Monday, June 22, 2009
Gee, Thanks for the Just As Expensive, Smaller Hardcover, Fantagraphics
Click to Palomar-size!
Although I suppose the additional 75+ pages are a small consolation. And the smaller size is actually easier to handle when reading. OK, you win this round, Fantagraphics, but what's this about me having to buy an even smaller softcover book to really get the whole Luba story? (And wait a second: floppies??? Gah, Fantagraphics' format fluidity is even worse than Bandai's!!)
Click to Palomar-size!
Although I suppose the additional 75+ pages are a small consolation. And the smaller size is actually easier to handle when reading. OK, you win this round, Fantagraphics, but what's this about me having to buy an even smaller softcover book to really get the whole Luba story? (And wait a second: floppies??? Gah, Fantagraphics' format fluidity is even worse than Bandai's!!)
Labels: Fantagraphics, Hernandez Brothers, Luba, Shrinking Hardcovers, Tongue-In-Cheek Exasperation
11:15 PM | |
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Separated at Birth? Japanese Hipster, Meet American Hipster
OK, so it's really the top part that's similar, but seeing the cover of Inio Asano's upcoming What a Wonderful World made me think immediately of the cover of Daniel Clowes' Ghost World. Who knows what other eerie similarities the two books will share?
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OK, so it's really the top part that's similar, but seeing the cover of Inio Asano's upcoming What a Wonderful World made me think immediately of the cover of Daniel Clowes' Ghost World. Who knows what other eerie similarities the two books will share?
Labels: Fantagraphics, Manga, Separated at Birth, Viz
10:21 PM | |
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
I Buy My Superhero Comics By The 100s
It all started with Wednesday Comics. Last week I was intrigued enough by the creative format and formidable creative line-up for DC's upcoming Wednesday Comics weekly to consider making actual pilgrimages to a local comic shop to pick up the oversized fold-out comics. But then mycheap bargain-hunting side kicked in and I realized I could probably score these comics cheaper online. So I searched around and found that my old online shop DCBS had the first issue of Wednesday Comics for 75% off and the second for 50% off. The third and the fourth issues were each discounted a respectable 40% off.
Of course, I could have simply ordered those four comics and left it at that, but, no, I had to go poking around the monthly specials section, so now this is what I ended up ordering:
I'm also trying out a couple other books that sound interesting, like Dark Horse's Citizen Rex by Mario and Gilbert Hernandez and their new Creepy anthology. (I was also thinking of checking out DH's Noir anthology GN but it doesn't actually ship until the end of September so I'll wait and see if I'm still interested by then.) I'm also getting the first issue of Greek Street, a new Vertigo ongoing, partially because I've always been fond of Greek drama but mainly because it was only a quarter after the discount.
The Incredibles comics are for my daughter, who loves that movie. (She now wants us to have another kid so we can have someone to be Jack-Jack when she plays "Incredibles.") And depending on how bleak or decadent ASM #600 is, I may give that to my daughter after I'm done reading it. She's really into cutting things up with scissors lately, so I figure she can have fun with the floppy rather than me having to worry about storing it. (Plus, I like the idea of her using her scissors to rearrange the comic randomly, perhaps creating a more satisfying continuity than the one Marvel came up with in OMD/BND.)
Finally, there's the real steal of the whole deal, the hardcover collection of Tales Designed to Thrizzle for half-off! Woot! (Check out the Flickr set for the book here.)
Also, the folks at DCBS were kind enough to let me append a couple items from the April 2009 Previews to this order, which was great because I don't know where else I would have been able to get the new black-and-white Nexus collection for such a great price (45% off). It doesn't look like the major book sites (like Amazon or BN.com) are carrying this yet.
Oh, and one final tip: If you're new to DCBS or haven't ordered from them for at least a year, use coupon code disc8 when you place your order for an additional 8% off. That might not sound like much but for me it was almost enough to cover the flat-rate shipping charge of $5.95. (The fact that I can edit my order until June 1st is dangerous. Since it's flat-rate shipping no matter how many items are in my order, I may be tempted to add more comics as I hear about them. Hey, this whole Marvel Divas thing sounds interesting, and DCBS has it for only $1.99...)
It all started with Wednesday Comics. Last week I was intrigued enough by the creative format and formidable creative line-up for DC's upcoming Wednesday Comics weekly to consider making actual pilgrimages to a local comic shop to pick up the oversized fold-out comics. But then my
Of course, I could have simply ordered those four comics and left it at that, but, no, I had to go poking around the monthly specials section, so now this is what I ended up ordering:
- AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #600 - $2.49
- CITIZEN REX #1 - $1.75
- CREEPY COMICS #1 - $2.49
- GREEK STREET #1 - $0.25
- INCREDIBLE HULK #600 - $2.49
- INCREDIBLES #0 - $1.64
- INCREDIBLES FAMILY MATTERS TP - $6.99
- TALES DESIGNED TO THRIZZLE HC VOL 01 - $12.49
- WEDNESDAY COMICS #1 - $0.99
- WEDNESDAY COMICS #2 - $1.99
- WEDNESDAY COMICS #3 - $2.39
- WEDNESDAY COMICS #4 - $2.39
I'm also trying out a couple other books that sound interesting, like Dark Horse's Citizen Rex by Mario and Gilbert Hernandez and their new Creepy anthology. (I was also thinking of checking out DH's Noir anthology GN but it doesn't actually ship until the end of September so I'll wait and see if I'm still interested by then.) I'm also getting the first issue of Greek Street, a new Vertigo ongoing, partially because I've always been fond of Greek drama but mainly because it was only a quarter after the discount.
The Incredibles comics are for my daughter, who loves that movie. (She now wants us to have another kid so we can have someone to be Jack-Jack when she plays "Incredibles.") And depending on how bleak or decadent ASM #600 is, I may give that to my daughter after I'm done reading it. She's really into cutting things up with scissors lately, so I figure she can have fun with the floppy rather than me having to worry about storing it. (Plus, I like the idea of her using her scissors to rearrange the comic randomly, perhaps creating a more satisfying continuity than the one Marvel came up with in OMD/BND.)
Finally, there's the real steal of the whole deal, the hardcover collection of Tales Designed to Thrizzle for half-off! Woot! (Check out the Flickr set for the book here.)
Also, the folks at DCBS were kind enough to let me append a couple items from the April 2009 Previews to this order, which was great because I don't know where else I would have been able to get the new black-and-white Nexus collection for such a great price (45% off). It doesn't look like the major book sites (like Amazon or BN.com) are carrying this yet.
Oh, and one final tip: If you're new to DCBS or haven't ordered from them for at least a year, use coupon code disc8 when you place your order for an additional 8% off. That might not sound like much but for me it was almost enough to cover the flat-rate shipping charge of $5.95. (The fact that I can edit my order until June 1st is dangerous. Since it's flat-rate shipping no matter how many items are in my order, I may be tempted to add more comics as I hear about them. Hey, this whole Marvel Divas thing sounds interesting, and DCBS has it for only $1.99...)
Labels: Coupons, Dark Horse, DC, DCBS, Fantagraphics, Marvel, Nexus, Preorders, Shopping, Superhero Comics, The Lure of Cheap Comics
11:30 PM | |
Friday, May 08, 2009
And Now, The Best-Reviewed, Lowest-Selling Book of 2008
A while back I finally read the most controversial book of 2008, Love and Rockets: New Stories #1. (Seriously, wasn't this the book that was at the heart of the Great Bookscan Debate of 2008? And I seem to remember seeing it invoked in the recent kerfuffle over the viability of DM sales.) It's an interesting experiment, releasing about four issues worth of floppies in a single, square-bound collection for fifteen bucks. Something about it reminded me of The Comics Journal itself — it seemed more like an upscale magazine with a sturdier cover than a typical trade paperback. (The ads in the back may have been a big factor in my impression: It's a little odd to see ads for local comic shops in a trade paperback, and the ads look a lot like the ones I remember seeing in TCJ.)
Anyway, enough about the format; what did I think about the actual content? In a way, the book suffers from the typical problem with anthologies: The styles and subject matter that the Hernandez brothers work in are so different that it's a bit jarring to move from stories about superheroines to surreal tales of an old knock-off comedy duo slaughtering an entire alien population. Don't get me wrong, I love both Jaime's and Gilbert's work, but they're odd counterparts for each other. (Part of this might be due to the way I learned to appreciate the Hernandez brothers myself, by reading their respective works in those oversized hardcovers. For me, the works of the Hernandez brothers are separate and distinct.) I assume long-time fans of the brothers will be fine with this eclectic mix, but I wonder how new readers would react to the diverse assortment.
Jaime's entry, a two-part story revolving around a bunch of oddball superheroines, was my favorite in the bunch. A big part of that is his incredible artwork — just check out this amazing sequence where Alarma takes out two robots by using a defunct third as a projectile:
I love everything about those three panels: The simplicity of the composition; the fluid motion of the actors; and the wonderfully expressive body language of Alarma. (I love the way she rights herself in panel two after making a big throw and the "YES!!!" pose in the final panel.)
The concept is also incredibly amusing: It's like a huge riff on what might have happened if superhero comics started their evolutionary path by focusing on more female-centered concerns instead of testosterone-fueled fisticuffs. (Oh, there's still plenty of fighting, but it all has a very different tone from your standard Marvel or DC slugfest. How many "hero vs. hero" misunderstandings can you think of that have been resolved with tears and a group hug?)
Gilbert's contributions are hard to describe, mainly because they are so surreal. They really have to be experienced and interpreted on your own. (I certainly can't begin to tell you what's going on in the dream-like "?") But I did want to share the following panel, mainly because it reminds me of something straight out of a Kazuo Umezu horror manga:
Be sure to check out some of the other reviews linked to on the book's product page. In particular, Jeff Lester and Matt Brady do a good job of spicing up their reviews with plenty of images, so you'll get an even better idea of the incredible artwork that populates this book. And Fantagraphics has set up their own Flickr set of images, so there are even more samples to peruse and whet your appetite!
A while back I finally read the most controversial book of 2008, Love and Rockets: New Stories #1. (Seriously, wasn't this the book that was at the heart of the Great Bookscan Debate of 2008? And I seem to remember seeing it invoked in the recent kerfuffle over the viability of DM sales.) It's an interesting experiment, releasing about four issues worth of floppies in a single, square-bound collection for fifteen bucks. Something about it reminded me of The Comics Journal itself — it seemed more like an upscale magazine with a sturdier cover than a typical trade paperback. (The ads in the back may have been a big factor in my impression: It's a little odd to see ads for local comic shops in a trade paperback, and the ads look a lot like the ones I remember seeing in TCJ.)
Anyway, enough about the format; what did I think about the actual content? In a way, the book suffers from the typical problem with anthologies: The styles and subject matter that the Hernandez brothers work in are so different that it's a bit jarring to move from stories about superheroines to surreal tales of an old knock-off comedy duo slaughtering an entire alien population. Don't get me wrong, I love both Jaime's and Gilbert's work, but they're odd counterparts for each other. (Part of this might be due to the way I learned to appreciate the Hernandez brothers myself, by reading their respective works in those oversized hardcovers. For me, the works of the Hernandez brothers are separate and distinct.) I assume long-time fans of the brothers will be fine with this eclectic mix, but I wonder how new readers would react to the diverse assortment.
Jaime's entry, a two-part story revolving around a bunch of oddball superheroines, was my favorite in the bunch. A big part of that is his incredible artwork — just check out this amazing sequence where Alarma takes out two robots by using a defunct third as a projectile:
I love everything about those three panels: The simplicity of the composition; the fluid motion of the actors; and the wonderfully expressive body language of Alarma. (I love the way she rights herself in panel two after making a big throw and the "YES!!!" pose in the final panel.)
The concept is also incredibly amusing: It's like a huge riff on what might have happened if superhero comics started their evolutionary path by focusing on more female-centered concerns instead of testosterone-fueled fisticuffs. (Oh, there's still plenty of fighting, but it all has a very different tone from your standard Marvel or DC slugfest. How many "hero vs. hero" misunderstandings can you think of that have been resolved with tears and a group hug?)
Gilbert's contributions are hard to describe, mainly because they are so surreal. They really have to be experienced and interpreted on your own. (I certainly can't begin to tell you what's going on in the dream-like "?") But I did want to share the following panel, mainly because it reminds me of something straight out of a Kazuo Umezu horror manga:
Be sure to check out some of the other reviews linked to on the book's product page. In particular, Jeff Lester and Matt Brady do a good job of spicing up their reviews with plenty of images, so you'll get an even better idea of the incredible artwork that populates this book. And Fantagraphics has set up their own Flickr set of images, so there are even more samples to peruse and whet your appetite!
Labels: Fantagraphics, Hernandez Brothers, Love and Rockets, Resurrecting The Undying Bookscan Debate
9:09 AM | |
