So I believe the technical term for the quantity of interesting comics on offer in the latest Previews would be “honking butt-load.”
I’m very taken with the idea of Project: Romantic from AdHouse books. The participation of Debbie Huey, Hope Larson, and Jim Rugg is probably enough to sell me on it. I’m hoping for a wide variety of stories and styles, and the blurb promises “a cornucopia.” Tom Spurgeon has a preview over at Comics Reporter. It doesn’t seem like it’s going to be another collection of stories about 20-something nebbishes obsessively checking their voice mail to see if their hot ex-girlfriend called, even though she moved on to date someone emotionally stable with a job that offers health insurance. (If anyone’s seen a copy and can confirm or deny that impression, please, e-mail me.)
I like Anne Freaks. I like Yua Kotegawa. It stands to reason I’ll also like Kotegawa’s Line from ADV.
How did I miss the news that Josh (A Few Perfect Hours) Neufeld has a new series, Vagabonds, coming out from Alternative Comics? At least I can order both of the issues that are out so far to ease my shame.
I’ve had a really good track record with titles from Amaze Ink/Slave Labor Graphics, and Agnes Quill: An Anthology of Mystery sounds right up my alley. I can’t find any information on it on the publisher’s web site, but it’s about a teenage detective who solves spooky mysteries. Written by Dave Roman, it’s illustrated by various artists, including the wonderful Raina Telgemeier.
I missed this in the manga debut trawl yesterday, but Archie will be releasing a collection of the first batch of issues from Tania del Rio’s “manga makeover” of Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
Del Rey offers the fourth volume of Love Roma and the seventh of Genshiken. Chris Butcher listed Love Roma as one of the best books of 2005, and Genshiken just gets better and better. There’s a sequence in volume six that’s as funny and sad and pitch-perfect as just about any comic I’ve read this year.
Between the preview on Free Comic Books Day and Rose Curtin, I’m officially obsessed with Moomin (Drawn & Quarterly). They’re hippo-esque and kind of freaky! Sold!
Fanfare/Ponent Mon offers more work from Jiro Taniguchi, The Ice Wanderer. The more, the better. And my money’s on the moose. I’ve heard stories.
Telgemeier also has the second volume of her wonderful Baby-Sitters Club adaptations on offer from Graphix. This one’s called The Truth About Stacy. (Okay, the title sounds a little like it should be a Lifetime movie starring one of the girls from Popular who’s struggling with an unplanned pregnancy, eating disorder, drug problem, peer harassment, or has killed her boyfriend under controversial circumstances. I know the book won’t be anything like that though.)
Okay, Legion of Evil Press has the best solicitation ever for Chip Zdarsky’s Monster Cops #1:
“CIVIL WAR FINALE! It all ends here! With the South on the run, can the North finally claim victory?”
The imminent arrival of a new volume of Jen Lee Quick’s Off*Beat (Tokyopop) is very happy news indeed. This is a really intriguing and entirely underrated book. It’s quirky and moving, and it seems like it’s been forever since the first volume came out, which is always a good indicator of enthusiasm.
I am too old to buy the Owly plush toy. I am too old to buy the Owly plush toy. I am too old to buy the Owly plush toy. (If I keep repeating it often enough, maybe I’ll believe it by October.)