Thursday, May 31, 2018

I Reads You Juniors May 2018 - Update #53

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Leroy's Amazon Comics and Graphic Novels Page:

From ComicBook:  "Fairy Tail" Creator's New Manga Will Be Released Worldwide in English.  It's temporary title is "Eden's Zero."

From Newsarama: IDW Publishing's solicitations for August 2018

From BleedingCool:  DC Comics is registering a trademark for "Cliffhanger!"  That was the name of a creator-owned imprint owned by Wildstorm Productions, which is now owned by DC.

From ComicBook:  There will be a new one-shot "Bleach" manga.

From BleedingCool:  Marvel and Mattel settle over "Cloak & Dagger" trademark.

From Newsarama:  Keith Champagne talks about his Kickstarter-started original graphic novel, "The Switch: Electricia."

From AnimeNewsNetwork: Yen Press to Publish Goblin Slayer: Brand New Day Spinoff Manga Simultaneously With Japan

From Asahi:  Satoru Noda’s “Golden Kamuy” won the Manga Grand Prix at the 22nd Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize after being shortlisted for three straight years.

From NBCBayArea:  Fans Flood Oakland Comic Store for Exclusive Local 'Black Panther' Cover

From WindowsCentral:  A guide to reading comics on Windows 10.

From BleedingCool:  Ten Things Rich Johnston Can Tell You About Justice League #1 by Scott Snyder and Jim Cheung

From ComicBookBin:  New webcomics Johnny Bullet episode #164 in English.
From ComicBookBin:  New webcomics Johnny Bullet episode #164 in French.

From Crunchyroll:  Tite Kubo's "Bleach" Manga Opens Its Official Instagram Account

From ArabNews:  First Saudi manga artist highlights Arab culture through its proverbs

From BleedingCool:  The Full DC Comics Catalogue for August 2018

From BleedingCool:  Frank Miller and John Romita, Jr.'s "Superman: Year One," which was to launch DC Comics' "Black Label" imprint, is already late.

From ComicBookBin:  New webcomic Johnny Bullet episode #163 in English.
From ComicBookBin:  New webcomic Johnny Bullet episode #163 in French.

From BleedingCool:  Stan Sakai, creator of Usagi Yojimbo, receives the inaugural "Joe Kubert Distinguished Storyteller Award."

From Crunchyroll:  Vertical Announces "Kino's Journey" Manga and More at Anime Central

From BleedingCool:  DC Comics not satisfied with Diamond Comics Distributors April 2018 sales numbers because they should have won the month, but did not...

From OtakuMode: The "Shaman King" spinoff manga, "Shaman King The Super Star," debuts in June in Japan.

From KOB:   Mom releases comic book to inspire kids with disabilities

From BleedingCool:  Marvel Comics is apparently planning a Spider-Man theme crossover for the Fall, "Spidergeddon."

From CBR:  How Neal Adams’ First X-Men Issue Helped Change Comic Book Coloring

From IGN:  Stan Lee sues POW! Entertainment, the company he founded, for $1 billion.

From FineBooks:  World Record Comic Book & Art Auction Surpasses $12.2 Million at Heritage Auctions

From Syfy:  Margot Kidder says her "Lois Lane" was truer to the comic book. Kidder played Lane in the 1970s and 1980s "Superman" films, starring Christopher Reeve as Superman.

From BleedingCool:  The series artists for "Sandman Universe" from DC Comics and curator Neil Gaiman have been revealed.

From BleedingCool:  Warner Bros. trademarks the term "DC Universe," which is apparently the name of Warner/DC Entertaiment's upcoming streaming service.

From HuffPost:  Marvel Introduces Their First Official Chinese Superheroes

From FlickeringMyth:  Marvel Comics marks the Return of the Fantastic Four with twenty variant covers

From FlickeringMyth:  Preview of Marvel Comics' "Quicksilver: No Surrender #1"

From TheComicsReporter:  Koyama Press Announces Fall 2018 Line

From BleedingCool:  Jim Lee says that rumors of a DC Comics reboot are ridiculous.

From Riylcast: A podcast interview with alt-comix icon, Adrian Tomine.

From BleedingCool:  IDW announces James Brown biocomic, "Black and Proud" by Xavier Fathoux.

From BleedingCool:  IDW is going to republish writer Randy Stradely and artist Mike Kaluta's comic book adaptation of James Cameron's 1989 film, "The Abyss."

From AnimeNewsNetwork:  New chapters of "Attack on Titan: Junior High" are arriving.

From ComicBook:  "Powerpuff Girls" get manga makeover.

From BleedingCool:  DC Comics Promoting Relaunches With In-Store Posters

From Kotaku:  Inio Asano Is A Dark Manga Artist For Adults Who Want Something Real

From JapanToday:  Rare sketch art by legendary manga artist, Osamu Tezuka, of his character, Astro Boy, fetches a record price at an auction in Paris, France.

From BleedingCool:  "My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies," an original graphic novel from Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, due in October 2018.

From BleedingCool:  Peter Milligan and Alison Sampson Take Hit-Girl to India

From ScreenRant:  Marvel Movies Can’t Lose, So Why Can’t The Comics Win? [This article is good but glosses over Marvel's problems with marketing, advertising, and public relations, to say nothing about market over-saturation.]

From ComicBook:  The cast of "Avengers: Infinity War" surprises fans at a comic book store.

From Crunchyroll:  "Golden Kamuy" among 2018 Eisner Award nominees.

From BleedingCool:  DC Comics teases the "ultimate DC membership," the "DC Universe," which may be related to the streaming service that will carry the "Teen Titans" TV show.

From BleedingCool:  Olivia Holt and Aubrey Joseph, the stars of Freeform's "Marvel's Cloak and Dagger," promote Free Comic Book Day 2018.

From CBR:  Which "Avengers: Infinity War" scenes came straight from the comic book?

From THR:  John Barber is the new editor-in-chief at IDW Publishing, replacing Chris Ryall.

From WRAL:  Free Comic Book Day 2018 arrives this Saturday.

From BleedingCool:  Rob Liefeld is recruiting for a revival of his "bad girl" comic book, "Glory."

From ComicBookBin:  New webcomic Johnny Bullet episode #162 in English.
From ComicBookBin:  New webcomic Johnny Bullet episode #162 in French.


Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Book Review: BARRACOON

BARRACOON: THE STORY OF THE LAST “BLACK CARGO”
HARPER/Amistad – @HarperCollins @AmistadBooks

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

AUTHOR: Zora Neale Hurston
EDITOR: Deborah G. Plant
ISBN: 978-0-06-285508-4; hardcover – 5 1/2” x 8 1/4” (May 8, 2018)
208pp, B&W, $24.99 U.S.

Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist and playwright, who may be best known for her 1937 novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, one of her four novels.  Hurston was and still is noted for her contributions to African-American literature, for her portrayal of racial struggles in the American South, and for her research on Haitian voodoo.

Hurston was also an anthropologist and folklorist and authored two books of folklore, Mules and Men (1935) and Tell My Horse (1938), and her autobiography, Dust Tracks on the Road (1942).  There was one work by Hurston that mixes anthropology, folklore, and biography.  It is the story of one of the last-known survivors of the Atlantic slave trade, a story Hurston told in the vernacular in which that survivor spoke.

It was unpublished... until this week (May 8th, 2018).  Now, in a hardcover from Amistad Books (a HarperCollins imprint), comes the book entitled Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo.”  This is the story of a man who was help captive aboard the last slave ship, the Clotilda, to come from Africa and deliver African captives into slavery in America.

In 1927, Zora Neale Hurston went to Plateau, an African-eccentric community just outside Mobile, Alabama, to interview an 86-year-old African man named Cudjo Lewis.  Lewis' birth name was Oluala Kossola, and he was one of millions of men, women, and children who were transported from Africa to America as slaves.  By 1927, however, Cudjo (born sometime around 1841) was the only person still alive who could tell the complete story of being captured, transported across the Atlantic (the “Middle Passage”), and forced into slavery.

Hurston recorded Cudjo’s firsthand account of the raid on his African hometown (Bantè) by the Fon of Dahomey, who were among the African people who resisted the British-led effort to end the trans-Atlantic slave trade.  [Up to the beginning of the Civil War, some Americans still sailed to Africa to get slaves that they smuggled into the United States.]  In this raid, Cudjo was captured and transported to Ouidah, a town along the West African coast, where he was held prisoner in the “barracoons.”  A “barracoon” was a hut or structure where captors detained Africans who were to be sold and exported to America or Europe as slaves.  In 1859, Cudjo would leave Africa for America, where he would spend five-and-half years in bondage as a slave in Alabama until he was freed in 1865.

In 1931, Hurston returned to Plateau, which had been founded by Cudjo and the other former slaves that had been transported to America in the Clotilda.  Hurston spent more than three months with Cudjo, talking in depth about the details of his life.

During this time, Hurston, the young writer, and Cudjo, the elderly former enslaved man, talked about Cudjo’s past.  He recounted the memories of his childhood and young adulthood in Africa and then,  the horrors of the raid in which he was captured.  He narrates the story of his time being held in a barracoon and his eventual selection by American slavers.  Cudjo recalls the harrowing experience of the “Middle Passage,” packed with more than 100 other souls aboard the Clotilda.   He finally reveals the years he spent in slavery and his troubled life after helping to found an Alabama town for Africans like himself.

Based on those interviews, Hurston tells the story mainly from Cudjo's point of view, transcribing Cudjo’s unique vernacular diction.  Although she wrote the text from her perspective as she heard it, Hurston spelled the words as she heard Cudjo say them, using the former slave's rhythm, expressions, and phrases.  Rejected by publishers in the 1930s, Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” sees the light of day thanks to the bold vision of Amistad Books and HarperCollins.

Amistad Books is proving to be a year-round “Black History Month” celebration, thanks to publications such as the recent, brilliant non-fiction tome, Black Fortunes: The Story of the First Six African Americans Who Escaped Slavery and Became Millionaires, by Shomari Wills.  It is best not to underestimate the importance of Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo.”  In the literary world, there are people (like Alice Walker) who worked to restore Zora Neale Hurston, who died in obscurity (more or less), to a place of honor in American literature.  Deborah G. Plant is among those people, and Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” is important to the ongoing restoration of Hurston.  It is also a fantastic book and a riveting read.

Hurston's text, which includes the body of Cudjo Lewis' story, an introduction, and appendix, makes up 112 pages of this book.  By the time I finished reading, I was not sure what part of the story impressed me most, but by recording Cudjo's recollections of his life and trials in Africa, Hurston informs today's readers of her place as an anthropologist.  The tale of the raid on Cudjo's village and the forced march from his captors' village to the barracoons is harrowing.  I think that this part of the narrative will be imprinted on my memory for a long time, but I found every part of this book fascinating.

Hurston's decision to keep the story in Cudjo's vernacular was the right choice, and potential publishers to whom she hoped to sell this book apparently did not agree with this.  Cudjo's story is so powerful and unforgettable precisely because of the manner and language in which Hurston committed it to text.  I think Hurston's decisions regarding this text assure her place as a hugely important twentieth-century contributor to American history and culture.

Hurston's appendix contains some folktales Cudjo related to her, the recording of which testifies to Hurston's place as a folklorist.  Deborah Plant's introduction is a must-read for readers before they enter Hurston's text.  The glossary and notes will help readers grasp many of the terms, phrases, names, and words included in Hurston's text.  At 200+ pages, Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” is a slim text, but it packs a wallop of a punch both as history and as a document of a particular facet of American slavery.

Readers looking for great tales of “Black History” and for books that reveal an untold corner of American history must have Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo.”  And no Zora Neale Hurston library or collection can be without it.

[This book includes an introduction by editor, Deborah G. Plant, and a foreword by Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Alice Walker.]

9 out of 10

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


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Review: STRANGE FRUIT #4

STRANGE FRUIT No. 4 (OF 4)
BOOM! Studios – @boomstudios

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITERS: J.G. Jones and Mark Waid
ARTIST: J.G. Jones
LETTERS: Deron Bennett
COVER: J.G. Jones
24pp, Colors, $3.99 U.S. (November 2016)

Suggested for mature readers

Published by BOOM! Studios, Strange Fruit was a four-issue comic book miniseries released in 2015 and 2016.  It was the creation of two acclaimed comic book creators.  The first is J.G. Jones, the co-creator of Wanted (with Mark Millar) and the cover artist for the Vertigo comic book series, Y: The Last Man.  The second is Mark Waid, a long-time comic book writer and editor.  Waid is known for the creation of the DC Comics miniseries, Kingdom Come (with artist Alex Ross) and for writing two acclaimed runs on Marvel Comics' Daredevil.

In a publicity release, BOOM! Studios described Strange Fruit as “a deeply personal passion project.”  The release also said that the comic book was a “provocative examination of the heroic myth confronting the themes of racism, cultural legacy, and human nature through a literary lens, drawing from Southern folklore and tradition.”

Strange Fruit is set in and around Chatterlee, Mississippi in April 1927.  At this time, the “Great Mississippi Flood of 1927” would occur.   As the story begins, the Mississippi River is rising, threatening to break open the levees and destroy Chatterlee, as it has already done to other “God-fearing” towns.  The race to shore up the levees is also threatening to break open the racial and social divisions of Chatterlee and the surrounding area.  Into this roiling situation, a mysterious Black man falls from the sky.

As Strange Fruit #4 opens, some of the local White people have come to see the mysterious Black man as useful, although the local Black community has already greeted his arrival as a sign of divine intervention.  Nicknamed “Johnson,” by Sonny, the young “agitator,” the stranger begins to really show his super powers, and attempts to use a strange device to save the town and the people from the flood.  However, there are still some racist White people who want to kill Johnson and other Black people even as the rising water threatens their very own lives.

In my review of Strange Fruit #3, I mentioned one of my all-time favorite novels, Stephen King's masterpiece, 'Salem's Lot (1975).  One of the elements of the plot that I thoroughly enjoyed was how the people of Jerusalem's Lot (or 'Salem's Lot, for short) blithely carried on their petty conflicts while darkness slowly enveloped their town.  That is Strange Fruit #3 and #4 in a nutshell.  Even the behemoth threat that is the flooding Mississippi River cannot completely draw people away from their mistrust and racial strife.

This is truth in J.G. Jones and Mark Waid's storytelling.  They convey the brutal strength and ugly power of hate with honesty; even with salvation or death by drowning practically shoved in their faces, some of the White people still have to hate and oppress Black folks.  I have said this before and it bears repeating:  Strange Fruit is not a screed against racism; rather it is an amazingly human tale that is genuine in its portrayal of the nature of man.

J. G. Jones produced some of the most beautiful comic book art for Strange Fruit that I have ever seen.  His depiction of the human face and its myriad expressiveness is a sight to behold.  The grace of the human in clothing and costume shines through even when the characters are being less than graceful.

Strange Fruit was one of 2015's best comic books and is one of the best of 2016.  It never received any Eisner Award (for excellence in comic books) nominations.  Wow!

A+

www.boom-studios.com
#comicsforward

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


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Monday, May 28, 2018

BOOM! Studios from Diamond Distributors for May 30, 2018

BOOM! STUDIOS

MAR181278    ABBOTT #5 (OF 5)    $3.99
MAR181254    ADVENTURE TIME 100 PROJECT TP    $14.99
JAN181326    DODO ORIGINAL GN    $9.99
MAR181282    GRASS KINGS #15 MAIN & MIX    $4.99
MAR181294    JIM HENSON LABYRINTH CORONATION #4 (OF 12)    $3.99
MAR181295    JIM HENSON LABYRINTH CORONATION #4 (OF 12) SUBSCRIPTION ISAA    $3.99
MAR181271    KONG OF SKULL ISLAND 2018 SPECIAL #1    $7.99
MAR181283    LUCAS STAND INNER DEMONS #4 (OF 4) (MR)    $3.99
JAN181343    MECH CADET YU TP VOL 01    $14.99
MAR188633    MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS 2018 ANNUAL #1 SG (2ND PTG)    $7.99

Dark Horse Comics from Diamond Distributors for May 30, 2018

DARK HORSE COMICS

MAR180038    BLACKWOOD #1 (OF 4) MAIN CVR    $3.99
MAR180039    BLACKWOOD #1 (OF 4) VAR CLOONAN CVR    $3.99
MAR180098    HARROW COUNTY #31    $3.99
JAN180128    LEGACY HOUSE OF NIGHT GN    $14.99
JAN180136    ROCKET ROBINSON & PHAROAHS FORTUNE GN VOL 01    $14.99
JAN180137    TENTACLE KITTY COLORING BOOK SC    $14.99
NOV170026    WILL EISNER CONTRACT WITH GOD CURATORS COLL HC    $195.00
NOV170027    WILL EISNER CONTRACT WITH GOD CURATORS COLL HC LTD ED    $295.00

DC Comics from Diamond Distributors for May 30, 2018

DC COMICS
APR180156    AQUAMAN JABBERJAW SPECIAL #1    $4.99
APR180157    AQUAMAN JABBERJAW SPECIAL #1 VAR ED    $4.99
MAR180249    BANE CONQUEST #11 (OF 12)    $3.99
NOV170359    BATMAN KNIGHTFALL OMNIBUS HC VOL 03 KNIGHTSEND    $99.99
APR180173    BATMAN PRELUDE TO THE WEDDING ROBIN VS RAS AL GHUL #1    $3.99
FEB180283    BATWOMAN TP VOL 02 WONDERLAND REBIRTH    $14.99
APR180158    BLACK LIGHTNING HONG KONG PHOOEY SPECIAL #1    $4.99
APR180159    BLACK LIGHTNING HONG KONG PHOOEY SPECIAL #1 VAR ED    $4.99
MAR180233    DOOMSDAY CLOCK #5 (OF 12)    $4.99
MAR180234    DOOMSDAY CLOCK #5 (OF 12) VAR ED    $4.99
APR180160    FLASH SPEED BUGGY SPECIAL #1    $4.99
APR180161    FLASH SPEED BUGGY SPECIAL #1 VAR ED    $4.99
MAR180288    GREEN ARROW ANNUAL #2    $4.99
MAR180285    GREEN LANTERNS ANNUAL #1    $4.99
FEB180303    INJUSTICE GROUND ZERO TP VOL 02    $16.99
MAR180232    JUSTICE LEAGUE NO JUSTICE #4 (OF 4)    $3.99
APR180145    MAN OF STEEL #1 (OF 6)    $3.99
MAR180303    RAVEN DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS #5 (OF 12)    $3.99
FEB180310    SCOOBY DOO TEAM UP TP VOL 05    $12.99
APR180162    SUPER SONS DYNOMUTT SPECIAL #1    $4.99
APR180163    SUPER SONS DYNOMUTT SPECIAL #1 VAR ED    $4.99
FEB180311    SUPERGIRL BEING SUPER TP    $16.99
FEB180313    SUPERMAN BY MARK MILLAR TP    $29.99

Dynamite Entertainment from Diamond Distributors for May 30, 2018

D. E.

MAR181478    JEEPERS CREEPERS #2 CVR A JONES    $3.99
MAR181479    JEEPERS CREEPERS #2 CVR B BAAL    $3.99
MAR181480    JEEPERS CREEPERS #2 CVR C PHOTO    $3.99
MAR181482    KISS AOD #4 (OF 5) CVR A STRAHM    $3.99
MAR181483    KISS AOD #4 (OF 5) CVR B MONTES    $3.99
MAR181484    KISS AOD #4 (OF 5) CVR C HAESER    $3.99
DEC171427    MYOPIA RISE OF THE DOMES    $4.99
MAR181492    PATHFINDER SPIRAL OF BONES #3 (OF 5) CVR A SANTUCCI    $4.99
MAR181493    PATHFINDER SPIRAL OF BONES #3 (OF 5) CVR B GALINDO    $4.99
MAR181494    PATHFINDER SPIRAL OF BONES #3 (OF 5) CVR C MANDRAKE    $4.99
MAR181514    SHEENA #9 CVR A SANAPO    $3.99
MAR181515    SHEENA #9 CVR B GALINDO    $3.99
MAR181516    SHEENA #9 CVR C HDR    $3.99
MAR181517    SHEENA #9 CVR D COSPLAY    $3.99