The Art of Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist

It’s time once again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for cool, new comics. As usual, we’re focusing on graphic novels, collected volumes and first issues so that we don’t have to come up with a new way to say, “Batwoman is still awesome!” every month. And we’ll continue letting Tom and Carla do the heavy lifting in regards to DC and Marvel’s solicitations.

One cool change this month and for the foreseeable future: I’m joined by Graeme McMillan who’ll also be pointing out his favorites.

Finally, please feel free to play along in the comments. Tell us what we missed that you’re looking forward to or – if you’re a comics creator – mention your own stuff.

Abrams Comicarts

The Art of Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist – I admit, I tend to run hot and cold on Clowes’ output, but I’m a sucker for coffee-table career retrospectives, so the idea of taking 224 pages to look back at his career to date (with, of course, the traditional little-seen artwork and commentary) seems like a must-look at the very least. [Graeme]

Abstract Studios

Rachel Rising, Volume 1: The Shadow of Death – Terry Moore’s latest series gets its first collection and I love the premise of a woman’s waking up in a shallow grave with no memory of how she got there and needing to figure out who tried to kill to her. [Michael]

Howard Lovecraft and the Undersea Kingdom

Arcana

Howard Lovecraft and the Undersea Kingdom – I don’t know enough about Lovecraft, but man I love me some undersea kingdoms. [Michael]

Archaia

Cow Boy – As much as I don’t want to stick writer Nate Cosby in an all-ages box, I’m eager to read his and Chris Eliopoulos’ story of a kid bounty hunter trying to bring in his family of outlaws. [Michael]

If nothing else, Nate Cosby’s Twitter feed made me curious about checking out his western collaboration with Eliopoulos, but finding out that Roger Langridge and Colleen Coover were also contributing pushed me over the edge. [Graeme]

I’m Not A Plastic Bag – Color me skeptical but hopeful about Rachel Hope Allison’s ecological debut, even if that title makes me a little nervous. [Graeme]

Archie

Archie #631 – Picks up on that story where Archie and Valerie from Josie and the Pussycats hook up. Look, Archie’s going nowhere with either Betty or Veronica, so I’m rooting for the furry. [Michael]

Stan Lee’s Mighty 7 #1 – At first, finding out that this comic was actually by Tony Blake and Alex Saviuk without Lee was a letdown; until I found out that the comic is actually about Stan Lee, which pushes it into the “This will either be horrendous or bizarrely enjoyable” category. [Graeme]

I’m not sure that I’ve ever unreservedly enjoyed a comic that Stan Lee wrote, much less just came up with the idea for, but I love his persona and putting him in the comic with some superheroes is so crazy it just might work. [Michael]

Crossed: Badlands #1

Avatar Press

Crossed: Badlands #1 and 2 – I’m definitely not a horror fan, but the idea of Garth Ennis’ writing an ongoing biweekly series feels like it’s as good a lure to get me to pick this up as anything else. (I think the plan is to have creators alternate on arcs, with Si Spurrier and David Lapham as part of the alternate writers on the book. That’s a pretty impressive line-up.) [Graeme]

Boom!

Exile on the Planet of the Apes #1 – I’m all for another Planet of the Apes comic from Boom!. [Michael]

More Apes by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman (art by Marc Laming)? This can only be a good thing. [Graeme]

Supurbia #1 – I feel like we’ve seen a few of these “what if superheroes and reality shows were mashed together?” series, but here’s the first of four issues of another one written by former Marvel staffer Grace Randolph. [Graeme]

Kitchen Sink Press: The First 25 Years – Remember what I said about being a sucker for coffee table retrospectives above? That goes double for this one, which has the added benefits of being both cheap (only $15!) and having contributions from Alan Moore and other creators from Denis Kitchen’s vast address book. [Graeme]

Dark Horse

BPRD: Hell on Earth – The Pickens County Horror #1 – I’m all for new BPRD comics, but it’s getting more and more difficult to keep track of everything. Still, I’ll buy a Scott Allie Mignolaverse story any day. [Michael]

Abe Sapien, Volume 2: The Devil Does Not Jest and Other Stories

Abe Sapien, Volume 2: The Devil Does Not Jest and Other Stories - Abe’s my favorite BPRD character, so I feel like this the way I do the previous item: grateful, but also a little saturated. [Michael]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8, Volume 1 – The first ten issues – or two trades, if that’s how your brain works – of the Joss Whedon-led series get an oversized hardcover edition. [Graeme]

Channel Zero – Brian Wood’s breakthrough book comes back into print with this collection of the original series, the Becky Cloonan-illustrated follow-up and material from the awesome Public Domain design book. Jonathan Hickman fans, you should really pick this up. [Graeme]

Manara Erotica, Vol. 1: Click! and Other Stories – Yes, it’s comic porn. But unlike Lost Girls, this is actually sexy comic porn. [Graeme]

Ragemoor #1 – If they hadn’t got me with Richard Corben, they certainly would have with “living castle nurtured on pagan blood.” [Michael]

Avatar: The Last Airbender, Volume 2 – The Promise, Part 2 – Yikes, what a title. I’m still missing Avatar: The Last Airbender though, so this is welcome. [Michael]

Empowered, Volume 7 – Why haven’t I started reading this critical darling yet? I do not know. [Michael]

DC

Batman: Death by Design - Chip Kidd’s writing a Batman book and it’s a real-live, honest-to-goodness superhero adventure. What’s more awesome is that the concept of design plays a large role in the story in the form of a massive reconstruction project in Gotham City. [Michael]

Saucer Country #1

Saucer Country #1 – Paul Cornell + Ryan Kelly + saucer aliens = SOLD. [Michael]

Fairest #1 – Bill Willingham launches a new series about the women of Fables and makes me even less interested in everyone else’s modern updates of fairy tales. [Michael]

New Deadwardians #1 – The solicit opens, “Another vampire/zombie comic? Really, Vertigo?” My sentiments exactly and yet, this one’s illustrated by INJ Culbard whose work I’ve loved on the Sherlock Holmes adaptations he’s done with Ian Edginton. [Michael]

Dominique Laveau: Voodoo Child #1 – It would be redundant to mention that the cover to this is both “striking” and “by Rafael Grampá,” so I’ll just mention the concept, which is also eye-catching. It’s the story of a grad student who also happens to be heir to the Voodoo Queenship of the most haunted city in America, and someone is killing off the royal family. Vertigo was created for stuff like this. [Michael]

Dynamite

Bionic Woman #1 – I had the deepest crush on Jaime Sommers as an 11-year-old. My current crush on Paul Tobin’s writing is slightly less deep, but still significant enough to make me want to read this. [Michael]

I’ve been following Dynamite’s Bionic Man series and surprising myself by digging the hell out’ve it; seeing that this spin-off is being written by the insanely-underrated Paul Tobin was all I needed to convince me to read this. [Graeme]

George RR Martin’s A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 1 – For the fantasy fan (or HBO subscriber) in your life, here’s the first quarter of Dynamite’s adaptation of the not-so-cult-anymore novel. [Graeme]

Vampirella: The Red Room #1

Vampirella: The Red Room #1: On the one hand, it’s “monster vs. human cage matches.” On the other, it’s written by Dan Brereton, so it’s probably going to be good fun… [Graeme]

Fantagraphics

Angelman – I’ve not read much by Austrian cartoonist Nicolas Mahler, but I think I’m won over just by the idea of his new book, which satirizes not just superheroes, but the business behind them. [Graeme]

Interiorae – Lovely, lovely art by Gabriella Giandelli in this collection of his Ignatz series. (It’s also in full-color, unlike the original serialization, which is another win.) [Graeme]

I don’t know why it’s taken this long for Fantagraphics to collect the comics that got their cool Ignatz format a few years ago, but I’ll shut up and be grateful. I greatly enjoyed Giandelli’s creepy tale of an apartment building, its residents, the large rabbit who roams its halls, and the creature the rabbit seems to serve. What’s also exciting though is that this means Richard Sala’s Delphine will get a collection too. [Michael]

Humanoids

Monsieur Jean: The Singles Theory – So, so excited for this new book by Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian, making its English language debut in this edition. [Graeme]

IDW

Berkeley Breathed’s Outland: The Complete Collection Sunday Comics, 1989-1995 – The star of this collection of Breathed’s Bloom County follow-up isn’t the title strip, but the reprints of his early, college-era work that’ll accompany them. [Graeme]

Funny Stuff

Funny Stuff By Frank Frazetta – It makes me a bad nerd to admit that I don’t think I’ve ever seen Frazetta’s legendary early comics work, so I’m pretty excited for this oversized hardcover collection, especially to see just how much he… homaged other, more famous strips. [Graeme]

Rocketeer Adventures 2 #1 – Featuring work by Stan Sakai, Bill Sienkiewicz, Marc Guggenheim, Peter David, and Sandy Plunkett. Plus covers and pin-ups by Dave Stevens, Darwyn Cooke, and Art Adams. [Michael]

The first series of anthology tributes to Dave Stevens and his retro creation worked so much more than I’d expected, so I’m definitely up for a second go-’round. [Graeme]

Smoke And Mirrors #1: Mike Costa’s been winning me over every month with his Cobra series, so I’m looking forward to this creator-owned book he’s co-writing about a stage magician who gets trapped in a world where magic has taken the place of science. [Graeme]

Star Trek, Volume 1 – Dear all fellow Trekkies/Trekkers/whatever you want to call yourselves: If you liked the original TV show and also the JJ Abrams movie reboot, you owe it to yourself to check out this monthly series, so grab this collection of the first issues and dig in. [Graeme]

Will Eisner’s The Spirit: Artist’s Edition – Of all the IDW “Artists Edition” books to date, this is the one that just feels like a must-have. Eisner’s Spirit pages as they appeared on his drafting table? I cannot wait to see these. [Graeme]

IDW probably explained the “Artist’s Edition” concept before and I just wasn’t paying attention, but I am now and I finally get why it’s cool to have COLOR scans of original-size black-and-white art so you can see blue pencils, art corrections, editorial notes, and stuff like that. Especially for someone as legendary as Will Eisner.  [Michael]

Saga

Image

Saga #1 – New Brian K. Vaughan. Does anything else need to be said? Oh, alright: FIona Staples on art. Seriously, you guys. [Graeme]

I’d buy a Fiona Staple fantasy epic anyway. That Brian K Vaughan is writing it makes me sigh like a Belieber. [Michael]

Hell Yeah #1: There’s something weirdly fitting about reading a series about the generation who’s grown up with super-heroes that’s created by someone like Joe Keatinge, who’s been around in comics for a long time, and Andre Szymanowicz’ art looks good as well… [Graeme]

The Manhattan Projects #1 – Jonathan Hickman returns to indie roots with the true story behind the atomic bomb. Turns out, Oppenheimer created this rocket ship, but forgot to shield it against cosmic rays… [Graeme]

Mad scientists! By Jonathan Hickman! [Michael]

’68, Volume 1: Better Run Through the Jungle – Mark Kidwell, Nat Jones, and Jay Fotos’ Vietnam War/zombie series is collected. [Michael]

The Walking Dead: Cutting Room Floor – I’m very, very curious about this collection of Robert Kirkman’s handwritten notes about the creation of his hit series. It sounds like a joke, doesn’t it? But it could very well be awesome… [Graeme]

Marvel

Avengers Academy #27 – Guest-starring the Runaways, ya’ll! And Bruiser’s totally punching Mettle cross-eyed on the cover. [Michael]

Savage Beauty

Moonstone

Savage Beauty Limited Edition Hardcover – I’m really curious to see how Mike Bullock’s contemporary, political jungle-girl story turns out. [Michael]

Oni

The Coldest City - If Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy taught me anything, it’s that I’m really not done with Cold War spy stories just yet. This one’s set in Berlin, which is even cooler. [Michael]

I’ve already read this one in galley format, and it is really, really good for those who like the spy stuff (Queen and Country fans, it’s written by Antony Johnston, so you know that it’s great; the art by Sam Hart follows Steve Yeowell’s lead from his early Zenith days, and for those who know my love for that series, there are few higher compliments I can offer). [Graeme]

The Secret History of DB Cooper #1 – Beyond “colorful weirdness and conspiracy-laden Americana,” I have no idea what to expect from Brian Churilla’s new series, and that just makes me look forward to it all the more. [Graeme]

I can’t wait to find out once and for all if Mr James is Doobie Keebler. [Michael]

Atomic Robo: Real Science Adventures

Red 5

Atomic Robo: Real Science Adventures #1 – Eep! An Atomic Robo anthology! Great news for a series whose back-up stories have always been just as entertaining as its lead feature. [Michael]

Atomic Robo returns with an all-new ongoing series?!? Surely this means that Christmas is either not over, or coming early or… well, you know what I mean. Good stuff. [Graeme]

Top Shelf

Blue – I’ve never heard of Pat Grant, the creator of this OGN, but Craig Thompson calls him “the Australian Mark Twain,” which is good enough for me. [Graeme]

Zenescope

The Jungle Book #1: Zenescope get around to “updating” the classic and well-loved story, which is more than likely going to mean adding more cleavage than you would’ve thought appropriate. Welcome to the year 20BOOB, everyone. [Graeme]

The New Deadwardians

Vertigo Comics announced today that writer Dan Abnett and artist I.N.J. Culbard will team up on an eight-issue miniseries titled The New Deadwardians, a comic set in post-Victorian England where the upper class voluntarily becomes vampires in order to escape the lower class, who have all become zombies.

“May I just confess that this is a story that involves both zombies and vampires, two things I swore I would never write about because they had both long since jumped the shark,” Abnett said in his pitch. “Then this idea came to me and wouldn’t leave me alone. Please be tolerant of the zombie-and-vampire-ness of this until you’ve heard me out. It’s essentially a detective story set in an alternate history England, circa 1900.”

Here’s how they described the book on the Vertigo blog:

Set in post-Victorian England, nearly everyone in the upper class has voluntarily become a vampire to escape the lower classes who are all zombies.

Thrust into this mayhem is Chief Inspector George Suttle, a lonely detective who’s got the slowest beat in London: investigating murders in a world where everyone is already dead!

But when the body of a young aristocrat washes up on the banks of the Thames, Suttle’s quest for the truth will take him from the darkest sewers to the gleaming halls of power, and reveal the rotten heart at the center of this strange world.

Abnett, of course, is one half of the DnA writing team with Andy Lanning, who together write Resurrection Man and New Mutants. Culbard has done work for Dark Horse and SelfMadeHero, a British publisher, including the adaptation of Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness that won a British Fantasy Award earlier this year.

The first issue comes out in March.

Knights of the Living Dead

Artist Dusty Higgins has a knack for getting involved with projects with titles that make you scream, “Hey, why didn’t I think of that?” Over the last couple years, he’s worked with Van Jensen on the Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer series of graphic novels, the third of which is due next year from SLG Publishing. It of course pits the little wooden boy against monsters whose weaknesses include wooden stakes through the heart.

Now he’s teamed with writer Ron Wolfe for Knights of the Living Dead, a story that brings zombies to Camelot. The first issue is now available for free from SLG Publishing’s website, where you can also buy the second issue for 99 cents.

Wolfe says not to let the title fool you – the book is no spoof.

“I love the title, but don’t let it mislead you. The book is no spoof on zombies. It’s as dark as anything I’ve ever written,” Wolfe told Robot 6. His previous work includes Death’s Door and Old Fears, both horror novels co-written with John Wooley, as well as Hellraiser comics for Marvel. “That said, the premise allows for some playing around. But I really think, if I just happened to pick it up, this thing would trouble me for some time.”

Wolfe originally wrote it as a prose short story that he showed to Higgins, who was still at work on Pinocchio’s earlier adventures.

“I remember not being able to put the story down, and after I finished it, I just walked over and said, ‘Can I draw this as a graphic novel?’ Ron was kind enough to let me,” Higgins said. “I’m a big creature geek, but zombies are easily the top of the list. I liked zombies before they were cool! Just saying, if Pinocchio Zombie Slayer made sense, it would’ve been Pinocchio Zombie Slayer.”

from Knights of the Living Dead

From there, Wolfe and Higgins worked to expand the premise into what ultimately became three different stories.

“The first story based on Ron’s original prose came out to a little over 50 pages, which is set when Guinevere has been judged to burn at the stake for infidelity, but you know, with zombies, or ‘the walking starvation’ as Ron calls it, which I think is a really cool way to say zombies,” Higgins said. “To sell it as a graphic novel, we wanted something more in the 100+ page range. Ron had written such a complete and strong story, I was afraid it would have ruined the essence of the story to try to drag it out. I talked Ron into the idea of writing several stories within the Arthurian legend that didn’t necessarily follow the same characters and plots. I’m a big fan of the method of storytelling in Northlanders, and thought this would be the perfect way to continue telling Arthurian zombie legends without ruining the first story.”

Wolfe said the second and third story are set in the aftermath of the zombie plague.

“The last one, called ‘The Deep, Deep Shallows,’ is something of a reaction on my part to sparkly vampires and zombies that behave by the rules,” Wolfe said. “We all know what to do in case of a zombie attack, but what if worse things are waiting? What if we don’t know how to respond? What if the worst of all turn out to be beautiful things in the sunlight?”

With zombies popping up everywhere in pop culture nowadays, Wolfe said he tried to ignore them beyond his own story.

“Once I started writing about brain-crunchers, I shut off reading about them, trying not to think of them in any terms outside my own story,” he said. “Basically, when it comes to zombies, I’m a Romero man. George Romero told me decisively for a newspaper interview that zombies lurch and shamble, they don’t run, and I believe him. Dusty illustrated the interview with a wonderfully green caricature of Romero as a zombie himself, complete with those big glasses he wears. Even so, this zombie-Romero looked every bit the director, the man in charge. He appeared to have lost nothing to zombification, and might even have gained. And now that I think of it, the idea of the confident, capable zombie might have lingered in my head, and eventually worked its way into Knights of the Living Dead. You’ll see what I mean.”

Higgins, meanwhile, said his inspiration came from comics. “I’ve seen a lot of zombie comics, but haven’t seen anyone draw a zombie better than Tony Moore. That’s what I want my zombies to look like… except, you know, medieval.”

Zombies, of course, are just one element of the story. Readers can also expect to see King Arthur, Lancelot and the Lady of the Lake, in addition to Guinevere, who is at the center of the first story.

“I had a hard time settling on the look of the knights in the book, whether they should be historically accurate or not,” Higgins said. “The thing about it is, Arthurian knights wore kind of boring armor. Plate wasn’t invented then, and even chain mail wasn’t that prevalent. Still, artists throughout history have drawn Arthurian knights with varying degrees of armor and chain mail, and let’s face it, the story has zombies in it, how historical do you need to be? I ended up going with plate, since it allowed me to create very individualized armor that made it easier to differentiate between each knight.”

Higgins and Wolfe both heavily researched the project, and Wolfe credits Higgins in drawing everything from the gruesome to “images of delicacy.”

“Fans of his Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer books will see a resemblance, but his drawing shifts through several other styles in this book, from gruesome and splattery to images of delicacy and, I would say, elegance,” Wolfe said. “I’m a newspaper cartoonist also, and Dusty assigned me a couple pages to draw where the story calls for the appearance of a children’s picture book, just so I could jump in a little. But I couldn’t have drawn anything close to this — couldn’t have asked for a better illustrator. He pulls a lot of surprises.”

I bought that, as 2002′s 28 Days Later re-mainstreamed zombies between the U.S.-lead invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, but zombies are still around, and more popular than ever. The argument could be made that they’re still here because we’re still stressed out and America is still engaged in the same wars we were fighting a decade ago , but then, hasn’t every single year of American history been stressful for the folks living in it? Haven’t we almost always been at war with someone somwhere?

So I’m developing my own theory. I think zombies are popular not necessarily as a psychological reflection of the common consumers anxiety about terrorism or immigration or mortality or economic decline or the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Citizens United, but simply because the proliferation of cheap filmmaking and publishing technology and the hydra-like increase in media outlets makes it easier to make and transmit zombie products, and the astronomically more specialized consumer of the past decade means its easier to sustain popularity of particular genres. It’s now possible for almost any genre to become popular enough to be self-sustaining in today’s media environment.

For example, producers pitching Walking Dead to AMC in 2010 didn’t have to worry about mass appeal in the same way that a previous generations producers might have had if they pitched a Night of Living Dead series to NBC in 1985; if they get the people who participate in zombie walks and the comic book people and the horror people, that’s more than enough to tune-in and buy DVD collections.

I’m sure there are other factors, and deep cultural psychological ones may be among them, they can’t be the prime ones.

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I’ve been mulling over the importance of theme and timing in the continuing existence of zombie media this week because I just read Marvel Comics’ Zombies Christmas Carol, by Jim McCann, David Baldeon, Jeremy Treece, Jordi Tarrangona and Roget Bonet.

It’s a pretty strange book.

For Marvel Comics, I think it either represented a spectacularly poor job of marketing a product, or an acknowledgement in a shift of their audience’s interest in the “Marvel Zombies” brand (or a bit of both).

When it was published serially, it was entitled Marvel Zombies Christmas Carol, and solicited as such, but it doesn’t actually contain the Marvel Zombies characters (zombie versions of the Marvel superheroes, first conceived by Mark Millar), characters that were phenomenally popular upon their first publication, but getting less and less sales and attention with each subsequent appearance.

The collected version, which I assume will do much better with a wider audience than the comics version did, reduces the “Marvel” presence to a the little red and white logo in the upper right corner of the cover, and even eschews the Marvel Zombies font for something more Victorian in appearance. The work is really more in keeping with the “public domain classic literature + supernatural” formula of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Here it’s Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol…with zombies.

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Economically, it’s a smart choice for supernatural bowdlerization. It’s one of the more pliable classics, one I’ve seen adapted by the Dinsey cartoon characters, their rival Warner Brothers cartoon characters, The Muppets, the Ghostbusters, a guy who played a Ghostbuster, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Peter Pan and The Pirates, Batman, computer-animated Jim Carrey and even the makers of a Matthew McConaughey romantic comedy. And, in its final form, I suppose a comic featuring a zombie version of A Christmas Carol makes a easy gift for the comic book or zombie fan on someone’s Christmas shopping list, when they’re browsing a big-box book store.

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Narratively, there is a wee problem in the fact that it’s already a story of the supernatural, being full of ghosts. So tossing in zombies doesn’t have quite the same high-concept genre-clash as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Writer McCann thus zombifies the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future, and the idea of “zombie ghosts” doesn’t quite sit right with me, in the same way a few of the Scooby-Doo monsters of my youth seemed wrong to me (Like the Ghost of Bigfoot from the episode where gang meets Laurel and Hardy, for example, or any of the various ghost witches they have chased them around over the years).

For the three Christmas spirits, zombifying them was mostly a matter of presentation the two pencil artists involved giving them scarier, more decrepit appearances than those typically assigned to them (Even the Grim Reaper-like Ghost of Christmas Future, who is usually so abstract in appearances it’s difficult to imagine a more decayed version; I liked the solution they came up with, which was to give him only the lower jaw of a skull inside his cloak, allowing him to remain faceless but to also suggest a face that’s falling apart).

The ghost of Jacob Marley is a little more difficult to wrap my head around; he’s presented as a sort of domesticated, intelligent zombie, complete with a Victorian asylum contraption over his head to keep him from biting, and a bell upon its top to warn when he’s coming, but he’s immaterial, walking straight through a closed door, and remains a ghost. A ghost of a zombie, I guess…? In contrast to the other Spirits, who simply resemble zombies…?

Despite the cognitive/conceptual awkwardness of a zombie ghost story, McCann’s strategy for zombifying Dickens’ holiday story is clever, even inspired, as it ties the familiar zombie plague premise directly into Scrooge’s greed and selfishness, and thus is quite literal in adapting at least one huge source of modern real-world anxiety—money.

The “zombies” are here never referred to as such, in keeping with good zombie movie tradition, but are instead called “The Hungry Dead.” Apparently the poor, the ill and the mad become infected with something that causes them to eat voraciously and never get their fill. After they’ve consumed all of the food and drink available, they then attempt to eat people. As an extremely wealthy man, Scrooge is thus in a unique position in his London neighborhood to at least slow the zombies down, as he would be able to purchase enough food to keep them from turning to human flesh for a while.

The rules of the plague here are a little muddy, as Scrooge first becomes infected as a young man, bitten by a sick horse he was attempting to help, thus causing him to refuse ever trying to help another again, but Scrooge never becomes a member of the Hungry Dead—well, he’s horribly greedy, but not gluttonous, and never drawn with rotting flesh like the rest of the Hungry Dead.

Throughout his life, he infects others with the disease, until this one Christmas Eve where it looks like half of London is ready to eat the other half. I guess he was a carrier of the disease, but was himself either immune, or so inhumanely greedy it’s impossible to tell if he’s alive or undead.

I’m afraid I never quite understood the nature of the zombie plague’s spread nor its—I assume it’s not spoiling anything to note Scrooge amends his ways after the Spirits visit, and instead of asking someone to buy him a big-ass goose, he goes about curing the Hungry Dead by…being in a good mood? Un-killing them with kindness…? I didn’t really get it, to be honest.

So while it’s a pretty clever story, and one worthy of consideration to those enamored or interested in, or even just morbidly fascinated by, the zombie movement of pop-lit, it’s not really all that great a comic (But a lot better than I expected it to be).

The artwork is unfortunately even more uneven.

The Michael Kaluta covers are in an entirely different style than the interior art, and in fact the character designs don’t match those of the ones employed in the story (Kaluta’s Scrooge especially bears no resemblance to the actual protagonist).

Two art teams are involved, penciler Baldeon and Tarragona draw the issues set in the present, while Treece and Bonet are responsible for those set in the past and future, and both teams have their own colorist.

Bladeon’s artwork is exceptional—this is probably the best work I’ve seen from him—and while Treece is no slouch, the latter has a thinner line, looser style and a tendency toward more medium and longshots. The passages from each artist, while not exactly night and day, are nevertheless dramatically, obviously different, and the book therefore has the inevitable uneven look. (The two drawings above are from Baldeon and Tarragona

This is, obviously, more noticeable and thus more frustrating when reading a comic as a graphic novel than as a serially-published comic, as the change in artists happens in a matter of seconds, rather than a month later, and is somewhat perplexing given that this was a standalone miniseries without any obvious time constraints.

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Unless, of course, Marvel wanted to start publishing it ASAP, as there are apparently a lot of other folks who thought to mash-up A Christmas Carol with zombies.  When I went to check the release date on this on Amazon, searching for “zombie christmas carol,” I noticed McCann wasn’t the only writer to think of pitting Scrooge against zombies:

I’m mildly curious to see how the above writers present the zombie plague, and if they make the same explicit economic connections that McCann did, and whether or not they use ravenous cannibals as symbols of Scrooge’s character flaws or not. But I’m not so interested in zombies that I want to wander too far into the prose expression of their current popularity. Comics provide me with more than enough zombie tales, thank you.

Point One

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

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

Chris Arrant

If I had $15, I’d first get the third issue of my favorite New 52 title, Batwoman #3 (DC, $2.99). Seriously, J.H. Williams III is hitting a home run on every outing here when it comes to my tastes. Although the writing isn’t up to the level of Greg Rucka’s time on the book, it’s close and only bound to get better. Next up I’d get Point One #1 (Marvel, $5.99). I think this format–an extra-size preview book for what’s coming next–is an interesting experiment, and I’m intrigued most by the Nova story, but also interested to see what the others do. Third would be Uncanny X-Force #17 (Marvel, $3.99), to get the one-two punch of Rick Remender and Jerome Opena. Iceman as a bad guy? I dig this.

If I had $30, I’d get Wolverine #18 (Marvel, $3.99) because I love Jason Aaron and Ron Garney teaming up, and seeing them bring in Fat Cobra from Immortal Iron Fist is oddly perfect for the book. Next up would be my comics weak-spot, Top Cow’s Pilot Season book–Pilot Season: Anonymous #1 (Image/Top Cow, $3.99). After that I’d pick up Fear Itself #7.2 (Marvel, $3.99) despite the fact I wish Coipel was drawing this. Lastly would be Kirby Genesis: Silver Star #1 (Dynamite, $3.99) because I love this lesser-known Kirby creation and the artist on this, succinctly named Johnny D., looks worth watching.

If I had the time (and money) to splurge, I’d get the Simon & Kirby Library: Crime hardcover (Titan, $49.95). Lately I’ve had a keen interest on Jack Kirby’s lesser-known work during the 1950s and this seems to fill in a lot of the gaps for me. I’m excited to hold this in my hands and see what surprises it has in store for me.

Graeme McMillan

Silver Star

If I had $15 this week, I’d throw a bunch of it Marvel’s way, with the first issue of Battle Scars ($2.99) and the massive Point One ($5.99) filling up the majority of my budget quite nicely. Well done, House of Ideas. I’d also grab Dynamite’s Kirby Genesis: Silver Star #1 ($3.99), the first (of many, apparently) spin-offs from the enjoyable Busiek/Ross/Herbert series.

If I had $30, then I’d redress the balance a little by grabbing the third issues of some DC books: Demon Knights, Legion Lost, Green Lantern and Batwoman (All $2.99) would make my cut this week, with IDW’s Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #2 ($3.99) rounding out the haul.

For splurging, there’s really only one choice from my nostalgia’s point of view: Marvel’s Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 1 oversized hardcover ($125) is kind of a must-have, what with it being my third-favorite FF run ever (Behind Lee/Kirby and Simonson). If only they’d offered it for $44.44 …

Chris Mautner

Princess Knight

If I had $15: No question, the first volume of Osamu Tezuka’s Princess Knight would be the first and only must-buy item on my list. This is one of those “Man, they’re never going to translate this series, are they?” books and I’m kind of awestruck that Vertical is taking a chance on it, even given the fact that they’ve become the Tezuka publisher of choice these days. It’s not that it’s such a controversial book as that it’s early Tezuka, which is sunnier, sweeter and less bizarre than the late period stuff they’ve been printing lately. At any rate, I’m excited to get this.

If I had $30: I’d find an extra $5 and pick up a copy of De Profundis by James Jarvis, an intriguing enigmatic comic about a pointy-nosed artist that wanders through an abandoned city before encountering a mysterious priest who gives him a commission job. I flipped through this at SPX, and while I didn’t have the extra cash to pick it up then, it did look like a worthwhile purchase.

Splurge: Again, an easy choice for me — the second volume of Jacques Tardi’s Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec from Fantagraphics. I’m on a big Tardi kick right now, having just recently read the first Adele collection, and am eager to experience more.

Michael May

Frankenstein

If I had $15, I’d spend most of it on my usual series: Demon Knights #3 ($2.99), Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE #3 ($2.99), and X-Men Legacy #258 ($2.99). I was lukewarm about the first issue of Huntress, but I liked it enough to check out the second one ($2.99). And though I’m not familiar with PC and Kristin Cast’s Harry Potter/Twilight mash-up House of Night, I like the art previews I’ve seen from Dark Horse’s adaptation ($1) and certainly wouldn’t mind paying a buck to learn more.

If I had $30, I’d add Reed Gunther, Volume 1 ($14.99) to read about my favorite bear-riding cowboy.

There are a few splurge items that caught my interest this week, but near the top of the list are The Zombies That Ate the World, Volume 1: Bring Me Back My Head! ($24.95) for the Guy Davis art and The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec, Volume 2 ($24.99). If I had to pick one thing though, I’d get the Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus, Volume 1 ($125.00) because I’ve been wanting to read those stories for decades.

As we noted on Sunday, The Walking Dead co-creator Robert Kirkman was a guest on The View‘s “Halloween Spectacular” episode, where he survived a gauntlet of questions about his popular creation, zombies and zombie survival. You can check out Kirkman’s appearance below; his “Zombies 101″ segment begins at about the 11:20 mark, after the first commercial break.

Back in May the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took a fun approach to encouraging folks to prepare for disasters with a blog post about how to get ready for the zombie apocalypse. That post proved to be very popular, so they’ve followed it up with a comic on the same topic.

Preparedness 101: Zombie Pandemic was created in-house, the CDC’s David Daigle told USA Today. The same article points out that the initial zombie blog post cost $87, to buy a stock photo as an illustration. “We got an estimate for the blog that it’s worth $3.4 million in marketing value,” Daigle said. So maybe lightning will strike twice with the comic.

Their timing, of course, couldn’t be better, what with AMC’s The Walking Dead returning to television this past Sunday. Both the show and the CDC claim Atlanta as a home, which has led Atlanta Magazine to declare the city “the Zombie Capital of the World.”

The Alamo Drafthouse theaters held six “Mondo Mystery Movies” in Los Angeles this past weekend, and they had different artists create limited edition posters for each of them. One of those artists was Charlie Adlard of Walking Dead fame, who created the above poster for 28 Days Later (with title treatment from Jon Smith).

There’s also a variant edition — same poster, different title treatment — after the jump, along with the other movie posters they released for Iron Giant, City of Lost Children, Hellraiser, Assault on Precinct 13 and The Mist.

The Iron Giant by Kevin Tong:

Hellraiser by Florian Bertmer:

Assault on Precinct 13 by Tyler Stout:

City of Lost Children by Ken Taylor:

The Mist by Daniel Danger:

That’s the story cartoonist Chris Moreno is telling in his new comic book Zombie Dickheads Are NOT Coming To Get You, set for release in October. Moreno’s produced a diverse amount of work in his short career, from Disney’s Toy Story to a World War Hulk one-shot, but this book sees him doing his first creator-owned book from the ground up.

“[The title characters are] total jerks,” Moreno says in the press release. “Imagine the idiots who get everyone killed in zombie movies the day after they come back from the dead, and now they have to stick together. I’ve heard them referred to as ‘hipster zombies’, since they have a sort of  ‘been there, done that’ attitude to the whole zombie thing. In a way, they’re sort of commentators on the whole zombie invasion of pop culture.”

The October release clocks in at 48 pages, and will debut  at Chris’ table at the Nashville Comic and Horror Fest on Oct. 1. After that it’ll be available at all his future convention appearances, as well as a website he set up for the book.

Spera, Volume 1

It’s time once again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for cool, new comics. As usual, we’re focusing on graphic novels, collected volumes, and first issues so that I don’t have to come up with a new way to say, “Jeff Lemire’s Frankenstein is still awesome!” every month. And I’ll continue letting Tom and Carla do the heavy lifting in regards to DC and Marvel’s solicitations.

Also, please feel free to play along in the comments. Tell me what I missed that you’re looking forward to or – if you’re a comics creator – mention your own stuff.

Archaia

The Grave Doug Freshley – A lot of publishers are doing Weird Western comics lately and that’s just fine with me.

Spera, Volume 1 – I like the sound of this fairy tale in which a couple of princesses combine efforts to save their kingdoms. It’s not that I’m anti-prince, but that’s a cool, new way to do that story.

Avatar

Captain Swing and the Electrical Pirates of Cindery Island – Warren Ellis doing Steampunk sounds thrilling, but really all they had to say was “pirates.” I bet this is still really good though, even if you’re pickier than I am.

Boom!

Roger Langridge’s Snarked #1 – After a well-loved zero-issue, Langridge’s version of Wonderland gets its real, official start.

The Huntress #1

Dark Horse

Turok, Son of Stone, Volume 1: Aztlan – I never read any of the Valiant stuff, nor the original comics they were based on, but having rediscovered my interest in dinosaurs in the last few years, I gave the first issue of this a shot and enjoyed it.

DC

The Huntress #1 – How’s Levitz doing with his new Legion stuff? Can he still write? DC finally rebooted the Legion enough times to pound the fandom right out of me, so I haven’t been keeping up. I’m always curious about the Huntress though, because she seems like a character with a ton of potential. I’m drowning in the hype in this solicit (“Hot new miniseries!” “Largest price on her head in DC Universe history!” “Jaw-dropping events!” “Defines her life!” “Tie-in to upcoming Birds of Prey!”), but I’d like to read a good Huntress story and am hoping this qualifies.

The Shade #1 – This is probably as close as we’re going to get to a new James Robinson Starman series, but you know what? It’s really damn close. And it’s got some amazing artists scheduled for it like Darwyn Cooke, Javier Pulido, Jill Thompson, Frazer Irving, and Gene Ha.

Jack Kirby’s Fourth World Omnibus, Volume 1 tpb – Hey! Cheapskate edition! I hadn’t even dared to hope.

Showcase Presents: Batman, Volume 5 – I was getting all excited about the Tales of the Batman: Don Newton collection also coming out this month and was about to write something about how much I love Bronze Age Batman. Then I realized that that’s what this collects too, only cheaper and it’s slightly earlier stuff. Still, that Newton volume is in color, so I’ll probably want both books.

The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #12 – Do you know what I like better than a Batman/Zatanna team-up? I don’t either.

Hark! A Vagrant

The Annotated Sandman, Volume 1 - Dammit, DC. You’re going to make me buy this again, aren’t you?

Drawn and Quarterly

Hark! A Vagrant – If I could only buy one thing this month, Kate Beaton’s collection would be it. I cannot wait to start loaning this out and sharing her stuff with my friends and family who don’t read webcomics.

Dynamite

Warlord of Mars: Dejah Thoris, Volume 1 – Colossus of Mars – Unlike the glut of Green Hornet comics, there seem to be solid reasons for each of Dynamite’s John Carter series to exist side-by-side. I’m eager to hear what Burroughs fans think of this one.

Sherlock Holmes: Year One – Ditto this and Holmes fans. Is it closer in tone to A Study in Scarlet or Young Sherlock Holmes?

First Second

Orcs, Volume 1: Forged for War - Orcs are my least-favorite Tolkien/D&D mythical race, but I trust First Second to change my mind about that. Dwarves better watch their backs if they don’t want to get bumped to the bottom of the list.

Humanoids

The Zombies That Ate the World, Volume 1: Bring Me Back My Head! – My Guy Davis collection is one step closer to being complete.

IDW

Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #1 – In spite of what I said about my Legion fandom earlier, this really does sound cool. Then again, I’m the guy who liked the Star Trek/X-Men crossovers.

Legion of Monsters #1

30 Days of Night #1 – Very excited about a 30 Days of Night ongoing. This means I probably need to catch up on the last couple of mini-series though.

Cold War #1 – Yes, I do believe I could get into a John Byrne spy series.

Bloom County: The Complete Library, Volume 5 – Eep! I’m falling behind!

Kill Shakespeare, Volume 2: The Blast of War - The massive Fables-meets-the-Bard mini-series is all collected finally. Which means I get to read it now.

Marvel

Avengers 1959 #1 and 2 – See what I said about John Byrne’s Cold War, substitute Howard Chaykin for Byrne; add Namora and Kraven the Hunter.

Legion of Monsters #1 – Someone started a meme a while ago about what titles you’d want in a Marvel version of DC’s New 52. I’ve been giving that some thought and a couple of my wishes were a  comic about all of Marvel’s monster characters and another about Elsa Bloodstone. Marvel’s apparently reading my mind.

Moonstone

Return of the Monsters – I’m already pretty interested in Moonstone’s pulp characters: Black Bat, Phantom Detective, Domino Lady, and the Spider. But I’m hooked right through the cheek when they meet Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, a mummy, and a werewolf in a series of four, separate comics.

Airboy Presents The Airfighters - I’m a little confused about whether this has already been solicited before, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. I haven’t read it yet and I want to.

Nordguard

NBM

Salvatore, Volume 2: An Eventful Crossfire – I do love a good anthropomorphic animal story. Blame Blacksad.

Scar

Madame Samurai, Volume 2 – The first volume of this was quiet and beautiful. Glad there’s a second.

Sofawolf

Nordguard – The blurb for this reads like a standard Northern adventure story about a team of sled dogs who have to brave a variety of dangers to save some miners. I dig Jack London and all, but I’ve seen that story before, usually on Disney. Then I looked at the cover and realized that the sled dogs are wearing parkas and carrying revolvers.

And that’s it for me. What did I leave out?

There’s only one page up so far, but Hairy Steve already has a bit of a history: Creators Jamie Smart and Steve Bright lived up to their last names with an indiegogo campaign that has already overshot its goal of $2,000. (The funding levels run from “stubbly” to “hirsute.”) Smart and Bright only have one page up so far, but it has a distinct EC vibe and the promise of plenty of mashup madness. Hairy Steve is, well, a hairy beast, who hides from humans because he finds them annoying but isn’t averse to rescuing them if he sees them getting into trouble. And there’s a whole lot of trouble when he accidentally crushes a zombie’s skull, bringing a plague of walking dead into his city. Smart and Bright say they can pull this story off in 24 pages, which seems like a feat in itself, but it should be fun to watch them try.

Daybreak

For the last few years, when not busy with his day job teaching sequential art at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Brian Ralph has been busy working on his latest graphic novel, Daybreak. The book is a slight departure of sorts for Ralph — best known for his early work as part of the highly influential Fort Thunder collective and for books like Cave-In —  in that it delves into the horror genre. Yes, it’s another zombie book, but it’s a zombie book with a unique twist, with everything viewed from the perspective of an unnamed survivor (i.e. the reader), as he explores a foreboding landscape and finds a potential friend amidst all the devastation.

Daybreak makes it debut at Comic-Con this year, and Ralph will be on a panel at 5 p.m. (Pacific time) 14today with Anders Nilsen and Jeff Smith on the subject of “Epic Literary Adventures” (in Room 9).

I talked with Ralph over email about the panel, the new book, and the adventures of teaching comics to college students.

Daybreak is a horror story told from a unique, first-person perspective. Which came first for you, the desire to do a horror tale or the unique way of telling it?

I don’t play video games, but I felt there was something exciting about how a person could be immersed in the world of a video game. With comics the reader isn’t an active participant in the storytelling. I wanted to make a comic that, in it’s own way, achieve some feeling of participation and immersion. I was looking for interactivity of some kind.

I had not seen a “first-person shooter” style of comic before. It turned out to be very exciting approach to storytelling. I was constantly trying to figure out new ways for the reader to feel like they were interacting with the characters and become characters in the story as well. I made some decisions along the way; to never show the reader’s “character” such as in a mirror. I didn’t want the reader to talk with a word balloon. I felt those things would break the illusion. It was tricky to work with those constraints, but such a fun challenge.

The horror direction just happened naturally at the same time to be honest. I love zombie apocalypse movies and books. But it’s not the gore or the violence or even the zombies that I’m attracted to. It’s the landscape, and the constant need to explore and move around the landscape that I found the most compelling to depict in this comic.
During the process of making Daybreak over these years I’ve had people roll their eyes, “oh the zombie apocolypse thing is so played out” or whatever. But I would hate for my book to be thrown into that pile, because I feel that if you give it a chance you’ll see that it’s unique. But also, a part of the challenge was in fact to work within a genre where I had seen it all. It’s exciting to try to bring something different to the genre.

From 'Daybreak'

You originally serialized Daybreak with Bodega but opted to go with D&Q for the final collected version. Why? Are you still a fan of serialization? Did serializing Daybreak give you any benefits or feedback that you wouldn’t have gotten if you had just released it as one book?

I was drawing two pages at a time and putting them on the Bodega blog once a week. That kept me on a schedule, I knew that there might be people expecting to see the work every Monday. It also kept the pacing pretty snappy, it was like every two pages was a cliff-hanger or an exciting page turn. I got really used to that rhythm. It kept the story moving at a brisk pace.

In terms of serializing the work with Randy at Bodega, it seemed like an interesting way to present it. I’m used to the artist sequestering themselves away for years and then emerging with this massive tome. But in this case, we presented it online and then did a yearly serialized book at SPX. It was exciting. It really got me talking to the readers more at conventions. They would tell me things they wanted to see. They were curious about how it would end. People were very open to discussing their ideas. With other books, the work is done — there’s no discussion. I was always interested to hear people’s opinions and theories about what I was trying to accomplish. “It’s going to turn out to all be a dream” was something I heard a lot. One reader sent me an email pointing out panels where I had made errors. Especially where I had reversed the missing right arm to the left.

My understanding was that Randy wanted to take a break from publishing, and so he and Tom at D+Q discussed the idea of D+Q doing the collection. Tom and I are close friends from the Highwater days, so it seemed like a natural progression. Randy was involved with the whole process of collecting the books so it was great that he stayed involved.

You talk about exploring the landscape, which is a trait that’s shared with your other book, Cave-In. And the Fort Thunder group, of which you were a part, were all very much interested in using comics to explore a space or landscape. Why is this? Where does that interest come from?

I’ve heard this type of comic described as “Walking Around Comics” or “Video Game comics” which I think would refer to the fact that they aren’t really written in a traditional way. I think everyone at Fort Thunder came upon this style of non-writing in a genuine way. We played video games, we explored abandoned buildings, we wandered around Providence, we lived in a cavernous and weird space. I think the stories emerged from all of those things.
We never talked about it, so I’m just guessing, but I think there was an interest in very pure, stripped-down storytelling. Just moving characters through spaces. That’s it. Exploring the basics of storytelling.

From 'Daybreak'

You stick to a very basic six-panel grid throughout the book, which I don’t think you ever vary from. Why? What did this format give you in terms of storytelling that a different set-up wouldn’t?

I felt as though the consistent six-panel grid would help the reader lose themselves in the story. I believe it helps the read forget they are reading a story drawn by an artist’s hand, instead they can completely experience the story as if they are there. That’s the hope at least. I didn’t find it limiting at all, it was a lot of fun actually. Also, this story is unlike a traditional comic because it’s meant to actually feel like this is actually happening to the reader, through their own eyes.

What was the biggest challenge of maintaining that “first-person” look for the book? Was there any point where you worried you were going to have to break one of your rules?

I had to really carefully consider the dialogue. Our one-armed friend in the story talks to us, the reader, and asks questions. I wanted it to feel like he was carrying on a conversation with the reader. There’s a couple times in the book where we the reader pick up an object. Since I didn’t want to show our hands, I would do a panel of the object that we’re picking up, an axe for example. I would hope that the reader would then understand that we did pick it up and could use it. My favorite sequence is where we shoot a weapon, that was a leap of faith and I think it worked.

You don’t show the main character at all, but you also don’t show the zombies much, apart from a leg or arm here or there. Why? What did that decision give you in terms of building tension in the book?

I made a couple attempts at sketching the zombies thinking, of course, that I should include them, but I kept finding ways to avoid them. I wasn’t sure why, but it never felt right. Ultimately I decided that it just wasn’t necessary for the story I was trying to tell. The story is about traveling around with a stranger and becoming friends. Are any zombie stories really about the zombies? I don’t think so. The stories and movies are about the survivors having to form relationships. The blood and guts cheapen that. Plus, what a fun constraint, to draw a zombie book without ever showing a zombie? That’s crazy.

The main relationship in the book is between the main character (i.e. the reader) and the one-armed man. How important was that relationship to the book’s coherence and story arc?

I think that’s the whole story. It’s about making a friend and then having to say goodbye to him. I really came to like that character and I didn’t want to let him go.

From 'Daybreak'

Peggy Burns at D&Q mentioned that you are teaching comics at SCAD. How did you end up doing that? What has that experience been like?

I had been teaching Illustration for years at MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art) in Baltimore and really enjoying it. SCAD has an actual Sequential Art major and that really interested me, so I traveled to Savannah to visit and really fell in love with the department, the faculty and the students.

I teach classes like Character Design, Introduction to Sequential Art, Alternative Comics, Cartooning, and Materials and Techniques. It’s funny, because I feel as though I’ve learned so much about comics and cartooning by having to teach it. In order to teach a subject you have had to clarify what it is in your head, broken it down, carefully considered everything about it. I’ve critiqued hundreds of pages of comics, maybe more, and I never get tired of problem-solving with the students, figuring out ways to arrange pages and panels to help them tell their stories.

I also understand you’re going to be doing a panel at San Diego with Anders Nilsen and Jeff Smith. Can you give me a preview of what you’ll be discussing?

My version of what I think we’ll be discussing is our thoughts on building and inhabiting these fantasy worlds in our comics. I’m not a big fan of the term “world building” but maybe that’s what it’s about.

When I draw these fantasy landscapes and fantasy characters, I really have to visualize them in my head and inhabit those spaces in order to really make the drawing believable.  The artist must fully believe it in order to pull it off.  It has to be real to the artist.  I think you have to draw what you know, and even though I am drawing fantasy apocalyptic environments and caves, etc, I am pulling from places I have know.

I imagine the panel discussion will be me just nodding my head and agreeing with everything Jeff Smith has to say.

Fanboys vs. Zombies

Plenty of zombies typically attend Comic-Con — whether they’re dressed as characters from The Walking Dead or simply love Marvel to death — but this week BOOM! Studios announces a new humor comic that pits Comic-Con attendees vs. actual zombies.

Per the press release, Fanboys vs. Zombies details what happens when a group of fanboys “find one of their greatest nightmares turned reality as San Diego becomes zombie ground zero. Armed only with the undead know-how they’ve gained from comic books, video games and horror movies, it’s up to one group of friends to navigate the Comic-Con feeding frenzy, and make it out alive! But will the zombie hordes be deadlier than they ever imagined? Can they save their friends along the way, and still make it out with some Comic-Con exclusives?”

The comic was conceived by Ben Silverman and Jimmy Fox of Electus. Silverman is the former co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios, as well as executive producer of such shows as The Office, Ugly Betty, The Tudors and The Biggest Loser.

“BOOM! Studios is the ideal partner for this initiative as no one understands what serves this audience better than they do,” said Fox in the release. “We wanted to create this for the real fans. The comic book junkies, the sci-fi nuts, the horror enthusiasts, the hardcore gamers–every one of them will be represented in our cast of characters. This is for any fan who has ever wondered what would happen if they had to play the role of the hero.”

Steel #1

Welcome to the first Food or Comics? for 2011. Every week we talk about what comics we’d buy on Wednesday based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on what we call our “Splurge” item.

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

Graeme McMillan

Hey, it’s the first week of 2011, and time to get some awesome comics, right? Right? So for my $15, I’ll pick up… Oh. Kind of a slow week, then, huh? Well, there’s always Steel #1 (DC, $2.99), the sure-to-be-controversial one-shot that launches the retro “Reign of Doomsday” crossover, and my love of James Robinson’s Justice League will ensure I pick up the Starman/Congorilla one-shot (DC, $2.99), if only to find out what all those interludes in the middle of the current “Omega” storyline are all about. Curiosity compels me to pick up Image’s Walking Dead Weekly #1 ($2.99), if only to see if it’s pretty much an exact reprint of the original first issue with a different cover, but that remaining $6 may just end up burning a hole in my pocket. Maybe I’ll put it toward my $30 haul…

If I had $30, I’d take that $9′s worth of singles, and add the Fraction TP (DC, $18.99). I barely remember this 2004 series from DC’s short-lived “Focus” line about a group of men who steal an Iron Man-esque suit and split it between them, but what I do remember, I enjoyed. Plus, it’s got art from Tim Green II, so if nothing else, it’ll look nice.

Splurging, it’s a much easier choice: Marvel’s Mighty Thor Omnibus has a lot of early Kirby and Lee, over-sized? That’s well worth $99.99 to me. Hell, ANY over-sized Kirby is worth that much, if you ask me…

Michael May

If I had $15:

Megamind #1

I’d get Steel #1 ($2.99), partly because I’ve always liked Steel, partly because of Sean T. Collins. I’m still kind of fascinated with how much I liked Megamind, so I’d pick up Ape’s Megamind #1 (3.95) to see if it’s able to capture any of what I liked about the movie. Finally, I’d add to my On the Case with Holmes and Watson collection by getting the sixth volume, The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire ($6.95).

If I had $30:

I’d add issues of some ongoings and mini-series: Billy the Kid’s Old Timey Oddities and the Ghastly Fiend of London #4 ($3.99), Doc Macabre #2 ($3.99), Edge of Doom #3 ($3.99) and John Byrne’s Next Men #2 ($3.99).

Splurge:

I’ve already got Masterworks volumes with many of those Thor stories, so I’d spend my mad money on the other Marvel Omnibus coming out this week, Women of Marvel: Seven Decades ($125) featuring early stories about Hellcat, Tigra, Shanna the She-Devil, Black Widow, She-Hulk and a whole bunch of other favorites.

Chris Mautner

World War III Illustrated

Wow, Graeme wasn’t kidding when he said it was a slow week, was he? I guess for my $15 purchase, I’ll have to go with maybe the 41st issue of the Tea Party’s favorite comic, World War III Illustrated ($7), which features folks like Peter Kuper and Seth Tobocman looking at the food industry and food/health issues.

At the $30 mark, I’ll also pick up the first volume of Salvatore ($14.99), a charming funny animal comic by French author Nicolas de Crecy (Glacial Period) about a little dog mechanic who steals parts from the cars he fixes in order to build the ultimate hot rod that will get him to his true love in South America. The story also involves a lost baby piglet, his nearsighted mother, a divorcee cow who dabbles in avant-garde art and a little, shy bald man who never speaks a word. Yes, it’s a bit rambling and convoluted, but it all adheres together remarkably well and de Crecy’s art is lovely to behold.

For my splurge item, I guess I’ll go with IDW’s sixth volume of Little Orphan Annie, even though I’m about five volumes behind. Still, it’s not like I’m not going to buy the whole shebang some day.

Brigid Alverson

Twin Spica

If I had $15…

Unlike some people here, I’d have no problem spending it. I’ll start with the fifth volume of Twin Spica ($10.95), Kou Yaginuma’s wonderful story of a girl who wants to be an astronaut in the Japanese space program. Then I’d buy the fourth and final issue of Scratch 9 ($3.95) Rob Worley and Jason Kruse’s high-spirited comic about a cat who gets to meet his previous incarnations (taking that nine-lives thing literally).

If I had $30…

I like Graphic Universe’s Holmes and Watson adaptations, and my nephew will love them even more, so I’ll get the latest one, On the Case with Holmes and Watson: The Sussex Vampire ($6.95) to read with him. Then the first issue of Who Is Jake Ellis ($2.99); I liked Nathan Edmondson‘s The Light, and this series, with its psychic/spy match-up, looks like a good bet. And finally, I’ll grab the Betty & Veronica Digest #187 ($3.99), because while it isn’t too cerebral, it guarantees me an hour or so of solid enjoyment.

Splurge…

Put me down for the Complete Little Orphan Annie as well ($49.95). IDW’s Library of American Comics volumes are hard to beat. The quality is great and the background materials are interesting and well researched (at least the ones I have seen), so I really can’t go wrong with this.

JK Parkin

Thanos Imperative: Devastation

Yeah, somehow I don’t think I’ll have any trouble spending my limit either. I’d start by spending my $15 on the Thanos Imperative: Devastation one-shot ($4.99), which bridges the gap between the Thanos Imperative and the upcoming Annihilators miniseries. I’d also grab the first issue of DC’s new miniseries, Weird Worlds ($3.99), mostly because of the Kevin Maguire story but the others look like they could be fun, too. Irredeemable #21 ($3.99), as we showed you on Sunday, looks good, and I’d round it out with the third issue of Superboy ($2.99).

If I had $30, I’d get all those titles and add in Walking Dead #80, iZombie #9 and Who Is Jake Ellis #1, all of which are $2.99. I’d also like to get Generation Hope #3. I wasn’t sold on the first couple issues, but as I just read the latest Uncanny X-Men trade over the holidays, which introduces several of the new mutant characters, I’m a lot more interested and plan to reread the first two issues. That leaves me with $3, and both the books I’m looking at for my last purchase, Billy the Kid’s Old Timey Oddities and the Ghastly Fiend of London #4 and Avengers Children’s Crusade #4, are $3.99 … but maybe one of my fellow bloggers will lend me a buck from their leftover cash?

For my splurge item, it’s easy — the Madame Xanadu trade ($17.99) which is how I’ve been buying this series anyway.

Caligula

Via the March solicitations for Avatar Press comes word that Stray Bullets creator David Lapham is writing a six-issue miniseries starring notorious Roman Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, otherwise known as Caligula.

Here’s the solicitation text: “In March, David Lapham (of Stray Bullets fame) debuts a new six-issue sweeping epic with CALIGULA #1. In an age of depravity, one man’s perverse appetites horrified the entire Roman Empire. A ruler who began as a generous man but who ended as the most debased of monarchs, Caligula exemplifies the very concept that absolute power corrupts absolutely. No stranger to horror (as fans of his CROSSED: FAMILY VALUES series can attest), Lapham delivers the bloody tale of the infamous emperor – but with a supernatural twist – as illustrated by new talent German Nobile.”

Avatar also has a new Night of the Living Dead miniseries kicking off in March by Mike Wolfer and Dheeraj Verma. You can see the cover and solicitation info after the jump.

Night of the Living Dead: Death Valley #1

Back by popular demand, Mike Wolfer (Gravel, Wolfskin: Hundredth Dream) returns to the classic Romero franchise with NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: DEATH VALLEY #1, the first chapter in a gruesome five-issue saga. Set two thousand miles from the devastating zombie plague that ravaged the eastern seaboard, DEATH VALLEY follows a group of young weekend warriors whose interests include dune buggies and bikini-chasing. But something else is hiding under the desert sun, an undead horror that seeks to turn the sands blood red. The all-new splatterfest is illustrated in all its gory glory by Dheeraj Verma (Escape of the Living Dead).

[Johnny Ryan:] You and artist Tony Moore are longtime friends and collaborators. You created The Walking Dead comic together. What prompted Tony to leave the series? Any drama, I hope?

[Robert Kirkman:] Well, there’s always drama when people as close as Tony and I work together. So, you know, sure. My favourite response to this question is that Tony got pregnant and had to leave the book, because that leaves things interesting and mysterious which is the best way to leave them.

The real answer is much more boring. We were very adamant about scheduling early on, and Tony—fantastic artist though he is—is much more the type that works best on a variety of projects, rather than a single, constant deadline, so we decided it would be best if we went our separate ways for the time being.

[Johnny Ryan:] I’ve collaborated a few times with other artists. It always starts off cool, but then I quickly become irritated and want to get the fuck away from the other guy as quickly as possible and then talk major shit about him on the internet. Which collaborations made you do this, too?

[Tony Moore:] Well, Kirkman and I have clearly gone our separate ways. We had our disagreements about how things were supposed to operate, and since then, our different perspectives have given rise to what each believes to be the key issues leading to our split. Over the years, he’s publicly espoused some views on the artistic process that are so fundamentally dissonant from my own that they will likely remain a wedge between us for a long, long time. I don’t talk shit on anybody, but I’m not going to hide or sugar-coat my feelings on the matter.

–The Walking Dead co-creators Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore mince few words in explaining why Moore left the hit zombie comic-turned-TV-show to Vice magazine interviewer (and Prison Pit cartoonist!) Johnny Ryan (himself no stranger to TWD). Read both interviews — after all, it’s Johnny Ryan interviewing Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore.

Think of it as Swamp Thing Lite: Darell Toland’s Stix and Bones is a cheery, all-ages webcomic about a little girl named Bones and her bull terrier Stix. This is no saccharine girl-and-puppy comic, though: Bones’s father is a genetic engineer, and some of his chemicals made their way into the family graveyard, resurrecting her grandmother as a tree and some of the other relatives as zombies. There’s a zombie cat, too, a couple of crows who comment on everything, and an assortment of human friends. It’s a nice evil-genius comic, smart-alecky but not mean, and although it’s kid-friendly (well, for kids who are OK with zombies), the humor is smart enough for adults. Tolland’s expressive art pulls the whole thing together nicely. The comic has been going since February so the archives aren’t overwhelming; now is a great time to jump in and get up to date.

…and in so doing makes my head damn near explode with her talent. Emily Carroll, as you may recall, was the cartoonist between the Halloween sensation “His Face All Red,” a chillingly subtle horror comic that took the comics Internet by storm around All Hallows Eve. Her latest post is a gallery of fan art for a variety of nerd-beloved franchises: Zombies from Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare and Fallout: New Vegas, the “Fear is the mindkiller” speech from Dune, and more — even a pin-up from Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski’s berserk conquistador classic Aguirre: The Wrath of God (see below). It’s always exciting to watch someone go from unknown to must-read (or must-gawk-at, in this case) overnight.

If you wanna see more Carroll, you can feast your eyes on her largely defunct but still art-rich Blogspot blog, her Twitter feed, her LiveJournal (from which the above gallery came), and her “coming soon” website.

by Johnny Zito and Tony Trov

Zombies are kind of our thing. So, in honor of Halloween we conducted an informal survey on Twitter to determine what the most effective zombie killing weapon might be.

We received some pretty unique answers including katana swords, monster trucks, bear traps and “kindness.” Taking the top five suggested methods of murder, death and mayhem, we then looked to pop culture for help ranking them by body count.

The results are reflected in the graph below:

The same rigorous, scientific research also proves that while just about anything can kill a zombie, only one thing makes them hilarious:

To participate in more horror related polls that’ll be transcribed into grossly inaccurate infographs, please check out SOUTH fellini.

The Walking Dead print by Jordan Crane

Whoa. These are pretty much the last official promotional items I ever expected to see, but man am I ever glad I’m seeing them: Alternative-comics creators Jordan Crane, Lisa Hanawalt, Johnny Ryan, and Jon Vermilyea have each created a Walking Dead print. Made to look like shooting-range practice targets, the prints tie in with Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard (and Tony Moore)’s series, the television adaptation of which will make its debut on AMC this Halloween. Each print is signed by the artist and by Kirkman himself, emblazoned with the “Grant County, Georgia Law Enforcement and Public Safety” logo, limited to a run of 100, and priced to sell at $40. Best of all, each artist worked in his or her own inimitable style: Crane’s features linework so impeccable it actually becomes somewhat menacing itself, Ryan’s is spectacularly gross and upsetting, Vermilyea’s is a riot of squiggly detail, and Hanawalt’s has a cat’s head instead of a human’s.

The prints were curated by L.A.’s Secret Headquarters. Click here to see them all and buy them, but remember: If you end up using them for target practice, headshots only!

(Hat tip: David Paggi)