Fantagraphics mini-comics

Wouldn’t it be awesome if everywhere you shopped this holiday season offered a minicomic with a $50 purchase? Fantagraphics is doing just that, through their online store. They’ve created 21 mini-comics by a variety of their creators that are available free with the purchase of their “matching” book or books, or for simply purchasing $50 worth of stuff from their catalog.

“I always was very fond of the mini-comics format — take two to four 8 1/2 x 11 sheets, fold them once, staple, and voilà!” wrote Kim Thompson. “You have an adorable little 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 comic book for mere pennies. But I could never really figure out what to do with this old-school, low-tech format. Until now!”

The contents of the mini-comics are fairly unique, too; there’s a David B. one featuring a never-before-translated-into-English tale, and a Stan Sakai one that reprints a Nilson Groundthumper story that originally appeared in the Critters anthology back in the day. There’s one featuring out-of-print Peter Bagge strips, and one featuring a full-color 10-page summary of Tony Millionaire’s doomed attempt to get Billy Hazelnuts onto television. And more, by the Hernandez Bros., Jim Woodring, Johnny Ryan, Richard Sala, Bill Griffith, Ivan Brunetti and even Doc Winner, E.C. Segar’s assistant on Popeye.

The big chain stores might have cheap TVs this weekend, but how many of them come with a Tony Millionaire mini-comic? Not nearly enough, I tell ya.

The artists of L'Association in 1991, seated from left: Mattt Konture, Killoffer, Stanislas, Lewis Trondheim, Jean-Christophe Menu, David B., Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian

What if the Image Seven were Chris Ware, Daniel Clowes, Charles Burns, Chester Brown and so on, instead of dudes who made their bones drawing Spider-Man and Wolverine? The result would probably look a lot like L’Association.

Founded in 1991 by French alternative-comics titans David B., Killoffer, Mattt Konture, Jean-Christophe Menu, Mokeït, Stanislas, and Lewis Trondheim, L’Association was formed as a response to the lack of opportunity for avant-garde comics provided by France’s mainstream comics publishers. But L’Asso quickly became a sales forced to be reckoned with on its own, thanks in large part to its breakout hit, Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. Over the years, the publisher’s lineup took on “everybody who’s anybody” proportions in the Francophone comics world, with Julie Doucet, Joann Sfar, Blutch, Dupuy & Berberian, Emmanuel Guibert, and Guy Delisle all releasing work through the collective.

But as was the case here in the States with the makers of Spawn, Youngblood, WildC.A.T.s et al, L’Asso became a house divided. A combination of personal rivalries, diverging interests, and outside opportunities elsewhere soon saw the seven founders go their separate ways, leaving Jean-Christophe Menu as the publisher’s head honcho. What happened next — hidden financial records, unexpected layoffs, an employee strike, accusations of alcoholism and paranoia, tumultuous meetings involving hundreds of people, and a team-up between the departed founders to wrest control of their former company away from Menu’s allegedly dictatorial hands — became the stuff of comics legend.

Now the Comics Journal’s Matthias Wivel is telling the story of the L’Asso War — and getting participants on both sides on the record. In part one of his fascinating report, he takes us from the founding of the group to the eve of the company-wide strike in protest of Menu-directed layoffs that rocked Angoulême, France’s biggest comic con. In part two, he chronicles the strike and the resulting legal wranglings and wild-sounding general assembly meetings that eventually led to the co-founders’ return and Menu (and Satrapi)’s departure. Filled with juicy quotes from Menu, Trondheim, David B. and other leading players, the whole sordid saga reads like a movie, or more appropriately a comic, which, thanks to a team of cartoonists led by Trondheim, it’s about to become. Take a break and read the whole thing — it’s one of the most compelling collisions of art, commerce, and clashing cartoonists that comics on either side of the Atlantic has ever seen.

Wonder Woman

Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy at our local comic shop based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on a “Splurge” item.

Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.

Graeme McMillan

If I had $15 this week, I’d continue to support the DC relaunch by picking up Wonder Woman #1, Legion of Super-Heroes #1 and Green Lantern Corps #1 (All DC, $2.99). I’d also grab the first issue of IDW’s new ongoing Star Trek book ($3.99), which adapts episodes of the original TV show into the new movie continuity, because I’m nerdy like that.

If I had $30, I’d add another couple of DC books to my pile (Batman and Birds of Prey, both $2.99), as well as Jay Faerber’s new crime book, Near Death #1 (Image, $2.99) and the first issue of Dynamite’s adaptation of George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones ($3.99) – I have to admit that, not only have I never read any of the original books, I’ve also not seen any episodes of the HBO series, either, so I’m coming to this entirely fresh. We’ll see if it makes any impact on me.

For splurge purposes this week, I’m torn between two collected editions of things I’ve already read: DC has the collection of Brian Wood’s New York Five ($14.99) coming out, and Marvel has the collected edition of Mark Waid’s recent Ruse revival (Also $14.99). Both are well worth reading, and if I’m really splurging, surely I should be able to pick up both, right…?

Chris Mautner

Monster Christmas

If I had $15:

I’m rather excited to see the arrival of Monster Christmas ($9.99) from Papercutz, a Lewis Trondheim book I had heard nothing about or knew was even coming out. I’m pretty much a Trondheim completest, so I’ll likely pick this up, even if it is a little early to be thinking about Christmas.

If I had $30:

I’m torn between two books from Fantagraphics. On the one hand there’s The Armed Garden by David B. ($19.99) which collects all the short stories that previously ran in early issues of the Mome anthology. I have all of those issues, however, so I’ll likely instead go with The Man Who Grew His Beard ($19.99) a collection of short stories by Olivier Schrauwen, most of which also appeared in Mome. Schrauwen’s work has appeared in English before, but in some ways this is his big American debut. His stuff is really sharp and witty and daring and deserves to be seen by a wider audience.

Splurge:

I’d probably pick up some of the other Fantagraphics books out this week, including the Mark Twain Autobiography by Michael Kupperman (note: it’s not really Mark Twain’s autobiography), Prison Pit Vol. 3 and the coffee-table-sized Art of Joe Kubert.

Michael May

If I only had $15, I’d spend it all on DC. There’s a lot of stuff for fans of DC’s female characters this week. I’m most excited to see Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang’s work on Wonder Woman #1 ($2.99), but thanks largely to Kelly Sue DeConnick’s leaving me with a good feeling about her after the last three months, I’m also eager to see the new Supergirl in Supergirl #1 ($2.99). And I’m a Black Canary fan, so I’m also looking forward to seeing how she fares in Birds of Prey #1 ($2.99). I feel like I can’t adequately sample the new DCU without reading some Batman and everyone tells me that Scott Snyder is the writer to read, so I’d also give Batman #1 ($2.99) a try. And though what I really want is to read Planet of the Apes #6, it’s a dollar out of my price range, so I’d try Legion of Super Heroes #1 ($2.99) instead. I’m not terribly excited to see that concept rebooted again, but I do like some of the characters.

If I had $30, I’d quickly add Planet of the Apes #6 ($3.99) because “wow, that series.” And I’d pick up Dark Horse Presents #4 ($7.99), leaving me enough money for a snack or something.

There are three things I’d like to splurge on this week. Hellboy, Volume 11 ($19.99) comes out, encouraging me to catch up on that series. I’m also very interested in returning to Mark Waid and Butch Guice’s Ruse with the collection of the Marvel reboot ($14.99) and finally, the collected Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters ($17.99). Godzilla wins because it’s something I’ll read with my son (though he is developing an appreciation for Sherlock Holmes) and I’ll get twice the entertainment that way. Also: Phil Hester.

Chris Arrant

If I (only) had $15 for this week’s comics, it would be a massacre given the number of titles I’m interested in. Making the tough call, I’d put my money first behind Wonder Woman #1 (DC, $2.99); it’s easily in my top five most anticipated titles out of the New 52, and the release this week makes it the de facto winner of the week for me – sight unseen. Editors at DC are still just beginning to catch on to how good Cliff Chiang is, and I’m glad he’s finally gotten a plum assignment close to his full potential. Next up would be Dark Horse Presents #4 (Dark Horse, $7.99) with the Geof Darrow cover if you’re curious. My passion for anthology titles is one of the few passions I wear on my sleeve, and DH seems to be aiming for my sweet spot with new stories like Carla Speed McNeil’s Finder and a new Beasts of Burden by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson. Plus I’m interested to read the rare Geof Darrow interview – I’ve been trying to talk to him for years! Last up would be Avengers: Children’s Crusade #7 (Marvel, $3.99); Allen Heinberg and Jim Cheung haven’t disappointed me so far, and they’re creatively mixed the needs of this (prolonged) event book with continuing the Young Avengers narrative from their original series.

If I had $30 it’d be a little bit easier on me, as I’d be able to get the Brian Wood two-pack – DMZ #69 (DC/Vertigo, $2.99) and Northlanders #44 (DC/Vertigo, $2.99). After that, I’d check out Batman #1 (DC, $2.99), as I’m a big fan of Greg Capullo going back to Quasar and Scott Snyder has been great so far with his previous Bat comics. Last up would be the penultimate issue of X-Men: Schism, #4 (Marvel, $3.99). Although it’s more talking heads than I would have hoped, there’s some big wheels turning here and I’m interested to see how they get to X-Men: Regenesis.

If I could splurge, I’d dust off some 80s-era currency and finally buy New Teen Titans: Games (DC, $24.99). I’ve tried to styme my increased expectations of this, but to see this project finally come out is definitely getting the better of me.

And before I pass it off to the next person, I have to relent: there’s a lot of good titles out this week that because of the Food or Comics budget I wouldn’t be able to get. Chalk it up to “too much of a good thing” or “comics are too damn high”, but at these cut-offs I’d be missing out on Red Wing #3, Avengers #17, Captain America #, Daredevil #4, Invincible Iron Man #508, Spider-Island: Cloak & Dagger #2, Uncanny X-Men #543 and by most missed book, Detroit Metal City Vol. 10. *sigh*

Love & Rockets New Stories #4

Fantagraphics sent over their list of books debuting at the San Diego Comic-Con later this month, and boy is it packed tighter than my suitcase on vacation day. The publisher will have almost two dozen new books at the show, including the last Mome; new stuff from Michael Kupperman, the Hernandez Bros. and Johnny Ryan; tons of Eurocomics; a Lou Reed/Edgar Allan Poe joint; and more. Check them out:

Love & Rockets New Stories 4 by Los Bros Hernandez: Featuring new stories by Jaime and Gilbert, including new material featuring Maggie set in the present and during her teen years.

Mark Twain’s Autobiography by Michael Kupperman: Probably the one I’ve been looking forward to the most, Kupperman publishes Mark Twain’s “biography” since the day the author/humorist died through last year — including his affair with Marilyn Monroe and his time-traveling adventures with Einstein.

Prison Pit Vol. 3 by Johnny Ryan: More deranged, twisted ultraviolent fun from Ryan.

Mome 22, edited by Eric Reynolds: The double-sized last volume of Fantagraphics’ anthology, featuring comics by Kurt Wolfgang, Paul Hornschemeier, Gabrielle Bell, Tim Hensley, Anders Nilsen, Zak Sally, Tom Kaczynski, Andrice Arp, Eleanor Davis, Joe Kimball, Laura Park and many, many more.

The Raven by Lou Reed and Lorenzo Mattotti: Musician Lou Reed teams up with Stigmata creator Lorenzo Mattotti for “the definitive book version compiling the songs, verses and narratives that comprise POEtry/The Raven,” a musical and subsequent CD based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe.

The Art of Joe Kubert, edited by Bill Schelly: This is a coffee table book “that honors this legendary creator with beautifully reproduced artwork from every phase of his career as well as critical commentary by the book’s editor, comics historian and Kubert biographer Bill Schelly.”

Setting the Standard: Alex Toth

Setting the Standard: Alex Toth, edited by Greg Sadowski: Collecting the influential artist’s work from his time at Standard Comics.

Esperanza by Jaime Hernanadez: The fifth volume of “Locas” stories, collecting the remainder of the stories from Love and Rockets Volume II, picking up where 2010’s Penny Century collection left off.

Like A Sniper Lining Up His Shot by Jacques Tardi: Tardi “returns to the world of guns, crime, betrayal and bloodshed with this stunning, grisly, and remarkably faithful interpretation” of Jean-Patrick Manchette’s last completed crime thriller.

Murder By High Tide: Gil Jordan by M. Tillieux: A “never-before-translated classic from the Golden Age of Franco-Belgian comics,” this collects two stories featuring Detective Gil Jordan.

The Pin-Up Art of Humorama, edited by Alex Chun: A collection of single-panel pin-up cartoons and other material published under the Humorama banner in the 1950s in digest-sized magazines like Romp, Stare and Joker, by creators like Bill Ward, Jack Cole, Dan DeCarlo and more.

Drawing Power, edited by Rick Marschall and Warren Bernard: An oversized, full-color, 128-page book that looks at the history of cartoon advertising from the 1870s to the 1940s.

Sibyl-Anne vs. Ratticus by R. Macherot: A translation of Franco-Belgian all-ages comics, featuring mice fighting rats who want to take over their land. This is the first time it’s been translated into English.

Willie & Joe: Back Home hardcover and Willie & Joe: The WWII Years softcover by Bill Maulden: Both collect World War II-era cartoons by “the most beloved enlisted man in the U.S. Army.”

The Armed Garden by David B.: A collection of stories of “history, magic and gods” by the creator of Epileptic.

Complete Peanuts 1981-1982 (Vol. 16) by Charles Schutz: A new volume of the popular and charming strip.

Even More Jewish Comedians by Drew Friedman: The third and final volume collecting Friedman’s caricatures of Jewish comedians.

The Hidden

The Hidden by Richard Sala: A post-apocalyptic story of a group of survivors who end up at an abandoned trading post, where they try to figure out if the world has really ended.

The Man Who Grew His Beard by Olivier Schrauwen: The first American collection of stories by the popular Belgian cartoonist, whose work has appeared in Mome.

Nuts by Gahan Wilson: A collection of one-page stories that ran in National Lampoon in the 1970s, these focus on a normal kid dealing with life rather than the vampires and other ghoulies you might expect from Wilson.

Fantagraphics also provide a list of creators who would be at the show:

Wilfred Santigo
Anders Neilson
Rob Goodin
Joyce Farmer
Johnny Ryan
Los Bros Hernandez (Jaime, Beto, and Mario)
Easter Pearl Watson
Mark Kalesniko
Bill Schelly
Paul Hornschemeier
Tim Hensley
John Pham

The series has had a rather remarkable and distinguished run since its inception in 2005. In addition to featuring work by such notable cartoonists like Jim Woodring and Gilbert Hernandez, it’s served as a publishing venue to highlight the work of up and coming artists like Laura Park, Tom Kaczynski and Sara Edward-Corbett, as well as introduce American readers to work by notable European creators like Emile Bravo and Sergio Ponchione.

As a memorial of sorts for the anthology’s oncoming demise, I thought I’d attempt to put together a quick list of my own favorite stories from Mome. This was a tough list to put together actually, and there are a number of names I feel a bit guilty for leaving off, but I’m sure you all can duly chastise me for my omissions in the comments section.

1) Wally Gropius by Tim Hensley. Mome serialized a number of lengthy tales in the past six years, but as good as many of them were, none were as inspired as Hensley’s oddball ode to the teen/humor comics of yesteryear. Truly one of the most unique comics to come down the pike in however many years, it showed how Reynolds’ original ethos of giving new cartoonists a venue to get their work in front of readers could bear brilliant fruit. (I reviewed the book here and interviewed Hensley here, if you want to know more about it.)

Mome Vol. 7

2) At Loose Ends by Lewis Trondheim. Anytime you can get someone of Trondheim’s stature and talent in your anthology, you’ve already got me reaching for my wallet. This is especially the case when you’re translating something like At Loose Ends, Trondheim’s farewell essay/midlife crisis of sorts, where he approaches middle age wondering how he can continue to keep his creative juices flowing and produce good work in his declining years and whether he shouldn’t just give up on cartooning altogether. It’s a rather insightful, frank and funny look at the toll drawing funny pictures can take on your psyche and easily one of the best things Trondheim’s done (at least that’s been translated so far).

3) Seven Sacks by Eleanor Davis (Vol. 7). Davis is an incredible talent, an artist seemingly capable of tackling any type of story, be it folk tale, children’s story, or horror. Sacks hints at the latter as it focuses on a riverman who ferrys across a number of gruesome monsters on their way to some sort of strange gathering. And each monster carries with him a rather bulky and squirming sack that contains … rabbits? Maybe? It’s one of the most haunting things Davis has ever done and one of the stories I’m constantly reminded of when I think of how Mome gave young artists a chance to shine.

Mome Vol. 13

4) The Veiled Prophet by David B (Vol. 4). As acclaimed as David B’s work has proven to be here in North America, a short work like the Veiled Prophet wouldn’t be easy to publish as a stand-alone story in today’s graphic-novel heavy climate, so kudos to Reynolds, Kim Thompson and company for making the effort to translate this haunting story, a cautionary fable about a cult religious leader who stirs up revolution and in ancient Asia. If you missed it, the good news is that it will be included in the forthcoming David B. collection, The Armed Garden.

5) Satelitte CMYK by Dash Shaw (Vol. 13). Shaw contributed a number of great short pieces to Mome, many of them collected in the book The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D., but this one, about a space station with different levels, each one getting its own color scheme, is probably my favorite. In particular I love its sci-fi trappings, the way it doesn’t fully reveal its secrets until the very end and its inspired use of color. I don’t know if it’s the best thing Shaw’s ever done, but it’s the best thing he ever did in this anthology.

6) 5:45 a.m. by Al Columbia (Vol. 11). I almost went with one of Killoffer’s submissions for this spot but ultimately decided upon Columbia’s wordless story, one of the creepiest and most frightening things to run in Mome, and this an anthology that frequently featured the work of Josh Simmons. A mere four pages long, Columbia offers glimpses into a rather disheveled and seemingly empty home early in the morning before coming upon the ugly punchline, and then finally pulling back and forcing us to completely re-evaluate what we’ve seen before. It’s a typically grim entry for Columbia that, while perhaps less gruesome than his Pim and Francie material, is no less unsettling.

Endnote: At the risk of plugging my stuff so much, I feel I should note I interviewed Reynolds about Mome last year at the old Comics Journal website.

Batman Incorporated #1

Welcome to another installment of “Food or Comics?” Every week we set certain hypothetical spending limits on ourselves and go through the agony of trying to determine what comes home and what stays on the shelves. So join us as we run down what comics we’d buy if they only had $15 and $30 to spend, as well as what we’d get if we had some “mad money” to splurge with.

Check out Diamond’s full release list if you’d like to play along in our comments section.

Graeme McMillan

If I had $15, at least $9 of it – okay, $8.98 – would be already spoken for. The first issue of Batman Incorporated ($3.99) and one-shot lead-in Batman: The Return #1 ($4.99) offer up the first glimpses of what Grant Morrison has in mind for his new Batus-quo and, after the way he brought the RIP/Return of Bruce Wayne storyline to a close, I’m pretty much on board no matter what. The remaining money…? It’s a tough one, but I’m going to go for Spider-Girl #1 ($3.99), pretty much because I like Paul Tobin’s writing, I like the Twitter gimmick (Somewhere, Joe Casey’s going “I did it first in Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance!” and I know, Joe), and, most importantly, the Spider-Girl short was my favorite part of last week’s Amazing Spider-Man relaunch issue. Who could’ve seen that coming?

*****

If I had $30, I’d add the sixth issue of The Sixth Gun ($3.99) to the pile, because it’s been a fun ride so far and I want to see what happens next, and also Vertigo Resurrected: The Extremist #1 ($7.99), because I only vaguely remember Peter Milligan and Ted McKeever’s kink-centric series from the early ’90s and want to happily relive Milligan’s golden age, back before he broke my heart with that X-Men run (although Greek Street was a partial return to form, I’d argue).

ShockRockets

If I could splurge, I’d be torn. IDW is reissuing Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen’s Shockrockets as a $24.99 hardcover, and I really, really want to read that, having missed it the first time around but being someone who enjoys the work of both creators quite a bit (It doesn’t help that the book will probably look beautiful; IDW doesn’t mess around when it comes to production value). But at the same time, Jim McCann and Janet Lee‘s Return Of The Dapper Men is also out this week, and from everything I’ve read and seen about this fairy tale OGN, it looks like something I’d enjoy quite a bit. To make matters even worse, Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman have a new OGN out this week as well, Kickstart’s Hero Complex ($14.99). Dammit! How much am I allowed to splurge, again…?

Brigid Alverson

If I had just $15…

I’d blow it all on the trade paperback of CBGB, BOOM! Studios’ anthology of comics about the famed New York punk rock club. It’s odd to think of anyone being nostalgic for the punk era—”nostalgia” and “punk” being polar opposites—but the stories manage to be wistful and head-banging in equal parts, so it’s all good.

If I had $30…

I’d give it all to Fantagraphics in exchange for the second volume of Castle Waiting, the long-awaited continuation of Linda Medley’s story. I’ll confess I haven’t read the first volume yet—maybe that should be my splurge—but my librarian friends strongly recommend it, and their description of an updated fairy tale with a modern sensibility makes me want to give it a try.

Great Treasury of Christmas Comic Book Stories

Splurge item:

It’s jumping the season a bit, but IDW’s Great Treasury of Christmas Comic Book Stories is just what I need to get into the holiday mood. It’s a perfect fit—I always used to find a big book of some sort of stories under the Christmas tree when I was a kid, and with comics by Walt Kelly and John Stanley, this collection can’t miss.

Chris Mautner

If I had $15:

There’s a lot of good comics out this week, but the item I’m most excited to see is a new $11.99 edition of Hewligan’s Haircut, a new edition of Peter Milligan and Jamie Hewlett’s ultra-loopy saga of a man whose coiffure has the ability to warp space and time. Also features a female lead named Dali Scarlet O’Gasmeter. And if that’s not enough to send you out to the comic book store, I don’t know what is.

If I had $30:

I’m a sucker for anything French artist David B does, so I’ll be sure to snatch and grab a copy of The Littlest Pirate King ($16.99), his latest entry on American shores, an all-ages titles about a young boy who leads a group of undead pirates. Part of Fantagraphics new Eurocomics for kids line. (Speaking of which, Eurocomics fans should note that Joann Sfar’s adaptation of The Little Prince comes out today as well, and stands every chance of being quite good.)

Splurge:

Shazam!: The Golden Age of the World's Mightiest Mortal

I’ve been a longtime fan of The Big Red Cheese, so my splurge item for the week has to be Shazam! The Golden Age of the World’s Mightiest Mortal ($35), a Chip Kidd-edited hardcover that looks at the history of Fawcett’s major superhero property, photos of toys and other ephemera included.

I’m also quite curious to check out Sophie Crumb: Evolution of a Crazy Artist ($27.95), a collection of the youngest Crumb’s artwork from childhood to today. I’ve yet to see Crumb do anything that really knocked my socks off, she’s got incredible chops, but her stories themselves have always seemed two steps shy of true inspiration and insight. Maybe this book will change my mind though. I’d like to give it the chance to.

Michael May

If I had $15:

I’d start with the Hellboy Double Feature of Evil one shot ($3.50), because you know…Hellboy. I’d also be sure to check out Osborn #1 ($3.99) because it’s written by Kelly Sue DeConnick and she’s awesome. Finally, I’d check out Dynamite’s Warlord of Mars #2 ($3.99).

If I had $30:

Return of the Dapper Men

I’d trade-wait for Osborn and Warlord of Mars, and add Jim McCann and Janet Lee’s Return of the Dapper Men ($24.95) to my Hellboy fix. I’m happy with McCann for writing an Alpha Flight one shot, but my interest in this is mostly due to my predisposition to like anything with the word “dapper” in it.

Splurge:

I’m very tempted by the new volumes of Batman: The Brave and the Bold ($12.99) and Castle Waiting ($29.99), but they’re both trumped by David B and his ghost pirates in The Littlest Pirate King ($16.99). Still, since I’m splurging, let’s just get all three.

JK Parkin

If I had $15:

Batman: The Return #1 ($4.99) and Batman Incorporated ($3.99) both get my money this week as well, as does the fourth issue of Morning Glories ($3.50). That leaves me with roughly $2.50.

If I had $30:

Thunderbolts #150

Zatanna has slowly but surely made its way up to the top of my reading stack each month, so let’s grab issue #7 ($2.99). And the Thunderbolts meet up with the Avengers in issue #150 of their title, an extra-sized issue ($4.99). Then I’d add the latest issue of The Sixth Gun ($3.99) and Northlanders #34 ($2.99) to round out my week.

Splurge:

It’s hard not to just repeat what my distinguished colleagues have said above about pirates that are little or men that are dapper, but it’s been an awfully long time since I read the Legion of Super-Heroes Great Darkness Saga, comics my brother owned and I could only borrow on occasion, so I’ll go with the deluxe hardcover DC is releasing as my splurge item this week.

If you didn’t get enough from the preview Sean linked to the other day, we’ve got you covered. Courtesy of our fiendishly fantastic friends at Fantagraphics, we’re pleased to bring you seven more pages from The Littlest Pirate King, David B.’s adaptation of a short story by Pierre Mac Orlan.

It features both pirates and the undead, two of my favorite things. You can find more information on the book, plus the preview, after the jump.

*****

For decades they have roamed the seas, this shipload of undead pirates. They are desperate to die, but every time they try to dash their ship to splinters and end their miserable existence, a malevolent God scoops them out of danger. And so they have no choice but to continue to sail the seas, looting and killing.

Until one day, having exterminated yet another ship of the living, they come across a little pink baby. Adopting him as their mascot and dubbing him their “Littlest King,” they continue their journeys. But eventually the King begins to grow up…

Adapted by David B., the acclaimed creator of Epileptic, from a short story by Pierre Mac Orlan (which was published decades before the release of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, thank you very much), The Littlest Pirate King is David B.’s first full-color graphic novel to be released in English, and his vivid palette combines with his stunningly elegant graphics to create a magical yarn that can be enjoyed by young and old alike.

Something spooky this way comes: Over on the Fantagraphics website, you can find previews and pre-order info for a pair of creepy kids comics from European comics superstars. First up is Toys in the Basement from Blab! mainstay Stéphane Blanquet, about a kid who shows up for a friend’s Halloween party in an embarrassing bunny costume, only to get stranded in the basement with a secret society of very pissed-off toys. Fanta puts it this way: “Imagine Toy Story as reimagined by David Lynch and Charles Burns and you’ll have a good idea of what this story is like. And yes, it is for kids!” Sold!

Next up is The Littlest Pirate King by Epileptic genius David B., adapted from a story by Pierre Mac Orlan. In this tale, a baby is adopted as the mascot for a crew of undead pirates, but things change as he grows up. Fanta notes that this will be David B.’s first full-color graphic novel to be released in English, and that alone makes it worth the price of admission even if you don’t enjoy pirate skeletons, in which case I don’t wanna know you anyway. All-ages meets All Hallow’s Eve!

The Garfield Show

NBM publisher Terry Nantier posted some news yesterday about his company’s upcoming publishing plans. Papercutz, NBM’s all-ages imprint, has picked up the rights to publish a Garfield comic book based on the Cartoon Network show — which, of course, is based on the comic strip of the same name.

He also mentioned some new projects and initiatives for NBM proper:

I can tell you we’ve got a new David B lined up where we’re going to take a quite different approach to how we present it than what we’ve been doing. Also the next Louvre book will look quite different! Basically, we’re seeing we don’t need to be married to the 6×9 format as much as we were so we’re going to open things up!

Also, we’re seeing a need for our books to reflect what we publish: beautiful quality comics you want to have physically and keep proudly in your library. For those who’d rather not spend so much, we’ll be multiplying our efforts on the E-book side.

La Revolte d'Hop-Frog

Every so often I like to use this column to focus not just on the various American comics that have languished in uncollected obscurity for far too long, but to also examine great works found in other comics-loving countries like France and Japan that for reasons both frustrating and inscrutable have yet to arrive on our shores.

So this week I’m looking across the Atlantic to a 1997 graphic novel written by David B and drawn by Chris Blain, both French. Both names should at least ring a bell with the discerning indie reader, David B. having won well-deserved plaudits for his extraordinarily haunting memoir Epileptic, while Blain found his name on a number of top ten lists last year with First Second’s release of his revisionist Western Gus and His Gang.

La Revolte d’Hop-Frog is a Western as well, though it bears little resemblance to Gus, however, or to any Western I’ve ever seen or read. It’s more like The X-Files set in 19th Century Texas. Oh, it has plenty of gunfights for sure. And cowboys. And tons of Indians. The central plot, however, revolves around a number of talking teapots, guns, lamps,stoves and other inanimate objects gaining sentience and declaring all-out war on their previous owners.

Panel from 'Hop-Frog'

The book opens with a picturesque shot of a rail path skirting somewhere through Texas, circa 1880. Suddenly, the wooden railroad ties start talking to each other. Then they rise up out of their dirt beds and start walking, or rather hopping, off to join “the others.”

Sequence from 'Hop-Frog'

Clearly, we are not in traditional John Ford territory.

Meanwhile, in a nearby sleepy Texas town, Hiram Lowatt, Northern reporter for a periodical known as Secrets of Nature, has arrived, accompanied by his friend and servant Placido, a rather taciturn Comanche. He gets made fun of by the locals for his fringed jacket.

Elsewhere, a group of local Native Americans are planning a rebellion of some sort, as their leader believes a great uprising is coming that will usher in a new golden age. (I should note here that my French is absolutely horrible and for the most part I pieced together what the characters were saying via a humongous French-English dictionary).

The locals, meanwhile, think the Indians are responsible for a series of mysterious slayings that have been taking place out on the prairie. That isn’t true, of course, and Lowatt pretty much immediately suspects supernatural foul play. Although he must kick a bit of ass before he can set about proving his theories.

Panels from 'Hop Frog'

Anyway, it turns out every single inanimate object, from the lowly fork to the massive armoire, has come to life and opted to engage in a mass revolution, slaughtering humans as payback for what they regard as unjust treatment. They are led by a small yellow and white pot called Hop-Frog. He likes to name his fellow objects by picking names out of books.

Sequence from 'Hop-Frog'

It’s all very silly and comical, to be sure. And B. and Blain get a good deal of humorous mileage out of showing clocks and bric a brac attack their owners (the armoire, having killed everyone inside a house, wants to get out, but can’t until the crowbar, pick axe and other tools widen the doorway for him). But there is also a surprisingly good deal of horror and even tragedy wound up in this tale as well. Hop-Frog is ridiculous, yes, but he’s also a bit terrifying as well.

That shouldn’t be too surprising if you’re familiar with these authors’ other works. For all its bizarre juxtapositions, we haven’t strayed too far from traditional David B. territory. His short stories, particularly those produced in Mome and his recent book, Nocturnal Conspiracies, show an artist obsessed not just with dream-like images and narratives, but also with the notion of intrigue and machinations. In Epiliptic he portrays himself as a child as being obsessed with ancient wars and revolutions. This is just an absurdist rendering of that obsession.

Blain work here is stylistically quite different from what he later produced for Gus and books like his Isaac the Pirate. I’d almost call it borderline Fauvist since it seems to be influenced as much by traditional painters like Matisse as it is by contemporary cartoonists. The net effect, however, decidedly helps give it’s dreamlike tone, and balances the comical aspects of the story with the more dramatic sequences.

David B. and Blain did one only more book starring Hiram Lowatt, Les Ogres, which I have not had the opportunity to glance at, let alone read. Certainly, based on what I’ve been able to translate here, the pair would seem like perfect additions to First Second or NBM’s growing Eurocomics stable. I mean, it’s about pot-bellied stoves and brooms attacking people in the wild west. What’s not to love?

Panels from 'Hop-Frog'