Double Barrel
The Middle Ground #130 | Thank you, friends
This isn’t a “Best of 2012″ list, because (a) 2012 isn’t finished yet, and (b) every time I attempt to put “Best of” lists together, I inevitably end up forgetting something that I utterly adore and feel guilty about it afterwards. Instead, inspired by Thursday’s upcoming holiday and the fact that you might be thinking about buying things on Friday for some reason, here are five things in comics from this year that I’m thankful for.
Read comics all weekend without breaking the bank
With Labor Day weekend upon us, now is a good time to stock the virtual longbox with some digital comics. We reported the other day that Image has made 20 of its #1 issues free on comiXology; here’s a roundup of some other free’ n’ cheap digital comics to check out over the holiday.
Centsless Books is a website that rounds up all the free Kindle books on Amazon, and it has a dedicated section for comics and graphic novels. There’s a preview of Batman: Earth One up there, and a lot of first issues of different indy series. Some of the graphic novels aren’t really — at least one book I checked was prose not a graphic novel, and Little Nemo’s Wild Sleigh Ride is a picture book that uses Winsor McCay’s illustrations (which are in the public domain). Well worth checking out, especially if you’re a First Second fan, are the two Between the Panels books, which are promotional pieces put out by Macmillan, with creator essays, character sketches and side stories, all related to different First Second graphic novels. Aside from that, it’s a pretty mixed bag, but one that looks like it will be fun to rummage around in. These Kindle comics will also work on the Kindle iPad and Android apps.
Infinity is a free iPad fanzine from Panel Nine, which has published Eddie Campbell’s Dapper John and David Lloyd’s Kickback as standalone iPad apps. The inaugural issue includes an interview with Lloyd, a preview of Dapper John, a roundup of digital-comics news, a couple of app reviews, art by Simon Russell, and an interview with PJ Holden, the creator of Murderdrome, a short comic that was booted from the iTunes store for being too violent (it’s actually a spoof). It’s a nice collection and well worth the effort of clicking that iTunes button.
The Middle Ground #107 | Double-whammied
My first thought upon realizing that I hadn’t written here about Double Barrel was something along the lines of embarrassment, followed by excitement at having another venue in which I can tell you all to go and buy the thing, because it’s downright wonderful (anyone who follows me on Twitter will have seen me talking it up last week). If you take one thing away from this week’s column, let it be that Double Barrel is downright wonderful. Continue Reading »
What Are You Reading? with Matthew Thurber
Amazon Comics
Hello and welcome to another edition of What Are You Reading? Our special guest this week is Matthew Thurber of 1-800 Mice and Infomaniacs fame. To see what Matthew and the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click below.
Preview: Zander Cannon and Kevin Cannon’s Double Barrel #1
Top Shelf has provided Robot 6 with a preview of Double Barrel #1, the digital-only pulp anthology by Zander Cannon and Kevin Cannon (no relation). The 122-page first issue, which goes on sale today, begins the serialization of two graphic novels: HECK, by Zander Cannon (The Replacement God, Top 10), about a washed-up high school football player who returns to his hometown to attend his father’s funeral, only to discover a portal to the underworld; and Crater XV, Kevin Cannon’s follow-up to Far Arden, featuring a new adventure of crusty sea-dog Army Shanks.
As if that weren’t enough, the $1.99 price tag — that’s tough to pass up! — also includes extras like this introductory comic, which you can read below. Double Barrel #1 is available for download today via Comixology, Apple iBooks, Comics+ by iVerse and the Top Shelf app.