July 23, 2014 by Andrew

good this week

saga #21 : things are getting slipperier for the families on both sides here. on another note, i want FRIENDO.

ragnarok #1 : YES. walt simonson back in the saddle, with john workman bringing the BRAKKATHOOMs.

avengers 100th anniversary #1 : james stokoe. need i say more?

transformers vs gi joe #1 : tom scioli pulls off a perfect evocation of all that made generations of kids spend countless hours on kitchen floors playing out action figure battles & plots.

batman ’66 #13 : the most enjoyable bat book of its day sees dean haspiel ride in and deliver pitch perfect storytelling chops and just the right amount of wink-wink this book thrives on.

tuki: save the humans #1 : where jeff smith goes, we follow.

mike mignola’s hellboy artist’s edition : seeing the master’s hand unadorned packs a punch.

-chris stevens

Seconds : Bryan Lee O’Malley (with great help from Nathan Fairbairn) does it again with his new, beautiful, magical realist fable.

Street Angel HC : AdHouse Books has brought Jim Rugg’s modern classic, bar-raising series back in perfect form. Street Angel changed the way I looked at comics 10 years ago, and this new, handsomely produced edition (which includes a few bits and pieces old fans might not have seen) is the one it’s always deserved. Everyone who missed it the first time around owes it to themselves to read it now.*

-Andrew Carl

*Diamond didn’t actually ship us our order of Street Angel HCs this week, but we’ll be getting them in soon. Regardless, this roundup wouldn’t have been right without her.

June 25, 2014 by joshuaon

good this week

big damn sin city : over 1300 pages of frank miller’s hardboiled b&w masterpiece. you can hurt someone with this thing.

saga #20 : the beat goes on.

all-new doop #3 : doop!

batman black & white harley quinn statue : a fine new edition to this classy line of statues.

-chris stevens

May 7, 2014 by joshuaon

The Locust Moon Top 40: April 2014

40. ALL NEW X-MEN #25

An all-star line-up of creators beautifies this anniversary issue of Brian Bendis’ goofily fun stab at adding to the X-mythos.

39. Compendium of Comic Maps

Every comic (and every book) should start with a map. Delving into this wealth of literary cartography, it’s easy to imagine that they do.

38. DARKSEID MINUS NEW GODS

Remember Garfield Minus Garfield? Imagine that, juiced with the Anti-Life Equation.

37. SEX CRIMINALS

Matt Fraction & Chip Zdarsky bring an oddball eroticism to this supernatural sex-caper comedy, a generally gleeful creativity that springs from their ultimate turn-on: the expressive freedom of creator-owned comics.

36. MoCCAFest 2014

Another MoCCAFest, another inspiring celebration of comics & craftsmanship, this one presided over by a Staypuft-Marshmallow-Man-Scale Charlie Brown balloon, and featuring well-deserved awards for Locust Moon contributors and our pals Alexandra Beguez & Dave Plunkert.

Continue reading →

March 5, 2014 by joshuaon

good this week

moon knight #1 : warren ellis steps in with a fresh take on a difficult character, and declan shalvey takes his game to a new level with killer pacing, characterizations, and design. and a swanky new look for our crazy hero.

turok #2 : this is an inventive new spin on a classic character, with sensitive, imaginative writing from greg pak and fine art from mirko colak.

batman/superman annual #1 : a straight forward superhero romp graced by the exquisite art of jae lee and june chung.

uncanny x-men #18 : marco rudy, fresh off a bang up stint on marvel knights spider-man, weaves and winds through this issue with some of the most interesting layouts in a long time.

afterlife with archie #4 : a powerful issue that hits you with a punch. this book is just getting better, somehow.

jupiter’s legacy #4 : the best issue of this series so far, with some enjoyable character moments and peak frank quitely art.

she hulk #2 : the first issue was no fluke. charles soule and javier pulido (and THE PRIVATE EYE’s muntsa vicente!) are on to something special here.

starlight #1 : i hope this is the breakout book goran parlov so richly deserves. this is a gorgeous comic with impeccable design and storytelling on parlov’s part, and mark millar has a fun concept lined up.

wolverine and the x-men #1 : summer school kicks off at the jean grey school, and the kids are in good hands with jason latour, who slides right into jason aaron’s place with enough of his own voice to make things feel fresh, and mahmud asrar, who’s come a long way from his digital webbing days.

velvet #4 : top-notch spy thriller from brubaker and epting. this series is really finding its groove.

trillium #7 : we’re nearing the end of this fantastic mini series.

–chris stevens

February 27, 2014 by joshuaon

good this week

deadly class #2 : a strong issue that cements my hopes for this series. we get into the whole school aspect of things, and it’s a lot of fun meeting the various cliques. wes craig kills every aspect of the art–design, character, layout.

hawkeye #15 : it feels like things are coming to a head for clint and his building. any time david aja drops in to draw an issue it elevates an already good book. this run is going to be an evergreen.

batman/superman #9 : JAE LEE.

elephantmen #54 : a killer cliffhanger for one of the very best serial reads there is.

black science #4 : after a couple of issues that, while still excellent, felt like they were racing to keep up with the explosive debut issue, this feels like it’s leading us out of the fire and into the frying pan.

sock monkey treasury : a gorgeous new collection of one of the more idiosyncratic cartoonist’s most accessible work.

wolverine and the x-men #42 : jason aaron, nick bradshaw, chris bachalo and company wrap up their run on what has been one of the most fun books of the last few years. and they do it in style, with a touching, chuckling read that feels just right.

miracleman #3 : you can argue with the way marvel has rolled this out, but you can’t argue with the material. this issue leads us into the truly masterful work alan moore does the rest of the way.

–chris stevens

January 28, 2014 by Andrew

Tuesday Tease

We’re inching closer to the release of Quarter Moon issue 3, the “erotic” entry in our quarterly comics & illustration magazine. It’s off at the printer now, and will be gracing our shelves come Valentine’s Day.

Well, I don’t think we’ve announced this yet, but the incomparable JG Jones decided to join in on the sexy fun we’re all having, and painted this beautiful — and maybe sort of ominous — pinup for us. Here’s Bettie…

We’ve also been helping JG put together an art book that we’ll publish, collecting all the most stunning pieces in his many, many, many notebooks full of pencil sketches and watercolor studies.

This is the kind of stuff we’ve been finding page after page of, often drawn at seemingly impossibly small scales. You can’t imagine how hard it is to narrow these things down to just the “best.”

– Andrew Carl

September 3, 2013 by Andrew

The Locust Moon Top 40: August 2013

40. Simon Stålenhag’s Sci-fi Suburbia

A Sweden turned inside out by science, yet still recognizably, nostalgically human.

39. MARK SHULTZ’S XENOZOIC TALES ARTIST’S EDITION

Dinosaurs, dino-sized. Thanks yet again, IDW.

38. LEGO Delorean

Where we’re going, we don’t need roads! Because LEGO cars are not street legal.

37. Patton Oswalt trolling Twitter

“Eat the poor, disabled and hopeless. It’s the only way we can insure our future.”
I think he’s really onto something.

36. THE ANIMAL MAN OMNIBUS

Grant Morrison’s mind-bending genre-smasher is finally as heavy as it ought to be.

35. Real-life Patlabor

Because one real-life giant robot was not enough for Japan. Thank god.

34. Suggestions for Street Harassment

Hey HollabackPHILLY, let’s get on this:

(and so on)

Continue reading →

August 21, 2013 by joshuaon

good this week

mo and jo fighting together forever : toon books brings jay lynch and dean haspiel together for this kid-fueled romp that is another fine addition to the growing library of quality material for younger kids.

batman ’66 #2 : ty templeton is the perfect cartoonist to carry on the wacky shenanigans in this inspired revival of the classic 60’s tv show. mike allred tops it all off like a cherry on a sunday.

indestructible hulk #12 : the hulk is punching dinosaurs and shaking up mining towns in this time-traveling episode. check out the gorgeous cover by mukesh singh.

daredevil #30 : silver surfer!

nova #7 : spider-man pops in to one of the best superhero books for kids on the market.

–chris stevens

August 5, 2013 by joshuaon

The Locust Moon Top 40: July 2013

40. SATELLITE SAM

Raymond Chandler meets Paddy Chayefsky, in Howard Chaykin’s sketchy, viciously sharp ink lines.

39. Moebius Nemo

Come back, Jean Girard. How are we supposed to make a proper Nemo tribute without you?

38. Tokidoki Donutella

Adorablicious.

37. Our Anniversary Party

The Paper Anniversary has to be a lucky one for a comic book store.

36. NeverWet

One question: if you get this on your hands, how do you wash it off?

35. BEST OF EC ARTIST’S EDITION

IDW just won’t stop with these incredible collections of photographed artwork. Pre-code EC comics like you’ve never seen ’em before.

Continue reading →

July 24, 2013 by joshuaon

good this week

wolverine & the x-men #33 : jason aaron and nick bradshaw keep bringing the fun. this issue sports my favorite cover nick’s done yet.

gamma one-shot : this book is rad. i want more comics like this.

king the special edition : ho che anderson’s masterful biography of the great martin luther king collected in an affordable hardcover. good stuff, fantagraphics.