COMIC OF THE YEAR

Yeah, I know Graeme used the exact same header. Bite me.

However, in my case, I have decided to take the the POV of what comic provided the most entertainment value, thought-provoking moments, and general brilliance in 2004. And much to my surprise, it wasn't a comic book.

It was a comic strip.

For my money, no comic was as relevant, shocking, or well-executed this year as DOONESBURY. It wasn't even close. In producing the "B.D. loses a leg in Iraq storyline, Garry Trudeau brought the war home to readers in a way that they never expected or anticipated. And taking such an enormously risky step with his amputation and the removal of his helmet! for the very first time demonstrated a willingness to move forward and change that comic books seem to lack. And taking the time to explore B.D.'s emotions and reactions to his new status quo allowed Trudeau to mine some razor sharp humor from a dark situation. The strip where his daughter discusses his injury in class and leaves her schoolmates frustrated because their parents seem lame next to hers is a classic, both in its truth and its bravery in presenting a point of view that isn't exactly P.C.

Of course, there was plenty of other good stuff in the strip this year, as Trudeau did one of the better jobs of detailing the crimes and stupidity of the Bush administration and he did so in an efficiently fun manner. Late in the year he amusingly took a poke at the rush of cabinet members who abandoned ship, bringing back one of his sleazier characters as "Secretary of Toady Affairs," someone who would be the "yes" man that men like Colin Powell were not. Awesome stuff.

There were some terrific comic books this year, without a doubt. But when it boils down to it, the thing I looked forward to reading most, day in and day out, was the next installment of DOONESBURY. I can't offer much higher praise than that.

Mason

FANTA FUNTIME AGAIN!

Let’s take a look at some spiffy new books, shall we?

LUBA’S COMICS AND STORIES #5/LUBA #9
Written and Drawn by Gilbert Hernandez

Hernandez’ LUBA tales begin drawing to a close here, and comics are that much poorer for it. These two excellent books demonstrate his wonderful mastery of the art form, his gift for exacting soap opera storytelling, and his wicked sense of humor. I wish more creators would take a look at these works and get a better sense of how to make great comics.

COMICS AND STORIES #5 is one of the funniest things I’ve read this year. The story is an amusing piss-take on the movie “DUDE, WHERE’S MY CAR?” that finds Luba’s sister Petra sending her severely stoned (and horny) boyfriend Hector to give Luba a ride home. Of course, Hector is out of his mind on the weed, he loses his way, gets very paranoid, and when he finally finds Luba (on accident) he can’t remember where he parked. Along the way he bumps into a number of the rest of the cast and continues to dig a bigger hole for himself as he finds newer and bigger ways to screw up in his haze. Tossing in some wonderful moments of poignancy involving Luba and her disfigured husband Khamo (in their youth) adds some welcome depth to the tale and offers a reminder to Hollywood about how to properly execute this kind of farcical entertainment.

However, it’s LUBA #9 that delivers the serious goods in huge doses. Bringing together all of the dangling plots about Luba and her extended family, this book races towards an absolutely stunning cliffhanger conclusion. After an issue of nothing but hijinx, Hernandez reasserts himself as a dramatist of the highest order. As the theme of loves both lost and rekindled works its way through the issue and highlights who each of the characters really is and who they wish to be, we are caught off guard by a spare and powerful emotional dagger in the final two panels of the book that left me cursing Fantagraphics P.R. and Marketing master Eric Reynolds for not having packed the next and final issue in the box. That, friends, is good comics.

WORN TUFF ELBOW #1
Written and Drawn by Marc Bell

This, on the other hand, is just flat out weird. Canadian cartoonist Bell is a fantastic cartoonist whose work looks like Jim Woodring mated with Geof Darrow, making this a visually arresting book, but the stories contained within are utterly nonsensical. The primary tale, which features an incident the threatens to tear apart a small town politically and socially, seems to be metaphorically drawn from what I would guess to be a real life situation, but I just not sure which one. However, the joy is in the telling and the artistry involved in putting the book together. Bell’s level of detail extends deep into the margins, and he does a wonderful job with his inks in setting the mood, even in a lark like this one. The main story is a bit heavy handed, but in the end, I sat back and just enjoyed Bell’s talent for what it is.

/Mason

FREE COMICS: JUST BE CLEVER...

Go here.

This is not a joke. This is, instead, me being thankful for a great year of comics reviewing and interviewing. Just be clever. That's all I ask. Give me a reason that this stuff should go to you.

I want this to be really great.

/Mason

GRANT'S QUESTIONS/BEST RAMPAGE EVER

The always great Steven Grant asked these questions in one of his recent columns, and I have answered:

1) What's your favorite comic of 2004?

Tough one. As far as trades or graphic novels go, I’ll go off the beaten path and say EGG STORY, OWLY, and B. KRIEGSTEIN COMICS really floated my boat. Also the fine manga, REMOTE. As far as floppies go, Peter David’s MADROX and Mark Waid’s underappreciated EMPIRE both gave me much enjoyment.

2) What's your favorite comics related moment?

It happened on screen. Batman singing for the life of Wonder Woman in the JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED cartoon. Paul Dini’s sly and hilarious middle finger to the people who take Bats way too seriously, as he slipped out the door to write for the excellent LOST.

3) What's the worst thing to happen in comics in 2004?

Marvel is beginning to flood the market again. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

4) What's your most fervid hope for comics in 2005?

Innovation. More original graphic novels. Material that attempts to broaden the audience. An industry that appeals more to women and young girls.

5) What aspect of comics in 2005 are you most looking forward to?

Finding more quality works by unknown creators and small press entities. Every time I find a book like STYX TAXI, it gives me hope for comics’ future.

6) What's your worst fear for comics in 2005?

That we’ll continue to see more of the same shit. That comics will continue to be unfriendly towards the fairer sex. That we are headed for another market collapse.

I was also pondering the always outstanding Fanboy Rampage today when I had an epiphany about what the site really is:

It's BEST WEEK EVER for comics. The motley collection of folks who post and rant about the foibles of the comics industry and the stupidity of fans are the comics equals to Jessi Klein, Sherrod Small, Patton Oswalt and the rest. It puts the site into perfect context and explains why I love it so much.

/Mason

APOLOGIES

I suck, and I have no excuses. There is absolutely no reason for me to have been silent for three weeks. I will flagellate myself in repentance.

SIDEKICKS book 4: THE CANDY MAN COMETH
Written by Dan Danko and Tom Mason
Published by Little, Brown

Book four of this series of young adults novels is, happily, just as charming as the first three. Guy Martin, the teen sidekick known as Speedy, is still dealing with his cowardly idiot mentor Pumpkin Pete, the absurd thought processes of his fellow heroes in training, and bizarre supervillains, all the while trying to make the football team and impress the prettiest girl in school. It’s all very universal- I still deal with that kind of crap every day I get out of bed and head to work.

All kidding aside, what makes these novels work is the fact that there is a universality to the nonsense that Guy is going through. He is a young boy dealing with the changes in his body, pressures from school, struggles with his destiny, and adults who are less than helpful or honest about what his life is supposed to be.

However, while these may be the underlying issues at the heart of these books, Danko and Mason never let that overwhelm or stunt the humor that carries the pace of the story along. Like the first three books, CANDY MAN is littered with sidesplitting dialogue, outlandish characters, and situations that leave the reader in stitches. For instance, this book adds a new sidekick to the group: Super Vision Lad. From his name, you might guess he can see through walls, but nope; instead, his mother brings him to sidekick tryouts because he’s a hyperactive pain in the ass that has chased away all her potential babysitters. Hence… his name… and the $10 an hour she offers Pumpkin Pete to keep an eye on him.

Former comics scribes Danko and Mason continue to show a deft touch in creating a series that is truly entertaining for child and adult alike. According to a recent missive from Mason, the series may now continue on past the originally scheduled six books; I think that’s a capital idea. It’s clear two-thirds of the way through their original plan that they have plenty of imaginative ideas left in the tank, and there should be no hurry for them to end Speedy’s comical adventures.

WHO WATCHES THE WITCHBLADE?

I happen to like Ian Edginton’s work. He’s a solid writer, if not flashy, and whenever I’ve bumped into his work, I’ve never really came away unhappy. Lately however, I have come away feeling sorry for him. You see, Ian has recently been writing WITCHBLADE. The poor, poor bastard.

My distaste for WITCHBLADE goes back pretty much to the title’s inception. When it hit, it was quite the rage, and the guy who was drawing it, Michael Turner, was an instant superstar because of it. I didn’t pick it up at the time, but once a trade paperback hit the shelves I picked it up to see what the fuss was about. And boy, was I pissed.

It wasn’t like the concept was awful. At heart, the idea of a New York policewoman coming into possession of an ancient weapon and using it to battle evil is a decent enough one. But the art… my God. I was pretty sure it had been drawn by a retarded monkey who was jacking off to the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue at the same time. Fuck almighty. It was bad stereotype, playing up to the drooling fanboys who had no chance of ever seeing a real woman wearing a thong without having to pay for it. And to this day, I can’t stand Turner’s art. Awful. Just awful.

But not nearly as bad as Turner-lite artist Tony Daniel. Daniel has managed, in his career, with books like F5 and HUMANKIND, to ape Turner’s art style’s worst excesses. So when I found myself on the receiving end of two recent WITCHBLADE issues, and I saw that Daniel drew them, I opened them up and awaited the train wreck. It didn’t take long; page one of issue 78 looked just like this:



This is the scene of a multiple homicide. And rather than have Sara Pezzini show up looking like a police professional, she hits the crime scene looking like a completely different kind of professional. How is she not suspended, for Pete’s sake?

She manages to ditch the four inch heels and hooker dress for three inch heels and cameltoe pants when she gets back to the office. What an improvement:



But that sense of decorum goes out the window by the next issue when she wears an outfit that a nineteen year-old sorority girl would have trouble pulling off. Think the NYPD in this reality has a lot of sexual harassment problems?



What’s sad here is that Edginton is trying to tell a serious story with some gravity to it, but the art is just sabotaging him at every turn. I’d love to see the original script for these issues. I’d be willing to bet that the stage directions Edginton wrote in don’t say stuff like “she should be dressed like an expensive whore when she gets to the murder scene” or “the other characters will take her more seriously if she arches her back and sticks her tits out.” Now, I could be wrong, but I feel good about where I stand on that one.

I guess it mostly leaves me wondering how the writer, any writer on WITCHBLADE, feels when they start getting pages back from the artist. Is there just some switch you have to flick in your head when you take the assignment, a sense of resignation you have to adopt, knowing that your work is about to be fucked by some guy who’s more interesting in drawing women’s asses rather than your cool police story? We all take jobs here and there that are just for the paycheck, ones that bring us needed money to pay the bills; I just have to believe that writing WITCHBLADE is an even more bitter pill to swallow than most.

PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE AFTER THE TONE

It's been a busy time. Lots of life going on, and I haven't paid much attention to comics. Plus, a troll creator took offense to my panning his book in my MPS column, and I decided to turn that into a lengthy column about professional behavior. Head to The Shoot on Tuesday the 12th to see how that played out.

I'll be back in a week or so with a long in the process column about why anyone would ever accept the assignment to write WITCHBLADE or just work with Tony Daniel at all.

/Mason

FANTA FLOPPIES

Some efforts from Fantagraphics…

NAUGHTY BITS #40
Written and Drawn by Roberta Gregory

A moment of silence if you please.

Thank you. Much to my shock and dismay, this turns out to be the final issue of what has been a true gem for quite some time. Gregory’s brutally frank and honest work throughout this series has consistently raised the bar for the cartoonists who have followed her. This final pamphlet issue is no different, with another excellent “Bitchy Bitch” strip covering one aspect of Gregory’s cartooning life and a strip that deals with the passing of her father balancing out the other end of the book. Tender and forthright, it’s all wonderful stuff. NAUGHTY BITS has been one of a kind, and it will be missed.

LA PERDIDA #4
Written and Drawn by Jessica Abel

I reviewed the earlier issues of this book in my MPS column, as I am a huge fan of Abel’s work. Unfortunately, issue four takes steps backward in a couple of areas that rob the book of some interest in its characters. In the beginning of the series, the main character, Carla, is self-absorbed to the point of sever annoyance, but the reader can look past it because the story is heading in directions that aren’t fully guessable. However this issue takes a turn for the blindingly predictable, and it has the effect of making Carla stupid to the point where you can do little but hate her. Needless to say, that doesn’t do much for the enjoyment of reading the book. The concluding issue five will be pivotal; I hope Abel can rescue the book… and my interest.

ANGRY YOUTH COMIX #7/SHOULDN’T YOU BE WORKING #2
Written and Drawn by Johnny Ryan

Johnny Ryan is seriously disturbed. Seriously. Now don’t get me wrong- that doesn’t mean his comics aren’t worth reading. However, I can’t necessarily recommend reading them while you’re having a meal. ANGRY YOUTH focuses on shorter stories of sickness and depravity, while WORKING is apparently a sketchbook of twisted shit that Ryan came up with while… well, while working. Needless to say, the ratio of good to bad material in WORKING is 50/50 at best, but it’s still an ambitious enough idea to publish it at all. If you’re thinking that ratio isn’t quite as good as you would like before you buy the book, I’d recommend smoking up before you sit to read it. It might change to 65/35.

/Mason

Week Eight

Short and sweet this week as the real world is beating furiously on my door. I'm 99% sure I'm blowing off SPX -- I've turned in my list of what I would have picked up to a friend who'll be going, who shall also pick up anything that he feels may interest me.

My own personal shopper. I've truly arrived.

We've got a repeat winner this week, because apparently only Logan wanted or needed Brit. And that actually works out great because I haven't gotten around to sending him last week's swag. But note, Mr. Polk, you have to sit out the next few... Look for details below on the next give-away from my mighty stack.

Here's what left the stack this week, and where it's going:

In the Shadow of No Towers (Spiegelman): For such a hefty, beautiful book, this was really light reading in every sense of the word. The classic comic strip reprints in the latter half make it a keeper tho...

Persepolis 2 (Satrapi): Every bit as interesting to me as the first collection. Is there to be a third? I'm going to be selling the set on eBay, not as an indication of my enjoyment of them, but more that I really don't feel the need to re-read, loan out, or smarten up my shelf.

The Bible Eden (Giffen, Elliott, Hampton): I could go for the whole Bible done this way, and now I wish I'd picked up Bisley's stab at God's best-seller during San Diego. I don't know what I'm doing with this yet...

Bad Mojo (Harms, Morris): This wasn't very good -- what's with that ending, am I missing a page? -- though the art was very nice. Anyway, judge for yourself. You want it, it's yours.

EMAIL ME BETWEEN NOW AND MONDAY, October 4, AND I'LL PICK A WINNER AT RANDOM, LITERALLY, AND SEND THIS OUT... FREE! (YOU HAVE TO LIVE IN THE CONTIGUOUS UNITED STATES, THOUGH!)

100 Bullets: Samurai TPB: Two separate stories spread over 6 issues (3 apiece) and I have no idea what either one was about or how they fit into the story as a whole. Wonderful art from Risso, and a crackling script from Azz, but I'm out of the loop on this one. It's gone...

Smax HC (Moore, Cannon): Picked this up to replace my floppies. A wonderful mini-series from my favorite of the ABC titles (and when I say that, most people exclaim, "But what about League...?" to which I posit that League is its own thing, and not part of the Tom Strong, Promethea, Top 10 universe of titles...

Illustration #11 (various): It's all about the men in this issue. Or rather, all about the men who drew the sexy, sexy chicks for the trashy, trashy novels of their day. Good stuff. Heading to my upstairs rack with the other mags of its caliber. Still working on getting that sub.

And of course, the usual smattering of floppies: Astonishing X-Men #5: The best stuff since Morrison, that's for sure - but what an ugly cover; Wanted #5 and 6: I don't think I ever read #3, and barely remember #'s 1 and 2. Not sure any of that makes a difference. Competent, but not terribly bright; Strange #1: Competent, but unnecessary; Avengers #502: Stiff as a board, and I'm not talking about Hawkeye! ; Ultimate FF #11: It took them the whole issue just to crash the fantasti-car; Madrox #1: that covers? It's ripping off a Sleeper cover, right? Competent, but mostly unnecessary; FF #518: Galactus is coming! Galactus is coming! DD #64: I'm not sure where else he can go, but this remains one of my favorite monthly Marvels; Ultimate Nightmare #2: I sense a big fight coming on. Maybe by issue #4? All of these are taking the express train out of my life...

Here's the unread stack as it stands today:

Batman in the '80s TPB (various): Ahh the eighties. I was doing a lot of things back then, many of them illegal, but reading Batman wasn't one of them. Let's see if I was missing anything...

Sinister Dexter (various): This 2000AD stuff is all new to me, just hope I don't get a backlog going like I got doing with the Humanoids releases. Oi!

Wonder Woman: Down to Earth TPB (Rucka, Johnson): Haven't read the singles, and see the fan reaction is mixed. We'll see...

Elric: The Making of a Sorcerer (Moorcock, Simonson): I have a soft spot for Mr. Moorcock and this character (I never read Conan novels, I read Elric novels during my formative years), so I'm anticipating a moderate level of enjoyment here.

Essential Iron Fist (Claremont, Byrne): I'm about halfway through, tho to be honest, I'm doing a fair amount of skimming. In light of all the Bryne-talk going around this week, I have to say that no matter what the man says or does in this stage of his career, his early Marvel art still holds up in general and makes this book in particular.

Essential Super Villain Team Up (Various): I'm about 1/4 in. This is getting a skim more than a thorough read-through.

Second Help-ing (Kurtzman, various): No movement.

The Unorthodox Corpse (Brown): No movement.

Invincible: Eight is Enough TPB (Kirkman, Walker): No movement

The White Lama (Jodorowsky, Bess): No movement.

Deicide #1: Path of the Dead (Portella/Pastoras): No movement.

Townscapes (Chrisitn/Bilal): No Movement.

The Horde (Baranko): No Movement.

The Hollow Ground (Schuiten)): No Movement.

Superman: The Man of Steel Volume 3 TPB (Byrne, Wolfman): No movement.

The Fortress of Solitude (Lethem): No movement.

Comics Prose (various): No movement.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 3,4, 5, 6, 7 (Miyazaki): No movement.

Romance Without Tears (various): No movement.

No More Shaves (Greenberger): No movement.

Playboy: 50 Years of the Cartoons (various): No movement.

The Future Dictionary of America (various): No Movement. Kerry/Edwards in '04!

The Tomb (Weir/DeFilippis/Mitten): No movement.

The Kid Firechief (Steven Weissman): No movement.

The Last American (Grant/McMahon/Wagner): No movement.

The Ballad of Halo Jones Books 1, 2 and 3 (Moore/Gibson): Mo movement.

Stranger Than Fiction (Chuck Palahniuk): Ugh...

Exterminator 17 (Bilal/Dionnet)/Gods in Chaos (Bilal): No movement.

The Incal 1, 2 (Moebius/Jodorwsky): No movement.

Found (Rothbart): No movement.

Lone Wolf and Cub #3,4 (Koike/Kojima): No movement.

Joseph Rybandt has been working "professionally" in the comics "business" for close to 14 years. He lives in the mountains of Northern PA with his wife, daughter and companion Cosmo. His thoughts and opinions are, mercifully, his own.

MINI-MADNESS… ONCE MORE UNTO THE BREACH!

This is a very special column for me. Because these are the last minis I have left to review from the San Diego Comic-Con. Yay!

ACE FEDORA: PRIVATE EYE
Written by Chris Grumprich and Drawn by Jason Rainey
Published by Arctic Star Studios

This is a quiet little tale about a man stuck in a boring office job with a large imagination. The lead character, an accountant, is saddled with tracking down some missing funds, and he let’s his thoughts run wild, pretending he’s a Sam Spade style gumshoe helping a damsel in distress, rather than his tightly buttoned down female boss. It’s nothing deeply original, but it’s drawn nicely, produced well, and an entertaining eight pages. Grade: B

COW PUNCH BOOK ONE
Written and Drawn by Porter McDonald
Available at Cow Punch

This is truly a mini comic. Printed at 3x5, McDonald takes actual photographs and draws over and doctors them to create four panel gags. It’s a nifty idea, and although it isn’t executed brilliantly on every page, I found it well worth my time and I admired the effort involved. It gave me another idea for how to do minis of my own someday, assuming I ever find that extra ten hours in a day. Grade: B+

RAIDER BOOK TWO: A COLD DAY IN HEAVEN
Written and Drawn by Thom Zahler
Published by Maerkle Press

Zahler was selling this preview to his second RAIDER graphic novel, and reading it, I would guess that I have really missed something, because this is very good. The story, pacing, and art all grabbed me and had me enthralled. RAIDER is an espionage tale, and yet also a mystery. Two things I like. It also has interesting characters, some well-scripted dialogue, and attitude to spare. I’m going to have to dig up the graphic novels and review them over in my MoviePoopShoot column. Grade: A

COOL JERK
Written and Drawn by Paul Horn
Available at Cool Jerk

This was another strong mini I found at the con. Horn is a former syndicated cartoonist, and this strip, born while he was in college, was his baby. COOL JERK is a well-drawn, clever, and quite funny little strip. Horn comes from the same school of thought that begat comics folks like Martin Wagner, Judd Winick, and Frank Cho. He ought to think about getting more ambitious with this stuff. Grade: A-

BIKINI AUTOMATIC #4
Written and Drawn by Ken and Maggie Wright
Available from Ken Wright Online

I reviewed issues 1-3 of this little lark of a book last Spring. BA is the story of a hottie super agent charged with protecting the beach from madmen like Banana Bob. The gloves she wears can produce any weapon she needs from thin air at the sound of her voice. Wright draws in an “animated” style, and BIKINI AUTOMATIC is generally a hoot. This issue actually makes an excellent case against the concept of the nude beach as part of its fun. The Wrights seem to understand that this is the perfect format for BA, as trying to push it further would weaken the concept; smart folks. Grade: B+

GENTLEMAN ZOMBIE
Written by Joshua Williamson and Drawn by Jacob Glaser
Published by Big Boss Comics

This eight-page mini is a tease for what is apparently an upcoming ongoing series or graphic novel. Displaying some rough art that appears as though it will be quite lovely when finished, there’s enough here to tantalize the palate for more of the story. On the downside, in these eight pages, we never actually see or meet the GENTLEMAN ZOMBIE. Kinda odd. It’s difficult to say whether or not the final product will be a winner, but this is a decent enough start. Could have used eight more pages, though, even if it was only sketches that showed a bit more about the lead character. Grade: B-

KID JUSTICE
Written by Joshua Williamson and Drawn by Vicente Navarrete
Published by Big Boss Comics

This is a stronger effort from Williamson that brings a lot more story to the table. The main character is not only a teen superhero, he’s also the son of the President of the United States… his Mother. We get to see the character fight a battle, deal with school pressures like bullies and nasty administrators, plus face up to his White House handlers. The concept may sound hokey, but it has a lot of appeal to a wider audience, and I think larger doses would go down quite well. Backgrounds aren’t what Navarrete does best, but on a mini, that isn’t as much of a factor. Grade: B+

If you’ll pardon me, I’m going to go spike a football.

/Mason

LIFESPAN: COMICS Week Eight

"I'm dismantling my Comics Activism."-- Warren Ellis (In a Bad Signal mailing last year I think)

"You're re-mantling your comics activism!"-- Me to ADD when CBG most recently re-launched.

"My GOD, this thing is a pain in my ass!"-- Me to myself when thinking about ditching this column over the last few days.

Those three quotes have nothing to do with each other, well, the second one plays off the first, but I like the sequence, and it's how I'm feeling this week, back from my brief convention stop in Baltimore. I'm thinking of ditching my half-plan to visit SPX, although there are some things there I'd like to pick up (but can pick up after the show from Atomic Books where I popped in for shopping and beers with the proprietors/friends before the Balti-Con.) and people I'd like to see, but I am burned right the fuck out from traveling to comic book conventions. We'll see what happens. I may attend this instead.

As far as this little exercise? I was gonna bail on it this week, but I've never been a quitter, so why start now?

We've got two winners this week - Nevin will be adding Invincible Book 1 to his very own stack and I'm going to shoot Logan the PVP TPB. Look for details below on the next give-away from my mighty stack.

Here's what left the stack this week, and where it's going (I'm shaking things up this week!):

Chronicles of Conan 2, 3, 4 (Thomas/Windsor-Smith/Kane/Buscema): I think I'm giving up (and I did not like the coloring on these at all to begin with). I'll probably dump the set of 4 on eBay at some point, assuming I can find my copy of #1.

Adrian Tomine Scrapbook: Uncollected Works 1990-2004 (Tomine, duh!): The piece I own is not in here, but a lot of wonderful comics and art are! Essential stuff for Tomine fans, and fans of more "quiet" comics. Heading to the self with my Optic Nerve collections.

Michael Chabon Presents The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist #3 (various): Competent Comics Featuring the Escapist. Any other thoughts on this are long gone -- make of that what you will. I'll be shuffling this off to the stacks in the basement.

Queen and Country: Operation Storm Front (Rucka/McNeil): This is an excellent series that suffers from inappropriate art. Except for Volume 1, I have not clicked with any of the art choices. This is heading to the basement...

Queen and Country: Operation Dandelion (Rucka/McNeil): Another well-written collection, suffering, IMO, from weak art. This is heading to the basement...

Dark Days (Niles/Templesmith): This was a decent follow-up to 30 Days, but lightning rarely strikes twice, right? This is heading to the basement...

I am Legion (Nury/Cassaday): Cool stuff, looking forward to reading more in this (3 issue?) series. This is heading to the basement...

B.R.P.D. The Soul of Venice and Other Stories (Mignola/various): This series is a high watermark for anthologies -- excellent stuff from the Hellboy corner of the Universe. This is heading to the shelf next to the other Hellboy TPB's

Brit: Red White Black and Blue (Kirkman/Rathburn): Walking Dead is my favorite Kirkman book. This felt forced, what do you think? Haven't read it you say? Well, how about I give it to you?

EMAIL ME BETWEEN NOW AND MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, AND I'LL PICK A WINNER AT RANDOM, LITERALLY, AND SEND THIS OUT... FREE! (YOU HAVE TO LIVE IN THE CONTIGUOUS UNITED STATES, THOUGH!)

Batman: Death and the Maidens TPB (Rucka/Janson: They didn't fuck it up. A good Ra's Al Ghul that actually had impact in the Batman Universe. Non-essential, but enjoyable. This is heading to the basement, to be shuffled out of my life at some point...

The Filth (Morrison/Weston): This prompted a lot of thought, and I've shared those thoughts with a select few, but don't have the energy to digest it here. This is essential Morrison, but not essential comics Make of that what you will and disagree with me here. This is heading to the basement, to be shuffled out of my life at some point...

Weird Secret Origins (various): So many more interesting things have been done with these characters since their creation, but still, one has to have a sense of history, right? This is heading to the basement, to be shuffled out of my life at some point...

The Batman/Judge Dredd Files (various): The first cross-over is really all you need. The rest are diminishing returns, but the first one still holds up as a nice bit of x-over fluff, with fan-tastic Bisley art.. This is heading to the basement, to be shuffled out of my life at some point...

Popbot #6 (Wood): I have NO IDEA what is going on, but it looks damn good. Heading to my shelf, racked right next to Stray Toasters ;)

Illustration Magazine #10: This, Comic Art and the Journal are essential reading. This issue devotes more space to one artist than previous issues I've read, but that one guy was responsible for a HUGE chunk of work from the '40s until the '70s (Rafael DeSoto). Heading to the rack with my issues of Comic Art and the Journal, told you they were essential.

Help (Kurtzman, various): I picked up two of these paperback collections in Baltimore, and thoroughly enjoyed reading this one, though it is incredibly dated. This is heading to the basement...

The Pocket Book of Esquire Cartoons (various): Another purchase from the Baltimore show, and who knew Esquire used to run such racy cartoons? Sexist and out of date, this was still an enjoyable read, with some amazing color pieces scattered throughout. This is heading to the basement...

A smattering of floppies were consumed these past two weeks, including: Fables #28,29Not the best this series has offered up (the fill-in art could have been stronger), but a pleasant sidetrack before the next arc. Challengers of the Unknown #2, 3: At the Baltimore Con last weekend, I got to have dinner with Howard (and Jim Starlin, Michael Avon Oeming and Walter and Louise Simonson) so how could I say anything bad about this? Hellblazer #197 & 198: Another arc with John caught by an old foe. I'll be sticking with this through #200 at the very least, but I'm not feeling this series so much anymore. She-Hulk #7: The breeziest -- I mean that in a good way -- comic out there; not sure if I'm sticking around once Bobillo leaves though. District X #5: This issue lost me, I'm all done with this. Walking Dead: The best zombie movie never made? Excellent stuff, you're reading this, right? Demo #9: I hope this series exorcizes all of Wood's relationship demons, for they seem mighty. The Goon #8: I LUV THE GOON! One of my favorite titles. Powers #4 I mentioned Oeming was at that table, right? Seriously, good stuff, but let's get down to some consequence of all this set-up. Ex Machina #3: A strong new series on all counts. This has legs. Captain America #31: This issue: Someone Dies! Plus: The Red Skull! We3 #1: Spinning out from my discussion on The Filth, I would've liked to see Morrison present this theme in a different format. As it is though, it's a good first issue, and I'll finish the series. These are all heading to the basement, to be shuffled out of my life at some point...

Here's the unread stack as it stands today:

Essential Iron Fist (Claremont, Byrne): No movement.

Essential Super Villain Team Up (Various): New to the stack. Marvel saw me coming a mile away when they offered this...

In the Shadow of No Towers (Spiegelman): A must-read after I finish...

Persepolis 2 (Satrapi): I'm not sure why there's backlash again this book; The first volume enlightened me to a situation on which I had no real perspective, and this, so far, is an engrossing, compelling read.

Second Help-ing (Kurtzman, various): I picked up two of these paperback collections in Baltimore, thoroughly enjoyed reading one, and now have a second to look forward to.

The Unorthodox Corpse (Brown): "Al Wheeler and a school full of sexy coeds play hide and seek with a corpse who just won't stay dead." What am I, made of stone? ;) This is smut from 1957, and if you could see the cover, you'd know what sold me (plus it was a buck at Atomic).

Invincible: Eight is Enough TPB (Kirkman, Walker): Handed to me by Robert Kirkman (after I'd asked) in Baltimore. I'm filling up on the name-drops, no?

The White Lama (Jodorowsky, Bess): Oh good, more Humanoids to let sit idle on my stack! Like...

Deicide #1: Path of the Dead (Portella/Pastoras): No movement.

Townscapes (Chrisitn/Bilal): No Movement.

The Horde (Baranko): No Movement.

The Hollow Ground (Schuiten)): No Movement.

Superman: The Man of Steel Volume 3 TPB (Byrne, Wolfman): I never followed this iteration of Superman during its original run, so it's all new to me!

The Bible Eden (Giffen, Elliott, Hampton): Fully-painted smut taken from the Bible! Excellent!

Bad Mojo (Harms, Morris): I just read the sell copy on the back, and it doesn't inspire me. We'll see...

100 Bullets: Samurai TPB: I ditched my collection of Bullets trades last year, and was going to drop the series, but I'm curious to see where it's going, Azzarello's a decent guy and I love Risso's art. So here I am with this.

The Fortress of Solitude (Lethem): No pictures, just words? This doesn't stand a chance of being cracked anytime soon.

Comics Prose (various): Handed to me (after I asked) by Nat Gertler. See above for when I'm gong to get around to this. Or just ask Palahniuk ;)

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 3,4, 5, 6, 7 (Miyazaki): Stalled, no movement.

Romance Without Tears (various): No movement.

No More Shaves (Greenberger): No movement.

Playboy: 50 Years of the Cartoons (various): No movement.

The Future Dictionary of America (various): No Movement. Kerry/Edwards in '04!

The Tomb (Weir/DeFilippis/Mitten): No movement.

The Kid Firechief (Steven Weissman): No movement.

The Last American (Grant/McMahon/Wagner): No movement.

The Ballad of Halo Jones Books 1, 2 and 3 (Moore/Gibson): Mo movement.

Stranger Than Fiction (Chuck Palahniuk): Heh...

Exterminator 17 (Bilal/Dionnet)/Gods in Chaos (Bilal): No movement.

The Incal 1, 2 (Moebius/Jodorwsky): No movement.

Found (Rothbart): No movement.

Lone Wolf and Cub #3,4 (Koike/Kojima): Stalled, No movement.

Joseph Rybandt has been working "professionally" in the comics "business" for close to 14 years. He lives in the mountains of Northern PA with his wife, daughter and companion Cosmo. His thoughts and opinions are, mercifully, his own.

I KNOW THE BAND STOLE THE NAME, OKAY?

A couple of months ago, while discussing Fantagraphics’ upcoming slate of releases with P.R. master Eric Reynolds, I broke down and made a shameful, awful confession to him:

I had never read LOVE AND ROCKETS. Ever.

We’re talking about one of the seminal independent comics of all-time, a book that has been around in various incarnations since the 80s. But I had never cracked an issue. How is that possible?

It’s easier than you might think. By the time I became aware of the book, as the 80s drew to a close, it was well on towards a long run. So that left me a bit intimidated towards getting started. Plus, the shop I went to never seemed to have a decent run of consecutive issues, so even if I wanted to sample it, I couldn’t get a good head of steam. I could give you plenty of other flimsy excuses, but what it boiled down was that I just moved on to other books. For better or worse. But now, much, much later, I have finally taken the plunge. And I get it.

LOVE AND ROCKETS #10 and #11. LUBA #8. LUBA’S COMICS AND STORIES #4. Read ‘em all. They’re pretty good.

LOVE AND ROCKETS has thrived and succeeded for the length of time it has because Los Bros Hernandez have the creation of soap opera down to a science. Yes, some people will scream loudly that “soap opera” is a dirty and demeaning term. Those people need to unclench. Soap opera isn’t just the most typical format for an afternoon broadcast drama. Being honest, yeah, those are generally cheesy. But quality soap opera can be brilliant. NYPD BLUE. STAR TREK. ALIAS. You can couch them in terms of their genre, but at heart, they’re soaps. Consider comics. X-MEN is about as pure a soap opera as the medium as ever been produced. So don’t mock the soap, okay?

In classic soap tradition, LOVE AND ROCKETS follows multiple generations of a family, focusing heavily on matriarch Luba. The foibles of her extended family are marvelous. Luba’s daughter Doralis, a children’s show host, has just come out as a lesbian. Luba’s sister Fritz may or may not be involved sexually with Doralis’ producer Pipo. Luba’s daughter Guadalupe is confused and stuck about her own life, considering she’s been working on Doralis’ now-dead show. There are also men on the fringes, but in true soap fashion, it’s all about the women.

There are plenty of other side stories in these issues as well, some of which stand alone and separate from the LOVE AND ROCKETS universe. Artistically simple, and yet subtly complex in how it plays in body language and motion between the characters, I got sucked into LOVE AND ROCKETS very easily. I’m just sorry it took so long. Of course, there’s a lot of story ahead and behind of these issues. I guess that’ll give me plenty of opportunities.

/Mason

LIFESPAN: COMICS Week Seven

I'm back from the beach and a little R&R with my family and my reading stack is about 3 feet tall.

Oi...

I'm away again next week (at the convention in Baltimore, a quick trip this time around), so no Lifespan, and most likely less reading time during the week and a bigger stack all around.

Double Oi...

On a positive note, we've got another winner this week - Benjamin will be calling the Legion: Foundation TPB his very own! Assuming I can get an email back from him with a mailing address (Note to any entrant: In your email, include your mailing address. Unless you live within a 10 mile radius, I won't show up at 3:00 in the morning on your doorstep, so rest assured you're safe in releasing this info to me ;)

Look for details below on the next give-away (two books for you this week: PVP and Invincible) from my mighty stack.

Oh yeah, we've got Madbomb Reviews!

"The great things in the book far outweigh the goofiness of it. In fact, the goofiness is part of its charm I wasn't even around when these issues saw print, but it still made me feel like a kid again. That's not even mentioning the covers, which are so frantic that you start to feel like Cap's life is hanging in the balance if you don't read the issues."

Check out the full thrust of Logan's take here...

"Every panel is driven by tortured and torturous action, and the moments where Cap finally yields to the call of the Madbomb are genuinely disturbing. Brows furrowed and his face crunched into a frightened, angry fist, drool running from the corner of his mouth, Cap struggles to hold onto a shred of his mind, his personality. He can only defeat it by letting go. This is some powerful stuff, folks."

Check out all of Matt's take on Kirby's opus here...

Keep 'em coming, we'll let this run until next time we meet on these virtual pages.

Here's the stack as it stands today:

Fables #28 (Willingham/Akins: I like this series a lot, and this stand-alone looks like a bit of fun (Hits my sweet spot setting it during WWII).

Challengers of the Unknown #2, 3 (Chaykin): I liked the first issue enough to keep up with the series, although I'm a little behind getting started on #2.

Hellblazer #197 & 198 (Carey/Frusin): I'm trying to keep interested in this title, and I generally like Carey's Vertigo work; something's gotta give at some point though.

Batman: Death and the Maidens TPB (Rucka/Janson: Ra's Al Ghul is my favorite Bat-villain, so this will have to really fuck him up to make me dislike it.

Essential Iron Fist (Claremont, Byrne): C'mon, what am I made of stone?

Queen and Country: Operation Storm Front (Rucka/McNeil): New volume out this past week, and I'm just one behind. I've enjoyed what I've read (art issues aside as I mentioned at time) and think this series makes a great case for waiting for the trade. Oh wait, almost every series makes that case ;)

Dark Days (Niles/Templesmith): 30 Days of Night was good stuff, and I was reading its follow-up, Dark Days, in floppy format, but dropped out for some forgotten reason. Here's a chance to see how it plays.

I am Legion (Nury/Cassaday): This is very, very pretty (I actually saw the original French version, but don't read/speak French) and I'm hoping to work it to the top of the stack this week.

B.R.P.D. The Soul of Venice and Other Stories (Mignola/various): I liked the first volume a lot, and love anthologies, so what's not to like here?

Brit: Red White black and Blue (Kirkman/Rathburn): Still playing catch-up with the one man show that is Robert Kirkman after catching up/on with Walking Dead and digging it.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 3,4, 5, 6 (Miyazaki): I thought I'd be plowing through these, but now I appear to be stalling. My speed lines are now non-existent.

Romance Without Tears (various): This collection of public domain romance stories was bought on the cheap at WW Chicago. I had previously put thought to buying at list price, but balked. Now I'm glad I waitied...

No More Shaves (Greenberger): A purchase more for my wife than me (after getting the lasest FBI catalog I called her attention to the solicit, and she was piqued), but I'll give it a read first most likely (because I'm possessive like that).

Adrian Tomine Scrapbook: Uncollected Works 1990-2004 (Tomine, duh!): One of my favorite, least prolific artists/creators. Maybe the piece I own is in here...

Playboy: 50 Years of the Cartoons (various): This was bought on the way cheap (like half off the $50 price tag!) and is a beautiful looking book from Chroniclefull of well-drawn naked chicks!

The Hollow Grounds (Schuiten): More Humanoids for my stack!

Deicide #1: Path of the Dead (Portella/Pastoras) Yet more Humanoids for my stack!

Townscapes (Chrisitn/Bilal): No Movement.

The Horde (Baranko): No Movement.

The Future Dictionary of America (various): A lefty collection of essays and music from McSweeney's Books.

Michael Chabon Presents The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist #3 (various): No Movement.

The Tomb (Weir/DeFilippis/Mitten): No movement.

The Kid Firechief (Steven Weissman): No movement.

The Filth (Morrison/Weston): No movement.

The Last American (Grant/McMahon/Wagner): No movement.

The Ballad of Halo Jones Books 1, 2 and 3 (Moore/Gibson): Mo movement.

Stranger Than Fiction (Chuck Palahniuk): NO MOVEMENT!

Exterminator 17 (Bilal/Dionnet)/Gods in Chaos (Bilal): No movement.

The Incal 1, 2 (Moebius/Jodorwsky): No movement.

Found (Rothbart): No movement.

Chronicles of Conan 2, 3,4 (Thomas/Windsor-Smith/Kane/Buscema): No movement. No interest?

Lone Wolf and Cub #3,4 (Koike/Kojima): No movement. Like Nausicaa, I thought I'd be sailing through, but my big eyes have closed for now to this series.

Here's what left the stack this week, and where it's going:

PVP at Large (Kurtz): Life's too short, and my stack is too tall. So... I'M GIVING THIS (mostly unread, I only made it like 5 pages in) COPY AWAY!

EMAIL ME BETWEEN NOW AND MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, AND I'LL PICK A WINNER AT RANDOM, LITERALLY, AND SEND THIS OUT... FREE! (YOU HAVE TO LIVE IN THE CONTIGUOUS UNITED STATES, THOUGH!)

Star Wars Infinites: Return of the Jedi TPB (Gallardo/Benjamin): This wasn't very good on any level. Heading to the basement to find a new life outside my home.

Back Issue #5 (various): A slight, quick read. No need to ever reference again, though. Heading to the basement to find a new life outside my home.

Comic Art #6 (various): I picked this up for the Seth feature, but found the rest of the magazine great reading (particularly the interview with former The Imp creator/publisher, Daniel Raeburn). I think I might need to subscribe to this (and Illustration as well). I'll be keeping this to look back at every once in awhile. At 9 bucks an issue, I'd be hard pressed to dump it in the recycling pile.

The Comics journal #262 (various): This is really becoming the perfect comics magazine again (providing a nice balance of all worlds) and I dig the new format and additional comics content as well. I should probably subscribe again, shouldn't I? I'll be keeping this to look back at every once in awhile. At 10 bucks an issue, I'd be hard pressed to dump it in the recycling pile.

The Castaways (Vollmar/Callejo): This has been on my "to-buy/read" list for like a year, so now I've done both. Good stuff, and looking forward to Vollmar's BluesmanThis will head to the secondary stacks in the basement.

I Never Liked You (Chester Brown): Well, I never really liked you either, Chet. I mean, I never really liked your previous stuff (Playboy, Yummy Fur, anything else?), and thought that this was slight. I loved Louis Riel though, so stick with stuff like that and maybe we can tolerate each other, ok? Heading to the basement to find a new life outside my home.

Clyde Fans Book 1 (Seth): Seth is my favorite comics writer/artist/creator and I'd been looking forward to this for months. It's wonderful stuff, beautifully illustrated, touching, and interesting - all about a couple of brothers selling fans. And that's why he's my favorite... A keeper in every sense of the word, racked right next to my favorite work of his: It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken.

Invincible: Family Matters TPB (Kirkman/Walker): Add some speed lines, big eyes, creepy fetishes, and make this digest sized and you've got your next big manga hit. I'll give this one away this week as well.

EMAIL ME BETWEEN NOW AND MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, AND I'LL PICK A WINNER AT RANDOM, LITERALLY, AND SEND THIS OUT... FREE! (YOU HAVE TO LIVE IN THE CONTIGUOUS UNITED STATES, THOUGH!)

A whole stack of floppies are shipping out from the stack and I couldn't be happier to see them go: Lucifer #52: Part 2? I don't remember part 1; Supreme Power #11/12: So, these three super-beings are getting together to take on... a serial killer? Kee-rist; Doctor Spectrum #1: Pass; Punisher #10: Wordy/Boring; District X #4: Moderately Entertaining; Wildcats #23/24: It was so good at the start (Boardroom Superheroes), but ended so poorly (That Coda Nonsense); Fables #27: My favorite monthly series I think; Catwoman #32/33: Brubaker's Leaving? I'm already gone; The Moth #3: Forgettable, pretty and unnecessary; Astro City Special: My favorite series that's published whenever it's published; Avengers #501: I thought someone was going to die every issue? Eh...; Hulk/Thing: Hard Knocks #1: Unnecessary Squared and I don't like Jae's Hulk; Gotham Central #22: Wrapped up; Y: The Last Man #25: Going nowhere very slowly every month, but it's an entertaining ride; Batman the 12 Cent Adventure: Worth every penny; DC Comics Presents: Hawkman, Green Lantern, Superman, Flash: Beyond me; Losers #14: Needs Jock; Human Target #12: On Target; Tom Strong's Terrific Tales #11: Boring, but with great Bruce Timm art on the first short story; Ultimate Spider-Man #65: The best issue in all this Ultimate Clone/Gwen/Carnage crap; Ultimate Elektra #1: I normally like Larroca, but not here -- I think it's the paper stock and coloring; X-Statix #26: This Issue, Everyone Dies!; Ultimate FF #10: Techno-babble-riffic!; Plastic Man #8: Awesome on all levels; Seaguy #3 What the fuck?; Astonishing X-Men #4: I'm on board; Sleeper #2: I'm not feeling it this time around, and this could have been one series; Ex Machina #2: I'm on board; Identity Crisis #3: This Issue... Everyone's Raped! This generation's Watchmen, and I mean that with no respect to this generation; Amazing Spider-Man #511: This started poorly, but brought me in. Damn you Nerd King, Damn YOU!

Joseph Rybandt has been working "professionally" in the comics "business" for close to 14 years. He lives in the mountains of Northern PA with his wife, daughter and companion Cosmo. His thoughts and opinions are, mercifully, his own.

More Mini-Madness

THINGS TO DO IN A RETIREMENT HOME TRAILER PARK…
Written and Drawn by Aneurin Wright
Welsh el Dorado Press

I recently reviewed Wright’s graphic novella LEX TALIONIS in my MoviePoopShoot column, and I found it to be a decent effort, but lacking in some depth of storytelling. On the bright side, it looked very pretty. What I know now, though, is that Wright’s slight miss in LEX is more than made up for in his work in these two minis. THINGS TO DO… is a marvelous, emotional piece of work, mining the events of Wright’s personal life in an anthropomorphic setting. I was very impressed by it.

We meet Wright as he’s existentially slogging his way through life as he heads towards thirty. He’s at a crossroads, trying to work as a professional artist and dealing with his father’s terminal illness and all the complications that come with it. It succeeds because it’s real, enhanced by Nye’s choice to depict himself and his father as bulls, rather than humans. It immediately adds an subtext to both their personalities that kicks the dialogue up a notch.

With only two issues out, there is plenty more story to go. I hope that Wright completes his journey and eventually puts it together in graphic novel format. This is the good stuff.

PIRATE COVE
Written and Drawn by Joe D’Angelo
Pirate Cove

I have three of these minis here, and they collect various strips from the long running online series. PIRATE COVE is best described as a wild comedy, long on stretching for funny gags and short on seriousness. It’s artistically simple, perhaps more than it should be after years of production, but the ratio of good strips to bad is pretty high. Of course, these books are made up of selected gags, so that’s to be expected. Still, with its tradition of bizarre non-sequitors and odd moments, I always get inspired to read more of the strip online after I see the minis. I’d take that as a good sign.

SKYSCRAPERS OF THE MIDWEST
Written and Drawn by Joshua W. Cotter
E-mail for details

Passed on to me by mini-comics maven James Sime, this book (I have issues one and two) is a stunning gothic interpretation of family life in Middle America. An artistic fit with the best of material being published by Fantagraphics, Cotter performs open heart surgery on the pains and fears of childhood, and the way those fears carry through and can destroy our adult lives.

Superbly produced, these minis are designed to resemble a magazine straight from the 40s, complete with ads encouraging smoking on the back. It might seem crass to parody that old faux pas, but when you read the brilliantly dark “We Are Already Dead” in issue one, you realize that Cotter has passed the mark where parody ends and where social enlightenment begins. If the scenario depicted in “Dead” is true, and even on my best days, I’d have trouble arguing that it isn’t, then maybe heading for an early grave isn’t the worst that can happen. Smoke ‘em if you’ve got ‘em. These are award-caliber works.

/Mason

LIFESPAN: COMICS Week Six

I'm back from WizardWorld Chicago which produced a box of new material that won't even make it to the stack, or the list this week. I sense an offshoot - Lifespan: Box o' Comics!

Anyway, I'm under the gun this week due to a bunch of stuff, and will be away again next week (personal time finally -- at the beach with the family for a few days), so we'll get right into it...

But, first, we've got Contest Winners! Thanks to everyone that wrote in, and from the group that responded, Logan, Bryan, and Todd were picked (completely arbitrarily) as the winners! They can look for Firebreather, Conversation #1 and Ursula -- randomly awarded -- to be heading to their homes this week! For everyone else that entered, I'm going to try to find a little something to send so, you keep reading, be patient, and don't say nasty things about me and the way I give stuff away ;)

Look for details below on the next give-away from my stack.

Oh, and screw everyone for ignoring my review challenge. Particularly, CBG's own Chris Allen... But, I'm not backing down, the challenge remains open!

Here's the stack as it stands today:

New X-Men Volume 3 Hardcover (Morrison/Various): "I don't honestly care that much that Chris Claremont and other X-writers seem to be erasing everything Grant Morrison did with the X-Men, because I still have these great hardcovers to read and can ignore the stuff I don't like." - Chris Allen. Exactly, except for the last arc with Silvestri -- that shit made no sense. This is heading to the shelf to make sweet, sweet love to Volumes 1 and 2 and maybe they'll make great new Morrison stories in their union, on my shelf.

Essential Avengers Volume 4 TPB (Thomas/Buscema/Adams): A big fat book of Avengers goodness. This is the stuff. Heading to the shelf after a partial re-read to hang with my other Essential Volumes. I love this format, BTW.

PVP at Large (Kurtz): Figured I'd give it a skim, as I only ever read the stuff he did ripping into alterna-comics, and at first skim, it looks pretty unfunny. We'll see.

Star Wars Infinites: Return of the Jedi TPB (Gallardo/Benjamin): Great way to milk the series, these Infinites things... sucked me right in. The execution, thus far, has not exceeded the high concept, however. I remain pessimistic about this one (I did this past weekend, see all of the Clone Wars eps on a bootleg DVD, and that's some good stuff.).

Lone Wolf and Cub 3,4 (Koike/Kojima): Read 1, and 2 -- I'm in baby! I'm in! Now, to finish the series before the end of summer!

District X #4; Punisher #10; Doctor Spectrum #1; and Supreme Power #12. These should clear off the stack before too long; funny that they spun off the slowest moving series of Earth in the form of a Dr. Spectrum mini...

Michael Chabon Presents The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist #3 (various): Haven't touched it...

Townscapes (Chrisitn/Bilal): Took this with me to read on the plane, but no such luck.

The Tomb (Weir/DeFilippis/Mitten): No movement.

The Kid Firechief (Steven Weissman): No movement. RED ON RED HURTS MY EYES!

The Horde (Baranko): Took this with me to read on the plane, but no such luck.

The Filth (Morrison/Weston): Took this with me to read on the plane, but no such luck.

The Last American (Grant/McMahon/Wagner): No movement.

Back Issue #5 (various): No movement.

The Ballad of Halo Jones Books 1, 2 and 3 (Moore/Gibson): Mo movement.

Stranger Than Fiction (Chuck Palahniuk): KILL ME, I CAN'T FINISH THIS!

Exterminator 17 (Bilal/Dionnet)/Gods in Chaos (Bilal): No movement.

The Incal 1, 2 (Moebius/Jodorwsky): No movement. Didn't find #3 at the show, either.

Found (Rothbart): No movement.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 3,4, 5, 6 (Miyazaki): Now that I've popped 1 and 2, I expect to plow through these... Good stuff so far.

Chronicles of Conan 2, 3,4 (Thomas/Windsor-Smith/Kane/Buscema): No movement.

The following popped on and off the list this week:

Legion: Foundations TPB (various): I haven't read Legion since it was called L.E.G.I.O.N and people still liked Lobo, so this was a fresh look for me. Good stuff, but not enough Darkseid for all the build up (and I love me some Darkseid). I'm giving this one away this week.

E-MAIL ME BETWEEN NOW AND MONDAY, AUGUST 30, AND I'LL PICK A WINNER AT RANDOM, LITERALLY, AND SEND THIS OUT... FREE! (YOU HAVE TO LIVE IN THE CONTIGUOUS UNITED STATES, THOUGH!)

Tommysaurus Rex (TenNapel): I read Creature Tech and found it lacking; This is stronger, tighter and more focused, but still not in my sweet spot. I will hold onto it though for future Rybandt Generations.

She-Hulk #6: I like this book better with Bobillo's pencils, but it's still a decent read; Man-Thing #2: I hope the movie moves faster than the first two issues of this has!; Loki #3: Beautiful! And Boring!; Fantastic Four #517: I miss the old way Marvel did cross-overs -- this "Disassembled" stuff is forced, and tries to paint the larger picture without showing any of the "consequence" in the cross-over books -- aside from that, a solid issue of Waid's FF after the weaker previous arc; Daredevil #63: Continued good stuff from BMB and Maleev, but this series just proves that monthlies should die and be replaced by complete collections (note I didn't say Trades); Ultimate Spider-Man #64: Oh god, there's a clone saga brewing. Only this time, it's an ULTIMATE CLONE SAGA; Powers #3: When did they make this weekly? Seems like I've been reading one a week, or every two weeks since the re-launch. Good stuff... but those personals still make me feel icky; Spider-Man #5: I like Cho's art, and this is a serviceable Spider-Man, but it all feels like it's just going through the motions, ya know?; Captain America: I'm torn -- on one hand, it's got Batroc, but on the other hand he doesn't talk in eez outrageous acc-ent!

These are all basement bound... never to be heard of again, until I off-load 'em.

Here's what's leaving the stack this week, and where it's going:

Marvel Boy TPB (Morrison/Jones): Yeah, it was ok, but I consider his work on X-Men to be essential Marvel Morrison, and this an interesting experiment... This is heading to the secondary TPB stacks in the basement.

Queen and County TPB's (Rucka/various): Plowed through Volumes 2, 3, and 4 (and picked up #5 in Chicago). Good stuff, but suffers slightly from wildly inconsistent (and in the case of Volume 3, wildly inappropriate) art. These are heading to the secondary TPB stacks in the basement.

Whiteout: Melt (Rucka/Lieber): Great stuff all around. Wish there was more than the two volumes so far, I could do easily with one a year. This is heading to the secondary TPB stacks in the basement.

Powers: The Sellouts (Bendis/Oeming): Gave this a quick re-read. It's funny, because when the first Powers TPB came out, I read, and hated it. However, each volume (and issue) has been some great comics all around. This volume is no exception. Smart stuff. This is heading to the shelf with the other volumes of Powers.

Sebastian O (Morrison/Yeowell): Read this on the plane. It's not essential Morrison, but it is a fun read and the TPB appears to have a bit of new material. This is heading to the secondary TPB stacks in the basement.

The Lizard of Oz (Bode): A beautiful looking book, but with an uninteresting and clichŽd story with boring sex. This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 1 and 2 (Miyazaki): I finally popped these on the plane and they're excellent. Highly Recommended. The whole set of these, when I'm finished, will stay to be read by my kid when she gets old enough and shows interest.

Lone Wolf and Cub 1,2 (Koike/Kojima): I'm not crazy about the size (they were convenient to bring on the plane, but hard to read on the plane), and I understand they work themselves out of the "kill of the week" that's predominant in these two volumes, so, I'm in, only, what, 25 more volumes to go? Holding onto each one as I finish for now, we'll see where the set ends up.

Joseph Rybandt has been working "professionally" in the comics "business" for close to 14 years. He lives in the mountains of Northern PA with his wife, daughter and companion Cosmo. His thoughts and opinions are, mercifully, his own.

Mini Madness: Dave Roman

ASTRONAUT ELEMENTARY #1-3
Written and Drawn by Dave Roman
Available at http://www.yaytime.realmsend.com

Now these are truly mini-comics. Priced at $.50, these eight page gems are rightfully called on the covers "mini manga." Featuring a cast of characters that are as cute as can be, Roman's milieu is quite literally an elementary school set in space, complete with classes like "Dinosaur Driving Lessons." There's a rich and popular girl, a quiet girl, a troubled boy and a boy who is considerd by his classmates to just be flat out odd. However, even with the standard character archetypes, these minis charm their way into your heart and are a reasonable and cheap alternative for readers young and old. When we talk about making more comics for kids, its stuff like this that we should be thinking about.

TEEN BOAT #1-5
Written by Dave Roman and Drawn by John Green
Available from Cryptic Press

These books are so fucked up inspired that they nearly achieve pure brilliance. Think about your comics today. Teenagers gain superpowers by being bitten by super spiders or they develop powers like walking through walls because they're mutants. Teen Boat, on the other hand, is a young boy who turns into... well, a boat. A small yacht, to be specific. Immediately, one's reaction is something like "That is one of the most retarded things I have ever heard in all my comics reading years." But honestly... it isn't a bad book.

I know, I know... but I promise you I don't do any drugs. I'm serious.

Shockingly, these books work. TB is pretty normal, excepting that he can pop a propeller out of his ass. He liks a girl who won't pay attention to him unless he's in boat form, his best female friend is doing her best to look out for him, and his classmates are constantly trying to exploit him for their own ends. In fact, TB and his friend Joey Steinberg could be played by James Van Der Beek and Katie Holmes and you wouldn't blink.

TEEN BOAT would be a mess of mammoth proportions if Roman and Green didn't play the character completely straight, but because they do, and because they give him a surprisingly fertile emotional life, I found myself wanting to see more of these, and I make no apologies for that.

/Mason

Mini-Madness: Raina Telgemeier

TAKE OUT #1-6: written and drawn by Raina Telgemeier. Available from her website at http://www.goraina.com.

As many of you know, I love mini-comics. In their own way, I think they are as pure of an expression that you'll find in comics today. Some folks make them and put out absurdist stuff that would only find a cult audience anyway. Some artists use them to collect strips, sketches, and other assorted materials in a cheap format. And some, like Telgemeier, use the format the way they would use standard sized comics: to explore personal themes and journeys. I have room in my heart for all three kinds, personally.

TAKE OUT sees Raina explore herself from childhood to current adulthood, examining her oddly frightening moments, such as the first time her father shaved his beard, to her laugh-because-it-isn't-you moments like beating the New York subway system to get down to the platforms for free, but then missing her train on multiple occasions. Karma can be a wretched mistress.

Telgemeier doesn't fall into some of the basic traps that many autobiographical artists do, in that she isn't telling too much information about herself. Many creators are so struck by their own lives that they'll take a personal story to a point beyond unpleasantness, but Raina finds a happy medium, for instance showing off her personal obsession with musician Ben Folds in a way that is endearing, not creepy. Frankly, I wish she'd do seminars on that technique.

Issue four contains my personal favorite story, "Letter To Matt," in which Telgemeier describes the aftermath of going to her friend's "Pimps And Hos" party. While the party was delightful, the trip home in her "ho" outfit had more than its share of grief. Knowing someone myself whom this has happened to, it had a humorous ring of authenticity that left me laughing. And having read almost four full issues about the quietly subdued author at that point, seeing her depct herself dressed like a streetwalker and keeping a straight face was hilarious.

In a sea of bad comics hitting the stands right and left, it was very refreshing to read these wonderful minis and see such quality work and effort in them. I will, unquestionably, be keeping my eyes open for future work by Telgemeier, mini comics or otherwise. She's a talent to keep watch upon.

/Mason

More Spurgeon Than You can Shake A Stick At

Word is now out that Tom and co-writer Jordan Raphael's wonderful Stan Lee biography will be making its debut in paperback. Buy this deservingly Eisner-nominated book, and you'll be happy:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1556525419/ref=lpr_g_1/002-0099541-1092824?v=glance&s=books

The old promotional web site for the book is still around, too:

http://www.stanleebook.com

Good stuff.

Comics' Greatest Genius

I'm a bit behind in reading, well, everything, these days, so it took me until this past weekend to finally settle down with The Comics Journal #260 and give it a read. As usual, I was glad I did.

Plenty of folks out there like to tar and feather The Journal with particular brushes, and not all of them are the wrong color paint. That said, it is still the best place to go for quality writing, criticism, and interviews about the comics medium and its community. There are excellent works in this issue such as a detailed examiniation of Dave Cockrum's illness and settlement with Marvel and Clifford Meth's work on his behalf, as well as a side look at Meth's axe grinding against Barry Windsor-Smith while putting a Cockrum tribute book together. Michael Dean also contributes an informative look behind the scenes at Drawn And Quarterly, giving the reader a much better picture of who they are as a publisher and why they make the choices they do. But the real standout in the issue is Tom Spurgeon's incredible look at the entire AiT-Planetlar publishing line.

Spurgeon starts at the beginning with Larry Young's first publishing forays with the original Astronauts In Trouble series and winds his way through what has become a very large small-press empire. And it is one of the most magnificent things I have read on the subject of comics in many a moon.

What Spurgeon does is almost beyond belief. As he gave critical weight to book after book after book, I found myself simply in awe of the time and effort he put forth into writing the piece, and that wasn't even taking into consideration the actual depth and content of his words. Spurgeon is quite likely the sharpest intellect writing about the subject of comics today. His grasp of story, genre, art, place, history, and dialogue are monstrous. You get the sense from Tom that he's thinking three steps ahead of you at almost every turn, and there's almost an intimidation to even sitting and reading his work. It forces you to really realize and examine your place as a writer.

I've been reading comics for about 29 years now, and writing about them for about ten, and reading work by a guy as gifted and intelligent as Tom Spurgeon is something I treasure. It also gives me something to aspire to, though I don't think I could ever come close to doing work of his quality. But it makes you want to try, you know? At the very least, it makes you think that much harder when you're sitting at the keyboard working up a column, realizing that yes, you may pale in comparison, but if you work that much harder, that paleness might gain just the smallest bit of color.

I had the pleasure of seeing Spurgeon in San Diego again this year, and as always, he was a whirlwind. Rightfully nominated for an Eisner for his excellent Stan Lee biography, he was everywhere, soaking in the atmosphere, finding great books, and locating new talents. Not to mention, he was looking at back issues and finding affordable treasures to add to what I am sure is a stunning collection of work. And you know what? That told me something very important. It told me to keep reading The Journal... because soon enough, we're going to be lucky enough to read all about those discoveries.

/Mason

LIFESPAN: COMICS
08.06.04

Well, here we are again and I have to say, that I’m a little puzzled – not one email for the FREE comics mentioned last week (I did mention that they’re FREE right? I’ll pay for the shipping and everything).

Now, there are a few possibilities of what’s gone wrong: 1) No one’s reading (and I can understand that, my wife hasn’t even read one of these yet) and 2) No one wants the comics in question…

But, I doubt no one’s reading, so, this week, I’m keeping the option open on Ursula and Conversation #1, and adding a more mass-appeal book: Firebreather (details below).

Now, as for that review challenge?

Not a peep.

I guess Chris Allen’s too busy conversing with ADD to get his in… and others are still looking for the book. So, the challenge remains open.

And we’ll make it worth your while, promise.

No Lifespan next week, as I’m heading to the Nerd Homecoming Dance in Chicago next week.

Here's the stack as it stands today:

Michael Chabon Presents The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist #3 (various): This has been mostly inconsistent, although within this issue, there’s some stuff by Vaughan and Hornschemeier that should prove it out.

Marvel Boy TPB (Morrison/Jones): Never read it when originally published, so 4 years (!) later it’s all new to me.

Queen and County TPB’s (Rucka/various): Picked up Volumes 2, 3, and 4. I may have read some of these previously, but wanted to reacquaint myself with the series through the available collections.

Whiteout: Melt (Rucka/Lieber): Read the first series, don’t ever recall reading this one. Again, all new to me!

Powers: The Sellouts (Bendis/Oeming): Read the single issues, and this TPB will get a quick re-read.

Townscapes (Chrisitn/Bilal): More Heady Humanoids goodness thanks to the new DC deal.

The Tomb (Weir/DeFilippis/Mitten): No movement.

The Kid Firechief (Steven Weissman): No movement; started it, but couldn’t fin an immediate “in”.

The Horde (Baranko): No movement.

The Lizard of Oz (Bode): No real movement; started it, but couldn’t fin an immediate “in”.

Sebastian O (Morrison/Yeowell): No movement.

The Filth (Morrison/Weston): No movement.

The Last American (Grant/McMahon/Wagner): No movement.

Back Issue #5 (various): No movement.

The Ballad of Halo Jones Books One, Two and Three (Moore/Gibson): Mo movement.

Stranger Than Fiction (Chuck Palahniuk): No movement.

Exterminator 17 (Bilal/Dionnet)/Gods in Chaos (Bilal): No movement.

The Incal 1, 2 (Moebius/Jodorwsky): No movement. Didn’t find #3 at the show, either.

Found (Rothbart): No movement.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 1,2,3,4, 5, 6 (Miyazaki): No movement.

Chronicles of Conan 2, 3,4 (Thomas/Windsor-Smith/Kane/Buscema): No movement.

Here's what's leaving the stack this week, and where it's going:

Carnet De Voyage (Thompson): Finished it, loved it. Heading to the shelf, after I give it to my wife to read (she liked Blankets).

Battle Royale #8 (Takami/Taguchi): I need a shower after this installment. Filthy, creepy and vile… which is not necessarily a bad thing.

This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.

Same Difference And Other Stories (Derek Kirk Kim): Not sure about all the hype/praise. I think someone like Tomine works this vein much better. I’d check out future work from him though to see where he’s heading.

This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.

The Technopriests 1 (Jodorowsky/Janietov/Beltran): Brought myself back up to speed through the first two-thirds, than ended with material I had not yet read. Great stuff, heading to the shelf next to my Metabarons and Metal Hurlant’s.

Eightball #22 (Clowes): Good stuff, but wish I’d known an expanded edition was coming down the road. If you got caught up in the sweep of Eightball #23, take a step back and check this out. Heading to the Clowes section of my bookshelf.

The Interman (Parker): Polished up for the big screen, this could be great. As a GN, I’m very interested in the business decisions that went into this, and pleased with the overall read. A little bumpy in patches, but a fine effort overall. Parker signed it to me and did a sketch which makes it a keeper…

End Times (Hiti): An impressive artistic debut (Hiti’s done previous work, but this seems to be the potential debut/break-out book for him), but at a proposed 10 volumes, I’m not sure I have the stamina. A worthy solo edition in any case; SEEK IT OUT!

White Death (Morrison/Adlard): Really liked it, but wish that Adlard had gone with a more traditional style as I had problems at the end figuring out who was who. The line-work of Walking Dead would have alleviated those issues.

This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.

Wake the Dead (Niles/Chee): An updating of Frankenstein with inconsistent art and nothing new – except cliché -- added to the mix. Maybe I’m just more of a vampire guy, than a Frankenstein monster guy

This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.

Tim Sale: Black and White (Sale): Beautiful presentation and a straight-forward conversation/commentary make this a nice addition the bookshelf. I never knew Tim had so many contrary opinions -- Good for him! After reading through this, I may even re-think Spider-Man: Blue, which was recently exiled to the basement stacks due to space/apathy. Daredevil and Hulk though? Not so much…

Here’s what popped on the list, then jumped right off due to being quickly read (I love stuff that fits this category):
Firebreather TPB (Hester/Kuhn): Interesting high-concept, and a well executed, good read. Not sure I’d ever follow this monthly though, and this TPB is an unnecessary addition to my collection, so, it’s yours!

EMAIL ME: (Joe Rybandt) BETWEEN NOW AND MONDAY, AUGUST 23 AND I’LL PICK A WINNER AT RANDOM AND SEND THIS OUT… FREE! (YOU HAVE TO LIVE IN THE CONTIGUOUS UNITED STATES, THOUGH!)

Ultimate Nightmare #1 (Ellis/Hairsine): All set-up. We’ll see what issue #2 introduces.

This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.

X-Men: The End #1 (Claremont/Chen): Hoo-boy… The execution of previous “End” installments were near-perfect for what they were (Punisher and the Hulk) while this (and Wolverine: The End) are convoluted and mostly painful.

This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.

Ultimate X-Men #50 (Vaughan/Kubert): Gambit has awful, permed hair. Are perms “ultimate” now?

This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.

Ultimate Spider-Man #63 (Bendis/Bagley): Carnage kills Gwen Stacy, well, actually that happened last issue, this issue deals with that, and sets up the next issue: Spidey vs. Carnage! Carnage? Lame…

This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.

Here's what needs to go on the stack, but then the stack would be perilously tall:

Lone Wolf and Cub (Koike/Kojima): I’m going to once again pack the first few for the plane ride to Chicago. We’ll see…

Joseph Rybandt has been working "professionally" in the comics "business" for close to 14 years. He lives in the mountains of Northern PA with his wife, daughter and companion Cosmo. His thoughts and opinions are, mercifully, his own.

FAT STACKS

Slowly but surely, the San Diego haul begins to take shape in a useable form. I even (shhhhhh!) read a couple of pamphlets before bed last night, and they weren't bad, showing some real potential. This might turn out to be all good!

Mason

LIFESPAN: COMICS
07.30.04

I’m back from the nerd-prom, and I’m not going to tell you a thing about it (you can read of my partial exploits thanks to CBG’s own Chris Allen)… I did, however, pick up a bunch of stuff – listed below – and the desire to issue a challenge.

A review challenge.

Because, I think that should be CBG’s thing, and here I am, writing something being published at CBG (and Marc’s blog, The Waiting Room).

Alan threw down the bejeweled gauntlet with Eightball #23 and I have set my sites equally as high:

Marvel’s brand-new collection of Jack Kirby’s Captain America and the Falcon: Madbomb

I read it on the plane on the way back from SD, and had discussed it previously with folks like CA and Matt Maxwell, but since I’m not really a reviewer (this column is an exercise in process, impression and place) -- I’ll leave it to the best and the brightest of the web log-o-sphere.

So, get reading, we all know you’ve got one in that stack somewhere, I mean, it’s Kirby fer chrissakes. Send your reviews here to myself and we’ll post the best ones. It’ll be fun, I swear…We’ll even make it worth your while with some free stuff for the ones we like.

Oh, and I’ve decided to give away some stuff from this weeks iteration of the stack (the stack is completely OUT OF CONTROL, standing close to 2 feet tall on the bedside table), rather than add to the further clutter of my already cluttered basement. Details below, savvy readers (although, this week’s stack is so HUGE, I’ll give you a pointer; seek out Conversation and Ursula for give-away details).

Anyway, here's the stack as it stands today:

Carnet De Voyage (Thompson): SAN DIEGO PURCHASE! A thoroughly engaging travelogue/journal that is much, much more substantive than I believed it would be from the initial solicit/press. I’m halfway through it, and I Highly Recommend it!

Battle Royale #8 (Takami/Taguchi): I’m in for the long haul, but talk about decompressed storytelling…

Same Difference And Other Stories (Derek Kirk Kim): SAN DIEGO PURCHASE! He won an Eisner, so I thought I’d check it out…

The Tomb (Weir/DeFilippis/Mitten): SAN DIEGO ACQUISITION! I know the inker (who was also the artist on Last Exit To Toll), he gave this to me…

The Kid Firechief (Steven Weissman): SAN DIEGO PURCHASE! Looks like fun, I’m sure I’ve read other work by Weissman, but his past credits don’t ring familiar…

The Horde (Baranko): The new deal with Humanoids and DC will keep me in head-y, European SCIFI from now until the very end of time…

The Technopriests 1 (Jodorowsky/Janietov/Beltran): So, I had the big albums of the first 2 collections, found out this past weekend there’s 7 of them so far, and this TPB collects the first 3. Ergo, this is the way to go if you can accept the smaller size of these new trade collections from DC.

The Lizard of Oz (Bode): SAN DIEGO PURCHASE! An impulse buy. I have Wizards on my Netflix queue. Maybe that’ll show, I can score some weed and work the three of these things into a burned-out weekend!

Eightball #22 (Clowes): SAN DIEGO PURCHASE! With all the talk of #23, I remembered I’d never read #22. I’m taking an indy trip back in time! Was there even a web log-o-sphere when this came out?

The Interman (Parker): SAN DIEGO PURCHASE! A perennial on the convention circuit that I’ve never purchased/read. Well, I have now…

End Times (Hiti): SAN DIEGO PURCHASE! This was a must-find the first day of the con after I skipped out on MoCCA this year. Beautiful looking book, we’ll see how it holds up to the hype.

Sebastian O (Morrison/Yeowell): I read the originals when they were published, but I remember zip about the series, we’ll see how it re-reads.

White Death (Morrison/Adlard): SAN DIEGO PURCHASE! I like historical fiction, and I like Adlard. Maybe this is my AiT sweet-spot.

The Filth (Morrison/Weston): Let’s see how it reads all in one sitting, shall we?

Wake the Dead (Niles/Chee): Didn’t read the singles, let’s see how the trade does.

The Last American (Grant/McMahon/Wagner): I may have read this in its original format, but I don’t remember (as you can see, I read far too many comics for anybody’s good).

Tim Sale: Black and White (Sale): SAN DIEGO PURCHASE! Tim’s dreamy, and his art’s not too shabby either! A nice looking book.

Back Issue #5 (various): SAN DIEGO PURCHASE! A nostalgia issue focusing on ‘70s superhero TV. Read bits on the plane, and its fluffy, but entertaining…

The Ballad of Halo Jones Books One, Two and Three (Moore/Gibson): Mo movement.

Stranger Than Fiction (Chuck Palahniuk): No movement.

Exterminator 17 (Bilal/Dionnet)/Gods in Chaos (Bilal): No movement.

The Incal 1, 2 (Moebius/Jodorwsky): No movement. Didn’t find #3 at the show, either.

Found (Rothbart): No movement.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 1,2,3,4, 5, 6 (Miyazaki): No movement.

Chronicles of Conan 2, 3,4 (Thomas/Windsor-Smith/Kane/Buscema): No movement.

Here's what's leaving the stack this week, and where it's going:

Captain America and the Falcon: Madbomb TPB (Kirby): Wonderful stuff in need of more insightful thought. Someone should issue a Review Challenge™ or something. This is heading to the shelf, or maybe I’ll leave it on a bus for a civilian to find and discover its beauty.

2020 Visions Hardcover (Delano/Quitely/Pleece/Romberger/Pugh): Read this on e the plane, and liked certain arcs more than others, but overall, a strong read. May have been better served in color. Not one for the shelf though…

This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.

The Comics Journal #261 (various): Sometimes I like the Journal more in theory, than in practice, and this was one of those issues. Speaking with Dirk this past weekend though, has me enthusiastic for future issues under his tenure. This is heading the stacks in the basement with my other Journals and mags that I’m holding onto for some strange reason.

The Collected Jack Kirby Collector Volume 2 (Morrow): Read a good chunk of it on the plane. The art and story behind “Science Fiction Land” is worth the price of admission alone. This is heading the stacks in the basement with my other Journals and mags that I’m holding onto for some strange reason.

The Moth #2,3 (Rude/Martin): Finally, off the list! Although, truth be told, I more skimmed than read…

This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.

Gotham Central #’s20 and 21; Plastic Man #7;; Tom Strong #27; Swamp Thing #5; Challengers of the Unknown #2; DC Comics Presents: Batman and Mystery in Space; She-Hulk #5; District X #3; Justice League Elite #1; Losers #13; Hellblazer #197; The Authority: More Kev #2; Batman: Harley and Ivy #3; Doom Patrol #1; HERO #18; and Books of Magic: Life During Wartime #1. Nothing to break-out here, Gotham Central’s still a good read; She-Hulk has a fill in artist that is not nearly as good for the book as Bobillo was; Life During Wartime is mostly impenetrable, but interesting; and the rest are just filler.

These are all heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.

Here’s what popped on the list, then jumped right off due to being quickly read (I love stuff that fits this category):

Flight (various): SAN DIEGO PURCHASE! Beautiful book, with uneven stories. Worth a look, both for the production, art, and overall effort.

This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.

Conversation (Kolchaka/Thompson): SAN DIEGO PURCHASE! Incredibly slight and incredibly over-priced. This is a give-away this week, so…

EMAIL ME (JRYBANDT@YAHOO.COM) BETWEEN NOW AND MONDAY, AUGUST 9 AND I’LL PICK A WINNER AT RANDOM AND SEND THIS OUT… FREE! YOU HAVE TO LIVE IN THE CONTIGUOUS UNITED STATES, THOUGH!)

Kyle Baker: Cartoonist Volume 2 (Baker): SAN DIEGO PURCHASE! A quick, fun read. Heading to the shelf with the rest of my Baker stuff.

The Playboy Pad (various): SAN DIEGO PURCHASE! A photographic visit to swingin singles’ retreats across the… Hey how’d this get on here! Heading to the basement with the rest of the arty porn.

America at War: The Best f DC War Comics (various): SAN DIEGO PURCHASE! A best-of collection of DC War Comics from the ‘40s through the ‘70s that was on my list of things to look for, and I fond it, pretty cheap too. Heading to the shelf with my Fireside/Simon and Schuster Marvel Collections from the same time period.

Egg Story (Schmidt): SAN DIEGO PURCHASE! Recommended by Marc Mason. A cute little comic, but alas, after I give it to my wife to read…

This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.

Slave Labor Stories (FCBD) (various): SAN DIEGO ACQUISITION! There is nothing from SLG that interests me other than Dorkin’s work… it may be an age thing.

This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.

Demo #8 (Wood/Cloonan): SAN DIEGO PURCHASE! Earlier issues, with Cloonan’s art presenting more experimental lines/styles were more interesting to me, visually. Story-wise, I’m always left a little under-whelmed, but some may argue that’s the point.

This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.

Grande Fanta: The art of Ashley Wood (Wood): I’m a big fan of Wood’s art and Popbot series. This collects the three previous “Art of” Books and is a nice, if not squat *why so small when the previous books this collect were so much larger) and expensive ($50!), collection. Heading to the shelf…

Family Reunion and Me and Edith Head (Stewart/Lieber and Ryan/Lieber): SAN DIEGO PURCHASE! Two excellent mini-comics! I’m way late to the game with Edith Head, but glad I finally showed, it’s excellent. I’ll hold onto these…

Ursula (Moon/Ba): Not my thing, maybe it’s yours…

EMAIL ME (JRYBANDT@YAHOO.COM) BETWEEN NOW AND MONDAY, AUGUST 9 AND I’LL PICK A WINNER AT RANDOM AND SEND THIS OUT… FREE! YOU HAVE TO LIVE IN THE CONTIGUOUS UNITED STATES, THOUGH!)

Western Tales of Terror (various): SAN DIEGO PURCHASE! A nice anthology of – surprisingly -- western horror tales. This industry needs more anthologies, dammit! They signed this for me, so I’ll be keeping it…

The Walking Dead #9 (Kirkman/Adlard): SAN DIEGO PURCHASE! This one sails along; this will get ditched when that second trade hits.

A1 Sketchbook (various): SAN DIEGO ACQUISTION! Atomeka is going to be doing some interesting stuff, and I need to dig out my original runs of A1 -- Ross and Dave are swell eggs. I’ll hold onto it…

DC: The New Frontier (COOKE): I have no idea where this is going, but it’s a beautiful ride. I’ll be keep the singles until it’s fully collected, and if it’s not fully collected, I won’t be buying partial collections.

Metal Hurlant #12 (various): One of my favorite reads, always filled with interesting stuff; this issue is no exception. Features the first real substantive work from Rob G and Rick Spears. I hold onto these…

The Uncanny Dave Cockrum… A Tribute (various): A pricey tribute at that. I know it’s for a good cause, but 30 bucks? What’s the split on that…

This is heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.

Fantastic Four: Hereafter TPB (Waid/ Wieringo): I liked this arc and I generally like Waid’s FF. This is heading to the secondary TPB stacks in the basement.

Daredevil: King of Hell’s Kitchen TPB (Bendis/Maleev): this may be the last good, strong arc of Bendis’ DD. This’ll find a home on the shelf along with the rest of his run.

Ultimate Fantastic Four #9; Sleeper #2; Planetary #20; Fantastic Four #516; Powers #2; Marvel Kight: 4 #8; Astonishing X-Men #3; Amazing Spider-Man #510; X-Statix #25: Kabuki #1; Loki #2; Daredevil #62; and Man-Thing #1! I’m exhausted after all of the above, so nothing to break out here, except: Kabuki #1 is a pretty mess; I’m coming around on Astonishing X-Men; the shock at the end of Amazing may end up being interesting; Marvel Knight 4 is not so much a good read without McNiven’s art; Powers is Powers (the events of this past week sure put those Personals in a new light, don’t they); FF mercifully starts a new arc next issue; Planetary moves slowly (duh!); Sleeper’s great and Ultimate FF ain’t half-bad and currently my favorite Ultimate book.

These are all heading to the basement, amid the stacks of stuff to get rid of, somehow... someday.

Here's what needs to go on the stack, but then the stack would be perilously tall:

Lone Wolf and Cub (Koike/Kojima): I too the first four volumes for the plane ride, didn’t crack a single one. And, I see the sequel/prequel Samurai Executioner is out this week… I’m doomed!

Joseph Rybandt has been working "professionally" in the comics "business" for close to 14 years. He lives in the mountains of Northern PA with his wife, daughter and companion Cosmo. His thoughts and opinions are, mercifully, his own.