Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources - Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment » thin wallets fat bookshelves

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves | A roundup of publishing news

JK Parkin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 20:09:48 +0000

3X4

AdHouse will distribute 3X4, by Scott Morse, Lou Romano, Don Shank and Nate Wragg, the guys behind Sex and Science and The Ancient Book of Myth and War. AdHouse describes the book as “a unique collection of paintings built around the simple aesthetic of the numbers 3 and 4. Be it shape, line, texture, or color, this collection dares to boldly add a new perspective to modern art.”
Per Ross Campbell, the sixth edition of his popular Wet Moon series of graphic novels from Oni Press is now slated to come out next year. “I’ll be finished with the book on the same schedule, but Oni has restructured their workflow a bit so their turnaround/build time is longer now, making WM6 most likely a February 2011 release,” he wrote.
Heidi at the Beat points out that this preview of the London Book Fair by Publishers Weekly reveals that Ben McCool and Billy Tucci are working on a graphic novel adaptation of the film Alexander Nevsky by Russian director Sergei Eisenstein.
Jim Rugg will debut a new Rambo minicomic at this weekend’s SPACE event.
Meathaus has scans of a Charles Burns minicomic called Free Shit “with preview art from an upcoming project of his.”
Rami Efal has self-published Never Forget, Never Forgive, which was originally serialized on the webcomics collective site ACT-I-VATE. “It is a tragedy taking place in 16th century Japan and is a cross between Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood, Sophocles’ Antigone, and Lone Wolf and Cub,” according to the author.

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves | A publishing news roundup

JK Parkin — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 16:00:25 +0000

Batman and Robin by Jim Lee

This is a special “WonderCon + more” edition of Thin Wallets, as we round up publishing news from last weekend’s con, plus a few other items of note …

DC Comics announced that they are replacing the long-delayed All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder with Dark Knight: Boy Wonder. The book will still be by the creative team of Frank Miller and Jim Lee, and is due in February 2011.
IDW has picked up the license to make comics based on HBO’s southern vampire show True Blood. The show’s creator, Alan Ball, is helping to develop the stories.
IDW will also release another version of their Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer collection — Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer: Artist Edition. The oversized hardcover will be printed as the same size as Stevens’ original art, approximately 11 by 16 inches. “You’ll be able to see his beautiful blue pencil work, you’ll be able to see the stats, all of it,” Special Projects Editor Scott Dunbier said. “It’ll be the closest thing you ever get to Dave Stevens original art.”
Judd Winick announced that he is writing a new Barry Ween book. “Thankfully, after, like, an eight-year hiatus, I’m actually – swear to God – I’m actually doing more ‘Barry Ween.’ I’m writing it now,” he said at his spotlight panel. Barry Ween is heading into space in the new story.
Image Comics is collecting The Crusades, by Steven T. Seagle and Kelley Jones, into a hardcover. The series was originally published by Vertigo. Seagle is also teaming up with artist Marco Cinello for a children’s book called Frankie Stein.

Image is also publishing a one-shot by Joe Casey and Chris Burnham called Officer Downe.
Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray are working on two new projects for an as-yet-unrevealed publisher — Random Acts of Violence and Time Bomb.
Ethan Van Sciver is bringing back his first creator-owned series, Cyberfrog, at Wildstorm. He’s also working with Gail Simone on a project.
BOOM! Studios is working on a comic book version of Tim Burton’s recent Alice in Wonderland film. They also announced a western miniseries this weekend called Pale Horse.
Dylan Meconis’ Family Man webcomic is being collected into print. You can pre-order it now.
Two-Step, the Wildstorm miniseries by Warren Ellis, Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, will finally be collected in November.
Jeffrey Brown is working on a second Incredible Change-Bots book.
Skottie Young’s The Adventures of Bernard the World Destroyer, which he previously posted on his blog, is now available in print.
Roger Langridge is collecting his old Doctor Sputnik strips into a book that he plans to sell when he hits the United States in June.

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: Drawn & Quarterly’s fall catalog

Chris Mautner — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:30:07 +0000

Note that this is not the final cover to Barry's new book

Farrar Straus & Giroux has once again sent out their latest catalog of upcoming books, this time for the fall, and since FSG distributes Drawn & Quarterly, it gives us an excellent opportunity to see what the Canadian publisher has planned for the second half of 2010. Their line-up includes new books from Lynda Barry, Chris Ware, Seth and John Stanley, just to name a few.

By the way, I think it’s worth mentioning that FSG imprint Hill and Wang, who have been publishing a few nonfiction graphic novels every quarter, have nothing lined up for the fall. Are they quietly canceling this line? Or is this just a pause between projects?

September

Burma Chronicles

Make Me A Woman by Vanessa Davis. A collection of Davis’ most recent diary strips, detailing her relationships with her family, friends and lovers. I could be wrong, but I believe some of the material here will include the strips she did for Tablet magazine. 176 pages, $29.95.

Nipper by Doug Wright. Piggybacking on the success of last year’s Collected Doug Wright, this smaller, trimmer paperback collects strips from Wright’s beloved, frequently hilarious comic about a rambunctious little boy, circa 1963-64, largely considered to be one of the peaks of its run. Design by Seth, natch. 112 pages, $16.95.

Denys Wortman’s New York: Portrait of a City in the ’30s and ’40s. Edited by James Sturm and Brandon Elston. I know nothing about Wortman or his work, but apparently he was an ash can artist whose work appeared most notably in the New York World, where he routinely drew about the lower and working class society in the Big Apple. According to the pr material in the catalog, Sturm found out about Wortman and tracked down his son, who in turn gave him access to thousands of illustrations and correspondence. Sounds like an artist worth rediscovering. 288 pages, $29.95.

Burma Chronicles by Guy Delisle. Delisle’s acclaimed story about the year he spent with his family in the totalitarian country of Myanmar gets reprinted, this time in paperback version. It’s a very good book. I recommend getting a copy if you haven’t done so already. 272 pages, $16.95.

October

Picture This: The Nearsighted Monkey Book by Lynda Barry. Originally I believe this was supposed to be a small book in D&Q’s ongoing Petit Livres series. Now it’s blossomed into a full-fledged “sequel” to Barry’s much-beloved (at least for those of us who like collage) “how-to” graphic novel, What It Is. This time Barry gives you the lowdown on how to draw, with lots of smart-assed advice from the ever-popular Ernie Pook star Maryls. 204 pages, $24.95.

Acme Novelty Library #20 by Chris Ware. Having taken a year off to, I don’t know, mope about something, Ware returns full force with the latest issue of his now hardcover serial. I have no idea if this is a new chapter in his ongoing Rusty Brown or Building Stories serials — the pr text says merely that it’s an examination of one 72 pages, $23.95.

Palookaville #20 by Seth. The one-named cartoonist and designer follows in Ware’s footsteps by releasing the latest edition of his occasionally ongoing series in a deluxe hardcover format. This expanded edition continues the Clyde Fans storyline, but also features some autobiographical strips, an essay on why he makes little cardboard cities, and contains the two-part autobio story from Palookaville #2 and 3 about how he lost his virginity. Hotcha! 88 pages, $19.95.

Who Will Comfort Toffle? by Tove Jansson. The latest entry in their new children’s book series (I think), Toffle is a Moomin short story about a shy, insecure boy who slowly learns to come out of his shell. 24 pages, $26.95.

A Single Match by Oji Suzuki. Gekiga fans alert! Here’s D&Q’s latest entry in that field, featuring a collection of short stories (also known under the title Red Kimono) from one of the initial leaders of the Garo/alt-manga scene.The Same Hat! blog has some info on the book and Suzuki for the curious. I’m looking forward to this. 240 pages, $24.95.

Tubby: The John Stanley Library. Well now here’s a surprise. I would have guessed that Dark Horse, since they are already publishing the Little Lulu series, would have snatched up the publishing rights for it’s popular spin-off, Tubby. But no, D&Q seems to have snatched it away from them for their own multi-volume Stanley tribute. Good for them. These are great comics. 144 pages, $29.95.

November

Eden by Pablo Holmberg. Holmberg, aka Kioskerman, is an Argentinan artist. Eden is a collection of interconnected four-panel strips that originally ran on his Web site, with a decided surreal edge. And now you know as much about this book as I do. Looks pretty though. 120 pages, $16.95.

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: A publishing news roundup

Chris Mautner — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:30:02 +0000

Dragon Puncher

• The big news of the week is that Top Shelf has not only completely updated and streamlined their Web site, but has also unveiled a whole heckuva lot of new projects for the fall, 2011 and beyond, including new books by Jeff Lemire, Nate Powell, James Kochalka and Chris Eliopoulos. All in all it looks like an interesting line-up, containing a solid mix of all-ages and more adult-oriented material.

• Top Shelf isn’t the only one doing the Web site shuffle. Both Savage Critics and All About Comics have moved/updated their blogs,

• IcV2 offers some more information on Vertical’s plans to publish Osamu Tezuka’s Ayako in the fall.

• Tokyopop is planning to publish Neko Ramen, four-koma (or comic strip) about a cat that runs a noodle shop, and they’re posting sample strips to get folks all hot and bothered.. Look for it in stores in June.

• SLG will publish the debut graphic novel by one Diana Thung, titled Captain Long Ears. Check out our preview from earlier this year here.

• Here’s what the cover to the Essential Superman Encyclopedia will look like.

• And here’s what the cover to the next Zippy the Pinhead collection will look like.

• Author and Jim Flora devotee Irwin Chusid reveals that he may have a new Flora book in the works.

• Ben Catmull posts a panel from the upcoming second issue of Monster Parade. Man, I really liked that first issue. Can’t wait for the next one.

• Nat Gertler reveals that he’s working on a Peanuts Treasury book for Little, Brown.

• Can’t find a copy of last year’s Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror done by the Kramer’s Ergot crowd? Here you go.

• Finally, it looks like Josh Cotter is starting another one of those experimental journal/comics projects. This one seems to be called March Hare.

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: Yen Press’ 2010 line-up

Chris Mautner — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:15:57 +0000

Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 1

We’re continuing our look at the year ahead in comics with a rundown of Yen Press’ plans up through the summer. The company has their own online schedule that you can peruse, but I thought it might be useful to point out a few titles of note. As with Viz and other manga publishers, I’m not going to list every single ongoing volume that they’ve got in the hopper, but merely highlight the ones that strike my fancy. I’m flighty that way.

With the Light Vol. 6

March

Twilight: The Graphic Novel Vol. 1 by Stephenie Meyer and adapted by Young Kim. The vampire juggernaut finally meets comics. It’s a perfect fit, considering this thing is basically a shojo manga in goth drag. Will it be as ginormously successful as every seems to think it will? Probably.

With the Light Vol. 6 by Keiko Tobe The release of this latest volume has a special poignancy given that Tobe just passed away.

April

Spice and Wolf by Isuna Hasekura and Keito Koume. That sounds vaguely naughty, doesn’t it? Sadly, it’s about an itinerant merchant who teams up with a wolf-god to exploit a kingdom’s depleting currency. Shenanigans, no doubt, ensue. 192 pages, $12.99.

Yotsuba&! Vol. 8 by Kiyohiko Azuma. I point out the release of this volume merely because I really, really like Yotsuba.

May

Kobato Vol. 1 and 2 by CLAMP The CLAMP collective’s latest series deals with a young woman who alleviates other people’s romantic sufferings so that she can have her own wish come true. The catch is she can’t fall in love with anyone she helps.

My Girlfrend’s A Geek by PENTABU by Rize Shinba. Oh, you wish pal. No, this one’s about a guy who dates a yaoi fanatic. That could go to some interesting places.

June

Darker Than Black Omnibus original story by BONES & Tensai Okamura, art by NOKIYA, script in collaboration with Arklight This book collects the two-volume manga about a mysterious, supernatural assassin. 384 pages, $18.99.

HIGURASHI WHEN THEY CRY: Time Killing Arc story by Ryukishi07, art by Yoshiki Tonogai A new chapter in an ongoing series about a mysterious Twin Peaks-like village where bad stuff goes down. At least, I think that’s what it’s about. 192 pages, $11.99.

July

Daniel X Vol. 1 by story by James Patterson, art by SeungHui Kye Following the apparent success of the Maximum Ride adaptation, Yen attempts to tackle another series from Patterson, the Henry Ford of literature, this one being about an orphaned alien on Earth with fantastic powers. Hmmm, sounds familiar.

The Clique: The Manga story by Lisi Harrsion, art by Yishan Li. Another popular teen series, this one being in a more Gossip Girlish vein, gets mangaized.

Book Girl and the Suicidal Mime by Mizuki Nomura Not a comic at all, but a light novel about “Konoha Inoue, a gifted writer who’s lost his passion, who’s inducted into his school’s literature club by it’s only other member, the beautiful Touko Amano – a book goblin who literally devours the printed word.”

Himeyuka & Rozione’s Story by Sumomo Yumeka A young woman befriends a mysterious little boy. That’s about all I can suss out of this one.

RomeoxJuliet Omnibus art by COM, original story by William Shakespeare The classic love story gets a manga twist/update. Will it finally have a happy ending? It better not.

Ugly Duckling’s Love Revolution, Volume 1 by Yuuki Fujinari An overweight, former child beauty contestant launches into a program to lose weight with the help of the hot boys in her neighborhood. That happens all the time, right?

August

Goldilocks and the Seven Squat Bears by Émile Bravo Not manga at all but Eurocomics! Or, more specifically, an all ages book from the author of My Mom is in America and She Met Buffalo Bill. I really liked that book a lot, so I’ll definitely be trying to track this down come summer.

Gossip Girl: The Manga, Volume 1 art and adaptation by HyeKyung Baek, original concept by Cecily von Ziegesar. The title says it all, doesn’t it?

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: Del Rey/Villard’s 2010 plans

Chris Mautner — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:20:42 +0000

Wonder Woman Encyclopedia

We’re continuing our look at various publishers’ plans for the new year with an in-depth look at the Random House imprints Del Rey and Villard, which are best know for the number of manga, Webcomics and licensed material they release. What’s on their schedule for 2010? Click on the link to find out.

February

Ben 10: Doom Dimension

Ben 10: Doom Dimension. Written by Peter David; Illustrated by Dan Hipp. In this OEL manga spin-off of the popular cartoon series, our hero Ben finds himself literally blasted into the mysterious Fourth Dimension, where he’s sought after by a fearsome bounty hunter. Note that the art is by the creator of Gyakushu.96 pages, $7.99. In stores Feb. 23.

Panic X Panic by Mika Kawamura. “Mitsuki and Kakeru are childhood friends — and rivals! When Mitsuki is attacked by a demon, she and Kakeru discover that they have magical powers. An ancient scroll decrees that they must work together to save the world from a demon invasion. And so begins a demon-filled adventure.” 208 pages, $10.99. In stores Feb. 23.

The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade: The 11 1/2th Anniversary Edition by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. One of the most popular Webcomics evar makes its official move to Del Rey, with this Hardcover, 176 pages, $24. In stores Feb. 23.

March

Bakugan: The Evo Tournament Volume 1 Written by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir; Illustrated by Kris Sisson. Since I officially qualify as an old fart (at least according to some) I’ve got no idea what this whole “Bakugan” thing is about. It involves cards, right? Or is that Pokemon? Are there toys involved? Anyway, here’s the official manga version. 176 pages, $10.99 In stores March 2.

Pink Innocent

Pink Innocent by Kotori Momoyuki. Clueless Kokona has a dreamy, talented and smart boyfriend but has no idea what to do now that they’re going out. Oh, get your head out of the gutter, this is more of a “relationship advice” manga. 176 pages, $10.99 In stores March 23

April

Genshiken: Return of the Otaku by Kio Shimoku and Iida Kazutoshi. Not a manga, but an illustrated novel starring the characters from the popular seinen series. When their beloved club is threatened by the arrival of a new club organization chariman, what will the Genshiken members do? 240 pages, $9.99. In stores April 13.

The Stuff of Legend Written by Mike Raicht and Brian Smith; Illustrated by Charles Wilson. Originally published by Third World, this is a story about a group of toys that rally together to save their young owner from the clutches of the Boogeyman. 128 pages, $13. In stores April 27.

The Essential Wonder Woman Encyclopedia by Phil Jimenez and John Wells. I think this one has been known about for awhile. Everything you could possibly want to know about the Amazonian wonder but were too afraid of failing Trivial Pursuit: The DC Version to ask. No doubt a Superman version is waiting in the wings as well. Oh look, it is! 496 pages, $30, paperback. In stores April 27. An exclusive hardcover edition will be distributed by Diamond.

May

Clamp In America

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Graphic Novel by Seth Grahame-Smith and Jane Austen Adapted by Tony Lee; Illustrated by Cliff Richards. Oh come on, you knew this was coming. It was just a matter of time. 176 pages $14.99. In stores May 5.

The Last Airbender Movie Prequel Written by Dave Roman and Alison Wilgus; Illustrated by Nina Matsumoto. As the title suggests, I would imagine this ties more into the upcoming big-budget movie than the well-established and beloved cartoon series, but it’s nice to see Roman getting more big-ticket work, though I’m not familiar with Ms. Wilgus at all I’m afraid. 112 pages, $10.99. In stores May 11.

The Talisman: The Road of Trials Adapted by Robin Furth, Illustrated by Tony Shasteen Collecting the ongoing adaptation of the Stephen King/Peter Straub novel. I didn’t find the first few issues of this to be good in any definable way, but I’m sure it will find an audience nevertheless. 160 pages, $25. In stores May 25

CLAMP in America by Shaenon Garrity and CLAMP This should be very good. Garrity is one of the most engaging and readable comics critics around, and she knows manga like the back of her hand. I’d easily pay good money to read her thoughts one of the most popular creative manga groups around. 352 pages, $27.99. In stores May 25

Goats: Showcase Showdown by Jonathan Rosenberg. The latest print collection of Rosenberg’s popular Webcomic. These obviously must be doing well for Del Rey, as this is the third volume in the series with no signs of letting up any time soon. 168 pages, $15. In stores May 25.

Fairy Navigator Runa by Miyoko Ikeda and Michiyo Kikuta I’ve got no idea what this book is about, but I bet it somehow involves fairies. 192 pages, $10.99. In stores May 25

June

Octopus Pie

Avatar: The Last Airbender Volume 1 by Nickelodeon Somehow I doubt that every single person who works at Nickelodeon had a hand in this amanga or adaptation or what have you, but there you have it. I think this might be a photo-comic, actually, similar to the kind Tokyopop used to do. 96 pages, $7.99. In stores June 22.

Penny Arcade 6: The Halls Below by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. Another collection of Penny Arcade comics. I imagine this one contains more recent material. 208 pages, $15. In stores June 22.

The Last Airbender Movie Tie-In Written by Dave Roman and Alison Wilgus; Illustrated by Joon Choi And if you’re not completely Airbendered out by this point, here’s the official, super-official, graphic novel tie-in to the film. 144 pages, $10.99. In stores June 22.

Octopus Pie: There Are No Stars in Brooklyn by Meredith Gran. See what I mean about Del Rey being a Webcomic publishing machine? Anyway, here’s (I think) the first ever non-self-published trade of Gran’s popular humor series. 272 pages, $16. June 22

July

Code: Breaker Volume 1 by Akimine Kumijyo. From Wikipedia: “the story of a high-school girl who is trained in martial arts and a new transfer student, a boy with mysterious powers.” Del Rey is labeling this a “major summer release.” Oooooo. 208 pages, $10.99. In stores July 27.

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: Scholastic’s early 2010 plans

Chris Mautner — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:30:29 +0000

Bone: Tall Tales

The noted children’s book publisher Scholastic has had great success with their comics-oriented Graphix imprint, mainly thanks to their colorized volumes of Jeff Smith’s Bone. And it looks like they’re going to continue their publishing onslaught this year. Already we’ve seen the release of Copper by Kazu Kibuishi and Missile Mouse by Jake Parker. Want to find out what’s coming up next. Read on, read on …

February

The Bone Handbook by Jeff Smith. Everything you wanted to know about Fone Bone but were afraid to ask. Includes profiles of the cast, a timeline, interviews with Smith and colorist Steve Hamaker and more. 96 pages, $9.99.

Smile by Raina Telgemeier. Telgemeier relates her rough battle with braces and jr. high school angst in this all-ages memoir. This actually should be out any day now. $21.99 hardcover, $10.99 paperback.

July

Ghostopolis by Doug TenNapel. From the author of Creature Tech comes this story about a guy who gets zapped to a spirit world, where he finds he obtains special powers that draw unwanted attention from nefarious forces. 288 pages, $24.99 hardcover, $14.99 paperback.

August

Bone: Tall Tales by Tom Sniegoski and Jeff Smith. As revealed at San Diego last year, here’s a sorta-new collection of Bone material, featuring the Stupid, Stupid Rat Creatures story (in color) as well as some other tales. $21.99 hardcover, $10.99 paperback.

Fall

Bone: Quest for the Spark Book One by Tom Sniegoski and Jeff Smith. The other big Bone book of the year. Details on this one are sparse at the moment. All we know is that it’s a prose book, illustrated by Smith and the first of a trilogy.

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: Abrams’ 2010 spring catalog

Chris Mautner — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:00:04 +0000

Art in Time

Art book publisher Abrams jumped into the comics world with both feet last year with their new ComicsArts imprint. What do they have lined up for 2010? Poking around their Web site, I was able to figure out their plans, both via the imprint and their children’s line. They’ve slowed down their output a little but still have a rather impressive array of titles coming out. Fer instance:

March

Meanwhile by Jason Shiga. Shiga’s quirky, “choose-your-own-adventure” mini-comic from a couple of years ago gets an updated, full-color treatment courtesy of Abrams’ children’s imprint, Amulet. It looks like they’re pushing this book pretty hard. Good for Shiga. He deserves the break. 80 pages, $15.95.

Simpsons/Futurama Crossover Crisis

April

The Simpsons/Futurama Crossover Crisis, edited by Bill Morrison. Introduction by Matt Groening. Originally published in pamphlet form (sorry, floppy form) via Bongo, this 208-page book collects the epic saga involving two of Groening’s cartoon projects that do not involve one-eared rabbits meeting up and getting into trouble. Should sell like hotcakes. $24.95.

Wacky Packages: New, New, New by the Topps Company. Edited by Jay Lynch. A sequel to the 2008 homage to those satirical stickers of yesteryear, this book collects some of the rare and hard to find collections from the 70s, with art by folks like Kim Deitch and Bill Griffith. 224 pages, $19.95.

The Art of Jaime Hernandez by Todd Hignite. Introduction by Alison Bechdel. Originally planned for 2009 I believe, this ode to the Locas creator features a treasure trove of sketches, illustrations and previously unseen work. 224 pages, $40.

May

Art in Time: Unknown Comic Book Adventures 1940-1980 by Dan Nadel. Is there a more hotly anticipated book than Mssr. Nadel’s sequel to his groundbreaking Art Out of Time collection? Well, possibly, but this is still a pretty exciting release nevertheless. H.G Peter, Harry Lucey, John Stanley, Jesse Marsh and Bill Everett are just a few of the golden and silver age artists feted in this chunky, 304-page book. $40.

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: Viz’s early 2010 plans

Chris Mautner — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:45:30 +0000

All My Darling Daughters

Continuing our ongoing coverage of publishing plans for the new year, today we’re taking a look at mega-manga publisher Viz’s plans for the first half of 2010.

While they naturally have an extensive list of manga that will come out over the next six months, rather than list every single series and volume that’s coming out between now and June, I opted instead to just list new series and occasional volumes of note, like when a particular series was coming to an end. Hope that’s OK with everyone.

January

Oishinbo Vol. 7

All My Darling Daughters by Fumi Yoshinaga. Hot on the heels of Ooku, Viz continues the Yoshinaga onslaught with this collection of five short stories, each dealing with the relationships between Yukiko, a businesswoman in her thirties, and her friends and family. Part of the Viz Signature series. $12.99.

not simple by Natsume Ono. The second entry in Viz’s ongoing Ikki/Signature series: “Ian, a young man with a fractured family history, travels from Australia to England to America in the hope of realizing his dreams and reuniting with his beloved sister. His story unfolds backwards through the framing narrative of Jim, a reporter driven to capture Ian’s experiences in a novel.” $14.99.

Oishinbo: Izakaya — Pub Food a la Carte by Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasak. Sadly, the last volume in this acclaimed and by all accounts super-fun series about food and cooking.Perhaps they’ll try a second collection in a year or so? We can always hope. $12.99

February

Biomega Vol. 1 by Tsutomu Nihei. The Viz Sig line gets all sci-fi with series about a deadly virus that turns humans into zombie-like “drones” and one mans’ search for a girl who has the power to transmute the virus. $12.99

Not Simple

Bokurano: Ours by Mohiro Kitoh. “One summer, fifteen kids innocently wander into a nearby seaside cave. There they meet a strange man who invites them to play an exciting new video game. This game, he explains, pits a lone giant robot against a horde of alien invaders. To play the game all they have to do is sign a simple contract. The game stops being fun when the kids find out the true purpose of their pact.” Another Ikki manga. $12.99

Crown of Love, Vol. 1 by Yun Kouga. A new shojo series about a boy who becomes a pop star just to get closer to the teen idol of his dreams, only to find himself regarded as competition, not romantic interest. That happened to me once. $9.99.

Ultimo by Hiroyuki Takei and Stan Lee. Mr. Excelsior and the guy who did Shaman King’s collaboration is finally collected in book form. A city is transformed by the arrival of two seemingly supernatural figures, one evil, the other, perhaps not so much. But who are they and where did they come from. I dunno. Anyone read the serialized version of this yet and want to offer an opinion on its merits? $9.99

March

Arata: The Legend, Vol. 1 by Yuu Watase. From the creator of Absolute Boyfriend and Fushigi Yugi: “In a mythical world where humans and gods coexist, a ceremony marking the new governing princess is about to occur for the first time in 60 years. Only a girl from the Hime Clan may take this position, but the lack of females born to this family means that a boy called Arata must pose for the role. Meanwhile in modern-day Japan, a boy named Arata Hinohara is starting his new life in high school. He wants to put memories of his difficult past behind him, but things aren’t going to be simple when he discovers a mysterious connection to the first Arata.” Man, that’s a mouthful. $9.99

Cactus’s Secret, Vol. 1 by Nana Haruta. “Miku Yamada has a longtime crush on classmate Kyohei Fujioka. But no matter how many times she tries to show him how she feels, clueless Kyohei just doesn’t get it. Frustrated, Miku gives up on him, only to have him start calling her “Cactus” for being so prickly when he’s around.” Did you guess that this is a shojo series yet? $9.99

Dorohedoro by Q Hayashida. In a dismal city where scorerors experiment on unwary people they pluck off the streets, a guy with a lizard head and no idea how he got that way starts hunting around to find the responsible party. Looks very “gritty” and gruesome, but with a distinctive art style. Could be fun. No price listed yet, but probably $12.99.

Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, Vol. 8 by Naoki Urasawa. I’m probably wrong, but I believe this is the final volume in Urasawa’s highly acclaimed series. $12.99.

Ristorante Paradiso by Natsume Ono. More Ono! This one’s about a woman who takes on an apprenticeship at a restaurant and finds herself falling for the kindly headwaiter, Claudio, a divorced man. But her friendship with the woman who got her the job and the secret they’re both keeping could spell trouble. If not simple ends up being good, I’ll definitely be checking this out. $12.99.

April

House of Five Leaves, Vol. 1 by Natsume Ono. Man, Viz is just Ono crazy. This one’s about a masterless samurai who joins up with a seemingly sinister gang, and finds himself drawn deep into their devious doings, despite his own misgivings. $12.99.

Rosario + Vampire Season II by Akihisa Ikeda. Jeez, I didn’t know there was a Season One. “Average human teenager Tsukune accidentally enrolls at a boarding school for monsters — no, not jocks and popular kids, but bona fide werewolves, witches and unnameables out of his wildest nightmares! On the plus side, all the girls have a monster crush on him. On the negative side, all the boys are so jealous they want to kill him! And so do the girls he spurns, because he only has eyes for one of them – the far-from-average vampire Moka.” $9.99.

Stepping on Roses, Vol. 1 by Rinko Ueda. Poor Sumi Kitamura… Her irresponsible older brother Eisuke keeps bringing home orphans for her to take care of even though they can barely afford their own basic needs! Just when Sumi’s financial problems become dire, wealthy Soichiro Ashida enters her life with a bizarre proposition: he’ll provide her with the money she so desperately needs if she agrees to marry him. But can Sumi fool high society into thinking she’s a proper lady? Moreover, is it worth giving up everything for this sham of a marriage?” You guessed it, a Shojo Beat series. 9.99.

May

Flower in a Storm, Vol. 1 by Shigeyoshi Takagi. “Riko Kunimi is trying to lead a normal high school life when Ran Tachibana bursts into her classroom carrying a gun and tells her that her life is now his. Ran, the richest, most powerful 17-year-old in Japan, wants her as his wife and he’s not taking no for an answer!” Shojo Beat, $9.99.

Maoh: Juvenile Remix, Vol. 1 by Kotaro Isaka and Megumi Osuga. “Ando is a high school student who has the power to make others say out loud what he’s thinking. Inukai is the mysterious leader of a vigilante group called Grasshopper, which is at odds with the city’s redevelopment plan. In this chaotic city, these two will come together to weave a story of courage, determination and confrontation.” Shonen Sunday, $9.99

Saturn Apartments by Hisae Iwaoka. Far in the future, humankind has evacuated the earth in order to preserve it. Humans now reside in a gigantic structure that forms a ring around the Earth, thirty-five kilometers up in the sky. The society of the Ring is highly stratified: the higher the floor, the greater the status. Mitsu, the lowly son of a window washer, has just graduated junior high. When his father disappears and is assumed dead, Mitsu must take on his father’s occupation.” I really like the look of this series. Ikki/Signature, $12.99.

June

Afterschool Charisma by Kumiko Suekane. “St. Kleio Academy is a very exclusive school: all of the students are clones of famous historical figures such as Beethoven, Queen Elizabeth I, Napoleon, Mozart, and Freud. All of them, that is, except for Shiro Kamiya. As Shiro struggles to adapt to this unusual campus, St. Kleio’s first graduate, the clone of John F. Kennedy, is killed. Are the clones doomed to repeat the fate of their genetic progenitors, or can they create their own destinies? And how does a normal boy like Shiro fit in?” Ikki/Signature, $12.99

Library Wars: Love and War by Kiiro Yumi. Original Concept by Hiro Arikawa. “Iku Kasahara has dreamed of joining the Library Defense Force ever since one of its soldiers stepped in to protect her favorite book from being confiscated in a bookstore when she was younger. But now that she’s finally a recruit, she’s finding her dream job to be a bit of a nightmare. Especially since her hard-hearted drill instructor seems to have it in for her!” Shojo Beat, $9.99.

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: NBM’s early 2010 line-up

Chris Mautner — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:30:23 +0000

Dungeon Twilight Vol. 3

During the next month or two, we’ll be looking at various indie and small press publishers’ plans for the coming year. Today we’re taking a quick look at NBM. Based on material found on the company’s Web site, as well as some catalog pages they sent me, I’ve managed to come up with a quick rundown of their line-up for the first six months of the year. FYI: The dates are based off of the Web site, and not the catalog, which are off by a few months due to trade shipping dates (translation: comic stores get it first).

January

Little Nothings Vol. 3: “Uneasy Happiness” by Lewis Trondheim. The third collection of Trondheim’s one-page autobiographical gag strips. I really enjoy this series and am glad to see NBM’s doing well enough with it to keep putting out new volumes on a yearly basis. 128 pages, $14.95.

On the Odd Hours

February

On the Odd Hours by Eric Liberge. Another book in the ongoing ‘Louvre” series of French graphic novels (“Glacial Period” and “The Museum Vaults” being the other two), about a deaf night watchmen who takes us on a tour of the museum late at night, when the art work comes alive. I’m not at all familiar with Liberge. Do any of our eurocomic readers know anything about him? 72 pages, $14.95.

March

Dungeon Twilight Vol. 3: The New Centurions by Joann Sfar, Lewis Trondheim, Kerascoet and Obion. Yay, another new Dungeon book! This one is set in the Dungeon’s later years, when everything’s literally falling apart around them. As with Hours, I don’t know anything about the artists (Sfar and Tronheim only write the series) but Dungeon hasn’t failed me yet, no matter what era it’s set in. 96 pages, $12.99.

April

A Home for Mr. Easter by Brooke A. Allen. a young girl finds a cute white bunny that lays colored eggs. Is it the Easter Bunny? Just in case the answer is yes, our heroine sets off on a quest to return the animal to its natural habitat, wherever that may be. Sounds like it could be cute. In a good way. 208 pages, $13.99.

May

Boneyard Vol. 7 by Richard Moore. The final volume, for those of you keeping count, in Moore’s lengthy sitcom/horror/soap opera series about a young man who inherits a graveyard full of monsters and a hot vampire next door neighbor. 96 pages, $10.99.

June

A Treasury of XXth Century Murder: The Terrible Axe-Man of New Orleans by Rick Geary. Geary talked to me a bit about this book when I interviewed him last year. It chronicles an unsolved series of gruesome murders that took place in the Big Easy right after WWI. Sounds like it could be the bloodiest book in the series yet. Can’t wait. 80 pages, $15.99.

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: A publishing news round-up

Chris Mautner — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 16:12:57 +0000

From 'Rhinoceros'

Just a few quick items before the holidays:

• Neil Gaiman reveals that he is going to be the guest editor for the next edition of Houghton Mifflin’s Best American Comics series.

• Jeff Smith has a three-page preview of the sixth issue of RASL up at his site.

• Josh Simmons offers a little glimpse into a new story he’s going to be doing for the Mome anthology with Shaun Partirdge titled The White Rhinoceros.

• Ed Piskor is offering the first two volumes of his ongoing serial Wizzywig as a free download at his site. Merry Christmas!

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: First Second’s spring catalog

Chris Mautner — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:30:50 +0000

Booth

As we head into the new year, we’ll be taking a look at what’s coming up in 2010, publisher by publisher. We’ve already run through Fantagraphics and Drawn and Quarterly’s plans, today we’ll be trapsing through First Second’s spring catalog. Join us, won’t you?

January

Zeus: King of the Gods

Zeus: King of the Gods by George O’Connor. Having tried his hand at more adult-oriented works with Ball Peen Hammer, O’Connor returns to children’s literature with Olympians, an ongoing series of adaptations of classic Greek myths. This first one tells the story and adventures of the head honcho, Zeus. 80 page paperback, $9.99.

April

Prince of Persia by Jordan Mechner, A.B. Sina, LeUyen Pham and Alex Puvilland. No doubt designed to tie into the upcoming big-budget action movie, FS is re-releasing this 2008 graphic novel with a new cover. 208 page paperback, $7.99.

Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess by George O’Connor. O’Connor continues his Olympian series of books with a look at the Goddess of Wisdom. 80 page paperback, $9.99.

Foiled by Jane Yolen and Mike Cavallaro. Acclaimed fantasy author Yolen teams up with the author of (Parade) With Fireworks for this graphic novel about a misfit teen-age girl who meets a strange but charming boy in her biology class. Monsters are apparently involved. 160 page paperback, $15.99.

Prime Baby by Gene Luen Yang. Yang’s serialized strip for the New York Times, about a young boy who becomes convinced his baby sister is somehow contacting aliens, is collected here. Looks fun. 64 page paperback $6.99.

Booth by C.C. Colbert and Tanitoc. Your francophile book of the year (sorta) as American author Colbert and French artist Tanitoc team up to offer a look at the man who shot Lincoln. First Second editor Colleen Venable talks about the book in more detail here. It looks pretty fantastic. 176 pages, $19.99.

May

Resistance

City of Spies by Susan Kim, Laurence Klavan and Pascal Dizin. Two kids uncover what appears to be a real-life mystery set in World War II America. The art seems heavily influenced by the ligne claire movement. 176 pages, $16.99.

Resistance, Book 1 by Carla Jablonski and Leland Purvis. Another WWII tale, this one involving kids living in occupied France. When their dad becomes a P.O.W. and their neighbors start to turn up missing, they decide to try to join the resistance. 128 pages, $16.99.

Solomon’s Thieves, Book One by Jordan Mechner, LeUyen Pham and Alex Puvilland. The Prince of Persia team (minus one) returns with this story about a Templar Knight back from the Crusades who uncovers a conspiracy to destroy his order. 144 pages, $12.99.

How I Made It to Eighteen: A Mostly True Story by Tracy White. This isn’t a First Second production, but it was in the back of the catalog and looked neat, so I thought I’d list it here. Webcomic creator White chronicles her self-destructive behavior and time spent in a mental institution. 144 pages, $16.99, June

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: A publishing news round-up

Chris Mautner — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:53:25 +0000

Mome Vol. 18

• Techland reports that UK celebrity Jonathan Ross and artist Tommy Lee Edwards are working on a comic for Image, titled Turf, that will debut in April. (Via)

• Mome editor Eric Reynolds marks the fifth anniversary of the Fantagraphics anthology by sharing the covers for the upcoming 18th and 19th volumes and that contributors include folks like Dave Cooper and Gilbert Hernandez.

• Speaking of Fantagraphics, here’s a brief look at the cover for Vol. 14 of The Complete Peanuts.

• Stephan DeStefano gives an update on the progress of his upcoming graphic novel, Lucky in Love.

• Vertigo revealed on their blog that the imprint will be releasing new trade paperback editions of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series, featuring the remastered colorization done for the Absolute Sandman books.

• IDW will release a done-in-one version of Kurt Busiek and David Wenzel’s A Wizard’s Tale.

• David Welsh notes that the critically acclaimed food manga Oishinbo will end with Vol. 9, which will focus on pub food.

• Finally, Tom Spurgeon caught this interview with Joe Sacco, in which the Footnotes in Gaza author reveals that his next project will focus on the town of Camden, NJ.

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: Drawn & Quarterly’s spring catalog

Chris Mautner — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:05:41 +0000

From "Wilson," by Daniel Clowes

Having roamed through Fantagraphics’ 2010 plans last week, it’s time to take a look at Drawn and Quarterly’s plans for the coming year, via the Farrar, Straus and Giroux spring catalog. Keep in mind this only covers books and graphic novels, and doesn’t list any pamphlets. So I have no idea when the next issue of Big Questions will be out, for example.

April

Market Day by James Sturm. If you don’t count collaborative works like the recent Satchel Paige book and Unstable Molecules, Sturm hasn’t produced any comics (at least on his lonesome) since The Golem’s Mighty Swing. Like that book, this appears to deal with Judaism, specifically focusing on a Easter European rug-maker who discovers he can no longer provide for his family. 96 page hardcover, $21.95

Indoor Voice by Jillian Tamaki. The co-author of Skim joins the D&Q crowd with this collection of illustrative work and experimental short stories. 64 page paperback, $19.95.

May

Wilson by Daniel Clowes. Well, here you go. An all-new, all-original graphic novel by Clowes will surely be one of the most anticipated items of 2010. It’s about a misanthropic, middle-aged loner who tries to reconnect with his ex-wife only to discover he has a daughter he never knew about before. Awkward shenanigans no doubt ensue. 80 pages, hardcover, $21.95.

Black Blizzard by Yoshihiro Tatsumi. I noted the release of this last week. It’s one of Tatsumi’s earliest works, a Defiant Ones-type tale about a criminal and cop handcuffed together in the wilderness. I’m looking forward to seeing what his initial Gekiga stuff was like. 144 page paperback, $19.95.

Nancy Vol. 2 by John Stanley. The John Stanley train keeps a-rolling. More Oona Goosepimple stories will be welcome come spring.152 page hardcover, $24.95.

Moomin Book Five by Tove Jansson. Sadly, this is the final volume in the Moomin series, as Jansson left the daily comic strip grind for other artistic pastures. Get your final Moomin kicks while you can. 88 page hardcover, $19.95.

Catland Empire by Keith Jones. I’m not even the least littlest bit familiar with Jones or his work, so I can’t say much other than repeat the pr copy, which describes the book as “the melding of a Philip K. Dick novel and a Saturday morning cartoon.” That’s a promising description. 184 page paperback, $19.95.

The Selves by Sonja Ahlers. Here’s something from what I believe is the company’s Petit Livres series of small chapbooks. This one focuses on Ahler’s collage and watercolor art work. 96 page paperback, $19.95.

June

Walt and Skeezix Book Four: 1927-1928 by Frank King. Woot! D&Q’s collection of Gasoline Alley gets back on track after a few legal problems held it up for a year. That’s just good news all around. 400-page hardcover, $34.95.

Thin wallet, fat bookshelves: A publishing news round-up

Chris Mautner — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:05:59 +0000

• Ryan Sands reveals that Drawn and Quarterly will be publishing another book by Drifting Life author Yoshihiro Tatsumi in Spring of next year. The book, Black Blizzaard, is one of Tatsumi’s earlier works and is indeed referenced in Drifting Life. Here’s the plot:

Black Blizzard

Susumu Yamaji, a twenty-four-year-old pianist, is arrested formurder and ends up handcuffed to a career criminal on the train that will take them to prison. An avalanche derails the train and the criminal takes the opportunity to escape, dragging a reluctant Susumu with him into the blizzard raging outside. They flee into the mountains to an abandoned ranger station, where they take shelter from the storm. As they sit around the fire they built, Susumu relates how love drove him to become a murderer. A cinematic adventure story, Black Blizzard uncovers an unlikely love story and an even unlikelier friendship.

The book will cost $20 and be out in April.

• Ken Parile notes that the University Press of Mississippi is coming out with Daniel Clowes: Conversations, the latest book in their ongoing collection of interviews with prominent cartoonists.

• I knew that Jules Feiffer was working on his memoirs. Apparently he’s finished, as Random House plans on publishing the book in March.

• Kazu Kibushi drops some details on his upcoming Copper book and the third volume of Amulet.

• Mike Dawson (Freddie and Me) is apparently working on a comic about scouting.

• Austin English apparently has a new publishing venture titled Sweetheart Books. You now know as much as I do.

• In case you missed the news, naughty manga publisher Icarus Comics is canceling their Comics AG anthology.

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: Fantagraphics’ spring catalog

Chris Mautner — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:30:56 +0000

Abandoned Cars

Fantagraphics sent their spring catalog in the mail the other day and, good-hearted soul that I am, I thought I’d take the time to run through it and share its secrets with the rest of the Internet, as it’s chock full of notable graphic novels, comic strip collections and other interesting material. That’s just how I roll.

April

Abandoned Cars by Tim Lane. Lane’s acclaimed collection of noirish short stories comes out in a paperback edition. This version will have two variant covers, which you can view here. $18.99

Weathercraft by Jim Woodring. Gloryoski, here’s a brand new Frank story by Woodring in — how many years has it been exactly? No matter, I’m sure this will be one of the more hotly anticipated items of 2010, even if it focuses more on the brutish Manhog than it does Frank. $19.99 hardcover.

Penny Century

Penny Century: A Love and Rockets Book by Jaime Hernandez. Collects the “Whoa Nellie” and “Penny Century” comics in the new, squarebound format. Those comics were originally published in the more traditional rectangular format, so I’ll be curious to see if they’re be somehow reformatted for this new collection. $18.99 paperback.

The Book of Mister Natural by Robert Crumb. Another reprint, this one collecting all the various tales starring Crumb’s new-age charlatan/sage, from the 1960s to the 80s, though I don’t think it collects any of the tales from the 90s era Mystic Funnies. $19.99 hardcover.

It Was the War of the Trenches by Jacques Tardi. The third in the Tardi American Release program and quite possibly the best of the bunch yet. Certainly it’s the one that’s gotten the most clamor over the years and the top — World War I — seems to fit Tardi’s hard boiled-style rather well. Expect a good deal of buzz. $24.99 hardcover

Catalog No. 315: Burlesque Paraphernalia and Side Degree Specialties and Costumes, edited by Gary Groth. Introduction by Charles Schneider. Now this is a decided oddity. It’s a reprinting of a 1930s catalog of items designed solely for fraternity initiations. Branding irons, trick chairs and goat-shaped tricycles abound. For those with an interest in historical oddities, to be sure. $22.99 paperback.

The Complete Peanuts 75-76

The Complete Peanuts: 1975-1976 by Charles M. Schulz. Introduction by Robert Smigel. Frida is on the cover. Was Frida a big character in the 70s? I didn’t think so, but she made it to the cover at any rate. That’s more than Peppermint Patty or Marcie can say at this point. $28.99 hardcover.

Blazing Combat by Archie Goodwin et. al. Another does of Warren’s anti-war comic. This time offered to you in paperback. $19.99.

May

What Is All This? by Stephen Dixon. Not comics at all but a collection of short stories by Dixon. Fanta’s really jumping into the prose game lately. $29.99 hardcover.

Artichoke Tales

Artichoke Tales by Megan Kelso. I remember enjoying the first few chapters of this story — about two warring elfin tribes — quite a bit when Kelso released them as minicomics several years ago. It’s nice to see the entire story finally completed. $22.99 hardcover.

Prince Valiant Vol. 2: 1939-1940 by Hal Foster. More tales of knightly derring-do with the occasional spurting of blood. I’m completely hooked on this series now, so you rest assured I’ll be picking this up. $29.99 hardcover

Dungeon Quest Book One by Joe Daly. Speaking of fantasy and derring do, here’s a new ongoing rpg-type comic from the author of the Red Monkey Double Happiness Book. Expect surreal humor. $12.99 paperback.

Mome Vol. 19 and 20. The anthology continues apace. Vol. 20 comes out in August. $14.99 each.

Meatcake by Dame Darcy. Darcy fans will want to take note of this new trade collection, which expands upon the previous book to include more recent stories, including a collaboration with Alan Moore. $22.99 paperback.

Willie and Joe: Back Home by Bill Mauldin. Hot off the success (well, critical success at any rate) of the first Willie and Joe collection comes this second book, focused on cartoons Mauldin did with the pair struggling to make it through the early postwar years. $29.99 hardcover.

June

Wally Gropius

Wally Gropius by Tim Hensley. If you’ve been following Hensley’s story of the world’s richest teen-ager in Mome, then you’ll know why I’m excited about the collected release. Love that cover too. $18.99 hardcover.

Freeway by Mark Kalesniko. Oh wow, a new graphic novel from Kalesniko, who hasn’t done any comics work since 2001′s Mail Order Bride. That was a really good book, so I’m looking forward to this new one, which continues the story of his dog-faced protagonist, Alex. $28.99 paperback.

The Antic Cartoon Art of T.S. Sullivant by T.S. Sullivant. Edited by Robert C. Harvey. I’m always fascinated by turn-of-the-century cartoonists, and Sullivant’s supposed to be one of the greats. Should be good. $24.99 paperback.

Lucky in Love: A Poor Man’s History by George Chieffet and Stephen DeStefano. Wow, it’s like old-home week. DeStefano pretty much abandoned comics for animation after working on comics like Instant Piano. Now he’s back and he’s brought a friend, to tell a story about a young man coming of age during World War II. $19.99 hardcover.

Billy Hazelnuts and the Crazy Bird by Tony Millionaire. I think this was supposed to come out earlier this year but somehow got delayed. That’s alright, for Millionaire, I can wait. $19.99 hardcover.

Four Color Fear: Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s, edited by Greg Sadowski and John Benson. The first book in Fanta’s big deal with historian Sadowski arrives, looking at the more gruesome comics of yesteryear that didn’t have an EC label on the cover. $29.99 paperback.

July

Nancy Vol. 1

Set to Sea by Drew Weing. Weing’s Webcomic about a poet who ends up getting shanghied aboard a clipper ship sees print. $16.99 hardcover.

Too Soon? Celebrity Portraits by Drew Friedman. In case you’re wondering about the significance of the title, click on the link to check out that cover image. Yeesh. $29.99 hardcover.

From Shadow to Light: The Life & Art of Mort Meskin by Steven Brower. I know next to nothing about Meskin and his work, but I’m always willing to learn. $39.99 hardcover.

Nancy is Happy: Complete Dailies 1942-1945 by Ernie Bushmiller. Introduction by Daniel Clowes. And here’s the big comic strip reprint project of the year, compiling four years of classic Nancy jokes. $24.99 paperback.

How to Read Nancy by Paul Karasik and Mark Newgarden. Tied into that comes a deluxe version of this essay on how and why you should care about Bushmiller’s strip. I’ve yet to read it, but I understand it’s one of the more potent pieces of comics criticism out there. $12.99 paperback.

Werewolves of Montpellier by Jason. A new Jason story is always welcome, even if I’m a bit confused as to why lycanthropy should be a problem in a universe where everyone is an anthropomorphic animal of one sort or another. $12.99 paperback.

August

Buz Sawyer Vol. 1

RIP, M.D. by Mitch Schauer and Mike Vosburg. Fantagraphics enters the animation tie-in market with this book, a collaboration with the animation studio Lincoln Butterfield. It’s about a little boy who offers medical help to desperate monsters. $12.99 paperback.

Roy Crane’s Buz Sawyer Vol. 1: The War in the Pacific by Roy Crane. OK, I take it back — this is the big comic strip reprint project of the year, a big, rousing, action-adventure that’s maybe not as seminal or influential as Crane’s earlier Captain Easy, but still pretty nifty nevertheless. $35 hardcover.

Krazy and Ignatz 1919-1921: “A Kind, Benevolent and Amiable Brick” by George Herriman. OK, I take it back again — oh, never mind. Not quite done yet with their compilation of Krazy Sunday strips, Fanta goes back in time to the early years to gather the material that was originally collected by the late Eclipse Comics, back in the day. $24.99 paperback.

Destroy All Movies!!!: The Complete Guide to Punks on Film by Zack Carlson and Bryan Connolly. Just about every film from the past 30 years that’s featured punk rockers and/or punk rock in some form is commented on and annotated in this new book, from Repo Man to Valley Girl. $39.99 paperback.

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves | A publishing news roundup

Chris Mautner — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:30:09 +0000

The Original Johnson

• IDW has announced the street dates for a couple of publishing ventures recently, including the their two Archie collections. The Best of Dan DeCarlo Vol. 1 will hit stores in May, while The Classic Newspaper Comics Vol. 1 will arrive in June.

More notably, the company also announced they would be collecting and releasing Trevor Von Eeden’s The Original Johnson, about the life of boxer Jack Johnson, in December. In his recent interview with The Comics Journal, Von Eeden had discussed contract disputes he had been having with co-publisher ComicMix about the work so it’s nice to book being completed and in print form.

• According to a press release that seems to be going around town, Fantagraphics and Supermen! editor (and former Fanta employee) Greg Sadowski will be working together on a series of seven collections of Golden Age comics. They are: Setting The Standard: Alex Toth at Standard Comics 1952-54, The Road To Plastic Man: The Golden Age Comics of Jack Cole 1937-41, Away From Home: EC Artists at Other Companies, Creeping Death From Neptune: Basil Wolverton’s Sci-Fi and Horror Comics 1938-55 and The Comic Book Frankenstein: The Monster According to Dick Briefer. That’s a pretty amazing line-up. I’m especially excited for that Briefer book.

• Rex Libris author James Turner has let it be known that the third issue of his Warlord of Io series is now available for download from SLG.

• I think I mentioned this before, but just in case I haven’t: McSweeney’s is releasing a fancy hardcover reprint of the Justin Green classic Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary. You’ll probably want to get this.

• Things I wasn’t aware of department: BOOM! Studios has entered into an agreement with Italycomics to publish a monthly anthology of the former’s books in Italy. The “Boom Magazine Annual #!” will debut this weekend at the Lucca Comics festival.

• PictureBox is plugging a whole slew of new books, comics, zines and prints for those who are interested.

• Radical Publishing has unveiled their solicitations for January of next year. They include: the first issue of Aladdin: Legacy of the Lost, a three-issue mini-series written by Ian Edginton and illustrated by Patrick Reilly and Stjepan Sejic; Legends: The Enchanted #0, written and illustrated by Nick Percival. The Aladdin series will retail for $4.99 an issue. The complete Legends story will be released in April as a stand-alone graphic novel.

• You might be wanting to keep an eye out for this Dark Horse book soon I reckon.

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: A publishing news round-up

Chris Mautner — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:15:42 +0000

Hate Annual

• Fantagraphics reveals that Peter Bagge has a new Hate Annual lined up to come out next year and shares the cover image. I thought Bagge had completely given up on these, so this is very good news indeed. More Buddy Bradley! Whoo!

• While we’re talking about Fanta, it’s worth noting that Joseph Lambert of Turtle, Keep It Steady fame will be joining the Mome family. In related news, Derek van Gleason posts some teaser images of his ongoing story in that anthology.

• Alan David Doane has published an e-book of his interviews with various cartoonists and comics industry folk, including Charles Burns, Chester Brown, Seth, Dave Sim, Howard Chaykin, Mark Millar and more. You can download a copy of the book here.

• Cinebook, which translates and publishes a number of French comics for the U.S., such as Lucky Luke, has acquired the rights to the XIII series and will start releasing volumes in May of next year, with a book coming out every two months.

• Jeffrey Brown is working on a sequel to his Cat Getting Out of a Bag book. This one will be tentatively called Cat Walks.The first book was also apparently popular enough to warrant a series of tie-in postcards and journals.

• Secret Asian Man cartoonist Tak Toyoshima is moving his strip from a daily to a weekly strip, which was its original incarnation.

• Via Spurgeon: Paul E. Fitzgerald has a book out exploring Will Eisner’s time on PS Magazine.

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: A publishing news round-up

Chris Mautner — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:40:37 +0000

• That Freak Brothers Omnibus that came out last year must have done pretty well, because Knockabout Comics has announced Fat Freddy’s Cat Omnibus. Clocking in at 368 pages, cost $29.99 and will be available in North American stores early next month. Need a little bit more background? Here’s the press release:

Fat Freddy's Cat Omnibus

Fat Freddy’s Cat began life as a footnote strip to the Freak Brothers and later appeared in many comics of his own. He is often to be found sleeping on the unfortunate Fat Freddy’s head. His constant battles with the never ending army of roaches out for world domination drive him to distraction, as does Fat Freddy’s never-ending failure to feed him or empty his kitty litter box. As a result of this, his main hobbies seem to be shredding Fat Freddy’s water bed and any other items he can sink his claws into, and finding places to leave surprise poop packages for Freddy to discover. This cat has variously gone travelling to Mexico, saved the world from alien invasion, and worked as a government agent in Washington trying to save the world from the “hee hee hee” drug. He has 3 nephews of unknown origin. He tends to regard the Freak Brothers with a fair bit of contempt, but despite the odd separation he always seems to hook back up with his inept roomies.

• Tom Spurgeon pulls back the curtain on the table of contents for this year’s Best American Comics collection, edited by Charles Burns. That’s a pretty impressive line-up.

• A college professor who teaches comics not to far from my stomping grounds, let me know that a book he’s co-editing, entitled The Comics of Chris Ware: Drawing is a Way of Thinking will be published by The University Press of Mississippi in May. The book will feature essays on Ware’s work by folks like Jeet Heer, Marc Singer, Isaac Cates and other smart people.

• Tokyopop will release Remember, a new graphic novel by “Benjamin,” author of Orange, early next year. I’m sad to say that doesn’t mean much to me, but I imagine it must to some of you out there.

• Oh, there’s also going to be a Boondocks Saints comic next year, scheduled to coincide with the release of the sequel.

• Fanfare/Ponent Mon will release Belgian artist Willy Linthout’s Years of the Elephant later this month. The autobiographical book chronicles the author’s experiences following his son’s suicide. And this is as good a place as any to note that Linthout will be one of the featured guests at this year’s SPX show

• Every day we get a little closer to the release of a new Jim Woodring graphic novel.

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: D&Q/Hill and Wang’s early 2010 schedule

Chris Mautner — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:32:44 +0000

The Cartoon Introduction to Economics

Hey, we’re still in the midst of summer, but that’s no reason not to start thinking about what comics will be coming out next year! That seems to be the case with book publisher Farrar Straus Giroux, who decided to send out their winter 2010 catalog out to press and retailers the other week.

Now, as you may know, FSG distributes Drawn & Quarterly’s titles, and owns the Hill and Wang imprint, which releases a couple of comic-related nonfiction books every year, so this gives me the oppportunity to find out what’s coming down the pike from these two publishers and share my findings with you.

Are you ready? Let’s begin.

We’ll start off with D&Q, who has quite the eclectic line-up planned. All of these books are scheduled to arrive in March, except for Dirty Dishes, which comes out in January.

The Wild Kingdom by Kevin Huizenga. A new Glenn Ganges adventure. Well, actually I think it’s an expanded version of a story that ran in the fourth issue of his now-cancelled Or Else comic series. Here’s the summation:

In The Wild Kingdom, Glenn Ganges blindly interacts with the nature of his suburban neighborhood: dead houseplants, a recipe for graysquirrel brain, and pigeons eating discarded french fries in the parking lot of a fast-food joint. Huizenga juxtaposes Glenn’s ignorance of his surroundings with television commercials highlighting society’s needs for cure-all pharmaceuticals and “hot new things” like teeth whiteners. Starting off wordless, The Wild Kingdom grows more complex page by page, ending with encyclopedic entries, biographical excerpts, anthropologic flowcharts, and a cataclysmic encounter of nature and technology.

108 pages, $19.95.

The Wrong Place

The Wrong Place by Brecht Evens. This is the first graphic novel by the Belgian artist Evens to be published in English. Painted in watercolor, it tells of a charismatic lothario who has his run of the city around him, and how those in the social circles around him react to his presence. Broken Frontier has a review of the book here. 184 pages, $24.95.

Hicksville

Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks. Speak of the devil. Just the other day I was wondering when someone was going to get around to reprinting this masterpiece and here we are. An imaginary, remote town in New Zealand where everyone is obsessed with comics. I mean really obsessed. Enter a cocky journalist, who wants to talk to the populace about their former local boy made good, superhero artist Dick Burger. Strangely enough though. no one seems to want to talk about him. An engrossing mystery that turns into a complex meditation on the art form. If you haven’t read this yet, you will want to get this next year. 264 pages, $19.95. (Note: That’s not the new cover at right.)

Melvin Monster Vol. 2 by John Stanley. Huzzah! More John Stanley is always a good thing, especially when it involves the little green terror that just wants to do good. I reviewed the first volume here, if you need background. It’s great stuff though, I swear. 112 pages, $19.95.

Stooge Pile by Seth Scriver. A “Petit Livres” book collecting the drawings and paintings of this Canadian artist who ” exemplifies a modern cartoon-painting aesthetic.” 80 pages, $14.95.

Dirty Dishes by Amy Lockhart. Another Petit Livres book, featuring drawings, sculptures and even animation stills created by Lockhart. 96 pages, $14.95.

***

Moving on to Hill and Wang, they’ve only got one graphic novel planned for early 2010 …

The Cartoon Introduction to Economics Vol. One: Microeconomics by Grady Klein and Yoram Bauman. The author of the Lost Colony series joines forces with a “stand-up economist” to provide a relevent, 101 guide to economics. FSG included a 12-page, glossy preview with the catalog, so I have the feeling they’re going to be trumpeting this book pretty loudly upon its release. The fact that they actually use the phrase “puts the comics in economics” doesn’t encourage me too much however. 224 pages, $17.95. Look for it in February.

Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources - Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment » thin wallets fat bookshelves

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves | A roundup of publishing news

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves | A publishing news roundup

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: Drawn & Quarterly’s fall catalog

September

October

November

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: A publishing news roundup

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: Yen Press’ 2010 line-up

With the Light Vol. 6 March

April

May

June

July

August

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: Del Rey/Villard’s 2010 plans

February

March

April

May

June

July

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: Scholastic’s early 2010 plans

February

July

August

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: Abrams’ 2010 spring catalog

March

Simpsons/Futurama Crossover Crisis April

May

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: Viz’s early 2010 plans

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: NBM’s early 2010 line-up

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: A publishing news round-up

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: First Second’s spring catalog

January

April

May

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: A publishing news round-up

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: Drawn & Quarterly’s spring catalog

April

May

June

Thin wallet, fat bookshelves: A publishing news round-up

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: Fantagraphics’ spring catalog

April

May

June

July

August

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves | A publishing news roundup

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: A publishing news round-up

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: A publishing news round-up

Thin wallets, fat bookshelves: D&Q/Hill and Wang’s early 2010 schedule

With the Light Vol. 6

March

Simpsons/Futurama Crossover Crisis

April