read yourself RAW - Previews: June 2006

	BOOKS:
	The Drowners by Nabiel Kanan Image $14.99 James Quinn has built himself a dotcom empire. But when that empire starts to fall, dark secrets from his past emerge, not least of which is the drowning years earlier of a beautiful, mysterious young woman whose presence still haunts him. "Kanan is young and British, lives in Derby in the Midlands, makes his living as a commercial illustrator, plays the guitar badly and does not do interviews. He wants his work to speak for him, and it does, eloquently, in a strong, subtle, singular voice. I had the luck to meet him and get to know him a little this year during his first visit to France's Angouleme Comics Festival, helping him cope with the culture shock of experiencing comics as a vibrant medium and multi-faceted industry. He impressed me as a thoughtful, sensitive young man, quietly passionate about making comics and telling stories in his own way." Paul Gravett - read the full article here.
	Monsieur Lambert HC by Sempé Phaidon £9.95 Monsieur Lambert is the story of a group of regulars at a Parisian bistro, who see each other for lunch every day, without fail. They are creatures of habit, eating the same set meals on the same day, week in and week out. One day, however, one of their group, Monsieur Lambert, does not turn up at the usual time, and the other regulars soon turn to speculating as to the reasons for the sudden and unexpected changes in their fellow diner - it surely must be because of a woman, they conclude. Why else would Monsieur Lambert not appear until twenty to two on one day, but already be eating his main course by the time the rest of them arrive for lunch the very next day? Why does he develop a taste for terrine, a dish he has previously always despised? The diners are right: Lambert has indeed met a wonderful woman, Florence. This revelation changes everything, and instead of discussing football and politics as usual, the other diners in the bistro start reminiscing about women they have loved and lost, about passionate affairs in their past, all the while continuing to take a keen interest in Monsieur Lambert and his Florence. Can this new state of affairs continue? After all, women come and go, but football has always been, and will always be, a part of their lives. "What I was trying to do in Monsieur Lambert was to capture a certain 'bonhomie', a kind of simple easy relationship between people, especially men. I don't think that exists today." Sempé discusses the reissue of his lifetime's work with The Independent. "Sempé may work in a minor storytelling key as compared to other cartoonists of his equivalent skill... but the elegance with which Sempé cartoons, the balance he finds between individual detail and evocative whole, makes his work worth every long moment it takes to fully appreciate it." Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Journal #258
	Passionella & Other Stories HC by Jules Feiffer Fantagraphics Books $19.95 Jules Feiffer is a Pulitzer-winning comic strip artist who has been entertaining readers for decades. His internationally syndicated cartoon ran for 42 years in the Village Voice, weaving the social, political, and personal into a perceptive, challenging, often hilarious mix. His sensibility permeates a wide range of creative work: from his Obie Award-winning play Little Murders (a prophetic vision of random urban violence), to his screenplay for Carnal Knowledge (a controversial examination of the sex wars), to his Oscar-winning anti-military short subject animation, Munro. Passionella collects Feiffer's finest extended graphic narratives from the late 1950s and early 1960s.
	Get A Life by Dupuy & Berberian Drawn & Quarterly $19.95 In Monsieur Jean, we follow one man's life through his bachelorhood in his 20s and early 30s and along the road to impending responsibilities: marriage, kids, and deadlines for his publisher, written with a sophisticated wit and charm and drawn in a clear-line New Yorker style. "Monsieur Jean [is] a middle-class parisian writer coping with friends, kids, his girlfriend and his changing life. It's as accessible and satisfying as a good Woody Allen film." Detroit Metro Times "The story of Jean, a not-quite-successful writer facing up to middle age and the inevitability of growing up and getting married, whirls around Paris and New York and Jean's imagination with a confidence and light touch rare in any medium." The Toronto Star
	Maybe Later by Dupuy & Berberian Drawn & Quarterly $16.95 In Maybe Later, Dupuy & Berberian work separately for the first time, with each cartoonist taking turns to tell the behind-the-scenes 'making of' their best sellingMr. Jean series. In fluid black-and-white, with humorous paranoid digressions and surreal dream sequences, Maybe Later is a record of their unique artistic partnership, midlife and its demons, the stress of deadlines, and the friends and colleagues who help and goad along the way. Above all, it's about the creative process, with aliens, pawns, and deflated superheroes battling procrastination and self-doubt in defence of the simple pleasure of telling stories through pictures. "...one of the most honest and engaging autobiographical graphic novels in the genre and a fascinating 'behind-the-scenes' glimpse into the creative process..." Paul Gravett
	Sloth by Gilbert Hernandez DC/Vertigo $19.99 By the co-creator of Love & Rockets, Sloth is Gilbert Hernandez's first original graphic novel. Troubled teenager Miguel Serra becomes a walking urban legend after he wills himself into a coma and wakes up one year later virtually unchanged — except for his sloth-like pace. Discover how a haunted lemon orchard, a mysterious goatman and murder collide as Miguel, his girlfriend Lita and their friend Romeo take on the teenage wasteland of suburbia. Will it be love or rock-and-roll suicide? Check out a preview of Sloth at Newsarama.
	Bardin The Superrealist HC by Max Fantagraphics Books $14.95 Every-man Bardin finds himself transported to another dimension where an analusian dog serves as his ill-tempered guide. In a series of vignettes, gags, illustrations, text-pieces and dream stories, ping-ponging back between the surrealist world and the real world, Bardin examines and questions his own beliefs and convictions. "The Bardin strips are wild, illogical, surreal (or, rather, "super-real"), and utterly charming, and the wizened shape-shifting character of Bardin himself seems a wry stand-in for the author. These strips owe less a debt to Dadaism than to a personal mythology that Max is slowly revealing to us (or perhaps discovering himself), and the strips sometimes read like a mad cross between Peanuts, Jimmy Corrigan, Salvador Dali, and the Rarebit Fiend, but beautifully executed in Max's underground/ligne clair style. While as-yet-uncollected, the Bardin strips are slowly building into an important new body of work from a major cartoonist." Indy Magazine: The Twenty Best European Graphic Novels You Haven't Read
	Morlac by Leif Tande La Pasteque $20.95 Morlac is a silent, multi-layered graphic novel, working under the Oubapo laws. The reader is confronted with not only one single tale to follow, but multiple stories that cross paths. "Definitely the most interesting new name out of Quebec City, Leif Tande draws the most inventive comics I've seen in ages. He seems to craft a unique style for each of the twisted, original plots he writes. What's more, the size and shape of his comics (very professionally printed to boot) are also uniquely designed for each story. This guy works harder on one strip than anyone I can think of." Broken Pencil - read the full review here.
	Cancer Vixen by Marisa Acocella Marchetto Knopf Publishing $22.00 What happens when a shoe-crazy, lipstick-obsessed, pasta-slurping, fashion-fanatic, madly-in-love, about-to-get married, big-city-girl cartoonist with a fabulous life finds... a lump in her breast? That's the question that sets this funny, powerful and poignant graphic memoir in motion. In vivid colour and with a taboo-breaking sense of humour, Marisa Marchetto tells the story of her 11-month, ultimately triumphant bout with breast cancer - from diagnosis to cure, and every challenging step in between. "Cancer, I'm going to kick your butt! And I'm going to do it in killer four-inch heels!" Marisa Acocella Marchetto
	MOME Vol 4 by Jeffrey Brown, Paul Hornschemeier, David Heatley, Sophie Crumb, John Pham, Anders Nilsen, Marc Bell, Gabrielle Bell, Andrice Arp, Jonathan Bennett, Martin Cendreda & Kurt Wolfgang Fantagraphics Books $14.95 How would you describe MOME? Anders Nilsen: I'd call it an anthology of contemporary alternative or literary comics. I think it has the potential to push the medium, and to push people outside comics to see them differently. I'm not sure it's doing that, but I think it could. David Heatley: It's an anthology which is attempting to showcase the new crop of cartoonists who have literary aspirations (as opposed to, say, Kramer's Ergot or The Ganzfeld where the cartoonists have fine art aspirations). I love that Fantagraphics has opened up to publishing people of my generation and I like having a quarterly deadline to produce. I'm sure I wouldn't have done Overpeck in the time I've done it (or at all) if it wasn't for the external pressure. MOME seems to be evolving organically and the quality seems to keep improving, so I hope that continues to be the case. Jeffrey Brown: I would describe MOME as a regular anthology showcase of relatively up and coming, younger cartoonists. I think it's still early to know where exactly it's going, but I think over time it'll start to develop an identity for itself as a literary journal of sorts. Martin Cendreda: MOME is like a bunch of cartoonists gathered at a party, all talking about different things. But the party is in the form of a comic anthology. There's funny stuff, serious stuff, experimental stuff. I'm not sure where I see MOME going in the future, it'll differ with each issue, but as long as the work remains solid, like it has been, then I won't worry about it too much. Paul Hornschemeier: I see it as a housing for a cross-section of today's inventive cartoonists who are primarily concerned with narrative in the medium. There are certainly many innovative people left out of the collective, but I feel it's a decent representation of the various takes on form and style being attempted today. I also think this is, on a more consumption-based level, a vehicle for some of these artists who have little to no exposure to reach a wider audience. As to where I see it going, I'm not sure precisely, beyond continuing that mission... responsibly presenting the developing vocabulary of narrative-driven comics. Read the full MOME transcripts at the BBC Collective.
	Flight Vol 3 edited by Kazu Kibuishi, featuring Matthew Armstrong, Neil Babra, Nicolas 'Bannister' Seigneret, Chuck BB, Tony Cliff, Becky Cloonan, Phil Craven, Matthew Forsythe, Alex Fuentes, Michael Gange, Rodolphe Guenoden, Steve Hamaker, Paul Harmon, Ben Hatke, Azad Injejikian, Kazu Kibuishi, Reagan Lodge, Johane Matte, Bill Plympton, Dave Roman, Israel Sanchez, Rad Sechrist, Kean Soo, Yoko Tanaka & Joey Weiser Ballantine Books $24.95 The third volume of the full colour anthology featuring the work of cartoonists ranging from top animators working at Pixar, to emerging web-cartoonists, as well as established comic creators.
	Edge Of Genius Vol 1 by Will Eisner Pure Imagination Publishing $25.00 The Spirit creator, Will Eisner, honed his craft in the comic book business during 1937-1940. Page by page, his genius unfolded with characters like Yarko The Magician, The bLack X, Doll Man, as well as numerous crime and western stories. This 160 page volume includes a rare interview with Will Eisner conducted at the time he was on the edge of genius.
	Tales Of Woodsman Pete by Lilli Carré Top Shelf Productions $7.00 Tales of Woodsman Pete is a collection of vignettes and stories about a solitary albeit gregarious woodsman with a loose grasp on his own personal history and that of the outside world. He forms relationships with his inanimate surroundings and muses to a dead audience, specifically his bear rug, Philippe. His own tales eventually become entangled with that of the legendary Paul Bunyan, and the two become indirectly intertwined, illuminating the discrepancy between the character of the storyteller and the character within his stories. The lives of both Paul and Pete encounter such things as the questionable origin of an ocean and the desire for preservation of everything from a fallen bird to an overused expression that has strayed a stone's throw from its original meaning. Lilli Carré was born in 1983 in Los Angeles, and currently lives in Chicago with a flatulent cat. She goes to the School of the Art Institute where she spends much of her time cradling a lightbox and moving paper around beneath a camera. She self-published two comic books, Welcome and Deep Sea Diving, in 2004.
	Girly Vol 1 by Josh Lesnick Radio Comix $11.95 "This is a comic about a leader and her sidekick. Or you could say that it's a comic about a sidekick and her leader. People don't put much thought into how complicated things can get when one becomes a sidekick. That's what comics like this are for. Hopefully it will make you think more about that kind of thing. This is also a comic about the people that live in their town. All their perfectly ordinary lives interconnect in various ways, due to what may seem like a series of coincidences, but are, in fact... well, okay, they're coincidences. Girly is a romantic story, a crazy story, a story with various callbacks, and a story that aims to give great satisfaction to readers that stay on the ride and don't fall off." Josh Lesnick
	Emily Edison by David Hopkins & Brock Rizy Viper Comics $12.95 Emily Edison's teenage life is a blur - home work, slumber parties, crushes, school dances - amid a jealous grandfather planning to destroy the earth. Reality hangs in peril, and Emily must use her otherworldly powers to save the place she calls home. "It's got super-powered mainstream appeal, and the individuality of independent comic books. David and I did not quell our quirks while creating Emily's world and guiding her journey through it. It's a unique take on the superhero genre, considering the interdimensional custody battle aspects. We aren't embarrassed about the "superhero" part, either. We unabashedly embraced Emily's powers and created the kind of action book we wanted to read. The kind that, I don't know... has action in it." Brock Rizy - Read the full interview at The Comic Foundry
	Strugglers by Tim Fish Poison Press $10.00 Tighe, a confused boy, struggles to find himself. Tracy, the girl with too much ambition, struggles to make it big. Alison, the girl with no ambition, struggles to ignore her meddling friends. And Mike struggles to find someone to love. Sharing a hip Saint Louis apartment, these friends face only the problems we all deal with... finding jobs, boys, bars, and bands. Their struggles end only as they begin to grow up.
	Wet Moon Vol 2 by Ross Campbell Oni Press $14.95 "Wet Moon is the sort of book that you'll really want to read twice. The first time through, you're just enjoying the interplay between Cleo and her friends and getting a feel for all of the characters. This alone is enjoyable; Cleo, Trilby, and Audrey really sound and act like college students, and their banter and mini-adventures together are amusing. Campbell's got a good ear for dialogue, and it's enough to pull you into the book. The second time that you read it, though, you'll start to catch lots of things that might not have hit you the first time... I wasn't entirely sure what to expect with Wet Moon Vol. 1: Feeble Wanderings but I'm delighted with the end result. It's almost like a strange little diary of a group of friends's lives, letting you spy on their inner thoughts and secrets. The book meanders and weaves back and forth, but the more you read it, the more purposeful you discover its path really is. The book's pacing might throw off some casual readers, but to me Wet Moon is near-perfect." iComics: read the full review here.
	Sudden Gravity by Greg Ruth Dark Horse $10.95 Built on a site of great and forgotten power, the mammoth Bentham International Hospital was to be the very definition of modern medical science at its best. But over the years, the spectres and dark secrets of the Hospital began to bore away at its heart, leaving its foundations cracked and vulnerable to the oldest of horrors and nightmares. When a prominent Commissioner of the City's Housing and Urban Development Department is brought in for evaluation after murdering her family, the haunted secrets of the hospital begin to unravel, leaving no one untouched. Julius, the prosthetic boy in room 13 is waking up. The black eggs are found. The lines between the patients and the doctors is blurring. This is where the end begins. Every cure is paid with a curse and every sin is birthed anew as the once brilliant light of modern medicine forsakes the world for the shadows it can no longer hide.
	The Lump by Chris Wisnia Salt Peter Press $14.95 A film noir/mad scientist/tabloid horror mystery. "Demented and highly enjoyable." Forthrail.com "...a daffy valentine to pulp publications, gossip rags, and paranoia literature." Comicon.com
	Catching Lucifer's Lunch by TJ May & Jason May Summ Publications $5.99 Betrayal and a twist of fate send Higgins Lark on a quest through hell. Will he bring back the loved one he lost? Or will they both be caught for Lucifer's Lunch. "The Brothers May are poised to become two of our darkest and most distinctive graphic storytellers, giving to their characters a disturbing, though oddly familiar, unreality." Steven Withrow, contributing editor and author of Toon Art and Webcomics "Lovecraft echoes in T.J. May's voice, and and Jason May has a brush style all his own. Catching Lucifer's Lunch is a fine horror tale. A classic with a modern taste." Gianluca Piredda, writer of Free Fall
	BPRD: The Black Flame by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi & Guy Davis Dark Horse $17.95 The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defence faces its worst tragedy ever as the war against the plague of frogs reaches a devastating new level. Heralded by a bizarre villain from the B.P.R.D.'s past, an ancient monster-god marches across the American heartland portending an end to the reign of men, and leaving a permanent mark on the Bureau.
	Fantastic Four/Iron Man: Big In Japan by Zeb Wells & Seth Fisher Marvel $12.99 Mass panic has hit the street of Tokyo! The media has initiated round-the-clock coverage. Uncontrollable crowds are choking the streets, and kaiju hysteria has gripped the island of Japan for the first time in 50 years. Because the Fantastic Four, the world's first super-hero big-monster battling squad, and playboy industrialist Tony Stark have descended on the Land of the Rising Sun. Marvel super-heroes meet Japanese pop-culture in Big In Japan. It's an all out romp with big monsters a-go-go as Droom, Giganto an Eerok, the giant ape - along with hundreds of manic '50s Marvel monsters - trample Tokyo's first ever Kaiju Museum and celebration. Seth Fisher was an extraordinarily talented artist who sadly died on January 30, 2006 at the age of 33. He died accidentally from a fall. His death was sudden, swift, and a great loss to his family and to the wider comics world. He is survived by his wife Hisako and son Toufuu. Seth's first hardcover comic graphic novel Green Lantern: Willworld was released in 2001 to great critical acclaim. Two years later he was nominated for the prestigious comic industry Eisner Award as Best Penciler/Inker for his work on Flash: Time Flies and Vertigo Pop: Tokyo. His Japanese pop-thriller Tokyo has been featured in the LA Weekly and was named one of the 10 best comics of 2003 by British culture magazine The Face. Beyond comics, Seth's conceptual design work on the best selling adventure Myst III helped lead the game to numerous awards. More details can be found at Seth's web site The Flowering Nose.
	Eternals (HC) by Jack Kirby Marvel $75.00 When Gods walk the Earth. Jack Kirby reveals a secret history of heroes and horrors as humanity's cousins, the Eternals and the Deviants vie to inherit the Earth. Its a time of titans, terror and time travel.
	Batman: City Of Crime by David Lapham, Roman Bachs & Nathan Massengill DC $19.99 Written by the creator of Stray Bullets, City of Crime collects the epic tale from Detective Comics #800-808 and #811-814... the Dark Knight tries to shut down a drug ring turned deadly, and Bruce Wayne must contend with a wayward 14 year old who's dangerously close to Gotham's underworld.
	Other Books Out This Month: Independents: Continuity by Jason McNamara & Tony Talbert (AiT/Planet Lar, $12.95) Chips Wilde: The Wild One by Dick Ayers (Century Comics, $17.95) Winsor McCay Earl Works Vol 8 by Winsor McCay (Checker Book Publishing, $19.95) Conan & The Deamons Of Khitai by Akia Yoshida & Paul Lee (Dark Horse, $12.95) Concrete: Strange Armor by Paul Chadwick (Dark Horse, $12.95) Penny Arcade Vol 2 by Jerry Holkins & Mike Krahulik (Dark Horse, $12.95) Extremely Weird Stories by Pete Von Sholly (Dark Horse, $14.95) Usagi Yojimbo Vol 20: Glimses Of Death by Stan Sakai (Dark Horse, $15.95) 13th Son: Worse Than Waiting by Kelly Jones (Dark Horse, $12.95) Revalations by Paul Jenkins & Humberto Ramos (Dark Horse, $17.95) Star Wars: Clone Wars Vol 9 by various (Dark Horse, $17.95) Star Wars Omnibus: W-Wing Rogue Squdron by various (Dark Horse, $24.95) Angel: Old Friends by Jeff Mariotte & David Messina (IDW, $19.99) Monster House by Joshua Dysart & Simeon Wilkins (IDW, $7.99) The Keep by F Paul Wilson & Matthew Smith (IDW, $19.99) The Best Of The Curse Of Spawn by McElroy, Haberlin, Turner & Miki (Image, $16.99) The Amazing Joy Buzzards Vol 2 by Mark Smith & Dan Hipp (Image, $12.99) Fear Agent Vol 1 by Rick Remender & Tony Moore (Image, $9.99) The Red Diaries by Reed, Campbell, Jones & Shuput (Image, $16.95) Lucifer's Garden Of Verses Vol 4 by Lance Tooks (NBM, $15.95) Silk Road To Ruin HC by Ted Rall (NBM, $22.95) Next Exit Vol 1 by Christy Lijewski (SLG, $12.95) Down by Ellis, Harris, Mamner, Tan & Chong (Top Cow, $15.99) DC: Hellblazer: All His Engines by Mike Carey & Leonardo Manco (DC/Vertigo, $14.99) Silent Dragon by Diggle, Yu, Alanguilan & Friend (DC/Wildstorm, $19.99) Top 10: Beyond The Farthest Precinct by Di Filippo & Ordway (DC/Wildstorm, $14.99) Batman Chronicles Vol 2 by Bill Finger, Bob Kane & Jerry Robinson (DC, $14.99) Superman/Batman Vol 4 HC by Jeph Loeb, Ed McGuinness & Dexter Vines (DC, $19.99) Superman: Infinte Crisis by various (DC, $19.99) Superman/Doomsday Omnibus by various (DC, $19.99) Superman: Our Worlds At War Complete Edition by various (DC, $24.99) Absolute Kingdom Come HC by Mark Waid & Alex Ross (DC, $75.00) Archives: Metal Men Vol 1 HC by Kanigher, Andru & Esposito (DC, $49.99) Seven Soldiers Of Victory Vol 4 by Morrison, Mahnke Williams, Paquette, Bair (DC, $14.99) Showcase Presnts The Elongated Man Vol 1 by various (DC, $16.99) Teen Titans: Life & Death by various (DC, $14.99) Wonder Woman: Misson's End by various (DC, $19.99) Marvel: Ghost Rider: Road To Damnation HC by Garth Ennis & Clayton Crain (Marvel, $19.99) X-Men: Deadly Genesis HC by Ed Brubaker & Trevor Hairsine (Marvel, $24.99) Best Of Spider-Man Vol 5 HC by Straczynski, Deodato & Brooks (Marvel, $29.99) Masterworks: Rawhide Kid Vol 1 by Jack Kirby & others (Marvel, $49.99) Daredevil Vol 5 HC by Bedis & Maleev (Marvel, $29.99) Spider-Girl Vol 6 by DeFalco, Olliffe & Frenz (Marvel, $7.99) Adventures: Spider-Man Vol 3 by McKeever & Norton (Marvel, $6.99) Uncanny X-Men: New Age Vol 4 by Claremont, Bachalo & Tan (Marvel, $14.99) Decimation: Generation M by Paul Jenkins & Roman Bachs (Marvel, $13.99) Champions Classic Vol 1 by various (Marvel, $19.99) Marvel Comics Presents: Wolverine Vol 3 by various (Marvel, $12.99) Fantastic Four Vol 1 by M.J Straczynski & Mike McKone (Marvel, $14.99) She-Hulk Vol 3: Time Trials by various (Marvel, $14.99) Marvel Team-Up Vol 3 by Kirkman, Walker & Medina (Marvel, $13.99) Supreme Power: Nighthawk by Daniel Way & Steve Dillon (Marvel, $16.99) Punisher vs Bullseye by Daniel Way & Steve Dillon (Marvel, $13.99) Essential Savage She-Hulk Vol 1 by Lee, Kraft, Buscema & Vosburg (Marvel, $16.99) Essential Fantastic Four Vol 5 by Kirby, Lee, Romita & Buscema (Marvel, $16.99)

To Top	ART & ILLUSTRATION:
	The Future Was Fab: The Art Of Mike Trim by Mike Trim Hermes Press $29.99 In 1964, young Mike Trim answered a newspaper advertisement seeking modelmakers for a film production crew and began an odyssey that would last for more than 40 years. Beginning in the final days of Stingray, Trim would work as a modelmaker and designer for Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's television series Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, The Secret Service, and UFO , as well as their feature films Thunderbirds are Go, Thunderbird 6, and Journey to the Far Side of the Sun. Trim then moved into freelance illustration, creating an iconic cover painting for one of the best selling albums of all time; Jeff Wayne's The War Of The Worlds, in 1978. The Future was FAB is an in-depth look at the career of Mike Trim. Featuring hundreds of full colour and black & white drawings, paintings, marker comps, and photos from his entire career, the book offers a detailed view of how to foretell the future at the end of a paintbrush.
	Cartoon Modern: Style & Design in Fifties Animation by Amid Amidi Chronicle Books $40.00 Between the classic films of Walt Disney in the 1940s and the televised cartoon revolution of the 1960s was a critical period in the history of animation. Amid Amidi, of the influential Animation Blast magazine and CartoonBrew blog, charts the evolution of the modern style in animation, which largely discarded the 'lifelike' aesthetic for a more graphic and often abstract approach. Abundantly found in commercials, industrial and educational films, fair and expo infotainment, and more, this quickly popular cartoon modernism shared much with the painting and graphic design movements of the era. Showcasing hundreds of rare and forgotten sketches, model boards, cells, and film stills, Cartoon Modern is a thoroughly researched, eye-popping, and delightful account of a vital decade of animation design.
	Out Of Picture by Greg Couch, Daisuke Tsutsumi, Andrea Blasich, Vincent Nguyen, Daniel Lopez Munoz, Nash Dunnigan, Michael Knapp, Benoit le Pennec, Robert Mackenzie, David Gordon & Peter de Seve Paquet $25.00 Out Of Picture showcases the talents of eleven artists from the Blue Sky Studios, the makers of the animated films Ice Age and Robots.
	Cover Story: The Art Of John Picacio by John Picacio MonkeyBrain Books $39.95 This first collection by award-winning illustrator John Picacio contains 200 pages of full-color art, sketches, and thoughts about the process of creating cover art in the 21st century.
	Paradise Lost by Simon Bisley Verotik $24.95 Move over Gustave Dore, it's John Milton's Paradise Lost... according to The Biz.
	Top Hats & Flappers: The Art Of Russell Patterson by Russell Patterson Fantagraphics Books $19.95 "A couple of years ago, my buddy and former Warner Bros. Animation character designer Shane Glines handed me a stack of black and white Xeroxes he had put together featuring art by a vintage artist I had never heard of, Russell Patterson. To say I was floored by the images is putting it mildly. The images were striking, both in terms of his composition and his fluid line work. The best images were culled from Life magazines dated between 1926 and 1928. The magazines were packed with great cartoonists, but Patterson's drawings leapt off the pages, featuring beautiful lettering, patterns of decorations and spotting of blacks, sophisticated arrangement of shapes and unique stylization, and at the time, he was only in his early 30s. There was no doubt that he was influenced by John Held Jr., but his work was less caricatured and much more stylish and elegant, featuring Kohl-eyed beauties in the latest fashions, befitting the roaring '20s and high society. Only later did I learn that Patterson often circulated among the cultural and social elite, and was himself a minor celebrity. Patterson also looked like a movie star and almost every major magazine ran his profile along with a photograph. He landed a role in the late 1930s movie Artists & Models, where he appeared as himself, and spent time sketching beauties on the set. In 1932, he also co-produced a Broadway musical Ballyhoo of 1932 at the 44th Street Theatre, with sets and costumes designed by himself. The revue is notable for introducing Bob Hope, who was featured in three solo comedy spots including the curtain raiser. Around this time, he also created stunning color covers for the likes of Judge and Life magazines. His best color work, however, appeared on the covers of Ballyhoo, a racy satire magazine of cartoons, comics and ad parodies, and Patterson was by far the magazine's best and most prolific artist. I can say without hesitation that Patterson was one of the most influential artists of his generation (it's not hard to see Patterson in the work of Milton Caniff, Frank Robbins and Don Flowers). Every person I've shown the binder of Xeroxes to, and that includes the boys at Fantagraphics, has begged me to allow them to make copies, and working with Shane on this collection of Patterson illustrations is the only thing that could get me to break my streak of books featuring 1950s pin-up cartoon artists." Alex Chun, co-editor of Top Hats & Flappers
	Other Art & Illustration Titles This Month: Sketch Magazine #30 (Blue Line Productions, $5.95) The Art Of Nate Van Dyke (Heavy Metal, $14.95) Veronika: The Perfect Muse HC (Heavy Metal, $19.95) Juxtapoz Vol 14 #7 (High Speed Productions, $4.99) Angel: The Curse Cover Gallery (IDW, $3.99) Rough Stuff #1 (TwoMorrows Publishing, $8.95) The Best Of Draw! Magazine(TwoMorrows Publishing, $17.95) The Art Of Josh Howard Vol 2 (Viper Comics, $12.95) Tommyrot: The Art Of Ben Templesmith by Ben Templesmith (IDW, $19.99)

To Top	COMICS:
	Midnight Sun #1 by Ben Towle Slave Labor Graphics $2.95 The year is 1928 and an Italian airship expedition to the North Pole has mysteriously disappeared. As a worldwide search effort gears up, a down on his luck American newspaper reporter is dispatched to the top of the earth to cover the event. Read an interview with Ben Towle at The Pulse. "I'm a thirty-four year old freelance artist living in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. I'm from a Navy family and consequently grew up in various locations throughout the U.S., but I've lived in North Carolina for most of my adult life and call it home. I studied philosophy at Davidson College, but finding the job market for professional philosophers somewhat lacking, I joined a rock band after graduation, made a record for an indie label, and spent a couple of years touring the Southeast in a Chevy van with a transmission that would occasionally burst into a cloud of smoky burnt transmission fluid. In an effort to ward off practical pursuits for a few more years, I decided to return to school to study “Sequential Art” (an unfortunate term for cartooning and comic book art) at The Savannah College of Art and Design. Since then I've been working as a freelance artist…" Ben Towle
	In The Hands Of Boys #1 of 2 by Melody Nadia Shickley & Janet Tanirala Melody Nadia Shickley $10.00 Anna Covello is a high school drama teacher whose best friend is an American correspondent in Bosnia, who is killed in Sarajevo. Anna is shocked to find out that all of her friend's fortune is left to her, including her ten-year -old son, whom Anna knew nothing about. "Radojko is a survivor. He has seen things that are harrowing, things that I have not seen, and that is a danger when writing a story. I wanted him to seem both terrified and kind of bored with his new environment. A good tension was needed and fear and boredom are things that seem to be in opposition but can go together - the fear is deep but the volume is on low and the boredom masks it." Melody Nadia Shickley discusses In The Hands Of Boys at Pop Image.
	Casanova #1 by Matt Fraction & Gabriel Ba Image $1.99 Meet Casanova Quinn: scoundrel, thief and international man of leisure. The death of his twin sister ignites a cosmic blackmail scheme that forces Cass into the mind-bending life of a super-secret agent. Realities smash together, setting father against son, Us vs Them in a sci-fi espionage epic.
	Solo #11 by Sergio Aragonés with Mark Evanier DC $4.99 Sergio Aragonés brings his inimitable style to DC's biggest icons in what promises to be the zaniest issue of Solo yet. Join the longtime Mad Magazine contributor and creator of Groo The Wanderer as he takes aim at Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and more.
	Eternals #1 of 6 by Neil Gaiman & John Romita Jr Marvel $3.99 You are a thousand years old. You have amazing powers. You have watched civilisations rise and fall... so why does no one remember any of this. Ike Harris has dreams of adventures, love affairs and betrayals, but know one involved remembers or believes him. And who is trying to keep him from talking about it?
	Other First Issues This Month: Independents: Artesia Besiged #1 by Mark Smylie (Archaia Studios, $3.95) Star Wars Legacy #1 by Ostrander, Duursema, Parsons (Dark Horse, $2.99) The Cryptics #1 by Steve Niles & Ben Roman (Image, $3.50) Sidekick #1 by Paul Jenkins & Chris Moreno (Image, $3.50) Umbra #1 of 3 by Murphy & Mike Hawthorne (Image, $5.99) Love The Way You Love #1 by Jamie S Rich & Marc Ellerby (Oni Press, $5.95) Leading Man #1 by B Clay Moore & Jeremy Haun (Oni Press, $3.50) Gargoyles #1 by Greg Weisman & David Hedgecock (SLG, $3.50) Ursa Minor #1 by Kleid, Cote & Pinto (SLG, $2.95) Cyberforce #0 by Marc Silvestri & David Wohl (Top Cow, $2.99) DC: Astro City: Smaraitan Special by Kurt Buisiek & Brent Anderson (DC/Wildstorm, $3.99) Manifest Eternity #1 by Scott Lobdell & Dustin Nguyen (DC/Wildstorm, $2.99) Claw The Unconquered #1 by Chuck Dixon & Andy Smith (DC/Wildstorm, $2.99) Superman Returns: Krypton To Earth by various (DC, $3.99) Superman Returns: Ma Kent by various (DC, $3.99) Superman Returns: Lois Lane by various (DC, $3.99) Superman Returns: Lex Luthor by various (DC, $3.99) DCU: Brave New World by various (DC, $1.00) The Flash: Fastest Man Alive by verious (DC, $2.99) Green Lantern Corps #1 by Gibbons, Gleason & Rollins (DC, $2.99) Wonder Woman #1 by Heinberg, Dobson & Dobson (DC, $2.99) Marvel: Civil War: Front Line #1 of 2 by Paul Jenkins, Ramon Bachs & Steve Lieber (Marvel, $2.99) Giant-Sized Hulk #1 by Pater David, Greg Pax, Juan Cruz & Arron Lopresti (Marvel, $4.99) Romance Rudux: Love Is A Four Letter Word by various (Marvel, $2.99) Milestones: Rawhide Kid & Tow-Gun Kid by Jack Kriby & Stan Lee (Marvel, $3.99) Marvel Westerns: Outlaw Files by various (Marvel, $3.99) Marvel Westerns: The Tow-Gun Kid by Dan Slott & Eduardo Barreto (Marvel, $3.99) Genext #1 of 5 by Chris Claremont & Patrick Scherberger (Marvel, $2.99) Uncanny X-Men Annual #1 by Chris Claremont & Clay Henry (Marvel, $3.99)

To Top	ABOUT COMICS:
	Art Out Of Time: Unknown Comic Visionaries 1900-1969 by Daniel Nadel Harry N. Abrams $40.00 Before there was Robert Crumb, there was Herbert Crowley. If you don't recognize that name, you're not alone. Crowley is one of nearly 30 American cartoonists featured in this eclectic anthology, artists whose work-created between 1900 and 1969-was overshadowed by more successful contemporaries. Art Out of Time at last gives these pioneers the showcase they deserve, reprinting-in most cases for the first time since their initial publication-complete comic books and strips by such visionaries as Raymond Ewer, Howard Nostrand, Ogden Whitney, and Dick Briefer. These under-recognized artists often deviated from the thematic and graphic conventions of the comics medium-and influenced Crumb, Art Spiegelman, and others-making this superb anthology a true "counter history," the untold story of an underground that wasn't.
	The Artist Within by Greg Preston Dark Horse $39.95 The culmination of more than fifteen years of photography by renowned photographer Greg Preston, this book is a living history of the men and women who have shaped the imaginations of countless millions of people around the world through their work in the fields of animated cartoons, comic books, comic strips, and editorial cartooning. The list of artists includes such luminaries as Frank Miller, Al Hirschfeld, Joe Barbera, Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, Moebius, Walter and Louise Simonson, and many more, all in photographs exclusive and shot expressly for this book.
	The Comics: An Illustrated History Of Comic Strip Art by Jerry Robinson Dark Horse $24.95 While there are many debates about when the medium of words married with pictures first evolved into what we know today as comics-be it in nascent prehistoric paintings in the caves of France or the more traditional illustrated adventures of such characters as the Katzenjammer Kids which first appeared at the end of the nineteenth century-virtually everyone born in the last one hundred years has read or seen a comic strip at one time in their lives. In an exhaustive historical overview that captures the magic and innovation of this incredibly vibrant art form Jerry Robinson, comics historian, award-winning comics artist, and co-creator of the popular Batman villain The Joker, takes us on a journey from the beginning of the comic strip industry to the present day in The Comics. Originally published in the early 1970s, this volume has been revised and updated to include commentary on the last thirty years of comics history: from Mutt & Jeff to Calvin & Hobbes, from George Herrimann's Krazy & Ignatz to Patrick McDonnell's Mutts, Jerry Robinson brings the history of this great industry alive for a new generation.
	Hogan's Alley #14 edited by Tom Heintjes Hogan's Alley $6.95 The magazine of the cartoon arts. In this issue: - The evolution of Walt Kelly's Pogo Possum. - An interview with Dennis The Menace artist Marcus Hamilton. - Dennis The Menace on Sundays explored by Ron Ferdinand. - The last interview with Thurl Ravenscroft. - Martial art ads in comics.
	Comics As Art: We Told You So by Tom Spurgeon Fantagraphics Books $19.95 Comics As Art: We Told You So tells of Fantagraphics Books' key role in helping build and shape an art movement around a discredited, ignored and fading expression of Americana the way insiders share the saga with one another other: in anecdotal form, in the words of the people who lived it and saw it happen. Comics historian and critic Tom Spurgeon, with and designer Jacob Covey, assemble an all-star cast of industry figures, critics, cartoonists, art objects, curios and groundbreaking publications to bring you a detailed account of Fantagraphics' first thirty years. It's the story of fans who looked at the objects of their affection and demanded something more. It's a saga of scratched-together office spaces, mounting debts, public feuds, lawsuits, acrimony, office pranks and last-minute fundraisers. It's a description of how a fanzine becomes a magazine becomes a movement becomes a touchstone. It's a detailed catalog of the look of a cultural awakening. It's a story that includes appearances by Chris Ware, Art Spiegelman, Harlan Ellison, Jim Shooter, Stan Lee, Dan Clowes, Frank Miller, Peter Bagge, Jaime Hernandez, Gilbert Hernandez, Dave Sim, Steve Geppi, Todd McFarlane and every other major figure in the arts or business end of modern comics. More than a corporate history or a fond look back, Comics As Art: We Told You So makes the warts-and-all case for Fantagraphics Books' position near the heart of the modern reclamation of the comics art form. Tom Spurgeon is a writer and editor living in Silver City, New Mexico. Tom has written about comic strips, comic books and editorial cartons for various publications since 1982. He worked for five years 1994-1999 as Managing Editor and then Executive Editor of the lauded and controversial industry trade magazine The Comics Journal. The magazine won several industry awards under his stewardship. He is a former contributing writer at The Stranger and for the late satirical web 'zine Suck.com. As an editor, Tom helped assemble volumes in The Collected Pogo series and books such as Bob Levin's The Pirates & The Mouse. As a writer, Tom co-wrote with Jordan Raphael the historical profile Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book and he wrote the King Features Syndicate strip Wildwood from 1999 to 2002. He continues to update his enormously informative web-site The Comics Reporter each day.
	Other books and magazines about comics this month: Lo-Fi #7 (Devils Due, $5.95) Writing For Comics by Peter David (FW Publications, $19.99) Andru & Esposito: Partners For Life by Mike Esposito & Dan Best (Hermes Press, $29.99) Comics Buyer's Guide #1620 (Krause Publications, $5.99) Alter Ego #59 (TwoMorrows Publishing, $6.95) Alter Ego Collection Vol 1 (TwoMorrows Publishing, $21.95) How To Create Comics: From Script To Print (TwoMorrows Publishing, $13.95) Wizard #177 (Wizard Entertainment, $5.99) The Best Of Wizard Basic Training: How To Draw (Wizard Entertainment, $19.99)

To Top

MANGA:

Manga First Issues This Month:

Black Knight #1 of 3 by Kai Tsurugi (Blu, $9.99)
The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service #1 by Ohtsuka & Yamazaki (Dark Horse, $10.95)
Museum Of Terror #1 by Junji Ito (Dark Horse, $13.95)
Old Boy #1 by Garon Tsuhiya & Nobuaki Minegishi (Dark Horse, $12.95)
Saiyuki Reload #1 by Kazuya Minekura (Dark Horse, $14.95)
The Recipe For Gertrude # 1 by Nari Kusakawa (DC/CMX, $9.99)
Gundam Seed: Destiny #1 by Masatsugu Iwase (Del Ray, $$10.95)
Kurogane #1 by Kei Toume (Del Ray, $10.95)
Clan Of The Nakagamis #1 by Homerun Ken (DMP, $12.95)
Lost Boys #1 by Kaname Itsuki (DMP, $12.95)
Same Cell Organism #1 by Sumomo Yumeka (DMP, $12.95)
Kiss Of Fire #1 by Youka Nitta (DMP, $24.95)
Premature Priest #1 by Taro Chiaki & Sasakishonen (Dr Masters, $9.95
Hissing #1 by Eun-Young Kang (Ice Kunion, $10.95)
Fool's Gold #1 of 3 by Amy Hadley (Tokyopop, $9.99)
Elemental Gelade #1 of 9 by Mayumi Azuma (Tokyopop, $9.99)
Le Portrait De Petite Cossette #1 of 2 by House & Katsura (Tokyopop, $9.99)
Riding Shotgun #1 of 3 by Bowden & Yardley (Tokyopop, $9.99)
Dolis #1 of 1 by Maki Kusumoto (Tokyopop, $14.99)
Trash #1 of 1 by Sanami Matoh (Tokyopop, $9.99)
Satsfaction Guaranteed #1 of 9 by Ryo Saenagi (Tokyopop, $9.99)
Zapt! #1 of 3 by various (Tokyopop, $5.99)
My Cat Loki #1 of 3 by Bettina Kurkoski (Tokyopop, $9.99)
Otogi Zoshi #1 of 2 by Narumi Seto (Tokyopop, $9.99)
Redrum 327 #1 of 3 by Ko Ya Sung (Tokyopop, $9.99)
Peppermint #1 of 4 by Choi Kyung-ah (Tokyopop, $9.99)
Strawberry Marshmallow #1 of 4 by Barasui (Tokyopop, $9.99)
Skip Beat #1 by Yoshiko Nakamura (Viz, $8.99)

To Top	MERCHANDISE:
	Frank B&W Toy based on the characters of Jim Woodring $24.99
	Pupshaw & Pupshaw B&W Toy based on the characters of Jim Woodring $39.99