Comics and Magazines from Diamond Distributors for March 30 2011

PREVIEWS PUBLICATIONS

FEB110001 PREVIEWS #271 APRIL 2011 PI

COMICS
DEC100961 21 STORY OF ROBERTO CLEMENTE HC $22.99

OCT101097 AFTER DARK #3 (OF 3) $4.99

JAN111024 AMORY WARS KEEPING SECRETS OF SILENT EARTH 3 #1 DOLLAR ED $1.00

JAN111021 AMORY WARS KEEPING SECRETS OF SILENT EARTH 3 #9 (OF 12) $3.99

JAN110939 ARCHIE #619 $2.99

JAN110940 ARCHIE AMERICANA SER TP VOL 12 BEST OF 90S BOOK 2 $11.95

JAN110943 ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #217 $3.99

JAN111390 BAMBOO BLADE TP VOL 08 $11.99

JAN111391 BLACK GOD TP VOL 12 $11.99

AUG101048 BUCK ROGERS IN 25TH CENTURY DAILIES HC VOL 05 1935-1936 $49.99

JAN111392 BUNNY DROP GN VOL 03 $12.99

JAN110982 CALIGULA #1 (OF 6) (MR) $3.99

JAN110983 CALIGULA #1 (OF 6) WRAP CVR (MR) $3.99

JAN111080 CHIMO GN (MR) $17.00

DEC100963 COMPLETE PEANUTS HC VOL 15 1979-1980 $28.99

FEB110795 CROSSED PSYCHOPATH #1 (OF 6) CHASE VAR (MR) $5.99

SEP100965 DEAN KOONTZ FRANKENSTEIN PRODIGAL SON VOL 2 #5 $3.99

FEB110839 DRACULA THE COMPANY OF MONSTERS TP VOL 01 (O/A) $12.99

FEB111244 EMEK THINKING MANS POSTER ARTIST COLLECTED WORKS HC $39.95

DEC100724 FAIL O/T LIVING DEAD ONE-SHOT $3.50

DEC100790 FAME BLACK EYED PEAS $3.99

JAN111005 FAME JUSTIN BIEBER GN $7.99

JAN111399 GFT MYTHS & LEGENDS #3 A CVR MEDINA $2.99

JAN111400 GFT MYTHS & LEGENDS #3 B CVR RIO $2.99

JAN111393 GOSSIP GIRL MANGA GN VOL 02 $12.99

OCT100949 GREEN HORNET YEAR ONE #9 $3.99

NOV101039 GUARDIAN HEARTS GN VOL 03 (OF 4) (RES) (MR) $19.99

SEP100754 HOW TO DRAW & DEFEAT STREETFIGHTING WARRIORS SUPERSIZE TP $19.99

JAN111319 ICONS DC & WILDSTORM ART OF JIM LEE NYCC EXCL HC (RES) PI

JAN111035 INCORRUPTIBLE #16 $3.99

SEP100852 INSANE JANE AVENGING STAR #4 (MR) $3.99

DEC100980 INTREPID #1 (MR) $2.99

JAN111260 ISAAC THE PIRATE GN VOL 02 CAPITAL (O/A) $14.95

JAN111394 K ON GN VOL 02 $11.99

JAN111288 KENK A GRAPHIC PORTRAIT GN (O/A) $25.95

FEB110762 KID KOS GN VOL 01 AGENTS OF DOOM $22.95

FEB110886 KIDNAPPED CAMPFIRE GN $9.99

FEB110887 KING SOLOMONS MINES CAMPFIRE GN $9.99

DEC100993 KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE #172 $5.99

JUL100944 LA BANKS VAMPIRE HUNTRESS #3 THE HIDDEN DARKNESS $3.99

FEB110876 LADY DEATH (ONGOING) #0 AUXILIARY $3.99

AUG100744 LAST ZOMBIE #5 (OF 5) $3.99

APR100801 LOGANS RUN #6 $3.99

FEB111065 LUIS ROYO SUBVERSIVE BEAUTY REG ED HC (O/A) (MR) $19.95

JAN111295 MEAN MACHINE REAL MEAN TP $19.99

JAN111395 MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA GN VOL 08 $11.99

NOV100920 MOME GN VOL 21 $14.99

JAN111396 NABARI NO OU TP VOL 06 $11.99

FEB110781 NIGHT O/T LIVING DEAD #1 (OF 5) ZOMBIEGATE (MR) $5.99

FEB110782 NIGHT O/T LIVING DEAD #3 (OF 5) AUXILIARY (MR) $3.99

JAN111001 PINPOINT #1 (OF 3) (MR) $3.99

OCT100756 POCKET GOD #4 $3.95

OCT100846 POLITICAL POWER NIXON $3.99

JAN111195 RIP HC BEST OF 1985 2004 $28.99

DEC101070 RPM #4 (OF 4) $3.99

FEB111073 SAM AND FRIENDS MYSTERY GN VOL 02 LAKE MONSTER MIX UP $7.95

JAN111151 SHERLOCK HOLMES YEAR ONE #3 $3.99

JAN110952 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #223 $2.99

JAN111047 STAN LEE TRAVELER #5 $3.99

DEC100796 STYX & STONE #3 (MR) $3.99

JAN111318 TANK GIRL BAD WIND RISING #3 (OF 4) $3.99

JAN111071 TAROT WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE #67 (MR) $2.95

FEB111115 TENKEN GN $16.95

JAN110887 TERRY MOORES ECHO #29 $3.50

JAN111397 TIME AND AGAIN GN VOL 05 $11.99

FEB111151 TITMOUSE HC (MR) $24.99

DEC101101 VANGUARD FRAZETTA CLASSICS HC VOL 01 JOHNNY COMET (RES) $49.95

AUG100065 VANGUARD FRAZETTA CLASSICS HC VOL 02 WHITE INDIAN $49.95

FEB110890 WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ CAMPFIRE GN $9.99

FEB111072 YEHUDA MOON & KICKSTAND CYCLERY TP VOL 01 $14.95

MAGAZINES
DEC101170 AMAZING FIGURE MODELER #49 $8.00
DEC101134 CLASSIC MARVEL FIG COLL MAG #143 RADIOACTIVE MAN $12.00
DEC101136 CLASSIC MARVEL FIG COLL MAG SPECIAL BLOB $38.00
DEC101143 DC BLACKEST NIGHT FIG COLL MAG #3 LARFLEEZE $14.00
DEC101145 DC SUPERHERO FIG COLL MAG #77 AZRAEL $14.00
FEB111284 FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND #255 $9.99
DEC101165 FANGORIA #302 APR 2011 $8.99
DEC100984 HEAVY METAL MAY 2011 (MR) $6.95
JAN111415 NON SPORT UPDATE VOL 22 #2 $5.99
NOV101180 STAR WARS FIG COLL MAG #20 BOBA FETT $14.00
JAN111477 STAR WARS FIG COLL MAG #23 EWOK WICKET $14.00
JAN111478 STAR WARS FIG COLL MAG #24 TION MEDON $14.00
NOV101185 STAR WARS VEHICLES COLL MAG #64 TIE CRAWLER $18.00
JAN111927 WHITE DWARF #375 PI

Sakura Hime is Under the (Blood) Cherry (Blossom Sword) Moon

I read Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura, Vol. 1

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

Shiki Tsukai 32nd to 41st Season

I read Shiki Tsukai 7/8

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).  This is a mini-omnibus that collects Shiki Tsukai Volumes 7 and 8.

Nura Rise of the Yokai Clan: Rikuo vs. Gyuki

I read Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, Vol. 2

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

Leroy Douresseaux on AFTER DARK #3

AFTER DARK #3

RADICAL PUBLISHING

 

CREATORS: Antoine Fuqua and Wesley Snipes

WRITER: Peter Milligan
ARTIST: Leonardo Manco
PAINTS: Kinsun Loh, Jerry Choo, Sansan Saw
LETTERS: Clayton Cowles
COVER: Tae Young Choi
56pp, Color, $4.99

His legal troubles did not stop movie producer and actor Wesley Snipes, best known for the Blade film franchise, from helping to create a comic book. With director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), Snipes created After Dark, a science fiction comic book miniseries from Radical Publishing. Hellblazer alums Peter Milligan and Leonardo Manco actually produce the comic book, with Milligan the scriptwriter and Manco the artist.

Set in the future, After Dark takes place on an Earth that exists in a state of near-perpetual darkness. Civilization is mostly confined to domed cities, with Solar City being the most populated. The populace either lives in a drug-addled stupor or engages in rioting because of boredom. The rulers of Solar City decide that Angel, a messianic figure who hasn’t been seen in decades, can tame the populace. They enlist Omar, a Bedouin drifter, to guide a rag-tag team composed of specialists and known criminals into the wilds outside Solar City to find Angel.

As After Dark #3 opens, words gets out that Angel has been found and that she is coming to Solar City. That means a happy ending, right? It’s not that simple and neither is Angel, and friends become enemies.

I give credit to the creators for making this last issue of After Dark so… dark. It’s gritty, violent, tragic, and even for a few, small moments, poignant. At 150 pages of narrative, one would think that this story is long enough. It’s not. After Dark isn’t a miniseries so much as it is an epic, and there needed to be much more room in the story for the characters. It is almost as if Peter Milligan’s storytelling is too big for this miniseries. Still, After Dark is an interesting, darker-than-usual, dystopian fiction that offers a large, rich assortment of attention-grabbing ideas and elements.

B+

Shonen Jump Website to Profile its Stars

VIZ MEDIA’S SHONEN JUMP WEBSITE OFFERS EXCLUSIVE NEW CONTENT AND CELEBRATES “SJ HEROES WEEK” ONLINE
 
SHONEN JUMP Pays Homage To All The Great Manga Heroes That Have Appeared In VIZ Media Graphic Novels And The Magazine
 
VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced that its SHONEN JUMP website will feature a special week-long “SJ Heroes Week,” during which it will publish a different manga (graphic novel) hero profile online every day from March 27th to April 1st.
 
The SJ Heroes Week coincides with the new commemorative 100th issue of SHONEN JUMP magazine, which is on sale now. Fans and subscribers can log on to the SHONEN JUMP website at www.ShonenJump.com for fresh daily updates of all-time favorite manga heroes. A second round of SHONEN JUMP Heroes, to be featured in the upcoming May 2011 print edition (on sale April 5th), will post on the website during the second half of April with expanded entries for each manga character. This content further extends the magazine’s new subscriber initiatives featured on the SHONEN JUMP website.

SHONEN JUMP’s print and website redesign for 2011 welcomed the new decade with a fresh, contemporary look and notably expanded content. These new features complement several digital subscriber-only premiums, as well as the online debut of a brand new manga series, NURA: RISE OF THE YOKAI CLAN (rated ‘T’ for Teens). This is SHONEN JUMP’s first title to be serialized digitally on ShonenJump.com. The redesigned site offers fresh content updated daily that includes special Manga Spotlight Features, Manga Profile Features, Anime Episode Updates, Weekly Fan Art submissions, Trading Card Game Tips, Video Game Features and much more!

“SHONEN JUMP magazine is the most popular manga magazine today, with over a million readers in its original language version in Japan, as well as hundreds of thousands of fans in the U.S.,” says Joel Enos, SHONEN JUMP Senior Editor. “And now SHONEN JUMP is expanding its online coverage with new daily updates to give readers more of what they want – features on manga, anime, card games and video games, plus exclusive online manga content for subscribers. During the next two months, we’ll also profile SHONEN JUMP heroes from a variety of SHONEN JUMP’s most loved manga series. From international sensations like NARUTO and ONE PIECE to beloved classics like DRAGON BALL, we will spotlight every SJ hero that ever came out in the U.S. in either graphic novel format or in the magazine!”

For more information on SHONEN JUMP Magazine and other Shonen Jump titles, please visit http://www.shonenjump.com/.

Leroy Douresseaux on FINDER: VOICE

FINDER: VOICE

DARK HORSE BOOKS

 

CARTOONIST: Carla Speed McNeil

ISBN: 978-1-59582-651-0; paperback
216pp, B&W, $19.99 U.S., $21.99 CAN

I knew Carla Speed McNeil for a few years back in college, when we both worked for the student newspaper. She was a cartoonist and also contributed a comic strip (entitled “Sane as it Ever Was,” I think). I thought then that she was quite talented. When she showed me a sketchbook filled with pencil figure drawings of humans and animals, I knew that she was going to do fantastic work in comics, if she chose to pursue that.

She was humble and thought I might be exaggerating. I was right. She was wrong. I’m a prophet. Welcome to the Church of Leroy!

Carla Speed McNeil has been producing her comic book (now webcomic), Finder, which she describes as “aboriginal science fiction,” since 1996. McNeil self-published the Finder comic book series through her company, Lightspeed Press, for 38 issues. Finder the webcomic is available on the publisher’s website.

Dark Horse has just published the most recent Finder graphic novel/story arc in a trade paperback entitled Finder: Voice. Finder takes place in the far distant future, on a vastly depopulated Earth. The series is set primarily in domed city-states that are dominated by wealthy clans. In the lands outside the domes, various hunter-gatherer cultures thrive.

Voice is set in the domed city of Anvard, where society is dominated by an intricate network of clans, including the flamboyant Llaverac. Rachel Grosvenor is Llaverac on her mother’s side and Medawar (another clan) on her father’s side. Now, Rachel is in the midst of the 557th Annual Llaverac Clan Confirmation Competition. Winning or finishing near the very top means that Rachel will be formally welcomed into the clan, which will secure her and her family’s future. A mugging and the theft of a priceless and indispensable family heirloom wrecks her chances. Rachel’s hunt for the heirloom sends her spiraling into Anvard’s dark underbelly (the other side of the tracks, so to speak), and a legendary Finder may hold the key to her future. But can Rachel find the Finder?

There are many things that stand out about Carla Speed McNeil’s work on Finder: the deft handling of a huge ensemble cast, the intricate character relationships, the complex internal mythology, etc. What always stands out to me is how expressive her art is. Comics are a visual storytelling medium, of course, but that is a rather simplistic way of looking at the medium. Comics use graphics that include drawings, sound effects, word balloons, captions, lettering, etc. to not only tell a story, but to also convey a range of emotions, as well as establish settings, moods, and time periods.

As a whole, McNeil’s graphic storytelling is lush and highly-detailed. It is a meticulous graphical symphony of sights, sounds, smells, and sensations, if not tastes. A reader can break down the composition of each panel and see that every line is a conveyance. The flowing drapery informs the readers of the opulence and importance of the clan confirmation competition. Heavy word balloons carry the weight of angry words. Swaying brush strokes suggest the wild and fevered rhythm of Ascian dance. Grassy cross-hatching unveils the lavish, stately home that marks Rachel’s victory.

Finder is the little independent, self-published comic book that is a great, big old science fiction comic book. Through her vivid, expressive storytelling, Carla Speed McNeil presents a world that is at once familiar and old, but also brand new. Finder is a ticket to adventure through a mesmerizing, new science fiction world.

A

http://www.lightspeedpress.com/