This art & sequential bits & bobs book from Farel Dalrymple & AdHouse made our Top 40 back when it was announced. Now that we’ve finally gotten our copies to pore over, we want to put it on ALL the Top 40s.
Because we all need our continued supply of Uncle Scrooge.
38. BOARDWALK EMPIRE
The hopeless glory of season 4 ended with no winners, only losers. Pretty appropriate for a show set in Atlantic City.
37. DISAPPEARANCE DIARY
Hideo Azuma’s autobiographical chronicle of a cartoonist dropping off the map and going on the lam from relationships, responsibilities, and sobriety is a fascinating and oddly adorable illustration of the kind of personality with which some of us can identify a little too much.
We’d usually say that Bill Watterson’s opus is hallowed ground upon which fan art must not tread, but this animation of Calvin & Hobbes dancing is delightful, touching, and utterly true to its origins.
35. This Mountain Man
I hope to one day also stand in court and declare, “I AM THE NATURAL MAN.”
34. THE ART OF RUBE GOLDBERG
This book about Rube Goldberg is also an ACTUAL FUNCTIONING PAPERCRAFT RUBE GOLDBERG MACHINE! How cool is that? Continue reading →
jack kirby collector #61 : every issue of this magazine is a treasure chest of kirby goodness. thanks, john morrow.
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.
all new x-men #15 : an improbably fun x book that keeps on rolling. is jean grey gonna hook up with the beast?
manhattan projects #13 : one of the best books month in and month out.
catalyst comics #2 : ulises farinas goodness in a paul pope package.
we were in north carolina last week for heroes con. the con has been running for over 30 years and has a reputation for being maybe the best east coast convention, with a family atmosphere and emphasis on comics and comic creators–none of the pop culture nonsense that so many other cons have made the focus of their shows. it’s fair to say we were looking forward to this one.
josh and i left early thursday morning, hopping on a train, where we met up with our roomie for the weekend, ulises farinas. ulises is a fantastic artist and an easy guy to spend 13 hours on a train with. here’s the cover to his book coming out in july…
there’s not much to say about a 13 hour train ride. we traded comics biz stories (shame on some people out there, ha) and ate lousy train food and discussed the eternal subject, women. we got into charlotte around 9 pm and headed for the hotel. andrew had flown in earlier and scouted out the bbq options, which, by the time we unwound and ulises had donned his RATTICUS costume, were limited. who’s RATTICUS, you ask?
we wound up eating at QUEEN CITY Q, a middle of the road BBQ restaurant that had good ribs, terrible brisket, and weak drinks.
friday was set-up time, and we were in INDIE ISLAND, along with the pittsburgh boys (jim rugg, jasen lex, ed piskor, and tom scioli), chris pitzer of ADHOUSE BOOKS, rafer roberts, and some other folks i’m spacing on right now. we were tabled next to chad bowers, who was from the area and a real nice guy to be stuck next to for 3 days. chad did a bunch of ‘terrible sketches for $1’ over the course of the 3 days, and they were all worth a chuckle. the show got off to a slow start, sales-wise (more on that to come), so i decided to hit the floor, say hi to some folks, and try to get creators signed on to our LITTLE NEMO: DREAM ANOTHER DREAM project.
i saw neal adams with only 1 or 2 people around him and figured what the hell, i’d give it a shot. after listening to some hilarious off-color stories about roy thomas and stan lee from neal, i pitched him nemo. i was excited and a little abuzz when, without too much work, he said yes. this kicked off a pretty spectacular weekend of recruiting creators for the project. when i got back to the table to hear sales were slow but josh had talked to–and gotten a yes from–peter bagge, the tone and type of weekend it was going to be was set. before the end of the day, tom scioli, ed piskor, nick pitarra, shawn crystal, and ben marra had all joined in. we also got to meet drew moss, who illustrated one of the stories in ONCE UPON A TIME MACHINE and is doing stuff at IDW now. drew is a swell guy, great finally meeting in person. Continue reading →
the simon & kirby library – science fiction : a big book of jack kirby sci-fi, mostly from the ’50s and filled with fantastic little stories. al williamson inks kirby for most of the stories here, and he draws a couple, too. a trove of classic old-school sci-fi.
primates : this ogn looks at the lives of jane goodall, dian fossey, and birute galdikas, three women whose remarkable contributions and dedication to primatology offers a wonderful example of the human spirit. the art style is simple and charming, allowing easy entry into the lives of these women and the primates they study and love.
the manhattan projects #12 : this book has been on a roll. nick pitarra and jordie bellaire are looking good.
savage wolverine #6 : joe madureira jumps back into the game with gusto in this fun romp starring spidey, wolverine, elektra, and the kingpin. zeb wells came up with a great hook here (i won’t spoil it) and joe mad looks good. fun stuff.
guardians of the galaxy #3 : i love rocket raccoon. steve mcniven draws a badass groot. that’s enough for me.
the true lives of the fabulous killjoys #1 : gerard way wrote some fun, zippy comics in THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY books. becky cloonan brings a joy for the medium and considerable chops to every project she works on. let’s see what they do together!
wolverine & the x-men #31 : nick bradshaw returns for the first day of school at the hellfire club academy. one of the little treats in comics every month.
Locust Moon Comics 