Can you even imagine? Going into a coma in your youth, then the next thing you know you’re waking up in a body that’s 80 years old?! That’d be such a dive that I’d start bombing too.
- Stephen on Incognito vol 2 tpb by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips
Books for June 2011 onwards
A Taste Of Chlorine h/c (£16-99, Jonathan Cape) by Bastien Vivès.
“Beautiful book, bought it in Angoulême.”
- Sean Phillips (CRIMINAL etc.)
A tentative swimming-pool romance told in creams, greens and aquamarines. Truly a sublime experience, I lapped up my preview copy the other sunny afternoon. It won the ‘Essential Revelation’ prize at the Angoulême Festival in 2009 and I can see exactly why.
The physiotherapist of a teenage boy with curvature of the spine insists that he exercise weekly at the local piscine. The first week it’s a solitary affair, but on the second a beautiful, black-haired woman with exceptional swimming skills catches his eye. However, it’s only on the third week when his more extrovert mate accompanies him that they make any kind of contact at all. Gradually she helps him improve his style but both of them are shy and neither is sure about moving the conversation beyond simple swimming lessons.
The experience of being underwater in an environment where the physics are different, gazing up at the swimmers from below – the sheer magic and beauty of it all – is evoked to perfection, the bodies’ outlines underwater disappearing, leaving only their coloured shapes. The biting of lips is sweet, and there’s a touching scene where she mouths him a message underwater yet refuses to translate it later. I haven’t managed to decipher the sequence which is expanded on later on, so if you have, please let me know!
On sale July 7th. Read it in French here:
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A Zoo In Winter h/c (£12-99, Fanfare/Ponent Mon) by Jiro Taniguchi.
From the creator of A DISTANT NEIGHBOURHOOD and SUMMIT OF THE GODS etc., a work set in Kyoto during 1966 as a young man begins his career as a comicbook creator with all its attendant deadlines while sampling the city’s nightlife. Quite what happens at the zoo to force his hand, I do not know. We love this creator’s work with a passion, and made the first volume of ADN one of our Comicbooks Of The Month. You can see the sort of lavish interior art you can expect along with our review of the book here:
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Esperanza: A Love And Rockets Book (£13-99, Fantagraphics) by Jaime Hernandez.
Following on from PENNY CENTURY reviewed by our Tom, more Maggie & Hopey, older and, you’d hope, wiser. Have a beautiful pencil sketch. <swoon>
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The Armed Garden And Other Stories h/c (£14-99, Fantagraphics) by David B.
From the creator of the remarkable EPILEPTIC, about David B’s family coping with his brother’s condition, the titular Armed Garden was originally published in MOME vol 3 and was given a right old diagnosis here: LINK. History, religion, conflict: such is the road to Paradise, eh? Here’s the cover:
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One Soul oversized h/c (£18-99, Oni) by Ray Fawkes.
Jeff Lemire, Brian Wood, Kieron Gillen and J.H. Williams III have all lined up to lavish praise on this audacious enterprise with a highly innovative narrative: the lives of 18 individuals chronicled at the same moment in time, juxtaposed through each of them being given a single panel on each double-page spread. So that’s a 9-panel grid on the left and another 9-panel grid on the right. As each character dies, their panel goes black from there on in. Together they tell a single, fascinating story. Interview and interior art:
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Scarlet Book 1 h/c (£18-99, Icon/Marvel) by Brian Michael Bendis & Alex Maleev.
“I’ve been watching so much internet porn I think I learned German.”
Few things anger most people I know more than the abuse of power. Racism, maybe, so South Africa under Apartheid was a double whammy. But when individuals, corporations or entire state institutions abuse their power and successfully get away with it through mass-media collusion or wholesale capitulation, most of us get pretty steamed.
Welcome to Scarlet’s world: it’s just come crashing down around her. A bent cop, high on drugs after money to buy more, stops and searches Scarlet and co. who are doing nothing more untoward than laughing and drinking coffee in an urban park in Portland. Wisely they attempt to deflect their own sense of violation and diffuse a volatile situation with humour, until the cop frisks Scarlet too personally and boyfriend Gabriel smacks him one. Unfortunately by that point the cop has Gabriel’s wallet.
“I’m in a lot of trouble.”
Days later when Scarlet wakes up in hospital, she reads the Portland Press front page. It’s not good.
“Everything is broken. Everything. Good people are victims. Bad people are heroes. Dumb is virtue, food is poison. Corruption is a national pastime. Rapists rape. The poor are left to rot. Religion is business. No one is safe, and everyone thinks that it’s funny.
“Why is the world allowed to be this way? Why doesn’t anyone do anything? Why don’t we fight back? Why is it like this? Why did it happen? And then it hit me. It doesn’t matter why. “Why ” is the cloud. The redirect. The shell game. “Why” is bullshit. “Why” makes you feel better for just thinking the question. The question is… what am I going to do about it?”
Straight action-crime with a small scale now that promises to go global. I’ve deliberately left key scenes from this review so you can share our horror and, as Tom observed, the writing itself will defy your expectations for a Bendis comic given its singular style and structure. There’s some exceptional start-stop, flash-title timing which wrings humour from even the direst of circumstances, and the most magnificent art from Maleev to date. That urban park scene with its pedestrians and skaters throwing long, long shadows is lit and coloured to perfection, whilst the watercolour washes round the Hawthorne highway lift bridge melted my heart. The expressions are beautiful, Scarlet’s fashion sense is immaculate, and I am so, so pleased that my ten-year dream has come true and Bendis has finally returned to crime fiction which we can all make a lot more money from than the spandex. I don’t resent his superhero work, I love most of it. But to concentrate on that at the expense of every other genre for so long has been a waste of the man’s true talents, and the same goes triple for Alex. I’m delighted to announce that Brubaker and Phillips now have some serious competition. If you’re reading CRIMINAL, this one’s for you. If you’re not, then there’s a new series starting in June. See comic section.
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Old City Blues h/c (£10-99, Archaia) by Giannis Milonogiannis ~
In 2048, from the ruins of Greece, New Athens’ halogen-lit skyscrapers dominate the once historic landscape, its streets crackle with the activity of millions trying to get their own way in an unforgiving new landscape. When the founder of a cutting-edge technology corporation, Hayashi, is found murdered, his cybernetically enhanced corpse provides an enigma for New Athens’ Special Police. Thermidor and Solano know what comes with the badge, and they’re used to dealing with the past but as all the clues lead to the no man’s land of Old Athens, are they prepared for the future?
There’s a particular flavour of late ‘80s/early ‘90s manga and anime which saturated the market off the back of AKIRA and Masamune Shirow’s addictive style. We were swimming in neon-drenched SF crime and I loved it. Somewhere along the way the term “Cyberpunk”* was coined, which unfortunately pooled these brilliant designs and ideas into a sub-genre where it grew fetid. But not before Hollywood scooped up bucket-loads of those themes and ran with them, spilling most of the good stuff on their way.
I would endure these dry years by watching Bubblegum Crisis, Domu, and reading as much Shirow as I could, but I thought the best of this style was behind us until I found Giannis Milonogiannis, who in OCB distilled the vital energy of those early Shirow stories and classic Bubblegum Crisis action into a potent brew, an immersive experience.
Yet clearly Giannis has his own artistic style, although the tech and architecture of New Athens could easily share the world of Olympus from Shirow’s Appleseed, New Athens is no Utopia. Giannis’ design has more in common with a European aesthetic, and there’s a distinctly Mediterranean sense of light, and the city feels as bustling and hot as Greece, and on close inspection the buildings have that sun-weathered look. And the same could be said of his characters, there’s an appreciated lack of Asian-stereotypes, or Shirow-esque proportions despite a clear Shirow influence on the pacing and character dynamics. The snippy hard-boiled banter between Thermidor and Solano wouldn’t be out of place in the squad cars of the A.D. Police or the wire noise from Section 9.
The dry manga adaptation of Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex is also solicited this month, but I implore you to check out this instead. It may be cyber, but it has heart.
*Strange seeing as most of the cybernetic characters would be cops, vigilantes, or terrorists. The only punks being the teenagers in Akira, who were psychic/telekinetic…
Great interview with lots of interior art:
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[Or you can read the whole lot here, though I’d go straight to issue 2 for a dazzling high-speed car chase; click on ‘comics’ – ed.]:
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Colour Engineering (£18-99, Picturebox) by Yuichi Yokoyama.
You may have seen Yuichi’s previous books NEW ENGINEERING and TRAVEL listed in March’s News & Letters column as part of the answer to Ben Read’s question about a full list of wordless comics and graphic novels. THE GARDEN is on its way soon, but this is his first full-colour combo of stories and painting. Here’s his Picturebox page:
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The Man Who Grew His Beard (£14-99, Fantagraphics) by Oliver Schrauwen.
Seven surreal and subversive stories, and when they cite Winsor McCay as an influence, well, take a look at this:
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Mome vol 22 (£14-99, Fantagraphics) by Anders Nilsen, Paul Hornschemeier, Jim Woodring, Gabrielle Bell, Zak Sally, more.
After 5,500 pages of absolute class, this is MOME’s final outing. Speaking of Nilsen, Big Questions is due out as a complete hardcover this autumn, and you can see the enormous proof to its cover posted on April 15th here:
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The Cabbie: Book One h/c (£14-99 Fantagraphics) by Marti.
Introduced by Art Spiegelman, this revives the character last seen in the Ignatz edition of CALVARIO HILLS in which an ex-President, on the run and bent on reuniting himself with his laundered money in The Bahamas, hoped to escape as part of the diplomatic luggage of one Monsignor Alvarez de Montilla, himself scheming to get himself elected as Pope. It dispensed with any semblance of reality in favour of the flavour of Richard Sala. The Monsignor had stark black holes for eyes which manifested hypno-rays, and was seen to be attempting the reanimation of a foetus, whilst the diplomatic luggage in which the President stowed himself was a filing cabinet in the shape of a cross which was subsequently highjacked by a Mardi Gras group of gay guys who threw it into a trash truck and debagged the villain. That’s the sort of crazy you are inevitably in for. Here isn’t the cover:
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My Skateboard Life (£8-99, Blank Slate) by Ed Syder.
Growing up as part of the Cornwall skater scene during the eighties and nineties. Cornwall’s got to be an awesome place for skateboarders! Pitch-perfect black, white and red cover.
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Luchadoras (£12-99, Blank Slate) by Peggy Adam.
“Chosen as part of the 2007 Sélection Officielle at the Angoulême International Comics Festival.
Since 1993, a grievous shadow has been cast over the Mexican border-city of Juarez. A tragic symbol of misogynist violence, Cuidad Juarez has been the scene of hundreds of feminicidios —the abduction and brutal murders of female victims aged between 12 and 22. Referred to as ‘Las Muertas de Juarez’, many of these victims are found tortured, sexually abused, or disfigured – senseless atrocities that have caught international attention. With many of these cases still unresolved, some sources suggest the number of victims may even reach into the thousands.
It is in this harrowing real setting that we are introduced to Alma, a woman courageously attempting to escape her abusive gang-member fiancé. Following a violent altercation, she flees in the night, cementing her vow to never return by beginning a new relationship with a considerate stranger. In this story of survival by any means necessary, Peggy Adam explores the complex issues surrounding the murders through the humanity of her characters. Truly a graphic novel of substance, LUCHADORA asks the reader to consider where exactly the extents of morality lie in a corrupt society.”
Here’s her beautiful website:
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Book Of Extreme Facts (£13-50, IDW) by various.
It’s a bit like Extreme Sports but without the vertigo, adrenalin and exercise. Instead, potatoes may learn from their couch that there is no entry to a Page 45 parcel packaged by Tom except with the use of Semtex. And that doesn’t work: you’d only trash your living room, even if you attempted ignition in the kitchen.*
Also included: Tales Of The Liverbank, a peculiar take on the Watch With Mother classic, in which Stephen necks Chile’s entire annual export of Sauvignon Blanc before breakfast. Johnny Morris voice-over included. Plus: Jonathan’s reaction to becoming a parent (he aged ten years overnight – hahahaha!), and Dominique’s reaction to being interrupted (“Year Twelve in the Big Brother house: Dominique has yet to stop speaking…”) which isn’t actually extreme: she just carries on, oblivious.
All right, I have no idea what this is and no intention of stocking it, so quite why I have expended three drunken paragraphs so far previewing it is beyond me. “You have no life!” I know. “You have no life!” Thank you for reminding me.
*Ignition In The Kitchen – great name for a band. After umming and ahhing, I called my own band The Undecided whose lyrics by Si Philo were published by Prevarication Press. I neither sang nor played, but on the odd occasion that I determined to turn up, I was supported upright in front of the keyboards by an ingenious device that allowed me to sample the optics ranged across its flank. I did take part in every photo shoot and video we made, mind.
On the other hand, here is a true story from when I lived in Eastbourne. The members of I Like Danny’s Hair were struggling to come up with a name, so Danny declared that they would adopt whatever was first said when someone new ventured into the room. Five second’s later: “I like Danny’s hair!”
CLINK
PS Magazine: The Best Of Maintenance Monthly (£12-99) by Will Eisner.
Now that I’ve written that, you’re going to think I’m making this up. I certainly never expected it to be published. It is, however, a little known fact that Will Eisner drew comics for the US army because, let’s face it, every manual you look at showing you how to put pieces of furniture or machinery together, is sequential art. That laminated piece of card which none of us read on planes showing you how to panic when you splash down in the middle of an ocean… that’s comics. So if you have American military equipment issued between 1951 and 1971 and you fear it needs a spruce up, this is vital stuff!
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Who is Ana Mendieta? (£13-99, Feminist Press) by Christine Redfern & Caro Caron.
She’s an iconoclastic Cuban American artist, and this is her biography. Caro Caron ain’t tame, neither:
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Walking Dead vol 14: No Way Out (£10-99, Image) by Robert Kirkman & Charlie Adlard, Cliff Rathburn.
June 15th. That’s what you want to know. Collects #79-84 amongst which was the issue Tom reacted to while bagging and taping your customer orders with more horror than I have ever seen on his face. I hear Tom chortling all the time, and he buzzes like crazy when he’s opening boxes of fresh comics and graphic novels but I have never, ever heard him react like this. So, you know, enjoy!!! Here’s Mark on volume two:
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Absolute Sandman vol 5 slipcased h/c (£75-00, DC) by Neil Gaiman, P. Craig Russell, Matt Wagner & P. Craig Russell, Yoshitaka Amano, Milo Manara, Bill Sienkiewicz, Miguelanxo Prado, Barron Storey, Glenn Fabry, Frank Quitely.
Contains ENDLESS NIGHTS, both versions of DREAM HUNTERS (illustrated prose and graphic novel) and SANDMAN MIDNIGHT THEATRE which, according to the DC hype-monkey, is “hard to find”. Found it! November 2nd.
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Return To Perdition h/c (£14-99, Vertigo Crime/DC) by Max Allan Collins & Terry Beatty.
All-new! Never expected this. Please see below for the original.
“A new chapter in the acclaimed graphic novel series that inspired the Academy Award-winning movie! The setting is America in the early 1970s, and our third generation hero, Michael Satariano, Jr. is a Vietnam vet recently returned to the States. He doesn’t know that his father’s real name was Michael O’Sullivan, and is unaware of the conflict between his dad, his grandfather and John Looney – the criminal godfather of Rock Island, Illinois. But when he’s recruited by the mob as a hitman, he’s going to learn the hard way that you can never outrun (or outgun) your past.” August 24th.
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Road To Perdition new edition (£10-99, Vertigo Crime/DC) by Max Allan Collins & Richard Piers Rayner.
“Rock Island, Illinois – 1929. Michael O’Sullivan is a good father and a family man – and also the chief enforcer for John Looney, the town’s Irish Godfather of crime. As Looney’s “Angel of Death”, O’Sullivan has done the bidding of Chicago gangsters Al Capone and Frank Nitti as well – but when a gangland execution spells tragedy for the O’Sullivan family, a grieving father and his adolescent son find themselves on a winding road of treachery, revenge and revelation.”
Sounds like LONEWOLF & CUB with just as much honour among thieves as samurai (that’s bugger all). The back also boasts “some of the most stunningly realistic drawings of 1930s Chicago ever seen on the printed page.” Nor do they lie and, I should add, the figure work is equally awesome, with finely chiselled faces you could stare at for minutes. For newcomers to this medium this sort of detail and clarity is a strong selling point, but it doesn’t half hold up the action something chronic. August 3rd.
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Road To Perdition 2: On The Road (£10-99, Vertigo Crime/DC) by Max Allan Collins & Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez.
Yes, there’s already been a sequel. August 3rd
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Northlanders vol 5: Metal (£13-50, Vertigo/DC) by Brian Wood & Becky Cloonan, Fiona Staples, Riccardo Burchielli.
Set in ye olde Viking times, one the many things I love about NORTHLANDERS is that each book is self-contained with completely different perspectives. We’ve had religion, hand-to-hand combat, feudal rivalries, women on the run, and what seemed to me like an episode of Robbie Coltrane’s Cracker with beard, bows and brambles (volume two). I think the third book may now be my favourite.
“Wealth dies. Friends die. One day you too will die. But the thing that never dies is the judgement on how you have spent your life”
- Havamal, The Way Of The Norseman.
DC writes: “Collected from issues #29-36: When blacksmith Erik liberates Ingrid from her corrupt, Christian missionary captors, they set out to live by the “old ways,” hoping to find something they can feel is their own. The Church won’t let them go so easily, though, and sets out to bring them back by any means necessary.” July 6th. Have a couple of previews:
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Hellblazer, Bloody Carnations (£14-99, Vertigo/DC) by Peter Milligan & Giuseppe Camuncoli, Simon Bisley, Stefano Landini.
John the Con’s getting married?! July 27th. Writer and artist discuss the book here:
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Revolver s/c (£14-99, DC) by Matt Kindt.
I really must get round to reading this. How would you cope if you woke up one morning in a world that’s gone to hell? Then the next morning you’re back in your far cosier existence… then the next you’re back in crazy! I’d probably try to sleep through Tuesdays. (And often, when I’m supposed to be reviewing, I do! Shhh!) July 6th. Jonathan’s review of hardcover here:
The Bomboyce Network (£14-99, Humanoids) by Corbeyran, Cecil & Cecil.
“A twisted tale of intrigue set amid early 20th-century France, a time known as the ‘Beautiful Era’, but where the emerging technologies and high fashion only serve as cover to the most sordid of deeds.” I can find you the cover to the French edition at least:
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Requiem Vampire Night vol 3: The Queen Of The Dead Souls (£14-99, Heavy Metal) by Pat Mills & Olivier Ledroit.
There are two editions of this series which look almost identical, but the US ones contain considerably more than the UK ones. We stock the US editions, like this. Of a previous volume Jonathan wrote:
It’s all-out war between the Vampires and well, pretty much everyone else for control of Resurrection, although the Vampires aren’t too concerned and still manage to find more than enough time to indulge their own petty rivalries. Meanwhile Requiem finds he just can’t shake the thoughts of the Jewess Rebecca, his lost love from his previous life on Earth as a committed Nazi and S.S. Officer no matter how hard he tries, which is rather upsetting for him when he discovers she’s been resurrected too, only on the other side…
Click on “Chapter One” here, then select whichever series you want to see art on:
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Drifters vol 1 (£9-99, Dark Horse) by Kohta Hirano.
From the creator of Hellsing (Nazis, vampires, the Catholic church… write your own jokes, you lazy mofos): “Imagine a world of magic, full of elves and hobbits and dragons and orcs.” <shudder> I will not! I’d rather lick the back of Thatcher’s leathery neck. A great war is being fought using famous warriors from throughout human history as chess pieces in a bloody, endless battle. “A melee of madness,” you are promised. I too promise you a melee of madness if you dare bring an elf anywhere fucking near me. Out August 31st.
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Magic Knight Rayearth Omnibus Edition (£14-99, Dark Horse) by Clamp.
Yet another of their ridiculously generous doorstops, this weighs in at 640 pages. Somewhere around 2000 Mark wrote: “From the same female manga team that bought you X/1999 comes three girls tumbled into a fantasy/rpg world of swords’n'spells. Hikaru, Fuu and Umi must save the magical child before they can return home. Astonishing, over the top, decorative artwork.” I think you’ll see what he meant!
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Okie Dokie Donuts vol 1: Open For Business h/c (£7-50, Top Shelf) by Chris Eliopoulos.
Bakery-based book for the young ‘uns in full colour, starring a lady of largesse in a very large dress. No preview, unusually, but here’s the cover and further info:
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Pirate Penguin Vs. Ninja Chicken vol 1: The Troublems With Frenemies h/c (£7-50, Top Shelf) by Roy Friesen.
“So what is this book about? It’s about a Pirate Penguin named Pirate Penguin and a Ninja Chicken who isn’t (ninjas are too sneaky to let you know their real names. Hint: It isn’t Harold.) They are the bestest of friends and also the worstest of enemies all at the same time (just like in real life! Only more cartoony of course.) I think you’ll like this book, there are about a bajillion jokes inside, and it’s filled with action, adventure and arguments. Sometimes the stories are really teeny, about stuff like ice cream or origami, and sometimes the story gets really epic-tastic, filled with spaceships and giant monsters and evil koalas and stuff (just like real life!). Plus, being about pirates, there are at least 17 swordfights (that’s the rule with pirates).”
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Forgotten Fantasy: Sunday Comics 1900-1915 oversized h/c (£95-00, Sunday Press) by Winsor McCay, more.
Very excited by the cover until I saw the price!
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Astro City: Life In The Big City h/c (£22-50,DC) by Kurt Busiek & Brent Anderson.
Containing far more humanity than most superhero series, this really isn’t an action comic: it’s a reaction comic that generally has as much to do with the ordinary, ground-level individuals in residence as it does the more colourful characters flying across their skyline. It was one of the first comics containing superheroes outside of WATCHMEN and BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS to rate as intelligent, but it’s been so infrequent that its profile has dropped to the point that one forgets that Neil Gaiman was moved enough to provide an introduction to one of the earliest books. Quite rightly too. Brent Anderson is the series’ permanent artist, lending it a consistency of style most lack, and I’ve just realised that it doesn’t go without saying that this is Kurt’s own baby through and through. But it is his baby, which is why it’s so much better than anything he’s done so far including the highly recommended MARVELS and SUPERMAN: SECRET IDENTITY.
Kurt Busiek is a man with a heart, and if you want superheroes done with a heart then it doesn’t get better than this. Yours, I’m afraid, will be broken. He really is that good.
New hardcover and softcover editions minus the Wildstorm logo on August 24th. Now can everyone please email DC, pestering them to get SUPERMAN: SECRET IDENTITY back in print too?
Incognito vol 2: Bad Influences (£13-50, Marvel) by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips.
Second series of superhero noir this time dealing with the infiltration of a criminal organisation just like the creators’ magnificent SLEEPER. But the infiltrator here doesn’t have to switch sides. Actually he does, because Zack Overkill is now working for the good guys but before that he was idling in witness protection after switching sides from the bad guys. Now that he’s working for the good guys they’ve sent him to work for some other bad guys because the first person the good guys sent to spy on the bad guys switched sides. Will Zack switch sides too?
Meanwhile Zack’s now sleeping with the enemy (if you consider his original position, anyway) but it’s emphatically not a relationship so far as Zoe Zeppelin’s concerned. Oh, and Zack is targeted by an aged bomber who mistakes him for one of the other bad guys who once sent him undercover with another lot of bad guys who sussed out that he was indeed a bad guy but not once of theirs. He was in fact a sleeper so they put him in a coma…
For sixty-six years! Can you even imagine? Going into a coma in your youth, then the next thing you know you’re waking up in a body that’s 80 years old?! That’d be such a dive that I’d start bombing too.
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Evolutionary War Omnibus h/c (£55-99, Marvel) by Neanderthals.
472 pages of prehistoric hogwash by a load of old fossils excavated from annuals you can find in back-issue bins (never was the term more apposite than here) for 3 pence each. I have read more evolved graffiti. Comes with a choice of two different covers: John Buscema or Stick A Red-Hot Poker In Your Eye.
Uncanny X-Men: Quarantine (£12-99, Marvel) by Matt Fraction, Kieron Gillen & Greg Land
The X-Men are sick and in self-imposed quarantine on Utopia, just as their powers are being marketed on the mainland as a leisure activity to the not so idle rich.
Generation Hope: The Future’s A Four Letter Word (£10-99, Marvel) by Kieron Gillen & Salva Espin, Jamie McKelvie
The first mutant born since HOUSE OF M, Hope has returned from the future and her presence in our present appears to have catalysed five further manifestations. Each has been violently unstable until Hope’s laying-on-of-hands and now the first four have joined her to track down the fifth in Tokyo, Japan, where Cyclops and Wolverine are about to see life hall-of-mirror art in a truly fucked up fashion. Because so far they’ve been lucky: so far these new mutants – these new Lights as Hope calls them – have just been physically unstable. This Light she might want to switch off then rip out its fuse box altogether.
Secret Warriors vol 5: Night h/c (£14-99, Marvel) by Jonathan Hickman & Alessandro Vitti, Mirko Colak, David Marquez.
Uh-oh. I don’t like the sound of this solicitation at all. I mean, I do, I love this series, but I don’t like what it implies for the team. Druid? Isn’t he the son of Dr. Druid? Not a family to invite into your fold. Nick Fury’s endgame approaches.
Secret Avengers vol 2: Eyes Of The Dragon (£18-99, Marvel) by Ed Brubaker & Mike Deodato Jr., Will Conrad, Roberto De La Torre.
Speaking of SECRET WARRIORS, this ties in beautifully – and unexpectedly – with what has been going on there. Loving it. Did you know that Warren Ellis & Jamie McKelvie are coming aboard soon? Now there’s a killer combo!
Captain America: First Vengeance (£10-99, Marvel) by Fred Van Lente & Luke Ross, Neil Edwards.
Official prequel to film. See also scheduled for 7,382 other books including the art of the film.
Captain America: Time For A Snooze (five farthings, Atlas) by Ice E. Slumber.
WWII and a rocket is launched at America by a Nazi wearing a tea towel glued to his face. Desperately hoping to defuse it, Cap and Bucky jump on board only for the bomb to explode. One drops into the freezing waters below and ends up in a giant ice tray for two decades (or three, or four, or five depending on how you measure Marvel time) while the other goes to the great Boy Scout camp in the sky. Or so everyone thought.
X-Men: Great Power h/c (£18-99, Marvel) by Victor Gischler with Chris Claremont, Wilford, Mantlo & Chris Bachalo, Paco Medina with Sal Buscema, Esposito.
Collects the current adjectiveless X-MEN #7-11 guest-starring Spider-Man, not to be confused with the old adjectiveless X-MEN which now has a noun attached to it instead. Also, MARVEL TEAM-UP ANNUAL #1 from 1976 because.
Age Of X h/c (£22-50, Marvel) by Mike Carey, Simon Spurrier & Mann, Kurth, Pham, Barberi, Davidson, Luque, Pierfederici, Walta.
Recent crossover between newly nouned X-MEN (LEGACY) and NEW MUTANTS in which “the X-Men never existed and mutantkind has been hunted to extinction”. With no mutants in existence any more, then who the fuck is going to star in this book? Lovely cover by someone who has nothing to do with the insides.
Daredevil: Reborn h/c (£14-99, Marvel) by Andy Diggle & Davide Gianfelice.
From the writer of Daredevil comes more DAREDEVIL. Shouldn’t this be in DAREDEVIL?
Oh wait, Marvel have changed that to BLACK PANTHER, MAN WITHOUT FEAR, a move met with unanimous derision and contempt. Shame (and I really do mean, the shame!) because this is perfectly fine with a final page of the first chapter laid out like Frank Miller might have.
Matthew Murdock has fallen from grace, in his own eyes especially. He inflicted huge pain on a community he swore he’d protect so has left Hell’s Kitchen and the city altogether to wander The Badlands. Obviously (obviously) the town we now join him in is simmering with secrets and they don’t take kindly to strangers. Cue conflict and a quick internet search to discover the FBI is convinced Matthew’s Daredevil. They’ve just never been able to prove it.
Gianfelice bring a Vertigo sensibility to the art. I do like his waves of hair and as I say that final page silhouetted against a full moon leaps out at you.
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man vol 3: Death Of Spider-Man Prelude h/c (£18-99, Marvel) by Brian Michael Bendis & Sara Pichelli, David Lafuente, Joelle Jones, Jamie McKelvie, Skottie Young, Chris Samnee.
Oh lord, this is good, and Tom and I have been discussing the various interpretations of the title. Is it literal or allusive? Note: they don’t say it’s the death of Peter Parker! Although, having read the most recent issue….
Osborn: Evil Incarcerated (£12-99, Marvel) by Kelly Sue Deconnick with Warren Ellis & Emma Rios with Jamie McKelvie.
Amused by the title, Tom’s been enjoying the series. Post-SIEGE, what has become of the arrogant, erstwhile despot?
Spider-Man: The Original Clone Saga s/c (£29-99, Marvel) by Conway, Goodwin, Mantlo & Andru, Kane, Mooney, Miller, Springer, Sal Buscema, Bagley.
More years ago than I care to remember a death was a death in the Marvel Universe, and Gwen Stacy’s was particularly poignant. Peter Parker’s first true love, she died after being thrown off a bridge. Yet here he starts catching glimpses of her, alive and well, wandering round the city. Truly, we had no idea what was going on; nor does he.
Reprints AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #139-150, PETER PARKER: SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #25-31, #149, #162-163 ANNUAL #8.
Essential Spider-Man vol 10 (£14-99, Marvel) by various.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #211-230, ANNUAL #15 in black and white.
Dark Tower Omnibus slipcased h/c set (£110-00, Marvel) by Peter David, Robin Furth & Jae Lee, Richard Isanove.
First five mini-series plus a companion of pencils etc which brings the page count to 600 pages.
Gotham Central vol 2: Jokers And Madmen s/c (£14-99, DC) by Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka & Michael Lark, Brian Hurtt.
Arresting precinct drama. God I wish I’d come up with that tag when reviewing the books! My favourite ongoing DC universe series of all-time until it stopped going on. July 6th. Here’s its review in hardcover form with actual interior art:
LINK
Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors vol 1 h/c (£16-99, DC) by Tomasi & Pasarin, Cam Smith.
BRIGHTEST DAY tie-in starring Guy Gardner, Arisia and Kilowog which span out of the books below. August 10th.
Blackest Night s/c (£14-99, DC) by Geoff Johns & Ivan Reis.
“My father said, ‘Everyone dies, William. Death is the only thing you can count on in this universe.’
“I killed him to prove his point.”
Evening finally falls this July, and there’s not a star in the sky. It’s a new moon, the sodium lights have failed and every candle in the universe has been stuffed back up the bum of a bee. In other words, it’s pretty dark.
BLACKEST NIGHT, the climax to Geoff Johns’ work so far on GREEN LANTERN (reading order here: LINK), has proved to be the best received superhero ‘event’ in many, many a year. Uniquely I’ve not heard a single carp even about the tie-ins and spin-offs, although one bewildered customer, Mr. Baldoswki, did quietly whimper one month when he racked up ninety-six quid after his first-ever all-in crossover request, and there wasn’t even an issue of the central title itself in his stack! Bless. He was still enjoying himself, though, as have so many superhero readers who’ve sent sales of the Geoff Johns’ GREEN LANTERN collections leading up to the event stratospheric. We used to sell maybe a couple a month in total. It’s now unusual not to sell three or four a day and over a dozen at weekends. It’s a safe bet, then, that many of you will be wanting this as well as a sizeable chunk of the satellite books below, all of which are released this July. Which coloured ring is avarice, again? “Orange!”
Black power rings are swishing through the galaxy to latch onto the dead, raising them from their graves. And there have been plenty of good guys and bad guys alike who’ve bitten the DC dust over the years! All hell breaks loose, and as heroes fall they too are immediately resurrected as Black Lanterns whose ranks swell to unstoppable numbers.
Some very impressive figure and design work from Reis, particularly on the variously coloured Lanterns. Jonathan will be your host in July, so for now I merely record the other books on offer and their assorted contents, like this which collects Blackest Night #0-8. July 13th
Here’s a link to all of these books already available as hardcovers, reviewed by Jonathan:
Blackest Night: Green Lantern s/c (£14-99, DC) by Geoff Johns & Doug Mahnke, Ed Benes.
Collects: GREEN LANTERN #43-51. July 13th
Blackest Night: Green Lantern Corps s/c (£14-99, DC) by Peter J. Tomasi & Patrick Gleason, Rebecca Buchman, others.
While I’m here, a quiet word in your ears which no one will hear you receiving so there’s no chance of being slightly embarrassed in public. A corps without an ‘e’ on the end is pronounced “core”. It’s an army branch or subdivision. You’d be surprised how many readers ask for dead bodies! Or maybe not under these particular circumstances.
Collects: GREEN LANTERN CORPS #39-46. July 13th
Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps vol 1 s/c (£14-99, DC) by James Robinson, Peter J. Tomasi, J.T. Krull & Eddy Barrow, Ardian Syaf, Ed Benes, others.
Collects: BLACKEST NIGHT: BATMAN #1-3, BLACKEST NIGHT: SUPERMAN #1-3 and BLACKEST NIGHT: TITANS #1-3. July 20th
Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps vol 2 s/c (£14-99, DC) by Geoff Johns, James Robinson, Greg Rucka & Scott Kolins, Nicola Scott, Eddy Barrows, others.
Collects: BLACKEST NIGHT: JSA #1-3, BLACKEST NIGHT: THE FLASH #1-3 and BLACKEST NIGHT: WONDER WOMAN #1-3. July 20th
Blackest Night: Rise Of The Black Lanterns s/c (£14-99, DC) by Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka, more & Ryan Sook, Denys Cowan, others.
Collects: THE ATOM & HAWKMAN #46, CATWOMAN #83, THE PHANTOM STRANGER #43, STARMAN #81, THE POWER OF SHAZAM #48, THE QUESTION #37, WEIRD WESTERN TALES #71, GREEN ARROW #30, ADVENTURE COMICS #7. July 27th
Blackest Night: Tales Of The Corps vol 1 s/c (£14-99, DC) by Geoff Johns, Peter J. Tomasi, Sterling Gates & Jerry Ordway, Ivan Reis, Dave Gibbons, Doug Mahnke, others.
Collects: BLACKEST NIGHT: TALES OF THE CORPS #1-3, GREEN LANTERN #49, and ADVENTURE COMICS #4-5. July 27th
Gotham City Sirens: Strange Fruit h/c (£16-99, DC) by Tony Bedard, Peter Galloway & Andres Guinaldo, Lee Garbett.
Third book starring Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy and Catwoman. August 17th. Of the first issue, I wrote:
If it wasn’t for the obligatory, silly supervillain sequences I’d be more disposed to remember the cute lines and deft expressions given by writer and artist to Harley Quinn, here back from a massive shopping spree dressed as a school girl with her blonde hair done up in a couple of bunches. Catwoman, having learned that her other co-star Poison Ivy has donated the 30 million dollars she gave her to global reforestation projects, reprimands Harley on her consumerist splurges:
“You’re worse that the flower child. You might as well be throwing away your millions on the Joker.”
“Not this time. I’m over Mr. J.”
“Oh, please. He’ll be calling for your money the second he hears about it.”
“Then you’ll be skipping out the door for another round of abuse, humiliation and regret.”
“Has he called?!”
“No.”
“Oh. Well, like I said, I’m over Mr. J.”
So: the three girls are going to move in together. What could possibly go wrong?
DC Universe: Legacies h/c (£25-99, DC) by Len Wein & Kolins, Kubert, Perez, J.H. Williams III etc.
A ten-issue history lesson on five generations of caped crusaders. August 24th
Firestorm: The Nuclear Man (£13-50, DC) by Gerry Conway & Al Milgrom and –
Look, no one can save a book after that news. When’s it due here? Never in our lifetime.
New Teen Titans Omnibus vol 1 h/c (£55-99, DC) by Marv Wolfman & George Perez.
Unlike Marvel’s Omnibus editions this contains a paltry 17 issues including DC COMICS PRESENTS #26. August 24th.
Superman: Grounded vol 1 h/c (£18-99, DC) by J. Michael Straczynski, G. Willow Wilson & Eddy Barrows, J.P. Mayer, Leandro Oliveira.
In order to reconnect with the people he protects, Superman takes a road trip – on foot. August 3rd.
Dreams Of Darkchylde vol 1 (£12-99, Image) by Randy Queen.
“One day,” I promised Tom recently, “I will stop sniggering at this man’s name.”
“You won’t.”
“I know.”
The epitome of the utterly awful tits-and-ass comicbook sub-genre…
Vampirella Masters Series vol 4: Visionaries (£12-99, D.E.) by Alan Moore & Gary Frank; Kurt Busiek & Art Adams; Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale, Alan Davis, more.
… Whereas this, umm, well, err, obviously it’s class…? A vamp contriving to wear less material than a bikini yet still cover her bits. Bits.
Deadworld Classics (£18-99, IDW) by Gary Reed, Jack Herman, Vince Locke & Vince Locke, Scott Parrish, Mark Bloodworth, James O’ Barr, Paul Daly.
Yes, that James O’ Barr, he of The Crow.
X-Files/30 Days Of Night (£13-50, DC/IDW) by Steve Niles, Adam Jones & Tom Mandrake.
I wrote half a dozen sentences before realising that I’d totally misread this as X-FILES / SILENT HILL. Damn. Waste not, want not, so here’s my scenario for X-FILES / SILENT HILL.
Brilliant! Let Smoulder and Skully get lost in the NHS after dark (waiting list for open-heart surgery: approximately 2.03 seconds) and figure the fucking plot out. I never could. I demand they find The Cancer Man’s head in a bureau draw, still puffing nonchalantly away. He could croak something cryptic before arching his eyebrows and closing his eyes with a rasping laugh as the office fills with smoke. Also, can we have an alternate ending in which they finally come off the fence and decide what the bloody hell the X-FILES was all about? I’m not sure what you’d have to do achieve that. You’d probably have to play the game on Otaku level for 371 times before being told that the hidden ending was just a myth after all. Alternately you could just tie Chris Carter to a chair then bludgeon him with your shotgun. In reality, mind… July 6th
30 Days Of Night oversized h/c (£37-99, IDW) by Steve Niles & Ben Templesmith.
Out in the barren, frozen Tundra the sun is about to set. It won’t rise again for over four weeks. For thirty days of night the inhabitants of the isolated Alaskan town of Barrow will find their already inhospitable environment shrouded in darkness. Hardly the most comfortable experience for humans, but for others it’s ideal. In fact for vampires it’s paradise, and they’re going to have a feast.
Clive Barker describes this as a raw horror story, and it’s certainly a gorefest. Templesmith’s pools of ink and shivers of ice-white are slashed with Sam Keith/Ashley Wood form, immersing you fully in the bleak, nocturnal terrain where your breath freezes and it’s almost impossible to make out shapes until they’re far too near to avoid. But it’s a slim read, a quarter of a B-movie with the visual budget of many: two or three ideas spread out over 60 pages, and any screen play is going to require a lot of fleshing out.
Still available as a softcover (LINK) this should go nicely with our last copy of the oversized, limited edition of volume two:
Star Trek Classic Movies Omnibus (£22-50, IDW) by Peter David, more & Klaus Janson, Dave Cockrum, more.
First six feature films, the even-numbered of which were awesome. Leonard Nimoy displayed both a gravitas and a talent for comedic timing, while the beautiful Nichelle Nichols displayed more than we ever expected of her (that really was the final frontier!). True fact: my earliest two crushes were on Nichelle Nichols and Walter Koenig. Are you receiving distress signals? Recoloured and remastered.
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep vol 5 h/c (£18-99, Boom!) by Philip K. Dick & Tony Parker.
The entire novel illustrated, and after all this time there are still no softcovers so I wouldn’t guarantee that will happen.
Art, Criticism, Prose etc. For June
Teen Angels & New Mutants (£22-99, Spiderbaby Grafix) by Stephen R. Bissette.
Now there’s a publisher that hasn’t cropped up for a while! It’s the child of Steve SWAMP THING Bissette, home to the old TABBOO anthology which first brought us Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell’s FROM HELL along with Neil Gaiman & Mike Zulli’s Sweeney Todd. If I read this correctly, this is a 412-page analysis of BRATPACK and its creator Rick Veitch, putting it into the context of Wertham’s Seduction Of The Innocent, the 1980s American comicbook explosion and its 1990s implosion after too much speculation and hoarding. Oh yeah, I saw it all firsthand while Mark and I worked for just such an idiot: the chain definitely imploded. BRATPACK definitely deserves this treatment too. New stock soon, review accessed as always on these blogs by clicking on its title.
Caniff h/c (£37-99, IDW) by Bruce Canwell & Milton Caniff.
Biography illustrated with archive and in some cases never previously reprinted illustrations.
Comics for June 2011
Criminal: The Last Of The Innocent #1 (£2-75, Icon/Marvel) by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips.
Sixth series of our favourite crime STRAY BULLETS. All books permanently in stock including the hardcover. Here there’s a twinge of nostalgia and a nod in the title to Wertham’s unholy book Seduction Of The Innocent and the effect it had on comics in America: it killed them stone dead. Well, no, that was DC and Marvel colluding on the Comics Code Authority. Brubaker talks about the new series here, with a two-page preview:
LINK
American Vampire: Survival Of The Fittest #1 of 5 (£2-25, Vertigo/DC) by Scott Snyder & Sean Murphy.
From the writer of the main AMERICAN VAMPIRE series and the artist on Morrison’s JOE THE BARBARIAN and Si Spencer’s HELLBLAZER: CITY OF DEMONS.
“It’s WWII in Nazi-occupied Romania as vampire hunters Felicia Book and Cash McCogan go behind enemy lines with the secret organization known as the Vassals of the Morningstar in search of a rumoured vampire cure. But their haunted, twisted past with Skinner Sweet makes the mission more difficult than they imagined.”
LINK
Hero Comics 2011 (£2-99, IDW) by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, more & Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, Steve Bissette, more.
This month’s award for most insufferable hyperbolae goes to IDW for making so much of the original SANDMAN team reuniting here for a short story. That won’t be a SANDMAN story. “This is THE BEATLES getting back together for one final album!” Really, it isn’t and I certainly wouldn’t want to be in that recording studio if they did. Not in the present condition. Also present: a short CHEW story, more.
Vertigo Resurrected: The Sandman Presents: Petrefax (£5-99, DC) by Mike Carey & Steve Leialoha.
That’s the undertaker from SANDMAN: WORLD’S END. Don’t recall ever reading this one, so can’t help you, but it’s the entire mini-series.
LINK
Rodd Racer one-shot (£5-99, Image) by Toby Cypress.
The Thunder Alley Rally: a mad dash through a wet, neon-lit, futuristic city not just for fame and glory but for survival… or revenge. Plenty of art if you click on 2010 here:
LINK
Rage #1 of 3 (£2-75, Dark Horse) by Arvid Nelson & Andrea Mutti.
From the creator of Rex Mundi, this introduces the forthcoming console game from the developers of Doom And Quake, both of which I grew so addicted to that my dreams became one long obsession with pressing everything in sight in order to find secret areas. And let me tell you, they were everywhere: a Marks & Spencers’ food till, a public-transport camel shelter (hey, these are my dreams, okay?)… there was even one in a cat. Don’t ask what I had to press.
Anyway, clearly this will be no Shangri-La, but it surely can’t be worse than Mansfield on a Saturday night, which Glenn Fabry has captured perfectly:
LINK
Witch Doctor #1 of 4 (£2-25, Skybound/Image) by Brandon Seifert & Lukas Ketner.
More horror. First comic from Robert WALKING DEAD Kirkman’s new imprint, which Warren Ellis has apparently described as “Mental”. Here’s its dedicated website:
LINK
Samurai’s Blood #1 of 6 (75 pence, Image) by Owen Wiseman & Nam Kim, Matthew Dalton, Jessica Kholinne.
All very colourful. Feudal Japan, naturally. 75 pence.
The Guild: Bladezz (£2-75, Dark Horse) by Felicia Day, Sean Becker & Andrew Currie.
Some sort of tie-in to some sort of thing. Don’t ask me, ask Tom, but we do keep the two other one-shots and book in stock:
LINK
Flashpoint: Batman – Knight Of Vengeance #1 of 3 (£2-25, DC) by Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso.
From the 100 BULLETS crew, one of several new mini-series tying in this month to FLASHPOINT which sees their resident speedster wake up in a world where Paris is underwater. And when I say several, I mean sixteen. Sixteen!!! Sixteen mini-series, four one-shots and BOOSTER GOLD #45. The good news is that one of them is…
Flashpoint: Secret Seven #1 of 3 (£2-25, DC) by Peter Milligan & George Perez, Scott Koblish.
Featuring Shade The Changing Man on the cover! More about those titles here on April 22nd entry:
LINK
Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search #1 of 3 (£2-25, DC) by Jonathan Vankin & Marco Castiello.
Uh-oh. Something’s not right, and neither Batman nor Superman look at all happy. Cool cover:
LINK
Fear Itself: The Deep #1 of 4 (£2-25, Marvel) by Cullen Bunn & Lee Garbett.
Compared to DC’s FLASHPOINT Marvel is looking pretty restrained with their tie-ins. At the moment. This is almost a Defenders reunion as Namor suffers the subaquatic ravages of FEAR ITSELF, and Dr. Strange is in desperate need of an aqualung. Also this month: Fear Itself: Black Widow one-shot (£2-99, Marvel) by Cullen Bunn & Peter Nguyen. Fear Itself: Deadpool #1 of 3 (£2-25, Marvel) by Christopher Hastings & Bong Dazo. Fear Itself: Fearsome Four #1 of 4 (£2-25, Marvel) by Brandon Montclare & Michael Kaluta, Ryan Bodenheim. Err, yeah, Kaluta. Stars Man-Thing, Howard The Duck, She-Hulk, Nighthawk and Frankenstein’s Monster.
Marvel Universe Vs. Wolverine #1 of 4 (£2-99, Marvel) by Jonathan Maberry & Laurence Campbell.
Prequel to MARVEL UNIVERSE VS THE PUNISHER (emphatically not PUNISHER VS THE MARVEL UNIVERSE which was a very different kettle of corpses) reviewed here:
Mystery Men 1 of 5 (£2-25, Marvel) by David Liss & Patrick Zircher.
“Classified.” As in Marvel will release no information. Page 45 does like to get into the spirit of things, so we will in turn order no copies!
The Iron Age #1 (£3-50, Marvel) by Christos Gage, Rob Williams & Lee Weeks, Ben Oliver.
Brief Iron Man saga in which Dark Phoenix returns, the Earth is destroyed, and Tony Stark is consequently swept into the timestream to amass a fighting force from throughout Marvel history to reverse the polarity of its neutron flow. Clever bit, this, though: when he arrives at the point where he used to be a drunken wreck and attempts to recruit the Avengers, they assume his story is just an alcoholic delusion. I get the same thing from Tom and Jonathan every morning. “I just had a really funny volley with Kurt Busiek on Twitter last night.” “Yeah, yeah…”
Supreme Power #1 of 4 (£2-99, Marvel Max) by Kyle Higgins & Manuel Garcia.
Originally an exceptional conceit from Michael J. Straczynski given exceptional form by Gary Frank, SUPREME POWER then meandered, faltered and totally failed to finish. Those early books are still great, mind.
LINK
Also scheduled:
Everything We Miss h/c (£12-00, Nobrow) by Luke Pearson. 38 pages
The New Ghost (£6-50, Nobrow) by Robert Frank Hunter. 24 pages. Looks lovely, though.
Forming vol 1 (£18-00, Nobrow) by Jesse Moynihan
Nipper vol 2: 1965-1966 (£12-99, Drawn & Quarterly) by Doug Wright
Nogoodniks h/c (£18-99, Drawn & Quarterly) by Adrian Norvid
Welcome To Oddville h/c (£10-99, Adhouse) by Jay Stephens
Prince Valiant vol 4: 1943-1944 h/c (£22-50, Fantagraphics) by Hal Foster
Metal Hurlant vol 2 h/c (£22-50, Humanoids) by Kurt Busiek, more & Guy Davis, Richard Corben, more
Yakuza Moon: The True Story Of A Gangster’s Daughter (£11-99, Kodansha) by Shoko Tendo, Sean Michael Wilson & Michiru Morikawa
Defiance: Resistance Book 2 (£12-99, First Second) by Carla Jablonski & Leland Purvis
Olympians Book 3: Hera, The Goddess And Her Glory (£7-50, First Second) by George O’Connor
Al Williamson Archives vol 2 s/c (£14-99, Flesk) by Al Williamson
Lai Wan: The Dreamwalker h/c (£14-99, Moonstone) by C.J. Henderson & Kieran Yanner
Sherlock Holmes Crossovers Casebook (£12-99, Moonstone) by various
Judge Dredd – Tour Of Duty: Mega City Justice (£19-99, Rebellion) by John Wagner & Ezquerra, Higgins
A Treasury Of 20th Century Murder vol 4: The Lives Of Sacco & Vanzetti h/c (£11-99, NBM) by Rick Geary
Sidekicks (£9-99, Graphix) by Dan Santat
The Clockwork Girl h/c (£14-99, Harper Design) by Sean O’Reilly & Kevin Hanna
Potter’s Field (£10-99, Boom!) by Mark Waid & Paul Azaceta
Fables Deluxe Edition vol 3 h/c (£22-50, Vertigo/DC) by Bill Willingham & Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha, Tony Akins. August 10th
Jack Of Fables vol 9: The End (£13-50, Vertigo/DC) by Willingham, Sturges & Tony Akins, Andrew Pepoy. July 13th
B.P.R.D. Hell On Earth vol 1: New World (£14-99, Dark Horse) by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi & Guy Davis
Billy The Kid’s Old Timey Oddities And The Ghastly Fiend Of London (£11-99, Dark Horse) by Eric Powell & Kyle Hotz
Modesty Blaise vol 20: Million Dollar Game (£111-99, Titan) by Peter O’Donnell & Neville Colvin
Girl Genius vol 10: Agatha Hetrodyne And the Guardian Muse (£16-99, Airship) by Kaja & Phil Foglio
Loserville vol 1: And Then You Might Explode (£7-50, Amaze Ink/SLG) by Alex Cox
Revere: Revolution In Silver h/c (£14-99, Archaia) by Ed Lavallee & Grant Bond
Trenchcoats, Cigarettes & Shotguns (£7-50, Asylum) by Chuck Brown & Philip Neudorf
Sonic The Hedgehog vol 14 (£5-99, Archie) by various
Star Wars Omnibus: A Long Time Ago… (£18-99, Dark Horse) by many
Star Wars: Knight Errant – Aflame (£13-50, Dark Horse) by John Jackson Miller & Dallocchio, Rodriguez
Eden vol 13 (£9-99, Dark Horse) by Hiroki Endo. Aug 31st
Gantz vol 18 (£9-99, Dark Horse) by Oku Hiroya Aug 3rd
Space Family Robinson Archives vol 1 h/c (£37-99,Dark Horse) by Del Connell & Dan Spiegle
Boris Karloff Tales Of Mystery Archives vol 6 h/c (£37-99, Dark Horse) by many
Showcase Presents: The Trial Of Flash (£14-99, DC) by Cary Bates, Joey Cavalieri & Carmine Infantino, more. July 20th
Legion Of Superheroes: The Curse deluxe h/c (£37-99, DC) by Paul Levitz & Keith Giffen, Larry Mahlstedt. August 31st
Welcome To Tranquility: One Foot In The Grave (£13-50, DC) by Gail Simone & Horacio Dominguez. July 20th
Steve Ditko Omnibus vol 1 Starring Shade The Changing Man h/c (£45-00, DC) by Steve Ditko, Michael Fleisher, Paul Levitz & Steve Ditko, Wally Wood
Secret Society Of Supervillains h/c (£29-99, DC) by Gerry Conway, Paul Levitz & various. August 17th
Outsiders: The Great Divide (£13-50, DC) by Dan Didio & Philip Tan, Jonathan Glapion. July 6th
Marvel Masterworks: Invincible Iron Man vol 7 h/c (£40-99, Marvel) by various & Don Heck, George Tuska, Gene Colan
Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Marvel Comics h/c (£49-99, Marvel) by many & more Marvel Masterworks: Mighty Thor vol 3 s/c (£18-99, Marvel) by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
X-Men: Second Coming s/c (£18-99, Marvel) by Carey, Kyle, Yost, Fraction, Wells & Finch, Immonen, Dodson, Roberson, Medina, Fox, Land.
Captain America: The Art Of Captain America The First Avenger h/c (£37-99, Marvel) by Matthew K. Manning
Captain America By Dan Jurgens vol 1 (£22-50, Marvel) by Dan Jurgens & Andy Kubert, Jerry Ordway
Captain America: Fighting Avenger (£10-99, Marvel) by several
Marvel Adventures Avengers: Captain America (£7-50, Marvel) by various
Captain America: No Escape s/c (£11-99, Marvel) by Ed Brubaker & Butch Guice
Thor: Blood & Thunder (£25-99, Marvel) by Ron Marz, Jim Starlin & many
Thor: Thunderstrike (£18-99, Marvel) by DeFalco, Frenz & Frenz, Trimpe, Al Milgrom Wolverine And Jubilee: Curse Of The Mutants h/c (£14-99, Marvel) by Kathryn Immonen with Chris Claremont & Phil Noto with Marc Silvestri.
X-Men: Second Coming Revelations s/c (£14-99, Marvel) by various
X-Men: To Serve And Protect (£10-99, Marvel) by various
Mystique By Sean McKeever Ultimate Edition (£18-99, Marvel) by Sean McKeever & Manuel Garcia
Fantastic Four: The Overthrow Of Doom h/c (£22-50, Marvel) by Wein, Stern, Wolfman & George Perez, Kieth Pollard
Avengers: Assault On Olympus h/c (£22-50, Marvel) by Roger Stern, Bob Harras & John Buscema, Bob Hall
Captain Britain vol 2 Siege Of Camelot h/c (£29-99, Marvel) by Lieber, Lawrence, Parkhouse & Wilson, Marcos, Stokes, Neary
New Avengers oversized h/c (£29-99, Marvel) by Bendis & Immonen, Djurdjevic, Mayhew, Acuna, McKone, Hitch.
Dark Tower: The Gunslinger – The Little Sisters Of Eluria h/c (£18-99, Marvel) by Peter David, Robin Furth & Luke Ross, Richard Isanove
Impossible Man s/c (£25-99, Marvel) by various
Fantastic Four By Wade & Wieringo Ultimate Collection vol 1 (£18-99, Marvel) by Mark Waid & Mike Wieringo, Mark Buckingham
Deadpool vol 7: Space Oddity h/c (£14-99, Marvel) by Daniel Way & Sheldon Vella, Bong Dazo, Carlo Barberi
Ultimate Six h/c (£18-99, Marvel) by Bendis & Bagley, Hairsine, Quesada Uncanny X-Force vol 2: Deathlok Nation h/c (£14-99, Marvel) by Remender with Buckler, Moench & Ribic, Albuquerque with Buckler
Daredevil: Yellow s/c (£14-99, Marvel) by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale
Hulk: Grey s/c (£14-99, Marvel) by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale
Marvel Universe vs. The Punisher s/c (£10-99, Marvel) by Jonathan Maberry & Goran Parlov
X-Force: Sex & Violence s/c (£10-99, Marvel) by Craig Kyle, Chris Yost, Grant Morrison & Gabriele Dell’Otto, Leinil Yu
She-Hulks: Hunt For The Intelligencia (£10-99, Marvel) by Harrison Wilcox with Peter David & Ryan Stegman with Jonboy Meyers
Ant-Man & The Wasp: Small World (£10-99, Marvel) by Tim Seeley with Ernie Hart, Stan Lee & Tim Seeley with Jack Kirby, Don Heck
Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Circus Of The Damned Book 1 – The Charmer (£12-99, Marvel) by Laura K. Hamilton, Jess Ruffner & Ron Lim
Black Widow: Name Of The Rose s/c (£12-99, Marvel) by Marjorie Liu with Kelly Sue Deconnick & Daniel Acuna with Jamie McKelvie
One Month To Live (£10-99, Marvel) by various
X-Factor vol 11: Happenings In Vegas (£10-99, Marvel) by Peter David & Sebastian Fiumara, Lupacchino, De Landro
Deadpool: Dead Head Redemption (£11-99, Marvel) by various
Halo: Blood Line s/c (£14-99, Marvel) by Fred Van Lente & Francis Portela
Deadpool Team-Up vol 2: Special Relationship s/c (£11-99, Marvel) by various
Deadpool Classic vol 5 s/c (£22-50, Marvel) by Joe Kelly & many
Stan Lee’s The Traveller vol 1 (£7-50, Boom!) by Mark Waid & Chad Hardin
Locke & Keye vol 4 h/c (£18-99, IDW) by Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez
27: First Step (£10-99, Image) by Charles Soule & Benzo Podesta
Echoes vol 1 h/c (£14-99, Image) by Joshua Hale Fialkov & Rahsan Ekedal
The Li’l Depressed Boy vol 1: She Is Staggering (£7-50, Image) by S. Steven Struble & Sina Grace
Proof vol 5: Endangered (£12-99, Image) by Alex Grecian & Riley Rossmo
Spawn: Origins vol 11 (£10-99, Image) by Rodd McFarlane & Greg Capullo, Todd McFarlane, Chance Wolf
Something Monstrous (£13-50, IDW) by Steve Niles, R.H. Stavis & Stephanie Buscema
Jurassic Park, The Devils In The Desert (£13-50, IDW) by John Byrne
John Byrne’s Next Men (£16-50, IDW) by, y’know.
Transformers: The Complete All Hail Megatron (£55-99, IDW) by a bunch of Autobots
Transformers: Prime vol 3 (£5-99, IDW) by Joseph Kuhr & various
Transformers Classics vol 1 (£18-99, IDW) by various
Jericho Season Three (£14-99, IDW) by various
Angel vol 3: The Wolf, The Ram And The Heart h/c (£18-99, IDW) by many
Suicide Forest (£13-50, IDW) by El Torres & Gabriel Hernandez
Vanguard Frazetta Classics: White Indian h/c (£52-99, Vanguard) by Frank Frazetta
The Griff (£16-99, William Morrow) by Christopher Moore, Ian Carson & Jennyson Rosero
Red Sonja vol 8: Blood Dynasty (£14-99, D.E.) by Brian Reed & Walter Geovani, Diego Bernard
Queen Sonja vol 2: The Red Queen (£14-99, D.E.) by Arvid Nelson & Jason Herbert
Project Superpowers: Black Terror vol 3 Inhuman Remains (£12-99, D.E.) by Phil Hester, Alex Ross & Wagner Reis, Jack Herbert
Frankenstein: Prodigal Son vol 2 (£12-99, D.E.) by Dean Koontz, Chuck Dixon & Scott Cohn, Tim Seeley
Blackbeard: Legend Of The Pyrate King (£14-99, D.E.) by Napton, Nash & Hale, Sanchez
Penny Arcade vol 7: Be A Good Little Puppy (£10-99, Del Ray) by Jerry Holkins & Mike Krahulik
A great deal of manga.
Page 45 Previews researched and written by Stephen except for OLD CITY BLUES by our Transformer Tom.
To order, please email page45@page45.com or phone 0115 9508045 and we’ll let you know when your books arrive. Information on setting up a regular standing order for comics as they come out, please see http://www.page45.com/world/about/standing-orders/
