On The Shelves: 1/11/07
Reading is fundamental. Don’t waste your time reading bad comics out of habit! My weekly look at select comic books being released Thursday, 1/11/07. The full shipping list, as always, is available at ComicList. [NOTE: Not all of these titles will actually arrive in all stores. If your LCBS offers a pre-ordering service, be sure
On The Shelves: 1/4/07
Reading is fundamental. Don’t waste your time reading bad comics out of habit! Hello, 2007! 2006 was a great year for comics of all types (be sure to check out my Best of picks) and I’m betting this year is going to be even better all-around. Hopefully Ed Brubaker’s crystal ball is in working order:
DC in 2006: Success or Failure?
Marc-Oliver Frisch’s always enlightening sales analysis for November is up at The Beat, and includes a sobering take on how 2006 played out for the Distinguished Competition: Although quite a number of DC titles have been unable to hold on to their audiences and taking nose-dives down the chart lately, the publisher’s November output profited
Best of 2006
In the most glaring sign yet of how much my tastes have changed over the 3.5 years since I started reading comics again, compare my Best of 2004 choices to this year’s stellar roundup (below). Posted nearly two months before the year had ended, that 2004 list was limited to ongoing series, two of which
Charlie Foxtrot Entertainment
A number of new comics publishers have targeted specific niches over the years, seeking to better serve and/or exploit untapped audiences in an effort to carve out a viable niche for themselves. Whether its minorities, women, GLBT, pre-teens, etc., it’s a topic I’ve covered specifically or peripherally several times in the past, so this latest
Review: American Born Chinese
American Born ChineseBy Gene Luen Yang (First Second, 2006; $16.95) When I first heard about American Born Chinese back in July, I pegged it as the highlight of First Second’s second wave of releases purely based on a few preview images and its solicitation copy. After doing so, I crossed my fingers that it would
On the Shelves: 12/28/06
Reading is fundamental. Don’t waste your time reading bad comics out of habit! My weekly, semi-informed look at select comic books being released Thursday, 12/28/06 follows. The full shipping is list available at ComicList. [NOTE: Not all of these titles will actually arrive in all stores. If your LCBS offers a pre-ordering service, be sure
Crystal Ball: March 2007 Solicitations, Part II
Support GOOD Comics! Pre-order something new EVERY month. Part I featured a look at Marvel, DC, Image and Dark Horse’s offerings for March 2007, and now Part II casts the spotlight on the most interesting books being solicited by “independent” publishers. Links to full solicitations from almost every publisher can be found at MillarWorld. [NOTE:
Two Cents: Lightning Round
We’re heading down to Virginia for the holidays and I’m planning to post a bunch of TPB reviews throughout next week — in between catching up on sleep and movies — including Stagger Lee; American Born Chinese; Opening Lines, Pinky Probes, and L-Bombs, and a few others. Oh, and I haven’t forgotten about the holiday
Indie Bookstores Bailing Out; Bad Sign for Comics?
[UPDATED: 9:55 pm] PW Daily has a sobering article about several independent bookstores shutting their doors thanks to increased expenses and competition, and I can’t help but think about how it parallels the current state of the comic book industry, both on the publishing and retailing side, and how it could potentially affect graphic novel