I Love Rob Liefeld | A Comic Book Blog

Conan's Greatest Adventure

2012-01-07T09:12:00.001-05:00

McSweeney's to Publish Children's Books by Matt Furie and Lisa Hanawalt

2011-12-14T23:14:00.000-05:00

McSweeney's, one of the best publishers around, has started a children's book imprint called McMullens, and two of the first books will be by comic book creators Matt Furie (Boy's Club) and Lisa Hanawalt (I Want You). This is neat.

Furie's book is called The Night Riders, and is described as this: "a nocturnal frog and mouse awake at midnight, share a salad of lettuce and bugs and strike out on an epic dirtbike adventure toward the sunrise. As the friends make their way from forest to bat cave to ghost town to ocean to shore and beyond, new friends are discovered, a huge crab is narrowly avoided, and a whole world is revealed."

Hanawalt is illustrating Benny's Brigade, which is written by Arthur Bradford and described as this: "Sisters Elsie and Theo are at recess one day when they see a nut wiggling on the ground. When they gently crack the shell, out pops Benny—the world's smallest, chattiest, and most gentlemanly walrus. When Benny tells the girls that he misses his home in the sea, they build him a milk-carton boat, and send Benny sailing, along with an adventurous band of three slugs. Together, Benny's Brigade (as they call themselves) begin an adventure to a truck-sized island paradise, avoiding the salt water as much as they can. Slugs don't like salt."

You can subscribe to all of the McMullens books here, or pre-order these two books from Amazon: The Night Riders (coming May 2012) and Benny's Brigade (coming June 2012).

Sean Witzke interviews Brandon Graham

2011-07-07T11:08:00.000-04:00

Sean's a very smart guy, and Brandon is one of my favorite comic book makers, so I totally dug this interview. I particularly enjoyed the "comics creator melee mode" section, since one of the best parts of Brandon's own blog is his writing about other people's art. Go here to read the interview.

Defiant, Marvel, and the Plasm Lawsuit

2011-06-17T22:17:00.001-04:00

Jim Shooter, former head of Marvel and Valiant, also started a comics company called Defiant Comics back in the 90s. I liked a couple of their comics (they only made a few before going out of business), including their initial ongoing series, called "Warriors of Plasm." David Lapham drew it.

I remember hearing at the time that the book was initially going to be called just "Plasm," but that they changed it because of a lawsuit with Marvel. Shooter has discussed this lawsuit briefly since then:

We also, when we first started out, were sued by Marvel Comics. When we announced Plasm, they claimed they had a character that that infringed upon. What they actually had was a name registered in the U.K. trademark with intent to use. They ended up suing us. We ended up fighting that out in court. It cost us over $300,000 in court. We won, hands down. The judge scolded them at the them [sic], because he knew they were just using it as a business weapon. Trying to use the court to squelch a competitor.

Especially since, to them, I was a dangerous competitor. The last time I had started a company, I had taken a chunk out of their market share. They lost and lost big. But when you're a small company and somebody bleeds $300,000 out of you -- also 120 hours of my time, a similar amount of time for Winston [Fowlkes] who was the publisher.

-Jim Shooter, former editor-in-chief of Defiant Comics, October 2000

A spurious trademark infringement lawsuit against us by Marvel helped speed our demise. They lost, but it cost us over $300,000 to defend ourselves. Bleeding that much money out of a small start-up is lethal. Their true mission was accomplished.

-Jim Shooter, June 2011

Here's my own comment on this situation: Jim Shooter should not blame Marvel for killing Defiant; he should blame his own lawyers. Any lawyer who allows a case to go to trial where, even if he or she wins, the litigation costs would run the client out of business is not a good lawyer, no matter how skilled he or she is at arguing in court.

April 3, 2011 Updates to the "Best Comics of 2010" Lists

2011-04-03T23:17:00.001-04:00

I'm collecting all of the online "Best Comics of 2010" lists so that I can later aggregate them into a single meta-list. Here is the final group of lists that I will use for the meta-list:

6'7" and Green
About.com (manga readers' choice awards)
AltDaily
BookGerms
Comic Book Resources: Comics Should Be Good! (Greg Burgas)
Comic Book Therapy
Comic Panelist
Comics - On The Ration
Exquisite Things
Extra Sequential (podcast)
Going to New Mexico
GraphiContent
Inside Pulse: Comics Nexus
Inside Pulse: Comics Nexus (Aaron Glazer)
Lordrexfear
Motion Pictures Comics (part one | part two)
Novels Blogs
Playback:stl
Poopsheet Foundation (best mini-comics and small press titles)
Septagon Studios Comic Blog
Sequential Tart
Sidebar (podcast)
Sparkplug Comic Books
The Long and Shortbox Of It!
Three Trees Studios
Warren Peace Sings the Blues

The complete list of "Best Comics of 2010" lists is here: http://iloverobliefeld.blogspot.com/2010/12/best-comics-of-2010-lists.html

January 22, 2011 Updates to the "Best Comics of 2010" Lists

2011-01-22T22:01:00.005-05:00

I'm collecting all of the online "Best Comics of 2010" lists so that I can later aggregate them into a single meta-list. Every time I update the master list, I've been posting all of the new lists in an update post. Now that the season for lists is winding down, I think this will be the last update post for a while. Here are the new additions:

13 Minutes
A Comic Book Blog
Big Red Robot
Brian Evinou
Buffalog
Carve Your Name Comics
Comic Book Bin
Comic Book Jesus: Extra Sequential (podcast)
Creative Loafing
Death to the Universe
DHarbin!
Graphic Universe
IGN Blog
Inkstuds (critics picks) (podcast)
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: The Hero Sandwich
Meltcast (part 1 | part 2) (podcast)
Meltcast: Aaron Brewer
Meltcast: Sam Humphries
Meltcast: Caleb Monroe
Meltcast: Chris Rosa
Piki Geek
Project Coe
Secret Identity (podcast)
The Awesomenomicon (part 1 | part 2)
The Comics Reporter (list of lists)
The Economist: More Intelligent Life (Dan Nadel)
The Nerdiest Kids
Trosper and Ignatz Meet Gentle Giant
Truest Word Ever Spoke
USA Today: PopMatters (best ongoing comics)
X-Ray Spex (best comic book)
X-Ray Spex (best graphic novels)
X-Ray Spex (best books about comics)

The complete list of "Best Comics of 2010" lists is here: http://iloverobliefeld.blogspot.com/2010/12/best-comics-of-2010-lists.html

January 12, 2011 Updates to the "Best Comics of 2010" Lists

2011-01-12T21:08:00.003-05:00

I'm collecting all of the online "Best Comics of 2010" lists so that I can later aggregate them into a single meta-list. Every Wednesday I add all of the new lists, and here are this week's additions:

4thletter!
American Library Association (best comics for teens)
Ambrosia (best comics published in the United States)
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Collected Comics Library (best collected editions)
Comic Book Resources: Robot 6 (most criminally ignored comics)
Comic Book Resources: Robot 6 (creator survey)
Comics from Mars
Electric Ant Zine: Ryan Sands
Fangoria (best horror comics)
Forbidden Planet International: Richard
Forbidden Planet International: Wim
Hypergeek (best original graphic novels)
iFanboy (best new comics)
iFanboy (best single issues)
iFanboy (best collected editions)
iFanboy (best new non-superhero comic book series)
Inkstuds (podcast)
King Trash: Michael DeForge
Maybe Blogging Will Help: John Porcellino
Nerdage (best comic book series)
Paul Gravett
Politics and Prose
Seen All Over
The Cultural Gutter
Wolkin's House of Chicken and Waffles (and Comics!)

The complete list of "Best Comics of 2010" lists is here: http://iloverobliefeld.blogspot.com/2010/12/best-comics-of-2010-lists.html

January 5, 2011 Updates to the "Best Comics of 2010" Lists

2011-01-05T07:00:00.002-05:00

I'm collecting all of the online "Best Comics of 2010" lists so that I can later aggregate them into a single meta-list. Every Wednesday I add all of the new lists, and here are this week's additions:

About.com (critics' choices for best manga)
Anime Diet (best manga)
Articulate Nerd
Attentiondeficitdisorderly
Awesomed By Comics (podcast)
Beaucoup Kevin
Berkeley Place
Candy or Medicine (best mini-comics)
Comic Attack: Bento Bako Weekly (best manga)
Comic Book Resources
Comic Book Resources: Comics Should Be Good!
Comic Book Resources: Robot 6
ComicsAlliance
Comics-and-More
Comics Worth Reading
Entertainment Weekly: Shelf Life
Fearing Americans
Fourcast! (podcast)
Geekscape
House to Astonish (podcast)
iFanboy (podcast)
Las Vegas Weekly
Learning How To Swim
Madinkbeard (best print comics)
Madinkbeard (best webcomics)
Manga Bookshelf (best manga)
Manga Out Loud (best manga) (podcast)
Manga Widget (best manga)
Meltcast (podcast)
Multiversity Comics
National Public Radio: Monkey See
Nerdage
New Westminster Public Library
Panel Patter (part 1 | part 2)
PING!
Publishers Weekly (critics' poll)
Publishers Weekly (best manga)
read/RANT!
Thirteen Minutes
Topless Robot
Unwinnable
Wait, What? (part 1 | part 2) (podcast)
Wednesday's Haul

The complete list of "Best Comics of 2010" is here: http://iloverobliefeld.blogspot.com/2010/12/best-comics-of-2010-lists.html

December 29, 2010 Updates to the "Best Comics of 2010" Lists

2010-12-29T07:30:00.001-05:00

I'm collecting all of the online "Best Comics of 2010" lists so that I can later aggregate them into a single meta-list. Here are this week's additions to the lists:

Alternate Cover
Ashcan Press
Comics-and-More (best manga)
Comics-and-More (best superhero comics)
Comikaze
ComiXology: This Ship is Totally Sinking
Dork Forty
G4tv.com
Geekadelphia
Girls Read Comics Too
Joshua Malbin
Manga Worth Reading (best manga)
Manga Xanadu (best manga)
Memories Fade
MTV Geek
Multiversity Comics (best issue)
Multiversity Comics (best mini-series)
Multiversity Comics (best new series)
Multiversity Comics (best ongoing series)
Ninthart
Suicide Girls Blog
Techland
Tederick Tumbles
The Alternative Chronicle
The Comic Book Times
The Institute of Idle Time
The SF Site: Nexus Graphica (part one) (part two)
Wired.com: Alt Text (best new webcomics)
Wordnerdy

The complete list of "Best Comics of 2010" is here: http://iloverobliefeld.blogspot.com/2010/12/best-comics-of-2010-lists.html

December 22, 2010 Updates to the "Best Comics of 2010" Lists

2010-12-22T16:09:00.001-05:00

I'm collecting all of the online "Best Comics of 2010" lists so that I can later aggregate them into a single meta-list. Here are this week's additions to the lists:

Austin American-Statesman
Comic Book Resources: When Words Collide
ComicsAlliance
Flavorwire
Forbidden Planet
Four Colours & The Truth (best mini-series)
Four Colours & The Truth (best ongoing comic series)
Four Colours & The Truth (best original graphic novels)
Good Comics for Kids (best comics for kids)
IGN
MTV Splashpage
Multiversity Comics (most overlooked title)
Popdose
Techland (best graphic novels)
The Daily Cross Hatch
The Weekly Crisis
Village Voice

The complete list of "Best Comics of 2010" is here: http://iloverobliefeld.blogspot.com/2010/12/best-comics-of-2010-lists.html

Comic Book Shopping List for the First Eight Months of 2011

2010-12-17T23:03:00.006-05:00

With 2010 winding down, it's time to get excited about comics in 2011. Here is a list of comics coming out in the first eight months of the year.

January

A Single Match, by Oji Suzuki, Drawn & Quarterly
Axe Cop vol.1, by Malachai Nicolle and Ethan Nicolle, Dark Horse
Battle Chasers Anthology, by Joe Madureira, Image
Black Jack vol. 13, by Osamu Tezuka, Vertical

Casanova vol. 1: Luxuria, by Matt Fraction, Gabriel Ba, and Fabian Moon, Marvel
EmiTown, by Emi Lenox, Image
Gantz vol. 15, by Hiroya Oku, Dark Horse
House of Mystery vol. 5: Under New Management, by Matthew Sturges and various, Vertigo
John Carter of Mars: Weird Worlds, by Marv Wolfman, Murphy Anderson, Gray Morrow, & Joe Orlando, Dark Horse
Madame Xanadu vol. 3: Broken House of Cards, by Matt Wagner and Amy Reeder Hadley, Vertigo
Rat Catcher, by Andy Diggle and Victor Ibanez, Vertigo
Term Life, by A. J. Lieberman and Nick Thornborrow, Image
The New Teen Titans: Games, by Marv Wolfman and George Perez, DC
The Pilgrim, by Mark Ryan and Mike Grell, IDW
The Smurfs #4: The Smurfette, by Peyo and Yvan Delporte, Papercutz
Twin Spica vol. 5, by Kou Yaginuma, Vertical
Vietnamerica: A Family's Leavetakings and Homecomings, by GB Tran, Villard
Yesterday's Tomorrows vol. 1, by various and Rian Hughes, Image

February

7 Billion Needles vol. 3, by Nobuaki Tadano, Vertical
20th Century Boys vol. 13, by Naoki Urasawa, Viz
Age of Reptiles Omnibus, by Ricardo Delgado, Dark Horse
Air vol. 4: A History of the Future, by G. Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker, Vertigo
Akira vol. 5, by Katsuhiro Otomo, Kodansha
Avengers vol. 1, by Brian Michael Bendis and John Romita Jr., Marvel
Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne, by Grant Morrison and various, DC
Black Jack vol. 14, by Osamu Tezuka, Vertical
Blecky Yuckerella vol. 4: Fuc- --u, -ss --le, by Johnny Ryan, Fantagraphics
Captain America by Jack Kirby Omnibus, by Jack Kirby, Marvel

Chi's Sweet Home vol. 5, by Keigo Higashino, Vertical
Daytripper, by Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon, Vertigo

Elephantmen War Toys vol. 2: Enemy Species, by Richard Starkings and Boo Cook, Image
Freakangels vol. 5, by Warren Ellis & Paul Duffield, Avatar
Garth Ennis' Battlefields vol. 6: Motherland, by Garth Ennis and Russ Braun, Dynamite

Human Target: Second Chances, by Peter Milligan, Javier Pulido, and Cliff Chiang, Vertigo

Incorruptible vol. 3, by Mark Waid & Horacio Domingues, Boom

Irredeemable vol. 5, by Mark Waid and Peter Krause, Boom
Jack of Fables vol. 8: The Fulminate Blade, by Bill Willingham, Matthew Sturges, and Tony Akins, Vertigo
King of the Flies vol. 2: The Origin of the World, by Mezzo and Pirus, Fantagraphics

Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service vol. 12, by Eiji Otsuka and Housui Yamazaki, Dark Horse

Lenny Zero & The Perps of Mega-City One, by Andy Diggle, Jock, John Wagner, Alan Grant, & Greg Staples, 2000AD
Lewis & Clark, by Nick Bertozzi, First Second
Lobster Johnson vol. 1: Iron Prometheus, by Mike Mignola, Jason Armstrong, & Dave Stewart, Dark Horse
MySpace Dark Horse Presents vol. 6, by Jaime Hernandez, Gabriel Ba, & others, Dark Horse
Nemesis, by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven, Marvel
Slam Dunk vol. 14, by Takehiko Inoue, Viz
Stigmata, by Lorenzo Mattotti and Claudio Piersanti, Fantagraphics
Suicide Squad: Trial by Fire, by John Ostrander and Luke McDonnell, DC
Suppli vol. 5, by Okazaki Mari, TokyoPop
The Goon vol. 10: Death's Greedy Comeuppance, by Eric Powell, Dark Horse

March

Batman: Time and the Batman, by Grant Morrison and various, DC
Black Jack vol. 15, by Osamu Tezuka, Vertical
Demo vol. 2, by Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan, Vertigo
Detroit Metal City vol. 8, by Kiminori Wakasugi, Viz
Finder Library: vol. 1, by Carla Speed McNeil, Dark Horse
Finder: Voice, by Carla Speed McNeil, Dark Horse
Freeway, by Mark Kalesniko, Fantagraphics
Gantz vol. 16, by Hiroya Oku, Dark Horse
Girl Comics, by Trina Robbins, Devin Grayson, Ann Nocenti, G. Willow Wilson, and others, Marvel
iZombie vol. 1: Dead to the World, by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred, Vertigo
Little Lulu vol. 26: The Feud and Other Stories, by John Stanley and Irving Tripp, Dark Horse
Mean Machine: Real Mean, by John Wagner, Alan Grant, Greg Staples, Steve Dillon, & Kev Walker
Mid-Life, by Joe Ollmann, Drawn & Quarterly
Mome Winter 2011 vol. 21, by various, edited by Eric Reynolds, Fantagraphics
Morning Glories vol. 1, by Nick Spencer and Joe Eisma, Image
Poseurs, by Deborah Vankin and Rick Mays, Image
Scalped vol. 7: Rez Blues, by Jason Aaron and various, Vertigo
Scenes from an Impending Marriage, by Adrian Tomine, Drawn & Quarterly
Spider-Man: Grim Hunt, by Joe Kelly, J.M. Dematteis, Fred Van Lente, Phil Jimenez, and others, Marvel
Superstar: As Seen on TV, by Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen, IDW
The Cardboard Valise, by Ben Katchor, Pantheon
The Smurfs #5: The Smurfs and the Egg, by Peyo and Yvan Delporte, Papercutz
The Taxidermist, by John Wagner, Cam Kennedy, & Ian Gibson, 2000AD
The Unwritten vol. 3: Dead Man's Knock, by Mike Carey and Peter Gross, Vertigo
Thor by Walter Simonson Omnibus, by Walter Simonson, Marvel
Thor: The Mighty Avenger vol. 2, by Roger Langridge and Chris Samnee, Marvel
Twin Spica vol. 6, by Kou Yaginuma, Vertical
Wandering Son: Book One, by Shimura Takako, translated by Matt Thorn, Fantagraphics
Wildcats 3.0 vol. 2, by Joe Casey and Dustin Nguyen, Wildstorm
Your Highness, by Danny McBride, Dark Horse

April

7 Billion Needles vol. 4, by Nobuaki Tadano, Vertical
20th Century Boys vol. 14, by Naoki Urasawa, Viz
21: The Story of Roberto Clemente, by Wilfred Santiago, Fantagraphics
Approximate Continuum Comics, by Lewis Trondheim, Fantagraphics
Akira vol. 6, by Katsuhiro Ootomo, Kodansha
Astro City Shining Stars, by Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson, Wildstorm
Bat Boy: The Weekly World News Comic Strips, by Peter Bagge, IDW
Big Questions, by Anders Nilsen, Drawn & Quarterly
Citizen Rex, by Mario Hernandez & Gilbert Hernandez, Dark Horse

Classic Comics Archives vol. 1: White Indian, by Frank Frazetta, Dark Horse
Congress of the Animals, by Jim Woodring, Fantagraphics
Dreadstar: The Beginning, by Jim Starlin, Dynamite
Dungeon Quest: Book Two, by Joe Daly, Fantagraphics
DV8: Gods and Monsters, by Brian Wood and Rebekah Isaacs, Wildstorm
Eye of the Majestic Creature, by Leslie Stein, Fantagraphics
Fables vol. 15: Rose Red, by Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham, Vertigo
Howard Chaykin's Black Kiss, by Howard Chaykin, Dynamite
House of Five Leaves vol. 3, by Natsume Ono, Viz
Huntington, West Virginia "On the Fly", by Harvey Pekar and Summer McClinton, Villard
Incognito vol. 2: Bad Influences, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, Marvel

John Carter of Mars: Warlord of Mars, by Marv Wolfman, Chris Claremont, Peter B. Gillis, & Bill Mantlo, Dark Horse

Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 03, by John Wagner, Pat Mills, & Brian Bolland, 2000AD

Judge Dredd: Mega-City Masters 03, by John Wagner and various, 2000AD
Love from the Shadows, by Gilbert Hernandez, Fantagraphics
Lychee Light Club, by Usamaru Furuya, Vertical
Melvin Monster, vol. 3: The John Stanley Library, by John Stanley, Drawn & Quarterly
Miss Fury, by Tarpé Mills, IDW
Mister Wonderful: A Love Story, by Daniel Clowes, Pantheon
Pinocchio, by Winshluss Winshluss, Last Gasp

Powers vol. 14: 712, by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Oeming, Marvel

Reunion, by Pascal Girard, Drawn & Quarterly
R.I.P.: Best of 1985-2004, by Thomas Ott, Fantagraphics
Setting the Standard, by Alex Toth, edited by Greg Sadowski, Fantagraphics
Slaine: Lord of Misrule, by Pat Mills, Greg Staples, & Clint Langley, 2000AD
Slam Dunk vol. 15, by Takehiko Inoue, Viz
Strange Tales II, by Rafael Grampa, Kate Beaton, Frank Santoro, Dash Shaw, and others, Marvel
Superman: The Black Ring, by Paul Cornell and Pete Woods, DC
Supersized: Strange Tales from a Fast-Food Culture, by Morgan Spurlock, Jeremy Barlow, Dark Horse
The Arctic Marauder, by Jacques Tardi, Fantagraphics
The Boys vol. 8: Highland Laddie, by Garth Ennis, John McCrea, and Keith Burns, Dynamite
The Comics Journal #301, edited by Gary Groth and Kristy Valenti, Fantagraphics
The Complete Peanuts 1979-1980 vol. 15, by Charles M. Schulz, Fantagraphics
The Hidden, by Richard Sala, Fantagraphics
The Unknown: The Devil Made Flesh, by Mark Waid & Minck Oosterveer, Boom

Walt and Skeezix: Book Five: 1929-1930, by Frank King, Drawn & Quarterly
X-Men: Fall of the Mutants Omnibus, by Louise Simonson, Chris Claremont, Mark Gruenwald, and Ann Nocenti, and others, Marvel
Yeah!, by Peter Bagge and Gilbert Hernandez, Fantagraphics

May

Adventures of Dr. McNinja: Night Powers, by Chris Hastings, Benito Cereno, & Les McClaine, Dark Horse
American Vampire vol. 2, by Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquereque, Vertigo
Archie Archives vol. 1, by various, Dark Horse
Batman & Robin vol. 3: Batman Must Die!, by Grant Morrison, Frazer Irving, and Cameron Stewart, DC
Black Jack vol. 16, by Osamu Tezuka, Vertical

Chester 5000-XYV, by Jessica Fink, Top Shelf
Deadman vol. 1, by various, Neal Adams, and Carmine Infantino, DC
Everlast, by Caleb Monroe, Chad Michael Murray, & Danijel Zezelj, Archaia
Farm 54, by Galit Seliktar and Gilad Seliktar, Ponent Mon
Forlorn Funnies vol. 1, by Paul Hornschemeier, Fantagraphics
Gantz vol. 17, by Hiroya Oku, Dark Horse
Garden, by Yuichi Yokoyama, Picturebox
Garth Ennis' The Complete Battlefields vol. 2, by Garth Ennis, PJ Holden, Carlos Esquerra, and Russ Braun, Dynamite
Gente vol. 3: The People of Ristorante Paradiso, by Natsume Ono, Viz
Geoff Johns' The Flash Omnibus, vol. 1, by Geoff Johns and various, DC
Hellblazer: City of Demons, by Si Spencer and Sean Murphy, Vertigo
House of Mystery vol. 6: Safe as Houses, by Matthew Sturges, Luca Rossi, and various, Vertigo
I'll Give It My All...Tomorrow vol. 3, by Shunju Aono, Viz
Incredible Change-Bots Two, by Jeffrey Brown, Top Shelf
Isle of 100,000 Graves, by Jason and Fabien Vehlmann, Fantagraphics
Jew Gangster, by Joe Kubert, Vertigo
Kubert Covers War, by Joe Kubert, DC
Life with Mr. Dangerous, by Paul Hornschemeier, Villard
Little Lulu vol. 27: The Treasure Map and Other Stories, by John Stanley & Irving Tripp, Dark Horse
Little Lulu's Pal Tubby vol. 3: The Frog Boy and Other Stories, by John Stanley, Dark Horse
Mome Spring 2011 vol. 22, by various, edited by Eric Reynolds, Fantagraphics
Nemesis The Warlock, vol. 2, by Pat Mills, Kevin O'Neill, Bryan Talbot, John Hincklenton, & Tony Luke, 2000AD
Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths, by Shigeru Mizuki, Drawn & Quarterly
Paying for It, by Chester Brown, Drawn & Quarterly
S. H. I. E. L. D.: Architects of Tomorrow, by Jonathan Hickman and Dustin Weaver, Marvel
Slaine: The Horned God, by Pat Mills & Simon Bisley, 2000AD
The Bendatti Vendetta, by Robbie Morrison, John Burns, & Jim Hanson, 2000AD
The Klondike, by Zach Worton, Drawn & Quarterly
The Smurfs #6: The Smurfs and the Howlibird, by Peyo, Gos, and Yvan Delporte, Papercutz
The Trial of Captain America, by Ed Brubaker and Daniel Acuna, Marvel
Twin Spica vol. 7, by Kou Yaginuma, Vertical
Unknown Soldier vol. 4: Beautiful World, by Joshua Dysart, Alberto Ponticelli, and Rick Veitch, Vertigo
Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse vol. 1: Race to Death Valley, by Floyd Gottfredson, edited by David Gerstein and Gary Groth, Fantagraphics

June

99 Days, by Matteo Casali and Kristian Donaldson, Vertigo
Al Capp's Complete Shmoo vol. 2: The Newspaper Strips, by Al Capp, Dark Horse
Angry Youth Comix vol. 3: Take a Joke, by Johnny Ryan, Fantagraphics
Anya's Ghost, by Vera Brosgol, First Second
Baltimore vol. 1: The Plague Ships, by Mike Mignola, Christopher Golden, Ben Stenbeck, & Dave Stewart, Dark Horse
Casanova vol. 2: Gula, by Matt Fraction and Fabio Moon, Marvel
Chi's Sweet Home vol. 6, by Konami Kanata, Vertical
Celluloid, by Dave McKean, Fantagraphics
Deadpool Max: Nutjob, by David Lapham and Kyle Baker, Marvel
Dr. Strange: Into the Dark Dimension, by Roger Stern, Paul Smith, Bret Blevins, and Mark Badger, Marvel
First Wave, by Brian Azzarello, Rags Morales, and Phil Noto, DC
Flight vol. 8, by Kazu Kibuishi and various, Villard

Hellblazer: Bloody Carnations, by Peter Milligan and Giuseppe Camuncoli, Vertigo

Infinity Inc.: The Generations Saga vol. 1, by Roy Thomas and Jerry Ordway, DC
Invincible Iron Man vol. 7, by Matt Fraction, Kelly Sue Deconnick, Carmine Di Giandomenico, and John Romita, Marvel

Kingdom: The Promised Land, by Dan Abnett & Richard Elson, 2000AD
Level Up, by Gene Luen Yang and Thien Pham, First Second

Low Life: Paranoia, by Rob Williams, Henry Flint, & Simon Coleby, 2000AD
Moomin Book Six: The Complete Lars Jansson Comic Strip, by Lars Jansson, Drawn & Quarterly
Queen of the Black Black, by Megan Kelso, Fantagraphics
Sweet Tooth vol. 3: Animal Armies, by Jeff Lemire, Vertigo
Sybil-Anne vs. Ratticus, by R. Macherot, Fantagraphics

Thing: Liberty Legion, by Roy Thomas, John Buscema, Sal Buscema, and Rich Buckler, Marvel

Thor: World Eaters, by Matt Fraction and Pasqual Ferry, Marvel

Trouble, by Mark Millar and Terry Dodson, Marvel

Walt Disney Treasury: Donald Duck vol. 1, by Don Rosa, Boom

July

Acts of Vengeance Crossovers, by Walter Simonson, Archie Goodwin, Roy Thomas, Peter David, and others, Marvel
Aquaman: Death of the Prince, by various and Jim Aparo, DC
Batman: Knight and Squire, by Paul Cornell and Jimmy Broxton, DC
Cowboys, by Gary Philips and Brian Hurtt, Vertigo
Crusades vol. 2: Dei, by Steven Seagle and Kelley Jones, Image
Defiance: Resistance Book 2, by Carla Jablonski and Leland Purvis, First Second
Dreadstar II: Metamorphosis Odyssey, by Jim Starlin, Dynamite
Firestorm: The Nuclear Man, by Gerry Conway & Al Milgrom, DC
Hera: The Goddess and her Glory, by George O'Connor, First Second
Impossible Man, by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Roy Thomas, Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio, and George Perez, Marvel
Jack of Fables vol. 9: The Ultimate Jack of Fables Story, by Bill Willingham, Matthew Sturges, and Tony Akins, Vertigo
Northlanders vol. 5: Metal, by Brian Wood, Riccardo Burchielli, Becky Cloonan, and Fiona Staples, Vertigo
Scarlet, by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev, Marvel
Superior, by Mark Millar and Leinil Yu, Marvel
Tales of the Batman - Gene Colan vol. 1, by various & Gene Colan, DC
The Cabbie: Book One, by Martí, Fantagraphics
The Jack Kirby Omnibus vol. 1, by Jack Kirby, DC
The Marquis vol. 2: The Marquis and the Midwife, by Guy Davis, Dark Horse
The Marshal Law Omnibus, by Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill, Top Shelf
The Smurfs #7: The Astrosmurf, by Peyo and Gos, Papercutz

Thor: Blood & Thunder, by Ron Marz, Jim Starlin, Bruce Zick, and M. C. Wyman, Marvel
Too Much Coffee Man Omnibus, by Shannon Wheeler, Dark Horse
Twin Spica vol. 8, by Kou Yaginuma, Vertical
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories Archives vol. 1, by Floyd Gottfredson & Al Taliaferro, Boom
Wandering Son: Book Two, by Shimura Takako, translated by Matt Thorn, Fantagraphics

August

Americus, by MK Reed and Jonathan David Hill, First Second
Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine, by Jason Aaron and Adam Kubert, Marvel
Bake Sale, by Sara Varon, First Second
Cruisin' with the Hound: The Life and Times of Fred Toote, by Spain Rodriguez, Fantagraphics

DC Universe: Legacies, by Len Wein, Scott Kolins, Brian Bolland, George Pérez, Joe Kubert, Andy Kubert, J.G. Jones, & J.H. Williams III, DC
Fogtown, by Andersen Gabrych and Brad Rader, Vertigo
Invincible Iron Man vol. 6: Stark Resilient - Book 2, by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca, Marvel
Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot, by Jean-Patrick Manchette and Jacques Tardi, Fantagraphics
Madame Xanadu vol. 4: Extra Sensory, by Matt Wagner, Amy Reeder, and Marley Zarcone, Vertigo
Return to Perdition, by Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty, Vertigo
Rocket Raccoon: Guardian of the Keystone Quadrant, by Bill Mantlo, Keith Giffen, Mike Mignola, and Sal Buscema, Marvel
Secret Society of Super-Villains, by various, DC
Suppli vol. 6, by Okazaki Mari, Tokyopop

The Armed Garden and Other Stories, by David B., Fantagraphics

The Man Who Grew His Beard, by Olivier Schrauwen, Fantagraphics
The New Teen Titans Omnibus vol. 1, by various, DC
The Steve Ditko Omnibus vol. 1, by Steve Ditko, DC
Vapor, by Max, Fantagraphics
Velveteen & Mandala, by Jiro Matsumoto, Vertical
X-Men: X-Tinction, by Chris Claremont, Louise Simonson, Jim Lee, and Rob Liefeld, Marvel

And hey, here's a few interesting things coming out in September:

September

Joe the Barbarian, by Grant Morrison and Sean Murphy, Vertigo

PS Magazine: The Best of The Preventive Maintenance Monthly, by Will Eisner, Eddie Campbell, Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, & Ann Eisner, Abrams Comic Arts
Twin Spica vol. 9, by Kou Yaginuma, Vertical
Zahra's Paradise, by Amir and Khalil, First Second

December 15, 2010 Updates to the "Best Comics of 2010" Lists

2010-12-15T10:15:00.001-05:00

I'm collecting all of the online "Best Comics of 2010" lists so that I can later aggregate them into a single meta-list. Here are this week's additions to the lists:

Berkeley Place
Drawn
FEARnet (Best Horror Comics)
Four Colours & The Truth (Best Collections, Translations, & Reprints)
Multiversity Comics (Best Original Graphic Novel)
New York Magazine: Vulture
Sekventiellt (Best Swedish Comic Books)
USA Today: PopMatters

The complete list of "Best Comics of 2010" is here: http://iloverobliefeld.blogspot.com/2010/12/best-comics-of-2010-lists.html

The "Best Comics of 2010" Lists

2010-12-08T17:04:00.039-05:00

I'm collecting all of the online "Best Comics of 2010" lists so that I can later aggregate them into a single meta-list. I thought I'd post all of the lists that I have found here.

If you see another list out there or write one yourself, send me a link.

13 Minutes
4thletter!
6'7" and Green

About.com (best new manga)
About.com (best continuing manga)
About.com (critics' choices for best manga)
About.com (manga readers' choice awards)
A Comic Book Blog
AltDaily
Alternate Cover
Amazon
Amazon.co.uk
Ambrosia (best comics published in the United States)
American Library Association (best comics for teens)
Anime Diet (best manga)
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Ashcan Press
Articulate Nerd
Attentiondeficitdisorderly
Austin American-Statesman
Awesomed By Comics (podcast)

Beaucoup Kevin
Berkeley Place
Big Red Robot
BookGerms
Boston Phoenix
Brian Evinou
Buffalog

Candy or Medicine (best mini-comics)
Carve Your Name Comics
Chamber Four
Collected Comics Library (best collected editions)
Comic Attack: Bento Bako Weekly (best manga)
Comic Book Bin
Comic Book Jesus: Extra Sequential (podcast)
Comic Book Resources
Comic Book Resources: Comics Should Be Good! (Brian Cronin)
Comic Book Resources: Comics Should Be Good! (Greg Burgas)
Comic Book Resources: Robot 6
Comic Book Resources: Robot 6 (creator survey)
Comic Book Resources: Robot 6 (most criminally ignored comics)
Comic Book Resources: When Words Collide
Comic Book Therapy
Comic Panelist
ComicsAlliance
Comics-and-More
Comics-and-More (best manga)
Comics-and-More (best superhero comics)
Comics Comics
Comics from Mars
Comics - On The Ration
Comics Worth Reading
Comikaze
ComiXology: This Ship is Totally Sinking
Creative Loafing

Death to the Universe
DHarbin!
Dork Forty
Drawn

Electric Ant Zine: Ryan Sands
Entertainment Weekly: Shelf Life
Exquisite Things
Extra Sequential (podcast)

Fangoria (best horror comics)
Fearing Americans
FEARnet (best horror comics)
Flashlight Worthy
Flavorwire
Forbidden Planet International
Forbidden Planet International: Richard
Forbidden Planet International: Wim
Four Colours & The Truth (best collections, translations, & reprints)
Four Colours & The Truth (best mini-series)
Four Colours & The Truth (best ongoing comic series)
Four Colours & The Truth (best original graphic novels)
Fourcast! (podcast)

G4tv.com
Geekadelphia
Geekscape
Girls Read Comics Too
Going to New Mexico
Good Comics for Kids (best comics for kids)
Graphic Novel Reporter
Graphic Universe
GraphiContent

Heeb Magazine
House to Astonish (podcast)
Hypergeek (best original graphic novels)

iFanboy (best manga)
iFanboy (best new comics)
iFanboy (best single issues)
iFanboy (best collected editions)
iFanboy (best new non-superhero comic book series)
iFanboy (podcast)
IGN
IGN Blog

Inkstuds (creators' picks) (podcast)
Inkstuds (critics' picks) (podcast)
Inside Pulse: Comics Nexus
Inside Pulse: Comics Nexus (Aaron Glazer)

Joshua Malbin

King Trash: Michael DeForge
Kirkus Book Reviews (best comic books for children)
Kirkus Book Reviews (best comic books for teens)

Largehearted Boy
Las Vegas Weekly
Learning How To Swim
Library Journal
Lordrexfear
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: The Hero Sandwich

Madinkbeard (best print comics)
Madinkbeard (best webcomics)
Manga Critic (best manga)
Manga Bookshelf (best manga)
Manga Out Loud (best manga) (podcast)
Manga Widget (best manga)
Manga Worth Reading (best manga)
Manga Xanadu (best manga)
Marietta Times
Maybe Blogging Will Help: John Porcellino
Meltcast (part 1 | part 2) (podcast)
Meltcast: Aaron Brewer
Meltcast: Sam Humphries
Meltcast: Caleb Monroe
Meltcast: Chris Rosa
Memories Fade
Motion Pictures Comics (part one | part two)
MTV Geek
MTV Splashpage
Multiversity Comics
Multiversity Comics (best issue)
Multiversity Comics (best mini-series)
Multiversity Comics (best new series)
Multiversity Comics (best ongoing series)
Multiversity Comics (best original graphic novel)
Multiversity Comics (most overlooked title)

National Public Radio: Monkey See
Ninthart
Nerdage (best comic book series)
Nerdage (best graphic novels)
New Westminster Public Library
New York Magazine: Vulture
New York Times
Novels Blogs

OK Comics

Panel Patter (part 1 | part 2)
Paul Gravett
Piki Geek
PING!
Playback:stl
Politics and Prose
Poopsheet Foundation (best mini-comics and small press titles)
Popdose
Project Coe
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly (critics' poll)
Publishers Weekly (best manga)

Readings
read/RANT!

Salon
San Francisco Chronicle
Secret Identity (podcast)
Seen All Over
Sekventiellt (best Swedish comic books)
Septagon Studios Comic Blog
Sequential Tart
Sidebar (podcast)
Sparkplug Comic Books
Suicide Girls Blog

Techland
Techland (best graphic novels)
Tederick Tumbles
The Alternative Chronicle
The Awesomenomicon (part 1 | part 2)
The Comic Book Times
The Comics Reporter (list of lists)
The Cultural Gutter
The Daily Cross Hatch
The Economist: More Intelligent Life (Dan Nadel)
The Institute of Idle Time
The Long and Shortbox Of It!
The Nerdiest Kids
The SF Site: Nexus Graphica (part one | part two)
The Weekly Crisis
Thirteen Minutes
Three Trees Studios
Topless Robot
Trosper and Ignatz Meet Gentle Giant
Truest Word Ever Spoke

Unwinnable
USA Today: PopMatters (best collected comics)
USA Today: PopMatters (best ongoing comics)

Village Voice

Warren Peace Sings the Blues
Wednesday's Haul
Wired.com: Alt Text (best new webcomics)
Wolkin's House of Chicken and Waffles (and Comics!)
Wordnerdy

X-Ray Spex (best comic book)
X-Ray Spex (best graphic novels)
X-Ray Spex (best books about comics)

Comic Book Gift Ideas

2010-11-27T09:07:00.002-05:00

According to the media, many people have gone into a shopping frenzy now that Thanksgiving has passed and the time for gift-giving is approaching. Since there are only a few "Best Comics of 2010" lists around to give you gift ideas, I thought I'd remind everyone that you can always select gifts from the highly-praised comics of yesteryear.

So here are the Comics of Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa Past, a.k.a the "Best Comics" Meta-Lists from 2005 through 2009. These lists combined many different "best comics of the year" lists, written by reviewers and critics across the internet, into single lists of the top comic books of each year.

Here are the Meta-Lists:

For Your Consideration...

2010-10-13T09:48:00.000-04:00

I like that Fall/Early Winter is becoming the "Oscar season" for comic books. For the last couple of years, publishers seem to be releasing their heavy hitters during the September/October/November months. Perhaps they recognize the importance of getting on those year-end "Best Comics of the Year" lists, and they know that comics released around now will have a better chance of being remembered than books that came out way back in January or February.

This year, the Fall books include Darwyn Cooke's Parker: The Outfit, Chris Ware's Acme Novelty Library #20, Seth's Palookaville #20, Carol Tyler's You'll Never Know Book Two: Collateral Damage, Charles Burns's X'ed Out, Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez's Love and Rockets: New Stories #3, Top Shelf's AX manga anthology, Johnny Ryan's Prison Pit vol. 2, Osamu Tezuka's Ayako, and Kevin Huizenga's Wild Kingdom. I'm sure I'm missing a few other contenders, but that's a pretty stellar line-up, wouldn't you agree?

Also, I'd say Scott Pilgrim has an excellent chance of ending up as the most-beloved book for the year, and it came out back in July. But it kind of perfectly fits the role of summer blockbuster in our movie analogy, doesn't it?

Reviews: Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four, Orc Stain, Uncanny X-Men: The Heroic Age, Spider-Man: Fever

2010-08-07T08:36:00.000-04:00

I haven't been writing much recently, but I have been reading a lot of comics, so I thought I'd throw myself back into things by talking about a few recent comics.

Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four #1, by Christos Gage and Mario Alberti

I wrote about X-Men and Spider-Man, the previous series by these two creators, here. This is pretty much the same thing as last time: each issue takes place at a different point in Marvel's history, the heroes in the title fight a bad guy, and slightly intriguing overarching plot ties it all together. Unlike last time, the X-Men are swapped out for the Fantastic Four, and this means that I am less interested in the characters and have less knowledge of their history, so the plot feels pretty insignificant. Doctor Doom pops up, of course, although maybe because I haven't been reading Fantastic Four comics for my entire life, I enjoyed seeing him. But the only real reason to read this is for Alberti's art, which really is quite beautiful stuff. Unlike most of the factory-line art produced by Marvel and DC, Alberti pencils, inks, and colors it all by himself. Everything is swooping and dynamic (which is perfect for Mr. Fantastic) -- it looks like the guy really enjoys drawing.

(click to enlarge)

Orc Stain #4, by James Stokoe

Speaking of somebody who seems to be having fun, James Stokoe is ripping off one great issue after another with this series. Stokoe's colors in particular make this book feel different than everything else on the shelves; the bright reds and greens just make you want to stare at the pages. I want this series to continue forever.

(click to enlarge)

Uncanny X-Men: The Heroic Age, by Matt Fraction, Whilce Portacio, Steve Sanders, and Jamie McKelvie

This, however . . . This was a piece of crap. I had stopped buying Fraction's Uncanny X-Men a while ago, planning to get it in collected format but never doing so, and I thought I'd just grab this one-shot because it wouldn't require much knowledge of recent happenings, but man, this really sucked. It's three stories, drawn by three different artists, and the book jumps back and forth between them. My main problem was with Whilce Portacio's art on the Cyclops story. Now, I'm not one of those people who instantly criticizes anything done by an artist who was popular in the 90s (see: title of my blog) and I still have some residual good feelings for Portacio because Wetworks was one of my favorite Image series when I was first getting into comics. And I heard that he was coming back to Uncanny X-Men as the regular artist, and that kind of sounded like a good thing, but this comic was not good, so now I'm put off of buying the regular series. Cyclops gets told off by Beast for wanting to turn the X-Men into an army, so he heads off to the Savage Land for some R&R. Sure, fine. But just look at this drawing:

(click to enlarge)

Who the hell dresses like that in a jungle? Shirtless, with jeans and boots? And gloves? (Would it surprise you if I told you those gloves disappear on the very next page and are never seen again? Sloppy.) What's up with his hair? Is Cyclops going for the "Tom Cruise in the Mission Impossible movie that opens with him free-climbing" look? And then the next page contains an action sequence that doesn't make sense -- things happen when Cyclops and dinosaurs are facing the wrong way, it's unclear how he kills one of the dinosaurs -- it's just a mess. Everything about this story just rubbed me the wrong way. But then we get to the Beast story, drawn by Steve Sanders. While visiting the La Brea tar pits, Beast randomly bumps into Molly Hayes, one of the kids from The Runaways. She is twelve years old, and she says -- I'm serious here -- completely out of the blue, "What's 'extinction'? I mean, I know what it means, but ... like, what does it really mean? To be extinct?" Beast answers:

(click to enlarge)

What? Really? What twelve year old doesn't understand what extinction means? Kids learn this when they are interested in dinosaurs, when they are four or five. Molly comes off as a complete idiot. And why does Beast stammer when trying to explain the concept? Beast is supposed to be a genius -- how does he not have a quick answer? This just ends up being Fraction's way of ramming the theme of the book down the reader's throat, because it leads into a discussion of mutants, and whether they are becoming extinct, yadda yadda. So on top of being stupid, it's heavy-handed. And I'm sorry if I'm coming off like some X-Men nut who wants everything to look just perfect, but Beast is wildly off-model here. And I'd be okay with that -- I'm all for people putting their own look on characters, but this Beast just looks like an absolute ninny. Who wants to spend any time reading about that guy's adventures? (On this episode: Beast loses his pocketwatch!) The third story is drawn by Jamie McKelvie, who gets a lot of love on the internet for being involved in the Phonogram series that he did with Kieron Gillen. His art is fine, although it feels a little out of place in a super-hero comic. Just a little too quiet and restrained, maybe. I don't really have any complaints about that story. Anyway, yeah, didn't like this comic. I wish I hadn't spent money on this.

Spider-Man: Fever #3, by Brendan McCarthy

Here's another comic that didn't really do it for me, unfortunately. McCarthy's been talked up a lot on the comics websites that I visit, but I'm not really loving his work. The story in this was kind of dull -- Spider-Man is abducted by spider-creatures into an astral plane kind of place, and Dr. Strange goes to rescue him. It sounds really cool, but so little happens -- there isn't much to the plot. Mostly it's an excuse for McCarthy to draw wigged-out psychedelic landscapes, with computery colors that seem at times to be the result of somebody just messing around with different features in Photoshop. Didn't hate it, but didn't love it either. This mini-series was usually the last thing I would choose to read when going through a stack of new comics.

And apparently, that was the last thing I wanted to write about tonight, too. Although I will say that The Return of Bruce Wayne has been fun so far, King City is still amazing, X-Women (the thing by Chris Claremont and Milo Manara) was pretty bad, and Abe Sapien: The Abyssal Plain was -- of course, this is Mignola we're talking about -- a good, solid story. And I just finished the third collection of Invincible Iron Man, another book written by Matt Fraction, and I really liked it.

Review: Twin Spica vol. 1

2010-07-16T00:45:00.001-04:00

Twin Spica vol. 1, by Kou Yaginuma, 2010, Vertical, 192 pages, $10.95

This sci-fi manga is about a young girl named Asumi who leaves home to attend the Tokyo Space School to become an astronaut. If you only look at the cover and flip through the first few pages where Asumi interacts with a guy with a lion head, you might think this is some manga that would only interest tween girls and Matthew Brady. (The cutesy-sounding title doesn't help, either.) But it's actually pretty great.

It starts getting cool fairly quickly, as all the kids who want to go to space school are locked into rooms for several days straight and asked to line up thousands of dominoes as a sort of entrance exam. Most of the story takes place with Asumi and two other girls stuck in their room, trying to overcome this test of smarts and willpower. It reminded me of Ender's Game, a fantastic book about genius kids in space making tactical decisions in a zero-gravity battle simulator. (Ender's Game was written by Orson Scott Bigot, in case you want to find it in your library.)

Twin Spica also has got some solid heart-wrenching going on: Asumi has a tragic past and has had to deal with a lot even though she is so young. Her new roommates also appear to have some issues, which helps to keep the drama cauldron bubbling. I'm interested to see their relationships develop as they face new tests and hardships. One can only hope that this reaches the same emotional highs that we experienced when Leaf "Joaquin" Phoenix became "friends for-ev-er" with the robot named Jinx. Ah, Space Camp.

(Space Camp is a fine movie. Yes, that's Lea Thompson and Lamar from Revenge of the Nerds floating in a space shuttle. Not pictured: Tom Skerritt.)

About the only downside is Yaginuma's odd penchant for occasionally only drawing one eye of a character, even though the character is standing at an angle where you should see both eyes. Instead, Yaginuma leaves a blank spot. I assume it is some kind of manga quirk that I haven't seen before, but it didn't seem to add anything and just distracted me. Other than that, the art is solid and there are some pretty lovely images in there.

In sum, at first I was a little worried, but I quickly came around and I really enjoyed reading this. But don't just take my word for it -- tastemakers both real and fictional approve of this book! Retailer Christopher Butcher recently tweeted:

I'm handselling the hell out of Twin Spica! ... The covers make it a bit of a tough sale. :-/ But I persevere.

And fictional retailer Lydia from The Rack recommended volume two:

Uh. It's science fiction manga that's good. Like, it's Planetes good. That's really good.

I'm with Lydia on this one. Give it a shot.

READ MORE: Vertical's website has an excerpt.

BUY IT: From Amazon here: Twin Spica vol. 1

RELATED: Vertical also publishes Osamu Tezuka's Black Jack, and I reviewed volumes 1 and 2 and volume 3.

Review: It Was the War of the Trenches

2010-06-21T00:16:00.003-04:00

It Was the War of the Trenches, by Jacques Tardi, 2010, Fantagraphics, 120 pages, $24.99

This is a series of short stories about French soldiers during World War I. It is the third book by French artist Jacques Tardi that Fantagraphics has translated and published in the U.S. The first was West Coast Blues, a crime story about an everyman on the run from two hitmen that I quite liked. The second was the surreal farce You Are There. And due out in September is The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec: Pterror Over Paris / The Eiffel Tower Demon, released to coincide with the new Luc Besson-directed movie. This one seems to be a very personal work, one that occupied a large chunk of Tardi's time (it was begun in 1982 and completed in 1993).

A quick and easy way to get a handle on the book can be found in the fact that the two blurbs on the back cover are from Art Spiegelman and Joe Sacco. The book reminds me of Spiegelman's work because it draws from a similar well of aggressive unpleasantness: Spiegelman calls it a "devastating crater of a work . . . a kaleidoscope of war's dehumanizing brutality." The book also is impeccably researched and puts the reader into the shoes of the soldiers in the war, not unlike how Sacco's non-fiction investigations unearth all of the buried details of his chosen topics: Sacco says that "it can be compared to the work of the artists who actually served in the trenches."

Everybody dies in this book. It's sad, gory, brutal, depressing, visceral, and overwhelming. It brings those poor soldiers back to life and, instead of celebrating any victories or glorifying any heroic acts, just shoots them in the gut all over again and leaves them to die in the mud and filth of no man's land.

It's an impressive work of art that floods the reader with a feeling of hopelessness. How Tardi managed this feat without having participated in the first world war is really quite amazing. It is worth reading.

READ MORE: Here is a ten-page excerpt, Tardi's foreword, and a video/slideshow preview. Here is Tom Spurgeon's interview of publisher, editor, and translator Kim Thompson, and here is an Inkstuds podcast interview of Thompson.

BUY IT: From Fantagraphics here or from Amazon here: It Was the War of the Trenches

RELATED: My posts on other books published by Fantagraphics:

Disclaimer: Fantagraphics sent me a review copy of this book.