Monkey Covers

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

Big Julie, the Gangster Gorilla, threatens the life of the son of the Juggernaut on the cover of J2 #9 (1999) by Ron Lim & Al Milgrom.

(Standard disclaimer about gangster gorillas not really being monkeys applies.)

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

Amazon Top 50

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


1 (-). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
2 (-). Cabin Fever (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 6)
3 (+1). Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise Part 1
4 (+20). Are You My Mother?: A Comic Drama *
5 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 7 *
6 (N). Darth Vader and Son
7 (+4). The Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book (revised and expanded edition)
8 (+21). The Walking Dead, Book 1
9 (-1). The Walking Dead, Book 5
10 (-4). The Walking Dead, Book 7
11 (+2). Big Nate and Friends (Kindle)
12 (-3). The Walking Dead, Book 6
13 (+20). The Walking Dead, Book 2
14 (+5). The Ugly Truth (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 5)
15 (+20). Watchmen
16 (-4). The Walking Dead, Vol. 16 *
17 (-1). Dork Diaries 3 (Kindle)
18 (N). Big Nate: What Could Possibly Go Wrong? *
19 (-12). The Walking Dead, Vol. 15: We Find Ourselves
20 (+8). The Walking Dead, Book 4
21 (+17). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
22 (N). Leviathan
23 (+25). Dog Days (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 4)
24 (N). Scott Pilgrim Color Hardcover Volume 1: Precious Little Life *
25 (N). The Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus - Volume 2 *
26 (-6). The Walking Dead, Book 3
27 (+5). Dork Diaries 4 (Kindle) *
28 (-2). Dork Diaries 1 (Kindle)
29 (+12). Big Nate: From the Top (Kindle)
30 (+6). Batman: The Killing Joke
31 (-10). The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become
32 (N). Batman Vol. 1: The Court of Owls (The New 52) *
33 (-16). The Walking Dead, Vol. 12: Life Among Them
34 (-16). The Walking Dead, Vol. 13: Too Far Gone
35 (-8). A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel: Volume One
36 (+10). Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise, Part 2 *
37 (-). Big Nate Out Loud (Kindle)
38 (N). Chew Volume 5: Major League Chew *
39 (-14). The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain
40 (-37). Avengers vs. X-Men *
41 (-11). The Walking Dead, Vol. 11: Fear the Hunters
42 (-3). The Adventures of Tintin 1
43 (-29). The Walking Dead, Vol. 14: No Way Out
44 (R). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
45 (-23). Batman Incorporated, Vol. 1
46 (R). Dork Diaries 3½: How to Dork Your Diary
47 (R). Batman: Year One
48 (-6). Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
49 (-2). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
50 (R). Diary of a Wimpy Kid Box of Books (1-5)


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

N = New listing appearing on list for first time
R = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks


Commentary:

* The Walking Dead Compendium slips down to #94 on the overall chart, but that's still good enough to keep it atop the comics chart.

* Dead Watch: Only sixteen Walking Dead collections on the chart this week as six more shamble out of the top fifty. Which simple means that the glow of the end of season 2 of the television series is wearing off and we are returning towards normal WD levels.

* There are a lot of debuts this week, let by Jeffery Brown's Darth Vader & Son (proving that Star Wars + indie creater = sales!) Also debuting this week are the latest Big Nate comic compilation; Ian Edginton & D'Israeli's Leviathan; the first volume of the new colorized Scott Pilgrim; a big ol' omnibus of classic Spider-Man (Amazon shoppers love getting 50% off giant hardcovers!); Batman: The Court of Owls (the first of DC's New 52 collections to appear on the Amazon charts); and the latest Chew collection.

* There's a lot of volatility on the chart this week, with several titles posting swings of twenty places of more.

* One of those getting a huge swing is Alison Bechdel's Are You My Mother?, the follow-up to her award-winning best-seller Fun Home. It releases next week, and if it gets the kind of press attention her last book did look for it to be the comic that finally unseats The Walking Dead form the top of the chart.

Monkey Covers

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

Dagar battles a monstrous gorilla in the Forest of Fear on the cover of Dagar the Invincible #12 (1975) by George Wilson.

(Standard disclaimer about monstrous gorillas not really being monkeys applies.)

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

Amazon Top 50

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


1 (-). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
2 (+5). Cabin Fever (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 6)
3 (N). Avengers vs. X-Men *
4 (+8). Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise Part 1
5 (+4). Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 7 *
6 (-2). The Walking Dead, Book 7
7 (-1). The Walking Dead, Vol. 15: We Find Ourselves
8 (-6). The Walking Dead, Book 5
9 (-6). The Walking Dead, Book 6
10 (N). Fever Moon
11 (+3). The Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book (revised and expanded edition)
12 (+6). The Walking Dead, Vol. 16 *
13 (+2). Big Nate and Friends (Kindle)
14 (+3). The Walking Dead, Vol. 14: No Way Out
15 (-2). Flex Mentallo: Man of Muscle Mystery Deluxe
16 (+4). Dork Diaries 3 (Kindle)
17 (+7). The Walking Dead, Vol. 12: Life Among Them
18 (+8). The Walking Dead, Vol. 13: Too Far Gone
19 (+8). The Ugly Truth (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 5)
20 (-9). The Walking Dead, Book 3
21 (+1). The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become
22 (N). Batman Incorporated, Vol. 1
23 (+9). The Walking Dead, Vol. 4: The Heart's Desire
24 (N). Are You My Mother?: A Comic Drama *
25 (-4). The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain
26 (-9). Dork Diaries 1 (Kindle)
27 (-11). A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel: Volume One
28 (-18). The Walking Dead, Book 4
29 (-21). The Walking Dead, Book 1
30 (-7). The Walking Dead, Vol. 11: Fear the Hunters
31 (+5). The Walking Dead, Vol. 5: The Best Defense
32 (+10). Dork Diaries 4 (Kindle) *
33 (-28). The Walking Dead, Book 2
34 (+4). The Walking Dead, Vol. 6: This Sorrowful Life
35 (-7). Watchmen
36 (+8). Batman: The Killing Joke
37 (-). Big Nate Out Loud (Kindle)
38 (-9). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
39 (+10). The Adventures of Tintin 1
40 (-15). The Walking Dead, Vol. 3: Safety Behind Bars
41 (-7). Big Nate: From the Top (Kindle)
42 (R). Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
43 (-13). The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye
44 (+3). V for Vendetta
45 (+1). The Walking Dead, Vol. 8: Made to Suffer
46 (R). Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise, Part 2 *
47 (R). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
48 (-15). Dog Days (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 4)
49 (R). Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Lost Adventures
50 (R). Ninjago Graphic Novels #1: The Challenge of Samukai


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

N = New listing appearing on list for first time
R = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks


Commentary:

* The Walking Dead Compendium slips down to #81 on the overall chart, but that's still good enough to keep it atop the comics chart.

* Dead Watch: Only twenty-two Walking Dead collections on the chart this week, meaning that three shambled out of the top fifty this week. Also only five are in the top ten, compared to eight last week.

* Debuts this week are led by the hardcover collection of Avengers vs. X-Men up in the #3 slot. It isn't even due out until November, but no doubt Amazon shoppers want to lock in the near 50% discount on the expensive hardcover.

* Also debuting in the top ten is the July release of Fever Moon, an original graphic novel set in the modern romantic fantasy world of Karen Marie Moning. It is also the last work of the late Al Rio. Fever Moon was as high as #2 on the chart earlier in the week.

* Rounding out our debuts are the first collection of Grant Morrison's Batman Incorporated; and Are You My Mother?, Alison Bechdel's follow-up to her best-selling and award-winning Fun Home.

Pictures from AngUmich

Yesterday was AngUmich, a presentation of final projects by students in French 272, taught by Sabine Gabaron. The students spread out in the gallery space in North Quad and gave little presentations about the Bandes Dessinées (French language comics) that they read and wrote about for their final papers. Here are some pictures:

Amazon Top 50

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


1 (-). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
2 (+4). The Walking Dead, Book 5
3 (+6). The Walking Dead, Book 6
4 (+6). The Walking Dead, Book 7
5 (-2). The Walking Dead, Book 2
6 (+5). The Walking Dead, Vol. 15: We Find Ourselves
7 (-1). Cabin Fever (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 6)
8 (-6). The Walking Dead, Book 1
9 (-2). Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 7 *
10 (+4). The Walking Dead, Book 4
11 (-6). The Walking Dead, Book 3
12 (+15). Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise Part 1
13 (+20). Flex Mentallo: Man of Muscle Mystery Deluxe
14 (+2). The Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book (revised and expanded edition)
15 (+11). Big Nate and Friends (Kindle)
16 (-8). A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel: Volume One
17 (+5). The Walking Dead, Vol. 14: No Way Out
18 (-6). The Walking Dead, Vol. 16 *
19 (+1). The Walking Dead, Vol. 2: Miles Behind Us
20 (-3). Dork Diaries 3 (Kindle)
21 (-8). The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain
22 (-4). The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become
23 (-2). The Walking Dead, Vol. 11: Fear the Hunters
24 (-). The Walking Dead, Vol. 12: Life Among Them
25 (-10). The Walking Dead, Vol. 3: Safety Behind Bars
26 (+6). The Walking Dead, Vol. 13: Too Far Gone
27 (+3). The Ugly Truth (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 5)
28 (+13). Watchmen
29 (+20). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
30 (-7). The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye
31 (+15). The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye (Kindle)
32 (-13). The Walking Dead, Vol. 4: The Heart's Desire
33 (+2). Dog Days (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 4)
34 (+4). Big Nate: From the Top (Kindle)
35 (-10). Dork Diaries 1 (Kindle)
36 (-8). The Walking Dead, Vol. 5: The Best Defense
37 (-8). Big Nate Out Loud (Kindle)
38 (-8). The Walking Dead, Vol. 6: This Sorrowful Life
39 (-10). The Walking Dead, Vol. 7: The Calm Before
40 (N). Because Sometimes You Just Gotta Draw a Cover with Your Left Hand: A Pearls Before Swine Collection
41 (R). Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale
42 (-). Dork Diaries 4 (Kindle) *
43 (R). Dork Diaries 2 (Kindle)
44 (-4). Batman: The Killing Joke
45 (N). Giants Beware!
46 (-15). The Walking Dead, Vol. 8: Made to Suffer
47 (-8). V for Vendetta
48 (-). Avengers Vs X-men #1 (1st Printing)
49 (-12). The Adventures of Tintin 1
50 (-6). Sailor Moon 4


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

N = New listing appearing on list for first time
R = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks


Commentary:

* The Walking Dead Compendium slips a few slots to #38 on the overall chart, but that's still good enough to keep it atop the comics chart.

* Dead Watch: Twenty-five Walking Dead collections on the chart this week, the same as last week. The only thing interesting in WD news is that for the first time a Kindle edition outsold some of the print editions.

* Just two debuts this week, both near the bottom of the chart: A Pearls Before Swine collection; and Jorge Aguirre & Rafael Rosado's Giants Beware!

* We're less than a month out from the release of The Avengers movie, and so far there's little evidence of any interest in Avengers comics on the chart...

The Avengers Premiere Photos

Disney just sent out photos from The Avengers World Premiere. I've got nothing else to post, so let's take a look at some link bait:

Stan Lee, posing with a SHIELD-mobile.

Scarlett Johansson, with a funky dress and funky hair.

I don't know who this guy is. Is he in the movie? Doesn't matter; he brought his young daughter and her friend to the premiere of The Avengers, so he gets the award for Most Awesome Dad.

Jeremy Renner in an awesome silver suit that shouldn't work, yet it does.

Samuel L. Jackson wearing a dorky hat. Because he's Sam Effing Jackson and he can wear whatever dorky thing he wants and it can't detract from his coolness.

Clark Gregg, on the other hand, can wear whatever cool suit he wants and still come off as dorky.

Hey, it's whatsername, from that show with Dr. Horrible .

"Hello ladies. I'm Chris Hemsworth.  I have blonde hair and blue eyes and broad shoulders and unbutton my shirt just enough to show off my gold chain."

Joss, we know you're a genius, so shouldn't you know better than to wear white shoes with a black suit?

The assembled cast, being rained on by confetti.

Where can I buy a SHIELD-mobile?

Happy Easter!

Yet Another Comics Blog joins the Dripple family in wishing you a Happy Easter!

(Cover of Horace and Dotty Dripple #36, 1953)

Comics Are Great 51 - Mini-Comics!

This past Wednesday I appeared on the Comics Are Great podcast with host Jerzy Drozd & U-M art student Meggie Ramm to talk about last month's Mini-Comics Day at the Dude:



View the video above, or listen to the audio at the link or download the audio from iTunes.

You can find my awesome mini-comic Monkeys in Space on this very blog.

Amazon Top 50

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


1 (-). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
2 (+1). The Walking Dead, Book 1
3 (+2). The Walking Dead, Book 2
4 (+6). The Walking Dead, Book 5
5 (+4). The Walking Dead, Book 3
6 (-). Cabin Fever (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 6)
7 (-5). Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 7 *
8 (-). A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel: Volume One
9 (+8). The Walking Dead, Book 6
10 (+8). The Walking Dead, Book 7
11 (-). The Walking Dead, Vol. 15
12 (+8). The Walking Dead, Vol. 16 *
13 (+13). The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain
14 (+7). The Walking Dead, Book 4
15 (-3). The Walking Dead, Vol. 3: Safety Behind Bars
16 (-1). The Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book (revised and expanded edition)
17 (+10). Dork Diaries 3 (Kindle)
18 (+7). The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become
19 (-3). The Walking Dead, Vol. 4: The Heart's Desire
20 (-6). The Walking Dead, Vol. 2: Miles Behind Us
21 (+12). The Walking Dead, Vol. 11: Fear the Hunters
22 (+1). The Walking Dead, Vol. 14: No Way Out
23 (-10). The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye
24 (+7). The Walking Dead, Vol. 12: Life Among Them
25 (+7). Dork Diaries 1 (Kindle)
26 (-7). Big Nate and Friends (Kindle)
27 (+3). Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise Part 1
28 (-6). The Walking Dead, Vol. 5: The Best Defense
29 (+7). The Walking Dead, Vol. 7: The Calm Before
30 (-1). The Ugly Truth (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 5)
31 (+9). The Walking Dead, Vol. 8: Made to Suffer
32 (-4). The Walking Dead, Vol. 13: Too Far Gone
33 (N). Flex Mentallo: Man of Muscle Mystery Deluxe *
34 (-10). The Walking Dead, Vol. 6: This Sorrowful Life
35 (+3). Dog Days (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 4)
36 (+14). Ninjago Graphic Novels #1: The Challenge of Samukai
37 (+2). The Adventures of Tintin 1
38 (-3). Big Nate: From the Top (Kindle)
39 (+4). V for Vendetta
40 (+8). Batman: The Killing Joke
41 (-7). Watchmen
42 (N). Dork Diaries 4 (Kindle) *
43 (-6). Big Nate Out Loud (Kindle)
44 (-3). Sailor Moon 4
45 (-38). If You Loved Me You'd Think This Was Cute: Uncomfortably True Cartoons About You (Kindle)
46 (N). The Walking Dead, Vol. 1: Days Gone Bye (Kindle)
47 (-4). Diary of a Wimpy Kid Box of Books (1-5)
48 (N). Avengers Vs X-men #1 (1st Printing)
49 (-7). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns


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

N = New listing appearing on list for first time
R = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks


Commentary:

* The Walking Dead Compendium slips a few slots to #33 on the overall chart, but that's still good enough to keep it atop the comics chart. Pre-orders for The Wimpy Kid 7 kept it in the #2 slot for most of the week, but interest has started to wane. (Not to worry WK fans, as WK7 will no doubt be up in the #1 slot when we get to its release date in November.)

* Dead Watch: Only twenty-five WD collections in the top fifty this week. That's still half of the chart, and most of those moved up on the chart this week.

* The top debut this week is the long-awaited Flex Mentallo collection by Morrison & Quitely. Also debuting is the Kindle edition of the upcoming fourth Dork Diaries book and the Kindle edition of the first Walking Dead collection.

* Rounding out this week's debuts is Avengers vs. X-Men #1, a rare appearance of a floppy comic on the Amazon chart. No, Amazon isn't suddenly in the floppy comics game, but apparently there were enough sales from third-party vendors for it to sneak up into the chart.

Minicomics: Monkeys in Space!

Last month we held the Second Annual Mini-comics Day at the Dude! I created another 8-page mini-comic: "Monkeys in Space!" It is the follow-up to my two previous efforts: "The B-Team Returns." and "Too Many Monkeys!"

You can download and read it:

"Monkeys in Space!" - high quality PDF for reading.

"Monkeys in Space!" - print-and-assemble version, to make your own physical minicomic.

Once again I had a blast hanging out with artists much more talented than me. I'll be on the Comics Are Great podcast this Wednesday to talk about the Mini-comics Day experience. (Live stream starts at 12:30pm EDT.)