Comic Book Resources

Everyone's A Critic: A round-up of comic book reviews and thinkpieces

Pim & Francie In Golden Days

• The Comics Comics crew are having another cage match, although this time they're calling it a round table, about Al Columbia's Pim & Francie book.

• Curt Purcell continues his examination of the Blackest Night event, this time looking at some of the tie-in books.

• Ng Suat Tong examines the pleasures of owning original art and how that can change our appreciation for a particular cartoonist.

• Also at HU, Noah Berlatsky looks at the psychosexual underpinnings of the superhero genre, and how it's shifted over time.

• NPR's Linda Holmes talks about why Neil Gaiman's Sandman series matters: "[It] remains one of the most literate, imaginative and intricately plotted accomplishments in long-form comics storytelling out there."

• Sandy Bilus recommends Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms: "The book never feels preachy, but it certainly forces the reader to focus on this issue and raises his or her level of understanding about what the people of Hiroshima have endured."

• Joe McCulloch compares/contrasts the new Astro Boy movie with the original Tezuka manga.

• Johanna Draper Carlson reviews the first volume of The Lizard Prince: "This manga, a romance in a magical fantasy setting, has enough humor to make it an enjoyable read for the young and young-thinking."

• Tangognat on Vol. 5 of 2oth Century Boys: "Everytime I pick this series up I’m reminded again how great it is."

Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Black Dossier

Libraries | The library board in Jessamine County, Kentucky, heard public comment last night about acquisition and borrowing policies and the recent firings of two employees who kept a copy of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier out of circulation. The hourlong meeting was marked by shouting, crying and the presentation of petitions, including one that called for the removal of two books and two DVDs -- Black Dossier among them -- from county library shelves. No action was taken by the board. [Lexington Herald-Leader]

Awards | A controversy emerged just a day before the National Book Awards ceremony as author/blogger Janice Harayda suggested that Kathi Appelt, a judge in the Young People''s category, should recuse herself because finalist David Small had illustrated her novel. In her response Appelt was cryptic, at best, saying that as committee deliberations are private, "I or any other judge might well have excused ourselves from voting on any particular book, if conflict of interest were an issue.” In the end, Small's celebrated graphic memoir Stiches didn't win last night; Phillip Hoose's Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice did. [ArtsBeat, Jacket Copy]

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Weekly Astro Boy Magazine

Publishing | Tezuka Productions and D-Arc Inc. has launched Weekly Astro Boy Magazine, a service that delivers manga by Osamu Tezuka to iPhones and iPods in the United States. Announced last month, it's the first English-language manga service for mobile devices.

If I'm reading the site correctly, the premier "edition" of Weekly Astro Boy Magazine offers the first volume of Astro Boy for free. Subsequent volumes of that title, and other Tezuka classics like Phoenix, Dororo, Black Jack and Buddha, cost 99 cents each, and are available in weekly installments. [Weekly Astro Boy Magazine]

Education | Ryan Sohmer and Lar deSouza, creators of the webcomic Least I Could Do, have established The Rayne Summers Webcomic Scholarship at The Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont. Named for the protagonist of their nearly seven-year-old comic, the scholarship will cover tuition for one student each year who is working toward a career in webcomics. [Least I Could Do, via The Daily Cartoonist]

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This week brings aliens, zombies, celebrities and lemons

This week seems to be a bit quieter than the last few. Don't get me wrong; there's still plenty of stuff out there to draw you into the comic shop, but looking at the Diamond list wasn't quite like drinking from the proverbial fire hose this time around.

On the first issue front, Wildstorm kicks off a new Sherlock Holmes mini called Victorian Undead, while Marvel has an Inhumans mini tying into their Realm of Kings event. Red 5 has Drone (which I think came out last week, didn't it? At least at my local shop), BOOM! has a Farscape ongoing and a mini called Nola, and IDW has a tie-in for the upcoming Legion movie ... which isn't about Saturn Girl, but about angels. There's also a Dr. Horrible one-shot from Dark Horse, a new creative team on Thunderbolts and, I believe, the last of the List books from Marvel ... this one featuring Spider-Man. Oh, and country star Trace Adkins gets his own comic. Hey, if it worked for Tori Amos and Gerard Way, why not?

Looking at the stuff with a spine, Dark Horse brings Alien Legion back into print, DC's Battle for the Cowl and Marvel's Destroyer get collected, and AdHouse releases what's already being named one of the year's best books.

And there's much, much more ... click on the link below to see what Chris, Kevin and I have to say about this week's releases.

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Blue Bloods: Masquerade

Publishing | Italian movie producer Domenico Procacci has purchased Bologna-based graphic novel publisher Coconino Press, adding it to his Fandango filmmaking and book-publishing company. In addition to its own titles, Coconino publishes the Italian editions of works by such artists as Charles Burns, Daniel Clowes, and Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi. [Variety]

Publishing | Young-adult novelist Melissa de la Cruz has signed new contracts with Hyperion, the Disney Book Group imprint that publishes her bestselling Blue Bloods series. The deal calls for three companion books to the teen-vampire drama, including Blue Bloods: The Graphic Novel. [Variety]

The Last Unicorn

Publishing | IDW Publishing will adapt Peter Beagle's bestselling 1968 fantasy novel The Last Unicorn as a six-issue miniseries. The comic, by writer Peter B. Gillis, artist Renae De Liz and colorist Ray Dillon, will debut in April. [ICv2.com]

Publishing | Simon Jones offers commentary about declining manga sales in Japan: "Some blame was again placed at the industry’s increasing focus on niche genres (just as comics is a spandex ghetto, manga is facing a crisis of the moe slum), but I think this is being overstated as a cause, when it’s really a symptom that is self-feeding.  Manga sales have gone down … it could be lower birth rates, or competition from other media, or internet piracy (come on guys, we don’t need to couch this in flowery language), or any combination of those.  But it all comes down to fewer companies being able to produce mainstream products, because a growing segment of mainstream audiences are no longer willing to pay for them despite increasing demand." [Icarus Publishing]

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Comics College: Osamu Tezuka

Phoenix Vol. 4

Welcome to Comics College, a semi-monthly feature where we provide an introductory guide to some of the comics medium's most important auteurs and offer our best educated suggestions on how to become familiar with their body of work.

Today we're looking at one of the most influential and prolific and  cartoonists in the world, a man who's body of work reportedly encompassed more then 150,000 drawn pages in just about every genre known to man. And that doesn't even begin to mention his pioneering work in animation. I'm speaking, of course, about Osamu Tezuka.

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What Are You Reading?

From Hell

Hey there, hi there, ho there, it's time once again for What Are You Reading. Our guest this week is blogger and Top Shelf pr guru Leigh Walton. Want to know what Leigh is reading this week? Of course you do! Click on the link to find out, then let us know what you're reading in the comments section.

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Stuck in the Middle

Libraries | There is, of course, follow-up on the decision by the Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to remove the anthology Stuck in the Middle: Seventeen Comics from an Unpleasant Age from middle-school libraries. Local CBS affiliate KELO reports on the reactions of parents and highlights some of the better-known challenged and banned books.

As we noted yesterday, teachers will still have access to the 2007 collection of stories about life as a teen-ager (by such contributors as Gabrielle Bell, Daniel Clowes, Joe Matt and Dash Shaw). That's because, in the words of School Board President Kent Alberty, "There is value in the book. One of the subjects addressed is bullying, something the district is very interested in making sure is handled appropriately, and the book does address that." [KELOLAND.com]

Publishing | Japan's NHK television network reports that publishing giant Shueisha, a co-owner of Viz Media, plans to develop plans to sell manga via mobile phones in the United States beginning in spring 2010. [Anime News Network]

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Send Us Your Shelf Porn!

Here I was at Shelf Porn Central, thinking "you know, we haven't had a big manga-themed post in a long while," when who should appear in my in box but one Emily Snodgrass, with a manga collection to beat the band.

Remember though, you don't have to be an uber-collector to submit your pics to Self Porn. Large or small we'll gladly accept and and all submissions. Just send photos and commentary to cmautnerATcomcastDOTnet and we'll take care of the rest.

And now heeeere's Emily ....

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Everyone's A Critic: A round-up of comic book reviews and thinkpieces

Footnotes in Gaza

• Tom Spurgeon once again beats everyone to the punch with a review of Joe Sacco's new book, Footnotes in Gaza: The first good news to report ... is that the cartoonist is in top form throughout." He also has good things to say about Prison Pit.

• Christopher Allen offers 60 ways of looking at Watchmen.

• Critics critique critics -- Robert Boyd reviews Bart Beaty's Unpopular Culture: "This is a thought-provoking book, and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in comics-as-art."

• David Welsh gets schooled in college manga.

• Rob Clough calls MK Reed's new book, Cross Country "the most complex, ambitious and visually interesting of her comics."

• Perhaps if I link to Sean Collins' review of Refresh, Refresh, he'll forgive me for accidentally (I swear) stealing the title of his review feature.

• Nina Stone enjoyed the first issue of Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love: "All the pieces of the story just started to fit together perfectly."

• Grant Goggans declares The Art of Osamu Tezuka "very highly recommended."

• Finally, Kristy Valenti looks at a 1999 graphic novel drawn by Mia Wolff and written by acclaimed sci-fi author Samuel Delany.

Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Wolverine: Old Man Logan

Publishing | Comic sales to the direct market fell 14 percent in October, versus the same month a year ago, resulting in the biggest decline since May. Sales of the Top 100 graphic novels plummeted 30 percent -- again due to the brisk sales of Watchmen last fall -- combining for an overall decline of 17 percent.

As we reported last week, DC Comics had the top six bestselling comics for the first time in four decades, with the fourth issue of its event miniseries Blackest Night coming in at No. 1 with an estimated 137,169 copies. Marvel's Wolverine: Old Man Logan hardcover collection topped the graphic novel chart with an estimated 7,347 copies.

The retailer-focused news and analysis site ICv2.com notes that Marvel's $3.99 titles continue to slip, with the third issues of Ultimate Comics Avengers and Ultimate Comics Spider-Man each shedding about 5,000 copies from the previous issue. Of course, they weren't the only ones to slide: 19 of the top 25 comics saw drop-offs in what the website describes as "a bearish month." [ICv2.com]

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This week sees the return of Strange, the Punisher, Doc Savage and Casper

This week brings a whole slew of first issues and new graphic novels to comic shops on Wednesday.

Marvel alone has six new series kicking off this week: PunisherMAX, Dark X-Men, S.W.O.R.D., Strange, Sky Doll: Doll Factory and Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard. DC, meanwhile, launches a whole new world with the Batman/Doc Savage Special, catches folks up on the Authority's "lost year" with the Authority Lost Year Reader and brings the Modern Warfare video game franchise to comics. There's also Tracker from Top Cow, a new Casper series from Ardden Entertainment, Ghoul and a new Locke & Key series from IDW, a new WALL-E series from BOOM! (which is technically a "zero" issue) and Supergod from Avatar.

And if you're looking for something a bit longer and more self-contained, there's Beast from Image, an Absolute Justice collection from DC, the Luna Park OGN from Vertigo, the Steve Ditko Archives from Fantagraphics and many, many others ... it's a pretty big week at your local comic shop.

To see what Chris, Kevin and I have to say about this week's comics, keep reading ...

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Google

Legal | Google and a group of authors and publishers have until Friday to revise a proposed settlement over the Internet giant's plans to make millions of out-of-print books available online. They originally were given a deadline of Nov. 9. DC Comics is among the parties that objected to the terms of the agreement -- -- $125 million and a registry to identify and compensate copyright holders -- arguing that it violates international copyright law. [Bloomberg News, Media Decoder]

Legal | The sentencing of Christopher Handley, the 39-year-old Iowa man who in May pleaded guilty to possessing manga depicting children in sexual situations, is scheduled for Jan. 25. He faces up to 15 years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release. [ICv2.com]

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Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Female Force: Princess Diana

Publishing | Just days after one U.K. newspaper devoted a lot of ink to a preview of Female Force: Princess Diana, another reports that the Bluewater Productions biography has been labeled as "disgusting" by a co-founder of a group dedicated to preserving Diana's memory. “Comic means something to laugh at," says Margaret Funnell of Diana Circle UK. "I don’t find it at all comical and I wish they hadn’t done it. Anyone with half a brain who had a love for Diana will hate it.” [Daily Express]

Publishing | Following the success of its adaptation of James Patterson's Maximum Ride, Yen Press has announced it will tackle the author's bestselling young-adult series Daniel X. The first volume will be released in summer 2010. [About.com]

Education | It seems like every year around this time an article makes the rounds about comic books improving early literacy. Here's the 2009 edition, courtesy of University of Illinois professor Carol L. Tilley, whose research on the subject was recently published in School Library Monthly. [News Bureau, Canwest News Service]

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What Are You Reading?

Cat Burglar Black

Welcome to another edition of What Are You Reading. Our guest this week is scholar and critic par excellance Craig Fischer, whose musings on comics can be regularly read on Thought Balloonists, the blog he shares with  Charles Hatfield.

To see what Craig and everyone else is currently reading, click on the link. And don't forget to let us know what you're reading this week as well.

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