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THINGS TO COME
ARTICLE 10
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Some of my regular readers may have noticed that this month's installment of Things To Come is a week late. Well, have I got a story for you. As one of the token Americans who writes for Ninth Art, two days before my deadline was Thanksgiving, when I proceeded to eat a metric ton of turkey, mashed potatoes, and pies. Within ten minutes of finishing dinner, I'd fallen into a food coma and before I knew it the deadline had passed.
This might not have been so bad, except my trip down what I like to call 'the tryptophan highway' lasted over a week. Now it's the day of my deadline, again, and I've still got nothing written. Fortunately, it's time to focus on February 2005's upcoming releases, and February is the shortest month. So how many books could it be, right?
Since there's an important release hidden back in the books ghetto, we'll be moving backwards through Previews to make sure that these books get the attention they deserve.
MCSWEENEY'S QUARTERLY CONCERN ISSUE 13 HC edited by Chris Ware
DEC04 3124, p369, $24.00
This book was published in May 2004, but it's the first time that it's been offered through Diamond Comics, so a lot of stores haven't been able to order it yet.
In many ways this is almost an alternative and independent comics primer, with just some of the contributors to the anthology including David Collier, Julie Doucet, Chris Ware, Seth, Jaime Hernandez, Art Spiegelman, Daniel Clowes, Charles Burns, Jim Woodring, Joe Sacco, Ivan Brunetti, Gilbert Hernandez, Archer Prewitt, Richard Sala, Chester Brown, Debbie Drechsler, Joe Matt, John Porcellino, Adrian Tomine, Robert Crumb, Ben Katchor, Kaz, Lynda Barry, Jeffrey Brown... and yes, that's just some of the talent involved, there's still a lot more in there to boot.
It's over 300 pages long, it's beautifully designed, and I think there's something here for everyone. (And if you don't know who all of those creators are, well, consider this your chance to check out just how good they all are.)
ASTERIX VOL. 5-8 by Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
(ASTERIX AND THE BANQUET, ASTERIX AND CLEOPATRA, ASTERIX AND THE BIG FIGHT, ASTERIX IN BRITAIN)
DEC04 3145, DEC04 3146, DEC04 3147, DEC04 3148, p373, $9.95 each
I mentioned the first four volumes last month and now I'm mentioning ASTERIX again, and if you've ever read ASTERIX, you'll know that this truly is a series worth mentioning repeatedly. It's funny, it's perfectly drawn, and if you don't laugh when reading any of the original twenty-four volumes of ASTERIX, then there's no hope for your soul. The original volumes were out of print for years in English and now they're all finally returning... please, please, please don't let these pass you by.
PRINCE OF TENNIS VOL 6 GN by Takeshi Konomi
WHISTLE! VOL 4 GN by Daisuke Higuchi
DEC04 2943, p343, $7.95
DEC04 2945, p343, $7.99
Yes, it's true. Comics about sports not only exist, but when done properly they're truly exciting. PRINCE OF TENNIS and WHISTLE couldn't be more dissimilar; the first is about the snide Ryoma Echizen, who is one of the best tennis players at his junior high; the latter is about struggling Sho Kazamatsuri, who is desperate to learn how to play soccer no matter what the cost.
What these books share is the ability to pull in an audience and hold their attention. I can barely volley a tennis ball back across the net, but reading about the big match where someone's trick shot isn't working properly? Absolutely riveting. Now, if only they'd bring over a comic as good as PRINCE OF TENNIS or WHISTLE that's about long-distance running, I'd truly be in heaven. Until then, though, I've got no problem with reading these fantastic stories.
OWLY VOL 2: JUST A LITTLE BLUE TP by Andy Runton
DEC04 2913, p340, $10.00
More OWLY! Yay!
For those unfamiliar with Andy Runton's creation, OWLY is an adorable book about a little owl and his friends. Without words, Runton is able to inspire intense emotions in his readers, from joy and delight to sadness and loneliness. One of the few truly 'all ages' books, there's something for everyone to enjoy here, as OWLY speaks to everyone on a different level. More OWLY makes the world a better place.
TAROT CAFE VOL 1 GN by Park Sang-Sun
DEC04 2820, p321, $9.99
I've never read Sang-Sun's other series, LES BIJOUX, but I'm interested by TAROT CAFÉ based on just two pieces of artwork and a one-paragraph description. It's strange: a lot of the elements sound a little silly on their own (a tarot card reader who helps supernatural beings, vampires running away from their true love, magicians creating living dolls) but the art looks gorgeous, and for some reason the pitch just seems to hold together.
TokyoPop is one of the few publishers bringing Korean comics (manhwa) into English, and they clearly have a lot of faith in TAROT CAFÉ, between giving it the front of their pages of Previews and bringing Park Sang-Sun to San Diego to meet fans. All right, you've got my attention... now let's see if you can keep it.
INSTANT TEEN: JUST ADD NUTS VOL 3 GN by Haruka Fukushima
DEC04 2835, p326, $9.99
Just as architects should be forced to live in houses they've designed, writers and translators should be forced to request books they've worked on at the bookstore. I don't care how fantastic the book may be, I can see very few people truly being ready to walk up to a clerk and say, "Excuse me, I'm trying to find a copy of INSTANT TEEN: JUST ADD NUTS, could you help me?" It's just wrong.
NO MAN'S LAND VOL 1 GN
AMAZING AGENT LUNA VOL 1 GN
BLADE FOR BARTER VOL 1 GN
LAST HOPE VOL 1 GN
DEC04 2788 through 2791, p312-313, $10.99 each
I was originally going to let this pass without comment, but the more I think about it, the more I think that I almost have to say something.
There have been a lot of American publishers lately that are clearly trying to ride the manga wave, seeing all of those new readers coming into the comics medium thanks to books translated from Japanese into English, and trying to snag some for themselves. At a glance, it's very easy to lump new publisher Seven Seas into that same category.
But there's a very distinct difference between some of those other books and what Seven Seas is debuting in February. Other publishers seem to be trying to aim towards an eventual goal of getting higher sales in the English-speaking market, but Seven Seas' final goal seems to be to create books that will also appeal to the Japanese market and get picked up for translation there.
It's an interesting tactic, one that sees Seven Seas creating books with a right-to-left reading pattern and following a lot of the same styles that manga does. I've got to applaud them for looking at the big picture and setting their sights on a much larger market than the almost clichéd grab for the bookstore market that's happening elsewhere.
Is it going to succeed? I have no idea. With the Japanese market being so large, there's certainly a chance, but it also means that if a book fails it can get axed pretty quickly because there are hundreds of alternatives that can replace it. It'll be interesting to see how Seven Seas does both domestically and abroad. Either way, they're doing something different right out of the gate, and I certainly wish them the best of luck.
GEMMA BOVERY by Posy Simmonds
DEC04 2759, p307, $19.95
I have a horrible confession to make. I bought a British import of GEMMA BOVERY when it was first published five years ago and I still haven't read it. This is bad on so many levels: bad because it's been gathering dust for five years, bad because it's supposed to be nothing short of fantastic, and bad because I rushed to buy a copy that I clearly could have just waited for to buy from Pantheon Books.
GEMMA BOVERY is loosely based on the classic novel MADAME BOVARY, dealing with jealousy, adultery, and the French countryside. GEMMA BOVERY is a strange combination of text and sequential art that's hard to describe without seeing it for yourself, but having just scooped my copy off of the bookshelf to take a look at it, I found myself entranced in just two pages, and I'd still be reading it if I didn't have a column to finish. Pantheon's past track record is pretty impressive when it comes to graphic novels (MAUS, PERSEPOLIS, DAVID BORING, JIMMY CORRIGAN, JULIUS KNIPL, the upcoming LA PERDIDA) so I think it's safe to say that they've picked another winner.
LITTLE STAR #1 by Andi Watson
DEC04 2749, p306, $2.99
It's by Andi Watson. Do I really need to say anything else? [Yes, you do. - Ed]
Oh, all right. Watson can do no wrong. From unemployment woes in BREAKFAST AFTER NOON and small-town reporters in SLOW NEWS DAY to superheroes gone wrong in LOVE FIGHTS and interdimensional fox spirits in SKELETON KEY, everything Watson's attempted has worked near-perfectly for me. His comics have heart to them; Watson brings the characters and situations to life in ways that make you feel like you're somehow really looking in to real people's lives and seeing their innermost secrets. A new six-issue mini-series about a stay-at-home dad? Knowing Watson, it's going to be fantastic as always.
SCOTT PILGRIM VOL 2: SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD GN by Bryan Lee O'Malley
DEC04 2750, p306, $14.95
I don't think anyone knew what to expect with the first volume of Bryan Lee O'Malley's SCOTT PILGRIM. Girls skating through boys' dreams via warp tunnels, rock and roll fight scenes, the world's most dangerous song, and, oh yeah, true love... this is one seriously strange series. The first volume was also one of the best books to be published in 2004. A strange synthesis of North American and Japanese story techniques, O'Malley's comic succeeds because it is its own unique entity, taking influence from other ideas and styles but never resorting to merely aping them. Great, great stuff.
LOVE AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE VOL 2 GN by J Torres and Eric Kim
DEC04 2751, p306, $6.95
This is a really sweet book, about an English teacher from Canada named Joel who absolutely cannot stand living and teaching in South Korea. He's ready to quit and fly back home across the Pacific Ocean when he meets her. You know, that person that stops your heart and makes you catch your breath the second you see them? Turns out she's a new employee at the school and now Joel finds himself agreeing to stay a bit longer.
The first volume was adorable, and I love the idea of getting little bookshelf digests every three months. I've never been to Korea, and I can't truly comprehend the agony that Joel is in by living there, but I understand this book perfectly.
BONE VOL 1: OUT OF BONEVILLE by Jeff Smith
DEC04 2663, p287, $9.99
For everyone who's been holding out, the wait is over: Scholastic Books's new Graphix imprint is here, and debuts with a reprinting of Jeff Smith's amazing nine-volume BONE saga. In many ways "the little book that could", Smith's BONE ran 55 issues and is almost what you'd get if you merged Walt Kelly's POGO and JRR Tolkien's THE LORD OF THE RINGS into a single creative work.
Smith's storytelling gets stronger with each new chapter, and his art is just gorgeous, with carefully placed ink lines crafting the Bone cousins, Thorn, Granma Ben, and the rest of the cast into attractive character designs. Add in Steve Hamacker's soft color hues for these reprints and, well, this is going to open the door to a whole new group of readers. They're going to love it. You would, too.
TEENAGERS FROM MARS TP by Rick Spears and Rob G.
DEC04 2657, p286, $19.95
There's a lot I really liked about TEENAGERS FROM MARS; the way in which it depicted small-town life, or young love, or doing stupid things simply because there's nothing else that catches your attention. For that alone, Rick Spears and Rob G succeeded wildly with their book, and I definitely have to give it a thumbs up. It's a little unfortunate that the book turns into a rather dull and by-the-numbers story about comic book censorship (and for a strong supporter of the CBLDF like me to feel that says a lot), because the ending just doesn't live up to its earlier chapters. Still, those early chapters... great, great stuff.
ED THE HAPPY CLOWN #1 (Of 9) by Chester Brown
DEC04 2560, p260, $2.95
My first exposure to Chester Brown was a very, very strange collection titled ED THE HAPPY CLOWN. It had to do with a clown, an interdimensional stream of feces, the head of Ronald Reagan grafted onto the end of a man's genitals, and... you're not believing this for an instant, are you? And yet, it's all true, but even more importantly, it worked. Big time. It's a hysterically funny book, with one strange turn after another, as numerous story elements and ideas all improbably converge at the end of the graphic novel.
ED THE HAPPY CLOWN has been out of print for several years, and to be honest it's comicdom's loss. I was delighted to hear that Drawn & Quarterly was bringing it back into print... but not so delighted that now it's a nine-issue, quarterly mini-series. I understand that Brown wants to revise the story yet again (the earlier collected version was already 'revised') and this lets Drawn & Quarterly slowly release the new edition of the story as it's completed, but is this really going to make money for the company? I suspect most of Brown's fans already have read ED THE HAPPY CLOWN, so I'm not entirely sure who they're hoping will buy this.
If it makes money for Brown and Drawn & Quarterly, then good for them, but it just feels to me like that's not in the cards. Someone let me know when the new collection is released in 2007, so I can start buying copies for people's birthdays again.
PROJECT: SUPERIOR edited by Chris Pitzer
DEC04 2290, p200, $19.95
Is there anything AdHouse Books publisher Chris Pitzer can't do? His books are always beautifully designed, and the first anthology that he edited (PROJECT: TELSTAR) had a wonderful variety and uniqueness about it. I'm hoping that holds true for his second anthology, PROJECT: SUPERIOR, in which Pitzer and his handpicked line-up of creators tackle superheroes.
This is a truly eclectic group of creators. From Brian Wood and James Jean to Bryan Lee O'Malley and Paul Pope, every story promises to be strange and different and really, really good. Is it February yet?
And last but not least, the "big four" publishers of Previews: Dark Horse, DC, Image, and Marvel. I'll be honest: I think their solicitations get way too much attention everywhere, and if there are four publishers who don't need the spotlight nearly as much, it's them. So this month each publisher only gets one mention, and we'll see how that goes. Let's face it, everyone else will be talking about them anyway.
DRAGON PRINCE #1 (Of 5) by Ron Marz and Jeff Johnson
DEC04 0014, p20, $2.99
I really liked Ron Marz and Jeff Johnson's book THE WAY OF THE RAT. It had a really nice balance of humor and adventure, and Johnson made martial arts really explode across the page. Based on that alone I'll definitely take a look at their new book DRAGON PRINCE for Dark Horse; the two creators worked well together, and it gives me hope that their story - about a 14-year-old boy who discovers that he's the heir to the bloodline of dragons and must defend them from the mystical predators stalking them - will turn out to be good.
IT'S A BIRD... by Steven T. Seagle and Teddy Kristiansen
DEC04 0330, p108, $17.95
So long as we're on the subject of creative teams who worked well together, I was always a fan of Steven T Seagle's and Teddy Kristiansen's HOUSE OF SECRETS. It wasn't a book for everyone, but their prickly story of secrets and mysteries entranced me from the very first issue, and I was really sad to see it come to an end after two years. That's what convinced me to buy the hardcover of their graphic novel IT'S A BIRD... earlier this year, and I was blown away with the end result.
Seagle's script doesn't star Superman, but it is about Superman; specifically, it's about writing for Superman and all that it truly means. His story is deeply personal and entrancing, with Seagle tying the step towards writing Superman with elements of his family life, something that sounds strange but works perfectly. Kristiansen's art tackles a number of styles to always best illustrate Seagle's story, and it's some of the nicest sequential art that I've seen from his hand. This is an amazing book and you really shouldn't let it pass you by a second time.
FREAK SHOW HC by Bruce Jones and Bernie Wrightson
DEC04 1527, p143, $12.95
Most people who only know Bruce Jones's name from THE INCREDIBLE HULK might be surprised to know that Jones used to work on horror comics back in the day. That's why I'm intrigued by Jones teaming up with comics legend Bernie Wrightson for FREAK SHOW, a story about carnivals, freaks, and revenge. When Wrightson's art isn't encumbered with the need for a monthly deadline, it's a delicate crafting of lines to create terrifying yet near-perfect art. I'll admit that I've never read Jones's horror comics, but the fact that he was able to lure Wrightson on board has grabbed my attention and refuses to let go. This should be a really nice little package.
RUNAWAYS #1 by Brian K Vaughan and Adrian Alphona
DEC04 1736, pM12, $2.99
Bet you thought I was going to write about the cringe worthy solicitation for YOUNG AVENGERS, right? Wrong. I'm actually much more excited about the return of RUNAWAYS, the series by Brian K Vaughan and Adrian Alphona about a group of kids who discover that their parents are supervillains planning on taking over the world.
The series only lasted for 18 issues, but while sales were low, the praise was high, and it's nice to see Marvel giving it a second chance. I've read the first two collections and the third and final collection of the original series is scheduled for February 2005 as well, so I'm really impressed with Marvel's timing on linking it and the start of the new series together.
Vaughan and Alphona's series was a tremendous amount of fun, really making RUNAWAYS feel like it's a book about kids, with realistic dialogue and art, but also maintaining a sense of wonder that so many other books fail to muster. With the collections priced at just under eight dollars each, this is really a series that you should give a try. I can almost guarantee that if you read the first two collections, you too will be eagerly awaiting February for the book's return.
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