Kevin Looks At the May 2008 Previews, Part Three.
Here we go, here we go, here we go with the last of the "Kevin Looks At The May 2008 Previews" posts. Let us tarry no further...
IDW Publishing | Page 313
I've been looking forward to Ashley Wood's World War Robot (48 pages, paperback, $11.99) since first spying designs for the book on his blog. If you're a bit agog at the price point, note that it's 12" x 12", meaning that you get 144 square inches of glorious robot vs human action on each page, or 288 of the non-metric squares if you're confronted by a double-page spread. The solicitation promises more than just the world: we get to see the slaughter on the Moon amd Mars as well.
I surely can't be the only one that sees one of those Complete Terry And The Pirates (352 pages, hardcover, $49.99) books and kicks themselves because they've not purchased them yet, can I? I've a few of the paperback reprints from the early 90s and if there's a better strip artist than Milton Caniff, I'd like to meet them so I can devour their brains and gain otherworldly superpowers.
NBM | Page 328
Dirk Schweiger's comic blog (not like this - one in which he drew comics about his life in Tokyo) was one of my favorite stops before it ceased operations in 2006. Thankfully, there's a collection of those strips, Morusukine: Updated Weekly from Tokyo (176 pages, softcover, $15.95) coming out through NBM, one of those publishers that quietly puts out three or four fantastic things a year. Besides Schweiger's strips, there's bonus materials from creators like Ryan North and James Kochalka. This is exactly the sort of autobiographical comic I want to see more of, and less of the "Oh hey, so my friends and I, we're fucking hilarious!" type.
Nerdcore LP | Page 328
How to know if you want to pick up Meathaus: S.O.S. (272 pages, softcover, $30.00): do you like James Jean, Farel Dalrymple, Brandon Graham, Tomer and Asaf Hanuka, Thomas Herpich, Jim Rugg, Corey Lewis, Matt Furie, D-pi, Ross Campbell, Sheldon Vella, and Dave Kiersh? Yes? Then you want to pick this up.
Oni Press | Page 330
I remember when I saw my first glimpse of Ray Fawkes and Cameron Stewart's Apocalipstix (144 pages, softcover, $11.95) in Rumble Royale, a neat little anthology that came out three or four (or five?) years ago. Kick-ass rock and roll babes making their way after the End Times had stricken the world? Sign me up! Then nothing. Silence. Then, last year, a solicitation and a quiet cancellation. Now, this time, another solicitation and a silent promise, a pledge to not let me down this time. I hope not, as I think Cameron Stewart's a cartoonist who's just now getting up to full speed and Ray Fawkes hasn't disappointed me yet. (Mind you, I've only read one other thing he's done, Mnemovore, but I liked it well enough to keep the single issues after the great singles purge of last year.)
The first installment of Vasilis Lolos's The Last Call was that very rarest of comics: the well-done, most-ages-friendly fantasy comic with a youthful lead. The second installment (136 pages, softcover, $11.95) has been solicited and considering how the first book left readers with a veritable slab of unanswered questions, I'm eager for it to arrive, posthaste. If you've not grabbed the first volume, you should do so at your next visit to the local comics emporium.
Picturebox | Page 338
"Speaking of second volumes dot dot dot," Kevin said. "I finally picked up the first Powr Mastrs book just last week and it was brilliant and stupid and beautiful and crude and I want to recommend it, but I'm afraid 90% of the people I'd say something about it to wouldn't get it, but man, what a hell of a thing it is."
Powr Mastrs Volume 2 (120 pages, softcover, $18.00) should be more of the same.
Running Press | Page 344
I've been trying to find some information online about this publisher, whose The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics (448 pages, softcover, $17.95) continues a series of black-and-white reprint collections that live up to their title, but they seem determined to evade any sort of publicity. I've purchased the War and Horror collections so far and even when the reproduction quality is sub-par, the sheer volume of content more than makes up for it.
(Guys, seriously, if you want to improve your online profile and maybe start selling books directly to the public, email kevin(at)searchpeers(dot)com. I'm good at this stuff, really.)
Top Shelf Productions | Page 360
Alex Robinson is one of my favorite cartoonists (and the only one I own multiple pieces of commissioned and original art from,) so getting Too Cool To Be Forgotten (128 pages, hardcover, $14.95) was sort of a given. Sort of a male Peggy Sue Got Married with extra awkwardness and nerditude thrown in, this is sure to have the warmth and humor I've come to expect - nay, demand from Mr. Robinson and his comics.
Viper Comics | Page 364
The delightfully-monikered Middleman Collected Series Indispensability Compendium (336 pages, softcover, $19.95) contains all three Middleman comics series in one handy volume. I've mentioned this fine, fine book multiple times in the past and not even the apparent whoredom of Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Les McClane to ABC Family can diminish my affection for Wendy and the hero for whom the book is named.
Aaaand that's it. Others have covered the horrifying and godawful in the rest of the catalog, so I'm bidding you adieu. To quote the poet Jerry Springer: take care of yourself...and each other.
IDW Publishing | Page 313
I've been looking forward to Ashley Wood's World War Robot (48 pages, paperback, $11.99) since first spying designs for the book on his blog. If you're a bit agog at the price point, note that it's 12" x 12", meaning that you get 144 square inches of glorious robot vs human action on each page, or 288 of the non-metric squares if you're confronted by a double-page spread. The solicitation promises more than just the world: we get to see the slaughter on the Moon amd Mars as well.
I surely can't be the only one that sees one of those Complete Terry And The Pirates (352 pages, hardcover, $49.99) books and kicks themselves because they've not purchased them yet, can I? I've a few of the paperback reprints from the early 90s and if there's a better strip artist than Milton Caniff, I'd like to meet them so I can devour their brains and gain otherworldly superpowers.
NBM | Page 328
Dirk Schweiger's comic blog (not like this - one in which he drew comics about his life in Tokyo) was one of my favorite stops before it ceased operations in 2006. Thankfully, there's a collection of those strips, Morusukine: Updated Weekly from Tokyo (176 pages, softcover, $15.95) coming out through NBM, one of those publishers that quietly puts out three or four fantastic things a year. Besides Schweiger's strips, there's bonus materials from creators like Ryan North and James Kochalka. This is exactly the sort of autobiographical comic I want to see more of, and less of the "Oh hey, so my friends and I, we're fucking hilarious!" type.
Nerdcore LP | Page 328
How to know if you want to pick up Meathaus: S.O.S. (272 pages, softcover, $30.00): do you like James Jean, Farel Dalrymple, Brandon Graham, Tomer and Asaf Hanuka, Thomas Herpich, Jim Rugg, Corey Lewis, Matt Furie, D-pi, Ross Campbell, Sheldon Vella, and Dave Kiersh? Yes? Then you want to pick this up.
Oni Press | Page 330
I remember when I saw my first glimpse of Ray Fawkes and Cameron Stewart's Apocalipstix (144 pages, softcover, $11.95) in Rumble Royale, a neat little anthology that came out three or four (or five?) years ago. Kick-ass rock and roll babes making their way after the End Times had stricken the world? Sign me up! Then nothing. Silence. Then, last year, a solicitation and a quiet cancellation. Now, this time, another solicitation and a silent promise, a pledge to not let me down this time. I hope not, as I think Cameron Stewart's a cartoonist who's just now getting up to full speed and Ray Fawkes hasn't disappointed me yet. (Mind you, I've only read one other thing he's done, Mnemovore, but I liked it well enough to keep the single issues after the great singles purge of last year.)
The first installment of Vasilis Lolos's The Last Call was that very rarest of comics: the well-done, most-ages-friendly fantasy comic with a youthful lead. The second installment (136 pages, softcover, $11.95) has been solicited and considering how the first book left readers with a veritable slab of unanswered questions, I'm eager for it to arrive, posthaste. If you've not grabbed the first volume, you should do so at your next visit to the local comics emporium.
Picturebox | Page 338
"Speaking of second volumes dot dot dot," Kevin said. "I finally picked up the first Powr Mastrs book just last week and it was brilliant and stupid and beautiful and crude and I want to recommend it, but I'm afraid 90% of the people I'd say something about it to wouldn't get it, but man, what a hell of a thing it is."
Powr Mastrs Volume 2 (120 pages, softcover, $18.00) should be more of the same.
Running Press | Page 344
I've been trying to find some information online about this publisher, whose The Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics (448 pages, softcover, $17.95) continues a series of black-and-white reprint collections that live up to their title, but they seem determined to evade any sort of publicity. I've purchased the War and Horror collections so far and even when the reproduction quality is sub-par, the sheer volume of content more than makes up for it.
(Guys, seriously, if you want to improve your online profile and maybe start selling books directly to the public, email kevin(at)searchpeers(dot)com. I'm good at this stuff, really.)
Top Shelf Productions | Page 360
Alex Robinson is one of my favorite cartoonists (and the only one I own multiple pieces of commissioned and original art from,) so getting Too Cool To Be Forgotten (128 pages, hardcover, $14.95) was sort of a given. Sort of a male Peggy Sue Got Married with extra awkwardness and nerditude thrown in, this is sure to have the warmth and humor I've come to expect - nay, demand from Mr. Robinson and his comics.
Viper Comics | Page 364
The delightfully-monikered Middleman Collected Series Indispensability Compendium (336 pages, softcover, $19.95) contains all three Middleman comics series in one handy volume. I've mentioned this fine, fine book multiple times in the past and not even the apparent whoredom of Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Les McClane to ABC Family can diminish my affection for Wendy and the hero for whom the book is named.
Aaaand that's it. Others have covered the horrifying and godawful in the rest of the catalog, so I'm bidding you adieu. To quote the poet Jerry Springer: take care of yourself...and each other.
