Never read a graphic novel before? Haven’t read a comic book in years?

Here’s some brand new stuff that came out the week of October 14 that I think is worth a look-see for someone with little to no history with comics. That means you should be able to pick any of these up cold without having read anything else. So take a look and see if something doesn’t grab your fancy. If so, follow the publisher links or Amazon.com links to buy yourself a copy. Or, head to your local friendly comic book shop.

[And yes, I'm nearly a month behind. You don't have to rub it in.]

Disclaimer: For the most part, I have not read these yet, so I can’t vouch for their quality. But, from what I’ve heard and seen, odds are good they just might appeal to you.

Blood + Water – $17.95
By Judd Winick & Tomm Coker
128 pages; published by DC Comics’ Vertigo Books; available at Amazon.com

Adam Heller is dying, but before he can take the big dirt nap, his best friends offer him a chance at immortality and he takes it. Now Adam is a vampire living it up on the wild side and it’s everything he could ever want. But the eternal party crashes to a bloody halt when an ancient monster awakens from the dark, forgotten places of the world and comes looking for Adam. The startling reason this monster has come looking for him may be the most horrifying realization of all.

I read this story when it originally came out in individual comic book issues back in 2003. (I can’t believe that was 6 years ago.) I find Judd Winick to be kind of a mixed bag as a writer, but this was one of his good ones. And as I recall Tomm Coker’s art is even better. It was so solid, I was kind of surprised a sequel never materialized. Maybe this collected edition is a hint that one is finally coming. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a preview. If anyone finds one, post it in the comments below.

Heavy Liquid – $24.99
By Paul Pope
240 pages; published by DC Comics’ Vertigo Books; available at Amazon.com

“Pope has embellished his stylish love story with heart-stopping action and adventure. …Pope’s drawing and page design … is both technically assured and wonderfully expressive.” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“This has the potential to attract a large audience, including serious readers, science-fiction buffs, artists, and would-be graphic novelists.” —SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

In a future where New York has evolved into a sci-fi metropolis, “S,” a man addicted to “heavy liquid,” a substance that is both a drug and an art form, finds himself trapped in a mystery littered with love and drugs. This new edition features bonus sketch material, new coloring and more.

Another one from Vertigo’s vaults, this was originally released in early 2000. Paul Pope is one of the art form’s more exceptional storytellers and artists and this has been on my must-get list for some time. It’s great to see this re-released. DC Comics has a pretty skimpy preview here in PDF.

The Fixer and Other Stories – $19.95
By Joe Sacco
216 pages; published by Drawn and Quarterly; available at Amazon.com

“Sacco is one of the most astute war-zone correspondents working today” –Rolling Stone

“A searing and amusing look at the motley collection of reporters, war profiteers, criminals, soldiers and hapless civilians trapped in war zone.” –New York Times

“Sacco doesn’t try to lay claim to the truth. He’s simply telling one man’s story, and it makes for an excellent book.” –Washington Post

“Sacco demonstrates that the narrative arts, including comics, can gather up complicated social truths with a gradual patience that often eludes the camera.” –Boston Globe

Using old-fashioned pen and paper, award-winning cartoonist Joe Sacco reports from the sidelines of wars around the world. THE FIXER AND OTHER STORIES is a new softcover that collects Joe Sacco’s landmark short stories on the Bosnian War that previously comprised the hardcover editions of THE FIXER and WARS END.

It must be re-issue week. This reprints material from 2003 and 2005. Joe Sacco is living proof that comics can do and be anything. Even journalism. And fortunately he’s real good at it, too. It’s sorta kinda like NPR in comics.

Blackbeard: Legend of the Pyrate King #1 – $3.50
By Eduardo Sanchez, Gregg Hale, Robert Napton, Jamie Nash and Mario Guevara
32 pages; published by Dynamite Entertaiment

Dynamite presents their most ambitious undertaking yet – BLACKBEARD: THE LEGEND OF THE PYRATE KING #1! Under the stunning John Cassaday, producers Eduardo (writer of The Blair Witch Project) Sanchez and Gregg (producer of The Blair Witch Project) Hale are joined by Robert Napton and Jamie Nash to present the ultimate adventure tale of a bygone age, when pyrates ruled the waters!
Beginning with his childhood and carry through to his bitter end, Blackbeard’s legacy has never been explored as deeply and illustrated as beautifully (by Mario Guevara) than now!

I don’t really consider a comic by the makers of The Blair Witch Project to be all that big of a selling point, but Dynamite has had a pretty decent track record with properties like The Lone Ranger, Zorro and Sherlock Holmes. I think this is their first comic steeped in history and based on an actual person, and I’m sure liberties will be taken. But it looks like a fun ride nevertheless. Check out the preview at the publisher link above.

MOME Vol. 16 – $14.99
Edited by Gary Groth and Eric Reynolds
112 pages; published by Fantagraphics Books; available at Amazon.com

Since its inception in 2005, Mome has served as a comics McSweeney’s. Whether exposing new talent like Eleanor Davis (author of the recent Stinky by Toon Books); featuring short stories by contemporary graphic novelists like Dash Shaw (The Bottomless Belly Button); bringing the work of international superstars like David B. (Epileptic) to American audiences; or introducing the work of legends like Gilbert Shelton (The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers) to a new generation of readers, Mome is the most acclaimed, accessible, frequent, and reasonably priced anthology on the market despite it’s high production values and mostly color format.

This issue features several of our favorite alternative comic artists of the last 15 years, bringing us great joy. Archer Prewitt is the first, with an all-new “Funny Bunny” strip created in between his active musical career. “The Moolah Tree” is the new Fuzz & Pluck graphic novel from Ted Stearn, following Fuzz & Pluck and Fuzz & Pluck: Splitsville, beginning serialization here. We are equally proud to debut new work from Renée French, whose work is also featured on the front and back cover of this issue. And Nicholas Mahler debuts to ask “What Is Art?” (translated by secret weapon Kim Thompson).

Also: the second chapter of T. Edward Bak’s “Wild Man – The Strange Journey – and Fantastic Accounts – of the Naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller, from Bavaria to Bolshaya Zemlya (and Beyond)”; a new “Cold Heat” story by the team of Ben Jones, Frank Santoro & Jon Vermilyea; Dash Shaw interprets an episode of “Blind Date” into comics form; and new stories from Lilli Carré, Conor O’Keefe, Laura Park, Nate Neal, and Sara Edward-Corbett, with incidental drawings by Kaela Graham.

This highly regarded quarterly anthology is a great survey of some of the industry’s greatest and most innovative creators. If you’ve always wanted to sample quality alternative comics, here’s your first stop. Here’s a great big 12-page preview (PDF).

You Are There – $26.99
By Jacques Tardi & Jean-Claude Forest
192 pages; published by Fantagraphics Books; available at Amazon.com

The satirical masterpiece that ushered in the graphic novel era to European comics, finally available in English—the beginning of an ambitious publishing project introducing one of Europe’s most beloved cartoonists to American audiences. One of the earliest full-length, standalone graphic novels to be published in Europe, and certainly one of the best and most original, Ici Même was serialized in the adult French comics monthly (A suivre) in the early 1980s and then released in book form. A quarter of a century later, this dark, funny, consistently surprising masterpiece has finally been translated into English.

An unexpected yet smoothly confident collaboration between the darkly cynical Jacques Tardi and the playful fantasist Jean-Claude Forest (of Barbarella fame), You Are There is set on a small island off the coast of France, where unscrupulous landowners have succeeded in overtaking the land from the last heir of a previously wealthy family. That heir, whose domain, in a Beckettian twist, is now reduced to the walls that border these patches of land he used to own, prowls the walls all day, eking out a living by collecting tolls at each gate. His seemingly hopeless struggle to recover his birthright becomes complicated as the government sees a way of using his plight for the sake of political expediency, and the romantic intervention of the daughter of one of the landowners (who has her own sordid history with the politician) engenders further difficulties, culminating in an apocalyptic, hallucinatory finale.

Set in Tardi’s preferred early 20th century milieu, You Are There is drawn in his crisp 1980s neo-“clear line” style, gorgeously detailed, elegantly stylized, with impossibly deep slabs of black. You Are There is a feast for both the eyes and the brain.

As we cover in our documentary Dig Comics, the perception of comic books and their corresponding growth (or lack thereof) is notably different in countries other than the United States. This past summer, Dig Comics director/writer/host Miguel Cima discovered firsthand that France has a healthier, more diverse industry. This release from 1979 was apparently a significant moment in the growth of that industry. Here’s an even bigger 19-page preview (PDF).

The Act-I-Vate Primer – $24.99
Edited by Dean Haspiel, Nick Bertozzi, et al.
160 pages; published by IDW Publishing; available at Amazon.com

In the tradition of the acclaimed and groundbreaking anthology, Flight, the ACT-I-VATE Primer showcases a wide array of stories and talent -18 innovative creators, 16 intriguing properties, one beautiful book – and all-new, never-before-seen stories and art!

act-i-vate.com is the premier comic art collective on the Internet, featuring many renowned cartoonists who produce all-new material on a regular basis. The ACT-I-VATE PRIMER is a PRINT EXCLUSIVE anthology by many of the Act-I-Vate creators. None of the material in this book will appear on the Act-I-Vate website for at least one year from publication date.

There is a lot of good comics work being doing online and Act-I-Vate.com is one of the best hubs to find it. This anthology is another fine sampler. Here’s a 16-page preview.

That’s it for this week. Tougher than usual to whittle it down to a halfway digestible list. Yay comics!

[Yes, I'm a week behind. Comic-Con was crazy. Pretend you're a time traveler. This week's list coming soon.]

[Oh and the previous list's late-shipping Citizen Rex #1 is now available. So go get it too!]

Never read a graphic novel before? Haven’t read a comic book in years?

Here’s some brand new stuff coming out this week that I think is worth a look-see for someone with little to no history with comics. That means you should be able to pick any of these up cold without having read anything else. So take a look and see if something doesn’t grab your fancy. If so, follow the publisher links or Amazon.com links to buy yourself a copy. Or, head to your local friendly comic book shop.

Disclaimer: For the most part, I have not read these yet, so I can’t vouch for their quality. But, from what I’ve heard and seen, odds are good they just might appeal to you.

The Muppet Show Comic Book: The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson #1 – $2.99
By Roger Langridge
32 pages; published by Boom! Studios

Roger Langridge’s celebrated run on THE MUPPET SHOW comic book begins a new, zany arc! Scooter discovers old documents which reveal that a cache of treasure is hidden somewhere within the theater…and when Rizzo the Rat overhears this, the news spreads like wildfire! Meanwhile, Animal’s acting very strangely—he’s now refined and well-mannered!

Ah the Muppets! Without the voice-acting and puppetry, it’s hard to believe this is any good, but it’s gotten a lot of positive reactions. Should be good for kids of all ages! Here’s a preview for sampling purposes.

Northlanders, Book 2: The Cross + The Hammer – $14.99
By Brian Wood & Ryan Kelly
144 pages; published by DC Comics’ Vertigo; also available at Amazon.com

The second NORTHLANDERS collection, featuring issues #11-16, takes place during the tail end of Viking rule in Ireland. A series of mysterious murders and arsons against wealthy citizens leaves the Viking occupiers worried that a potential uprising might ignite. When surprising details involving the crimes are revealed, though, their jobs become much harder! Once again, writer Brian Wood teams with artist Ryan Kelly (Local) for an intriguing, gorgeously rendered peek at the inner workings of society.

If you haven’t read Northlanders Book 1: Sven The Returned, don’t worry about it. Each volume of this excellent series tells its own story largely unrelated to each other except that the stories are set in the Viking age. If you have even a passing knowledge of Vikings, you know enough. Great stuff but not for the kiddies. Those Vikings didn’t mess around. (And Sven The Returned is excellent.) (Oh and Brian Wood didn’t mind posing with Barbie at last year’s Comic-Con, so he has eternal cool points with me.)

Kaboom – $14.99
By Jeph Loeb & Jeff Matsuda
128 pages; published by Image Comics; also available at Amazon.com

COLLECTED FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!
The ground-breaking adventures of Geof Sunrise and his amazing transformation into inter-dimensional defender Kaboom! Witness the birth of an amazing new hero as he struggles against the forces of Scarlet! The Nine! And his first date! Can Geoff save the world and make it back in time for his own birthday party? Written by JEPH LOEB (Hulk, Ultimates 3) and illustrated by JEFF MATSUDA (X-Men, Batman Strikes!) KABOOM! introduces an amazing world of magic and monsters that has not been experienced before or since this series exploded onto the scene 10 years ago!

Collecting KABOOM 1-3, KABOOM PRELUDE and the KABOOM CHRISTMAS SPECIAL. Tons of character designs and sketches from the dynamic pencil of JEFF MATSUDA as well as a covers gallery with work from TIM SALE, ED McGUINNESS, ROB LIEFELD, ADAM POLLINA, and KERON GRANT!

Underhanded Plug Alert!: Jeph Loeb was interviewed in our documentary Dig Comics, which has just been accepted in the Vancouver International Film Festival!

Wow, that was sleazy. Who would do something like that?

Anyway, quite a few comic readers from the 1990s remember this comic fondly as a fun and adventurous comic with a dynamic art style. Here’s an interview about this collected edition. It includes a closer look at some of the artwork.

Road to Revolution! – $10.99
By Stan Mack & Susan Champlin
128 pages; published by Bloomsbury USA; also available at Amazon.com

You can’t make history without making a little trouble!

Nick is an orphan who gets by on his wits and whatever he can steal. Penny is the daughter of a tavern owner and knows the meaning of honest work. Though from completely different backgrounds and despite their instant dislike for each other they do have one thing in common: They both want the British out of Boston! When a chance encounter brings them together, Nick and Penny see a way to help the patriots. But first they’ll have to earn the trust of some of America’s great revolutionaries, including Paul Revere and Dr. Joseph Warren, and muster the courage to confront innumerable dangers.

Action packed, laced with humor, and visually dynamic for today’s readers, Road to Revolution! cleverly intertwines fact and fiction for an unprecedented view of American history.

This is probably the most interesting release of the week for me. This is the first in a series of books under the banner of The Cartoon Chronicles of America. This book has been getting good reviews. It’s a shame the publisher doesn’t have the book on their website, along with a peak inside the book. Fortunately the writer has a page up on his website at StanMack.com. It always astounds me when publishers go to the trouble and expense to publish something, but then make the creators do all the heavy-lifting of the marketing. To be fair, the publisher probably sent out the review copies, which helps. Anyway, that’s beside the point. This looks like a great book and I want a copy. Great for history buffs who don’t mind having some fiction weaved into the facts.

Alfred Pennyworth Doing The Batusi by Roger Langridge

‘Tusi #: 067

Artist:  Roger Langridge
Subject: Alfred Pennyworth (with Batman)
Date: June 20, 2009
Location: Heroes Con, Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.A.

Note(s): If I was coming back home from Heroes Con with only one sketch it was going to be a piece by Roger Langridge.  And what a beauty it is.  I love that embarrassed Batman in the background.

Roger Langridge assuming the pose (must have been the jet lag )

Mar 2009 | Boom!

Writing: Roger Langridge
Art: Roger Langridge
Colour: Digikore Studios
Letters: Deron Bennet

Kermit’s feeling down missing the swamp, and the crew do their best to try and cheer him up.

The Muppet Show makes a return to comics. The old cast is back and looking better than ever. This show is just as crazy and with the same humor following the same format of the old television show. – behind the scenes plot amidst humorous sketches.

I remember watching this show on television with my family. We really didn’t get into it until the tail end and the odd, rare random special. Reading this book is almost like reading a transcript of the show presented as a graphic novel.

And the truth comes out, miss piggy gets only one fan mail letter. I really hate the pig. All those scenes and movies with her and Kermit being a couple is enough to even give a hardcore junky nightmares. No one wants to see pig-frog babies. It’s bad enough seeing Miss Piggie burst out of a cake later in the issue. Gave me cold shivers, that did.

Ah, the Swedish Chef! I love the Swedish Chef! He’s always funny and I loved him in this issue. I need a Swedish Chef plushie to sit in the kitchen.

I loved reading this book. I’m a bit sad there’s only four issues, but ah well. It’s so good, I’ll take what I can get. This is going on my pull list.

It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights, it’s time to meet Comic Casters on the Comic Cast tonight! On this weeks strawberry jam-packed show we review Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone: The After Hours & The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street, Roger Langridge’s The Muppet Show issue #1,  Brian Wood’s Local, Lemony Snicket’s The Composer is Dead and Paul Hornschemeier’s Mother, Come Home (hardback re-release) not to mention Irish comics including Luke F’s Tweet, Philip Barrett’s Matter #11 / Blackshapes new version, and Paddy Lynch’s Stop Gap. We also have a vault of Irish and international comics news that we dive into ala Scrooge McDuck, including a preview of Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s A Drifting Life ! Tuck in!

Download Link: Comic Cast 28/04/09

In order to make life easier we’ll be linking up everything we mention on the show and breaking the links up into nice little sections. Think of it as bonus features for a DVD that’s actually a podcast. Get clicky with it:

Comic Reviewed Links:

The Muppet Show #1 publisher shop (alternatively try Ebay like we did!)

Press Release for The Twlight Zone graphic novel series 

Official website of Brian Wood (Local)

Paul Hornschemeier’s Blog

Lemony Snicket’s The Composer is Dead (YouTube clip of one of our fav authors – Lemony Snicket)

Irish Reviews & News Links:

Luke F’s blog (blog of our favourite up & coming comic youngster)

Philip Barrett’s comic shop   (everything – add to cart)

Cardboard Press (the online shop for all of Katie Blackwood & Paddy Lynch’s ace comics)

Space Avalanche (a ’spit your tea onto your monitor funny’ new webcomic)

Windell Comics (Gar Shandley & Cathal Duggan’s new comic is being launched on May 8th, upstairs in Anseo Public House, 18 Camden Street Lower, Dublin 2.)

News Links:

Free Comic Book Day (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 reprint – for free!!)

Mini-Marvels (un-fucking-cancel this, Marvel you fucking idiots!)

Marvel Super Squad (you replaced Mini Marvels with this cack!?)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine trailer (Liam got offered a ticket to the Irish premiere of this and declined. That’s how great this movie is going to be.)

Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s A Drifting Life (order from the states now or wait like a chump until May 31st to get your mitts on this)

Comic Cast Twitter (something like this)

Jeffrey Lewis (get acquainted with our next interviewee)

[Above, Hi-Way Wonders. Below, Dispatch delights.]

• MoCCA is exhibiting Kim Deitch: A Retrospective starting Sept 9th. The opening reception’s happening onSeptember 12th. Visit the website for more information and reception time.
• Starting Sept 2nd, Roger Langridge’s Mughwhump the Great joins Act-I-Vate  with new episodes premiering weekly. Says Langridge, “music-hall ventriloquist Mughwhump the Great, with his foul-mouthed dummy Billy Woodentop, attempt to find the good life on cheap wages and cheaper gin! (Warning: this comic may contain Peruvian Brick Dancers.)”
• Fox Atomic Comics releases the second volume of The Nightmare Factory on Sept 2nd. This second volume revisits the critically acclaimed stories of Thomas Ligotti’s world by artists and writers like Joe Harris, Stuart Moore, Nick Stakal, Toby Cypress, Vasilis Lolos, and Bill Sienkiewicz.
• A new book by the University Press of Mississippi, Harvey Pekar: Conversations, edited by Michael G. Rhode is now available to order from the University’s site.  The book offers nearly 25 years of interviews, from fanzines, public radio broadcasts, and The Washington Post [Don't forget The Daily Cross Hatch!-ed.]. The book touches on everything from his biographical life, to his David Letterman show appearances in the 1980s, and the success of the film adaptation of American Splendor.

–Jason Owen