De-Otomen Potion

I read Otomen, Vol. 10 (See all Manga)

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).

I Reads You Review: THE SPEED ABATER (OGN)

Creator: Christophe Blain (cartoonist) with Joe Johnson (translator)

Publishing Information: NBM/ComicsLit, paperback, Color, 80 pages, $13.95 (US)

Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 1-56163-349-6 (ISBN-10)

Originally published in 1999 by the French publishing house, Dupuis, The Speed Abater is a graphic novel from Christophe Blain. NBM published an English language edition of The Speed Abater in 2003, with translation by Joe Johnson. A French cartoonist who once studied economics, Blain has worked with David B. and Lewis Trondheim and is the creator of the Isaac the Pirate graphic novel series.

The Speed Abater is set during wartime (World War II?) aboard a destroyer, a battleship named the Bellicose. The story primarily focuses on George Guilbert, a young helmsman, who has difficulty adjusting to life on the high seas due to his extreme seasickness. He befriends Louis Bleno, another novice helmsman, and Sam Nordiz, a coxswain with a penchant for claiming to be more well-connected than he really is.

Trying to find a place to get a way from the noise and also the constant motion that causes their seasickness, George and Louis follow Sam deep into the bowels of the Bellicose. An accident causes problems with the Bellicose’ sensitive reduction gears. Catastrophe follows and the men find themselves trapped, while an enemy submarine stalks the Bellicose.

On the surface, The Speed Abater seems like a character drama, and in many ways, it is also a suspense thriller. At its core, however, Christophe Blain’s graphic novel is about the struggle between man and the enormous, complex, and bureaucratic machine that is life on this planet. The Bellicose is this giant, self-contained world and, perhaps, a stand-in for our own world.

For all its immensity and power, the Bellicose is susceptible breakdowns, even those sometimes caused by the most insignificant objects. The Bellicose has a seemingly unending supply of sailors/operators and also parts that keep it operating. With so much that can go wrong, it is a wonder that the ship operates at all. When it comes to the crew members, Blain’s narrative gives the impression that they work at cross purposes. The right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing, indeed.

George Guilbert and, to a lesser extent, Louis Bleno and Sam Nordiz, are tiny souls trapped in this world that is the belly of the beast. The goal is to survive the Bellicose and life – by hook, by crook, or by luck and circumstance. The colorful, odd assortment that is this story’s cast and the riveting storyline that is the story’s driving force are all engaging. Why? The answer is in how this deeply human story unveils George’s path to victory and survival.

The Speed Abater

Fantagraphics Books Brings Floyd Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse Back to Life

Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse by Floyd Gottfredson
“Race to Death Valley”
Edited by David Gerstein & Gary Groth

Designed by Jacob Covey
Featuring essays by Warren Spector, Floyd Norman, Thomas Andrae and David Gerstein
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS, SEATTLE, WA
$29.99 Hardcover • 260 pages, color and black-and-white • 10 1/2” x 8 1/2” • ISBN 978-1-60699-441-2
HUMOR / Comic Strips • PUBLICATION DATE: Late May 2011

• Produced in full cooperation with The Walt Disney Company
• Great gift idea
• Featuring the #1 character franchise in the world
• Fantagraphics’ most anticipated release since the first volume of The Complete Peanuts, which has sold over 150,000 copies

Today everyone knows Mickey Mouse as the cheerful ambassador of all things Disney, and the #1 character franchise in the world. But back in the 1930s, Mickey gained fame as a rough-and-tumble, two-fisted epic hero — an adventurous, underdog scrapper matching wits with mobsters, kidnappers, spies, and even (gulp!) city slickers! And Mickey’s greatest feats of derring-do took place in his daily comic strip, written and drawn by one of the greatest cartoonists of the 20th century — Floyd Gottfredson.

Gottfredson’s vibrant visual storytelling has never been more beautifully reproduced, with each daily lovingly restored from Disney’s original negatives and proof sheets.

Walt Disney often said that his studio’s success “all started with a Mouse,” and today Mickey is among the world’s most recognizable icons. Now it’s time to rediscover the wild, unforgettable personality behind the icon!

Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: "Race to Death Valley" (Vol. 1) (Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse)

Introducing Fotolia Image Bank with FREE Trial Promotion

Fotolia offers the largest image bank of free and most affordable royalty free photos and illustrations perfect for any medium, web or print.  So far, there are 12,278,167 images, vectors and HD videos available at Fotolia.

Fotolia has over 12 million photos, graphics and HD videos that are perfect for presentations, design and web publishing.  The microsite http://fotolianews.com/ has all of the info about Fotolia.

Fotolia is offering a free trial promotion with two coupon codes for I Reads You readers. They are valid for two weeks of Fotolia and 3 image downloads per day and they can only be used once.

Here they are:
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Coupon codes should be entered here: https://www.fotolia.com/stock-photos-for-bloggers.

The Return to Saiunkoku

I read The Story of Saiunkoku, Vol. 3

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).

Make Your Mark with Flink12 Global Icon Art Competition

Flink12, a new social networking site, has put out a call for artists and graphic designers to take part in a Global Icon Art Competition.  They're offering a minimum of $3,000 commissions to create feature icons for the site.  They're looking for graphic icons to be used as status updates for the network.

Visit the site at http://flink12news.com/

They are interested in hiring talented graphic artists on a work for hire basis, and they will not publish or use your icons unless you are awarded a contract.

Enter the competition at http://news.flink12.com/tagged/competitions

Bakuman Phone Call and the Night Before

I read Bakuman., Vol. 4

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).