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?

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.