New Comics Shipping Wednesday, August 1.

New Comics Shipping Wednesday, July 25.

Pick of the week: The Programme #1.

By Carroll B.

Lots of cool comics came out this week – World War Hulk #2, All Flash #1, Justice League of America #11, Strange Embrace #2 – but one stands out beyond all the rest for me. The Programme #1, written by Peter Milligan with art by C.P. Smith, is a must buy, in my opinion.

It opens during WWII and the fall of Berlin, but leads us to a mirror image of our modern day. The U.S. is at war in the Middle East, in a fictional country called Talibstan, where a group of soldiers gets wiped out by an unknown weapon. This weapon is the center of the book and it just gets crazier as the book goes on. The series is a 12-issue limited series that is is off to a great start. C.P. Smith’s art does a lot for the mood of the book and makes it that much more enjoyable. I can’t wait to read the next issue.

Books by comic book writers.

By Carroll B.

Over the past couple of decades we’ve seen comics grow leaps and bounds in terms of credibility and literate value. So it’s no surprise when we see established authors like Greg Rucka, Brad Meltzer, Charlie Huston, and Jodie Picoult take stabs at our beloved medium. But what’s even better – at least in my opinion – is writers that got their start in comics take a crack at the Great American – or British – Novel. While Neil Gaiman did not necessarily start out in comics, he arguably gained his notoriety while writing Sandman, later becoming the New York Times bestselling author that we all know and love. Alan Moore has at least one novel to his name, with a second one coming soon. Even Mike Carey – love him or hate him – has a book being published.

Two comic writers that have books coming really soon – as in the next month or so – are Warren Ellis and Mike Mignola. Ellis’ book, Crooked Little Vein, is a hilarious, cringe-inducing, detective novel that traverses the political and sexual underbelly of the United States. I’ve read it and it is fantastic. It’s fast paced and full of imagery that makes one really hope that Ellis is making this crap up.

I haven’t read Mike Mignola’s book, Baltimore, Or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier And The Vampire (co-written by Christopher Golden), but I’ve looked through it and skimmed a few pages and it looks very interesting. Sprinkled with original Mignola art and bound in a size reminiscent of old pulp magazines, this book is high on my To Read List. If you’re a fan of Hellboy or B.P.R.D. you might want to check this out.

Both of these books will be available at Von’s upon release, so in between the new Harry Potter and the latest issue of New Avengers, find time for these two.

UPDATE 7/20/07: Crooked Little Vein is out and available!

New Comics Shipping Wednesday, July 18.

New Comics for Wednesday, July 11th (with commentary).

Von’s Comics in no way endorses the following rant. It is a matter of opinion – however dumb it may be.

An EDITORIAL(that means opinions abound, kids) by the man with a fake leg, a tapeworm, and hairy pinna.

John Byrne is a cranky old man.

By Carroll B.

I hate strongly dislike John Byrne.

I have nowhere else to express my anger, so I shall do it here. If you like Mr. Byrne, then please, move along. Otherwise, continue reading.

New Comics for Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Indie Comics.

By Carroll B.

About ten or eleven years ago, I was browsing through my local comic shop, looking for something new to read. There were plenty of interesting looking books, but this was before trade paperbacks really took off and it was often hard to catch up with story lines if you didn’t have access to a large back issue collection. And there was no Wikipedia to provide character bios and story summaries. Basically, readers looking to jump on in the middle of a run were somewhat screwed. Therefore, I went looking for new series that were still in their beginning stages or just one-off issues, usually without luck. When I expressed my frustration, my friendly comic guy pointed out a pack of Evan Dorkin comics that were perfect little stories all nicely wrapped up without any continuity issues to deal with. On top of that, the art was fantastic and I began my love of Milk & Cheese and Dork comics.

What’s my point?

My point is, if you don’t or haven’t already, give indie comics a chance. While, yes, some do rely on continuity and can seem daunting to a new reader, many indie comics do a great job of catching the reader up. Invincible, for example, has released two cheap issues that were intended to attract new readers and get them caught up with the story so far. Look at Spawn (my high school sweetheart) – it recently changed directions in a way that new readers don’t need any of the previous 150 issues to understand current stories.

But Invincible and Spawn are only two high-profile indie books that are out there.

If you want something less superhero-y, look no further than the books that Top Shelf, Fantagraphics, Drawn & Quarterly, and First Second (all publishers we carry at Von’s) put out on a regular basis. You can find just about any genre, even superheros, from these publishers, and you almost never have to have prior knowledge to read one of their books. Two of the more famous examples are Blankets and Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid On Earth. Both books are nice, big graphic novels that are engaging and beautiful. And Jimmy Corrigan would appeal to many fans of superheros, with its main character who dreams of being a Superman-type guy (I think we can all relate to that notion).

At Von’s we carry many indie books, but we can only carry so many if no one buys them. So why not do yourself (and our store!) a favor and check out a book or two that’s not from the big two or three. (Heck, if your that unsure, the Tippecanoe County Library has an excellent graphic novel collection to help you get started.) There’s a lot of creators out there working hard to bring you well-written, superbly-drawn stories, but you may never see them unless you look past the Avengers and the X-Men to find it. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with mainstream superhero books – I read plenty of them every month – but I think everyone should be checking out some of the other, less well-known stuff that comes out every month, too.

Recommended Reading (a good place to start):

Blankets
Bone
Box Office Poison
Hellboy
Invincible
It’s A Good Life If You Don’t Weaken
Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid On Earth
Love & Rockets
Milk & Cheese
Palestine
Too Much Coffee Man
Walking Dead

Welcome!

Welcome to the new blog! I decided to switch from Blogger to WordPress, because, simply, WordPress offers much more customization and flexibility. Our Blogger site was nice, but I think we’ll be able to do a lot more things with this new site. (Now if only we could get off our lazy butts and post things…)

So I hope you like the new blog. Keep an eye out for new features, pages, etc. in the future. Thanks for reading and thanks for supporting Von’s Comics!