This week, I might fall asleep while typing this

Seriously, almost nothing worth mentioning.

New comics this week (Wednesday, 4/8/09):

Dead Irons #3

The supernatural western continues.  I've flipped through this, and Jason Shawn Alexander's art looks nice.  Who knows if the story is worth reading though.

Doktor Sleepless #12

This is still coming out.  I don't know if I ever even finished the first "volume" of the book, so I might be lost if I ever try to catch up.

House of Mystery #12

And this is also still coming out.  Did the second trade collection ever appear, or is this story going to be in it?  It's part two of the current arc, so who knows.  I'm not sure, but I think the guest artist this issue is Grazia Lobaccaro, who did the art on a 2005 Slave Labor book called Silent Dance, and was also going to illustrate the Minx book Clubbing in Tokyo, which I don't think ever came out.  Also, the cover by Esao Andrews is pretty nice.

Ignition City #1

It looks like you can't have only one Warren Ellis book come out from Avatar in a single week, so here's a new ongoing series about an alternate history with pulp-style space heroes, or something like that.  Art is by Gianluco Pagliarani, who illustrated Ellis's Aetheric Mechanics.  This one is in color though, so that should be interesting to see.  Definitely a series to check out.

Infinite Horizon #4

Hey, I thought this had kind of disappeared into the ether!  Looks like it's still coming out; is this the last issue?  It was an interesting concept, reimagining The Odyssey in a sort of possible future in which the U.S. has lost the war in Iraq, and a soldier has to try to make his way home.  Decent, if not great, art by Phil Noto, but the story was plodding and not all that interesting.  Who knows, maybe it will get better at the end.

Northlanders #16

This is the final part of the Ryan Kelly-illustrated "The Cross + The Hammer", so hopefully that means a second collection is on its way.  I really want to read this.

Adventures In Cartooning How To Turn Your Doodles Into Comics TP

I linked to a preview of this kids' instructional comic a week or so ago, because it looked cute and fun.  Here's the actual book, by James Sturm, Andrew Arnold, and Alex Frederick-Frost, published by First Second.  Looks like fun.

And There You Are GN

New from Adhouse, this is a collection of stories by Ronnie del Carmen, and it looks really nice.  I wouldn't mind giving it a read.  You can download a PDF preview from Adhouse's site.

Chronicles Of Some Made GN

I've been seeing reviews of this book here and there, and I even saw a copy at my local comic shop the other day, but it's certainly worth mentioning.  It's a Xeric winner, about lovesick robots and cutesy stuff like that.  You can read one of the stories from the book here; I liked that one quite a bit.

Dark Tower Treachery HC

Hey, did anyone else notice that Jae Lee has apparently either slowed down quite a bit on this series, or stopped doing the regular artwork?  Colorist Richard Isanove has taken over the interior artwork on all the recent issues I've seen, attempting to mimic Lee's style as closely as possible.  It's weird that nobody has mentioned that, but maybe the only people reading the series are Stephen King fans or something.  I've certainly been pretty put off by what I've read of it beyond the first miniseries.  Too bad; I thought it started out well.  Eh, I should just read the original books sometime...

Funny Misshapen Body TP

New Jeffrey Brown!  To tell the truth, I think the only book of his I've read is The Incredible Change-Bots, which was pretty enjoyable.  But I haven't really liked what I've seen of the autobiographical stuff he's done; it just doesn't really appeal to me.  Maybe I need to give it another try sometime.  Anyway, this one is about Brown's development as a cartoonist over the course of his life.  Could be interesting.

Green Arrow Year One TPB

Did this end up being good?  I don't really remember, from what I read.  I really don't care about Green Arrow's origin story or whatever, but it's by the creative team of The Losers, Andy Diggle and Jock, which makes it worthy of attention, at least.  Eh, it's probably one to look for at the library.

Likewise TP

Apparently, this is the final volume of Ariel Schrag's autobio comics about her high school years.  I like Schrag's artwork, but like many, I'm kind of tired of memoirs like this.  Of course, I haven't read any of this series, so maybe it's good enough to change my mind.

Pedro And Me Friendship Loss And What I Learned TP

I've never read this book, but it's supposed to be good, right?  Judd Winick writing about his fellow Real World cast member, who died of AIDS.  It was what made Winick's comics career, right?  Of course, given what we know about Winick these days, that he's a pretty poor writer who will do whatever he can to shoehorn cheesy social commentary into his superhero stories, mabye it's not worth going back and reading this.  Eh, who knows?

Popgun Vol 3 GN

Ooh, another nice-looking anthology volume from the guys at Image.  I really dug the first volume, but I never did get my hands on the second one.  But here's number three, full of good pop comics.  Contributors include Paul Grist, Connor Willumsen, Dan Brereton, Mike Dawson, Juan Doe, Joelle Jones, Nic Klein, Mark Andrew Smith, Jim Zubkavich, and Laura Allred, among many, many others.  Cover by Tara McPherson.  You can read a 30-page story by Mark Andrew Smith and Johann Leroux here.

Shortcomings TPB

It's the paperback version of Adrian Tomine's acclaimed story, so check it out if you haven't before.  I reviewed (a version of) it here.

Showcase Presents Doom Patrol Vol 1 TPB

If I was collecting these black and white phonebook collections of old comics, this would be one to get.  Arnold Drake was ahead of his time with these crazy stories, so here's a chance to read a bunch of them.  Maybe I'll get to them someday.

Color Of Earth TP

I think this is First Second's first venture into Asian comics, with the opening chapter of a manwha trilogy by Korean artist Kim Dong Wha.  It looks to be a quiet story about a girl falling in love, and it's probably quite nice.  First Second is one of those publishers whose output has been so excellent that their release of a book is enough to grab the attention, and hopefully this won't be any exception to their usual level of quality.  You can read a short preview here.

Dinosaur Hour Vol 1 TP

This is one of the books from Viz's kids line, and it looks cute and fun, about anthropomorphic dinosaurs getting up to silly antics.  Who doesn't love dinosaurs?

Gantz TP vol 04

On the other end of the spectrum, it's more ultraviolence, and possibly some sex.  I should try to read this series sometime.

Honey Hunt Vol 1 GN

I've enjoyed this Miki Aihara series as it has been serialized in Shojo Beat.  For those who don't know, it's about a girl with famous parents (her mom's an actress, and her dad is an Academy Award-winning composer) who decides to strike out on her own and become famous herself.  So far, it's been fun and dramatic; we'll see how it goes.

JoJos Bizarre Adventure Vol 11 TP

I just mention this one to note that I've never read this series, but I often hear it's bizarre greatness touted, so I do want to give it a try someday.  That's all.

Leave It To PET Vol 1 TP

Another Viz kids' book, about a boy who has a protective super robot that often causes more trouble than help.  Sounds like fun.

Legend Of Zelda Oracle Of Seasons GN

And more Viz Kids.  They've already released some Zelda manga adapting the storylines of various games in the series, and this one appears to come from a Game Boy game, which I've never played.  It's supposed to be good though, so maybe the comic is too.

Slam Dunk Vol 3 GN Viz Edition

And finally, some more awesome basketball comics.  I already read and reviewed this volume, and it's great, full of fun sports and plenty of hilarity.  If you're not reading this series already, do so, I implore you.

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And that's the meager week.  Plenty of Viz manga, but little else.  Get caught up on your backlog, everybody!  That's what I plan to do.