Dynamite Entertainment from Diamond Distributors for July 10, 2019

DYNAMITE

MAR191096    BETTIE PAGE UNBOUND #2 CVR A ROYLE    $3.99
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IDW Publishing from Diamond Distributors for July 10, 2019

IDW PUBLISHING
MAR190685    ATOMIC ROBO AND DAWN OF NEW ERA TP VOL 01    $19.99
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MAR190671    DUCKTALES TP VOL 05 MONSTERS AND MAYHEM    $9.99
MAY190665    KITCHEN TABLE MAGAZINE    $9.99
DEC180698    MARVEL ACTION BLACK PANTHER #2 SAMU    $3.99
MAR190754    MEN IN BLACK UNDERCOVER    $19.99

Image Comics from Diamond Distributors for July 10, 2019

IMAGE COMICS

MAY190040    BAD WEEKEND HC (MR)    $16.99
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MAY190069    GOGOR #3    $3.99
APR190061    MURDER FALCON TP    $19.99
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Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for July 10, 2019

MARVEL COMICS

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MAY190763    X-MEN #1 FACSIMILE EDITION    $3.99

Comics, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for July 10, 2019

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS

MAY191838    13 ASTONISHING LIVES OF THE NEUROMANTICS GN (MR)    $19.99
MAY191699    ADVENTURE ZONE HC GN VOL 02 MURDER ON ROCKPORT LIMITED    $26.99
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MAGAZINES
MAY191607    COMIC SHOP NEWS [90CT BUNDLE] #1673    $PI
MAY191707    FILMFAX #154    $9.95
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BOOKS
MAY191720    AVENGERS BATTLE ON MOON LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK    $4.99
MAY191890    CHILLING ADV OF SABRINA NOVEL SC VOL 01 SEASON OF WITCH    $9.99
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MAY192004    WILL EISNER SPIRITED LIFE HC NEW PTG    $19.99

Review: KOMI CAN'T COMMUNICATE Volume 1

KOMI CAN'T COMMUNICATE, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Tomohito Oda
TRANSLATION & ENGLISH ADAPTATION: John Werry
LETTERS: Eva Grandt
EDITOR: Pancha Diaz
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0712-6; paperback (June 2019); Rated “T” for “Teen”
192pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

Comi-San Wa, Comyusho Desu (Miss Komi is Bad at Communication) is the most recent shonen manga from creator, Tomohito Oda (whose previous manga was the series, Digicon).  VIZ Media is publishing Miss Komi is Bad at Communication in English in North America under the title, Komi Can't Communicate, as a graphic novel series.  Komi Can't Communicate focuses on a group of socially awkward high school students who try to help each other gain new friends and fit in with the other students.

Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 19) introduces a high school girl named Shoko Komi.  Her skin is porcelain, and her hair is silky.  Her large eyes are almond-shaped, and she smells good.  Komi is the most beautiful person most of her classmates have ever seen.  However, she has crippling social anxiety so bad that she can barely speak.  Most people think her silence is because of her “cool reserve,” so they keep their distance.  Her communication disorder is keeping her from making friends.

Into her life arrives a new classmate, an awkward boy named Hitohito Tadano.  He is timid and has average communication skills.  However, he recognizes that Komi is not aloof, but merely super awkward.  So Tadano decides to help Komi attain her goal of making 100 friends.  All he needs to do is get her to speak, a single conversation at a time.

[This volume includes bonus comics.]

I won't call the Komi Can't Communicate manga a great graphic novel... yet.  However, this series is one of those shonen (comics for teen boys) and shojo manga (comics for teen girls) mixes that offer readers young male and female characters forced together for a common goal, with some romantic elements, although that is not the central focus.

Komi Can't Communicate Graphic Novel Volume 1 is basically comprised of a series of comic situations.  The chapters vary wildly in size.  Many are only three to six pages each.  Others are 10 to 15 pages in length, with one being 19 pages long.  Regardless, Komi Can't Communicate is a situation comedy, and creator Tomohito Oda is quite adept at creating small situations out of this narrative's central conceit.

The characters have potential, but are mostly thin on personality this early in the series.  I have faith that over time, I will be surprised what depth they will gain.  John Werry, who writes the English adaptation for Komi Can't Communicate, shows quite a bit of skill at making the sometimes crazy, sometimes almost non-existent dialogue convey humor.

7 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: Approbation's THE BEAST

THE BEAST - OGN
APPROBATION COMICS

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: B. Alex Thompson – @ApproBAT
ART: Marcelo Salaza and Ricardo Mendez
COLORS: Schimerys Baal
LETTERS: Elisa Coletti
EDITORS: John P. Ward and Denise Thompson
COVER: Marcelo Salaza
48pp, Color, $9.99 U.S. / $2.99 U.S. comiXology; (2016; digital release date – August 31, 2016)

Rated: “M” for Mature / 17+ Only – comiXology rating

The Beast is a one-shot horror comic book from Approbation Comics.  It is written by B. Alex Thompson; drawn by Marcelo Salaza and Ricardo Mendez; colored by Schimerys Baal; and lettered by Elisa Coletti.  The story focuses on a group of college friends (or “frenemies”), a mangled hunter, and an unidentifiable creature.

The Beast introduces college students:  Parker, Julia, Henry, Ben, Sue, Clark, Anna, and Kelly.  They take an RV into the woods to swim, to fun, and to fuck each other silly.  However, old rivalries and simmering grudges rear their ugly heads.  In fact, Ben is sure that Kelly is going to give him some shaky pudding, but he discovers something about her that brings out the beast in him.  Meanwhile, a hunter with a mangled arm and an unknown creature are awaiting them in the woods.

I have to say that The Beast is not one of Approbation Comics' better efforts, although it is an entertaining read.  As usual, however, B. Alex Thompson, the modern master of meat-grinder horror comics, turns in a gleefully violent tale of terror dismemberment

Artists Marcelo Salaza and Ricardo Mendez still seem to be in the awkward composition phase, but they work hard on the storytelling.  Colorist Schimerys Baal splashes enough red around to have us swimming in blood to read this comic book.  Letterer Elisa Coletti continues to keep lettering in Approbation Comics strong.

The Beast reminds me of Thompson's crazy-ass and crazy-as-hell original graphic novel, Southern Hospitality (which predates The Beast by a few years).  Both comics are about ordinary people who are really insane slash monstrous killers or are ordinary people who must learn to hack and slash other ordinary people to death.  As I said earlier, The Beast is not great, but this comic book is meat for the beast... you know is inside you.

6 out of 10

Buy The Beast at comiXology.

www.ApprobationComics.com
www.AlexThompsonWriter.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint or syndication rights and fees.

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