Comics, Magazines and Books for December 11 2013

Digital Comics: Digital new releases available from your local comic book shop are marked below. [DIG] = Digital version available. [DIG/P+] = Print-Plus digital/print combo pack available. For more information, go to www.digitalcomicsreader.com.

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS
JUL130895 12 REASONS TO DIE #5 (MR) $3.50
OCT131010 3 GUNS #5 [DIG] $3.99
OCT130973 ADVENTURE TIME CANDY CAPERS #6 MAIN CVRS $3.99
OCT131369 ARATA THE LEGEND GN VOL 16 $9.99
OCT131348 ARCHER & ARMSTRONG #16 REG HENRY $3.99
AUG131230 ARMY OF DARKNESS VS HACK SLASH #4 CASELLI CVR $3.99
AUG131231 ARMY OF DARKNESS VS HACK SLASH #4 SEELEY CVR $3.99
AUG131232 ARMY OF DARKNESS VS HACK SLASH #4 TEMPLESMITH CVR $3.99
OCT131074 BATTLESTAR GALACTICA STARBUCK #2 $3.99
JUL131212 BUZZ GN $19.99
AUG130953 CRAWLING SKY TP $12.99
AUG131091 CRITTER (ONGOING) #17 $3.50
OCT130911 CROSSED HC VOL 07 (MR) $27.99
OCT130910 CROSSED TP VOL 07 (MR) $19.99
JUN130895 DAY MEN #2 [DIG] $3.99
SEP138356 DEATH SENTENCE #2 2ND PTG $3.99
AUG131452 DEATH SENTENCE #3 $3.99
SEP130997 DEATHMATCH #12 [DIG] $3.99
OCT131002 DEATHMATCH TP VOL 02 $14.99
JUL131107 DF DEJAH THORIS GREEN MEN OF MARS #8 RISQUE RED CVR $19.99
JUN131088 DF INFINITY #1 EXC BROOKS CVR PI
JUN131089 DF INFINITY #1 EXC BROOKS CVR PLUS BONUS PI
AUG131287 DF PUNISHER TRIAL O/T PUNISHER #1 ROMITA SR SGN ED $149.99
JAN131124 DF WARLORD OF MARS #29 RISQUE RED EXC $19.99
AUG131289 DF WARLORD OF MARS DEJAH THORIS #32 RISQUE RED CVR $19.99
OCT131034 DOC SAVAGE #1 $3.99
OCT131035 DOC SAVAGE #1 CASSADAY VIP CVR $3.99
OCT131036 DOC SAVAGE #1 SEGOVIA RETAILER SHARED EXC ED $3.99
AUG131376 DOMINO LADY SEX AS A WEAPON GN (NEW PTG) $16.95
OCT131313 FARLAINE THE GOBLIN #3 $5.00
OCT130879 FEARLESS DAWN JURASSIC ONE SHOT $3.99
SEP130827 FEMFORCE #165 $9.95
SEP130950 GEORGE RR MARTIN SKIN TRADE #4 (MR) $3.99
SEP130952 GEORGE RR MARTIN SKIN TRADE #4 GRISLY CVR (MR) $3.99
SEP130951 GEORGE RR MARTIN SKIN TRADE #4 WRAP CVR (MR) $3.99
OCT131404 GFT CODE RED #1 A CVR CALDWELL (MR) $2.99
OCT131405 GFT CODE RED #1 B CVR QUALANO (MR) $2.99
OCT131406 GFT CODE RED #1 C CVR GARZA (MR) $2.99
OCT131407 GFT CODE RED #1 D CVR MYCHAELS (MR) $2.99
SEP131434 GFT NO TOMORROW #4 A CVR PATTERSON (MR) $2.99
SEP131435 GFT NO TOMORROW #4 B CVR ERIC J (MR) $2.99
SEP131436 GFT NO TOMORROW #4 C CVR PANTALENA (MR) $2.99
AUG130923 GIRL GENIUS TP VOL 02 AGATHA & THE AIRSHIP CITY (NEW PTG) $25.00
SEP138218 GOD IS DEAD #1 ENHANCED ED (MR) $3.99
SEP130855 GOLD DIGGER CHRISTMAS SP #7 $3.99
OCT131061 GRIMM WARLOCK #1 $3.99
OCT131356 HARBINGER #19 REG EVANS $3.99
OCT131235 HONEY WEST & T.H.E. CAT #1 [DIG] $3.99
JUL130888 IN CROWD #4 $3.50
OCT131296 JUDGE DREDD MUTANTS IN MEGA CITY ONE TP $25.00
SEP130890 JUGHEADS DOUBLE DIGEST #198 [DIG/P+] $3.99
SEP131068 KINGS WATCH #3 $3.99
OCT131391 KNIGHTS OF SIDONIA GN VOL 06 $12.95
JUL130757 LAST ZOMBIE TP VOL 05 THE END $14.95
SEP130893 LIFE WITH ARCHIE #33 REG CVR [DIG/P+] $3.99
SEP130844 LUNITA #1 (MR) $3.99
OCT131368 MAGI GN VOL 03 $9.99
SEP130901 MEGA MAN #32 REG CVR [DIG/P+] $2.99
AUG130918 NIGHT OF THE 80S UNDEAD #3 (MR) [DIG] $2.99
AUG131246 PATHFINDER #12 $3.99
SEP130973 PENNY FOR YOUR SOUL DEATH #4 (MR) $3.50
OCT131011 POLARITY TP VOL 01 $14.99
OCT130997 PROTOCOL ORPHANS #2 [DIG] $3.99
OCT131363 REAL GN VOL 03 $12.99
OCT130977 REGULAR SHOW SKIPS #2 MAIN CVRS [DIG] $3.99
OCT131068 SHERLOCK HOLMES MORIARTY LIVES #1 $3.99
OCT131260 SIXTH GUN #36 $3.99
AUG131389 SIXTH GUN SONS O/T GUN TP $19.99
OCT131009 SONS OF ANARCHY #4 (MR) [DIG] $3.99
OCT130961 SPONGEBOB COMICS #27 $2.99
AUG131152 STANDARD #4 $3.99
AUG130955 STEAMPUNK CINDERELLA ONE SHOT [DIG] $3.99
JUL131096 SUNDAY NIGHT MOVIES SC $19.95
OCT131373 TIGER & BUNNY COMIC ANTHOLOGY GN VOL 02 $12.99
OCT130946 UBER #8 (MR) $3.99
OCT130948 UBER #8 PROPAGANDA POSTER CVR (MR) $3.99
OCT130947 UBER #8 WRAP CVR (MR) $3.99
AUG131213 UNCANNY #5 $3.99
OCT131343 UNITY #2 ORDERALL FOREMAN $3.99
OCT131342 UNITY #2 REG BRAITHWAITE $3.99
SEP130977 URSA MINOR ONGOING #2 (MR) $3.50
AUG130954 VICTORIAN SECRET MASQUERADE 2013 ONE SHOT [DIG] $3.99
OCT131371 VOICE OVER SEIYU ACADEMY GN VOL 02 $9.99
SEP131120 WARLORD OF MARS DEJAH THORIS #33 (MR) $3.99
OCT131249 WATSON AND HOLMES #6 $3.99
OCT131251 WATSON AND HOLMES TP VOL 01 STUDY IN BLACK $16.99
OCT131279 WWE ONGOING #1 MAIN COVERS $2.99

MAGAZINES
OCT131523 COMIC SHOP NEWS #1382 PI
OCT131526 COMIC SHOP NEWS WINTER 2014 PREVIEW PI
OCT131533 FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND #271 $9.99
JUL131499 G FAN #104 $6.95
OCT131543 GIRLS AND CORPSES MAGAZINE WINTER 2013 (MR) $8.95
AUG131721 HOBBY JAPAN NOV 2013 $16.60
OCT131322 MONSTER HIGH MAGAZINE #5 $4.99
OCT131545 STAR WARS INSIDER #146 NEWSSTAND ED $7.99
OCT131546 STAR WARS INSIDER #146 PX ED $7.99

BOOKS
OCT130976 ADVENTURE TIME EYE CANDY HC VOL 01 $24.99
OCT131442 ATLANTICA SCHOOL OF MERMAIDS SC (MR) $14.95
OCT131464 INSIDE THE TARDIS WORLDS OF DOCTOR WHO SC $19.00
OCT131487 NEIL GAIMAN GRAVEYARD BOOK SC (NEW PTG) $13.99
OCT131465 QUEERS DIG TIME LORDS CELEBRATION OF DR WHO BY LGBTQ FANS SC $17.95
OCT131484 TRANSFORMERS COVENANT OF PRIMUS DLX HC $99.99
SEP132370 WARHAMMER 40K PARIAH SC $14.00
SEP132373 WARHAMMER SWORD OF CALEDOR SC $14.00

Toriko: Gourmet Tasting!!

I read Toriko, Vol. 19

I posted a review at ComicBookBin (which also has free smart phone apps and comics).

I Reads You Review: AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE #1

AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE #1
ARCHIE COMICS – @archiecomics

STORY: Roberto Aquirre-Sacasa
ART: Francesco Francavilla
LETTERS: Jack Morelli
COVER: Francesco Francavilla
VARIANT COVERS: Francesco Francavilla, Tim Seeley, Andrew Pepoy
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S.

Rated Teen+ for Violence and Mature Content

There is a rather surprising new Archie comics series, so surprising that I assume it is going to be a miniseries or limited series of some kind.  Written by Roberto Aquirre-Sacasa and drawn by Francesco Francavilla, Afterlife with Archie pits the beloved Archie comics characters against a zombie horde – led by their pal, Jughead.

Afterlife with Archie #l begins with how the world will end.  When Jughead shows up at her door, holding the mangled body of his beloved pooch, Hot Dog, Sabrina (the Teenaged Witch) wants to help him.  But her forbidden magic will have dire consequences for her, Jughead, and the rest of Riverdale.  Meanwhile, Betty and Veronica squabble over which of them Archie will escort to the big Halloween dance.  At the same time, Archie is trying to figure out why Reggie is down-in-the-dumps.

When I think of an Archie comic book, I think of a kind of pop culture firmly rooted in the first two decades of post-World War II America.  An Archie comic book is also something rooted in sameness – same characters, familiar themes, constancy in plots, etc.  I also see it as Americana, possessing a timeless quality; no matter where and when you are, this is still Archie.  For me, these are the impressions, ideas, structures, and especially that delightful timeless quality that also permeate Afterlife with Archie #l.

Although the influences are obvious, Afterlife with Archie isn’t necessarily George Romero, The Walking Dead, EC Comics, or like zombie horror fiction in general.  It is like a ghost story told around a campfire – scary, but age appropriate even for grade school age children.  It’s scary, ominous, and creepy, but fun and exciting to read.

Roberto Aquirre-Sacasa and Francesco Francavilla form an excellent creative team.  Aquirre-Sacasa writes an Archie comic book that is true to the characters, but puts them in the horror genre that reads as genuine.  Francavilla has the ability to match pulp art with high-end graphic design to create visually striking comics, which is what makes him one of the best comic book artists working today.  In Afterlife with Archie, Francavilla eschews the splashy graphics of his Black Beetle comics for straight-forward, moody storytelling that recalls early Mike Mignola Hellboy.

This is good stuff.  It is an Archie comic book that is as good as any dark fantasy and horror comics being published by Vertigo or Dark Horse Comics.  I want to live a long Afterlife with Archie, so more please.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Demon Love Spell: The Chapter of a New Departure

I read Demon Love Spell, Vol. 5

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin.

I Reads You Review: THE ROCKETEER/THE SPIRIT: Pulp Friction #3

THE ROCKETEER/THE SPIRIT: PULP FRICTION #3
IDW PUBLISHING with DC Entertainment – @IDWPublishing and @DCComics

WRITER:  Mark Waid
ART: J Bone
COLORS: Rom Fajardo
LETTERS: Tom B. Long
EDITOR: Scott Dunbier
COVER: J Bone
SUBSCRIPTION VARIANT COVER: Chris Samnee with Jordie Bellaire
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (November 2013)

First appearing in the 1980s, comic book character, The Rocketeer, was created by artist and illustrator, Dave Stevens (who died in March of 2008).  Stunt pilot Cliff Secord discovers a mysterious jet pack, which he straps to his back.  Adding a helmet, Secord becomes “The Rocketeer,” and begins a series of adventures set mainly in Los Angeles and beginning in the year 1938.

Golden Age comic book character, The Spirit, was created by legendary cartoonist Will Eisner (who died in January 2005).  The Spirit first appeared on June 2, 1940 in what readers called “The Spirit Section.”  This was a 16-page, Sunday newspaper supplement or insert that was carried in various newspapers from the 1940s and to the early 1950s.  Once known as Detective Denny Colt (believed by some to be dead), The Spirit is a masked vigilante who fights crime in Central City.

The Rocketeer/The Spirit: Pulp Friction is a comic book series that brings these characters together.  Published by IDW Publishing (in association with DC Comics), the series is written by Mark Waid and drawn by various artists.  Pulp Friction unites the two heroes, as they try to solve a peculiar murder case.

The corpse of Alderman Tommy Cunningham, Central City politician, is found in Los Angeles, although it is physically impossible for him to be in L.A.  Meanwhile, longtime Spirit nemesis, The Octopus, has joined Hollywood “producer,” Benedict Trask, in a plot to use the new medium of television to launch a worldwide criminal enterprise

As The Rocketeer/The Spirit: Pulp Friction #3 opens, The Rocketeer visits The Spirit’s home/base of operations at Wildwood Cemetery.  Meanwhile, Cliff’s girlfriend and actress, Betty, is also in Central City for meeting with Trask, who puts her up in a posh hotel.  Betty is about to discover, however, that Trask wants to make her a star in the new medium of television, but not in the way she expects.

At this point in my review cycle of The Rocketeer/The Spirit: Pulp Friction, I have run out of things to say about Mark Waid writing The Rocketeer.  That is especially when I consider how much I liked his earlier effort, The Rocketeer: Cargo of Doom.  Simply put, he’s good with the character.  [Dear Mr. Dunbier, More Mark Waid Rocketeer, please.]

J Bone, who seems to emanate from the Bruce Timm-Dawyn Cooke school of cartooning, makes a welcomed return to The Rocketeer.  As talented as J Bone is, neither his style nor his draftsmanship, approaches that of the late Dave Stevens or the late Will Eisner.  Yet, there are moments in this wonderful comic book in which Bone captures the spirit of both artists’ work on their signature characters.  From the Rocketeer’s mad chase through the canyons of Central City to Betty’s femme fatale, behind-the-curtain dance, Bone captures the graphical essence of what made Eisner and Stevens’ comics exceptional, iconoclastic works of the medium.

Tune in tomorrow… next issue

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Review: SLAM DUNK Volume 31

SLAM DUNK, VOL. 31
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Takehiko Inoue
TRANSLATION: Joe Yamazaki
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Stan!
LETTERS: James Gaubatz
COVER: Takehiko Inoue with Matt Hinrichs
ISBN: 978-1-4215-3338-4; paperback (December 2013); Rated “T” for “Teen”
192pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN

Takehiko Inoue is an acclaimed manga artist and creator and also illustrator.  His most famous work is Slam Dunk, a shonen manga which focuses on the Shohoku Prefecture High School boys basketball team and their pursuit of victory.  Slam Dunk was originally serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan from 1990 to 1996.  Slam Dunk was so popular that it apparently helped popularize basketball in Japan and East Asia.

The spirit of the series is defined by the view that winning isn’t everything in the game of basketball, but who really wants to come in second?  Shohoku High School basketball team does not want to come in second, and they believe that they have the dedication and discipline it takes to be the best.  Captain and starting center, Takenori Akagi, dreams of making it to the finals of Nationals, and this season is his last chance.  Hotshot freshmen, like superstar Kaede Rukawa and basketball novice, Hanamichi Sakuragi, could make Akagi’s dream come true.

Slam Dunk, Vol. 31 (entitled Shohoku High School Basketball Team; Chapters 270 to 276) is the final volume of the series.  Shohoku made it through the Prefectural Tournament to Nationals to play for the national championship of Japan.  In the second round of the tournament, they face the defending national champions, Sannoh Kogyo (of Akita Prefecture).

After a good start, underdog Shohoku falls behind Sannoh by 24 points, before a furious rally cuts the deficit to eight points.  Sannoh eventually returns the lead to 18, but another rally brings Shohoku within eight of tying the game.  Hanamichi Sakuragi drives his team to fight back, and Kaede Rukawa’s talent brings the points.  Then, Sakuragi severely injures his back diving for a loose ball.

After a free throw, early in this volume, Shohoku has the lead down to five points with a little over a minute left in the game.  Both teams know that they have to give their all, because only one of them is leaving the court victorious.

So the Slam Dunk manga has come to an end with Slam Dunk Volume 31.  I’m not ready for it to be over.  Because it apparently helped popularize the sport of basketball in Japan, Slam Dunk is obviously a classic manga.  It makes one ask, “Is there a better sports comic book?”  Is there another sports manga doing for a sport what Slam Dunk did for hoops in Japan?  Could there ever be a basketball comic book or manga better than Slam Dunk?

Much of Vol. 31 has no dialogue or exposition.  Takehiko Inoue uses graphical storytelling – illustrations and lettered sound effects as graphics.  Inoue captures all that is grand and exciting about basketball as well as (if not better than) the best sports photographers.  Reading Slam Dunk is as invigorating as watching a real, live basketball game, and I don’t know if I’m ready to give that up.  I guess this isn’t really a goodbye, as VIZ Media will keep this iteration of Slam Dunk in print.  I hope so; Slam Dunk is basketball depicted as art.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

DC Comics from Diamond Distributors for December 4 2013

DC COMICS

OCT130174 ACTION COMICS #26 $3.99
OCT130176 BATMAN SUPERMAN #6 $3.99
OCT130179 BATMAN SUPERMAN #6 COMBO PACK $4.99
OCT130194 BATWING #26 $2.99
OCT130255 DC COMICS ESSENTIALS WATCHMEN #1 $1.00
AUG130285 DC VS MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE #3 $2.99
OCT130187 DETECTIVE COMICS #26 $3.99
OCT130189 DETECTIVE COMICS #26 COMBO PACK $4.99
OCT130149 EARTH 2 #18 $2.99
SEP130309 FAIREST #21 (MR) $2.99
SEP130280 GEARS OF WAR TP BOOK 03 $19.99
OCT130145 GREEN ARROW #26 $2.99
OCT130206 GREEN LANTERN #26 $2.99
OCT130208 GREEN LANTERN #26 COMBO PACK $3.99
AUG130294 GREEN LANTERN CORPS HC VOL 03 WILLPOWER (N52) $24.99
SEP130267 GREEN LANTERN CORPS TP VOL 02 ALPHA WAR (N52) $16.99
OCT130279 HINTERKIND #3 (MR) $2.99
OCT130266 LOONEY TUNES #216 $2.99
OCT130219 MOVEMENT #7 $2.99
SEP130273 NIGHTWING TP VOL 03 DEATH OF THE FAMILY (N52) $16.99
SEP130310 SAGA OF THE SWAMP THING TP BOOK 05 (MR) $14.99
SEP130277 SAVAGE HAWKMAN TP VOL 02 WANTED (N52) $19.99
OCT130220 STORMWATCH #26 $2.99
OCT130221 SWAMP THING #26 $2.99
OCT130280 TRILLIUM #5 (MR) $2.99
OCT130140 TRINITY OF SIN THE PHANTOM STRANGER #14 (EVIL) $2.99

DC COMICS/DC COLLECTIBLES

JUL130285 BATMAN BLACK & WHITE BATMAN ARKHAM ORIGINS STATUE $79.95
SEP130321 SUPER BEST FRIENDS FOREVER BATGIRL BOX $24.95
SEP130320 SUPER BEST FRIENDS FOREVER SUPERGIRL BOX $24.95
SEP130319 SUPER BEST FRIENDS FOREVER WONDER GIRL BOX $24.95