Dynamite Entertainment from Diamond Distributors for August 26, 2020

DYNAMITE

JUN200739    BETTIE PAGE #2 BLACK BAG PHOTO CVR (MR)    $10.00
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Image Comics from Diamond Distributors for August 26, 2020

IMAGE COMICS

JUN200237    BLACK MAGICK #13 (MR)    $3.99
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Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for August 26, 2020

MARVEL COMICS

FEB200912    2020 FORCE WORKS #3 (OF 3)    $3.99
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Comics, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for August 26, 2020

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MAR202461    A CENTAURS LIFE GN VOL 18 (MR)    $13.99
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MAGAZINES

APR201753    COMIC SHOP NEWS [90CT BUNDLE] #1723    $PI
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JUL201769    ANIMETA LIGHT NOVEL SC VOL 04    $14.99
JUL201770    ARCHDEMONS DILEMMA HOW LOVE ELF BRIDE LIGHT NOVEL SC VOL 07    $14.99
FEB202057    FANTASTIC PAINTINGS OF FRAZETTA HC    $39.95
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DC Comics from Lunar/UCS Distributors for August 25, 2020

DC COMICS:

Action Comics #1024 (Cover A John Romita Jr. & Klaus Janson), $3.99
Action Comics #1024 (Cover B Lucio Parrillo), AR
Amethyst #5 (Of 6), $3.99
Batgirl #48 (Cover A Guiseppe Camuncoli), $3.99
Batgirl #48 (Cover B Ian McDonald Variant), AR
Batman Beyond #46 (Cover A Dan Mora), $3.99
Batman Beyond #46 (Cover B Francis Manapul), AR
Batman By Grant Morrison Omnibus Volume 3 HC, $75.00
Batman Superman #11 (Cover A David Marquez), $3.99
Batman Superman #11 (Cover B Jae Lee Card Stock Variant), AR
Batman Three Jokers #1 (Of 3) Playing Cards, AR
Batman Three Jokers #1 (Of 3) Playing Cards, AR
Batman Three Jokers #1 (Of 3)(Cover A Jason Fabok), $6.99
Batman Three Jokers #1 (Of 3)(Cover B Jason Fabok Batman Variant), AR
Batman Three Jokers #1 (Of 3)(Cover C Jason Fabok Green Variant), AR
Batman Three Jokers #1 (Of 3)(Cover D Jason Fabok Black & White Variant), AR
Batman Three Jokers #1 (Of 3)(Cover E Jason Fabok Red Hood Variant), AR
Batman Three Jokers #1 (Of 3)(Cover F Jason Fabok Joker Fish Variant), AR
Batman Three Jokers #1 (Of 3)(Cover G Jason Fabok Joker Bomb Variant), AR
Books Of Magic #22, $3.99
Dark Nights Death Metal #2 (Of 7)(Greg Capullo 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $4.99
Dark Nights Death Metal #3 (Of 7)(Greg Capullo 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $4.99
Dark Nights Death Metal Legends Of The Dark Knights #1 (Tony S. Daniel 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $5.99
DCeased Unkillables HC, $22.99
Detective Comics #1026 (Cover A Kenneth Rocafort), $3.99
Detective Comics #1026 (Cover B Lee Bermejo Card Stock Variant), AR
Flash #760 (Cover A Howard Porter), $3.99
Flash #760 (Cover B In-Hyuk Lee), AR
gen:LOCK TP, $16.99
John Constantine Hellblazer #9, $3.99
Justice League Dark #25 (Cover A Yanick Paquette), $3.99
Justice League Dark #25 (Cover B Lee Bermejo ), AR
Justice League Odyssey Volume 3 Final Frontier TP, $16.99
Justice League Unlimited Galactic Justice TP, $9.99
Last God #8, $4.99
Legion Of Super-Heroes #8 (Cover A Ryan Sook), $3.99
Legion Of Super-Heroes #8 (Cover B Dustin Nguyen), AR
Plunge #6 (Of 6)(Cover A Jeremy Wilson), $3.99
Plunge #6 (Of 6)(Cover B Gary Frank), AR
Question The Deaths Of Vic Sage #4 (Of 4)(Cover A Denys Cowan & Bill Sienkiewicz), $6.99
Question The Deaths Of Vic Sage #4 (Of 4)(Cover B Andrea Sorrentino), AR
Red Hood Outlaw #48 (Cover A Dan Mora), $3.99
Red Hood Outlaw #48 (Cover B Philip Tan), AR
Suicide Squad #8 (Cover A Daniel Sampere & Juan Albarran), $3.99
Suicide Squad #8 (Cover B Jeremy Roberts), AR
Superman The Man Of Steel Volume 1 HC, $49.99
Teen Titans Annual #2, $4.99
Wonder Woman #761 (Cover A David Marquez), $4.99
Wonder Woman #761 (Cover B Joshua Middleton Card Stock Variant Cover), AR

#IReadsYou Book Review: ON THE CORNER OF HOPE AND MAIN

ON THE CORNER OF HOPE AND MAIN (A Blessings Novel)
HARPERCOLLINS/William Morrow

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

AUTHOR: Beverly Jenkins – @authorMsBev
ISBN: 978-0-06-269928-2; paperback (March 3, 2020)
304pp, B&W, $15.99 U.S., $19.99 CAN

[On the Corner of Hope and Main is available in a trade paperback edition and a “hardcover library edition.”  This review is of the paperback.]

On the Corner of Hope and Main is a new novel from bestselling author, Beverly Jenkins.  This is the tenth novel in Jenkins' “Blessings” series (following 2018's Second Time Sweeter).  Set in the fictional small town of Henry Adams, Kansas, the book follows the lives of its citizens who never know a dull moment in their historic little town.  On the Corner of Hope and Main finds Henry Adams caught up in a mayoral election, while a former trickster returns with new tricks.

On the Corner of Hope and Main opens with Trent July, mayor of Henry Adams for the past four years, ready to stop being mayor, so it's time for a new mayoral election!  Right from the beginning, two slightly unsavory candidates throw their hats into the ring, including the town's perennial pariah, Riley Curry.  Barrett Payne, a former Marine who directs the town's security infrastructure, decides he wants the job.  When a surprise candidate also enters the ring, however, Barrett is shocked, offended, and thrown for that proverbial old loop that shakes him down to the core of his being.

While the town has opinions on who would be the best candidate, Leo Brown, the ex-husband of Henry Adams' owner and savior, Bernadine Brown, is back in town... with a new scheme.  He hopes to make inroads with his new employer, Mega Seed; gain some closure with his former employer, Salem Oil; and get a measure of revenge against his ex.

The election and Leo Brown's schemes are not the only drama in town.  Malachi “Mal” July continues to make reparations for the damage he has caused and to the people he has betrayed, but his biggest reclamation project will be restoring some kind of relationship with the love of his life, Bernadine.  Is she finally ready to forgive him and let the past go?  It will be a blessing if she does.

THE LOWDOWN:  I had heard of author Beverly Jenkins, but had never read her work until I read her 2016 novel, Stepping to a New Day (the seventh “Blessings” novel).  I immediately fell in love with the characters and with the town of Henry Adams, the kind of small town that Norman Rockwell or Walt Disney could have loved.  Unlike a Disney small town idyll, however, Henry Adams has a diverse, but predominately African-American population and was founded by freed slaves.

On the Corner of Hope and Main is the fifth Blessings novel that I have read.  I've read the previous three novels, and last year, I went back and read the first book in the series, Bring on the Blessings.  Although On the Corner of Hope and Main has a few dark moments, it is radiant, hopeful, and positive, a sharp contrast to 2018's Second Time Sweeter, which I found to be a very dark, but hugely enjoyable read.  I think the new novel also encapsulates author Beverly Jenkins' theme of “blessings.”

Jenkins' characters in this series can work toward, gain, and find blessings if they deal honestly with other people and especially with themselves.  In the “Blessings” series, a blessing isn't just getting some material satisfaction, nor is it always manifested physically.  A blessing can be spiritual and mental, or it can be a personal enrichment that comes indirectly to a character when his or her family, friends, co-workers, etc. directly get a blessing.

Invariably, characters who embrace wickedness and selfishness and those who trade in hubris win curses instead of blessings, sometimes with devastating, even tragic consequences.  When one cannot love others as one loves oneself, what seems like a blessing will eventually turn out to be a disaster... or even a curse.

The struggle between getting what you want with good intentions and getting what you want at the expense of others is a winning formula for storytelling.  That is because the struggle is played out by the vibrant characters that Beverly Jenkins creates.  The good, the naughty, and the just-plain-bad are the kind of great characters that everyone says a successful novel needs.  There are no duplicate characters in Jenkins' “Blessings” novels.  Each character is unique, and no matter where he or she measures on the hero-villain or protagonist-antagonist scale, you will love reading about that character even when you can't exactly love the character.  These characters have literary depth and weight because Jenkins has fitted them (each and every one) with wants, needs, fears, and motivations.

On the Corner of Hope and Main exemplifies that.  I wanted to know more about what was happening in the lives of every character and player, even the ones that only appeared in a scene or two.  There may be no better small town in modern fiction than Henry Adams, Kansas.  If you need a good book to get you through this crazy time, you will find it On the Corner of Hope and Main.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Beverly Jenkins and of stories set in wonderful small towns will want On the Corner of Hope and Main.

10 out of 10

The paperback edition of On the Corner of Hope and Main contains the following William Morrow “P.S. Insights, Interviews & More...” extras:

1. About the author:  “Meet Beverly Jenkins”

2. About the book:  “Author's Note” and “Book Club Discussion”

https://twitter.com/WmMorrowBooks
https://www.facebook.com/WilliamMorrowBooks
https://twitter.com/HarperCollins
https://www.harpercollins.com/


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


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and  syndication rights and fees.


--------------------------------

#IReadsYou Review: ORESAMA TEACHER Volume 26

ORESAMA TEACHER, VOL. 26
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Izumi Tsubaki
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: JN Productions
LETTERS: Erik Erbes
EDITOR: Pancha Diaz
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0837-6; paperback (July 2019); Rated “T” for “Teen”
200pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

Oresama Teacher is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Izumi Tsubaki.  It was serialized in the shojo manga magazine, Hana to Yume, from July 2007 to February 2020.  VIZ Media has been publishing an English-language edition of the manga as a paperback graphic novel series under its “Shojo Beat” imprint since March 2011.

Oresama Teacher focuses on Mafuyu Kurosaki.  She was once the take-charge, hard-hitting leader (“bancho”) of a high school gang.  Hoping to reform her daughter of her delinquent ways, Mafuyu's mother sends Mafuyu to Midorigaoka Academy, an isolated school far off in the country.  There, Mafuyu reunites with Takaomi Saeki, the childhood friend who set her on the path of delinquency.  Now, Saeki is Mafuyu’s homeroom teacher.

As Oresama Teacher, Vol. 26 (Chapters 147 to 152) opens, Mafuyu has been kidnapped.  The kidnapper is her homeroom teacher, Mr. Seiichiro Maki, who is something of a conundrum.  He has spirited her off to some unknown place and locked her in a room.  When she discovers that she is locked in one of many rooms in a mansion, Mafuyu is happy because she loves mansions.  That aside, she will have to unravel the mystery of Mr. Maki if he is to escape and continue her bid to save her school.  But to do what she needs to do, she will have to rely on an enemy.

[This volume includes bonus manga:  “Okegawa's College Debut,” four pages of four-panel comics and a “Bonus Chapter.”]

THE LOWDOWN:  The Oresama Teacher manga is a bit inconsistent in tone.  It is, at its heart, a raucous high school manga featuring former delinquents and scheming high school club types.

Oresama Teacher Graphic Novel Volume 26 shows the series' other side, its best side, and that is poignant, character revealing back stories.  I find that creator Izumi Tsubaki does her best work in these flashbacks and characters pieces.  She grounds the silliness of her narrative in good storytelling with the dramatic examinations of her characters.

JN Productions also does its best work in translation and English adaptation when the story turns poignant.  Here, letterer Erik Erbes also turns his fonts into strains of haunting melodies that draw the readers into the drama before they return to the rough and tumble.  Vol. 26 is an entry in the series that longtime readers deserve.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of offbeat high school shojo manga will want to try the Shojo Beat title, Oresama Teacher.

A
8 out of 10

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


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