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The Locust Moon Top 40: March 2014

40. DESTINO

This is what it looks like when Walt Disney and Salvador Dali sort of collaborate. Sure makes you wonder what could have come of a deeper partnership.

39. BASEWOOD

Another delicious fruit of the Kickstarter era. Never before would a work as personal and idiosyncratic as Alec Longstreth’s BASEWOOD have seen publication in such a beautifully produced oversized edition, a handsomely made book containing a flawlessly cartooned story of loss, survival and connection.

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38. GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

OK, so none of us have actually gotten around to seeing it yet. But we’re so happy to have more Wes Anderson in the world that we’re listing it anyway.

37. MONSTERS & TITANS – the BATTLING BOY art book

Finally, we can see BATTLING BOY artwork the way it deserves to be seen: BIG.

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36. This Terrifying Short Film

Watch if you’re sick of sleeping, and would prefer never to do it again.

35. New Wu Tang Album

They are pressing one single copy of their new double album, which will be sold to the highest bidder. Something tells me we won’t end up finding this one for $3 in the bargain bin of the Princeton Record Exchange, like we did with 36 Chambers in 1997.

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good this week

alex + ada #1 : on the surface this book could easily fall flat on its face; a wallflowerish dude in a high-tech future can’t get the girl, so his rich grandmother surprises him with a top of the line female android to tend to his needs. but, like everything else, it’s all in the execution. there’s nothing salacious or dorky-guy fantasy fullfillment here; in fact, there’s a real tenderness at play that is underscored by the clean, controlled-yet-warm art from jonathan luna. looking forward to seeing what develops here.

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satellite sam #5 : a nasty piece of work in all the right ways.

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parker: slayground : more virtuoso cartooning from darwyn cooke, throwing it down in the dark, cruel world of crime fiction giant richard parker. this series of books represents some of the finest comics of the last decade.

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rai vol. #1 : the much-loved early 90’s publisher VALIANT put out a tight line of books that fans of that era still pine over. rai was one of the best. a spiritual, robot-smashing 40th century japan classic. the only bad thing i can say about this collection is they left out the #0 issue, which had one of the most iconic covers of the time…

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the immortal iron fist complete collection : a complete renovation of a once marginal character, matt fraction and ed brubaker bring myth and mystery, and some bad ass kung fu movie action courtesy of the hugely gifted artist david aja, to the marvel universe. fans of the current HAWKEYE series take note.

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this book is cool enough someone took the time to make these action figures of the seven deadly weapons…

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rage of poseidon : anders nilsen breaks out an accordion-style exploration of a wisconsin-bound poseidon wherein greek myth and christian allegory are updated with insight and wit.

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–chris stevens

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good this week

jack kirby collector #61 : every issue of this magazine is a treasure chest of kirby goodness. thanks, john morrow.

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the little prince book nine : the timeless characters of the childhood classic get into new adventures in outer space in this charming children’s series of graphic novels.

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all new x-men #15 : an improbably fun x book that keeps on rolling. is jean grey gonna hook up with the beast?

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manhattan projects #13 : one of the best books month in and month out.

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catalyst comics #2 : ulises farinas goodness in a paul pope package.

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The Locust Moon Top 40: July 2013

40. SATELLITE SAM

Raymond Chandler meets Paddy Chayefsky, in Howard Chaykin’s sketchy, viciously sharp ink lines.SatelliteSam_2

39. Moebius Nemolnemo

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

38. Tokidoki Donutella

Adorablicious.
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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.
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good this week

catalyst comix #1 : the most intriguing shot in dark horse’s latest superhero ramp up, this book has three features and three artists and is written by joe casey. with paul maybury, dan mcdaid, and ulises farinas each handling their own chapter, it’s a fine looking book removed from the cookie-cutter look that so many super hero books suffer from these days.

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mister x : eviction #3 : dean motter’s masterfully elegant cartooning put a special smile on our faces this month with a little nemo inspired strip and will eisner homage on the cover.

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satellite sam #1 : more and more, what turns me on in comics are books that do things other books don’t. it’s safe to say there aren’t too many comics like matt fraction & howard chaykin’s early 1950s live tv murder mystery.

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dexter #1 : i’ll be honest, i haven’t seen the show and i haven’t read this book. but i like the fact jeff lindsay, the show’s creator, is writing the series. projects like this are good for comics.

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grendel omnibus #3 : one of the great series in comics history is also, due to a long history of legal & publisher nonsense, one of the most criminally unknown amongst today’s audience. these priced-right collections from dark horse will hopefully change that. highly recommended.

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–chris stevens