John buys comics

hahaha, I thought that said "as good a forum as any to discuss my funds"

occasional Amazong pile.

Back in the mid-90s, www.amazong.com was an actual site that mocked and taunted you for fucking up the web address.

Ask me how I know this.

"as good a forum as any to discuss my funds"
Maybe a little of this as well.

So here's the latest pile; by "latest", I mean "purchase two days ago" so I've yet to really dig in too far on the reading end. All are trades unless otherwise noted.

-Transmetropolitan: Back on the Streets; Lust for Life + Year of the Bastard: aka books 1,2 and 3.
I've been a fan of Ellis for a while; I liked his runs on The Authority, F4, Hellblazer and Global Frequency and Douglas convinced me to get the first trade of Fell. People go nuts over this book; turns out that my downstairs neighbors each have Spider Jerusalem tats (the woman has the angry sun on her shoulder, the guy has the same tribal stripes on his calf). Transmet's been of interest for a long time, so I jumped on these and read them first and it's quite good for a first read, but suffers from a lot of the same show-yer-ass hooliganism that Garth Ennis and (more lately) Jason Aaron dabble in. Solid HSThompson-in-the-future pastiche nonetheless; Ellis seems to really succeed with creating a comprehensive and detailed world for his characters to play in. The fault comes when he plays fast and loose with the interior rules of his worlds for the sake of getting to the next plot point. Plus, the often overly purple prose and utterly unsympathetic characters make it harder to feel connected. I'd happily pick up the rest of the series tho'. Anybody got any opinions on Ellis' first novel? Outside of Fell, is he doing anything I should be picking up in floppy format?

- JLA: American Dreams: aka Book 2 of the Morrison run
Another "been meaning to pick up"; it's kind of amazing how Grant has been allowed to run rampant with all the major universes over the past couple of years, eh? Not much left but Spider Man. This is nice, well-crafted capes and tights; just as good as what he's doing with All Star Supes right now. I'm surprised people haven't been talking this up on here. Am I correct in saying that DC has pulled a lot of the MozLA trades out of print?

-Ex Machina: The First Hundred Days: aka Book 1
I got into this series by getting the first two books from the local library and I started buying the floppies; bought this just so I can fill in holes in the collection. If I hadn't already invested so much cash and time in reading this series in monthly issue format, I'd just switch to buying two or three trades a year; I'd probably enjoy it more in that fashion. BKV's stuff is more like episodic television than comic arcs in any case; that stuff's more effective in whopping doses. Nonetheless, this is still one of the few floppies I still get regularly; it's clearly under my skin.

-Batman Chronicles, Vol.3
Yummy yummy Bill Finger and Bob Kane collabos with Bruce Wayne killing bad guys and fighting witches and dragons! Utter batshit nonsense that always excites; I'm so glad that comic companies are putting out affordable collections of classic material so regularly.

- Akira, Vol. 5
This is from the aborted Epic bound editions; they hit the tenth volume and just quit making them. I've got seven of these now and the gaps in the narrative still make it hard as hell to engage with but Otomo's art and layout are pretty impossible to argue with. Plus, the coloring in these books is AMAZING; that Steve Oliff guy is real.

- Ghost in the Shell, perfect edition
Loved the movie and love Masamune Shirow; this is the complete first volume of the Dark Horse run. In the late nineties, I was gifted a two longbox collection of manga that included all of Dominion, Black Magic and Appleseed. The thin, emotive linework; the obsessive draftsmanship on the mechanical and architectural background; the tongue-in-cheek space opera elements... Highly underrated as Otaku only material; I'd suggest a go at the first volume of Appleseed for the uninitiated.

- Early Barefootz by Howard Cruse
I love Stuck Rubber Baby, but before then I liked Barefootz in Snarf and other kitchen sink compilations from the underground days. This should be a fun strip collection; Cruse's easy touch and rounded Barksian line is easy on the eyes. What's this guy up to these days?

- 60 years of Beano and the Dandy side by side
I'll admit to not knowing much about this hardcover or about the Brit newspaper strips and characters it covers, but the nutty and varied artwork within convinced me to take a gamble. Quick wiki reading gives me the basics; can any of the UK brethren on this board talk about the influence of these things?

- Soba #1 by Joe Sacco and The Vagabonds #2 by Josh Neufeld
Both are oddly shaped floppies that I took a chance on. I know Sacco's work already but I haven't read his Bosnian stuff; I only know Neufeld through his Duplex Planet stuff.

- Poison River: aka Love and Rockets vol 12
Picking Gilbert or Jaime is pointless, but I love Luba and this seems to be devoted to her. I'm somewhat late to the Hernandez party (started reading them more seriously in the past two years), but I'm a zealot with them these days. It's honestly the best comic book writing I've ever seen; dense, clever, coded and complex as hell. Having not read this material anywhere else, I'm hella excited to dig into this pronto. In fact, I think I'll start now...

er, "Picking between Gilbert and Jaime"

I read somewhere (maybe even here) that the Morrison JLA books are going out of print because they will be printing deluxe hardcover versions soon.

Forks, I'm not quite sure what you mean by the 'influence' of the Beano and Dandy, but it's fair to say that these two titles set the template for virtually every British weekly humour comic of the last seventy years, and their style/spirit are a vital and enduring part of UK popular culture (tho' the Dandy has recently ceased publication and UK comics in general are pretty much defunct.) Some of the artists who worked on these and other D.C. Thomson titles - men like Leo Baxendale, Ken Reid, Dudley Watkins and (my favourite) Davey Law - are amongst the greatest illustrator/storytellers to ever work in the medium of comics. At their best, their work has a surreal, absurdist, grotesque and even radical tone/flavour that is pretty much unique - and very addictive.

You might find the recent, mostly excellent BBC Comics Britannia TV series floating round the net on places like YouTube, or try and hunt down Gravett and Stanbury's superb Great British Comics volume published by Aurum earlier this year, which also covers the 'serious' stuff alongside the funnies (as well as newspaper strips etc.)

Ward, we filthy Yankees have no exposure to this stuff; I'm pretty sure there's never been a US reprint collection or floppy release. Am I in the right ballpark by guessing this is the UK Mad?

A quick flip through suggests that the art, at least, is formidable.

Also, Americans don't know from "weekly humour comics"; there's not even a reasonable approximate, 'cept maybe Disney or Archie and I get the sense that's apples and oranges.

A good Warren Ellis books I picked up was Ministry of Space. It is a three issue miniseries and has some amazing artwork. It is an alternate future about the space race. The story is not mind-boggling or anything, really it feels like to me like the first arc of an ongoing book, but I wish there was more science fiction titles like this one. I don't know who did the art, but the space ships are amazing and have that sense of wonder like those old Chelsey Bonestell paintings.

I really liked Warren Ellis' Global Frequency. They are smartly put together one issue stories. Not every issue is perfect, but man he can pack alot of plot into one issue and the artwork is for the most part excellent. I also wish this was an on-going series.

I've also read Ellis' mini series Orbiter, Mek and Reload. Reload has some great Paul Gulacy artwork, but the story seemed a bit rushed and disjointed. I could see it working better as a movie. Mek has a cool setting and story, but the artwork is pretty meh. Orbiter is decent, but there seems to be a bit of the story that doesn't quite mesh. I found all of them used for a buck an issue, so for that they were worth reading.

I'm read up on Transmetropolitan except the final vol.10 and the vol.0, which is based around Spider's books. I like the series quite a bit. I can see some of the faults that people are saying, but there really is just not that many comics based in such a setting. The issues leading towards the end going against The Smiler are as good as anything earlier in the series. I think Ellis figured out how to use the supporting cast better as the series went on.

I picked up the first Planetary trade but have only checked out the neat artwork and not given it a read.

See, the problem with Gilbert is that he's a fucking sadist with his characters.

Beano/Dandy not really that much like Mad (not so satirical and generally aimed at a younger audience) - they have more in common w/ things like Little Lulu, Sugar and Spike, Carl Barks etc, although they're anthology titles where even the major characters only get two pages every weekly issue (this is similar to Euro anthology titles like Tintin magazine)

There are no American - or UK - bks that really reprint this stuff in context, chronologically etc. D.C. Thomson and IPC, the two major British comics publishers, have never courted 'fans' and to this day they don't give writers and artists credit (or copyright) on their strips. Things are starting to change, but something as essential as say the complete Baxendale BASH STREET KIDS is still a looong way off.

If there was only one comic I could read, it would easily be Ex Machina. Such a fun series. I've switched to buying it in trade though, because as you mentioned, BKV is a very episodic writer.

This is nice, well-crafted capes and tights; just as good as what he's doing with All Star Supes right now. I'm surprised people haven't been talking this up on here.

Because the art is ball-shittingly bad, would be my guess for why. And yeah, there's a 250-300pp deluxe Vol 1 hardcover due in March-ish.

Yeah, the JLA art is pretty unpolished eighth-gen retread Bart Sears/Jae Lee mashup, but it doesn't really detract from the storytelling I don't suppose. Don't much help.

the storytelling-detraction certainly hurt my brain every month :(

IF YOU LIKE JLA, MAY I RECOMMEND HOURMAN BY PEYER/MORALES???

Gosh, it's nifty. I've picked up about fifteen issues (I think there were 25 in the original run; there were no trades released) over the past few months and can officially label it BAEZ APPROVED. The influence of Grant's JLA is certainly noticable, but far more character-based (among mainstream comics, I'd rank it with SHADE THE CHANGING MAN in terms of intense character development). It's simply tremendously fun - one of my favorite issues has Hourman skipping out entirely on the story by travelling a week in time, leaving the supporting cast to deal with their own problems. Just swell.

I'd love to check out Hourman; I need trades though. Can't buy floppy collections in good faith anymore. When did these come out originally?

New Stack:

-Akira, Volumes 3 and 4
Again, from the Epic run. I'm only missing books 1, 5 and 6 but given the loopiness of the storyline, I really need those (and the last never-published-by-Epic b+w reprint by Dark Horse) to really digest this dang thing. If only the art weren't so good, grrrrrr.

-Planetary, Book 1 and 2
Continuing my Warren Ellis obsession, but in hardback, yet! They were fifteen a pop though, so I figured that's what I'd be willing to pay for them new in softcover, so what the hell. I was going to read these tonight, but new Mario wii came in, so they got temporarily shelved. Very much looking forward to em though.

-Hard Time: 50 to Life
Read this on the subway home; it's a Steve Gerber book that vacillates between formulaic cliche and occasionally clever. Art is solid if a little stiff; characterization falls flat, unfortunately. Idea is that a pair of kids play a prank to hold their school hostage and when shots go off, one of the kids mutant powers manifests and in the aftermath he's sent to jail for life and now he has to deal with a jailhouse murder plot, save his own ass, cope with an avenging angel of power that surges out of his body while he's unconscious and it's actually stupider than that setup sounds. Still and all, I love Gerber; I cut my teeth on HtDuck growing up and he can hold your attention with the flimsiest of plots. Too bad that's what this had. Did he do any more than a six issue run?

-Lil' Abner, Books 1 through 6
These weren't bought but were rescued from under mi madre's casa during the annual seek-and-recover of old material that I do every Thanksgiving (sold a box of cds for two hundred bucks as well). These are the Kitchen Sink year by year reprints and they capture a strip and a man very dear to my heart back when both were only a little bit insane and shone with unimaginable (and fulfilled!) promise. I wish I could find the remaining books in this; I think KS actually reprinted the whole run if I'm not mistaken. Gorgeous work in big beautiful repro; this set the standard for what I wanted in strip compilation books and am now seeing in the IDG reprints.

Left behind due to budget guilt: XStatix, book 2 (awesome allred art and wanky looking Milligan story) and Batman Chronicles, book 4 (much as I love them, hard to justify buying another volume before I've read the first two I already have). Did I miss out?

You mean the second volume of the relaunched X-Statix, right? No, you're not really missing out.

the X-Statix problem - if a comic is that ironic, no one will give a shit about it.

I think Hard Time ran for 2 12-issue "seasons". I liked it quite a bit.

Can't buy floppy collections in good faith anymore. When did these come out originally?

99-01, I believe.

So, Hourman is unlikely to be reissued in trade, eh?
I'd buy a second trade of Hard Time if I saw one.

I bought the first season of Hard Time but dropped off when the schedule became erratic. Wasn't there a 4 or 5 month hiatus between issues at one point?

I'd probably buy the trades if I saw them cheap.

Gawd, I've done three more runs since I last posted. Massive pile of trades and hardbacks. Will update tonight. I have a problem.

Those Planetary books were great, though Ellis is beginning to show limitations in scope and plot... lots of similarities in dialogue and situation to his marvel work/global frequency going on there. Good reads though and the art's solid.

- American Born Chinese (hc) by Gen Luen Yang
My sister is a librarian at a high school and recommended picking this up; I'm very glad she did. Terribly clever, really well drawn, the braiding of multiple stories is tremendously engaging... it's likely the best result of a Xeric I've seen yet. The dustcover references Laurence Yep and 'The Bluest Eye' and that's pretty dead on but throw in a little Chester Brown while you're at it. I think the folks doing 'Aliens in America' on The CW (great show, by the way) may be cribbing. I'm beginning to buy into anything First Second publishes; I've not been disappointed yet. Anyone else into their catalog? http://www.firstsecondbooks.com/

- Ultimate XMen Vol. 10 + Y The Last Man vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughn
I've read BKV's Y up to the fourth trade via library loaners and I was always a bit disappointed. It felt a bit overly labored, chock fulla unbelievable dialogue and hamstrung with its own self-importance... a little too much (sadly) like Lost. Ex Machina is MUCH better for my taste, but maybe another re-read will win me over.
I actually didn't know BKV got brought on to any of the X titles (they fly under my radar these days) but I read a good thirty issue run or so of Runaways and thought he'd be perfect for the job. No surprise then; this reads like a retread of Runaways but spun through a Claremont filter. Good readin' but not quite as revelatory as Machina or Runaways.
I know I sound awful cranky here; BKV is still one of the better guys doing nu-capes and tights... I just want him to wow me more often.

I finished the second Planetary volume tonight. I'm curious to see where this all ends up going. I've just ordered it and the next couple of 100 Bullets trades.

I finished Wylie Runs the Voodoo Down - 100 Bullets Vol. 8 last night. Wow, how that book ends up may be the sad and most wrenching ending of a comic book I have ever read. I thought the ending of Hang Up On the Hang Low - 100 Bullets Vol. 3 was stunning, but this last book really trumped it. I'm curious to see where this is all going to end up.

These have actually started to seriously pile up, so here's the fast list:

- Domu by Katsuhiro Otomo
- Desolation Jones v. 1 by Warren Ellis
- Ultimate Galactus v. 1 by Warren Ellis
- Transmetropolitan v. 4, 5, 7 + 0
- Y the Last Man v. 2, 3 + 4 by Brian K. Vaughn
- The Mystery Play by Grant Morrison and Jon Muth
- The Filth 1-13 by Grant Morrison
- Promethea v. 1 by Alan Moore
- The DC Universe Stories of Alan Moore
- Tomorrow Stories v. 1 by Alan Moore
- Batman: Turning Points by Greg Rucka
- Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall by Bill Willingham
- Batman: The Dailies (1943 to 1946 daily strips) by Bob Kane
- Popeye v.2
- Cartoon Art #9
- Jiggs is Back by George McManus
- Rose by Jeff Smith and Charles Vess
- Toonerville Trolley by Fontaine Fox
- New Tales of Old Palomar #3 (Disappointing!)
- American Splendor Omnibus by Harvey Pekar
- Age of Bronze v. 3 by Eric Shanower

I also found a Tove Jansson children's book in the trash called "Who Will Comfort Toffle?" that's pretty awesome.

Oh, and a few more:

- Good Bye Chunky Rice by Craig Thompson
- A.L.I.E.E.E.N. by Lewis Trondheim (maybe my new favorite writer)
- Global Frequency v. 2 by Warren Ellis
- Palestine v. 1 by Joe Sacco

Whoa. That's kind of a lot, John...

Any particular favorites?

Have you read Trondheim's "Mister O"? That's the one I love.

That's a lot of stuff! Quick thoughts:

-Glad to see someone else read American Born Chinese. Good book, and I definitely related to it on a personal level.
-The Filth: You are in for a NICE treat. Among the best of Morrison's work. I don't completely get it, but I think need to read it again.
-Ellis stuff: I enjoyed Jones. Ultimate Galactus is kinda like his UFF though, pretty phoned in and stretched way too long. Obviously, Transmet is fun but unreadable out of order.
-Moore stuff: All pretty enjoyable. DCU stories is pretty interesting just because of the time he did those stories and how mainstream they are - the introduction of Mogo for instance, could have been a throwaway story, but the character a significant effect on Green Lantern stories later.
-Turning Points: Definitely out of continuity now, but still worth reading. Nicely touches upon these different real world Batman eras. Rucka is pretty consistently good when it comes to Gotham - I really dug his stuff in Gotham Central and Death and the Maidens.
-Rose: If you're read all of Bone, this feels kind of... well, unnecessary. But I don't remember if it came out before or after it ended. Pretty art, though.

Rose came out in somewhere between the end of the second trilogy and the beginning of the the third trilogy. Long time since I read it, but I recall it not being terribly fun in spite of TALKING DOGS@@@@

I've literally bought over a grand worth of books since then.
Maybe I should just post pictures or something.
Here's the latest Amazong pile, due in tomorrow:

- Ode To Kirihito, MW, Dororo v. 1 + Apollo's Song: I'm on a serious Tezuka jones these days; simply can't wait to tuck into these. Blackjack coming later this year!
- Howard The Duck: Media Duckling TPB: Gerber (along with Eisner, Shelton, Crumb, Griffith, Barks and Gottfredson) was one of my entry points into the medium as a 8 or 9 year old; I trust Templeton to do this justice.
- Showcase Presents: Legion of Super-Heroes, Vol. 2: I've fallen behind on the Showcase collection, but this is the must buy companion volume. Nutty team dynamics at their best!
- What It Is: This amounts to nothing more or less than Lynda Barry's work/sketchbook and I have really high hopes.
- Willie & Joe: The WWII Years: Bill Mauldin is an intriguing character and I'd like to know more about him... the price is reasonable and the presentation is gorgeous.

I got Mr. O and every Dungeon since then Douglas; I can't tell you how much I enjoy Trondheim's work. The Mr. O and Mr. I is crazy subversive and disturbing.

American Born Chinese is a great book; at the very least, it belongs on every high school library shelf. Desolation Jones is hella fun!
Rose is basically unnecessary, but a nice victory lap.

Rose came out in the middle of Bone, though, so it wasn't quite a victory lap then...

I thought Media Duckling was surprisingly solid, fun and Gerber-y, if not great.

Huh! Shocked that Rose came out in the middle; looks like it would be a heavy spoiler.

Howard The Duck: Media Duckling TPB

SPOILER ALERT: I heard it's awful.

It's not bad! A little self indulgent and no gerber, but nicely accomplished.

That's about my take on it.

This week's Haul:

Dragonball / DragonBall Z, about ten volumes: Really getting into Toriyama lately; his work is fun and cartoony and easy to follow gag sequences. Sorta like Barks with more superfights. Another eight volumes on the way; gonna try Dr. Slump once I've knocked out both this mega-megaseries. Anybody else tried these? They're better than you'd expect.

Nausicaa Valley of the Wind, Perfect Collection v1-4: The Viz tpb editions; I have most of this stuff in the original English comics, but wanted to have something shelfworthy and able to be lent out to friends. This is good enough to merit multiple buys for multiple formats.

Usagi Yojimbo, v2 + 3: See above. I love the new collections Fantagraphics is putting out; Sakai (like Aragones) is one of the real unsung masters of the genre.

Criminal v.2: I quit buying Brubaker's comic noir after the first arc, mostly cuz I didn't think reading it in installments made any sense. Looking forward to digging into this.

Hysteria in Remission, The cartoons of Robert Williams TPB: I got a wad of this guy's work as part of my high school graduation present (my dad gave me all his underground comics collection) with Cootchy Kooty; I _much_ prefer his cartoon to his fine art work. Lots of great toons from when he was doing Big Daddy Roth ads!

Shuck Unmasked: http://www.sulfurstar.com/
This looks great! My girlfriend loved it; I'll try and read tonight.

Education of Hopey Glass: Keeping up on my L&R complete collection

Showcase presents Supergirl / Marvel Essentials Hulk v1: Corn and Classics!

JLA: WWIII, Un Men v.1, Batman False Faces, Batman Broken City - Solid lookin' capes n tights from Vaughn, Morrison and Azzarello; Un-Men is a shot in the dark.

Zot: The Complete B&W Collection - Lucky find; I think I was just saying on another thread I'd love to read some old McCloud again.

Octopus Girl v1: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/octopus-girl-gn-3
Urasawa's Monster v1: http://monster.viz.com/
Cat-Eyed Boy v1 + 2: http://samehat.blogspot.com/2008/01/viz-to-release-umezus-cat-eyed-boy.html
My serious wackadoodle manga collection. Cat Eyed Boy is twisted horror in the style of House of Secrets circa 70's but WAY better; Octopus Girl is just twisted and sick and I need to read Monster yet.

Will Eisner: A Retrospective: Signed show catalog from Eisner's memorial MOCCA show signed by all the curators. Lucky snag!

Also picked up two months of Ex Machina, Usagi Yojimbo, Daredevil and Detective along with All Star Superman #11 and the Tim Sale Comics Journal.

Every time you post one of these things I get a little jealous!

I really adore Monster, hopefully it does well enough so that the whole series comes out and we can see more of Urasawa's stuff here officially, like Pluto and 20th Century Boys.

This is my first exposure to him; he's an unknown-in-America master?

I believe so - his stuff just hasn't really been published here until Monster. He was an assistant and something of a protege of Tezuka, and his work shamelessly (but effectively) evokes the character design heart of Tezuka's works, but in a more modern darker context. You'll get the idea pretty quickly from the first volume, I think, and see if it's your cup of tea.

I haven't read his lighter earlier books or 20CB which were very successful in Japan, but Pluto particularly is great too - a Blade Runner/Children of Men-style neo-noir reimagining of one epic storyline from Astro Boy, "The World's Strongest Robot", from the point of a view of a traumatized robot detective. It's really weird to see those characters rendered realistically, but amazingly it works. The artwork is really gorgeous. Worth hunting down the scanlations if you're into that kind of thing, since it's still running as a monthly and probably won't come here for a while, if at all.

It should be noted that he didn't want his post-Monster series released in the States until Monster was completed, because his drawing style improved markedly by the end, and it really does - probably because he was adjusting the artwork, making it more detailed and photorealistic, to match the darkening content and tone.

Neato, you've got me excited about reading it now!
I really recommend Cat Eyed Boy; are you already a fan?

"Batman Broken City"

This story is pretty good and Risso's artwork is fantastic. I like how he used Croc in this one. DC should get Eduardo Risso to do another Batman book.

Actually, I'm totally unfamiliar with Cat Eyed Boy... creepy! I should give it a look sometime, seems interesting.

Gotta catch em all!

Astro Boy (dark horse reprints) 1-10
Phoenix 1-12
Dororo v. 2
Complete Little Orphan Annie Volume 1
Y: The Last Man, Vol. 10
Jason's Pocket Full of Rain and Other Stories
The Original Art of Basil Wolverton
TEKKONKINKREET: Black & White
Complete Chester Gould's Dick Tracy Volume 4

Serious reading for the weekend.

Post your reaction to Y Vol. 10 to the BKV thread, if you would. Read the series in trades and thought the ending was GREAT. Even though I didn't exactly want it to end that way, thought he earned / justified every choice well.

Oh dude, you are in for an awesome weekend. Is this your first Jason?

I've bought literally over two hundred books since I last updated this, but yesterday's relatively small haul included:

- water damaged pre-release review copy of David Mazzuchelli's 'Asterios Polyp' (really really excited about reading this tonight)
- Rutu Modan's 'Exit Wounds' (read it super fast; it's as good as the buzz suggests)
- Leland Myrick's 'Missouri Boy' (bought solely for First Second love; it's way too prosaic for my taste)
- Two new issues of Ex Machina, the new Daredevil and the second Gaiman Detective
- New ish of Comics Journal with Mort Walker and Guibert interviews

as a little bonus, my checkout girl at Forbidden Planet was Olive Panter

Previous notes:

I thought Y's ending got the job done; it's a pulpy series and a fun read and difficult to take too seriously in the aggregate... kinda like Lost, so that's appropriate.

Wasn't my first Jason, but I sure do like Pocket Full of Rain.

And a big recommendation for Shuck Unmasked! It's brilliant!

ah, and Gabrielle Bell's new book: Cecil and Jordan in NY
It's a definite step up for her; she's really getting better and better.
Asterio is a great read and totally worth the time and money, but i was disappointed by the (well set up but trite) ending. Am I correct in thinking this is Mazzuchelli's first book length narrative?

self-written? yes, he's been working on this for about 15 years.

it's really really really well written, but the end left me very cold

- Low Moon by Jason (He seems to really be hitting his stride with the shorter pieces now)
- Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service by Otsuka and Yamazaki v1-3 (solid episodic manga with a fun premise: sort of a buddhist college student A-Team for providing the souls of the undead with closure. well written, well drawn)
- Cat Burglar Black by Richard Sala (a definite refinement of skills being shown; less hyperkinetic and more gothic)
- Promethea Book 4 by Alan Moore (more of an investment as I still need to get book 3 before reading)
- George Sprott by Seth (gorgeous design and execution; though it's basically the same story he's telling over and over again these days)
- The World Below by Paul Chadwick (funtime pulpathon with a surprisingly clever and decisive ending. I prefer Concrete, but this is a good diversion)

- You'll Never Know by Carol Tyler (holding off on tackling this until I have an hour to really devote to it; v v v excited!)
- Two X-Men book collections, one by Brubaker and one by Kirkman; both read over a sandwich and placed in the discard pile
- Dororo v.3 by Osama Tezuka (reading books one and two again to get warmed up; this is a fun series!)
- Mijeong by Byung-jun Byun (art's very nice but the story's a bit opaque? need to have another go at it.

Also borrowed and quickly read from the next door neighbor:
- Punisher 1-12 by Garth Ennis (toilet reading, thy name is Ennis)
- Complete Lazarus Graveyard by Warren Ellis (feels unfinished and unrealized and I can't get with D'Israeli, but good stuff!)
- Logan by BKV and Risso (slight page turner)
- Wolverine Origins v 1-5 by Way and Dillon (so wait, is the batman storyline ripping this off or vice versa? Surprisingly okay, but virtually NOTHING happens from issue to issue. Peeps need to go back to the Claremont/Moz X-method of destroying planets and fucking each other like rabbits EVERY MONTH)

Kirkman wrote X-Men?

He wrote Ultimate for a while... it was nothing special for the most part (exc. maybe what they did w/Ultimate Cable).

I read the first two or three trades of Origins... I actually think the concept is great (finally bringing Wolverine out of 30-year rinse/repeat cycle of amnesia, giving him new and old adventures) but the storytelling was not quite there. It was OK, though. I don't know about what Batman is doing now but I'm guessing Origins came out first, unless you're talking about something more recent.

I'm talking about the "my enemy/my ally/my son" schtick

I did a quick google check and it looks like they started around the same time (Origins started and Morrison joined Batman in mid-'06), though maybe Dakon didn't show up for a while? Then again the idea of Wolverine having some long lost son in the last 100 years seems like such an obvious idea it's almost surprising they haven't used it before, but I guess it ties into the whole finally killing Sabretooth thing.

forget it in nhex... it's chinatown

um, i went on a bit of a spending orgy today.

Pluto by Urasawa v.1-4
Parasyte by Iwaki v. 1-2 (First book is AWESOME; why has no one told me about this?!?!?)
Color of Heaven by Hwa (third book in the 'color' series; looking forward to reading them all in one sitting)
Swallowing the Earth by Tezuka (only Tezuka-sensei could have a mystery 500pg book floating around that I'd never heard of... what IS this?)
Unlikely and Clumsy by Jeff Brown (ridiculously twee and uncomfortably effective)
Winging It v.1 by Roberta Gregory (long out of print touchy feely sci-fi... what's Gregory been up to lately?)
Wednesdays Comics 2-5
The Collected Doug Wright
The New Adventures of Jesus by Foolbert Sturgeon/Stack
Life On Another Planet by Eisner
Luba in America by Gilbert (only Luba trade I didn't have)
Melvin Monster by John Stanley
The Summer of Love by Debbie Dreschler
The Trial of Colonel Sweeto by Gurewitch
Ocean by Warren Ellis
JLA - New Maps of Hell by Ellis
DMZ v. 4 by Brian Wood
Promethea v. 5 by Moore
Skim by Tamaki(s)
Gentleman Jim by Raymond Briggs

Just digging into these; anybody got commentary?

Winging It v.1 by Roberta Gregory (long out of print touchy feely sci-fi... what's Gregory been up to lately?)

comics were always on the side from her dayjob at Fanta - I think once they said they couldn't afford to keep putting out her floppy she went and got another dayjob and did the odd mini. don't quote me tho

Gentleman Jim by Raymond Briggs

one of my favourite (and saddest and most puzzling) books as a kid. Briggs all-time best. so glad it's in print in North America/comics circles now but a shame it's half-sized.

sic, do you do work in comic industry? or just a devotee?

I liked Skim a lot, and was surprised it got so little attention within the comics world. And I'm looooving Wednesday Comics.

Again, I'm trying not to read Wednesday Comics until I have a decent size pile. I really REALLY wish they had just done an individual story and a half in every issue. That way you HAVE to buy the next one for the cliffhanger, but I'm able to turn pages instead of having to open five tabloids at the same time. Plus, I ain't gotta wait till end of September to appreciate yer guldurn story.

I think I bought Skim because of an errant recommend from you, Douglas, and one or two other off board comic geek friends. I'm totally blind on it.

there is no comic industry in l'Australie! I did used to clock the occasional dolla from a now-defunct publisher here, but basically am just a lifelong nerd.

I really REALLY wish they had just done an individual story and a half in every issue.

But Sunday comics were never like that! Stop hoarding, many of them work much better as Sundays than they will as 16-pagers.

Life On Another Planet by Eisner

I read this a few years ago, I remember enjoying it a lot. I think it originally came out before Eisner became a "serious" graphic novelist, so it's a nice compromise between genre fiction and trying to do something socially relevant.

CONTRACT WITH GOD (1978)

LIFE ON ANOTHER PLANET (1983)

life on another planet was originally serialized in the kitchen sink spirits; I think I have them already but I wanted a trade edition.

Ocean and New Maps of Hell are decent Ellis stuff though both made wish he had gone further with both(though to be honest I feel that way about most of the things he's done this decade). Both books had interesting ideas going in but then they just sort of end - this is especially so with Ocean, JLA it makes more sense since it's an obvious limited work run.

PBF is fun stuff, that guy needs to do more now that the webcomic is over.

Never heard of that Tezuka book either, but god knows what else he's done, his bibliography is kind of astounding and we'll probably never see most of it over here... I looked it up and it's not even being published by Vertical like most of the books of the last few years... weird!

I already raved about Pluto in the other thread, but fuck yeahhhhhh

Agreed on Ellis; he just picks up so many interesting projects and then leaves them dangling or only dips in a toe. I suppose the alternative is that he beats them to a pulp a'la Preacher, so maybe we should be happy.

PBF guy did an interview in Comics Journal just recently, doesn't sound like he's doing much comix for the next little while.

http://www.amazon.com/Swallowing-Earth-Osamu-Tezuka/dp/1569700567/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249667944&sr=8-2
^Just came out this past month; the print quality is shoddy (one 50 page section is inserted upside-down and backwards) and I imagine this was a case where a lesser know publishing company had the rights and just tried to cash in. Where is my mass-market tezuka Hitler autobio reprint, I asks ya!

Read most of book one of Pluto this morning; holy shit this is good. Last revisionist comic I liked this much was Don Rosa's Uncle Scrooge Chronicles and that's saying something.

Again, I really really really recommend Parasyte; the art is nuts and the story is compelling. Looks perfect for a TV series, minus the "are we so different than animals" moralizing. Grab a copy of the first book and see what you think!

Hey my library has that! Nice! I'll give a shot.

Terry and The Pirates Volume 6 (complete set! read through the first two books; want to set aside some times to go front to back)
Collected Sam And Max by Purcell
Ordinary Victories v.1 by Larcenet
Parasyte v 3, 4, 5, 6
Wednesday Comics #6
Spirit Archives vol. 16

* Secret Agent X collection... Hearst's answer to Dick Tracy was to get Dashiell fuckin Hammett and Alex fuckin Raymond to do a comic strip; this reprints all of the Hammett written strips
* Why I Killed Peter - Predictable subject matter but very well handled with a bit of verite shock at the end. NBM is pretty trustworthy.
* Random GMoz JLA compilation that I already owned and forgot that I did.

September 10, Spiegelman and Mouly are speaking and signing this at The Strand in NYC:
http://www.amazon.com/TOON-Treasury-Classic-Childrens-Comics/dp/0810957302
anybody wanna go with me?

So much good stuff on the way from IDW!

That thing at the Strand sounds great! I'll be in New York then; will have to see if I can fit it in.

Secret Agent X collection... Hearst's answer to Dick Tracy was to get Dashiell fuckin Hammett and Alex fuckin Raymond to do a comic strip; this reprints all of the Hammett written strips

Oooh, I read some of this in the Mammoth Book of Crime Comics! Was good. (not as great as the Torpedo stuff, but still)

Yeah--I want this (Secret Agent X)--was bummed that the Mammoth Book printed ALMOST all of a story.

Parasyte was a good rec. I like that the style feels distinctly from that early '90s era (though it may be a residual from my appreciation of Monster) and there's something about the amorality of the creature, it kind of brings the peculiar feeling that Death Note had. Too bad my local library system can be retarded - they have volumes 1, 4 and 7.

It's worth following through all the way to the end. It's well structured! And yes, there's a lot of death note in there.

Seems like a good place for this:

We got about six boxes of comics from my wife's cousin today. I've been sorting them. There are a nice chunk of decent trade paperbacks and another chuck of floppies from decent runs (a TON of floppies and trades from ridiculous runs). It's very evident that the guy was a "collector" though and not a reader, since he'll have, say, six issues from Strangers in Paradise (and not in order either, jumping all over the run), but not a complete run of a thing. Apparently he's got 10 more boxes he's giving us, so hopefully some of these runs will finish. I feel like someone needs to send out a PSA, though, that unless you want to read your comics, you shouldn't bother buying them. He doesn't have a single comic worth a dime (even the ones he so thoughtfully, lol, back-boarded).

hey John, what time is that signing at? If it's after my class, I'll def. go with you.

hey man, it's totally worth the extra dime just so that they don't bend over inside the box!

well, at least you have a decent chance to sell those trades online...

(also coincidentally, i've bought many random issues of Strangers in Paradise just for being on sale and for the cover art, though i own all the trades)

I'll just list some of the trades I got (stars next to stuff I don't know what it is, in case someone does and wants to tell me if it's worth keeping/reading):

Fables 1001 Nights of Snowfall, Black Orchid* (Gaiman), Hellblazer: Dangerous Habits (Ennis), Across the Universe: Stories of Alan Moore*, RAW V. 2 N.1*, Top 10: The Forty-Niners*, Complete Alan Moore: Future Shocks*, Judgement Day* (Alan Moore), Proposition Prayer* (Willingham), Enemy Ace: War in Heaven*, The Authority: Relentless*, 4 Noble Causes trades*, 7 Powers trades, 2 American Virgin trades, 5 Ex Machina trades, 4 Y The Last Man Trades, 3 Gotham Central trades, Rising Stars*.

Here's stuff that I can't imagine is good. If I'm wrong, let me know:
I Saw You...: Comics Inspired By Real-Life Missed Connections, House of Java, Superman & Batman: Generations 2, Vic and Blood, Stuck Rubber Baby (actually, just noticed it has a forward by Tony Kushner -- worth a look?), Justice League by Alan Davis, Batman: Turning Points, Night Wing: Year One, Superman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told, Mark Millar's The Authority, Tangent Comics, Fanboy by Mark Evanier, Showcase Presents: The House of Mystery, Batgirl: Year One, Mark Waid's Empire, Super Friends, Actor Comics Presents, Wraith of the Spectre, District X by Hine, THe Mighty Thor: The Death of Odin (Dan Jurgens), Heights by Paul Chadwick, Heavy Metal Greatest Hits, Agents of Atlas by Jeff Parker.

These are all trades. I can't even begin to list the floppies. Tho if the rest of the boxes complete some of the runs, I'll give them a listing.

Across the Universe is random DC stuff Moore did in the 80s republished to cash in around the V for Vendetta movie, I think, there's some fun random things from Tales of the Green Lantern Corps, like the first story/origin of Mogo and some Vigilante stuff. Top 10: Forty Niners is OK, a prequel to the main Top 10 series.

Authority: Relentless I think is the second half of Ellis' run on it - pretty good at the time though now we're all awash in that sort of "hardcore" superhero stuff.

1001 Nights of Snowfall is good, though it's a bunch of isolated origin stories for the characters in Fables and it came out several years into the run. I've heard good things about Proposition Player, haven't read it.

Rising Stars is a pretty mediocre J. Michael Strazynski superhero book, though it predates shows like The 4400 and Heroes largely copping its style. Pretty similar to his own Supreme Power books that would come out later, though not as competent.

Batman: Turning Points is a decent little book, some Rucka stuff, I think? Basically it's a late 90s/early 2000s-era walk through Batman continuity through some different viewpoints, mainly Gordon's. Canon status is pretty questionable now, but I thought it was a decent read if you're into Batman. And also if you read and like the Gotham Central trades (which you should).

Tangent Comics might be interesting, since they tried to bring the universe back post-Countdown, right? Depends what you got, though...

Batgirl: Year One has pretty art and an OK story. Nightwing: Year One is totally mediocre.

Agents of Atlas has a pretty good rep, actually, I'm curious to read it.

Black Orchid* (Gaiman), – first Gaiman/McKean DC joint, revamping a minor 1970s character inna Swamp Thing stylee

Across the Universe: Stories of Alan Moore*, almost all of Moore’s short stories, one-offs and two-offs from mid-80s DC

RAW V. 2 N.1*, - first Penguin paperback edition of groundbreaking artcomix anthology of the early 80s, edited by Spiegelman & Mouly, serialised Maus.

Top 10: The Forty-Niners*, – prequel by Moore & Ha to the best ABC series. Not as good as the series.

Complete Alan Moore: Future Shocks*, – very nearly all of Moore’s 2000AD shorts, or about a third of Moore’s 2000AD shorts, depending on what book this actually is

Judgement Day* (Alan Moore), – crossover miniseries for Rob Liefeld’s Awesome Universe. Would be enormous fun, but is half-drawn by Liefeld, including the murder mystery parts, where Liefeld specifically draws scenes in opposition to what they’re meant to contain, so you can’t follow the mystery. Lots of fun “fake history” bits by other artists.

Proposition Prayer* (Willingham), – supernatural Vertigo vegas poker shenanigans. Quite fun. Willingham draws the first issue – his last actual comic? Coventry was before this, right?

Enemy Ace: War in Heaven*, – painted proto-Vertigo gloomy version of the WWI fighter pilot character, by George Pratt & The Murktones.

I Saw You...: Comics Inspired By Real-Life Missed Connections, – Craiglist ads illustrated by Julia Wertz’ friends, edited by Julia Wertz. Haven’t seen it, but I imagine the quality is highly variable. I like Wertz, though, and I’m assuming you don’t.
Stuck Rubber Baby (actually, just noticed it has a forward by Tony Kushner -- worth a look?), – if you’re sure that any Cruse comic will suck, as I take it from your intro, then probably don’t bother. If it’s just his early tendency to whimsy that rubs you the wrong way, then read away – it tips way way over to earnestness instead – some would say too far, and it certainly doesn’t have the light touch of a “Jerry Mack.”
Heights by Paul Chadwick, – again, if your intro means you hate Concrete already, this is just a bunch of Concrete stories. I like ‘em a lot more now than when I was a teenager, though.

Mordy, Spiegelman is at 7pm on Sept. 10. Let me know if you're in.
Stuck Rubber Baby is great for my money.

Hmmm. Not sure if I can make it. I'll check tomorrow and see what time my class ends.

VIC AND BLOOD - Richard Corben art, never to be sniffed at

SUPERMAN: THE GREATEST STORIES EVER TOLD - worth reading for 'The Death of Superman' alone

SHOWCASE PRESENTS: THE HOUSE OF MYSTERY - prob some Alex Toth in here (dunno what THE SUPER FRIENDS volume is, but again, might contain Toth)

Mordy, if you don't want to keep Stuck Rubber Baby, I might be interested in buying or trading it. That's one of my favourite comics ever, and I don't own a copy.

Across the Universe by Alan Moore is definitely worth keeping. It has two of the best Superman stories ever (For the Man Who Has Everything & Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow) plus Killing Joke plus those funky concept-driven Green Lantern backup stories... Almost everything in it is great, except for the Vigilante story and the one with Batman & Clayface.

It depends which edition he has... if he has this one it includes all that you mentioned, but I figured he had this older version which doesn't have all of those. The latter doesn't have Killing Joke, Whatever Happened, etc.

Ah, okay, I didn't know there were two editions of that thing. Still, I'd say even the older edition is worth keeping for the Green Lantern and Omega Men backup stories (with art Kevin O'Neill!) and for For the Man Who Has Everything.

"art by Kevin O'Neill"

It's amazing how much the current Green Lantern/Green Lantern Corps writers have borrowed from those three short GL stories by Moore. The sentient city Ranx, The Empire of Tears, Blackest Night, Sodam Yat, Mogo, Abin Sur's prophecy, Bolphunga the Unrelenting, as far as I know they all originate in there. I wonder what would've happened if Moore had been a regular writer for Green Lantern?

Oh yeah, I think the insect empire from the Omega Men story was also used in Green Lantern.

even the older edition is worth keeping

Oh yeah, I totally agree. It is striking how much stuff from those few stories became lasting parts of the GLC canon, especially Mogo. Wait, they brought back Bolphunga?

Bolphunga appeared as a sort of a joke villain in Green Lantern Corps back when Dave Gibbons was writing and drawing it. IIRC Gibbons drew the original Mogo/Bolphunga story, so I guess it was less of rip-off than the other writers using Moore's concepts.

First three Achewood compilations
Love and Rockets #2 v. 3(?)
Wednesday Comics #10
Detective 856
Mu Shi Shi v 1 by Urushibara (dunno anything about this?)
Usagi Yojimbo 122
The Castaways (i trust NBM)
The Spirit Archives 9, 10, 11 (Full run up to 13, only nine volumes from a complete collection; yes i have a problem)
Omega the Unknown Classic (1-10 and the Defenders issues; looking forward to seeing what all the hubbub is about)
Flash: The Human Race (Suckered by Morrison's name, this is really Millar isn't it?
Seven Soldiers of Victory v. 1 (Kinda been avoiding this; I know Douglas loves it to death but I read the last volume and found it mean and sadistic)
Smelling a Rat by Paul Wright (never heard of this, but great looking art!)
The Toon Treasury of Classic Children's Comics.... I actually bought two copies; one for me and one for my girlfriend's sister's 1 1/2 month old kid. Just leafing through it made me wish I'd had it when I was six. I hope he chews it to pieces and crayons up the whole thing.
So I went to that Spiegelman/Mouly lecture and while the lecture itself was loopy and overlong (Almost two hours of rambliness! A 1/2 hour in line to sign!) it was still worth it. BTW: the reason there's no Harvy comix in here is basically (after much hemming and hawing) that Spiegelman doesn't like em. He also said some interesting stuff about how people don't reread things on the internet which distances it from regular comics, which I disagree with, but whatever.
I got my copy with a little sketch by Mouly of herself as Lulu and Spiegelman as Ace Hole, so I'm very pleased.

And I long ago finished Parasyte. Really great!

aaaaaaaaaaaand a new bookshelf, which I really really needed; it's already full.

Seven Soldiers of Victory v. 1 (Kinda been avoiding this; I know Douglas loves it to death but I read the last volume and found it mean and sadistic)

Seven Soldiers is really quite awesome, even if all the stories don't come together as neatly as they might have, they have so much cool stuff going on it's a pure joy to read. It really is a triumph of Morrison's imagination, I don't think anyone else could have revived/reimagined seven different characters and given all of them an interesting new angle to hook on to. Plus Morrison has found the perfect artists to illustrate most of the series, the only one I found kinda lacking both story and art-wise is Shining Knight. Mister Miracle also suffers a bit from the change of artists, but the final issue is so brilliant it pretty much saves the whole series. What did you find "mean and sadistic" about SS?

the mister miracle bit i read

Flash: The Human Race (Suckered by Morrison's name, this is really Millar isn't it?

It's both of them, but the best of it is actually largely Millar (how many issues of the run in this? All 12, or fewer?)

the mister miracle bit i read

I can see why'd you think it's mean and sadistic, but there's a reason why it is like that, and the payoff in the end saves pretty much saves it. Anyway, none of the other minis are sadistic like MM, so you shouldn't judge SS based on that.

sic, it's the human race vs. zzzssax or whatever and the black flash thing up to the part where he proposes.
i'm not really into this fourteen flashes at once continuity stuff

huge late pass, but achewood is really really really funny! I thought the great outdoor fight was a fluke, but definitely not! Works better on the page.

now you can wait for the storylines to agonizingly finish online, week to week, like the rest of us

dude, i'm only on book 4! I got plenty of time before i get that anxiety.

sic, it's the human race vs. zzzssax or whatever and the black flash thing up to the part where he proposes.

ah, that's the second half of the run and IS mostly Millar - Morrison isn't even credited on the last three, though he plotted them, and it seems hugely probable that Sonic The Hedgehog writer Mark Millar was largely responsible for the Flash Races Sonic The Hedgehog story. The 4th and 5th issues of their run are super-super-super-great though - one about Jay Garrick, and one about the Scottish Mirror Master.

those last three words actually kind of make me want to seek it out

hey, is there a less, err, john-specific "what are you reading now" ILC thread?

What’s kicking your ass right now, ILC-er?

ah, thanks. i never would've guessed that for the search!

Dungeon Early Years v. 2
Wednesday Comics 11
Batman and Robin 4
Ex Machina 45 (I like the new direction!)
Seven Soldiers v. 2
Pluto v. 5
Captain America v. 1 - starting the Brubaker run. Curious what all the shouting's about.

I'm sorta waiting on the awesome looking Nancy Stanley book but I don't know for how long.

Fables v. 1 and v. 9
Complete R. Crumb v. 1
Mek/Reload by Ellis
A neat collection of the Roger Stern/John Byrne Captain Americas with issues 247-255

man this sternbyrne cap dialogue is RICH
"moving to brooklyn heights was one of the smartest things I've ever done," sez cap to himself as he JOGS DOWN THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE IN FULL UNIFORM AND SHIELD. "Not only is it a good neighborhood --- but its proximity to the bridge provides easy access into Manhattan!"

"My first shield! It still fits like a glove! I only used it for a few months you know. It was almost a purely defensive weapon."

Wow, I forgot cap was an unsuccessful commercial artist for awhile. Talk about projecting!

just like Hitler!

-Crumb's Bible Book 1: Genesis - Superduper gorgeous. He apparently got a quarter mill advance to do the entire bible on the presumption it would take five years; he now thinks it'll take the rest of his life. If this is the last work he ever finishes, it'll be fine by me; this is as meticulous and lush as anything he's ever tried.
-Air v. 1 and 2 by Perker and Wilson - Kinda meh on this; the ideas are good but the pacing is fucked up. Reads like a lesser Rick Veitch/Steve Gerber attempt
- Eagle Annual Collection: The 60's - Hardback collection of brit boy comix and pics; all new to me, mostly into it for the weird peek into what UK types were digging at the time
- Batman: City of Crime by Lapham - Dark and ugly as fuck! Brubaker is more talky and less sadistic; I think I lean that way. Pretty solid read though.
- Cartoon History of the Modern World v. 2 by Larry Gonick - Such a big fan of this guys work; think I'll read the full Universe/Modern World/US Histories in a sit down run.
- The Great Comic Book Heroes by Feiffer - Been meaning to pick this up for forever; looks like a pleasant short read.
- Reading the Funnies: Essays on Comic Strips by Donald Phelps - Looks like it was tailor made for me.

cool score, forks

the eagle isn't totally representative of Brit comics from the 50s/60s. it was always the nice, educational middle class comic set against the oikish, working class humour titles like the beano and the dandy - the editor, marcus morris, was a reverend who conceived the comic as an antidote to the moral/social threat of imported american horror comics. that's not to say that the eagle didn't contain great things - dan dare most notably - and it was printed using the photogravure process, which gave the pages an incredible richness of line and colour.

lots of ppl - gary groth, art spiegelman - seem to really respect donald phelps, but i've always found him a bit windy and pompous, and not especially illuminating, either.

Pre-90's Brit comix are fascinating to me; we don't really get any of this stuff prior to 2000ad in america in any format so it has some Earth-B qualities that i dig... they also seem really seamy and "other" which makes them feel kinda underground.

Where else would i know Phelps from? Journal/Nemo contributor?

Where else would i know Phelps from? Journal/Nemo contributor?

Old issues of Film Comment? He has a book of criticism called COVERING GROUND from waaaaay back (i.e. the 60s); for every astute observation (and he can be quite astute) you have to wade through pages of prose that read like an effete and unholy spawn of Manny Farber (whom I adore).

City of Crime: Dark and ugly as fuck! I haven't read Young Liars since the second issue (though kept buying it), but does this represent a high point for Lapham? His Spider-Man book was balls-dull, and his Spectre was fucking awful (though MEGA-sadistic). Also, probably my favourite Batman run in a long time.

I haven't read Lapham's other stuff besides an issue or two of Stray Bullets, but City of Crime is definitely great stuff, one of the best Bat stories of the decade, easy - I wonder why it's so underlooked?

it's as good as anything else I've seen him do, but I never read young liars

Young Liars got considerably better after it found its feet a few months in, I though. I disliked the first issue & didn't come back to it until I read a couple of people singing its praises convincingly. It's not great, but it has moments of pleasing extreme weirdness.

i got a bunch more stuff lately and it occurred to me I'd been threatening to post pics of the growing-like-kudzu collection so here's some snaps: http://forksclovetofu.tumblr.com/post/245627583/comix

- Crogan's March
It's the follow up to Crogan's Vengeance. I love this guy, Schweizer; he's doing an extensive adventure story/family tree for about two dozen characters in the Crogan family tree. Vengeance is pirates, March is Foreign Legion. He's aiming for one a year. They're great work.
- Bardin the Superrealist
I've not read Max before but this looks like a good intro
- Curses
I've not read Huizenga, etc. etc.
- Thirteen Going On Eighteen
So, so good. I had a few errant issues of this going up and kind of liked them a lot; the John Stanley library is must read material for my money.
- Meanwhile by Shiga
it's a whole book of this: http://www.shigabooks.com/interactive/meanwhile/01.html
super awesome
Also the last three J.H Williams/Rucka Detectives to cap that Batgirl arc.

Strand has signing/readings with Feiffer, Sturm, Dash Shaw and Chip Kidd in early/mid-April. Anybody interested in going with?

Very curious to hear what you think of both the Max and the Huizenga, John!

Batwoman

Yeah, think you'll like Huizenga. I have been waiting for Thirteen Going On Eighteen since that Fort Thunder-edited issue of TCJ (nine years?) but the one shop that got it in here is asking $70 for it ;_;

$27 on Amazon, go git it!
http://www.amazon.com/Thirteen-Going-Eighteen-Stanley-Library/dp/1897299885

Crogan and Thirteen are as spectacular as I'd hoped; Meanwhile is wild but requires a child's demanding focus and possibly some post it notes. I've replayed the book a dozen times and I tend to get bogged down in some backwater storyline without moving forward. The progression lines are kinda complicated. Ultimately I think it's meant for kids but I'm likely gonna have another go or three at it.

Huizenga is brilliant; I know a half dozen people I need to get a copy of this for. Very mannered and highly literate (interior uppermiddlebrow in me thinks these tales are "like New Yorker short stories") exceedingly well versed in comic lingo and layout (the references to Gottfredson and Crumb were appreciated) and surprisingly touching, complex themes. He's an excellent cartoonist as well. I'm a fan now.

The Max is very nice as well, though a bit glib. Reminded me a lot of Leviathan, actually. But the cartooning is expert and it's got enough plot and story to hold my attention. I'd like to get the Dreams book; I gather that it's an extended riff on the Fuseli's The Nightmare?

$27 on Amazon, go git it!

the A$ is pretty strong right now but shipping on large hardcovers is a bitch, I ended up paying about triple for Kramers 7 because the first copy got bashed up and I had to send it back and they didn't refund the shipping for either journey

b-but - isn't the cover price US$24.95 anyway?

unfortunately no; it got reissued at $39.99
forgot you were not murrican

Hey, Sic, don't be going the Amazon way--try either Book Depository US or UK (discounts plus free shiping to Aus) or Better World (discounts plus low shipping). Your best bet is to put the book's ISBN into Booko (http://www.booko.com.au) and see what happens. You can get Thirteen Going On Eighteen for $36 Australian (http://www.booko.com.au/books/isbn/9781897299883).

HMMMM!

what's every other book I want in the world?

It's been a long time since I did one of these (though I must've made at least two dozen runs since the last time I updated this thread) but here's what a C-note gets you at the strand these days

Mickey Mouse in Color - I've wanted this another rainbow book for almost two decades.
The Golden Collection of Klassic Krazy Kool Kids Komics - Another Yoe collectors frenzyfest of awesome
Lucky Luke 22 and 23 - I have NEVER read lucky luke before, kinda excited to check these out.
Joy Ride by Carol Lay - Looks like a great collection of here short works; I'm a big fan
Kerry Drake by Alfred Andriola - Volumes 1 through 5 - these are a collection of Blackthorne reprints in trade format from back when Blackthorne was doing the proto-IDW thing. I've read one or two of these stories in Nemo and they're awesome. Was totally unaware these books existed
Steve Roper and Wahoo by Allen Saunders and Elmer Woggon - Volumes 1 and 2 - same as above but maybe more obscure.

If it's the new Cinebooks editions of Lucky Luke with awful computer lettering, don't let them ruin Morris for you forever. If it's old ones (looks like it from the rest of the haul), lucky you

it's the new cinebooks one with weird calligraphic lettering. Mostly through one of the books and the writing is clever and fun and the cartooning is expert. Would love to get more of these.

I think they did an okay job on the computer lettering, certainly it's less jarring to me that the horrible handwriting font on the republished Tintin books. On the other hand, the translations seem pretty poor compared to Asterix.

I did pick one of the "old ones" once -- The Dalton Brothers' Analyst -- which I found (and stole) aged 12 at a Club Med in Spain. I'd never seen a Lucky Luke book in English before and thought it was the Best Thing Ever...

(I should probably point out that I found a secondhand copy at some Club Med kids club, I didn't just steal it from a store.)

xp

which I found (and stole) aged 12 at a Club Med in Spain

It sounds so much cooler though.

Who commits theft in a foreign country at the cusp of adolescence? Cool people do.

DAMN, these are good
http://www.specproductions.com/kerry_drake/kerry1.html#02

the cinebooks translations of lucky luke are adequate, i think, and i've seen much worse computer lettering, though yeah, the original hodder translations from the 70s are stronger, overall. apparently morris wasn't v. fond of puns or worldplay, so there's a lot less of that in ll than in asterix (which personally suits me fine.) i feel v. warmly towards the cinebook editions because they're getting fairly close to translating all of the goscinny-written ones into english, something i never thought would happen.

i prefer stan drake to kerry drake

My heart and wallet leapt on seeing the wall of Lukes in Gosh (mere hours after landing in the country!) but a single flip of one made me put it down and walk away from the rest. IIRC not only is the font clunky, the balloons have just been filled by an office typist, with everything left-justified and vast swathes of hanging white space on the right of the balloons?

Why would you reletter Tintin?! Have they been retranslated? Lucky I got all of them when I was a kid, but all this is making me worry I should finally fill in the gaps in my Asterices

My biggest problem with Cinebook is not the computer lettering (which looks a bit dodgy, but Sic is right that there are worse examples of that) rather than that they resize all the books they publish about 50% smaller than the original. I understand that it's probably a budgetary question, and it isn't a huge thing with books with more simplistic art, but when I'm reading stuff like Leo's Aldebaran and Betelgeuse with some gorgeous widescreen sci-fi, I feel sad that I can't see it in its original French "album" size.

Another stupid thing Cinebook does (and this is far less justifiable than the reduced size) is censor the art. I'm not sure if you've noticed it, but almost all of the more "mature readers" comics they publish have a disclaimer saying that certain images have been retouched to protect "sensitive readers". AFAIK this censoring usually just involves retouching a few panels with nude characters, so a woman with bare breasts suddenly has a bra and so on... But it still strikes me as compeletely silly, because:
1) I can't imagine young kids are the primary target group for their books, and
2) in this day and age, how many "sensitive readers" really mind about a few boobs? Also, apparently these sensitive readers have no problem with the rather violent imagery that some of the comics published by Cinebook have, but they can't handle nudity and sexuality that's about as explicit as in Hollywood teen comedies.

the lucky luke books (and blake and mortimer bks) aren't resized.

agree that the self-censoring is some bs, tho

Tintin hasn't been re-translated, but they've replaced the lovely old handwritten font with a spindly and slightly hard-to-read Herge-cursive computer font. (Some of the sound effects from the original are still the same, though.) Pointless, ugly, and kind of sad.

Got:
The massive slipcover Usagi Yojimbo which is GREAT and sumptuous; i now have most of the Fanta floppies and trades to sell/barter if anyone wants them.
Iron Man 8-18, 25-30, Annual 1: Trying Fraction out for the first time
Cap America 602-611

I really enjoy Fraction's Iron Man, but am a little trepidatious about him bringing the Mandarin back in as a big bad villain. I haven't thought much of the introductory stories setting it up.

I've been kind of eeeeh on Fraction's Marvel work so far (except Thor: Ages of Thunder, which is great), but if you want an introduction you really can't go wrong with Casanova. Marvel just reprinted the first volume in tbp- not sure yet what I think of the new colors (I really loved the look of the original issues/trade from Image) but it's beautiful stupid fun. Also check out The Five Fists of Science and this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWnrRvMTgNE

the short that introduced the phrase "the bullshit fisherman" to my everyday lexicon. So useful!

i really like the iron man arc!
i forgot i tried and did not care for casanova

I liked the Iron Man enough to go get Extremis (so that I can figure out what the heck happened to get Iron Man so awesome now) and volume 1 and 3 of the Fraction Invincible so I'm mostly complete up to about issue 30 now.
Also:
Lucky Luke 24: These are stone cold great; hope I can find more of them at reasonable prices
Underground Genie: A Kyle Baker short work/portfolio collection
Seeing Things: A Jim Woodring art book
Pang The Wandering Shaolin Monk, v. 1: Xeric winner doing the Usagi thing; like the art style and the general feel quite a lot
Lucky in Love: excited about this; haven't seen any DeStephano comix since Instant Piano and I love this guy
Artichoke Tales: Bought solely based on Douglas' recommendation; will report back
Miss Don't Touch Me v.2: Did not know this existed; LOVED the first volume so really looking forward to having a go at this
Aya - The Secrets Come Out: I think this is the first book? I got the second and thought it was brilliant.

So I'm kinda set for the weekend.

Secrets Come Out is Aya vol 3 - I've only read the first but loved it.

"but am a little trepidatious about him bringing the Mandarin back in as a big bad villain."

I can't remember the names of the two guys that wrote Iron Man inbetween Ellis and Fraction, but they did a pretty great updated take on the Mandarin. Fraction kind of ignored it a bit in the annual, which I still thought was a pretty crazy comic. It has been a decent read, but I am ready for Iron Man to start kicking ass instead of getting his ass kicked, which is what has gone on for the last three years. That said even for a pretty talky book, there is more thrill power in the last few years of Iron Man than most Marvel comics.

Fractions new Thor storyline is pretty much a slow moving dud. I dig Casanova though.

LUCKY IN LOVE - pretty damn nifty. The script lays it on a bit thick, intruding a bit when it should hold back and leave the heavy lifting to DeStefano, and there's not much that's original about the milieu, but overall a fine fine book. DeStefano makes every page sing.