I Reads You

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Image Comics from Diamond Distributors for October 23 2013

Comics, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for October 23 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. Click here for a complete list of this week's Digital New Releases. For more information, go to www.digitalcomicsreader.com.

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS
MAY131272 A1 ANNUAL GN VOL 01 PX ED STERANKO $22.99
FEB131107 ACG COLL WORKS FORBIDDEN WORLDS HC VOL 04 $47.99
AUG131522 AFTERSCHOOL CHARISMA TP VOL 08 $12.99
APR130937 ALIENS VS PARKER #4 [DIG] $3.99
AUG131016 ALL NEW EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT IRIS #2 ASPEN RESERVED CVR $3.99
AUG131015 ALL NEW EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT IRIS #2 DIRECT MARKET CVR [DIG] $3.99
JUL130971 ANTARES TP VOL 03 EPISODE 3 $11.95
JUL130796 ARCHIE & FRIENDS DOUBLE DIGEST #32 [DIG/P+] $3.99
JUL130800 ARCHIE THE MARRIED LIFE TP VOL 04 $19.99
AUG131234 ARMY OF DARKNESS/REANIMATOR ONE SHOT $4.99
AUG130996 B & V FRIENDS DOUBLE DIGEST #236 [DIG/P+] $3.99
AUG130993 BETTY & VERONICA #268 REG CVR [DIG/P+] $2.99
JUL130803 BETTY & VERONICAS PRINCESS STORYBOOK TP [DIG] $9.99
JUL131200 BETTY BLUES HC $18.99
JUL130749 BIG NATE I CANT TAKE IT TP $9.99
JUL130972 BLAKE & MORTIMER GN VOL 15 SECRET O/T SWORDFISH PART 1 $15.95
AUG131122 BRAVEST WARRIORS #13 MAIN CVRS [DIG] $3.99
MAY131260 CHOOSE THEIR FATE #1 (MR) $9.95
AUG131413 DANCE CLASS HC VOL 06 MERRY OLDE CHRISTMAS $10.99
JUL131281 DEATH SENTENCE #2 $3.99
AUG131432 DEPARTMENT OF MONSTEROLOGY #1 $3.99
JUN131111 DF DEADPOOL KILLS DEADPOOL #1 CGC 9.8 $99.99
JUN131106 DF DREAM MERCHANT #1 EDMONDSON SGN ED $19.99
JUN131097 DF GRIMM #2 MIDTOWN CVR $19.99
MAY131104 DF IRON MAN #9 EXC CGC 9.8 $89.99
MAY131105 DF IRON MAN #9 EXC CVR LAND SGN PI
APR131113 DF JUPITERS LEGACY #1 CGC 9.8 $99.99
MAY131118 DF KICK ASS 3 #1 CGC 9.8 $89.99
MAR131125 DF STAR WARS #2 CGC GRADED $95.00
MAR131126 DF STAR WARS #3 CGC GRADED $95.00
MAY131116 DF STAR WARS #3 LTD GOLD ROSS SGN ED $89.99
JUN131109 DF SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN TEAM-UP #1 CGC 9.8 $99.99
MAR131124 DF WALKING DEAD GOVERNOR SPEC CGC GRADED $95.00
JUN131308 DISGAEA 3 SCHOOL OF DEVILS GN VOL 02 $14.95
AUG131145 FANBOYS VS ZOMBIES #19 [DIG] $3.99
AUG131102 FUTURAMA COMICS #69 $2.99
AUG131222 GARTH ENNIS ERF HC (MR) $14.99
AUG131562 GFT GRIMM FAIRY TALES #90 A CVR QUALANO (MR) $2.99
AUG131563 GFT GRIMM FAIRY TALES #90 B CVR LAISO (MR) $2.99
AUG131564 GFT GRIMM FAIRY TALES #90 C CVR CAFARO (MR) $2.99
AUG131568 GFT WONDERLAND #16 A CVR DOONEY $2.99
AUG131569 GFT WONDERLAND #16 B CVR SEJIC $2.99
AUG131570 GFT WONDERLAND #16 C CVR QUALANO $2.99
AUG131574 GFT ZOMBIES AND DEMONS TP $15.99
JUN131208 GIRL SECOND COMING VOL 01 $11.99
JUN131209 GIRL SECOND COMING VOL 02 $11.99
AUG131189 GREEN HORNET LEGACY #42 $3.99
AUG131489 HARBINGER #17 REG KITSON $3.99
JUL131250 HARVEY HORRORS BLACK CAT MYSTERY SLIPCASE ED VOL 01 $119.99
JUL131251 HARVEY HORRORS CHAMBER OF CHILLS SLIPCASE ED VOL 02 $119.99
FEB131111 HARVEY HORRORS COLL WORKS TOMB OF TERROR HC VOL 03 $47.99
JUL131254 HARVEY HORRORS TOMB OF TERROR SLIPCASE ED VOL 01 $119.99
JUL131255 HARVEY HORRORS WITCHES TALES SLIPCASE ED VOL 01 $119.99
JUL131256 HARVEY HORRORS WITCHES TALES SLIPCASE ED VOL 02 $119.99
JUN131061 JUICY CIDER GN (RES) $12.95
JUL130974 LARGO WINCH GN VOL 07 GOLDEN GATE $11.95
AUG131261 LOOKOUTS RIDDLE VOL 01 #6 (RES) $3.99
JUL130975 LUCKY LUKE TP VOL 37 FINGERS $11.95
JUL130810 MEGA MAN #30 REG CVR [DIG/P+] $2.99
AUG130913 MEN OF MYSTERY #91 $29.95
JUN130704 MISERY CITY GN (MR) $17.99
AUG131361 MISSIONS OF LOVE GN VOL 05 $10.99
JUL131262 NEMESIS THE WARLOCK DEVIANT ED HC (MR) $48.00
AUG131363 NO 6 GN VOL 03 $10.99
JUN131285 NUMBERCRUNCHER #4 $3.99
JUL131229 PAPERCUTZ SLICES HC VOL 05 FARTING DEAD $11.99
JUN131057 PATHFINDER #10 $3.99
JUL131176 PERCY JACKSON & OLYMPIANS HC VOL 03 TITANS CURSE $19.99
FEB131112 PRE CODE CLASSICS WEIRD MYSTERIES HC VOL 01 $47.99
JUN131062 PRICELESS HONEY GN (RES) (MR) $12.95
JUL131247 ROY THOMAS PRESENTS CAPTAIN VIDEO SLIPCASE ED $119.99
AUG131482 SHADOWMAN TP VOL 02 DARQUE RECKONING $14.99
APR130850 SHRUGGED VOL 2 #4 DIRECT MARKET CVR A [DIG] $3.99
APR130851 SHRUGGED VOL 2 #4 DIRECT MARKET CVR B $3.99
APR130852 SHRUGGED VOL 2 #4 DIRECT MARKET CVR C $3.99
APR130853 SHRUGGED VOL 2 #4 DIRECT MARKET CVR D $3.99
AUG131005 SONIC UNIVERSE #57 REG CVR [P+] $2.99
AUG131353 STARDROP GN VOL 02 PLACE TO HANG MY SPACESUIT $12.95
AUG131525 SUMMER WARS GN PART 01 $14.95
AUG131147 SUPURBIA ONGOING #12 [DIG] $3.99
APR130751 TECHNOMANCER GN $17.99
JUN131008 THE SPIDER #15 $3.99
JUL130977 THORGAL GN VOL 11 INVISIBLE FORTRESS $11.95
JUL131060 UNCANNY #4 $3.99
JUL130978 VALERIAN GN VOL 04 WELCOME TO ALFLOLOL $11.95
AUG131210 VAMPIRELLA #35 NEVES CVR $3.99
AUG131211 VAMPIRELLA #35 PARRILLO CVR $3.99
AUG131208 VAMPIRELLA SOUTHERN GOTHIC #3 $3.99
AUG131212 VAMPIRELLA/EVA/DRACULA HALLOWEEN SPECIAL $4.99
AUG131392 WASTELAND #49 (MR) $3.99
MAY131219 WASTELAND APOCALYPTIC ED HC VOL 03 (MR) $39.99
AUG130998 WORLD OF ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #33 [DIG/P+] $3.99

MAGAZINES
JUN131251 2000 AD PACK AUG 2013 $21.00
JUL131437 ALTER EGO #121 $8.95
JUN131511 AVENGER DOUBLE NOVEL VOL 11 $14.95
AUG131708 COMIC SHOP NEWS #1375 PI
JUL131445 DC BATMAN AUTOMOBILIA FIG COLL MAG #18 THE BATMAN ANIMATED S $20.00
JUL131446 DC BATMAN AUTOMOBILIA FIG COLL MAG #19 DETECTIVE COMICS #371 $20.00
JUL131447 DC SUPERHERO CHESS FIG COLL MAG #43 GREEN ARROW WHITE PAWN $16.00
JUL131448 DC SUPERHERO CHESS FIG COLL MAG #44 BIZARRO BLACK PAWN $16.00
JUL131506 DOC SAVAGE DOUBLE NOVEL VOL 69 $14.95
AUG131701 ILLUSTRATORS MAGAZINE #4 $24.99
AUG131702 JUXTAPOZ #154 NOV 2013 $5.99
AUG131658 SHADOW DOUBLE NOVEL VOL 77 $14.95
JUL131490 STEAMPUNK MODELLER VOL 03 $28.95
AUG131726 WALKING DEAD MAGAZINE #6 NEWSSTAND ED (MR) $9.99
AUG131727 WALKING DEAD MAGAZINE #6 PX ED (MR) $9.99

BOOKS
AUG131603 ALL THE WRONG QUESTIONS HC VOL 02 WHEN DID YOU SEE HER LAST $16.00
AUG131666 CAPCOM 30TH ANNIV CHARACTER ENCYCLOPEDIA HC $16.99
JUN138115 DOCTOR WHO SUMMER FALLS & OTHER STORIES SC $12.99
AUG131593 FROZEN ESSENTIAL GUIDE HC $12.99
AUG131611 MASTERING MANGA W/ MARK CRILLEY SC VOL 02 $24.99
AUG131601 RAGS & BONES NEW TWISTS ON TIMELESS TALES HC $18.00
JUL131432 SKETCHBOOK DEAN YEAGLE VOL 02 (MR) $30.00
AUG131663 STAR WARS ART CONCEPT LTD ED HC $400.00
AUG131584 TOY TIME LOOK BACK AT MOST BELOVED TOYS PAST DECADE SC $15.99
JUN131479 WIPED DOCTOR WHO MISSING EPISODES UPDATED 2ND ED $29.99

Monday, October 21, 2013

Review: The DC Comics Guide to Creating Comics

THE DC COMICS GUIDE TO CREATING COMICS
WATSON-GUPTILL PUBLICATIONS/DC Comics – @CrownPublishing and @dccomics

WRITERS: Carl Potts
COVER: Jim Lee, Bill Reinhold
ISBN: 978-0-385-34472-2; paperback (October 8, 2013)
192pp, Color, $24.99 U.S., $27.95 CAN

Forward by Jim Lee

Comic book writer, artist, and editor, Carl Potts joined Marvel Comics’ editorial staff in 1983. Potts co-created Alien Legion, a comic book series published by Marvel’s Epic imprint, and he helped develop The Punisher as the character went from supporting/guest player to title character.

Potts may be best known for working with numerous comic book artists early in their career, including Jon Bogdanove, Whilce Portacio, and Scott Williams, among many. Potts also helped Jim Lee and Art Adams break into the comics industry. Potts’ work as an editor and his work with young comic book creators make him the perfect author for books about creating comics.

Potts is the author of The DC Comics Guide to Creating Comics: Inside the Art of Visual Storytelling, the latest book in the DC Comics Guide series. The series previously focused on drawing comic books: The DC Comics Guide to Pencilling Comics, The DC Comics Guide to Inking Comics (both authored by Klaus Janson), and The DC Comics Guide to Digitally Drawing Comics (by Freddie Williams II).

With such a pedigree and with so many accomplishments, it should be no surprise that The DC Comics Guide to Creating Comics is not a book for beginners. It is not that this book is highly technical; it actually goes into great detail about the art and craft of creating comics. It discusses everything from the goals and principles of “visual sequential storytelling” to how a creator can affect the comics reader’s experience.

To me, at least, the people who can get the most out of The DC Comics Guide to Creating Comics are writers and artists, especially the latter, who have created comics. Those writers and artists who have some professional experience or who have produced comic books (even if they have had to self-publish) will get the most out of this because they already either already understand comics (either by theory or practice) or have attempted to make comics.

The DC Comics Guide to Creating Comics is generously illustrated book, but this is not about pretty pictures and slick comic book art. It is about teaching and guiding. Potts makes his points with covers, whole pages, thumbnails, pencils, inks, details from larger pieces, etc. I think my favorite part of the book is Chapter Twelve: Watching the Pros Work. Three artists: Whilce Portacio, Bill Reinhold, and Phil Jimenez take the same three-page script and provide breakdowns or thumbnails and then, turn those into pencil art. Seeing how three veteran artists interpret the same script in ways that are both graphically and visually similar and different is a joy for a comic book fan and will likely be of use to someone wanting to learn the DC Comics’ way of drawing comic books.

So readers wanting to learn more about creating superhero comic books will want The DC Comics Guide to Creating Comics: Inside the Art of Visual Storytelling. Carl Potts is a good teacher, and this is one good looking book.

A-

An incomplete list of the artists and writers whose work appears in this volume:
Arthur Adams, Joe Bennett, W.H. Haden Blackman, Brett Booth, Doug Braithwaite, Rick Bryant, Greg Capullo, Nick Cardy, Tony Daniel, John Dell, Steve Ditko, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Dave Gibbons, Russ Heath, Adam Hughes, Klaus Janson, Phil Jimenez, Geoff Johns, J.G. Jones, Joe Kubert, Andy Lanning, Jim Lee, Francis Manapul, Mike Mignola, Grant Morrison, Kevin Nowlan, Yanick Paquette, George Perez, Whilce Portacio, E. Potts, Bill Reinhold, Ivan Reis, Eduardo Risso, Alex Ross, P. Craig Russell, Walter Simonson, Scott Snyder, Ryan Sook, Ardian Syaf, Bruce Timm, Alex Toth, J.H. Williams III, Scott Williams, and Jorge Zaffino

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

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

Sunday, October 20, 2013

X: Karen and Nataku

I read X, Vol. 6: 3-in-1 (X (3-in-1))

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

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Yaoi Review: SLEEPING MOON Volume 2

SLEEPING MOON, VOL. 2
SUBLIME – @SuBLimeManga

CARTOONIST: Kano Miyamoto
TRANSLATION: Christine Dashiell
LETTERS: NRP Studios
COVER: Kano Miyamoto and Courtney Utt
EDITOR: Jennifer LeBlanc
ISBN: 978-1-4215-5551-5; paperback (October 2013) Rated “M” for “Mature”
234pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $14.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

Sometimes I encounter a situation in which the second volume of a manga series is so much better than the first volume, even when that debut volume is itself good. That recently happened again, and I am totally wowed by Sleeping Moon Volume 2.

Sleeping Moon is a yaoi manga graphic novel from creator Kano Miyamoto. Yaoi manga is a subset of boys’ love manga (BL) and features explicit depictions of sex between male characters. SuBLime Manga is publishing Sleeping Moon, which follows a young man trying to unravel a family curse, as a two-volume graphic novel series.

Sleeping Moon introduces 27-year-old college student-teacher, Akihiko Odagawa. He returns to his family’s ancestral home in order to solve the mystery of a rumored curse that brings early death to the male descendants in his lineage, the Sakaki Family. There, he meets his Aunt Akiko and her two children, twin brother and sister, Ren and Eri. While in the home, Akihiko experiences a time slip that takes him back 100 years in the past to Japan’s Meiji Period, where he meets student, Eitarou Shinjou. The two men form a deep emotional bond as they bridge time to unravel a family curse?

As Sleeping Moon, Vol. 2 (Chapters 6 to 9) opens, Akihiko surrenders to his cousin Ren. Their relationship, which has already turned sexual, grows more personal and intimate. Akihiko, however, cannot stop thinking about Eitarou, the relative that he visits when he can time travel at night.

Eitarou and Akihiko grow closer, and together seek the truth behind the curse on their family. Its origins are buried in an incident involving the Shinjou Family, which was tied to the Sakakis. What went wrong or what happened? But the nearer the two men from different eras get to the truth, the more Akihiko’s body seems to fade away.

No wonder so many readers seem to love these love stories that involve time travel. They can make for great reading, and the Sleeping Moon manga is a terrific read. Correction: Sleeping Moon Volume 2 is a great read.

After reading Vol. 1, I thought that Sleeping Moon had potential. Its supernatural elements were creepy, and the romance was strong; however, as I read it, I thought that creator Kano Miyamoto was being cool and deliberate about passions and revelations. With the four chapters that make up the second half of the story, Miyamoto seems to unleash a torrent of passion, longing, and rage.

OMG! The revenge-ghost story part of Sleeping Moon suddenly becomes spine-tingling J-Horror. There were times when I thought the bad spirits would emerge from the page and contaminate me. I really invested myself in wanting a resolution to the curse.

Akihiko, Ren, and Eitarou form one of the best love triangles that I have ever found in a comic book from any country. That is another element of Sleeping Moon in which I heavily invested my emotions. I wanted Akihiko to be with Eitarou, but at the same time, I saw that Akihiko and Ren made a great couple – regardless of the incestuous nature of their love. This is one of those examples in which the reader will be happy about the outcome, but still yearn for the other outcome.

This is one of my favorite manga and comic books of the year. There is a nice epilogue, entitled “Waning Moon,” and it is a near perfect ending, but it just reminds you that the good time you had reading Sleeping Moon is about to end.

A+

www.SuBLimeManga.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

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

Friday, October 18, 2013

Book Review: HELP FOR THE HAUNTED

HELP FOR THE HAUNTED
WILLIAM MORROW/HarperCollins – @WmMorrowBks and @HarperCollins

AUTHOR: John Searles – @searlesbooks
ISBN: 978-0-06-077963-4; hardcover (September 17, 2013)
368pp, B&W, $26.99 U.S.

I have not read many prose novels this year, but I can honestly say that the best one that I have read (thus far) is Help for the Haunted, the 2013 novel by author John Searles. Searles is a television book critic, magazine editor, and essayist, in addition to being the author of such novels as Boy Still Missing and Strange but True. A coming-of-age tale and ghost story of sorts, Help for the Haunted follows a teen girl forced to unravel the mystery surrounding both her parents’ past and their brutal murder.

Fifteen-year-old Sylvie Mason isn’t sure who murdered her parents that winter night. As of now, the police have in custody, Albert Lynch, a troubled man who had sought help from Sylvie’s parents, Rose and Sylvester Mason. The adult Masons were known for providing “help for the haunted,” those people troubled by the supernatural – possessions, ghosts, and those sorts of things.

Still, Sylvie is determined to keep looking until she knows the truth of that night when she found her parents dead in a small church. She needs to know the identity of the person she saw standing near their bodies in the darkness, but with certainty. As Sylvie pursues the mystery, she slowly moves closer to the knowledge of what occurred that night. Finding that knowledge, however, means she must not only dig deep into each of her parents’ past, but she must also relive the previous few years of her life with her parents and his sister, also named Rose. As Sylvie comes to terms with her family’s past, she uncovers secrets that have haunted them for years, including young Rose’s secrets. Did Sylvie’s sister murder her own parents?

Help for the Haunted is one of those novels that is “part” a lot of things. It is part mystery, part ghost story, and part modern fiction. Author John Searles tells the story from Sylvie Mason’s point of view or through Sylvie. Thus, in a way, Help for the Haunted is like a young adult novel, but told as an adult story.

I think what Searles is actually doing is using two familiar genres: the whodunit and the ghost story, to tell a story that delves into the highly-complex circulation systems that make up modern family dysfunction and into the hot mess that is family history. In telling this story, Searles will withhold information, and then, in the next literary breath break open family secrets like an anxious bull in ye olde proverbial china shop.

This is superlative storytelling, but Searles also gives us a golden cherry on top – a great lead character in Sylvie Mason. Searles puts us right inside Sylvie – head and heart, body and soul. She is the classic plucky kid, but also the modern bullied teen girl who turns out to be a fortress of solitude, and, in the end, a lioness with a heart of gold. We tag along with Sylvie for an amazing journey slash guessing-game that is one of the great reads of 2013, and it has a killer last act and ending. Help for the Haunted is John Searles’ help for the bored reader.

A+

www.John-Searles.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

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

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Review: TIGER AND BUNNY: The Beginning Side B

TIGER & BUNNY: THE BEGINNING SIDE B
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Tsutomu Oono
PLANNING/STORY: Sunrise
ORIGINAL SCRIPT: Masafumi Nishida
ORIGINAL CHARACTER DESIGN: Masakazu Katsura
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Labaamen and John Werry, HC Language Solutions
LETTERS: Stephen Dutro
ISBN: 978-1-4215-6076-2; paperback (October 2013); Rated “T” for “Teen”
160pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 U.K.

Gekijō-ban Tiger & Bunny – The Beginning (or simply Tiger & Bunny – The Beginning) is a 2012 anime film based on Tiger & Bunny, the science fiction and superhero anime television series. Produced by Japanese animation studio, Sunrise (Accel World, Cowboy Bebob), Tiger & Bunny ran for 25 episodes in 2011.

Artist Tsutomu Oono produced a manga adaptation of Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning. VIZ Media is publishing that manga in two volumes as Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning Side A and Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning Side B.

Tiger & Bunny takes place in a world where 45 years earlier, super-powered humans, known as NEXT, started appearing. Some of them fight crime as superheroes in Stern Bild City (a re-imagined version of New York City). They promote their corporate sponsors while appearing on the hit television show, HERO TV. Each season, the superheroes compete to be named the “King of Heroes.” The series focuses on the mismatched duo of Barnaby Brooks, Jr., a new superhero, and Kotetsu T. Kaburagi, the veteran superhero, Wild Tiger.

As Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning Side B opens, Kotetsu’s employer, Apollon Media, gives him new instructions. In light of the recent near disaster (as depicted in Side A), Kotetsu is expected to act as Barnaby’s foil, as well as to offer him encouragement. Kotetsu tricks his fellow superheroes into throwing a welcoming party for Bunny, his pet name for Barnaby. The party ends, however, when the speedy Robin Baxter gets his hands on the Statue of Justice.

The Tiger & Bunny manga is quite similar to American superhero comic books – closer than most manga I have ever read. It resembles DC Comics’ 1980s Justice League comic book series, which was put a humorous bent on the venerable Justice League franchise.

Virtually the entirety of Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning Side B is one long, extended chase/action sequence with comedy, lite death-defying moments, and some cleverness on the part of both heroes and villain. I enjoyed reading it; in fact, by the time I got to the end, I really wanted more. Maybe, it is a superhero thing with me, but I like this. I am curious to know if other superhero fans will like it.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

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