You are here: Home / Archives for ComicList

Upcoming 8/22

August 21, 2007 by

With a relatively lean week on our hands, you’d think it would be easy to single out a pick of the week, but it’s a tough call.

Fond as I am of comics about food, I can’t wait to check out a comic starring food. In this case, it’s David Yurkovich’s Death By Chocolate – Redux (Top Shelf). I’ll just let the first sentence of the solicitation do the talking:

“Agent Swete — an unlikely hero comprised of organic chocolate and a member of the FBI’s Food Crimes Division — and his sharp-tongued partner, Anderson, investigate a series of bizarre, food-inspired crimes.”

Sold! (“Food Crimes Division” inspires a lot of unkind Sandra Lee jokes, but I’ll spare you.)

I’m a sucker for both hype and manga that lives on the border of shôjo and josei, so I’ll have to pick up a copy of the new Shojo Beat from Viz. It includes the debut chapter of Chika Umino’s Honey and Clover, an eagerly anticipated Kodansha Award winner about a group of students at an art college. It sounds right up my alley.

A new issue of Jimmy Gownley’s Amelia Rules! is always worth noting.

Netcomics re-offers the first volume of Morim Kang’s 10, 20 and 30. Katherine Dacey-Tsuei has already made an extremely persuasive case for the book over in her latest Weekly Recon column, so I’ll just point you there.

Oh, and it’s Viz Signature week at comic shops with new volumes about endangered elementary school students, saintly doctors and the serial killers who fixate on them, and ruinously endowed assassins. Choose your poison.

Filed under: ComicList, Netcomics, Renaissance Press, Top Shelf, Viz 1 Comment

Upcoming 8/15

August 15, 2007 by

Just got back from some work travel, about which the less said the better. I checked in periodically to see if there was any blog spam in the filter, and it all apparently concealed itself for this morning. I tried to look through and see if there were any actual comments in there, but my eyes started to glaze over, so if I dumped anything inadvertently, I apologize.

Now, on to today’s haul.

The pick of the week for me is the sixth volume of the Foglios’ delightful web-to-print fantasy-adventure, Girl Genius: Angela Heterodyne and the Golden Trilobite, now available in softcover. The last volume ended on quite the cliffhanger, so I’m eager to see what happens next. (If you’re interested in the series and want a good starting point, Airship has an omnibus edition of the first three volumes.)

Oni Press delivers the fourth issue of the very funny series Maintenance, written by Jim Massey and drawn by Robbi Rodriguez. It’s one of the few series I collect in floppy form, and it just got optioned by Warner Brothers. (I realize that lots of series get optioned, and that it’s no sign of quality whatever, but I think this property might make for fun viewing.)

Tokyopop has three titles that interest me. The first is the 17th volume of Natsuki Takaya’s Fruits Basket. The series seems to be in a bit of a holding pattern, and the last couple of volumes have only bruised my heart as opposed to ripping it clean out of my chest. I’m fairly confident that it will get back on form soon enough, but the plot really could use a bit of forward motion.

I’ve seen various responses to Fumi Yoshinaga’s Truly Kindly, coming from the Blu imprint, though none of them have been what I’d call negative. I believe it’s been described as “weird,” and there’s nothing wrong with that.

The title alone is enough to get me interested in Atelier Marie and Elie Zarlburg Alchemist by Yoshihiko Ochi, though I wouldn’t relish typing it very often.

Filed under: Airship, ComicList, Oni, Tokyopop 5 Comments

Upcoming 8/8

August 7, 2007 by

It’s a somewhat lean but interesting week of deliveries to comic shops, so let’s get right down to it.

Aurora’s Deux imprint launches with the first volume of Hate to Love You by Makoto Tateno. The manga-ka is already well known for series like Yellow and Hero Heel, but this was apparently her boys’-love debut.

The second issue of Otaku USA arrives in comic shops (though I’d imagine it’s already hit regular bookstores). I liked the first issue and found it quite readable, even the non-manga sections.

Black Metal arrives courtesy of Rick Spears, Chuck BB and Oni Press. I just reviewed this yesterday, so take a look and see if it sounds like the book will speak to you. Short version: energetic silliness about twin metal-heads with a demonic destiny.

Filed under: ComicList, Deux, Oni 1 Comment

Upcoming 8/1

August 1, 2007 by

With San Diego behind us all, it’s back to the weekly Wednesday routine.

Meca Tanaka’s funky, charming Omukae Desu (CMX) ends with its fifth volume. Will Aguma get over her crush on a dead guy? Will Madoka break through her veneer of hostility? What will the theme days be?

Debuting from CMX is Makoto Tateno’s King of Cards. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by game-based manga in the past, and the idea of a shôjo take on the subject is kind of interesting conceptually. That said, the preview didn’t grab me. Card-game enthusiasts might like it, though I have no idea if the game Tateno has invented bears any resemblance to actual games of this nature. I couldn’t really follow the rules, so dramatic reversals in matches might not be generating the proper level of excitement.

It’s a big week for Del Rey, with new volumes of lots of series and a debut, Alive, by Tadashi Kawashima and Adachitoka. Now this preview did grab me. After a somewhat shaky opening sequence, Kawashima gets down to business with a creepy tale of a suicide virus that cuts a chunk out of the population and leaves a group of schoolmates in terrible danger. The highlight here is the cinematic pacing, with tense cuts between simultaneous terrors. There’s also lots of mystery, a solid cast, and plenty of promising material to cover in future volumes.

My personal picks among the already-in-progress series are the second volume of Mushishi, a beautifully drawn supernatural travelogue of sorts, and the tenth volume of Nodame Cantabile, a quirky soap opera about music students.

In case you missed it the first time, NBM offers you another crack at Nicolas DeCrécy’s Glacial Period. I’ve run out of ways to summarize how unique and entertaining this book is, so I’ll just point you to this old review.

It’s not a huge week for Viz, but it is a fairly eclectic one, with new volumes of The Drifting Classroom (#7), Fullmetal Alchemist (#14), Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs (#4), and Naoki Urasawa’s Monster (#10). If I had to choose only one, I’d probably be in trouble, though I have to admit that I’d ultimately go with Fullmetal. Drifting is hyperactive and crazy, Inubaka is sweet, and Monster has its many odd charms, but Fullmetal is crack.

Filed under: CMX, ComicList, Del Rey, NBM, Quick Comic Comments, Viz 4 Comments

Upcoming 7/18

July 18, 2007 by

I’m not going to lie to you. There’s plenty of good stuff arriving at the comic shop this week, but the bulk of my anticipatory energy is reserved for the final book in the Harry Potter series. I’m not going to dress up as a Death Eater and head to the bookstore at midnight, and I’m not going to hunt down purported spoilers on-line, but I’m a big nerd all the same.

(I haven’t seen the fifth movie yet, because I’m waiting for the crowds to die down. I am really happy to hear from various reviews that the actor who plays Luna is spot-on. I love Luna. That probably means she’s going to die in the last book, doesn’t it? No! I can’t let myself believe that!)

Okay, now that that nerd-splosion is out of the way, on to the ComicList for Wednesday. And really, there are some delightful books on offer. Since the site itself seems to have exceeded its bandwidth, I’ll point you straight to Diamond instead.

Jeff Smith’s Shazam and the Monster Society of Evil (DC) has been a real pleasure to read, and it concludes today with the fourth issue. It’s been an extremely clean, purposeful book, and by “clean” I don’t mean “family friendly,” though it’s that, too. I just mean that all of the elements of Smith’s work are neatly and effectively in synch. (For those of you who passed on the individual issues, DC already has information up on the deluxe hardcover, due in October.)

I’m still looking forward to Byun Byung Ju’s Run, Bong-Gu Run! (NBM), which is set to arrive at the local comic shop today.

It’s a good week for fans of Fumi Yoshinaga, who has two books arriving: Don’t Say Any More, Darling (Juné) and the third volume of The Flower of Life (Digital Manga Publishing). I don’t really know much about the former, but it’s hard to go too wrong with this particular manga-ka.

Of course, I’ve been posting about the latter ad nauseum, because it’s awesome. It’s like the high school down the block from Bakery Antique, with Yoshinaga operating on all cylinders and creating a lovely, funny world of exuberantly odd youth. No one quite occupies the same narrative turf as Yoshinaga, gently intersecting young and old, wise and foolish, and funny and sad. It’s just exquisite.

Filed under: ComicList, DC, DMP, Juné, NBM, Prose 6 Comments

Upcoming 7/11

July 10, 2007 by

It’s that time of the week for another tour through the ComicList. I’d try to come up with some thematic introduction, but it’s just too hot.

On the debut front, CMX rolls out Samurai Commando Mission 1549 (original concept by Ryo Hanmura; written by Harutoshi Fukui; illustrated by Ark Performance). I’ve seen a short preview of the series, and it looks insane (in a good way).

From Minx comes Andi Watson’s Clubbing. While my first choice for “next Andi Watson project” would be more of Princess at Midnight, this looks like a fun read. Murder in the English countryside should more than make up for the painfully hip fashions of the protagonist.

I don’t see it listed on the ComicList, or in the local shop’s “what’s on tap” e-mail, but Katherine Dacey-Tsuei heralds its arrival of Byun Byung-Jun’s Run, Bong-Gu, Run! (NBM) in the latest Weekly Recon. I know I pre-ordered this, so I just have to be patient. It looks wonderful, as most books from NBM are.

On the continuing series front, it’s hard to decide which is more enticing: a second installment of that priests-versus-zombies extravaganza, Black Sun Silver Moon (Go! Comi) or the ninth chapter of Naoki Urasawa’s Monster. I can’t choose, so I won’t, and I’ll just get them both.

I’ll probably wait for the paperback, but I’m happy to see the second volume of Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.: I Kick Your Face (Marvel), moving through the production pipeline. I thought the first collection was hilarious.

Filed under: CMX, ComicList, Go! Comi, Marvel, Minx, NBM, Viz 2 Comments

Upcoming 7/5

July 4, 2007 by

I’m planning to spend Independence Day in the traditional fashion – drinking vodka lemonade and reading comics. (In spite of the holiday delay, I still somehow have plenty to read.) It’s just as well, as it’s a bit of a slow week.

Okay, so no week with a new volume of Dragon Head (Tokyopop) can actually be called “slow.” Even if I like them, there are some series that sit around for a while before I get around to reading them. This is one of the books I read as soon as I bring it into the house.

There’s a whole heap of stuff coming from Seven Seas. Since I have a demonstrated weakness for people-who-see-dead-people manga, I think I’ll have no choice but to give Venus Versus Virus a look.

For other perspectives on the week in comics, here are some links:

  • Matt Blind at comicsnob.com
  • Christopher Butcher at Comics.212.net
  • Katherine Dacey-Tsuei at Manga Recon
  • Chris Mautner and Kevin Melrose at Blog@Newsarama
    • Filed under: ComicList, Linkblogging, Seven Seas, Tokyopop Leave a Comment

    Upcoming, 6/27

    June 26, 2007 by

    Another Wednesday approaches, bringing some fun stuff with it.

    The fact that I probably prefer it in collection doesn’t keep me from really enjoying individual issues of Linda Medley’s Castle Waiting (Vol. II #7 this week from Fantagraphics). I just wish they were longer. In this case, that’s a compliment. One of the very small handful of titles I still collect in floppy form.

    I’ve really been enjoying the individual issues of Jim Massey and Robbi Rodriguez’s Maintenance (Oni), a workplace comedy about janitors in a mad scientist think tank. Not every joke scores, but more than enough do to make the first collection worth a look.

    One of my favorite features in the first issue of Otaku USA was Jason Thompson’s interview with novelist Tou Ubukata. A manga version of one of Ubukata’s works, Le Chevalier D’Eon, illustrated by Kiriko Yumeji, begins its English-language life courtesy of Del Rey. Gender bending, demon fighting action in pre-Revolution France, and a heroine whose outfit makes you think a tiny bit more kindly about all of those swimsuits and high heels from Marvel and DC.

    Vertical delivers the concluding volume of Keiko Takemiya’s science-fiction classic To Terra… I’m really curious as to how the story will wrap up, as it seems like things could end very badly for… well… everyone involved. Is it terrible that I’m kind of hoping for an unhappy ending? It’s not that I wish the characters, human or Mu, ill. It just seems like such an enticing alternative. (And if you know how it turns out, and you probably do, please don’t spoil it for me.)

    Filed under: ComicList, Del Rey, Fantagraphics, Oni, Vertical 8 Comments

    Upcoming

    June 19, 2007 by

    Who’s the weird, green-haired tyke all the manga readers like? Yotsuba&! Yes, the fourth volume of Kyohiko Azuma’s much-loved, long-dormant series arrives Wednesday in better comic shops everywhere courtesy of ADV. I’ll let you absorb that for a moment, then distract you with the knowledge that Tokyopop has picked up Ai Morinaga’s delightful Your and My Secret, along with 37 other titles. ADV squeezed out a single volume of the series years ago, then left us all hanging.

    Fantagraphics releases Human Diastrophism, the second collection of Gilbert Hernandez’s richly entertaining Palomar stories. Information can be found by scrolling down this page, and while they’re a step up from ADV by having information on recent and upcoming releases at all, I’d really love it if they’d give a blogger a break and start building some pages that would let me link directly.

    Speaking of gender ambiguity, Go! Comi delivers the fourth volume of Setona Mizushiro’s After School Nightmare. (And Go! Comi has updated its web sight to profile two upcoming releases, Ryo Takagi’s The Devil Within and Takeru Kirishima’s Kanna.)

    It had to happen sooner or later, and if I’m going to be entirely honest, I’ll admit that I’m happy it’s sooner. Can you imagine what Death Note (Viz – Shonen Jump Advanced) would have turned into if it had been one of those 20-plus-volume monstrosities? The very suspenseful series ends with the 12th volume this week, which seems just about right in terms of length.

    Filed under: ADV, ComicList, Fantagraphics, Go! Comi, Tokyopop, Viz 9 Comments

    Pace yourselves

    June 13, 2007 by

    The run of relatively low-key weeks is apparently over, as the comics industry unleashes an avalanche of interesting-sounding new releases and new volumes of much-loved series. (The ComicList even goes so far as to pull out a manga-only version of the Wednesday roster.)

    The Aviary, by Jamie Tanner (AdHouse): The publisher sent me a review copy of this, and it’s a very odd work. Visually, it reminds me of Rick Geary’s work on the Treasury of Victorian Murder series (see below) with a bit of Rebecca Kraatz’s House of Sugar (Tulip Tree) thrown into the mix. Tonally, it’s somewhere near Renee French territory, but bleaker and more caustic. It’s going to take a few more readings before I can pin down exactly how I feel about it, but it’s certainly interesting, unsettling, and great looking.

    King of Thorn, by Yuji Iwahara (Tokyopop): You’re probably sick of me mentioning how much I loved Chikyu Misaki (CMX), but that’s the reason I’m so excited about this series. Iwahara demonstrated a great blend of complex plotting, thoughtful characterization, and stylish visuals, and I’m hoping those qualities recur in this series.

    Shojo Beat (Viz): I love a lot of the series in the Shojo Beat roster, but I generally don’t bother to pick up the magazine since I’d rather buy the ones I like in digest form. But this issue features and excerpt from Osamu Tezuka’s groundbreaking shôjo series, Princess Knight, so it’s a must-buy.

    Re-Gifters, by Mike Carey, Sonny Liew and Mark Hempel (DC-Minx): Interest in the Minx initiative aside, I loved My Faith in Frankie (DC-Vertigo), also from this creative team. I’m glad to see them reunited.

    Treasury of Victorian Murder Vol. 9: The Bloody Benders, by Rick Geary (NBM): I’m cheap, so I generally wait for these to come out in paperback, but I’m a huge fan of Geary’s retellings of twisted crimes from days gone by. I’m completely unfamiliar with the featured case this time around, so this installment should let me increase my stores of grisly trivia.

    And here’s the daunting list of new volumes of manga series I enjoy:

  • The Drifting Classroom Vol. 6, by Kazuo Umezi (Viz – Signature)
  • Emma Vol. 4, by Kaoru Mori, (CMX)
  • Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs Vol. 3, by Yukiya Sakuragi (Viz)
  • Naoki Urasawa’s Monster Vol. 8 (Viz – Signature)
  • Sgt. Frog Vol. 13, by Mine Yoshizaki (Tokyopop)
  • Wild Adapter Vol. 2, by Kazuya Minekura (Tokyopop)
    • Filed under: AdHouse, CMX, ComicList, Minx, NBM, Tokyopop, Viz Leave a Comment
    « Previous Page
    Next Page »