Comic Book Resources

Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs | What Looks Good for August

Time once again to flip through Previews looking for fun, new comics.

Arcana

Koni Waves: Perfect Wave – I had mixed feelings about the storytelling in some of the single issues I read from this collection, but the concept is awesome (a beautiful Hawaiian PI solves tiki-related and other supernatural crimes) and the art is stunning with heavy influences from tiki-culture and other ’60s groove.

Archaia

Syndrome – The concept’s really difficult to describe in only a few words, but Archaia sold me on it at their C2E2 panel. It’s basically about a group of scientists – each with his or her own reason for doing so – trying to discover the root of evil by putting a group of innocent, unsuspecting people into a “controlled” compound with a serial killer. Sounds fascinating and scary.

Avatar

Alan Moore’s The Courtyard – The solicitation for this makes a big deal out of this being a color version, but falls short of saying that it’s the first time it’s available that way. Someone will have to fill me in on that, but that’s not why I’m mentioning it…

Neonomicon #1 – The reason I mention The Courtyard is because it leads into this sequel. I’m typically cold on anyone else’s exploring Lovecraft’s mythology, but Alan Moore isn’t exactly “anyone,” and I just love Jacen Burrows’ cover with the whales approaching the sleeping C’thulhu at the bottom of the ocean. My imagination is captured and I want to see how this goes.

Cartoon Books

Bone: Tall Tales – I’ve been eager for this collection since it was announced almost a year ago. Unless it’s been changed since it was announced, it’s a fancy re-packaging of Jeff Smith and Tom Snigoski’s Stupid, Stupid Rat-Tails mini-series that they did about Big Johnson Bone while the regular Bone series was still coming out. It also collects some material from the late Disney Adventures magazine and has a new framing sequence of Smiley and Bartleby telling campfire stories to some young Bone Scouts, as well as some new Johnson Bone tales.

Dark Horse

Grandville: Mon Amour – I haven’t read the first one yet, so it’s distressing that there’s already a sequel. Distressing because it clearly illustrates the impossibility of my reading everything I want to read. Still, on the list it goes.

Fantagraphics

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec, Volume 1 – This is the best news of the month. I’ve been whining and crying (mostly to myself; I don’t like to be a pest) about the unavailability of English Adele Blanc-Sec volumes since the movie version was announced. Thank you SO much, Fantagraphics. For this and the four volumes that follow.

IDW

Dick Briefer’s Frankenstein – As a huge Frankenstein fan, I’ve been wanting to read this for years. Thanks, IDW!

Image

Morning Glories #1 – Something sinister and deadly lurks behind the hallowed doors of a prestigious prep school and six gorgeous teens have to figure out what. This screams to be read in large, collected chunks, but if you can’t wait, here’s where it begins.

Marvel

Strange Tales – The alt/indie comics version of the Marvel Universe is finally collected. [Updated: In paperback, I should've added.]

Moonstone

Zeroids #1 – Clunky ’50s robots return from exile to help sorority girls fight alien invaders. I’m clapping like a little girl getting a new dolly.

Sterling Publishing

Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Scarlet – Did anyone read Sterling’s Hound of the Baskervilles adaptation? Was it as cool as it looked? I’m assuming it was (Ian Edginton and all), but either way, here’s the next volume. I’ll probably buy this first since it’s the first Holmes story and I’m nerdy like that.

And that’s it for me. What are you looking forward to?