Here are the books that make an impression on me staring at this week's no-doubt largely accurate list of books shipping from Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. to comic book and hobby shops across North America.
I might not buy all of the works listed here. I might not buy any. You never know. I'd sure look at the following, though.
*****
I'm still trying to find ways to list items that are showing up in comics shops through mechanisms other than the traditional Diamond Comics weekly shipping list, because I think those are a big deal for a lot of comics shops, bigger in that initial offering than the first Diamond fulfillment. So let's put the new Ivan Brunetti book top of blog -- keep an eye out for it, or at least keep it in mind. Jog says it might be out in better comics shops, and Jog's new comics column is way better than mine.
JAN131397 COMIC BOOK CREATOR #1 $8.95I'd like to welcome back my longtime peer Jon Cooke to making magazines about comics with some regularity. I look forward to seeing what he does.
MAR130046 BPRD HELL ON EARTH #107$3.50
MAR130024 CONAN THE BARBARIAN #16 $3.50
MAR130053 EDGAR ALLAN POES FALL O/T HOUSE OF USHER #1 $3.99
JAN130584 FATALE #14 (MR) [DIG] $3.50
FEB138644 SEX #2 2ND PTG (MR) $2.99
JAN130613 THINK TANK #7 (MR) [DIG] $3.99
MAR130603 AGE OF ULTRON #8 $3.99
MAR130653 FF #7 NOW $2.99
This is an interesting group of genre adventure comics in the traditional comic book format, including three of Dark Horse's better avenues for serial comics-production (Mignola, Conan, Corben), the Brubaker/Phillips book, a Joe Casey second printing, Matt Kindt, the latest Marvel event series, and the Matt Fraction/Mike Allred offbeat superhero effort. It's not a bad time to be going to the comics shop at all if this is your thing.
FEB130917 MARK WAID GREEN HORNET #2 $3.99
Please oh please god let this be a comic about Mark Waid being the Green Hornet. Actually, this isn't my kind of thing and I have negative interest in the Green Hornet character, but Waid's on a really strong, confident run right now and he's an under-valued maker of mainstream comics in terms of his general influence on that part of the field.
MAR130946 ADVENTURE TIME MARCELINE & THE SCREAM QUEENS TP VOL 01 $19.99
FEB130825 ADVENTURE TIME ORIGINAL GN VOL 01 PLAYING FIRE $11.99\
The fact that these Adventure Time series are coming out in trade form now pretty regularly provides another opportunity to a) try them out for themselves, b) maybe provide them to a younger reader -- I know the AT stuff has fans up and down the actuarial charts -- that wouldn't be interesting in comic book format comics.
FEB130888 BLAKE & MORTIMER GN VOL 11 GONDWANA SHRINE $15.95
There's actually a fair amount of European-style albums hitting the markets where comic shop owners might buy one or two of those things (or more, who knows?). I can't say as I'm a fan of a lot of this material, this series included, but I'm a fan of it being widely available in deeply-stocked comics shops.
OCT121086 WANDERING SON HC VOL 04 $19.99
This is the Fantagraphics series from Shimura Takako, and focuses on gender roles and their relative fluidity in a group of young people. This one hasn't really clicked for me yet, not in a way where I'm reading the new volumes with great anticipation, but it has loads of fans, anything Matt Thorn does in manga is worth noting -- ditto Fantagraphics as a manga publisher.
FEB130807 BLEEDING COOL MAGAZINE #4 (MR) $4.99
I don't always read Rich Johnston's site -- there's just not a lot of confluence between our two views of comics -- and I don't believe I've read an issue of the print magazine, but I respect he's putting work out there in print and I'd totally look at one in a comics shops were I to run across it.
JAN130796 BAZOOKA JOE AND HIS GANG HC $19.95
This is an Abrams book about some of the more ubiquitous 20th Century comics. I like books like this, but mostly as Christmas presents. Still, I find those comics sort of interesting -- the idea of them doubly so -- and I'm sure the book will be handsomely mounted.
MAR131301 FROM HELL COMPANION SC (MR) $29.95
I can't imagine there will be a more compelling read on comics out this year than this book about From Hell featuring one of the very best writers about comics, the artist and comics author and From Hell co-creator Eddie Campbell. I know next to nothing about this work, and I want to buy one.
*****
The full list of this week's releases, including some titles with multiple cover variations and a long, impressive list of toys and other stuff that isn't comics, can be found here. Despite this official list there's no guarantee a comic will show up in the stores as promised, or in all of the stores as opposed to just a few. Also, stores choose what they carry and don't carry so your shop may not carry a specific publication. There are a lot of comics out there.
To find your local comic book store, check this list; and for one I can personally recommend because I've shopped there, albeit a while back, try this.
The above titles are listed with their Diamond order code in the first field, which may assist you in finding comics at your shop or having them order something for you they don't have in-stock. Ordering through a direct market shop can be a frustrating experience, so if you have a direct line to something -- you know another shop has it, you know a bookstore has it -- I'd urge you to consider all of your options.
If I failed to list your comic, that's because I hate you.
*****
*****
*****