Friday Meme

Via Sara, a Google Game:

"Dave needs to..."

Dave needs to be kept abreast.

Dave needs to start paying more attention to what Judi does around here.

Dave needs to learn how to interact with people like a human.

Dave needs to have that mole looked at, man.

Dave needs to come back home.

Dave needs to finish the login page.

Dave needs to inject some major caffeine into his team.

Dave needs to walk around a bit.

Dave needs to know what kind of information on phosphorus should be included.

Dave needs to take a nutrient-rich carbohydrate.

Dave needs to realize that money will not solve his problems.

Dave needs to straighten himself out, find the bullseye, and hit it.

Dave needs to win and him beating the odds makes him much more of a superstar.

YACB Bulletins

ITEM! Supergirl invents the Internet.

ITEM! Happy First Blogiversary to Dave's Long Box.

ITEM! What if Alan Moore didn't come to DC Comics? Karen Berger might have turned to Russell Simmons... (via Glyphs).

ITEM! Does X-Factor #5 succeed as noir? (via Johanna)

Quick Boom! Reviews

Planetary Brigade #2
by Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis, Fabio Moon, Zid of Ifs, Joe Abraham, Alfa of Ifs

Pretty much more of the same as the first issue. Most of the issue centers around a fight between the dysfunctional team and a batch of Lovecraftian nasties. Even though Giffen & DeMatteis through some character bits in, I still don't have a good feel for the team members, although the woman with the third eye is starting to develop a personality. I couldn't name any of them out of a line-up. The art round-robin continues as well, and even though this time there's a greater degree of consistency, I still think that a regular artist would be a better idea.

Rating: 2.5 (of 5)


Jeremiah Harm #2
by Keith Giffen, Alan Grant, Rael Lyra & Joe Prado

Harm arrives on Earth, hot on the trail of the three escaped mass murderers, and after a stop-off in an inner-city clinic to introduce some secondary characters, much mayhem ensues. If you enjoyed the Lobo-esque violence and mayhem of the first issue, you'll like this too.

Rating: 2.5 (of 5)


Zombie Tales: The Dead #1
by lots of people

A collection of six unrelated short stories about zombies. They're all pretty well done, good examples of how you can tell a decent story--world-building and all--in a short page count. My favorite of the bunch is Johanna Stokes and Cynthia Martin's "Zoombies," which features a monkey leading a group of zoo denizens against a zombie hoard--I would tially read a regular series based on this. This collection is strictly for zombie fans, but if you like zombie comics you'll like this.

Rating: 3 (of 5)


(review copies of these comics were provided by the publisher)

New This Week: March 29, 2006: Best Week Ever!

I am hereby proclaiming this, the final week of March, 2006, the Best Week Ever for new comics!

Normally I point out a Pick of the Week, that one item you really should get. Sometimes the pickings are slim, but I usually manage to come up with one.

This week however, there are just too many damn good comics to choose from.

At the very top of the list is the collection of Root Nibot & Colleen Coover's Banana Sunday, last year's best miniseries. All of you who claimed you were waiting for the trade, now's your chance. If you don't like Banana Sunday, you just don't like comics.

Also in collection is the Alias Omnibus, collecting every issue of Bendis's Marvel/MAX series in one big honking hardcover. Yes, $70 is a bit steep, but to but all 28 issues individually would have cost you $84, so it's a bargain (and if you shop around you can get it for less...). And if that's not enough Bendis for you, Marvel also have the final trade collection of his Daredevil run.

But that's not all! There's also the bargain-priced edition of the Superman Archives, vol. 1. And also Lost in Space: Voyage to the Bottom of the Soul, which finally completes Bill Mumy and Michal Dutkiewicz's story, collecting the first previously published issues with the final six issues that never saw the light of day when Innovation folded.

Manga? Yes, we have that too, with the final volume of Osamu Tezuka's Buddha hitting the stores.

You say you want comics? Those regular old floppies? There's great stuff there as well, starting with the fourth issue of Kevin Huizenga's Or Else, bringing what is sure to be more inspired cartooning from the master craftsman.

Also in comics there's the third issue of Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely's All Star Superman. And a new Star Wars: Tag & Bink comic. And the long-awaited return of Queen & Country to comics (did you read the novels--they're quite good!) And a new issue of Middleman...

And to top it all off, Becky Cloonan steps out on her own with the debut of her TokyoPop OEL title East Coast Rising.


So how's that for a huge bunch of Picks of the Week?


There are other comics of interest too, such as:

Antarctic have a new issue of Gold Digger (#73--#72 just came out last week...)

Dark Horse have a new issue of Usagi Yojimbo (#92).

DC continue the OYL fiesta with Action Comics (#837), Blue Beetle (#1), and Green Lantern (#10); and also have new issues of Lucifer (#72) & JLA Classified (#19); plus a collection of the Lady Constantine mini and a new Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives (vol. 18).

IDW have Peter David-ness with Fallen Angel #4 and Spike vs. Dracula #2.

Image have collections for The Ballad of Sleeping Beauty & Sea of Red (vol. 2); and new issues of Gødland (#9), Invincible (#30), and The Walking Dead (#27).

Marvel have the Captain America 65th Anniversary Special, the third New Avengers handcover, and new issues of Ultimate Spider-Man (#92) & X-Statix Presents Dead Girl (#3).

Top Shelf have the final issue of The Surrogates (#5).


See, what did I tell you? Best Week Ever! Just be sure to bring along your credit card when you visit your FNLCS--you're going to need it!

More Go-Go Adventures Make Dave's Heart Happy!

"Maybe we'll do a Go-Go adventure as a minicomic."

Publisher's Weeekly interviews Colleen Coover & Paul Tobin (aka Root Nibot) on the release of the collection of Banana Sunday, last year's best mini-series.

Manga News Round-up

Baltimore Sun: "For fans of manga, it's more than a comic"

Once publishers persuaded chain bookstores (as opposed to comics shop) to carry their manga girls could find it easily.

The Japan Times: "Modern teaching tools capitalize on 'Japan cool'"

...by playing on the current cachet of Japanese culture, teachers create an invaluable association between learning and fun.

Fort Worth Star Telegram: "East meets West at the library":

Alisa Mask, 13, of Double Oak sat next to a stack of 18 borrowed mangas Sunday. She said she appreciates the realism of mangas because they help her deal with problematic situations.

New Library Comics: Week of March 20, 2006

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


Davis, Vanessa. Spaniel rage /Oakland, Calif. : Buenaventura Press, 2003-2005.

Eisner, Will. Will Eisner's The Spirit archives. /New York : DC comics, c2000-c2001. v.1-4

Feininger, Lyonel, 1871-1956. The comic strip art of Lyonel Feininger /Northampton, MA : Kitchen Sink Press, 1994.

Moore, Alan, 1953- Promethea /La Jolla, CA : America's Best Comics, c2000-c2005. v.5

Pini, Wendy. ElfQuest archives /New York : DC Comics, c2003- v.1-2

Prohias, Antonio. Spy vs. spy : the complete casebook /New York : Watson-Guptill Publications, 2001.

Runton, Andy. Just a little blue /Marietta, Ga. : Top Shelf, 2005.

Takahashi, Rumiko, 1957- Ranma 1/2 /San Francisco, CA : Viz Communications, c2003- v.32

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 we feature the 1957 cover to Tales of the Unexpected #14, drawn by Sheldon Moldoff. You know, things like this seem to happen to me all the time...

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

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

More on Super-Hero Trademarks

Over at Comics Should Be Good, Brian Cronin has a very good Q&A about the whole trademark thing.

Had I known that Brian was going to write all that, I probably wouldn't have bothered with my own little rant in the first place, as he does a much better job.

As a side point, if you're ever wondering why sometimes Marvel or DC will produce a one-shot or a mini-series with a b- or c-list character, it is often done in order to preserve the trademark. Unlike patents, which last for 20 years from the time of issue, or copyrights, which last Life + X number of years from creation (until/unless Congress extends them again and again and again...), trademarks have no set time limit before they expire. A trademark can theoretically last forever, as long as the owner continues to use it. But if the owner goes a certain period of time without using the trademark, it becomes abandoned and anyone can use it. So if every few years Marvel puts out a comic with the Colossus logo slapped on the cover, they continue to protect their trademark.

Team-up comics used to be great for this. Put out a comic with Batman, Superman or Spider-Man teaming-up with your lesser known characters, slap their logos on the cover, and you're all set.

(Again, I am not a lawyer, just a librarian.)

YACB Bulletins

ITEM! Garfield is funnier when Garfield doesn't think/speak.

ITEM! Kryptonite Monkey!

ITEM! Looking at the list of manga titles in the April Previews over at Love Manga, my immediate thought is that just about every single publisher is putting out twice as many titles as they should be...

ITEM! A big welcome back to the comics blog-o-sphere to Kevin Melrose, whose new blog, Comics, Covered, is all about comic book covers.

New This Week: March 22, 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 paperback edition of Alan Moore & Gene Ha's Top 10: The Forty-Niners from ABC/WildStorm/DC. The hardcover was my pick for Favorite Original Graphic Novel last year, so those of you who balked at the hardcover can now save your $7 and get the softcover.


In other comics:

Antarctic have a new issue of Gold Digger (#72).

DC have the second Seven Soldiers of Victory collection; OYL titles Batman (#651), Catwoman (#53), Hawkgirl (#50), Manhunter (#20), and Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (#16); and new issues of American Way (#2), Hellblazer (#218), and Testament (#4).

Fantagraphics have the third volume of Mome.

IDW have the second issue of Supermarket.

Image have a new issue of Noble Causes (#18).

Lobrau have the debut of Toupydoops.

Ludovico have the third issue of Living in Infamy.

Marvel have the latest Runaways digest (vol. 5); the final issue of Supreme Power: Hyperion (#5), just in time for the debut of the non-MAX Squadron Supreme; and new issues of Captain America (#16), Daredevil (#83), Nextwave (#3), She-Hulk 2 (#6), Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane (#4), and X-Factor (#5).

Rebellion bring you classic Alan Moore with DR & Quinch Complete.

Viz debut ROD: Read or Die.


Enjoy your new comics!

Who owns 'Super-Hero'?

Sigh.

Every so often some fanboy gets in a tizzy because he learns that DC & Marvel have a trademark on the term 'super-hero'.

The latest is this stupid item over on SciFi.com, which refers to a two-year-old posting on Newsarama as if it were brand new news and manages to get just about every point wrong, including which aspect of intellectual property law is at issue ("DC/Marvel Copyrighting 'Super Hero'"). (screenshot here in case SciFi comes to its senses and fixes it.)

(Update: Scifi.com did indeed remove the news story after I sent them an email pointing out their errors. Kudos to them for rectifying the situation, although an actual correction notice would be better.)

Here, folks, are some salient points:

• DC/Marvel are not "trying to copyright the term 'super hero.'"
• One cannot copyright a phrase.
• DC & Marvel hold a joint *trademark* to the term super-hero for use in publications, and have held it for many years. The registration number for the applicable trademark is 1179067 (see this).
• Holding a trademark on 'super-hero' means that they are the only companies who can use 'super-hero' in the title of their comic books. It does *not* mean that no one else can ever use the term 'super-hero'.
• DC & Marvel are required by law to defend their trademark in order to keep it, and that is what they did in this instance.
• If you're going to publish your own comic book series, it would be prudent to do a trademark search before choosing a title.
• If you would like to know more about trademark law, Nolo's Website has a good introduction.

I really hope that this will be the last time this goes around, but I suspect it won't be.

(Dislaimer: I am not a lawyer; I am a librarian at a US Patent & Trademark Depository Library. My comments are my own and do not necessarily represent the view of my employer.)

New Library Comics: Week of March 13, 2006

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


Aragones, Sergio. Sergio Aragones the Groo library /Milwaukie, OR : Dark Horse, c2001.

Brown, Chester, 1960- The Playboy : a comic book /Montreal : Drawn & Quarterly, c1992.

Brown, Jeffrey (Jeffrey David), 1975- Bighead /Marietta, GA : Top Shelf Productions, c2004.

Drawn & quarterly showcase. Book 1 : [an anthology of new illustrated fiction / Kevin Huizenga, Nicolas Robel] /Montreal, Quebec, Canada : Drawn & Quarterly ; San Francisco, CA : Distributed in the USA and abroad by Chronicle Books, c2003.

Kuper, Peter, 1958- Speechless /Marietta, Ga. : Top Shelf Productions, Inc., c2001.

Lutes, Jason. Jar of fools : a picture story /Montreal, Quebec, Canada : Drawn and Quarterly, c2003.

McMillan, Stephanie. Attitude, featuring : Stephanie McMillan : minimum security /New York : NBM, c2005.

Moore, Alan, 1953- Promethea /La Jolla, CA : America's Best Comics, c2000-c2005. v. 1-4

Talon, Durwin S. Comics above ground : how sequential art affects mainstream media /Raleigh, NC : TwoMorrows Pub., c2004.

Tijuana Bibles : art and wit in America's forbidden funnies /New York ; London : Simon & Schuster, 2004.

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 we feature the 1957 cover to Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #24, drawn by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye. Wouldn't it have been cool if Jimmy Olsen stayed as a gorilla, then became Elastic Lad, and he'd be an Elastic Gorilla? Just me, huh?

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

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

YAMR: Alt Country - Music from the Edge

It seems like forever since I've updated Yet Another Music Radio, but I've finally gotten around to it.

The new playlist is Alt Country - Music from the Edge, over three hours of music that goes against the grain of mainstream country radio.

You'll hear music from:

16 Horsepower; Adrienne Young & Little Sadie; Allison Moorer, The Be Good Tanyas; The Derailers; The Duhks; Gillian Welch; The Greencards; Jenny Queen; Jim Lauderdale; Julie Roberts; Kasey Chambers; Kathleen Edwards; Kelly Willis; Kim Richey; Laura Cantrell; Lori McKenna; Lyle Lovett; Maia Sharp; Mary Gauthier; Matraca Berg; Mindy Smith; Miranda Lambert; Neko Case; Patricia Vonne; Patty Griffin; Robert Earl Keen; Rodney Crowell; Son Volt; Terri Binion; Tift Merritt; and Todd Snider.

That's over 50 tracks of downhome joy!

YAFQ: Create an Anthology

Yet Another Friday Question:

What kind of comics anthology would you create to attract a newsstand audience?

Archie have their digests, Disney & Nickelodian have occasional comics-only issues of their magazines, and Viz have done very well with their Shonen Jump & Shojo Beat anthologies. But still there is not much of an effort by comics publishers to target the newsstand--and by extension non-regular comics readers--with a thick value-priced anthology.

My recommendation would be for DC to put together an anthology for kids. They have a lot of reprint material to draw on from the past 10-15 years: Scooby-Doo, Bugs Bunny, Cartoon Network, and the animated Batman/Superman/Justice League. Add into that classic Sugar & Spike comics and they could easily put together a 128-page color monthly anthology in the $5-$6 range I should think.

Any other ideas out there?

Dave's Dozen: Collections/GNs

Concluding my look through the March Previews (for items supposedly shipping in May), here are a dozen collections and graphic novels that I feel are worth your attention:


Skrull Kill Crew
(Marvel, $16.99, p. M105)
Grant Morrison reunites with Aztek parter Mark Millar and Zenith artist Steve Yeowell for a story that takes a throw-away event from an old Fantastic Four comic and runs with it to its madcap violent conclusion.



De:Tales
(Dark Horse, $14.95, p. 36)

Two of my current favorite creators, brothers Fabio Moon & Gabriel Ba, put together a collection of short stories. Easily one of the top picks of the month.



Wonder Woman: Destiny Calling
(DC, $19.99, p. 91)

The fourth collection of George Perez's now-classic post-Crisis Wonder Woman. Feature guest art by Art Adams, Brian Bolland, and others.



Five Fists of Science
(Image, $12.99, p. 138)

I've been waiting for this OGN to hit for what seems like forever. Mark Twain & Nikola Tesla team up to bring about world peace, but standing in their way is Thomas Edison and an evil science cabal. Pure steampunk joy.



Tezuka's Buddha vol. 1
(Del Rey, $14.95, p. 262)

Osamu Tezuka's masterpiece is now available in an affordable trade paperback, so now you have no excuse for not picking it up.



Gorilla Gorilla vol. 1
(Disney Press, $4.95, p. 279)

Art Baltazar's Gorilla Gorilla strips from Disney Adventures get collected into an kid-friendly affordable digest.



Castle Waiting
(Fantagraphics, $29.95, p. 284)

Yes $30 may seem like a bit much, but it's really a bargain for a hefty hardcover collection of Linda Medley's charming medieval fantasy. If you only buy one graphic novel this month, make it this one.



Alan Moore: The Complete Future Shocks
(Rebellion, $21.99, p. 315)

These stories from 2000 AD will give you a good look at the early work of a writer who would go on to become one of comics' top talents. Nothing deep here, but a good deal of fun.



Aoi House vol. 1
(Seven Seas, $10.99, p. 318)

A great high concept for a harem manga: two college boys are kicked out of their dorm, and end up living in a house with a bunch of yaoi-obsessed fangirls.



BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad vol. 4
(TokyoPop, $9.99, p. 332)

Rock 'n' Roll and teen angst. One of my current favorite manga series.



Oddly Normal vol. 1
(Viper Comics, $11.95, p. 349)

I enjoyeed the first issue and decided to wait for the trade, which is now here. Yay!



Phoenix vol. 7: Civil War
(Viz, $15.99, p. 358)

Anytime there's a new English edition of Tezuka's work, you should make a grab for it. Each volume in this, his magnum opus, is self-contained, so you don't need to worry about coming in on part 7--just dive right in!



That concludes Dave's Dozen for this month (previously I covered mainstream comics and indy comics). Come back next month for 36 (or so) picks.

Dave's Dozen: Indy Comics

Continuing my look through the March Previews (for comics supposedly shipping in May), here are a dozen indy comics that I feel are worth your attention:


Aya #1
Jalila #1
Rakan #1
Zein #1
(AK Entertainment, $2.95 ea., p. 213)

These are those Arab super-hero comics you've probably heard about. I have no idea if any of them will be any good, but at the very least they should be interesting.


Rex Libris #4
(Slave Labor, $2.95, p. 218)

Yes, James Turner uses a lot of words in this comic. But he uses so many that he ends up being very funny sometimes. Do any of you non-librarians enjoy this comic?


Wonderland #1
(Slave Labor, $3.50, p. 218)

This is yet another of those 'what happened after Alice in Wonderland' stories, but since this grows out of Slave Labor's odd Disney license it is based on the Disney version, not the original. Also, it has art by Sonny Liew, which makes it worth picking up right there.


Gold Digger #75
(Antarctic Press, $2.99, p. 222)

Celebrating 15 years of Gold Digger with a special 75th issue--which is actually #129 if you count all three series, making it the longest currently-running creator-owned & operated comic. There's actually lots of Gold Digger this month, with a new mini-series, Throne of Shadows; a new Pocket Manga collection; a Swimsuit Special; and, if you want to catch up on everything Gold Digger, a 2-disc DVD-ROM set that contains every single Fred Perry-produced Gold Digger story to date.


Tinn Man #1
(Atlantis Studios, $2.95, p. 226)

Any comic that stars a smart African-American teen girl programmer and her AI robot is worth a look in my book.


Supermarket #3
(IDW, $3.99, p. 299)

Man, but wasn't the first issue the bomb? Best thing that Brian Wood has written, I think. And the art by Kristian Donaldson was supper spiffy and well-served by the high production values. Worth the $4, I should think.


Borrowed Time #1
(Oni, $6.95, p. 311)

Guy comes back from a trip to the Bermuda Triangle to a worls that is subtlely different from the one he left. I really like these sorts of stories, so here's hoping that Neal Shaffer & Joe Infurnari do a good job.


Queen & Country #30
(Oni, $2.99, p. 314)

Tara Chase is back in comics after the two novels where her life was put through a complete wringer. Rucka's mainstream work pales in camparison to Q&C, but I guess a guy has to pay the bills.


Thrud the Barbarian #1
(Thrud Comics, $2.95, p. 321)

Brit Carl Critchlow's barbarian spoof comes to the new world. Think Groo by way of Keith Giffen (in his Trencher days) and you'll get an idea of what this is like.



That wraps up my look at indy comics. (Sorry it took so long, but work and life have been kicking my ass these past couple of weeks.) A few days ago I highlighted mainstream comics, and in a few days I'll put up my Collections/GNs picks.

New This Week: March 15, 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 Puffin's adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula by Gary Reed and Becky Cloonan, in a kid-friendly manga-sized black & white volume.


In other comics:


Antarctic have a new issue of Ninja High School (#136), the Oz the Manga Epilogue, and the 7th Gold Digger Pocket Manga volume.

Archie have the latest issue of Sabrina (#74).

Boom! have the second issue of Planetary Brigade.

Dark Horse have the 9th Samurai Executioner volume, collections of Chronicle of Conan (vol. 10) and Concrete (vol. 4), the debut of Conan: Book of Thoth, and the latest issue of the regular Conan (#26).

DC make silver age Superman fans happy with Showcase Presents Superman Family & Superman: Daily Planet collections, along with the OYL Superman #650. The rest of y'all will just have to make do with new issues of 100 Bullets (#70), DMZ (#5), JLA Classified (#18), Majestic (#15), Seven Soldiers: Bulleteer (#4), Infinite Crisis Secret Files 2006; and the OYL titles Birds of Prey (#92) & Green Arrow (#60).

DR Masters have the 17th(!) volume of Iron Wok Jan.

IDW have the penultimate issue of Angel: Old Friends (#4) and the debut issue of Spike vs. Dracula.

Image have new issues of Beyond Avalon (#3), Girls (#11), and The Walking Dead (#26).

Marvel have a collection of the better-than-you-thought-it-would-be Drax the Destroyer: Earth Fall; an Essential Godzilla collection; and new issues of Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (#6), Fury: Peacemaker (#2), and Runaways (#14).

Oni have Hope Larson's Gray Horses.

Viz have the 6th volume of Tezuka's Phoenix.


And that wraps things up for this week. Enjoy your new comics!

New Library Comics: Week of March 6, 2006

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


Abnett, Dan. Inquisitor ascendant. Book 1, The taint of Nicodemus / [Nottingham] : Black Library, 2002.

Boy trouble : gay boy comics with a new attitude /Seattle, WA : Boy Trouble Books, c2004.

Campbell, Eddie, 1955- Graffiti kitchen /Paddington Q, Aus. : Eddie Campbell Comics, c1998.

Eisner, Will. The contract with God trilogy : life on Dropsie Avenue /New York : W.W. Norton, c2006.