Time again for a look at this week’s ComicList:
Summer is over, and school is underway, but if you want to recapture that sense of freedom and possibility, pick up Matthew Loux’s Salt Water Taffy: The Truth About Dr. True (Oni Press). This series about young brothers spending a silly and mysterious summer at the shore has been a real treat so far. Check out the series site, which includes added webcomic adventures, and read this interview with Loux over at Comic Book Resources. The site has also promised a chunky preview of the book sometime today. (Update: It’s here.) Here are my reviews of the first and second volumes of the series.
Dark Horse rewards the loyal with the 12th volume of Hiroki Endo’s meaty science fiction saga, Eden: It’s an Endless World! There tend to be long gaps between new volumes of this excellent series, but I can be patient as long as they keep coming. Here’s my review of the series over at The Comics Reporter.
I arrived late at this particular party, but I’m still happy to see the sixth volume of Banri Hidaka’s V.B. Rose (Tokyopop). I’ve enjoyed the first three volumes of this story about a promising amateur designer who goes to work for a couture bridal shop. It’s got endearing characters and almost enough sparkle to necessitate protective eyewear.
Vertical delivers more morally ambiguous medical madness with the seventh volume of Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack.
I was shocked by how much I liked the first volume of Kiminori Wakasugi’s vulgar, improbable, totally hilarious Detroit Metal City (Viz). The second volume arrives this week at better comic shops and braver bookstores everywhere.
Update: I almost always forget to look at Image’s listings, because they don’t publish a whole lot that seems like it would interest me and because I’m still bitter that they aren’t publishing more of Andi Watson’s Glister. I also find their web site completely impossible to navigate or search, so I won’t even bother linking to it. While I think this is a largely defensible position on my part, it sometimes leads me to miss neat comics like the following.
Underground, which mercifully has its own, entirely navigable web site, is written by Jeff Parker and illustrated by Steve Lieber. I liked Parker’s Agents of Atlas mini-series a lot (Marvel), and I thought Lieber’s work on Whiteout and Whiteout: Melt (Oni) was great. Also, Me and Edith Head, drawn by Lieber and written by Sara Ryan, is one of my favorite mini-comics ever. So I’m naturally inclined to give the comic a try, even though it’s about a cave, and claustrophobia prevents me from even considering entering one. I couldn’t even finish Nevada Barr’s Blind Descent, and I like Barr’s mystery novels a lot. But it’s Parker and Lieber, so I’ll certainly muster as much courage as possible.