Shonen Jump: Not girly enough

Some linkiness: I (along with the rest of the world) was unaware of Rick Veitch's involvement with the creation of the Marvel Comics character the Sentry, but he has the story in a series of posts on his blog. I pretty much hate the character, but there's a germ of an interesting idea in there, and now I can attribute that to Veitch, and all the lame stuff to Paul Jenkins.

Looks like Powers is getting relaunched again, and it's supposedly going to come out monthly. We'll see how that goes. I still need to read the most recent collection...

The new "issue" of Dark Horse Presents (relocated to DH's site, at least for now) is up, and it's a good one, with a superhero story by Gilbert Hernandez, a "Giant Man" tale by Matt Kindt, and a Buffy story illustrated by Jo Chen. Cool.

I like this illustration of Macchu Picchu by Paul Pope.

And speaking of Pope, he did some really cool illustration work on this (mostly safe for work) photo gallery of girls in various states of undress for Marc Ecko's Complex magazine. Man, that guy can draw.

On the manga weirdness front, Scott Green has posted a couple pages from Hiroaki "Blade of the Immortal" Samura's series Halcyon Lunch. Freaky!

Oh, and I also blathered on about last week's episode of I Survived a Japanese Game Show over at The Factual Opinion.

Okay, on to my bitching:

Shonen Jump

August 2009

Since I had a subscription to Shojo Beat, I'm now receiving issues of Viz's manga magazine from the other side of the gender divide. I deeply mourn the loss of my monthly dose of girliness, so why not take it out on a few series that I have little knowledge about? That's not all that fair, but it's at least an interesting exercise to jump into a long-running series and see how much I can understand and how well information is conveyed to a new reader. As with SB, the series cover a range of quality, from enjoyable and well-done to tiresomely obtuse and hard-to-follow. That's the way it goes, I suppose. As for non-manga content, what there is is pretty negligible, mostly related to anime, video game, and collectible card game tie-ins to the various manga series. There's also reader-submitted fan-art, which is nice to see; even the lesser series can inspire creativity.

Okay, lets's see what sort of sequential storytelling this magazine has to offer:

Waqwaq

By Ryu Fujisaki

The title of this series amuses me; it sounds like a duck's noise. I'm not sure what to make of it, but it's got a few somewhat interesting ideas behind it. The first couple of pages feature some psychedelic coloring (of the sort that can be seen on the cover of the first digest volume), but the rest of the story loses that energy, taking place in a vast post-apocalyptic wasteland. Apparently humans have been driven underground by killer robots and taken to living in earthen-domed cities. Our heroes are a traveling father and son; it turns out that the father is Guardian Al, a guy who can combine with their pet, a good robot, and defend humanity against the nasty machines. Of course, a shonen series isn't going to follow somebody who is already an established, respected champion, so you know something is going to have to happen to the father that will make him pass his mantle on to his son, the skunk-headed son. Sure enough, an attack by a giant horde of robots that take the shape of a giant man-like figure ends with a heroic death, and young Shio gets saddled not only with being a guardian, but the responsibility of protecting a (time-displaced?) young girl who seems to be the supernatural power behind the machine attack.

Thats some pretty basic Shonen stuff, and there's definitely some crazy energy here, but the action can get hard to follow at times. Still, there are some interestingly weird touches, like the organic designs of the machines, or the techno-symbiotic way they combine with people:

Or the bizarre appearance of a smiley face on the machine man:

The first chapter of a series isn't usually enough to make a complete decision, so things could easily get tiresome after this, but there's potential here, so it might be something to keep an eye on, if goofy shonen robot-battling is your sort of thing.

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Naruto

By Masashi Kishimoto

Oh lord, this is obviously not the place to jump into this incredibly long-running series (this issue of the magazine contains chapters 434-437); I was not only completely lost, but even though it was all high-stakes fights, most of it came off as boring, and surprisingly slow-paced. Naruto is fighting a guy named Pain, who can apparently possess several bodies at once, with the main one looking like a double of Naruto himself, except with black studs along the sides of his nose and concentric circles in his eyes. He's incredibly powerful, and Naruto is trying to figure out a way to defeat him, along with some frog mentors and a slug (?) that rides his shoulder. While there are occasional blows struck, most of the time seems to be spent discussing strategies, chakras, "jutsus" , and who knows what other gibberish. When the actual action happens, it's pretty cool:

But about halfway through this series of chapters, Naruto gets pinned to the ground with a sword (or whatever the black rod weapon that Pain uses is), and the two opponents spend an interminable amount of time arguing about peace and justice. There's probably some backstory involving rival ninja clans here, so for longtime fans it might be an interesting and enlightening debate, but for me, it's tedious talk when there could be more punching going on. Come on, I expect some awesome ninja skills when reading Naruto; if I wanted confrontations that consist of characters talking angrily at each other, I would still be reading Vampire Knight!

The final chapter ends with Naruto transforming into a giant, multi-tailed fox spirit, which seems cool, although it seems to be exactly what the bad guy wants, so who knows, it could lead to more tediousness. Find out next month!

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Ultimo

By Hiroyuki Takei

Original Concept by Stan Lee

Ah, it's the notorious manga "written" by Stan Lee! He's only credited with "original concept" here, so it looks like the heavy lifting has been done by Shaman King creator Hiroyuki Takei, but I do notice that a key character (who doesn't actually appear anywhere outside of the title page this chapter) has been given ol' Stan's likeness, with a bit of beefing up and a ponytail:

That's funny. Anyway, this is only the second chapter, so it's not too hard to jump into the story here. Apparently, the series concerns two robot puppets, Ultimo and Vice, who were created in the 12th century by some sort of old-school mad scientist (the Stan Lee character), supposedly embodying good and evil, respectively, with the intent of having them battle to find out which is stronger. Uh huh. Now, in the present day, a kid named Yamato (who seems to be the reincarnation of a bandit from the past, or something) comes across Ultimo in an antiques shop, and his presence makes the robot boy wake up, declare Yamato to be his master, and get all frantic about finding Vice and stopping him before he obtains a master and becomes powerful. And then, sure enough, Vice shows up and attacks Yamato and his friend, slicing a bus in half with a huge claw and prompting Ultimo to show up and save the day. As with too many of these types of things, there's only a little bit of action, with several pages taken up by the characters posturing at each other. It's still kind of cool, since Ultimo is floating in midair, holding half of a bus in each hand, and Vice has a ridiculous thirty-foot-long giant claw sticking off the end of his arm:

I'm not so sure about the character designs; Takei seems to favor highly-exaggerated features, so the robots have overly skinny limbs and torsos, but wear flamboyantly poofy clothes (and, in the case of Ultimo, a halter top that makes him appear to have breasts) and sport hugely spiky hair. That's not all that uncommon in shonen manga, but it's a bit much for me. Still, I don't mind this one all that much; it's kind of silly so far, and I doubt it will be a highlight of Stan Lee's career, but it's probably going to be fairly enjoyable.

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One Piece

By Eiichiro Oda

This is probably another series that's much too far into the story to make sense at this point (rather than a ridiculously high chapter number, this is the 56th and 57th installments of the current storyline, "Alabasta"), but it's still pretty enjoyable, even though we're jumping in right at the climax. Our crew of piratical heroes are apparently mixed up in a revolution in some small country, with most of them in the midst of a city-wide battle. There are some scenes in which a girl who I guess is the princess has climbed to the top of a clock tower and is screaming at everyone to stop fighting. That's probably supposed to be dramatic, but I've got no context. More interesting is the fight going on elsewhere between the rubbery-limbed Monkey D. Luffy and the bad guy, a big dude named Crocodile. There's no boring posing going on here; the fight is all a flurry of crazy action, with the highlight being a bit in which Luffy kicks Crocodile up through a building's roof and high up into the air, then sucks in a bunch of air and shoots himself up into the sky in order to deliver a crazy multi-fisted attack. It's awesome.

Oda's art is pretty amazing too, although I did have a slight bit of trouble following the action at times. But he really sells the hard-hitting nature of the fighting, with everybody's faces and bodies streaked with dirt and smeared with blood (I assume; it's hard to tell in black and white). But at the same time, the crazy exaggeration keeps things appearing cartoony and fun:

And while there's a large amount of destruction, with buildings being toppled left and right, we're assured that it's okay by Luffy's huge grin, signifying that it's all a fun romp through this milieu of scurvy scalawags. Sure, I might not really know what is going on here, but I had a hell of a time reading it. This is much more like it.

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Tegami Bachi

By Hiroyuki Asada

And it's back to the realm of incomprehensibility, which is pretty remarkable, since this is only the fourth chapter of this series. From what I can piece together, it takes place in some sort of medieval-ish fantasyland, and Lag, our intrepid boy hero (there's one in every shonen series, of course), wants to be a Letter Bee, one of an elite group of Pony Express-style messengers who are allowed to travel across the uninhabited areas between cities. He's joined by the requisite band of adventurers, with the most interesting one being a weird feral girl named Niche who has prehensile, sword-like hair. But the main focus of this chapter is a different girl named Nelli, who, along with a bunch of other people, is trying to steal Lag's Crossing Pass, which allows passage on a bridge between cities. Got that? Because I don't know if I did. Nelli wants to find a guy named Jiggy Pepper (gotta love the names in this series) who abandoned her and her younger brother, eventually leading to the boy's death of sickness. Boo hoo. We get some chases, some weird shit involving Lag's power, Niche trying to get Lag to admit she's his "dingo" (servant? I dunno), and a big monster attack. I suppose it all makes a sort of sense if you just go with the flow, but this is the kind of manga that makes me say "I'm too old for this shit".

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YuYu Hakusho

By Yoshihiro Tagashi

Wow, this series is still going? Do kids even like this sort of thing? It seems so old-fashioned. I can barely follow it, but as with most of the content of this magazine, it's very far into a long series, so it's probably silly of me to expect to do so. As far as I can tell, this one is about demons and fighting tournaments in the afterlife, and the current storyline sees several powerful rivals planning to compete in a massive tournament that will decide who rules the "Pemon Plane". Sounds like a big deal. The chapter here (which takes the One Piece tack, being the 12th part of the current storyline) seems to be a preliminary one, positioning the various competitors as they make alliances and prepare to wage battle, or whatever. I find it kind of boring, with maybe some slightly humorous moments here and there; the main thing that I take away is the surprising crudeness of the artwork. A lot of the characters seem roughly sketched onto the page, without much energy going into the details at all. Why would I want to read something like this on a regular basis? It's boring and ugly. Next!

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Bleach

By Tite Kubo

And here's another one of the better series; after this chapter, I can see why some people like this manga so much. Again, it's quite a ways into a long series (although only chapter 11-13 of the current storyline, "Journey to Hueco Mundo"), but I feel like I'm able to jump in and go with the flow without feeling so confused that I want to throw the magazine on the floor. I don't know what hollows, arrancars, or espadas are, but I get that there's a girl named Orihime who has been kidnapped by bad guys, and they're trying to screw with her psychologically and get her to betray her pals. And meanwhile, said pals are making their way through the bad guys' fortress in an attempt to rescue her. That makes enough sense for me.

The real highlight here is Tite Kubo's dynamic artwork, which is really clear and exciting in the fight scenes. Our hero Ichigo comes across a guy named Dordoni, who initially appears to be a pushover, given his clumsy entrance and goofy matador-like attire. But soon enough, he's kicking Ichigo through walls and doing pretty awesome stuff:

And he even sprouts some crazy spikes from his shoulders and his pants grow nozzles that shoot out huge, prehensile clouds of smoke, or something. I dunno, it's weird and crazy and pretty cool. I'm pretty floored by how well Kubo conveys motion during the action; check out the middle panel of the second image just above; the dense lines on Dordoni's clothes work as shading, but they're also like speed lines, showing that he's flying through the air toward Ichigo. And the same lines work in the next panel to show Ichigo jerking his head upward in anticipation of the next blow. That's some nice work there.

So yeah, I still don't really know what's going on here, but it's still hella fun to read. Why can't all the series in the magazine be like this?

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Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Story and art by Naoyuki Kageyama, in collaboration with Brain Navi

Original concept/supervised by Kazuki Takahashi

It seems like I should be lost on this series as well, since it's a spin-off or follow-up to the long-running card-battle series that seemed hugely popular a few years ago, but not so much, really. I only have a vague notion of how the game the series is built around actually works, but the few episodes I've seen of the anime show (along with most of the movie, which came out when I used to work at a movie theater, so I watched bits of it here and there) were enjoyable enough; it always cracks me up when they shout "I summon Mega Fire Dragon! Now attack, with Ultimate Blast!" or something like that. It's so dramatic.

Anyway, this version of the series follows some students at a Duel Academy that apparently teaches only how to play silly card games, since that's what's important in life. There's some intrigue about Jaden, the main character, angling for a higher rank and competing against the school champions or something, and a subplot about a malevolent demonic presence, but that's all fluff; the real fun is just watching them play the game. It's pretty much exactly like the anime, with cards being drawn and weird creatures attacking each other, and characters revealing some amazing hidden strategy to everyone's shock and amazement. I dunno, that's pretty stupid when described (or watched, or read, etc...), but I find it kind of enjoyable, in a cheesy way. Characters shouting "I'm not going to hold back! I'm going all out!" and that sort of thing. It might not be great, transcendent shonen manga, but it's fun for what it is. I can't really fault it too much. Yes, I'm sure those words will attract many readers. Enjoy, weirdoes!

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Aw, that was much too positive of a way to end this. I was hoping to shout and swear and cry, showing my anguish at the loss of my beloved girls' comics. Overall, I would give the series in the magazine a thumbs-up for maybe three, or three and a half of the seven series (with Ultimo, Yu-Gi-Oh, and maybe Naruto getting a half a thumb, even if that doesn't make sense. Oh, and another half a thumb for the Waqwaq preview, why not?). That's probably around the level of Shojo Beat, but I was more invested in those series. We'll see how it goes, I guess, but probably not for too long; I don't think all that much more is left on my subscription.

Magic Trixie and the Dragon: If I didn't already have a daughter, I would want to adopt this little girl

I'm a nerd:

Magic Trixie and the Dragon

By Jill Thompson

It might be odd that I find myself so charmed by a grade-school-age magical girl and her heartwarming adventures in lesson-learning, but I don't care. With Magic Trixie, Jill Thompson has created a fun, energetic, and oh-so-cute little girl that is simply a delight to spend time with, at least in book form; in real life, she would probably be exhausting. But that's the charm of this kind of fiction, and each new book in the series finds new ways to endear her to us.

Yes, it's more of the same type of simple lessons this time out, with Magic Trixie learning to appreciate the good things she has at home instead of lusting after the impossible. It's kind of similar to the morals in both of the previous two volumes (which could be boiled down, respectively, to "younger siblings aren't all that bad" and "there's no place like home"), but slightly different. Here, the object of Magic Trixie's affection is a dragon, with the yearning kicked into high gear after a visit to the circus and the viewing of a high-flying, fire-breathing, scaly monster act. It's a love affair that bears a lot of similarities to the stereotypical young girl begging for a pony, and this leaves poor kittycat pal Scratches in the lurch, feeling inadequate as a companion:

And surprisingly, considering that the previous books were limited mostly to low-key uses of magic, this adventure is much more adventurous. The simple task of transmogrifying baby sister Abby Cadabra's dirty diapers leads to an accidental transformation of Abby herself into an actual dragon when Magic Trixie's mind wanders during spellcasting, and the rest of the story consists of attempts to hide the results and clean up after the inevitable mess, not to mention reuniting with Scratches after he up and leaves when he thinks he has been replaced. It's fast-paced and exciting, with lots of pages of frenzied motion and horrified reactions, all culminating in a high-flying escape that is simultaneously scary and thrilling.

It's great stuff, of course, and as always, Thompson's sumptuous art is what brings everything to colorful, thriving life. No, more than that; it leaps off the page and drags the reader right into the story; you feel like you're part of Magic Trixie's crazy world. The range of emotions that our little witch displays is expansive, from complete and total awe at the sight of cavorting dragons:

To frustration and despair when she accidentally makes her friends think she owns one:

And check out the contrast between the skinny-limbed child and the adults she encounters like the gentleman above; they feature mostly-realistic anatomy, but don't seem out of place next to her cartooniness. And the details that Thompson packs into the panels really helps to bring the story to life; check out Magic Trixie's parents trying to enjoy a simple evening around the house while being constantly interrupted by frantic implorations:

Or the way Magic Trixie's dad reacts to Grandma Mimi's gift of fashionable accessories:

And there's plenty more, like the Evel Knievel-style performance garb of cousin Tansy's dragon-rider boyfriend (sorry, Caleb), Mimi's multi-broomed carriage-esque conveyance, or all the distinctive people and sights around the circus. The title character definitely gets the most panel time, but the way everyone and everything around her comes to life along with her makes the whole book just sing with energy and exuberance. It's one of the best comics reading experiences out there, even for those of us who are far, far out of the ideal age group. Let's hope Thompson doesn't quit crafting these beautiful books anytime soon.

This week, there's still too much stuff to buy

Elsewhere: I reviewed Marvel Divas #1 at Comics Bulletin, and talked about I Survived a Japanese Game Show at The Factual Opinion. Also, Swordsmith Assassin #1 over at IndiePulp.

I'm slacking off on the blogging here, aren't I? More to come, hopefully, but at least there's this:

New comics this week (Wednesday, 7/8/09):

All Star Superman #1 Special Edition

DC is still putting out these Watchmen-related promo issues, and this is a good one, if not exactly all that Watchmen-y. Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, a darn good beginning to their excellent series. Only a buck, so check it out if you haven't read it.

BPRD 1947 #1

I don't normally mention these series, not because I'm uninterested, but because I'm so far behind on the various series that it will be a while before I get around to reading them. This one is especially notable though, because it's illustrated by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba. I bet it will look awesome. Mike Mignola and Joshua Dysart write, as usual, and it continues the WWII-era stories of the team. Cool.

House of Mystery #15

I need to read the second collected volume of this series; it's on my massive pile of things to get to (as opposed to my even-more-massive (and also imaginary) pile of things I would like to read eventually). The monthly pamphlets are still coming out, and the guest artist for this issue is David Hahn. Yay?

North 40 #1

This miniseries by Aaron Williams (ps238) and Fiona Staples has to do with monsters taking over a small town, or something like that. I don't know if it will be good, but it's notable for being one of the creator-owned books that Wildstorm is releasing. Hopefully it will be good.

President Evil

Another week, another stupid Obama comic. Why bother mentioning it? I dunno; maybe because the title amuses me ever-so-slightly. Being a play on the video game Resident Evil, it's about zombies, so it gets to invoke another tired comics gimmick. Yawn.

Tom Strong #1 Special Edition

Watchmen-related promo #2! This is another one that's not especially Watchmen-like, but since it's written by Alan Moore, people might be interested. Not my favorite of Moore's ABC comics, but there's some decent stuff in there, like Chris Sprouse's art. I suppose it's worth a dollar.

Uncanny X-Men First Class #1

Jeff Parker's "untold tales of the X-Men" got cancelled (or just ended; I wasn't really keeping up with its status) in favor of this new series, which could be described as "untold tales of the All-New, All-Different X-Men". Sure, why not? You've still got Roger Cruz on art, but Parker has been replaced by Scott Gray, who I only know from occasional collaborations with Roger Langridge. I imagine it will be enjoyable and readable, but I'm not really interested in this languishing in the past, so I'll probably skip it. But if it's your thing, read the fuck out of it, man, don't let me stop you.

Wasteland #25 Special Double Issue

Ooh, special anniversary issue! Or something like that; the series doesn't come out regularly enough to celebrate an actual temporal anniversary, so the occasion celebrated is 25 issues. Anyway, as the title says, it's a double-sized extravaganza, and it's even in full color! Falling in between storylines, it's one of those flashback stories about Michael's past, but Christopher Mitten is still illustrating. I bet it will be quite good.

Wednesday Comics #1

One of the bigger events of an already-busy week, DC is doing this weekly series that has many people (including myself) excited. It's a newspaper-style comic section, featuring several serials by some great talents including Paul Pope, Kyle Baker, Neil Gaiman and Mike Allred, Amanda Conner, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, and plenty of others that I can't remember right now. Twelve "issues" of giant-sized coolness; I hope it does not disappoint. Don't let me down, DC!

100 Bullets Vol 13 Wilt

And here's the next big release of the week; the final collection of one of my favorite comics of all time. I expect I'll drop everything and power through this, making notes along the way as to how to update my complicated character relationship chart. I'll be sorry to see this end, but at the same time, I'm expecting Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso to blow my mind with how they do it.

Asterios Polyp GN

This one is another big release, although it might have already come out in bookstores. David Mazzucchelli's graphic novel is sure to be one of the most talked-about books of the year, and probably really damn good to boot. With everything else I'm buying, and the pile of books I still need to read, I don't think I can afford the thirty dollar price tag, but I'm sure the library will get it. Still, I encourage everybody to check it out, however they can. Literary comics, go!

Back To Brooklyn TP Direct Market Edition

Was this Garth Ennis/Jimmy Palmiotti thing any good? I don't remember reading much in the way of positive appraisals back when the early issues came out; I think it was noted as pretty violent and kind of over-stiff art? Still, it might be a fun read.

Bone One Vol Ed SC 13th ptg

Man, this thing just keeps rolling on, doesn't it? As it should; it's a great comic. This single-volume brick is a great (if kind of unwieldy) way to read it, and probably the best deal too. It's 40 bucks, but that gets you over 1000 pages of Jeff Smith awesomeness. Now that the colorized versions of the series are finished, I expect a one-volume color book will be coming out, but I still think the black and white is my preferred look. But I highly recommend it either way.

Everybody is Stupid Except for Me & Other Astute Observations

Peter Bagge! This is a collection of the strips he did for Reason magazine, a regular fount of libertarian politics. There's some great material in here, whether you agree with the opinions or not, since Bagge does some great cartooning and good journalism, providing hilarious insights into topics like art, public transportation, homelessness, and gun ownership. If you're cheap like me, you can read the strips online here, but you can also see a sample of the book at Fantagraphics' page.

Forever Nuts Classic Screwball Strips Bringing Up Father HC

NBM has this latest entry into their series of classic comic strips, this one being about a lower-class guy who gets into conflicts with his family when they come into money. I think this one was excerpted in Art Out of Time, and it was quite good. Here's a preview; I certainly wouldn't mind checking it out.

Marvel 70th Anniversary TP

I was surprised that Marvel was putting out a collection of their 70th anniversary specials so quickly, but that's not the case. No, this is more of an overview of the various comics they've published over the years (everything from Submariner #1 to Captain America #25, with stops in Fantastic Four, Uncanny X-Men, and Ultimate Spider-Man along the way), in case you've never heard of the company before. Enjoy, suckers!

Marvel Art of Marko Djurdjevic HC

Weird, Marvel doesn't usually publish "art" books like this, do they? I figure this is one of those collections of covers, like DC has done with Dave McKean or James Jean. I like Djurdjevic's work, but I don't know if this is really worth getting, unless you really want to see a lot of Daredevil and Thor striking poses. To each his own, I guess.

MMW Warlock HC Vol 2

This is a series I should check out sometime; Jim Starlin at his trippy 70s best. Crazy shit, from what people like Geoff Klock tell me.

Nobody HC

Another notable release! Jeff Lemire's Vertigo graphic novel appears to be a sort of retelling of The Invisible Man, with nice emotional touches and whatnot. I bet it will be good.

Pixu TP Vol 1 Mark of Evil

And here's another one! This Dark Horse release collects the minicomics by Becky Cloonan, Vasilis Lolos, Fabio Moon, and Gabriel Ba, a horror comic about a haunted house. It's a nice little hardcover, and it will surely look nice and sport some great atmosphere. Read it!

POP Wonderland Series Vol 1 Thumbelina HC

I don't know if this book originated in Japan or the US, but it's a version of the fairy tale by Michiyo Hayano, the creator of Moetan. It's sure to be quite cute; here's a preview.

Prince Valiant HC Vol 1 1937-1938

I think Fantagraphics has attempted to release reprints of Hal Foster's classic strip before, and now they're taking another whack at it. The difference this time around: better reproduction technology and access to original artwork means that you get some really good-looking versions of the comics (see here for more information). If that floats your boat, this is the way to go. Here, have a preview.

Rasl Collectors ED HC

Did I mention Jeff Smith? Here's another release from him this week, if you like spending money. It's a fancy version of the first collection of his current series; fifty bucks for three issues of material, plus some extras and a hard cover. I bet he'll enjoy rolling around naked on a bed covered with your money, you rich fucks.

RUNAWAYS PREM HC Teenage Wasteland

Speaking of fancy versions of books, here's another edition of Marvel putting out an expensive collection of something you can get for cheap. This contains what was in the second digest of the first volume of the series, only now you can spend twenty bucks on it. I guess the original book that collected the entire first volume is out of print. Oh, wait, no it's not! Screw you, Marvel.

Showcase Presents Batlash TP

I don't usually buy the black and white phonebook reprints that the big two put out, but I might make an exception for this series; classic western comics from Sergio Aragones and others. Good times, great oldies.

Sinfest TP Dark Horse ED Vol 01

Dark Horse's latest webcomics-in-print book, collecting a bunch of Tatsuya Ishida's nicely-illustrated strip. From what I've read of it, it's pretty decent, taking a sweetly-satirical look at religion and such, but I haven't found it to be revelatory or anything. It sure looks nice though. As always, I note that you can read it for free online if you don't want to spend the money. I'm cheap, you see.

Superman Whatever Happened to Man of Tomorrow HC

Everybody loves this Alan Moore-written story that ended the pre-Crisis Superman mythos, but I didn't find it to be all that amazing when I read it, beyond being kind of surprised at the general carnage that went on as most of the supporting cast was killed off. Also in this volume: "For the Man Who Has Everything", a story that I do think deserves its reputation, and also the issue where Superman meets Swamp Thing. Not a whole lot of content, but now you can spend $25 on it!

X-Men Shattering TP

Really? Marvel thinks people really want to read these horrible comics from the late 90s, when everybody was running away from their comics in droves? I suppose if you're an Alan Davis completist, you'll want this, but I imagine you can find the original issues in quarter bins, rather than spending 35 dollars (!) on this bullshit.

Cat Paradise Vol 1 GN

And on to the manga section of the week's releases; this stuff never ends. Yen Press has this series from the creator of King of Thorn and Chikyu Misaki about a girl who brings her cat to her school dorm and ends up in the middle of a battle involving demon cats, or something like that. I'm sure cat people will find it tons of fun. Yes, that means I might end up reading it at some point.

ChocoMimi Vol 1 TP

Now that Shojo Beat has ended, I might have to read this sort of thing just to get my girliness levels back up. It's a super-cutesy series aimed at preteen girls about two characters who do all sorts of girly crap involving clothes and crafts and other sweet stuff. Actually, that's almost certainly beyond my tolerance levels, but I imagine it's still a good bit of fluff for those who are so inclined. Here's a nice review.

Game X Rush Vol 1 GN

This series sounds interesting, but I don't know if it will be worth getting, given the flak Tokyopop has been taking lately for their decreased production values. Still, the concept of the world's greatest assassin facing off against the world's greatest bodyguard sounds fun. It's something to flip through if I see it at Borders, I guess.

Honey Hunt Vol 2 GN

The second collection of Miki Aihara's latest series. I covered it when it was running in Shojo Beat, and it's decent, although it certainly has its problems. If you can handle Aihara's eccentricities, it does have some charms, and maybe it will get better. Just be prepared for a lot of whining.

Leave It To PET Vol 2 TP

This kids' series from Viz sounded pretty interesting (here's a good review), so I wouldn't mind checking it out. Here's volume 2, meaning I'm behind again.

NANA Vol 17 TP

Gaah, speaking of being behind. I have three or four volumes of this series (which is one of my favorites, so I have no excuse for not reading it) sitting on my pile at home. I keep losing ground; I'm going to need to take a week off work and just read comics to catch up.

Neon Genesis Evangelion The Shinji Ikari Raising Project Vol 1 TPB

I haven't read any of the Evangelion manga, so I don't know how it differs from the anime, but this series just seems weird. It's apparently based on that fantasy sequence in the final episode where Shinji and friends were in an alternate reality that was like a goofy sitcom version of their lives. Why they would want to stretch that out into its own series is beyond me, but I guess if you're an Evangelion freak, you'll buy anything that ties in. Enjoy, weirdos.

Shonen Jump Vol 7 #8 August 2009

Can this possibly fill the hole that the cancellation of Shojo Beat has left in my life? My subscription to that magazine has been replaced with this one until it runs out, and having received this issue, I might as well write about it once I finish reading it. It's enjoyable enough, but I'm not finding it to be an adequate replacement. That probably comes from confusion after jumping into the middle of a bunch of stories, but I don't care; my heartbreak will be taken out on Naruto and company. Ooh, they're so gonna get it.

Swallowing The Earth Vol 1 GN

And here's one final big release for the week. Digital Manga is putting out this lesser-known work by Osamu Tezuka, and considering my status as an abject Tezuka worshipper, I'll have to get it as soon as possible. It apparently has to do with some sort of aquatic goddess taking revenge on men for their crimes against women? I bet it will be crazy, weird, hilarious, and awesome. I can't wait.

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Wow, I'm going to go broke buying comics that go straight on my unread pile. We truly live in an age of sequential wonders. And maybe I'll even do some blogging this week; wouldn't that be nice.

This week, comics appear on shelves, and people will buy them. You know the drill

I think I already used up all my links that I was saving.

Wait, I found one: the latest "issue" of Myspace Dark Horse Presents has a "Dr. Horrible" prequel illustrated by Jim Rugg. Also, a Hellboy story starring a young Dr. Bruttenholm and a cute two-pager by Nicholas Kole. Decent readin'.

New comics this week (Wednesday, 7/1/09):

Agents of Atlas #7

Jeff Parker! I'm really enjoying this series, so hopefully it's selling well enough to last a while longer, at least. This issue, which is once again illustrated by the excellent Gabriel Hardman, sees the wedding of Namor and Namora, maybe. Gross? Hot? We'll find out!

Bad Kids Go to Hell #1

I dunno about this one; it's published by Antarctic Press, which isn't usually a sign of quality, but it does sound interesting. The blurb describes it as "The Breakfast Club meets the The Grudge", with a story that sees a prep school haunted by an evil spirit. Could be decent, could be lame.

Batman and Robin #2

Morrison and Quitely! The first issue of this was pretty good, although it felt like mostly setup to me. Still, I love the action scenes that integrate sound effects into the art, and there are some hints of real creepiness to come, along with good characterization on the leads. I'll pick up the first three issues at least, and probably skip the non-Quitely ones for now. Can't miss out on excellent artwork.

Boys #32

Garth Ennis is still going strong; apparently last issue saw a major character die, but I'm trying to avoid spoiling who it was exactly. Dammit, that's what I get when I wait for the trade. Carlos Esquerra is still doing the art; I bet it will be a pretty good read, whenever I get around to it.

Chew #2

The first issue of this series seemed to go over pretty well among the online commentariat. I might have to give this series a try. For those who are unaware, it's about a detective who gets psychic impressions from whatever he eats; also, there's some business about black market chicken after it gets outlawed due to bird flu. Interesting?

Cursed Pirate Girl #0

I believe the first issue of this series already came out, but I guess this is a preview issue or something that keeps the interest up while waiting for the second? I can't find much information online, but this review indicates that it has a four-page story and some other content. I really need to check out this series; the art by Jeremy Bastian is gorgeous.

Destroyer #4

Man, this series is nuts, isn't it? Robert Kirkman's usual writing tics are in effect, but this series seems about as violent as he's ever gotten, or at least as bloody. It's so over-the-top that characters spend entire scenes coated in red from head to toe; that's pretty hilarious. If you can stand the earnest writing that seems lifted straight from an action movie starring John Cena, give it a read.

Existence 2.0 #1

This is one of those series from Image that features a sort of sci-fi concept that might be interesting; who knows if it will ever finish though. It's something about a physicist who gets killsed, but his consciousness transfers into the body of his killer, and he has to solve his own murder, or something. Here's a preview.

Fantastic Four #568

I think Mark Millar and Brian Hitch's run is coming to a close soon, maybe at the end of this storyline? I still don't really buy the whole "Dr. Doom's teachers showing up to destroy the Earth" angle, but it could turn out okay. Last issue saw them apparently kill Doom and then dump his body in the Pleistocene era; who wants to bet that he survives and spends 20 years building a time machine or something, and then returns and saves the day?

Finding Nemo Reef Rescue #1 (of 4)

Boom! Studios keeps going with their Disney/Pixar books, this one functioning as a sequel to the movie, with the stars returning and going on another adventure. Giving it a glance, it certainly looks bright and cute. If it gets into the hands of any kids, I'm sure they'll eat it right up.

Greek Street #1

Ooh, this is one that I'm a little bit excited about. It's a new Vertigo series from writer Peter Milligan, doing a sort of retelling of Greek tragedies and mythology set in modern-day London.

Northlanders' David Gianfelice provides the art; I bet it will be quite good. Don't let me down, Milligan!

Invincible Iron Man #15

I've been following this series with trepidation, since I feel like Matt Fraction is kind of struggling to maintain his creativity while working in the Marvel Comics salt mines, but while his current storyline started out a bit awkwardly, as if forced into place by editorial fiat, it's started getting better. I still don't see why Tony Stark has to erase his own mind, but Fraction is trying his damndest to make it interesting, having him slowly lose his facilities and have to switch to ever-simpler versions of his armor. Not a bad idea, and the characterization is still pretty good. I don't know if I would go so far as to recommend it, especially with the kinda-ugly Salvador Larocca art, but it's not a terrible read.

Marvel Divas #1

Oh, the controversial "Sex in the City with superheroines" comic! Will it live up to the (mostly negative) hype? Will everyone be appalled by the sexism, or will they be surprised at the rich characters and their compelling love lives? Or will anyone bother looking inside after seeing the hideous cover? Find out tomorrow; I'll have a review up at Comics Bulletin.

Unwritten #1 2nd Printing

I didn't read this when it originally came out, but I did get a free copy at MoCCA, and I thought it was actually quite good. Now I'm intrigued, enough to try to obtain a copy of the trade, at least. I'm not always on board with Mike Carey, but he seems to be doing something interesting here, and I want to see how it turns out.

USA Comics #1

Another of Marvel's 70th anniversary comics, this one starring the Destroyer, fightin' the Nazis well before he got old and covered in blood by Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker. John Arcudi writes, Steve Ellis (High Moon) draws, and you can read a reprint of one of his early adventures in the back of the book. Fun, hopefully.

Witchfinder In the Service of Angels #1

Mike Mignola's newest Hellboy-verse series, about a Victorian-era dude who presumably finds witches. I liked the story starring the character that was on Myspace Dark Horse Presents last year, so I bet this will also be good. Man, Mignola just keeps going, doesn't he? That's good for everybody.

Y The Last Man #1 Special Edition

Here's the latest thing that DC has going to capitalize on the Watchmen movie; only one dollar for the first issue of this series. I did really love this series while it was going, and this first installment is a good one for getting people hooked, so if you haven't read it, I recommend giving it a try. You'll be eagerly following the adventures of Yorick the last dude on Earth in no time.

Boys Vol 4 TPB We Gotta Go Now

Hey, it's the collection of that "X-Men" storyline that recently finished! From what I heard, it went on a bit long, but it had a hell of a finish. I do like this series quite a bit, so I'll be picking this up. Don't let me down, Garth Ennis!

Far Arden HC

This new release from Top Shelf looks to be pretty enjoyable. It's by Kevin Cannon (who I recently learned is not Zander Cannon's brother, even though the two of them seem inseparable), and it's about a sailor searching for the mystical island of the title. It looks like great fun, full of action, humor, and funny sound effects. I definitely plan to pick it up. I also recommend Tom Spurgeon's recent interview with Cannon, which was quite enjoyable.

Firebreather Vol 1 TP New Printing

I never did get a chance to read this Phil Hester/Andy Kuhn series about the son of a giant monster and his various adventures. I think this is a collection of the original miniseries, rather than the second, ongoing volume, although I'm not completely sure. It's supposed to be good, isn't it?

Classic GI Joe TP Vol 4

I kind of doubt I'll ever read these stories from the Larry Hama-written Marvel run of the series, but I'm hoping Tucker Stone does, as long as it leads to fun write-ups like the one he did of the first volume for the Savage Critics.

The Goon Vol 8 Those That Is Damned TPB

I believe this volume collects the series up through the most recent issue, completing the year-long storyline that saw the Goon and Franky fight a resurrected Labrazio and keep him from taking over the town. Good stuff, with plenty of sick jokes, poignant moments, and great art from Eric Powell. I give it two severed thumbs up (that joke was dumb).

Magic Trixie And The Dragon TP

This came out last week, but I missed it somehow, so I'm mentioning it this week. I love this kids' series by Jill Thompson, so I recommend that everybody reads this. I should have a review up soon, but in the meantime, here's what I thought of the first two. Caleb Mozzocco seems to have also become obsessed with her recently, to my delight.

Nelson Mandela Authorized Comic Book

Pretty much exactly what it sounds like, a biography of Mandela, with the writer listed as "The Nelson Mandela Foundation", with art by Umlando Wezithombe. Published by W.W. Norton; I guess this is the way to go if you're trying to educate yourself and still remain trendy. Here's the Amazon listing if you're interested.

Runaways Rock Zombies HC

The end of Terry Moore's run on this series wasn't too bad, although the story was mostly saved by Takeshi Miyazawa's artwork. It was only three or four issues long though; does it really need to go into a hardcover and sell for twenty bucks? I say save your money and read the current Kathryn Immonen/Sara Pichelli run; it's much better.

Tales Designed To Thrizzle Vol 1 HC

It's the collection of the first four issues of Michael Kupperman's hilarious series, now in color! This stuff is comedy gold, so get it if you haven't read it already, and hell, spend the extra money to see the non-monochromatic version if you want. Fanta has the usual preview/slideshow, if you're interested.

Voice Of The Fire SC

I don't know if Alan Moore's novel/short story collection is only just coming out in paperback or if this is a new edition, but whatever the case, it's a great book. God, Alan Moore is a genius.

Emma Vol 9 TP

On the manga front, I always hear that this series is really good, so I'll definitely have to check it out at some point. This isn't the place to do so, being (I believe) the final volume and focusing on some tangential characters in the cast. Maybe I'll get to it eventually.

Girl Who Leapt Through Time GN

I'm not sure if this series started out as a manga and was adapted into an anime, but this particular volume is a manga adaptation of the anime, so it's either a second- or third-generation version of the property, and probably not the best way to experience the story. I think I've heard good things about it, so maybe I'll try to watch the anime at some point, but knowing how well adaptations like this usually work out, I wouldn't really give this a recommendation.

My Heavenly Hockey Club Vol 8 GN

Here's another series that I often hear is good. Yes, it's yet another entry in my massive list of stuff to possibly consider reading someday. I've removed that file from my memory so as to keep my brain from reaching capacity, but it exists somewhere in the ether. I'm so organized!

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And that appears to be the extent of this week's notable releases. I may have to visit the comic shop twice in as many weeks! Maybe I'll even do some writing this week too; you never know.

Detroit Metal City: Doesn't everybody prefer demon blood to cheese tarts?

Linkages: I'm sure plenty of people have linked to this Art Spiegelman piece about old editorial cartoons dealing with a ship full of Jewish refugees from 1939, and how that relates to the way cartoonists deal with issues today, but I wanted to make sure I pointed it out, since I found it quite interesting.

In other news, Fantagraphics is putting together a couple of collections of some of Jason's books, which is nice. First is Almost Silent, which will include You Can't Get There From Here, Tell Me Something, Meow, Baby!, and The Living and the Dead. The second, which is tentatively titled What I Did, contains The Iron Wagon, Sshhhh!, and Hey, Wait. I'll probably pick up the second one, but I already own most of the first volume, so I'll pass on that one. Still, good values, good production, great comics, don't miss out if you haven't read them. Jason is awesome.

I'm sure people have been talking about this, but I found it interesting and worth mentioning: Longbox, a digital comics platform that seems based on iTunes. I don't know if it will take off, but it seems like a good, multi-company solution for digital distribution, finally making online comics sales something that makes sense. I'll be watching and seeing how it plays out.

I don't know if this is new or not, but you can read Agents of Atlas #0 for free at Marvel's digital comics site; it's a nice prequel to the series that's currently running, filling in the gaps between the miniseries and the ongoing. Go Jeff Parker!

Also not all that new: the official American trailer for Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo! I can't wait to see this.

And while I'm linking to videos, here's the latest episode of my main man Tucker Stone's show Advanced Common Sense. I saw some of the rough footage from this shoot when I was in New York, and it was quite hilarious. I encourage everyone to email Tucker and demand a release of the deleted scene in which he makes out with a fish.

Also, I reviewed Dark Reign: Zodiac #1 over at Comics Bulletin earlier in the week. That was a pretty good comic; Joe Casey and Nathan Fox!

Okay, actual content:

Detroit Metal City, volume 1

By Kiminori Wakasugi

Ah, the rape joke. Such a classic form of comedy. Why, I remember the nights I would sit around the campfire with my family, aunts and uncles, grandparents and cousins, all relating our favorite rape jokes and laughing uproariously. Such grand times.

Wait, I'm mistaken. I've been informed that rape is a subject never to be broached in comis, much less in jest! How could anyone take it lightly? Only emotionless monsters would ever consider such an outrage!

Well, obviously the truth is somewhere between those extremes, but Detroit Metal City definitely skews toward the former, seeking to make comedy out of its outrageousness. It certainly does contain more uses of the word "rape" than I can ever remember seeing between two covers, but the key thing to note is that makes it really funny. It's got that Japanese style of humor, getting a lot of mileage out of awkward situations and over-the-top silliness. And while the art isn't anything to write home about, its bare-bones stiffness manages to make the goofy antics that much more strange and humorous.

The concept: meek, gentle Soichi Negishi wants to live a chic life in the big city (Tokyo), playing indie rock, hanging out in trendy locations, and meeting cute girls, but somehow he ended up as the lead singer of the titular "evil-core" metal band, going by the name of Johannes Krauser II and dressing in a ridiculous getup (my favorite part of the outfit are the oh-so-dainty ruffles on the wrists and neck) while screaming songs about murder, rape, blood, and mayhem. He hates the music that he plays, but he also happens to be really good at it when he gets into character, and his fans can't get enough of his antics. Each chapter sees some sort of conflict between Soichi's on-stage and off-stage lives, usually to incredibly humorous effect. It usually starts small and builds to a goofy climax that has the reader laughing out loud; for instance, one chapter sees him trying to sing his cute indie songs (which are as cheesily nice as DMC's are nasty) on the street, only to be drowned out by a DMC cover band. Annoyed, he decides to show the punks how it's done, getting into his costume and showing them up as Krauser II. But when the police come to break up the disturbance, he's mortified and tries to turn himself in, only to trip and accidentally brain a cop with his guitar, thus maintaining his reputation as a menace to society.

Other stories continue along those lines, with running gags like a girl Soichi has a crush on continually getting humiliated by DMC, or the band's ridiculous manager, a woman who is constantly urging them to make her panties wet with their rock and shouting lines like "I danced till my pants turned into a bowl of clam chowder." It can get a bit repetitious if read in a big bunch, but take a break between chapters and you'll find yourself laughing at the jokes over and over. I know I did.

As I mentioned above, the art is nothing too special, but it's effective for what it is. The characters are often quite stiff, and one might not realize what sort of ridiculous antics the band was up to if fans didn't provide commentary:

As for facial expressions, Soichi-as-Krauser only seems to have one, an open-mouthed maniacal scream. Without the makeup, Soichi has a couple, usually either a placid smile or a Krauser-esque look of shock and dismay:

It works for the story though, kind of putting a minimalist style on things, tending toward something like Cromartie High School, but not quite reaching those levels of abstraction. The low levels of detail work to make the rock and roll scenes more comedic, since the fans are getting all worked up over what doesn't really seem to be that big of a deal. The goofy costumes and lyrics about "raping all women" are pretty stupid, so to hear a fan react to them by saying "It's like I'm being raped by the music!" just makes the whole thing funnier.

And another nice aspect of the comic is that over the course of the volume, Soichi seems to be growing into his Krauser persona, rather than always hating it and wanting to quit. He finds a few good off-stage uses for the character, and he even seems to be enjoying the release that the shows provide. At the same time, he's progressing in his relationship with his would-be girlfriend, which should provide plenty of humor in future stories, since she's sympatico with his metal-hating trendiness.

Even though this is only the first volume, the series is quite hilarious, always upping the ante on what sort of perversity you expect from the band and coming up with funny ways to mix Soichi's disparate worlds. It might be hard to keep raising the stakes; the antics could get predictable and tiresome, but that's certainly not the case here. I expect future volumes to only get funnier.

This week, I note some notable stuff

Links: Hey, looks like Geoff Grogan is going to be doing a follow-up to Look Out!! Monsters, which I recently read and thought was pretty good. That's nice to hear.

CBR has a sort of "exit interview" with Mike Allred up, talking about his last couple issues of Madman Atomic Comics and various plans for the future. That's all good, but the best bit is that you can download several tracks from Allred's band The Gear's upcoming album, which manages to tie in to Madman and Red Rocket 7, Allred's other series. It's a multimedia explosion!

And check this out: J. Caleb Mozzocco reports that Boom! Studios is going to be publishing upcoming issues of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories and Mickey Mouse Presents. That's good to hear, since those are the place to read classic Carl Barks comics and the like, and Boom! is doing newsstand distribution with their kids' books. Get those comics out there!

New comics this week (Wednesday, 6/24/09):

Actress And The Bishop #1

Hey, this looks cool. It's a collection of Brian Bolland's strips starring the titular characters that have appeared in places like A1. Here's a post about them; I'll have to try to get my hands on this.

Astonishing X-Men #30

I don't know if anybody is still bothering to pay attention to Warren Ellis and Simone Bianchi's run on this book, but this is their last issue, in which the X-Men fight Forge, who has turned crazyevil. Was it worth the wait? Eh, probably not. Following Bianchi, Phil Jimenez is supposedly going to illustrate the next arc, but I don't know if that has been confirmed, or if I should really care. Again, probably not.

Barack the Barbarian #1 Obama Cover

Oh god, this actually exists. I shouldn't even be mentioning it, it's so stupid. In fact, forget you ever saw it, and hopefully it will go away.

Cerebus Archive #2 Zombie & Obama Cover

Crap, more Obamasploitation. Dave Sim, what will we ever do with you? Here's more of his old stuff, if you really want to see what he was doing before Cerebus, which itself wasn't all that interesting until he had been doing it for a couple years. Yay?

Dark Avengers Uncanny X-Men: Utopia #1

I probably shouldn't bother mentioning this one either, but I'm kind of fascinated by Matt Fraction's continuing evolution into generic Marvel writer #47. Here, he's joined by Marc Silvestri for some ugly, ugly scenes (seriously, it's like less-laughable Rob Liefeld art) of superdudes fighting in order to establish a "dark" version of the X-Men, since everything Marvel does has to have an evil version these days. Yawn.

Dark Reign Sinister Spider-Man #1

See, here's more "darkness". Ugh. Again, I wouldn't even bother mentioning it if it weren't for Chris Bachalo doing the art. It looks nice, at least, but that probably doesn't make it worth reading. Brian Reed writes, if it matters.

Dark Reign Zodiac #1

And then there's one Dark thing that I am actually interested in, solely for the creative team. That would be Joe Casey and Nathan Fox; writer and artist match up, for once! I have no idea what this is about; maybe some sort of new supervillain? Hopefully it will be good; Casey can sometimes wrangle good stories in the midst of corporate dictates, and I love love love Nathan Fox's art. I should have a review of this one up at Comics Bulletin tomorrow.

Detective Comics #854

On the other side of the aisle, here's a comic that I don't really care to read, but it's still notable; it's the beginning of Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III's Batwoman story, which will surely look beautiful, if nothing else. Who knows, maybe it'll turn out to be a classic that we all hail as genius. If so, I'll read the trade.

Fantastic Four Giant-Size Adventures #1

I wouldn't really recommend this for the main story, which has kind-of-ugly art by Vicente Cifuentes (whoever that is), but the backup stories are pretty notable: a Sue Storm/Misty Knight bit illustrated by Colleen Coover, and that two-page Tintin homage drawn by Dustin Weaver that I mentioned the other day. It's all written by Paul Tobin; I say give it an in-store flip-through, at least.

Immortal Iron Fist #27

I didn't realize this was getting cancelled, but this is the last issue of the series. I guess the upcoming Immortal Weapons series is something of a relaunch, rather than a spinoff? It's too bad; this was getting to be pretty good. Anyway, this issue is about "the fall of the house of Rand". Sounds like fun; way to end on a downer, guys.

Literals #3

It's the end of the Great Fables Crossover! I've been avoiding reading too much about it, so I don't know exactly what the big to-do was all about, but I'll find out soon enough. Fables; apparently I can't get enough of it.

Northlanders #18

New storyline, apparently about Viking women going into battle, or the legends of valkyries, or something like that. Art by Danijel Zezelj, so it should look pretty great.

Runaways #11

It's the first issue in the long-awaited (by me, anyway) run by Kathryn Immonen and Sara Pichelli! This one seems mostly devoted to re-establishing characterization (which was kind of all over the place in Terry Moore's run) and setting up the storyline that starts here, but there's at least one pretty major event that will shock fans, I expect. I'm definitely liking it so far, although that doesn't necessarily mean it won't go off the rails. Don't let me down, ladies!

Spirit Vol 6 #30

I haven't been following this series since Darwyn Cooke left, so I don't know if it's been any good, but this issue is notable because it's written and drawn by Michael Avon Oeming. I usually like his stuff, so hopefully it will be good. We'll see...

Unknown Soldier Vol 4 #9

Did I mention that I read the first issue of this series and thought it was really good? Now I'm pretty interested in reading more, even more so than I was already. Collection, please.

Viking #2

I picked up the first issue of this Ivan Brandon/Nic Klein book, and it certainly looked nice, but it was way too hard to follow for a comic about Vikings. I had trouble telling characters apart and figuring out what was supposed to be going on from panel to panel. Very disappointing, but it still seems like something worth following. Maybe Klein is still learning the sequential stuff; he mostly does covers, right? I do like that it's oversized and still costs only $2.99. This is one to keep watching, I say.

X-Men #512

I was ragging on Matt Fraction above, but this issue of his X-Men run is probably the best thing he's written on that series so far. It's a double-sized story about Beast's team of scientists going back in time to 1906 to research early mutants and getting in fights with the Hellfire Club of the time and a steampunk Sentinel; very cool and enjoyable stuff, with big action and actual emotional resonance. Nice art by Yanick Paquette too. Give it a try if you want to see Fraction do something that fits his style for once before he gets caught up in more pointless crossovers and shit.

X-Men Forever #2

Wow, I saw a couple mentions of the first issue of this Chris Claremont revival thing that seemed to think it was pretty good; me, I thought it was terrible, just badly-written, ugly, stupid shit. Please don't support this sort of thing, people.

All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder TP Vol 01

It's the softcover version of Frank Miller's current Batman stupidity, in case you didn't want to shell out for the fancy one that already came out. Nine issues worth of material for 20 bucks; not a bad deal. As long as you really want to read this kind of dumb shit, that is.

Awesome 2 Awesomer TP

It's the second installment of Indie Spinner Rack's anthology, with a nice-looking cover by Jeff Smith! I liked the first one, if I remember correctly, so I bet this will be good. It looks like a lot of the same talent will be returning, along with people like Jeff Lemire and Alex Robinson. You can see a 20-page preview here.

Brat Pack TP New Edition

Rick Veitch! This is one of those comics that get mentioned in the same breath as Watchmen as stories that redefined superheroes or brough realism to them or whatever, although it also has a reputation as a book that just brought ugliness and nastiness to the genre. Me, I just want to read it because I really like Veitch. Here, you can sample the first 32 pages of the book at Veitch's site to get a taste.

City Of Fever HC

Apparently, this graphic novel by Kalman Spigel is some sort of sci-fi noir about crime in a domed city on a super-hot planet. The concept interests me, but I can barely find any information about it online; there's only a blurb and an "order now" link on the author/publisher's website. It might be interesting, but it's hard to tell.

Empowered Vol 5 TPB

Ah, more Adam Warren and his goofy, naughty, slightly meta superhero series. I love this book, both for Warren's art and his strong characters, not to mention his cool, out-there ideas. Don't let me down, Adam!

Graphic Classics Vol 17 Science Fiction Classics GN

I don't read much of these literary adaptations, but this one looks like it has some good stuff, including stories by Johnny Ryan, Roger Langridge, and Ellen Lindner, with the main event being Micah Farritor (White Picket Fences) drawing War of the Worlds. Cool. Here's a review by Johanna Draper Carlson; I might need to read this one.

Immortal Iron Fist Fraction Brubaker Aja Omnibus HC

Here's a complete collection of the run that got the current Iron Fist series going to so much acclaim, although 75 bucks seems pricey; can't you get the three or so individual volumes for less than $20 each? I guess you have to pay extra to have it all under one cover. I still haven't read the whole thing, but that first storyline is pretty great, and I dig the cool historical stories that Fraction told here and there during the run. I wouldn't spring for it, but I'll recommend the stories inside it, in one form or another.

Immortal Iron Fist TP Vol 4 Mortal Iron Fist

On the other hand, this follow-up to the Brubaker/Fraction/Aja run might be what killed the book. Duane Swierczynski might have been trying too hard to replicate their style; once he moved onto the next thing, it got pretty good. And then it ended. I say skip this one and read the next volume, then get bummed out that it's over.

JLA Deluxe Edition Vol 2 HC

Part two of the swanky editions of Grant Morrison's run on this series. I think this includes the "Rock of Ages" arc that a lot of people said Final Crisis rehashed, and the Prometheus story that came next. Good stuff; give it a read if you haven't before.

Low Moon TP

New Jason! Fantagraphics had this at MoCCA, and it looks like it's available elsewhere now. It's a hardcover book collecting the strips that ran in the New York Times Magazine. I think these are mostly shorts, with some of them being westerns, and maybe film noir or sci-fi. I don't care; I'll read the hell out of them. I love Jason. You can get the standard preview/slideshow at Fanta's site.

Outlaw Territory GN Vol 01

This is a western comics anthology from Image, featuring creators like Christopher Mitten, Dean Motter, Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente, Khoi Pham, Joshua Hale Fialkov, Max Fiumara, Moritat, and (you always have to say this with anthologies) many more. Interesting; maybe decent stuff? You can see some samples on the official blog, and read a full story by Fialkov and artist Christie Tseng at Myspace Comics, as long as its still around.

Patsy Walker Hellcat TP

Here's Kathryn Immonen's calling card as Marvel's newest rising star; this series was tons of fun, with some really nice art by David LaFuente. This volume also includes the serialized story that Immonen did with her husband Stuart in Marvel Comics Presents. This is good readin'.

Remake Vol 1 GN

People have been talking about Lamar Abrams' book, and it looks like fun, so now that we're able to buy it, maybe it will get even more attention. I got a copy at MoCCA, and I hope to get to it soon. Don't let me down, Abrams.

Rex Libris TP Vol. 2 Book of Monsters

Ooh, Rex Libris! This comic is lots of fun, packed full of clever, goofy stuff. In case you don't know, it stars an immortal librarian who often battles monsters and Nazis, while telling long-winded stories and arguing with his publisher. It's by James Turner, who did the book Warlords of Io that everyone was talking about recently because it got screwed by Diamond, so I encourage everybody to buy this and encourage him to create more comics.

Ultimates by Mark Millar & Bryan Hitch Omnibus HC

Another expensive Marvel omnibus? This one contains all 26 issues (plus an annual) of Millar and Hitch's series, which is some good reading, but I don't think it's worth 100 bucks; can't you get four trades of the material for about $15 each? Well, anyway, it's not very substantive, but I found both volumes to be highly enjoyable, full of ridiculous action and provocatively transgressive bullshit. Check them out if you haven't read them before, but don't waste your money on this huge thing.

Whatever Happened To The World Of Tomorrow HC

Did I mention this book last week? I know Jog did, but I shouldn't be confusing myself with him. Anyway, just in case, it's the new book by Brian Fies (Mom's Cancer), and it's about a boy growing up with the science and science fiction of the 20th century. I bet it'll be good.

X-Men Spider-Man HC

I don't know if this miniseries was any good, but a few people mentioned it due to its pretty art by Mario Alberti. It was written by Christos N. Gage, and seemed to take a similar tack to that Spider-Man/Human Torch miniseries that Dan Slott wrote a few years ago, showing Spidey's relationship with the X-Men in different eras of Marvel history. I suppose that could be all right, if you like that sort of thing.

Gantz TP Vol 5

This appears to be the only manga of note for the week, which is surprising. I still haven't bought any of Dark Horse's translation of this series, but I do hope to at some point. Violence can be fun. Okay, that's all.

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Hmm, kind of a slow week, although there are several good releases. I'm sure I'll be busy with the readin' and whatnot anyway.

The Color of Earth: It makes my face the color red

I think this is my first manwha (which means that unlike manga, pages below should be read left-to-right). How about that.

The Color of Earth

By Kim Dong Hwa

While publisher First Second has released a good deal of European comics in their short history, they don't seem to specialize in works from the Asian market quite yet, so given the general excellence of their offerings, this book from Korean creator Kim Dong Hwa is very notable. It's the first entry in a trilogy that, as Hwa notes in an introductory text piece, was inspired by his mother's life, providing a sentimental look at her youth, and especially her physical and emotional maturation as she experiences puberty and learns about love.

As the book starts, Ehwa is a young girl in rural Korea at some point in the early 20th century. She starts to learn about adult matters early on when she is unable to join some boys in a pissing contest and worries that she is deformed because she doesn't have a gochoo (a chili pepper, which makes an obvious euphemism). She gets straightened out by her mother, but in addition to curiosity about the human body, she also wonders about the things she hears about her mother, who men call promiscuous. As a widowed tavern owner, Ehwa's mother interacts with men constantly, and flirtatiousness appears to be part of the job. But little Ehwa doesn't understand why people say the things they do about her.

As Ehwa gets older, she learns more and more about life and love, developing a crush on a young monk who is also learning about the changes of adolescence, and her mother takes up with a traveling salesman/artist who charms her on a visit one night and leaves a paintbrush with her as a signal that he will return. There are occasional discoveries of physical changes, and slow assimilation of knowledge about sex and reproduction, all rendered in a highly poetic manner. In fact, while this aspect of the book is quite beautiful, it can get to be a bit much at times:

Ehwa and her mother have seemingly endless discussions about which flowers they are most like, and all the discoveries of maturity are glorious and fascinating, leading to much uncomfortable discussion about the door women have where babies come from, or the persimmon seed hidden within a woman's body.

The book does seem to view the past through rose-colored glasses, as if everything at the time was wonderful and peaceful, with little in the way of hardship or unhappiness. We do get hints of darkness in the gossip about Ehwa's mother, and it's not clear whether her lover reciprocates her feelings or if she's just an enjoyable stop along the road for him. And while it's an especially joyful view of childhood and adolescence, not everything is roses; Ehwa's friends come off as somewhat manipulative and obnoxious, and the poor monk gets shafted when she turns her eyes on another village boy. Maybe the next two volumes will continue this trend, giving a mostly happy view of childhood and showing that life doesn't stay easy throughout.

For this volume at least, Hwa's art captures the beauty of the countryside wonderfully, filling pages with lovely renderings of fields, trees, and flowers. It's a pastoral paradise:

And the character work is lovely as well, with a cartoony look to the figures that conveys emotion especially well. Hwa also does a great job of detailing Ehwa's maturity, with her starting out around six years old and growing over the course of the book to about the age of fifteen. The change in size, shape, and face are all realistic, selling the growth really well, even within the cartoony limits. Hwa uses an interesting style similar to Japanese manga, but different enough to seem like it comes from a separate culture. The eyes especially seem unique, often depicted as wide slits and sometimes even abstracted to the point that the irises look like a series of horizontal lines:

It's an interesting choice, and it definitely works to fit Hwa's mood, making the women seem beautiful and mysterious, even as they are narrating their innermost thoughts.

It's easy to see why First Second picked up this series; it's a wonderful, revelatory glimpse into a foreign culture that illuminates some cultural specificities while demonstrating that matters of the heart are universal. Gorgeous art and heartfelt emotion round things out for a fascinating look across the globe and into the past; I'm eager to read the next volumes and see the rest of Ehwa's story.

Tales from Outer Suburbia: I guess I haven't migrated far enough from the city

Elsewhere: I wrote about the season premiere of I Survived a Japanese Game Show at The Factual Opinion.

I linked to a cool Scott Morse comic the other day, and here's another awesome-looking one, called "Dawn of the Gearheads". I'm loving his Kirby style on these.

Speaking of Kirby, check out Tim Hensley's attempt to replicate the style of his photo-collages. Neat.

Here's a really interesting post about comics from North Korea. That's not something you see every day.

Finally, I talked about a Shawn Cheng minicomic last week and mentioned that I would like to read his "The Would-Be Bridegrooms", and now it's available to read online. How's that for service?

Tales from Outer Suburbia

By Shaun Tan

Shaun Tan blew a lot of people's minds (mine included) with his 2007 book The Arrival, a beautifully-illustrated wordless graphic novel that told a metaphorical story of immigration using a torrent of surreal imagery. And with this book, he's back in the land of the strange, although it's an illustrated book of prose stories rather than comics, and the metaphors are much less concrete. In fact, it's quite open to interpretation what exactly this book is about, which makes it about life and the human condition, one would suppose.

But it's still pretty fascinating nonetheless. Tan's skill at creating enchanting symbols extends from his art to his prose, as his short tales of odd goings-on (which don't seem odd at all to characters experiencing them) are full of weird but compelling ideas, like a foreign exchange student that looks like a six-inch-tall shadow, a guy in a deep-sea-diver suit wandering through a neighborhood, or a whale-like sea mammal called a dugong suddenly appearing on a bickering couple's lawn. And the pictures supporting these tales add an eerie air to everything, emphasizing the otherworldly nature of the setting while juxtaposing it with a sense of normality:

The best stories evoke familiar feelings that might be just beyond your grasp, like "Stick Figures" with its descriptions of odd, semi-natural beings composed of branches and sod that are omnipresent and accepted, or "No Other Country", in which a family discovers a magical "inner courtyard" in their house that seemingly opens into another dimension. Both of those might touch on the issues of immigration that Tan has raised before, but that's only one possible interpretation.

On the other hand, at least one story seems pretty obvious; "Grandpa's Story" is a wonderful allegory for relationships, with a patriarch telling his family about the journey he had to go on in order to get married; it's a touching, beautiful description of the obstacles a couple must face in order to build a life together, and it's supplemented by some of the prettiest imagery in the book:

A few other stories use some interesting methods of delivery, including "Distant Rain", which sees the words assembled from scraps of paper, an appropriate delivery method for a story about disposed, unread poems accumulating into a huge ball that eventually grows too large to stay together and breaks up, raining small bits of phraseology on everything. Or "The Amnesia Machine", which presents its tale of people being coerced into ignoring the important things in life through a barrage of Orwellian doublespeak as a newspaper article surrounded by bits of exactly that sort of jargon.

Yes, it's a gorgeous volume, and Tan's skill as both a writer and an illustrator are given a wonderful showcase here. I would like to see more comics from Tan in the future, but this will certainly do in a pinch. His complexly layered vignettes are very thought-provoking; even though this book will probably get shelved among younger-readers material, it's a great read for all ages.