Comics, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for March 18, 2020

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS

JAN202338    AJIN GN VOL 14    $12.95
JAN201755    AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #30 COMICXPOSURE EXC MARY JANE VAR    $29.99
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JAN201522    ARCHIE #712 (ARCHIE & KATY KEENE PT 3) CVR C ZARCONE    $3.99
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JAN201912    BACKTRACK #2 (MR)    $3.99
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JAN202084    BLACK STARS ABOVE #5 (MR)    $3.99
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JAN201955    CANOPUS #2    $3.99
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DEC191678    COWBOY HC    $19.99
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NOV191680    DF DOCTOR STRANGE SURGEON SUPREME #1 SGN WAID    $19.63
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NOV191677    DF THOR THE WORTHY #1 SGN SIMONSON    $33.70
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JAN201446    DRAGONFLY & DRAGONFLYMAN #5 (OF 5) (MR)    $3.99
JAN208454    FIRE FORCE GN VOL 17 (RES)    $10.99
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NOV191385    GODS AND GEARS #3 (OF 4)    $1.50
SEP191476    GOLD DIGGER #271    $3.99
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JAN201838    HEXAGON #1 (OF 5) CVR B CITTADINO    $3.99
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JAN201612    HOTELL #1 (OF 4) (MR)    $3.99
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DEC191357    ICYMI #14    $0.99
JAN202284    IM STANDING ON MILLION LIVES GN VOL 06 (MR)    $10.99
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JAN201885    JOURNEY UNDER THE ARCTIC HC GN    $12.99
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JAN201632    LADY DEATH 10TH ANN #1 PLATINUM FOIL VAR (MR)    $5.99
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JAN202091    MONEY SHOT TP (MR)    $17.99
JAN201990    MORE FAR OUT FAIRY TALES 5 FULL COLOR GN    $12.95
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JAN201876    OVER THE ROPES #4 (OF 5)    $3.99
JAN202134    PARALLEL PARADISE GN VOL 01 (MR)    $13.99
NOV191461    PLANET COMICS #1 CVR A    $3.99
NOV191462    PLANET COMICS #1 CVR B MEUGNIOT    $9.99
MAY191789    POKEMON DETECTIVE PIKACHU MOVIE GN    $17.99
JAN201611    RED BORDER #1 (OF 4) (MR)    $3.99
JAN201608    RESISTANCE #1 (OF 6) CVR A RAHZZAH    $3.99
JAN201609    RESISTANCE #1 (OF 6) CVR B DEODATO JR    $3.99
JAN201880    RISE ZELPHIRE HC BOOK 03 HEART OF EVIL    $19.99
JAN202291    SAINT YOUNG MEN HC GN VOL 02 (MR)    $23.99
JAN201788    SCIENCE COMICS CROWS GENIUS BIRDS HC GN    $19.99
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DEC192194    SKELETON KNIGHT IN ANOTHER WORLD GN VOL 03    $12.99
JAN202258    SMOKIN PARADE GN VOL 07 (MR)    $13.00
JAN202259    SO IM A SPIDER SO WHAT GN VOL 07    $13.00
JAN202293    SOMETHINGS WRONG WITH US GN VOL 01    $12.99
DEC191853    STABBITY BUNNY #10    $3.99
JAN201752    STAR WARS #1 HAESER SGN REMARKED    $69.99
DEC191580    TAROT WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE #114 STUDIO ED (MR)    $19.99
JAN202294    THAT TIME I GOT REINCARNATED AS A SLIME GN VOL 12 (MR)    $12.99
JAN201754    THOR #1 HAESER SGN REMARKED    $69.99
JAN202240    TOILET BOUND HANAKO KUN GN VOL 02    $13.00
JAN202260    TRIAGE X GN VOL 19 (MR)    $14.00
DEC192004    UNBOUND #5 (OF 5) CVR A RIVEIRO    $3.99
DEC192005    UNBOUND #5 (OF 5) CVR B COLAPIETRO    $3.99
DEC192006    UNBOUND #5 (OF 5) CVR C BURNS    $3.99
JAN201435    UNDONE BY BLOOD #2 CVR A KIVELA    $3.99
DEC191401    V CARD #3 (OF 4)    $3.99
JAN202088    VAGRANT QUEEN PLANET CALLED DOOM #3    $3.99
OCT191481    VAMPBLADE SEASON 4 #8 CVR A YOUNG (MR)    $4.99
OCT191482    VAMPBLADE SEASON 4 #8 CVR B YOUNG RISQUE (MR)    $4.99
OCT191483    VAMPBLADE SEASON 4 #8 CVR C CHIMISSO (MR)    $4.99
OCT191484    VAMPBLADE SEASON 4 #8 CVR D CHIMISSO RISQUE (MR)    $4.99
OCT191485    VAMPBLADE SEASON 4 #8 CVR E LANGELL (MR)    $4.99
OCT191486    VAMPBLADE SEASON 4 #8 CVR F LANGELL RISQUE (MR)    $4.99
JAN201882    VIEWPOINT HC    $29.99
JAN202075    VISITOR #4 (OF 6) CVR A PINNA    $3.99
JAN202076    VISITOR #4 (OF 6) CVR B DAVIS-HUNT    $3.99
JAN202077    VISITOR #4 (OF 6) CVR C DIAZ    $3.99
JAN202090    WASTED SPACE #15 (MR)    $3.99
JAN201962    WHITE ASH #3    $3.99
JAN202296    WITCH HAT ATELIER GN VOL 05    $12.99
DEC192017    WORLDS END HAREM GN VOL 08 (MR)    $13.99
JAN202254    YOUTH ROMANTIC COMEDY WRONG EXPECTED GN VOL 13    $13.00

MAGAZINES
JAN201707    COMIC SHOP NEWS [90CT BUNDLE] #1709    $PI
JAN201711    COMIC SHOP NEWS SPRING 2020 PREVIEW 90CT BUNDLE (Net)    $13.99
JAN202092    CREEPS #24 (MR)    $5.95
DEC191806    DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE #548    $11.99
NOV191949    HOBBY JAPAN FEBRUARY 2020    $20.00
DEC191840    JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE #417    $13.00
JAN201873    LOCUS #710    $8.99
OCT192153    MEGAMI JANUARY 2020    $20.00
OCT192154    NEWTYPE JANUARY 2020    $20.00
FEB202024    STAR WARS INSIDER #196 NEWSSTAND ED    $9.99
FEB202025    STAR WARS INSIDER #196 PX ED    $9.99

BOOKS
JAN201720    5 MINUTE GIRL POWER STORIES SC    $12.99
JAN202233    CERTAIN MAGICAL INDEX LIGHT NOVEL SC VOL 22    $15.00
DEC192198    DIDNT I SAY MAKE ABILITIES AVERAGE NOVEL SC VOL 08 (MR)    $13.99
DEC192199    GRIMGAR OF FANTASY & ASH LIGHT NOVEL VOL 12    $13.99
JAN201841    HARRY POTTER FILM VAULT HC VOL 08 ORDER OF PHOENIX & DARK FO    $16.99
JAN202235    LOVE MOM & 2 HIT MULTI TARGET ATTACKS LIGHT NOVEL SC VOL 05    $14.00
JAN201713    STAR WARS RISE OF SKYWALKER EXPANDED ED HC    $28.99
DEC192112    YOU CALL THAT SERVICE LIGHT NOVEL SC VOL 02    $15.00

#IReadsYou Review: KING CONAN: Wolves Beyond the Border #1

KING CONAN No. 21
DARK HORSE COMICS – @DarkHorseComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Timothy Truman
ARTIST: Tomás Giorello
COLORS: José Villarrubia
LETTERS: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
COVER: Tomás Giorello
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (December 2015)

Wolves Beyond the Border: Part 1 of 4 “The Iron Crown”

Conan the Cimmerian (also known as Conan the Barbarian) was born in the pulp fiction of Robert E. Howard (REH), first appearing in the magazine, Weird Tales (1932).  In 1970, Marvel Comics brought Conan to the world of comic books, and with only few pauses, Conan comic books have been published for over four decades.

Many Conan comic book stores are adaptations of or are, at the very least, based on the Conan stories written by Robert E. Howard.  One of the most acclaimed Conan comic book writers of the last decade, Tim Truman, has taken an original REH story, “Wolves Beyond the Border,” to create the new comic book miniseries, King Conan: Wolves Beyond the Border.  The artist for the series is Tomás Giorello, who has worked with Truman on earlier Conan comic books.  Series colorist is José Villarrubia, and Richard Starkings & Comicraft provides the lettering.

King Conan: Wolves Beyond the Border #1 (“The Iron Crown”) opens in Tarantia, the capitol of the nation of Aquilonia, where an aged Conan is king.  Conan's bodyguards, Crassus and Dariun, wait in the shadows of the “Street of Dogs,” while their king lurks in the shadows of a den of thieves-type tavern.  In one of his dark moods, Conan spoils for a fight., but someone is also lurking and watching the king.  He is Gault, and he has come to tell a dark tale of a cursed crown, of the Picts, and of the wolves of the border.

The story “Wolves Beyond the Border” is a story that REH began writing in the 1930s.  It became a fragment that Howard did not finish, nor was it published in his lifetime.  Conan is mentioned in the story, but does not appear in it.  In a piece that is published at the end of this first issue, Truman writes that he has loosely based King Conan: Wolves Beyond the Border on the “Wolves Beyond the Border” fragment.  That may not matter to many readers.  Truman also hints that he may use the story to connect REH's three most significant characters:  Kull, Conan, and Bran Mak Morn.  That may matter more to the fans of REH's fiction and to fans of comic books based on his work.

I am a huge fan of Tim Truman and Tomás Giorello fantastic comic book adaptation of Hour of the Dragon, the only Conan novel that REH every wrote.  Obviously, I was more than excited when I read about Truman and Giorello coming together again to work on King Conan: Wolves Beyond the Border, and I am not disappointed by the resulting work.

Roy Thomas was the first to write Conan comic books, and I have always thought of him as the best Conan comics writer.  Truman is the next guy up for me.  He retains the power and sensibility of REH and if his prose, but Truman can also create original text that seamlessly blends with REH's words.  Truman's work has always mixed a sense of adventure that was every bit as imaginative and inventive as it was brawny.  He does that here.  Every panel is filled with language that strains against the grain, determined to break loose and to send the story careening off into adventure.

Giorello takes the muscularity of Truman's storytelling, delivering the most beautiful art work that surges the narrative forward.  Many of the panels are like small paintings, capturing the spirit of REH and the power of Truman's script.

OMG, I need a cigarette.  Four issues won't be enough, but, dear readers, we will have to take what we can get.  I heartily recommend this exceptional comic book to Conan fans and to readers looking for quality comic books.

A

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


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: YARICHIN BITCH CLUB: Volume 1

YARICHIN BITCH CLUB, VOL. 1
SUBLIME MANGA/Gentosha Comics Inc. – @SuBLimeManga

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Ogeretsu Tanaka
TRANSLATION: Satsuki Yamashita
LETTERS: Mary Pass
EDITOR: Hope Donovan
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0832-1; paperback (November 2019); Rated “M” for “Mature”
266pp, B&W, $14.99 U.S., $19.99 CAN, £9.99 UK

Yarichin Bitch Club is a yaoi manga from popular mangaka, Ogeretsu Tanaka (Escape Journey).  Yaoi manga is a subset of boys' love (or BL) manga, which depicts amorous situations between male romantic leads.  Yaoi manga usually features explicit depictions of sex between those male leads.  Yarichin Bitch Club is set at an all-boys school where a new student accidentally finds himself a member of a lascivious boys' club.

As Yarichin Bitch Club, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1-6) opens, hapless Takashi Tono transfers to “Mori Mori Academy,” an all-boys boarding school located deep in the mountains.  The first student Tono meets is Kyosuke “Yacchan” Yaguchi, a soccer player, who recommends to Tono a club he might like to join.  It is the “Photography Club.”

What Tono learns too late is that the Photography Club is also known as the “Yarichin Bitch Club” (or simply “Bitch Club”).  The club's main extracurricular activity is providing sexual services to the rest of the student body and also to some of the faculty.  Each member has to provide “sexual relief” to the student body five times a month.  If a member fails that quota, his fellow club members will “gang-bang” him at the end of the month.

Tono isn't interested in having sex with any male students, but he does find himself attracted to fellow transfer student, Yu Kashima.  Or maybe, Tono likes Yacchan...

[This volume includes bonus content:  an illustrated “Afterword,” four-panel comics, bonus manga, and illustrated “Character Introductions.”]

The Yarichin Bitch Club yaoi manga has a title that immediately forces you to pay attention to it, dear readers.  The back cover copy will also pique your interest, or maybe even make you aroused...

Yarichin Bitch Club Graphic Novel Volume 1, unfortunately, does not quite live up to its title.  Creator Ogeretsu Tanaka draws sex scenes that are way too busy and are filled with what I see as excessive line work and too many sound effects.  This art is the kind of distorted composition that creates static in the graphical storytelling.  Letterer Mary Pass does not do anything to alleviate the static interference.  It is not that her work is of low quality; it is that she adds to the sound and fury that sometimes results in overwrought and muddled storytelling.

Satsuki Yamashita's English translation finds some nuance in the characters and in the character drama and development.  Yamashita focuses on the potential of the characters, and this manga does indeed have an interesting cast.  This series does have potential, and quite frankly, at this point, I am more interested in the characters than in the jumbled sex scenes.

6 out of 10

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

For up-to-date news and release information, please visit the SuBLime website at SubBLimeManga.com, or follow SuBLime on Twitter at @SuBLimeManga, Facebook at facebook.com/SuBLimeManga, Tumblr at http://sublimemanga.tumblr.com/, and Instagram at @sublimemanga/.


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: HISTORY OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE #1

HISTORY OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE No. 1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Mark Waid
PENCILS: Javier Rodríguez
INKS: Álvaro López
COLORS: Javier Rodríguez
LETTERS: VC's Joe Caramagna
EDITOR: Tom Brevoort
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Akira Yoshida a.k.a. C.B. Cebulski
MISC. ART: Phil Noto
COVER: Steve McNiven and Mark Farmer with Sunny Gho
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Nick Bradshaw with John Rauch; John Buscema with Jason Keith; David Marquez with Matthew Wilson; Javier Rodríguez and Álvaro López
44pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (September 2019)

Rated T

History of the Marvel Universe is a comic book miniseries that chronicles completely, for the first time, everything that was, is, or will be in the Marvel Universe.  History of the Marvel Universe is written by Mark Waid; drawn by Javier Rodríguez (pencils/colors) and Álvaro López (inks); and lettered by Joe Caramagna.

History of the Marvel Universe #1 opens at “the End of Time.”  There, Franklin Richards and the planet-devouring Galactus await the final death of the universe.  Although both will move to the universe born of the death of this one, Richards is concerned about memories.  Before it all ends, he wants the history of this universe to have meant something.  Richards asks Galactus to help him remember everything.  Thus, Galactus recounts the history of this universe, beginning with a first chapter.  It starts at the so-called “Big Bang” and ends both in the Wild West of The Rawhide Kid and The Two-Gun Kid and in the wild north of Canada where a boy named James Howlett emerges.

There is no doubt about it.  Marvel Comics' History of the Marvel Universe #1 has more than a passing resemblance to DC Comics' 1986, two-issue miniseries, History of the DC Universe.  It is true that Mark Waid and Javier Rodríguez could find no better template than the one writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Perez laid down in History of the DC Universe.

Some people consider Mark Waid an unofficial Marvel Comics historian; I imagine some people at Marvel probably think that.  Waid does a good job gathering the varied “histories” about the beginnings, the ancient times, the recent centuries, etc. that have been depicted in five decades of Marvel Comics titles.  Waid also mixes in threads from Marvel's predecessor Timely Comics and the two decades of material the predates the publication of The Fantastic Four #1.  Of course, Waid has to take into consideration decades of “retcons,” in which Marvel Comics scribes went back and changed things after the fact – the Avengers of one million years ago, introduced in Avengers #1 (2018).  I won't say that this first issue is a great read, but there are some interesting bits in this first issue.

I can say that I love the art team of Javier Rodríguez (pencils/colors) and Álvaro López.  Here, they don't have to engage in graphical storytelling, so much as they have to draw pictures that illustrate Mark Waid's text.  [Waid's script is presented in caption boxes, not word balloons, all well-crafted by Joe Caramagna.]  Their art reminds me of art of Alan Davis.

Speaking of which, Davis' longtime inker, Mark Farmer, inks Steve McNiven's cover pencil art – with excellent results.  So, in conclusion, History of the Marvel Universe #1 is an occasionally interesting curiosity, but honestly, you, dear readers, don't need to read it to enjoy Marvel Comics titles.  History of the Marvel Universe #1 is not the monumental work that Marvel Comics' monumental history deserves.  [I think the history of the Marvel Universe would be best told in a long-running, ongoing comic book series, which won't happen.]

6 out of 10

[This comic book includes four pages of annotations, which list the Marvel Comics publications which acted as reference for the story in History of the Marvel Universe #1.]

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


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: ECTYRON: The Invasion from the Red Star Nebula

ECTYRON: THE INVASION FROM THE RED STAR NEBULA
CANDLE LIGHT PRESS/Warning Comics – @candlelightpres @attila71

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Carter Allen
SCRIPT: John Ira Thomas
ART: Carter Allen – @attila71
LETTERS: John Ira Thomas
COVER: Carter Allen and Christopher Martinez
BACK COVER: Will Grant
ISBN: 2370009462269; paperback
28pp, Color, $5.00 U.S. (2019)

Ectyron: The Invasion from the Red Star Nebula is a 2019 comic book published by Candle Light Press (CLP).  It is written by CLP stalwarts Carter Allen (story) and John Ira Thomas (script/letters) and drawn by Allen.  This comic book focuses on a group of monster fighters:  Ectyron, a giant-sized chicken; Jake and Iowa of “Sustenatione Stabilitas Base,” and AtoM.I.K.E.

Ectyron: The Invasion from the Red Star Nebula is the third book in the “Ectyron” series.  All three books employ certain elements of particular Japanese science fiction sub-genres.  There is “kaiju,” a term used to describe a genre of Japanese films that feature giant monsters, and the term is also used to describe the giant monsters themselves.  [Godzilla is an example of a kaiju.]  AtoM.I.K.E. is “tokusatsu” which includes the “mecha” or giant robot superheroes.  [The American franchise, “Power Rangers,” is based on tokusatsu.].

Ectyron: The Invasion from the Red Star Nebula opens on Main Street in an unnamed American small town.  The country is in an uproar over America's “kaiju problem,” and American's favorite faux news and reactionary-corporate propaganda network is the most uproarious.  When his power warns him of an impending kaiju attack, AtoM.I.K.E. does more than talk, as he takes to the skies.

Meanwhile, in the Great Basin Desert at the “Sustenatione Stabilitas Base,” a convoy of black SUVs arrives carrying a squad of black-suited men that look like MiB agents.  When the agents try to infiltrate the base, Jake and Iowa try some penetrating of their own with laser pistols and mecha.  With our heroes hands full on two fronts, the question is where is Ectyron?  Guest stars include Maddy Coil, Mectyron, and Ogon' Podsolnukh.

Ectyron: The Invasion from the Red Star Nebula is, thus far, my favorite Ectyron title.  It easily surpasses the previous releases, Ectyron: Rise of Nemehiss (the second) and Ectyron Against Lagaxtu (the first).

Once again, cartoonist, designer, and comic book creator, Carter Allen, fills one of his comic books with Godzilla-sized creations, which includes monsters, beasts, machines, contraptions, and heroes.  It is all pure comic book fun.  This time, however, he draws the story entirely in pencil; with the exception of a few chapter heads slash faux-covers, this comic book is pencil-art glory.  A skilled illustrator, Carter uses his pencils to create shades, textures, and gradations that are finer than a welfare check on Christmas Day.  The underbelly of Mectyron's armor and the peacock-like wonders of Ecytron's feathers are simply beautiful examples of inking and “feathering.”

Writer John Ira Thomas delivers some of his most sparkling dialogue, communicated to us via his classic lettering fonts.  This is truly a funny comic book, but Thomas' script also offers a deft mix of action and adventure that will keep readers glued to the story.

Ectyron: The Invasion from the Red Star Nebula certainly strikes me as something that would make excellent source material for either live-action or animated television and film and also for a novel.  Best of all, this comic book seems to be the perfect realization of Ectyron, so I hope we get more like it.  I heartily recommend Ectyron: The Invasion from the Red Star Nebula to those who read Godzilla and Power Rangers comic books and are in need of some real kaiju and tokusatsu comic book power.  Oh, and I like Will Grant's back cover illustration.

10 out of 10

http://candlelightpress.tumblr.com/
www.warningcomics.com

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


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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