Battling Ignorance

I stumbled across this cover on the GCD: The Amazing Spider-Man Battles Ignorance. Please tell me that someone has this and can provide more info! (Scott perhaps?)



And yes, that's She-Hulk's pal Awesome Andy that Spidey is fighting on the cover!

FCBM2 Day 9

It's day Nine of the second annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Today's selected entry comes from Bethany Tirpak. The five comics that Bethany listed are:

1. Confidential Confessions
2. Paradise Kiss
3. Snowdrop
4. Happy Mania
5. The Devil Does Exist

Bethany is obviously a manga fan--josei manga, in fact. Now the obvious thing would be to pack up an old manga comic and ship it off to her; but I'll be foregoing the obvious and sending Bethany Enchanted #1 by Robert Chang. It's about a young woman singer-songwriter, so I think it will suit her sensibilities.

And like all the selected entries, Bethany will be receiving a special Dark Horse promo-priced comic, in this case The Goon 25¢ Edition by Eric Powell.

Bethany's comics should be in the mail soon. Enjoy!

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

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

New Library Comics: Week of May 1, 2006

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


Andreas, Joel. Addicted to war : why the U.S. can't kick militarism /Edinburgh : AK, 2003.

Baker, Kyle. Kyle Baker : cartoonist. /New York : K. Baker, 2004.

Burns, Charles, 1955- El Borbah /Seattle, WA : Fantagraphics Books, c2005.

Madden, Matt. 99 ways to tell a story : exercises in style /New York : Chamberlain Bros., 2005.

Ott, Thomas, 1966 June 10- Dead end /Seattle, Wash. : Fantagraphics Books, 2002.

Richardson, Mike. Cravan /Milwaukie, Or. : Dark Horse Comics, 2005.

Sala, Richard. The chuckling whatsit /Seattle, WA : Fantagraphics Books, c2005.

Seth, 1962- Wimbledon Green : the greatest comic book collector in the world /Montreal : Drawn and Quarterly ; New York : Distributed in the USA by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005.


Wimbledon Green has what is my new favorite LC Subject Heading:

Comic books, strips, etc. -- Collectors and collecting -- Comic books, strips, etc.

FCBM2 Day 8

It's day Eight of the second annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Today's selected entry comes from Charles Cuthbertson. The five comics that Charles listed are:

1. Cerebus
2. Love & Rockets
3. Bone
4. Lone Wolf & Cub
5. Thor

I zeroed in on Charles's last comic and am sending him a Thor-pack: Thor #293 by Roy Thomas, Keith Pollard & Chic Stone; Thor: Godstorm #1 by Kurt Busiek, Steve Rude & Mike Royer; and Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill #1 by Mike Oeming, Dan Berman, & Andrea Divito.

And like all the selected entries, Charles will be receiving a special Dark Horse promo-priced comic, in this case The Goon 25¢ Edition by Eric Powell.

Charles' comics should be in the mail soon. Enjoy!

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

Current FCBM Statistics:
47 entries
27 free comics sent so far
23 days remaining

My Free Comic Book Day

So, how did I spend my Free Comic Book Day? I'm glad you asked!

Actually, I suppose my FCBD Began last Thursday, when my weekly DCBS package arrived. They tossed in several of the FCBD comics: X-Men/Runaways, Arcana Studio Presents, GI Joe: Sigma 6, Transformers, Image Future Shock, and Superman/Batman. Nothing too exciting, though the Marvel book contains a Runaways story and, more importantly, and Franklin Richards story; and the Arcana book has a 100 Girls story.

On Saturday I hopped in the car and motored over to Fun4All in Ypsilanti. F4A is a pretty decent store, doing its best to cater to both the mainstream and the indy crowds. I've only been to F4A twice before, both times on a Saturday: The first time I was the only person there, while the second time there was some sort of trading card game tournament going on and the place was quite busy. So I have no idea what typical Saturday foot traffic is like, but on Saturday I was in there for about 15-20 minutes and there was a constant stream of 10-15 people.

Set up right near the entrance were some local comic artists, selling their wares convention-style. Honestly their comics didn't look to be the sort of thing that interestes me, but I bought a couple anyway because they were nice guys and I like to support the local comics scene (and one of the comics had a monkey on the cover, and you know that I can't resist that!)

There was a huge FCBD sign in the window, but it look me a while inside to find the FCBD offerings. I was expecting a large table with the comics displayed for the taking, but instead they had sample issues displayed on a rack near the checkout with a sign saying to ask for your free comics at the checkout (limit 3 per customer). Not sure if that's the best way to go, but in thinking about it there are some advantages: No big mess from people rummaging through stacks for free comics; People coming up to the checkout will feel compelled to also buy something (although that wasn't required, as I saw at least a couple of people just ask for their free comics and go); and there's no danger of a kid walking away with something inappropriate and mom bringing the cops back later.

Fun4All seemed to have pretty much the entire gold & silver offerings, so I was able to get Scott Pilgrim, Amelia Rules, and Owly, three of the FCBD offerings that I really wanted. I also bought a copy of the Banana Sunday collection to give to a friend at her birthday celebration that evening. (Hey Oni: next year, get a Banana Sunday story for your FCBD book!)

Of course, no FCBD would be complete without me giving away some comics of my own as part of Free Comic Book Month, which I did--twice. And that evening at the party one of the people there cornered me about comics he should read so I spent about 20 minutes doing readers advisory (he took notes!)

So, all in all a pretty good FCBD. How was yours?

Why X3 Will Be Good

X-Men: The Last Stand will be good because Bill Duke is in it (as Bolivar Trask), and Bill Duke makes everything cooler.

FCBM2 Day 7

It's day Seven of the second annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Today's selected entry comes from Mike Thompson. The five comics that Mike listed are:

1. New Avengers
2. Conan
3. Daredevil
4. Ex Machina
5. The Walking Dead

Although he doesn't specifically say so, I'm betting that Mike is the kind of guy who likes his comics with lots of apes. So I'll be sending Mike the first issue of Revolution on the Planet of the Apes by Salgood sam, Joe O'Brien, Ty Templeton, Attila, and Bernie Mireault.

And like all the selected entries, Mike will be receiving a special Dark Horse promo-priced comic, in this case The Goon 25¢ Edition by Eric Powell.

Mike's comics should be in the mail soon. Enjoy!

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

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

Monkey Covers

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

Apes vs. Humans! Denis Rodier draws the cover to Revolution on the Planet of the Apes #1.

(Standard disclaimer about apes not really being monkeys applies.)

Click on the image for a larger version.


Don't forget, Free Comic Book Month 2 is going on, and there's still plenty of time to enter!

FCBM2 Day 6.5

It's still day Six of the second annual YACB Free Comic Book Month, but seeing as it is Free Comic Book Day, how about I give away another free comic?

Today's second selected entry comes from Serene, who lists the following comics that she likes:

1. Dirty Plotte
2. Scott Pilgrim
3. Eightball
4. Demo
5. La Perdida

Serene is obviously an indy comix fan, so I'll be sending her Gregory Benton's Hummingbird to read.

And like all the selected entries, Serene will be receiving a special Dark Horse promo-priced comic, in this case The Goon 25¢ Edition by Eric Powell.

Serene's comics should be in the mail soon. Enjoy!

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

Current FCBM Statistics:
47 entries
21 free comics sent so far
25 days remaining

FCBM2 Day 6

It's day Six of the second annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Today's selected entry comes from Shael, who just in the past couple of years has gotten back into comics after a twenty year absence, and has been "visiting a lot of childhood favorites." The five comics that Shael listed are:

1. Astonishing X-Men
2. Star Wars Tales
3. Dorothy
4. Transformers Infiltration
5. Werewolves: Call of the Wild

I'll be sending Shael the first issue of X-Men: Kitty Pride - Shadow & Flame by Akira Yoshida and classic X-Men artist Paul Smith. And I'm also throwing in Jenni Gregory's DreamWalker vol. 2 #3, as a good comic that Shael may have missed during her 20-year hiatus.

And like all the selected entries, Shael will be receiving a special Dark Horse promo-priced comic, in this case The Goon 25¢ Edition by Eric Powell.

Shael's comics should be in the mail soon. Enjoy!

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

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

Free Comic Book Day!

Hey Kids! Free Comics!

ITEM! Don't forget to stop by your Friendly Neighborhood Comic Shop and say hi to the proprietor while picking up a couple of free comics. Maybe buy some stuff too :) The Free Comic Book Day Website will lead you to a participating store near you.

ITEM! Can't make it to a store? Andy Runton has put his FCBD offering from 2005, Owly: Splashin' Around, free online! (link via Mike)

ITEM! Today only, publisher TwoMorrows is giving away free copies of their magazines (Alter Ego, Back Issue, Draw, Write) on their Website.

ITEM! Of course here at YACB I'll be giving away more comics as part of Free Comic Book Month 2; there's still plenty of time to enter if you haven't already.

ITEM! More FCBM2 linkage, from Mike and Serene. Part of the fun in doing FCBM is watching the viral way in which word spreads throughout the comics blogosphere.

FCBM2 Day 5.5

It's still day Five of the second annual YACB Free Comic Book Month, but seeing as it's Friday, I think I'll give away another free comic!

Today's second selected entry comes from Gordon Dymowski. The five comics that Gordon listed are:

1. Fables
2. Ex Machina
3. Exiles
4. JSA
5. Invincible

I'll be sending Gordon the much-acclaimed Rocketo #7 by Frank Espinosa, for his sideways reading pleasure.

And like all the selected entries, Gordon will be receiving a special Dark Horse promo-priced comic, in this case The Goon 25¢ Edition by Eric Powell.

Gordon's comics should be in the mail soon. Enjoy!

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

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

FCBM2 Day 5

It's day Five of the second annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Today's selected entry comes from Garrett Berner. The five comics that Garrett listed are:

1. Captain America
2. The Goon
3. Savage Dragon
4. The Walking Dead
5. She-Hulk

I'll be sending Garrett the first two issues of the DC/Vertigo series The Exterminators, by Simon Oliver and original Walking Dead artist Tony Moore.

And like all the selected entries, Garrett will be receiving a special Dark Horse promo-priced comic, in this case the Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic/Rebellion Flip Book.

Garrett's comics should be in the mail soon. Enjoy!

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

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

FCBM2 Day 4

It's day four of the second annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Today's selected entry comes from Redhead Fangirl. The five comics that RF listed are:

1. Y, the Last Man
2. Girls
3. Birds of Prey
4. Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane
5. She-Hulk

This one is a no-brainer, as it's obvious that RF likes comics with strong female leads, particularly those with red hair. So I'm sending her the first two issues of DC's western mini-series Cinnamon: El Ciclo by Jen Van Meter, Francisco Paronzini and Raobert Campanella.

And like all the selected entries, RF will be receiving a special Dark Horse promo-priced comic, in this case the Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic/Rebellion Flip Book.

RF's comics should be in the mail soon. Enjoy!

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

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

YACB Bulletins

ITEM! Everybody else has already linked to it, but just in case you haven't seen it, here's a link to the Superman Returns trailer. I'm so there.

ITEM! Looking for more chances to win free comics? Comic Book Galaxy is teaming up with cool new publisher First-Second Books to give away five complete sets of their inaugeral graphic novel line.

ITEM! More free comics? Must be something in the aether! Mark Fossen is celebrating his birthday by giving away copies of Gray Horses, Midnight Kiss, and Battle Royale.

ITEM! More FCBM2 linkage from David and Rob. Thanks!

Yet Another Music Moment

I'm totally digging the video for Sandi Thom's "I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair)". It looks like the single and the album will be UK only for the time being, but thankfully QuickTime and the Interweb know no international boundaries. (if you don't like QuickTime, you can view it other formats here.)


Speaking of UK only, Sing-Sing and I is the second album from the group Sing-Sing. You can't buy it in the U.S., but you can listen to the whole darn thing via streaming QuickTime from Sing-Sing's site. I highly recommend it for alt-pop fans of all stripes.

I really wish that record companies would stop with this whole business of trying to restrict music to certain geographical regions; it just pisses fans off.

FCBM2 Day 3

It's day three of the second annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Today's selected entry comes from Dave Prosser. The five comics that Dave listed are:

1. Scott Pilgrim
2. Acme Novelty Library
3. Anything by Jack Kirby
4. All Star Superman
5. Runaways

Dave seems like just the type who will get a kick out of Steve Emond's Emo Boy #1, so that's what I'll be sending on to him.

And like all the selected entries, Dave will be receiving a special Dark Horse promo-priced comic, in this case The Goon 25¢ Edition by Eric Powell.

Dave's comics should be in the mail by the end of the 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
8 free comics sent so far
28 days remaining

New This Week: May 3, 2006

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 the finale of DC's Infinite Crisis. Worlds will live, worlds will die, etc. etc. Sure to both delight and enrage fanboys in equal quantities (and sometimes within the same person!)


In other comics:

Amaze Ink have the fourth issue of super-cool librarian Rex Libris.

Antarctic have the fourth issue of Rod Espinosa's Alice in Wonderland adaptation, plus the 75th issue of Fred Perry's Gold Digger.

Archaia Studios have the second issue of Mouse Guard.

Boom! Studios have the second issue of War of the Worlds: Second Wave.

Dark Horse have the second issue of BPRD: Universal Machine; a collection of Concrete: The Human Dilema; and the 3rd volume of one of my favorite current manga series, Eden.

DC have collections of Gotham Central (vol. 3) and Sandman Mystery Theatre (vol. 4), two great books that you should have been reading, but now have a second chance. There are also new issues of Action Comics (#838), Detective Comics (#819), JSA (#85), Justice League Unlimited (#21), Swamp Thing (#27), and Y, the Last Man (#45).

Digital Manga have the second Robot anthology.

Fantagraphics have a new issue of Love & Rockets (vol. 2 #16).

Image have their debut of the former Speakeasy title Rocketo (#7). Which is cool if you read the trade and are up to speed; however, if you were trying to read it in floppies you're screwed, because issues #5-6 were never published...

Marvel kick off Infinite Crisis Civil War, their big crossover event for the summer. There's also a third Hulk Visionaries: Peter David volume; a collection of Punisher Max: The Slavers; and new issues of Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (#8), The Punisher (#33), and Ultimate Spider-Man (#94).

TokyoPop have the 13th Kindaichi Case Files: House of Wax.

Viper have a new issue of The Middleman (#2.3).


Which brings us to the end of another week in comics. Enjoy!

YACB Bulletins

ITEM! Jen Contino at The Pulse talks to Marc Sumerak about Avengers and Power Pack Assemble! It looks like Marvel will be making available special editions with library bindings.

ITEM! The new PW Comics Week has an article about Top Shelf's forthcoming collection of the complete Lost Girls by Alan Moore & Melinda Gebbie--I'm willing to bet that this doesn't end up on the shelves at the San Bernardino County library system!

ITEM! Thanks to everyone who has linked to Free Comic Book Month 2 so far, including Gordon, Johanna, Mark, TangognaT, Redhead Fangirl, and Lyle. There's still plenty of time to enter, so don't be shy!

FCBM2 Day 2

It's day two of the second annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Today's selected entry comes from Kevin Donlin. The five comics that Kevin listed are:

1. Hellblazer
2. Fables
3. Star Wars
4. Superman
5. Batman


With Hellblazer & Batman among his faves, Kevin seems like a good bet to like Man-Bat. So I'm sending Kevin the first issue of the 1996 Man-Bat mini by Chuck Dixon, Flint Henry & Eduardo Barreto; as well as the first issue of the new Man-Bat mini by Bruce Jones & Mike Huddleston.

And like all the selected entries, Kevin will be receiving a special Dark Horse promo-priced comic, in this case The Goon 25¢ Edition by Eric Powell.

Kevin's comics should be in the mail by the end of the 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
6 free comics sent so far
29 days remaining