Image Comics from Diamond Distributors for February 18, 2015

IMAGE COMICS

DEC140770     AUTUMNLANDS TOOTH & CLAW #4 (MR)     $2.99
DEC148186     AUTUMNLANDS TOOTH & CLAW #4 CVR B (MR)     $2.99
DEC140721     BITCH PLANET #3 (MR)     $3.50
DEC140655     CRIMINAL TP VOL 02 LAWLESS (MR)     $14.99
NOV140647     DEADLY CLASS #11 (MR)     $3.50
DEC140727     DRIFTER #4 CVR A KLEIN (MR)     $3.50
DEC140728     DRIFTER #4 CVR B ALBUQUERQUE (MR)     $3.50
DEC140733     FUSE #10 (MR)     $3.50
DEC140735     GONERS #5     $2.99
SEP140728     INVINCIBLE #117     $2.99
DEC140717     IXTH GENERATION #2     $3.99
DEC140740     LAZARUS #15 (MR)     $3.50
NOV140663     MANIFEST DESTINY #13 (MR)     $2.99
JUL140562     MPH #5 CVR A FEGREDO     $4.99
JUL140563     MPH #5 CVR B SHALVEY     $4.99
AUG140668     PETER PANZERFAUST #23     $3.50
DEC140755     REYN #2     $2.99
DEC140756     RUMBLE #3 (MR)     $3.50
NOV140679     SAVAGE DRAGON #202     $3.99
DEC140617     SECRET IDENTITIES #1     $3.50
DEC140625     SPARKS NEVADA MARSHAL ON MARS #1     $3.99
DEC140700     UMBRAL TP VOL 02 THE DARK PATH (MR)     $14.99

Comics, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for February 18, 2015

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS

OCT141656     13 COINS #5 (MR)     $3.99
DEC141380     ALICE COOPER #6     $3.99
DEC141608     ARIOL SC VOL 06 NASTY CAT     $12.99
NOV141607     ATOMIC ROBO TP VOL 09 KNIGHTS OF GOLDEN CIRCLE     $17.95
NOV141525     BARBARELLA WRATH OF THE MINUTE EATER HC (MR)     $34.95
NOV141189     BEARDO TP VOL 03 TIL DEBT DO US PART     $19.95
SEP141305     BLACK BAT OMNIBUS TP VOL 01     $29.99
DEC141176     BURNING FIELDS #2     $3.99
DEC141563     CAGE OF EDEN GN VOL 17     $10.99
NOV141636     CAPTAIN STONE #3 (MR)     $3.99
DEC141737     CARDFIGHT VANGUARD GN VOL 05     $10.95
DEC141842     CHARMED SEASON 10 #5 A CVR SEIDMAN (MR)     $3.99
NOV141182     CISCO KID JOSE LUIS SALINAS & REED TP VOL 02 FEB 53 - MAR 55     $24.95
DEC141195     CLIVE BARKERS NEXT TESTAMENT TP VOL 02 (MR)     $14.99
DEC141126     CROSSED BADLANDS #72 (MR)     $3.99
DEC141129     CROSSED BADLANDS #72 FATAL FANTASY CVR (MR)     $3.99
DEC141128     CROSSED BADLANDS #72 TORTURE CVR (MR)     $3.99
DEC141127     CROSSED BADLANDS #72 WRAP CVR (MR)     $3.99
SEP141315     DAWN VAMPIRELLA #3     $3.99
AUG141664     DOCTOR WHO 10TH #7 REG GLASS     $3.99
AUG141665     DOCTOR WHO 10TH #7 SUBSCRIPTION PHOTO     $3.99
DEC141661     DOKTORMENTOR JAIL BABE SURGEON GIFT BOX (MR)     $59.95
DEC141571     EPOCHALYPSE #4     $3.99
NOV141081     ETERNAL #2     $3.99
NOV141246     EVIL ERNIE #4 CVR A SEELEY MAIN     $3.99
NOV140901     FIGHT LIKE A GIRL #3     $3.99
NOV141793     GFT REALM WAR TP VOL 01     $15.99
DEC141834     GFT ROBYN HOOD ONGOING #7 A CVR PREITANO     $3.99
DEC141835     GFT ROBYN HOOD ONGOING #7 B CVR BRESCINI     $3.99
DEC141836     GFT ROBYN HOOD ONGOING #7 C CVR METCALF     $3.99
DEC141837     GFT ROBYN HOOD ONGOING #7 D CVR KOTKIN HOLLYWOOD     $3.99
DEC141831     GFT TALES OF TERROR #8 A CVR ORTIZ (MR)     $3.99
DEC141832     GFT TALES OF TERROR #8 B CVR MYCHAELS (MR)     $3.99
DEC141833     GFT TALES OF TERROR #8 C CVR ERIC J (MR)     $3.99
DEC141137     GOD IS DEAD #29 (MR)     $3.99
DEC141139     GOD IS DEAD #29 CARNAGE WRAP CVR (MR)     $3.99
DEC141138     GOD IS DEAD #29 ENCHANTING CVR (MR)     $3.99
DEC141140     GOD IS DEAD #29 END OF DAYS CVR (MR)     $3.99
DEC141141     GOD IS DEAD #29 ICONIC CVR (MR)     $3.99
NOV140904     HERALD LOVECRAFT AND TESLA #2     $3.99
NOV141112     JIM HENSONS DARK CRYSTAL TP VOL 01 CREATION MYTHS     $14.99
NOV141197     KING MANDRAKE MAGICIAN #1     $3.99
DEC141157     LADY MECHANIKA #4 MAIN CVRS (MR)     $3.99
DEC141317     LEGENDERRY GREEN HORNET #1     $3.99
DEC141609     LEGO LEGENDS OF CHIMA GN VOL 04 FIRE CHI     $7.99
DEC141596     LETTER 44 #14     $3.99
DEC141412     LONE RANGER VINDICATED #4     $3.99
NOV141622     LUCIFER AND THE BISCUIT HAMMER TP VOL 02 (MR)     $18.99
DEC141214     LUMBERJANES #11     $3.99
DEC141565     MANGA DOGS GN VOL 03     $10.99
DEC141072     MEGA MAN #46 REG CVR     $3.99
DEC141414     MERCY THOMPSON #5     $3.99
NOV141650     MONO #3     $3.99
DEC141617     NANCY DREW DIARIES GN VOL 04     $9.99
DEC141332     PATHFINDER ORIGINS #1 CVR A SEJIC MAIN     $4.99
DEC141218     PEANUTS VOL 2 #25     $3.99
NOV140907     PIRATE EYE EXILED FROM EXILE #1     $3.99
DEC141206     PLUNDER #1     $3.99
DEC141322     RED SONJA #100 CVR A BENES MAIN     $7.99
DEC141231     REGULAR SHOW #20     $3.99
NOV141661     ROBERT JORDAN EYE OF THE WORLD HC VOL 06     $25.99
DEC141205     ROCKET SALVAGE #3     $3.99
DEC141422     SHADOW YEAR ONE OMNIBUS HC DM EXC SGN REMARK WAGNER     $300.00
DEC141421     SHADOW YEAR ONE OMNIBUS HC DM EXC SGN WAGNER     $39.99
DEC141297     SIMPSONS COMICS #218     $2.99
OCT141313     SOLAR MAN OF ATOM #9 CVR A LAMING MAIN     $3.99
DEC141198     SONS OF ANARCHY #18 (MR)     $3.99
NOV140915     STRAY #1     $3.99
DEC141194     SUICIDE RISK #22     $3.99
NOV141264     TERMINAL HERO #6 (MR)     $2.99
DEC141590     TERRIBLE LIZARD #4     $3.99
NOV141608     THE MIGHTY TITAN #4     $3.99
DEC141712     THE VALIANT #3 CVR A RIVERA (NEXT)     $3.99
DEC141574     TOWER CHRONICLES DREADSTALKER TP VOL 01     $14.99
OCT141389     TWILIGHT ZONE #12     $3.99
DEC141107     UBER TP VOL 03 (MR)     $19.99
DEC141726     UNITY #15 CVR A ALLEN (NEW ARC)     $3.99
DEC141727     UNITY #15 CVR B FRISON (NEW ARC)     $3.99
DEC141441     VAMPIRELLA FEARY TALES #5 CVR A ANACLETO MAIN     $3.99
OCT141477     WALKING MAN HC 10TH ANNIVERSARY ED     $25.00
DEC141740     WITCHCRAFT WORKS GN VOL 03     $12.95
DEC141071     WORLD OF ARCHIE COMICS DIGEST #47     $4.99
NOV141548     YO MISS GN A GRAPHIC TALE OF HIGH SCHOOL     $12.95

MAGAZINES
NOV141894     CINEMA RETRO #31 (MR)     $11.99
DEC141919     COMIC SHOP NEWS #1444     PI
NOV141859     DC BATMAN AUTO FIG MAG #51 DETECTIVE #233     $20.00
NOV141860     DC BATMAN AUTO FIG MAG #52 FOREVER MOVIE BOAT     $20.00
OCT141862     DC SUPERHERO CHESS FIG COLL MAG #75 GL JOHN STEWART WHITE BI     $16.00
NOV141861     DC SUPERHERO CHESS FIG COLL MAG #76 ATOMICA BLACK PAWN     $16.00
NOV141862     DC SUPERHERO CHESS FIG COLL MAG #77 KID FLASH WHITE KNIGHT     $16.00
MAY141870     FANGORIA #339     $10.99
DEC141934     LOCUS #649     $7.50
NOV141865     MARVEL CHESS FIG COLL MAG #26 QUICKSILVER WHITE PAWN     $16.00
NOV141866     MARVEL CHESS FIG COLL MAG #27 GREEN GOBLIN BLACK KING     $16.00
NOV141867     MARVEL FACT FILES SPECIAL #6 INCREDIBLE HULK     $32.95
DEC141933     SLEEPY HOLLOW OFFICIAL MAGAZINE #2     $9.99
SEP141922     STAR TREK STARSHIPS FIG MAG #34 VULCAN SURAK CLASS     $20.00
OCT141863     STAR TREK STARSHIPS FIG MAG #35 EARLY KLINGON BIRD OF PREY     $20.00

BOOKS
NOV141856     ART OF EVOLVE HC     $39.99
NOV141848     ART OF HOME HC     $45.00
OCT141549     DOC SAVAGE FRIGHTENED FISH HC NOVEL     $19.99
DEC141888     GRIS GRIMLY FRANKENSTEIN SC     $16.99
DEC141874     GRIS GRIMLY STUDY IN SCARLET HC     $17.99
NOV141818     MARVEL AVENGERS VAULT HC     $34.95
DEC141894     NEIL GAIMAN DAVE MCKEAN CRAZY HAIR YR SC     $6.99
DEC141695     STREET FIGHTER WORLD WARRIOR ENCYCLOPEDIA HC     $34.99

One Piece: Operation Dressrosa S.O.P.

I read One Piece, Vol. 73

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin, which is seeking donations (cause 12+ years of free is bad).  Follow me on Twitter or at Grumble.

I Reads You Review: CONAN RED SONJA #1

CONAN RED SONJA #1 (OF 4)
DARK HORSE COMICS/DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT – @DarkHorseComics and @dynamitecomics

WRITER: Gail Simone and Jim Zub
ARTIST: Dan Panosian
COLORS: Dave Stewart
LETTERS: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
COVER: Dan Panosian
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (January 2015)

Part 1 of 4: The Age of Innocence

Conan the Cimmerian (also Conan the Barbarian) was born in the pulp fiction of Robert E. Howard, first appearing in magazine, Weird Tales (1932).  Marvel Comics brought Conan to comic books in 1970, with the long running series, Conan the Barbarian.  In Conan the Barbarian #23 (cover dated February 1973), writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith created a high fantasy sword and sorcery heroine.  She was named Red Sonja and was loosely based on “Red Sonya of Rogatino,” a female character that appeared in the 1934 short story, “The Shadow of the Vulture,” written by Robert E. Howard.

Conan and Red Sonja are reunited in comic books again in Dark Horse Comics' new four-issue miniseries, Conan Red Sonja.  This series is written by Gail Simone and Jim Zub, drawn by Dan Panosian, colored by Dave Stewart, and lettered by Richard Starkings & Comicraft.

Conan Red Sonja #1 (“The Age of Innocence”) opens when Manus Drath arrives on the Barachan Isles, off the coast of Zingara.  He has brought with him a container of mysterious seeds for an unwary farmer to plant.  Meanwhile, in the city of Enshophur, in the country of Koth, Conan and Red Sonja find themselves after the same prize.  Their quest will take each into royal chambers, where they will learn that not everything is what it is supposed to be.

I have not read very many comic books written by Gail Simone, but what I have read, I have enjoyed.  I only discovered the work of writer Jim Zub within the last two years and have found great pleasure in his recently launched creator-owned series, Wayward (Image Comics).  Thus, I am not surprised that the Simone-Zub union would create such a hugely enjoyable series as Conan Red Sonja.

Conan Red Sonja captures the spirit of a Conan adventure as well as any Conan comic book ever has.  It is brawny and pulpy and has a humorous streak that cuts across most of the first issue.  Red Sonja's sly wit is the perfect foil for Conan's murderous sense of humor.  What makes their union so special is the reality that these two cannot trust each other long enough for them to take on a long campaign together.  It will be interesting to see how this duo comes together at just the right time to take on the darkness that is ahead of them because of their actions in this first issue.

Dan Panosian's art tells a lean and mean story, and Panosian captures how quickly our barbarian heroes can change fate with the sharp edge of their swords.  Panosian sets the mood; this first issue is just the beginning – the introduction and set-up.  The real pain is yet to come, and the art portends in all the right places while offering up the Hyborian version of a heist story.

Conan Red Sonja #1 makes me want to keep reading.  I hope that the rest of this series lives up to my high expectations.

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Review: HAPPY MARRIAGE?! Volume 10

HAPPY MARRIAGE?!, VOL. 10
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Maki Enjoji
TRANSLATION: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
EDITOR/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Nancy Thislethwaite
LETTERS: Inori Fukuda Trant
ISBN: 978-1-4215-5943-8; paperback (January 2015); Rated “M” for “Mature”
192pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

Happy Marriage?! is the longest manga series (to date) produced by mangaka Maki Enjoji.  It debuted in the Japanese josei manga magazine, Petit Comic.  VIZ Media published an English-language version of the series for North America.

Happy Marriage?! focuses on Chiwa Takanashi.  She is a young woman who never had any girlish fantasies about courtship and marriage, but she found herself in an unlikely scenario.  The 22-year-old married a total stranger in order to get her father out of debt!  Chiwa's husband, 28-year-old Hokuto Mamiya, was the President and CEO of Mamiya Commerce.  Their marriage, for a time, was a secret, with only Hokuto’s personal assistant, Taeko Soma, knowing of the union’s true nature.  Two years later, Chiwa and Hokuto are trying to be a real married couple.

As Happy Marriage?!, Vol. 10 (Chapters 37 to 39 to Final Chapter) opens, Chiwa recovers from the would she received when she tried to protect Hokuto from a savage knife attack.  Even after that, she still cannot reveal to Hokuto the letter she received from her his now-deceased father, Seiji Mamiya, that revealed a secret.

Her reticence will not stop the turmoil within the Mamiya family.  Hokuto will learn a shocking truth about his mother, Yoko Miura, and about himself.  The revelations could ruin Chiwa and Hokuto's marriage.

I am not happy about saying goodbye to the Happy Marriage?! manga.  However, I must accept that Happy Marriage?! Volume 10 is the final volume of this series that I have come to really enjoy reading.

I don't want to spoil anything, but I will admit that there are some some explosive revelations and that there are some character revelations that are worse than some readers my have expected.  I can say that Happy Marriage?! has a happy ending.  It has a celebratory last chapter that will remind readers why this typical shojo soap opera romance manages to be something different and also something especially lovable.

Readers looking for shojo/josei romantic drama will be happy with the Shojo Beat title, Happy Marriage?!

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Read Webcomic Grumble: Chapter One - Page 16

Page 16 is here: http://www.comicbookbin.com/grumbleone016.html

Book Review: CANE AND ABE

CANE AND ABE
HARPERCOLLINS – @HarperCollins @James_Grippando

AUTHOR: James Grippando
ISBN: 978-0-06-229539-2; hardcover (January 20, 2015)
368pp, B&W, $26.99 U.S.

Cane and Abe is a 2015 crime novel and suspense thriller from James Grippando, a New York Times bestselling author of legal thrillers.  My previous experiences with Grippando are the two most recent novels in his Jack Swyteck series.  In Cane and Abe, a South Florida prosecutor becomes the prime suspect in the disappearance of his wife, which may be connected to a serial killer who is dumping bodies in cane fields throughout South Florida.

Abraham “Abe” Beckham is the senior trial counsel at the Office of the State Attorney for Miami-Dade County.  Abe may a star prosecutor, but he has suffered some heartache.  He lost the love of his life, his beautiful wife, Samantha Vine, to cancer.  Some say he remarried to quickly, when Abe wed Angelina, who had been his girlfriend before he married Samantha.

Abe's personal soap opera takes a backseat when a woman's body is discovered, dumped in the Everglades, and Abe is called upon to monitor the investigation.  The FBI is tracking a serial killer in South Florida, who is called “Cutter,” and this body may belong to his latest victim.  Cutter's brutal methods of murder recall Florida's dark past, when men, who were practically turned into slaves by large sugar companies, cut sugarcane by hand with a machete in the blazing sun.

Then, things go horribly wrong.  Angelina disappears, and for some reason, FBI Agent Victoria Santos makes Abe the top suspect in both his wife's disappearance and in the murder of the woman just found in the Everglades.  Suspicion surrounds Abe, mainly because everyone seems to suspect him of doing something wrong.  And Cutter may watching him.

I have to admit that Cane and Abe is indeed the “spellbinding” novel that HarperCollins, the book's publisher, calls it.  HarperCollins gave me a galley copy of Cane and Abe for review, and I'm glad they did.  I found this book hard to stop reading once I started.  It is a summer potboiler for chilly winter nights, and it casts a spell that binds you to its riveting prose.

However, Cane and Abe is about 40 to 50 pages too long.  That is what keeps it from being the perfect suspense and mystery thriller.  There is a point where the novel should end.  Past that point, Cane and Abe alternates between being engaging and being annoying.  Authors should also realize that red herrings can sometimes become stinky fish that can ruin a story, when there are too many of them.  Luckily, James Grippando fills this novel with characters that do crazy things, the kind of crazy things which actually make sense from the standpoint of motivation.

What keeps Cane and Abe from being derailed by being a bit too long (see, size does matter) is that the reader will try to find out what each character's part in this conspiracy is.  What is his or her's real motivation?  That will keep you thinking about the book on those occasions when you have to stop reading it for a bit.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.