Saturday, September 15, 2012

Happy Birthday, Scott Dunbier

He's the Special Projects Editor at IDW Publishing, in case you didn't know (and a former Wildstorm editor).

Happy Big-5-0!

Bleach: End of the Chrysalis Age

I read Bleach, Vol. 47

I posted a review at ComicBookBin (which is has free comics).




Friday, September 14, 2012

Review: Steven Heller's COMICS SKETCHBOOKS

COMICS SKETCHBOOKS: The Private Worlds of Today’s Most Creative Talents
THAMES & HUDSON, INC. – @thamesandhudson

AUTHOR: Steven Heller
DESIGNER: Ashley Olsson
ISBN: 978-0-500-28994-5; paperback
352pp, Color and Black and White; $44.95 U.S., $47.50 CAN

Steven Heller is co-chair of the MFA/Designer as Author + Entrepreneur program at New York’s School of Visual Arts. He is the author, editor, and co-editor of over one hundred books on design and popular culture. His works include Handwritten: Expressive Lettering in the Digital Age (with Mirko Ilic) and New Modernist Type (with Gail Anderson).

His latest book is Comics Sketchbooks: The Private Worlds of Today’s Most Creative Talents. A massive book (365 pages, 8.65 x 11.5), Comics Sketchbooks contains sketches, doodles, drawings, roughs, thumbnails, and even comics from some of the world’s most cutting edge and innovative artists and also some emerging talents. Over 80 artists open up their private sketchbooks and notebooks, from which Heller culled the hundreds drawings and samples that fill this fat (and phat) book. Even some artists who do not keep sketchbooks provided roughs and studies for this book.

Readers get a chance to see the thinking and planning and the experimentation, practice, and play behind the work and style of such artists as Charles Burns, Lilli Carré, Drew Friedman, David Mazzucchelli, Gary Panter, and Carol Tyler, to name a few. Readers can see into the sketchbooks of such legends as R. Crumb, Bill Griffith, Victor Moscoso, Bill Plympton, and Arnold Roth. Not every artist in this collection is specifically a comics artists, but according to Heller (in his introduction), all of them make comics as either their primary occupation or as part of their larger body of work.

Admirers, fans, and students of alternative comics and cartoonists will like Comics Sketchbooks. Still, some, like myself, may find this book missing things they wanted, which is a bit ungrateful. Why do I want more?

Obviously, Heller could not get every drawing that he wanted included in this book, for various reasons. One of the reasons is that some artists are self-conscious about opening their sketchbooks. Another reason is that some artists only actively sketch to prepare for upcoming projects, and may, in fact, discard such preliminary drawings and preparatory material once projects are completed.

So, the two pages of David Mazzucchelli just don’t seem like enough, although the sample of his typographical skills almost makes up for that. There are four pages of R. Crumb, but since Crumb has been publishing his sketchbooks and sketchbook material for four decades, the illustrations here won’t seem like anything new.

My minor quibbles aside, there is some spectacular material in Comics Sketchbooks from some major talents, known and little known. The six pages of sketches by Carol Tyler are a doorway into the wonderland that is the talent of this unheralded artist. The offerings from political cartoonist, Ann Telnaes, include several superb sketches of President Barack Obama caricatures. There is no way to prepare for the six pages of Joseph Lambert, which are crammed with drawings. I couldn’t help but return to his section several times.

It would be impractical for me to try to describe all the drawings in this book, all of it good, some of it even stunning, and even a few pieces that are (dare I say it) great. I will tempt some of you by saying that there are a few sketches in here that were proposals for covers for the magazine, The New Yorker, including one by the always fabulous Drew Friedman. This is a good book. Comics Sketchbooks: The Private Worlds of Today’s Most Creative Talents should be on comics fans’ wish lists. Steven Heller deserves some awards recognition, and certainly, at least, an Eisner nomination next year.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

www.thamesandhudsonusa.com

The artist and cartoonists included in Comics Sketchbooks: The Private Worlds of Today’s Most Creative Talents:

Sotos Anagnos, Chris Battle, Lou Beach, Kaye Blegvad, Peter Blegvad, Russ Braun, Steve Brodner, Charles Burns, Chris Capuozzo, Lilli Carré, Seymour Chwast, Colonel Moutarde, R. Crumb, John Cuneo, Vanessa Davis, Kim Deitch, Julie Delporte, Eric Drooker, Drew Friedman, Manuel Gomez Burns, Bill Griffith, Robert Grossman, Benoit Guillaume, Cyril Guru, David Heatley, Rian Hughes, Kevin Huizenga, Nathan Jurevicius, Ben Katchor, Denis Kitchen, Jakob Klemencic, Thomas Knowler, Matej Kocjan, Nora Krug, Olivier Kugler, Peter Kuper, Joseph Lambert, Brendan Leach, Etienne Lecroart, Matthias Lehmann, Martin Lemelman, David Libens, Sebastien Lumineau, Patrick McHale, Matt Madden, Javier Mariscal, David Mazzucchelli, Rutu Modan, Saxton Moore, Victor Moscoso, Joanna Neborsky, Josh Neufeld, Mark Newgarden, Vladan Nikolic, Gary Panter, Bill Plympton, Max De Radigues, Laren Redniss, Arnold Roth, Marcel Ruijters, Johnny Ryan, David Sandlin, Seth, Peter De Seve, Robert Sikoryak, Posy Simmonds, Mark Alan Stamaty, Jim Steranko, James Sturm, Joost Swarte, Takeshi Tadatsu, Ann Telnaes, Simon Tofield, Jeremy Traum, Carol Tyler, Andres Vera Martinez, Lauren Weinstein, Tracy White, Signe Wilkinson, Run Wrake, Derek Yaniger, and Danijel Zezelj



Wednesday, September 12, 2012

VIZ Media Debuting 9 Mature Manga Series on VIZManga.com

VIZ MEDIA DEBUTS MATURE MANGA SERIES ON VIZMANGA.COM

BLACK LAGOON, DOGS, NANA, TENJO TENGE And More Launch This Month On North America’s Leading Digital Manga Platform!

San Francisco, CA, September 11, 2012 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, tantalizes readers with a digital collection of nine mature manga (graphic novel) series launching this month on VIZManga.com.

From kinetic action and imaginative science fiction to romance and gothic melodrama, these new additions push the boundaries of the manga medium and share an emphasis on creative quality and unique storylines. The newly available manga series, each rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers, include BLACK LAGOON. BUTTERFLIES, FLOWERS, THE CAIN SAGA, DOGS, DOROHEDORO, IKIGAMI: THE ULTIMATE LIMIT, JORMUMGAND, NANA, and TENJO TENGE. Individual volumes start at $4.99 each.

BLACK LAGOON Volume 1 · by Hiroe Rei · Rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers · Available Now!
Lock n' load with the baddest group of mercenaries ever to hit the high seas of Southeast Asia! Aboard their World War II torpedo boat, the Black Lagoon, Dutch the Boss, Benny the Mechanic, Revy Two Hand, and Rock, the salaryman from Japan, deliver anything, anywhere. In the dangerous underworld of the Russian Mafia, Chinese triads, Colombian drug cartels, crazed assassins, and ruthless mercenaries, it's hard to know who to trust. But if you've got a delivery to make, and you don't mind a little property damage along the way, you can count on the crew of the Black Lagoon!

BUTTERFLIES, FLOWERS Volume 1 · by Yuki Yoshihara · Rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers · Available Now!
Choko Kuze is the sensible daughter of a venerable family who went bankrupt. She joins a real estate company as an entry-level office worker, but her eccentric boss is harder on her than anyone else in the company! After hearing him inadvertently call her "milady," she realizes he was the young servant boy she knew as a child. At work he's a tyrant, but after hours he insists on treating her like a lady of the nobility. Is romance even possible for a couple locked in such a crazy role reversal?

THE CAIN SAGA Volume 1 · by Kaori Yuki · Rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers · Available Now!
Delve into the tortured past of Earl Cain C. Hargreaves, charismatic heir to a wealthy family full of secrets, lies and unthinkable crimes. The prequel to the Godchild series, The Cain Saga follows the young Cain as he attempts to unravel the secrets of his birth, all the while solving each new mystery that comes his way.

DOGS Volume 0 · by Shirow Miwa · Rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers · Available Now!
Boasting furious action, switchback plotting, magnetic characters and dazzling art, Dogs tells the story of four individuals struggling to survive a dystopian urban future by gun and sword and courage and luck.

DOROHEDORO Volume 1 · by Q Hayashida · Rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers · Available Now!
In a city so dismal it's known only as "the Hole," a clan of Sorcerers has been plucking people off the streets to use as guinea pigs for atrocious "experiments" in the black arts. In a dark alley, Nikaido found Caiman, a man with a reptile head and a bad case of amnesia. To undo the spell, they're hunting and killing the Sorcerers in the Hole, hoping that eventually they'll kill the right one. But when En, the head Sorcerer, gets word of a lizard-man slaughtering his people, he sends a crew of "cleaners" into the Hole, igniting a war between two worlds.

IKIGAMI: THE ULTIMATE LIMIT Volume 1 · by Motoro Mase · Rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers · Available September 25th
Dear Citizen: Thank you for your loyalty. You've no doubt noticed that the world is a troubled place. People are apathetic, lazy, unmotivated. You've probably asked yourself WHY ISN'T ANYTHING BEING DONE TO STOP THIS SYSTEMATIC DECLINE? Rest assured that measures are being taken. Beginning today, we will randomly select a different citizen who will be killed within 24 hours of notification. We believe this will help remind all people how precious life is and how important it is to be a productive, active member of society. Thank you for your continued attention and your cooperation and participation...

JORMUNGAND Volume 1 · by Keitaro Takahashi · Rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers · Available September 18th
Jonah is a child soldier, born amidst the chaotic conflicts that rage across West Asia, his family lost to a war fueled by weapons supplied by the so-called Merchants of Death--international arms dealers. Despite Jonah's hatred of weapons and violence, he employs both extremely well in the service of high-flying arms dealer Koko Hekmatyar and her band of mercenaries. Their journey through the dark underbelly of the world's arms markets may lead only to damnation, but will Jonah one day make his way back to the light? Only one thing is certain: it's going to be a long, hard road out of hell...

NANA Volume 1 · by Ai Yazawa · Rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers · Available Now!
Nana "Hachi" Komatsu hopes that moving to Tokyo will help her make a clean start and leave her capricious love life behind her. Nana Osaki, who arrives in the city at the same time, has plans to score big in the world of rock'n'roll. Although these two young women come from different backgrounds, they quickly become best friends in a whirlwind world of sex, music, fashion, gossip and all-night parties!

TENJO TENGE Volume 1 · by Oh!great · Rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers · Available Now!
Welcome to Todo High, where the only rule is: get strong or get schooled.

Soichiro Nagi and Bob Makihara have always been the meanest street brawlers around. When they enter Todo High they plan on carving out a reputation as the strongest fighters in their new school – easier said than done in a place that's dedicated to training its students in the art of combat! After realizing they're the new fish swimming in a tank full of sharks, Soichiro and Bob enter the Juken fight club as rookie members. However, the Executive Council – the archrival of the Juken Club – soon launches a surprise attack. Soichiro and Bob have a chance to show their stuff, as long as they don't get curb-kicked in the process!

VIZManga.com is the top website for reading manga and features a rapidly growing library of the most popular manga series in the world, with more than 80 series and 700+ volumes are currently available and new ones added regularly. To learn more about VIZ Manga, please visit vizmanga.com.


About VIZ Media, LLC
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, VIZ Media distributes, markets and licenses the best anime and manga titles direct from Japan. Owned by three of Japan's largest manga and animation companies, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media has the most extensive library of anime and manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. With its popular digital manga anthology WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, BLEACH and INUYASHA, VIZ Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family friendly properties for anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all ages. VIZ Media properties are available as graphic novels, DVDs, animated television series, feature films, downloadable and streaming video and a variety of consumer products. Learn more about VIZ Media, anime and manga at www.VIZ.com.

The Top Shelf Annual $3 Sale Has Started

THE 2012 TOP SHELF MASSIVE $3 SALE

For the next two weeks -- thru Friday September 28th -- Top Shelf (@topshelfcomix) is having its annual $3 web sale. When you visit the site, you'll find 170 graphic novels and comics on sale -- with over 100 titles marked down to just $3 & $1! Each year we use these funds to help clear the decks on our current amazing releases, and “kick start” a full rollout for next year. So, thank you in advance for your support, as we wouldn’t be here without you!

To go directly to the list of items on sale at the Top Shelf website, just click here: http://www.topshelfcomix.com/specialdeals

But here are a few sample sale items:

-- Slashed Prices: The Underwater Welder, Lost Dogs, League 2009/1969, and more!

-- Slashed Prices: From Hell, Blankets (HC&SC), Carnet de Voyage, and more!

-- Slashed Prices: Wizzywig, Lovely Horrible Stuff, Any Empire, Clumsy, and

more!

-- Slashed Prices: Chester 5000, SuperF*ckers, Moving Pictures, and more!

-- Slashed Prices: Alec, American Elf, The Ticking, Far Arden, and more!

-- Slashed Prices: Owly, Korgi, Johnny Boo, Dragon Puncher, and more!

-- $3 Titles: Ax, Lucille, Undeleted Scenes, and more!

-- $3 Titles: Gingerbread Girl, The Homeland Directive, Liar’s Kiss, and more!

-- $3 Titles: Incredible Change-Bots, Night Animals, Underwire, and more!

-- $3 Titles: Voice of the Fire, The Playwright, Fingerprints, and more!

-- $3 Titles: BB Wolf, Three Fingers, The Surrogates (V1&V2), and more!

-- $3 Titles: Pirate Penguin, Okie Dokie Donuts, Pinky & Stinky, Yam, and more!

-- $1 Titles: Sulk (Vols 1, 2, & 3), SuperF*ckers #1-#4, and more!

-- $1 Titles: The Surrogates #1-#5, The Sketchbook Diaries #1-#4, and more!

-- $1 Titles: Lower Regions, Feeble Attempts, Conversations #1 & #2, and more!

-- $1 Titles: Comic Diorama, The Man Who Loved Breasts, Doublecross, and more!

-- $1 Titles: Tales of the Great Unspoken, Black Ghost Apple Factory, Dang!, and

more!

-- $1 Titles: Mephisto & The Empty Box, Hey Mister, Yearbook Stores,and more!

**********************

Please note that Top Shelf accepts PayPal (as well as Visa, MasterCard, Amex, and Discover -- all secure), and that this sale is good for retailers as well (and comic book shops will get their wholesale discount on top of these sale prices).

http://www.topshelfcomix.com/specialdeals

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

DC Comics from Diamond Distributors for September 12 2012

DC COMICS

JUL120244 AMERICAN VAMPIRE LORD OF NIGHTMARES #4 (MR) $2.99

JUL120167 BATGIRL #0 $2.99

JUL120154 BATMAN #0 $3.99

JUL120158 BATMAN #0 COMBO PACK $4.99

JUL120164 BATMAN AND ROBIN #0 $2.99

JUN120243 BATMAN ARKHAM CITY TP $16.99

JUL120202 BATMAN ARKHAM UNHINGED #6 $2.99

JUL120110 BEFORE WATCHMEN COMEDIAN #3 (MR) $3.99

JUL120112 BEFORE WATCHMEN COMEDIAN #3 COMBO PACK (MR) $4.99

JUN120236 BIRDS OF PREY TP VOL 01 TROUBLE IN MIND $14.99

JUN120244 BRIGHTEST DAY TP VOL 03 $16.99

JUL120188 DEATHSTROKE #0 $2.99

JUL120187 DEMON KNIGHTS #0 $2.99

JUL120184 FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF SHADE #0 $2.99

JUN120237 FURY OF FIRESTORM NUCLEAR MEN TP VOL 01 GOD PARTICLE $14.99

JUN120251 GREEN ARROW ARCHERS QUEST TP NEW ED $14.99

JUN120250 GREEN ARROW LONGBOW HUNTERS TP NEW ED $14.99

JUL120176 GREEN LANTERN CORPS #0 $2.99

JUL120234 GREEN LANTERN THE ANIMATED SERIES #6 $2.99

JUL120189 GRIFTER #0 $2.99

JUN120267 HE MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE #2 $2.99

MAY120270 JUDAS COIN HC $22.99

JUL120199 LEGION LOST #0 $2.99

JUL120252 PUNK ROCK JESUS #3 (MR) $2.99

JUL120196 RAVAGERS #0 $2.99

JUL120186 RESURRECTION MAN #0 $2.99

JUL120257 SAUCER COUNTRY #7 (MR) $2.99

JUL120207 SHADE #12 $2.99

JUL120192 SUICIDE SQUAD #0 $2.99

JUL120148 SUPERBOY #0 $2.99

JUL120122 TEAM 7 #0 $2.99

DC COMICS/DC COLLECTIBLES
JUN120308 BATMAN 1/4 SCALE MUSEUM QUALITY STATUE VER 2 $324.95
JUN120309 BATMAN BLACK & WHITE JOKER STATUE BRIAN BOLLAND $79.95
APR120306 GREEN LANTERN ANIMATED SERIES SAINT WALKER STATUE $124.95
JUN128338 JUSTICE LEAGUE AQUAMAN AF WAVE 3 PI