Todd. The five comics that Mike listed are:

1. The Walking Dead
2. Fables
3. Transmetropolitan
4. The Invisibles
5. Y, the Last Man

And his other thing of interest is Sci-Fi novels.

With Mike's interest in sci-fi and Vertigo-esque comics, I think he'll enjoy:

THB #3, an issue of Paul Pope's acclaimed sci-fi comic.

For Mike's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Peanuts Halloween comic.

Mike's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
5 entries
2 free comics sent so far
30 days remaining