Planetes

The announcement last week that Tokyopop has closed its publishing division (at least in North America) has led to a lot of thoughtful critiques about the company’s legacy, both good and bad.

Less discussed is their vast array manga publications and the aesthetic qualities that may or may not lie therein. Having offered a memorial of sorts to the Mome anthology last week, it seemed only fitting to do something similar for the house that Sailor Moon built today.

But first an apology/explanation of sorts. The honest truth is I came a bit late to the manga revolution and didn’t immerse myself much in Tokyopop’s oeuvre, not because of a dislike towards shojo or manga in general as much as a general feeling that most of their offerings were heavily contrived and derivative, whether aimed at a male audience or a female one.

Also, my budget being what it is, there were plenty of titles I missed that I probably would have included on this list had I had the resources to track them down, like Aria and Happy Mania. Consider this more of a starting point for an ongoing conversation then, and feel free in the comments section me know what an idiot I am and what books I missed.

So taking all that into consideration, here are the six titles that I feel justified Tokyopop’s existence:

Lupin III

1) Planetes by Makoto Yukimura. While I’m not the biggest sci-fi geek in the world, I do have a fierce appreciation for hard science fiction, especially when it’s done as well as it is in Planetes, a manga about an outer space garbageman of sorts who dreams of owning his own ship and attempts to join a crew making a historic trip to Jupiter. Yet as well thought out as the science stuff is, it’s ultimately the characters and their conflicted emotions as they try to juggle their love for family and friends with their driven need to explore the solar system that makes Planetes such a exemplary and moving work.

2) Lupin III by Monkey Punch. Monkey Punch’s super suave thief, a much-beloved character over in Japan, is probably best known on these shores as the main character in the Hayao Miyazaki film Castle of Cagliostro. The source material, however, is much sillier — in a good way — than the movie would suggest. His rough-hewn line (think of it as Mort Drucker by way of Osuma Tezuka), quite unique compared to other manga-ka it seems, refuses to keep it’s tongue out of cheek resulting in one of the most gloriously slapstick-y comics I’ve read in a long time.

3) Dragon Head by Minetaro Mochizuki. Anyone who’s read my meager writings over the years probably knows that I’m a big fan of horror manga by the likes of Kazuo Umezu and Junji Ito. Throw Mochizuki’s apocalyptic 10-volume tale on the “fave” pile as well. Beginning with an absolutely terrifying train wreck, the series maintains a deep sense of tension and claustrophobia as the three survivors attempt to figure out what happened and how to get out of the enormous underground tunnel they’re trapped in. The series deteriorated a bit in scares once they made it to the outside world, but those first few volumes are some of the best horror comics around.

Life

4) The Abandoned by Ross Campbell. Unfortunately I still haven’t gotten around to reading Becky Cloonan’s East Coast Rising or Brandon Graham’s King City (shameful I know), so let’s let Campbell’s great zombie comic with the zaftig women stand in for all the solid North American cartoonists TP introduced readers to during their big OEL push. There was a lot of dross among those titles, but books like The Abandoned made the experiment worthwhile.

5) Life by Keiko Suenobu. I haven’t read the later volumes of this shojo series that takes a hard look at teen self-mutilation, bullying and suicide, but I remain impressed with the first volume, which dealt with such touch issues with grace and and sensitivity and, perhaps most important of all, without ever once coming off like a maudlin TV-movie of the week melodrama.

6) Welcome to the NHK by Tatsuhiko Takimoto and Kendi Oiwa. Despite (or perhaps because) of my own nerdish, socially awkward personality, I’m all for making vicious fun of nerdy, socially awkward people, especially when they exhibit distasteful attitudes towards women. Which goes a long way towards explaining why I so enjoyed NHK, a rather savage at times satire about an unemployed shut-in whose life starts to change when he meets a young woman who takes a curious interest in him. Basically, anything that makes fun of the whole “moe” movement is going to be tops in my book.

a King City collection cover idea

It started out in Tokyopop’s Original English Language, or OEL, line, became one of the most lamented casualties of the publisher’s contraction, and finally found new life as a giant-sized monthly comic at Image. Now Brandon Graham tells Comics Comics’ Frank Santoro that his acclaimed science-fiction series King City may be headed back to where it all began for its eventual collected edition, to which Tokyopop presumably still holds the rights.

Graham tells Santoro that Tokyopop is getting quotes from the printer for a collected King City, ideally to be printed at the size of the Image issues rather than the book’s original digest format. Graham expects the collection to be relatively modest, perhaps with a few layouts and deleted scenes. According to Santoro, Graham’s very understanding of the situation his once and potentially future publisher is in with regards to the collection and potential price points, saying “I just want to see it in print,” regardless of what it costs.

Click the link for the full story, and for Santoro’s thoughts on how collections and the lack thereof can influence readers’ understanding of a cartoonist’s career.

It was one of the Tokyopop implosion’s most loudly lamented casualties: East Coast Rising, the promising post-apocalyptic pirate series written and illustrated by Demo artist Becky Cloonan. Only the first volume of the OEL epic made it to shelves before the series was itself shelved by the publisher, likely never to return. This despite the second volume being 75 percent finished, with some 120 pages completed. And as Cloonan herself puts it, “the worst part [was] that Volume 1 ended on a cliffhanger!”

Well, Cloonan’s taking matters into her own hands to right this wrong. Throughout this week, she’ll be posting three unpublished pages of East Coast Rising Vol. 2 per day, until the sequence that continues from the cliffhanger is wrapped up — starting here. Cloonan notes that the pages are unfinished, with no tones or lettering, but even still, if you’ve ever wanted to know how that scalawag Cannonball Joe escaped the tentacles of the Suffocating Death, now’s your best shot.

Actually, it seems like it’s your only shot: Sadly, Cloonan flatly states in the comments for her post that Volume 2 in her series “[will] never be finished,” so it sounds as though there’s no hope of a Brandon Graham/King City-style resurrection at some other publisher. Alas and alack, this is one cool comic that’s making Davy Jones’ Locker its permanent home.

Just what it says, folks: as we mentioned last week, Volumes One and Two of the Amazing Joy Buzzards artist’s epic fantasy of vengeance Gyakushu! are now available to read in their entirety at Hipp’s new dedicated site, The Thief Is Dead. There’s also an extensive preview of Volume Three, coming soon from Tokyopop. Click away and start scrolling — just be warned that there will be blood…

The Thief is Dead!

Dan Hipp of Amazing Joy Buzzards fame announced that GYAKUSHU!, his OEL manga series that got caught up in the Tokyopop implosion a couple of years ago, is returning on the web. While the first two volumes saw print, the third was canceled by Tokyopop along with a lot of their other original English language projects in 2008.

Hipp is launching a site at http://www.thethiefisdead.blogspot.com/, where he plans to post the first two volumes and the first third of the third one starting Jan. 11. Right now the site is invitation only, but there is a way to get early access, as noted here.

He also shared a bit more on the project in the last days of 2009, talking about why he chose to post it on the web.

“Now, to anyone that has suggested I should look into an IMAGE deal, similar to what the amazing Brandon Graham did with KING CITY, well… Thank you so much for the thought and concern, but quite frankly, I did. There didn’t seem to be much interest, or maybe the lines of communication were crossed, regardless, after looking around and asking a few questions to people in the know, I realized that I loved the idea of putting a blog together on my own, with no interference, allowing for anyone that reads it to leave comments on any given chapter of the series and to ask questions if they felt the need,” he said on his blog. “Hopefully, anyone taking the time to read several hundreds of pages online that liked them, might feel the need to purchase a hard copy (Volumes 1 and 2 still available, more on Volume 3 later (he teased)). GYAKUSHU! was NOT designed to be read as single issues of a monthly comic, and in hind sight, I do not think that going to IMAGE (or anyone else (and I did)) would have been the right choice for the book. The story was designed as a series of graphic novels, and the only alternative I see to that, in print, is the ultimate/absolute/what$@#!in’ever 600 page version. The blog may be up for a long time, or not long at all, only time will tell. Volume 3 will NOT immediately be posted in it’s entirety, but rather just the first third.”

And if, like me, you’ve been eagerly awaiting the next Amazing Joy Buzzards book, Monster Love, he also gave an update. “For anyone wondering about AJB: MONSTER LOVE, I’m back on the job and am hoping that 2010 is the year of the Monster(Love). I’m no longer making promises, as I have no more foot to put in my mouth. To everyone that’s been waiting, I thank you for your continued patience,” he said.

And finally, in more good Dan Hipp news, he also posted several strips on his blog last week: take a look at this Amazing Joy Buzzards strip, this Bonehead strip and this Supernatural (as in the TV show) story, featuring the Ghostfacers!

Earlier this month

That first volume will be reprinted as the first six issues in the series, followed by six issues that would have made up the second volume. While it’s fairly common to see comics collected into trades nowadays, King City is essentially doing the opposite — starting as a collection and becoming a series. Not by design, of course, but it’s interesting nonetheless.

Comic Book Resources spoke with Graham about the title (as well as his Oni title, Multiple Warheads). I followed up with TokyoPop and Image on the deal itself.

According to TokyoPop, this licensing deal came about because all three parties — Graham, TokyoPop and Image — really wanted it to happen. Image will manufacture, sell and promote the individual issues, while TokyoPop will direct the creation of the comic and retain graphic novel rights.

“Brandon has always been interested in seeing his work in the oversized format,” said TokyoPop Senior Vice President Mike Kiley. “He reached out to Image, who are great fans of his work. We all then got on the phone and hammered out an agreement.”

Joe Keatinge, PR and marketing coordinator for Image, credited Eric Stephenson, Image’s publisher, with helping the deal to come together on the Image side.

“Brandon’s been a friend of mine for a really long time, but Eric Stephenson is the one who masterfully orchestrated the deal to co-publish King City with TokyoPop and Image Comics,” Keatinge said. “Without him it’s very likely the series may have never seen the light of day again. Everyone here is very enthusiastic to see King City return to the stands.”

The deal is specifically for King City and doesn’t include any other TokyoPop books. However, both parties said they were open to discussing similar deals for other titles.

And finally, you may recall that when TokyoPop canceled several of their original English language, or OEL, books last year, they said they were planning on moving some of them to the web. That’s still part of the plan and will be announced in the coming months.

King City #1

This is great news — Brandon Graham’s King City, which was caught up in the Tokyopop implosion last year, is returning to print in August.

Graham writes on his LiveJournal that Tokyopop and Image Comics will release King City as a 12-issue comic series starting Aug. 19. It will be printed in the same, larger format as Image’s recent Viking comic.

The first six issues will reprint volume one, which Tokoyopop released last year, with “some cool extra shit to try to make it interesting even if you’ve got the TP book.”

The last six issues showcasing what would have been volume two. “Needless to say I’m fucking thrilled,” Graham said.

I hope this means that similar deals are in the works for some of the other “Original English Language” books that Tokyopop started but never finished, like Becky Cloonan’s East Coast Rising and Dan Hipp’s Gyakushu. It would be great to see them wrapped up as well.

Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 5

Welcome to another edition of What Are You Reading. This week I’m pleased to announce that our special guest star is Dash Shaw, who wowed the critics last year with his doorstop family drama Bottomless Belly Button and was just nominated for an Eisner for his recently completed Webcomic Bodyworld (soon to be published in book form by Pantheon).

To see what Shaw and the rest of us are reading, click on the link below.

Watchmen

Michael May: I’m a little over halfway done with my second reading of Watchmen, my first time through being about 15 years ago. I purposely stayed away from it before seeing the movie and my thought so far is that I like the movie better. At least, I like the characters better in the movie. I pretty much hate the comics version of the younger Silk Spectre, but I was able to muster some sympathy for her in the film. Pretty much the same with Doc Manhatten except that I don’t have any feelings about him at all in the comic. Maybe I’ll change my mind by the time I finish it, but that’s how I remember it from my first go-round too.

I’m also digging into Dark Horse’s reprints of Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian. I keep thinking about this guy on a Conan message board I used to go to. This was while Kurt Busiek was writing the new Conan series for Dark Horse and every time a new issue would come out this guy would go on and on about how Kurt was blaspheming against Robert E. Howard and how Marvel’s version was so faithful and true to Holy Scripture. I stayed out of those conversations then, but I now realize that that guy was totally on crack. I also don’t see the big deal about Barry Windsor Smith, but then I’ve always been a fan of John Buscema’s version.

I’m also re-reading X-Men: Children of the Atom. I bought the paperback version of Marvel Masterworks: X-Men, Vol. 1 a couple of weeks ago and about two panels into it I decided I wanted to re-read the prequel mini-series first. I wish they’d been able to keep Steve Rude on for the whole thing, but man that’s a fine mini-series.

Chris Mautner: Quickly, because it’s late and I want to get this up before Easter services. I read Wolverine: Prodigal Son, which is the first entry in Del Rey/Marvel attempt to manga-fy the X-Men. The story’s by Anthony Johnston, art by Wilson Tortosa. It’s a serviceable but somewhat silly attempt to make the character more appealing to teen-age girls. Logan’s a brash young teen, all angsty and tortured, which just makes you want to give him a hug and some chai tea. Like I said, it’s not bad — it’s certainly more coherent and competent than a lot of the Wolverine stories I’ve come across in recent years — but it’s not terribly essential either, Tortosa’s art gets muddied a lot, particularily during action scenes (he likes motion lines a lot apparently) and I’m not sure they aren’t losing something by making the character younger. I kind of always thought part of his appeal lay in the fact that he was a grown-up. I give it a meh.

FLUKE 2009 Anthology

Tim O’Shea: One has to appreciate the disclaimer that greets you on the first page of the 2009 FLUKE Anthology, about two or three sentences after some standard legal disclaimer, you get “Submissions drawn by crawdads, Tuscan raiders, snipes, Ferengi, narwhales or any other fantastical or fictional creatures are not eligible for inclusion in the FLUKE Anthology. It must also be noted that regular usage of the FLUKE Anthology may cause anal leakage and some hair loss.” In the 80 pages of the book, you get a wooden nickel (no really) and a selection of creators, including Gary Fields, Sarah Louise, Jeremy Sorese, Joey Weiser, Jason Horn, Josh Latta, Andrew Goldfarb, M Campos and many many more (like they used to say in those 1970s variety shows…). I love anthologies like this, as they are like going to a mega mall without getting hit by perfume salespeople.

On the mainstream front, Jeff Parker was born to write Exiles. (Sorry Jeff, if you thought your purpose in life might be bigger or at least creator owned…) Parker’s grasp of the Marvel universe (or universes I guess with this series…) makes him the ideal writer for an ever-changing cast that comes with this concept. And only his sense of humor can handle Hitler/Ghandi juxtaposition/alternate universe comedy. My only disappointment was that in my excitement to buy this (as well as Jason Aaron’s Wolverine: Weapon X [which I need to read again before deciding if I like it]) I did not notice they were both $3.99. I have a hard time justifying $4.00 for a Marvel comic, but I’ll take the hit for Parker — particularly with the clean, engaging style of artist Salva Espin. And that’s saying a great deal, as I grew tired of the original Exiles run and did not think I would ever revisit the title. Fortunately Marvel assigned the correct writer for this relaunch.

Another $3.99 comic from Marvel that I begrudgingly support (my conditional support is a fiscal complaint, only) is the fifth installment (out of eight) for writer Eric Shanower’s and artist Scottie Young’s Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I really appreciate the manner in which Young handles some implied violence in this issue that engages the reader while still keeping it an all-ages story.

Air Vol. 1

Matthew Maxwell: Read more actual books this week, but nobody wants to hear about that.

RAWBONE #1
The funny thing is, there’s no “Mature Readers Only” warning on the front of this book, when it’s easily one of the most unquestionably mature books I’ve read in some time. I’ve made no secret of my love of Jamie Delano’s writing. I have since HELLBLAZER, purple prose and all (hey, it was the 80s, right?) RAWBONE is unmistakably his work, blood-engorged puns bumping up against corrupt authority figures on the high seas. If you wanted more like TALES OF THE BLACK FREIGHTER, you could do much worse than give this a try.

AGENTS OF ATLAS #3
Now this is kind of on the other end of the spectrum. Much more accessable, much more kid friendly, though strangely doesn’t hold a corner on the gorilla/chimp market for this week’s reading. And Ken Hale is a lot more friendly than the…thing that shows up in RAWBONE, particularly when drawn by Gabriel Hardman. Some nice character moments, some wry chuckles, nice dashes of spectacle and action. I don’t want to say “another typical issue of AGENTS OF ATLAS,” or anything, but that’s what it’s gonna sound like, I suppose. I’m waiting to hear about people grouching that the fight on the cover doesn’t take place in the book itself, but is just sorta hinted at.

UNKNOWN SOLDIER #5, #6.
I’m cheating, since I haven’t actually read these yet. You know the series got nominated for an Eisner, right?

AIR, Vol. 1
It’s been awhile, it seems, since I’ve seen a Vertigo book tackle magic that wasn’t horror. I’m only partly through at the moment, so I don’t want to give a full review yet, but I like what I’m reading so far. G. Willow Wilson brings a feminine voice that reads as strikingly different from a lot of what’s out there right now. I’m curious to see where this is going to end up. Magical realism and I have an uneasy relationship. Done well and when internally consistent, it can be very good, illuminating dark corners and entertaining in a unique way. Done poorly (and I don’t think that this will be a problem for AIR) and it becomes a deus-ex-machina mess that can still be entertaining, but often only temporarily satisfying.

BATMAN: EGO AND OTHER TAILS
I’m not so much reading this as I am studying it for the layouts and cartooning. But the stories here are well worth the read.

BASIL WOLVERTON’S BIBLE
Wow. Just wow. Only glanced over it after buying it at Emerald City, but man, that’s a piece of work.

Warlord

Tom Bondurant: I finished Heartbreak Soup and am almost done with Essential Dr. Strange Volume 2. With regard to the Essential book, I was pretty surprised to see Gardner Fox writing most of a Doc-fights-”Cthulhu” arc. Sure, he was a prolific prose science-fiction writer, but he was also one of the architects of DC’s Golden and Silver Ages. I had no idea he did any Marvel work.

The latest Warlord relaunch, written by creator Mike Grell and drawn by Joe Prado and Walden Wong, debuted on Wednesday. I’m only familiar with the character in passing, but it’s not the hardest concept to grasp: Air Force pilot becomes power broker in barbarian-and-dinosaur-rich land. This time, a group of scientists from 2009 are the new-
reader-identification characters, so about half of issue #1 is devoted to introducing them. The other half recaps the Warlord’s origin, acquaints us with his supporting cast, and ends with a mysterious murder. The issue is paced nicely, with each part getting its own “cliffhanger.”

Grell’s script is just on the good side of being expository, but it is a first issue and there’s a lot of ground to cover. (However, one character is named “McBane,” apparently without irony.) The art is lively and crisp, with colorist David Curiel using a warmer palette for Skartaris than he does for the modern world. For a while now I’ve wanted DC to offer more variety in its main line of books, and this was a good start.

Otherwise, this week — probably after the taxes (grumble) — I’ll be diving into Showcase Presents Doom Patrol Vol. 1, and (thanks to a timely bargain) the first twelve issues of Marvel’s Micronauts.

The Moon in the Gutter

Dash Shaw: “Scott Pilgrim 5” by Bryan Lee O’Malley. I first read this a while ago. My initial read was disappointing probably because my expectations were really high. I LOVED volume 4. It had more of an older manga feel to it. It felt like he dove into those Tezuka reprints and came out the other end stronger. It’s cool to see him play around inside of his parameters and develop across a big project. Four’s a total fucking joyride. Smart too. O’Malley’s really tapped into the collective subconscious with this series. The melodrama’s very modern and real — like Guy Maddin says melodrama’s “life uninhibited” — more real than real life. I was pumped for 5 to be him blowing through the roof.

Anyway, I thought I’d re-read vol 5 this week with a calmer head. I still don’t like it as much as a single book but I have faith that this will be an important piece in the completed series. The other volumes felt more self-contained than this one; maybe 5 functions more as a connector between 4 and the upcoming conclusion. That accounts for its pace, which peaks somewhere in the middle and then putters around for a while and closes with a set-up for 6. 5’s more tonally complicated too. The tone bounces around a lot. Die-hard SP fans will think I’m nuts, but I think this series would benefit from being in color. O’Malley puts thought into the clothing of the characters, which is important for readability in manga where the character’s faces are so similar. It emphasizes their fashion as character design. But in SP the clothing becomes generalized with O’Malley’s thick brush lines and it loses some readability, especially when there are so many characters. If it was in color I think it’d make the characters and scenes more instantly recognizable and more specific. More emotional too. I dunno. Maybe I just like color comics now. I used to be pissed when people colored comics originally in B&W. I could blab more about this series and how awesome it is and nit-pick more things, but the point is that SP’s very exciting and I’m glad it’s as popular as it is.

Old auction catalogs from the Strand. 120 pages of prints for two dollars- cheaper than a comic book!

On Creativity by David Bohm. Short sorta motivational read.

Lots of blogs/webcomics/comic reprint blogs. Too many and too boring to list. I’ve plugged Forming before but I will do so again because it’s cool to watch the colors get more ambitious each week. I wonder what it’ll be like 6 months from now.

The Originality of the Avant-Garde and Other Modernist Myths by Rosalind Krauss. Writing originally published in Artforum and October. I like reading essay collections or short-story collections on the subway. I wish I read these when they came out because a lot of it is in response to criticism at the time that I haven’t read, but most of it is new too. Barnett Newman said “Most people think of subject-matter as what Meyer Shapiro has called ‘object-matter.’” People confuse the subject/meaning with the depicted objects.

I also read the April issue of Artforum and it’s got a great short interview with Artur Zmijewski. I read the article on Lawrence Jordan but I still think Jordan’s lame. The lameness is in context now. Kikuo got a shout-out for “Night Fisher” from director Michael Almereyda who apparently, when he was a kid, used to chill with Alex Toth in LA!

Moon in the Gutter by David Goodis. Jason T Miles recommended this author to me since I’m working on a murder-mystery comic. I started it this morning. No thoughts yet.

X-Men: Misfits

Continuing our ongoing look at what various publishers have planned for the coming year, here’s a look at Random House’s line-up.

I should note this includes this list includes the Ballantine, Villard and Del Rey imprints. I am not including Del Rey Manga here, as I hope to list their offerings as a separate post in the near future.

JANUARY

Cartoon Marriage

Cartoon Marriage by Liza Donnelly and Michael Maslin. New Yorker cartoonists (and old married couple) Donnelly and Maslin chronicle the ups and downs of their relationship in this humourous collection of cartoons and prose. $24 hardcover.

The Case of the Dragonslayer by Kouhei Kadono. Not comics or manga, but a fantasy novel about, well, you figure it out. There’s obviously some crossover for the anime set though, especially since the illustrations are by Kazuma Kaneko, whose work can be seen in the Megami and Persona games. $12.95 paperback

Garfield Gets His Just Desserts by Jim Davis. Because in this age of economic uncertainty, what could be more reassuring than a new Garfield book. This is the 47th book in the series, a fact which I find vaguely depressing. $13 paperback.

FEBRUARY

Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: Prodigal Son, adaptation by Chuck Dixon and Brett Booth. This collects the first four issues of the Dabel Brothers-shepherded series, an adaptation of a story which in itself is a retake on a classic tale. That description sounds a bit like a Frankenstein monster in its own way, doesn’t it? Koontz provides both an introduction and an additional story. $19.95 hardcover.

In the Flesh

In the Flesh by Koren Shadmi. A collection of short stories from a new Israeli artist, most of them dealing with love, sex and obsession. I’ve been thumbing through a preliminary copy and I have to say though I have yet to really sit down with the book I like what I see so far. I predict this could well be the sleeper hit of the year. Remember, you heard it here first. $14.95 paperback.

MARCH

X-Men 1: Misfits. Story by Raina Telgmeier and Dave Roman. Art by Anzu. And here’s Random House’s big sure-fire hit of 2009. Or at least the most interesting thing it’s got in it’s line-up: an OEL shojo manga version of everyone’s favorite group of mutants. I’m curious to see Telgemeier and Roman’s take on the material, though I have to confess that Anzu’s art hasn’t done much for me up till now. $12.95 paperback.

Wolverine: Prodigal Son

Wolverine 1: Prodigal Son. Story by Antony Johnston. Art by Wilson Tortosa. And why should Cyclops and Jean Grey get all the mangafied fun? Let’s start taking beets now as to whether these books will attract the Naruto crowd. I think it might. Any takers? $12.95 paperback.

APRIL

Life with Mr. Dangerous by Paul Hornschemeier. A young woman, out of love and depressed with her lot, wonders if the main character from her favorite TV show, is trying to give her advice. Originally serialized in Mome, where it was frequently criticized for being too slow-going. One hopes it will read better in collected format. The catalog originally said it would come out in January, but most online retailers are saying April, so that’s where I’m listing it. $16.95 hardcover.

Faust 2

Faust 2. The first volume of this ongoing fiction/manga/j-pop anthology is sitting on my table and I really should get around to reading it before the next volume comes out. This one features work by Takeshi Obata (Death Note), Ueda Hajime (FLCL), Yun Kouga (Loveless), Kouhei Kadono and Fred Gallagher. $10.95 paperback.

Soryuden The Novel: Book One by Yoshiki Tanaka. I’m including this prose novel about teen-age brothers with secret powers because it has illustrations by CLAMP. $10.99 paperback.

Huntington, West Virginia “On the Fly” by Harvey Pekar and Summer McClinton. Five autobiographical stories from Pekar about some of the more interesting people he’s bumped into along life’s travels. $18 paperback.

MAY

The Dresden Files: Storm Front

Jim Butcher The Dresden Files: Storm Front. Adaptation by Mark Powers. Illustrated by Ardian Syaf. More comic book adventures about the supernatural investigator. Did the first one do well? Well, it’s coming out in paperback in August. $22.95 hardcover.

Syncopated, edited by Brendan Burford. An anthology of nonfiction comics by various artists. No list of contributors, but I’ve liked Burford’s work in the past, so this will probably be worth checking out. $16 paperback.

JUNE

The Essential Wonder Woman Encyclopedia by Phil Jimenez. Because somebody somewhere demanded it! Jimenez tells you everything you ever wanted to know about that other Princess Diana and her entourage. More than 400 pages of material! Mark this one down now for your future Christmas list. $29.95 paperback.

Goats: Infinite Typewriters

Goats: Infinite Typewriters by Jonathan Rosenberg. Del Rey jumps on the Webcomics bandwagon with this collection of Rosenberg’s popular strip, as yet unread by me, so I can offer no value judgment. Sorry. $14 paperback.

Peter Jackson Presents District 9 by D.A. Stern. The graphic novel tie-in to the upcoming film, about which little has been revealed. $24 paperback.

CLAMP in America by CLAMP and Shaenon Garrity. In honor of the group’s 20th anniversary comes this oversized tribute, which delves into their history and work, as well as their influence here and in their native land of Japan. $19.99 paperback.

The Passion of the Hausfrau by Nicole Chaison. This looks to be one of those sly attempts at chroncicling the chaotic odyssey known as motherhood. Could be good. Could be really, really awful too. $19.95 hardcover.

JULY

The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. The uber-popular (know of any other comics that inspired their own expo?) moves from Dark Horse to Del Rey. An “11 1/2 year anniversary” book, Magic collects Holkins’ and Krahulik’s favorite strips, as well as anecdotes and commentary. So it’s like the Dark Horse books only more so. $20 hardcover.

Mercy Thompson: Homecoming by Patricia Briggs and Francis Tsai. Another Dabel Brothers/Del Rey collaboration and once again based off of a popular series of novels. This one is about a shapeshifter who finds herself facing off against … wait for it … werewolves and vampires. $22.95 hardcover.

The Essential Guide to G.I. Joe by Pablo Hidalgo. OK, this is obviously not comics. Still, you know you want it. $25 paperback.