Here’s the list of comics scheduled to ship to The Beguiling in Toronto, Canada on Wednesday December 19th, 2007. Please note that not all books ship to all stores at the same time, but if you see something on this list it’s probably at least worth asking about.

ALSO: The Beguiling is having a signing on December 19th! Hopefully you can drop by to meet Svetlana Chmakova and Faith Erin Hicks as they sign their new graphic novels, DRAMACON 3 and ZOMBIES CALLING. For full info visit The Beguiling’s website.

I have to say that not a lot is jumping out at me from the Shipping List this week… Considering how much product dropped on us this past week? I’m kinda happy for the break. I mean, Julie Doucet’s beautiful new diary comic 365 DAYS is shipping this week, but we’ve had that for a little while now. You should still pick it up of course :)
Full list after the cut:

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Happy Turkey Day, AMERICANS. Thanks to your little holiday, it seems as though we got The Beguiling’s shipping list a day early. Since everyone has taken the day off, that means I’m probably THE ONLY PERSON UPDATING, and it’s about next week’s comics, which no one can resist! I’ve got 100% marketshare! Quick, bid on my Project: Wonderful ads while they’re only 20 cents!

Ahem.

There’s a fucking ton of comics coming next week. Floppies, manga, graphic novels… Something for everyone and then some. Here are some of the highlights:

MAY071857 AGE OF BRONZE VOL 3 BETRAYAL HC 27.99
MAY071856 AGE OF BRONZE VOL 3 BETRAYAL TP 17.99
Man, I haven’t read this since half-way through the second trade. It’s gorgeous, but it’s so dense and detailed it takes me forever to get through a volume. That’s not a complaint, it’s more like intellectually psyching yourself up to read a real book after you’ve subsisted entirely on PEOPLE Magazine for 4 months… Age Of Bronze is an under-appreciated gem of a book, do your part by picking it up today!

SEP070172 ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN THE BOY WONDER #8 2.99
SEP070173 ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN VAR ED #8 2.99
I just don’t understand how people don’t like this.

SEP071981 CASANOVA #11 (MR) 1.99
This story-arc has been excellent. I’ve finally settled in to the Acid-Blue tones of the book, and all of the characters (new and old) are delicious. I hope you’re reading this… it’s only two bucks!

SEP074035 DAN DARE #1 (OF 7) 2.99
I’m really, really curious to see Ennis’ take on this character. I really enjoyed his two WAR STORIES mini-series from Vertigo a few years back, and this feels very similar…

SEP073469 DOC FRANKENSTEIN CVR A #6 3.50
SEP073470 DOC FRANKENSTEIN CVR B #6 3.50
This whole line has been powerfully depressing, because these books are SO GOOD and they dribble out at no pace at all. Still, I’m happy to see a new issue at least.

JUL073549 ICE WANDERER GN (RES) (C: 0-1-2) 21.99
Holy shit, a new Jiro Taniguchi book! Fucking yes. Thank you, Fanfare/Ponent-Mon, for continuing to translate this wonderful nouvelle manga. I wish it sold well enough that we could have a new book every single week. By the way, whether-or-not your local comic book store ordered this book is how you tell a poor-to-average store from a great store. This book, this publisher? They’re the dividing line. Now you know.

From the Fanfare Website (with assistance by Jason Azzopardi:

Lost in the Great North, two men are saved by the appearance of an old hunter who divulges a strange legend to them…Surrounded by wolves and fighting for their survival, two explorers head for Alaska to bury their companion…A marine biologist begins a quest to fi nd the mythical graveyard of whales.

In total six shorts with as many stories of men confronted by savage nature which is sometimes cruel, sometimes forgiving but always vast. Through tales filled with respect for animal life, this splendid collection, which lies at the crossroads of poetry and adventure, shows master storyimager Taniguchi at his award-winning best.

THIS BOOK IS PUBLISHED IN IT’S ORIGINAL JAPANESE FORM THEREFORE SHOULD BE READ FROM RIGHT TO LEFT.

SEP073950 LITTLE SAMMY SNEEZE COMP COLOR SUNDAYS 1904 - 1905 55.00
From the Sunday Press Books website:

Before his remarkable Litttle Nemo in Slumberland, Winsor McCay created two strips starring young children. This book features all of the Little Sammy Sneeze color pages (1904-05) plus Hungry Henrietta, McCay’s other comic, which appeared on the back of Sammy in the Sunday New York Herald. The unique style of this book presents two other “flipside” comics of 1904: The Woozlebeasts and The Upside Downs, along with the complete 27-chapter saga of Hungry Henrietta. All digitally restored in the original size and colors.

Sounds pretty great…

SEP073634 NEW TALES OF OLD PALOMAR #3 7.95
That’s weird, usually the Ignatz books ship three to a week. Still, don’t go looking a gift horse in the mouth…
Full shipping list behind the cut:

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The following comics and graphic novels are scheduled to ship to The Beguiling Books & Art in Toronto, Canada this week. Not all books make it to all retailers at the same time, but if you see something on the list below and not in your local store, it’s probably at least worth asking about.

The big book this week is Angel: After The Fall, the comics-format sequel to the cancelled ‘Angel’ television show, a spin-off of the popular ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’. Originally it was going to be titled “Angel Season Six” but… I dunno, someone somewhere is a jerk. Anyway, this one is also written by original creator Joss Whedon and answers a pretty major cliffhanger for a lot of fans, so I expect sales will be quite brisk. Will they be Buffy #1 brisk? I don’t see it happening myself, but that Joss Whedon does seem to have the magic touch, lately. Speaking of which, it looks like retailers who ordered Buffy #1 are getting a Limited Edition “Thank You” Buffy Hard Cover this week. Can you say “instant, expensive collectible”. I’m sure you can…

Also of note in the floppies are new issues of Powers and Walking Dead, showing that those books might just eventually get back on schedule yet. The new Hawaiian Dick ongoing series launches, written by B. Clay Moore and featuring the lovely art of Canadian (and good buddy) Scott Chantler. I’ve had a chance to read the first issue and it’s really good, I hope everyone out there will give it a shot this time out.

Finally, my friends at UDON are releasing STREET FIGHTER: BONUS STAGE, a collection of all of the back-up stories from the first two volumes of Street Fighter comics. Whether you’re a fan or not, they assembled a pretty stellar array of mainstream and international comics artists, including Joe Mad, J. Scott Campbell, Adam Warren, and I think all of Corey Lewis’ ‘Cheap Shots’ comics are in there too. Very cool. Apparently I get a thank-you in the book because I sorta came up with the idea for it, which is nice of the guys. I’m just happy to have all the work.

Full shipping list is after the jump:

Read the rest of this entry »

The following comics and graphic novels (and things) are scheduled to ship to The Beguiling Books & Art in Toronto, Canada. All items may not arrive at all retailers at the same time, but if you see an item you want listed below, it’s probably at least worth asking about.

Speaking of which, Diamond is not filling our LOEG order, as anticipated. Will we have copies Wednesday? Who can say. :)

Chris’s Highlights:

JUN070172 ALL STAR SUPERMAN #9 2.99
That’s pretty awesome. Even though it’s a June code, I wasn’t expecting another All Star Superman for a long time. That last storyline with Bizarro was fantastic, and I can’t wait to see how Morrison and Quitely wrap the whole thing up over the next four issues.

AUG073995 ASIAN BEAT GN (MR) 9.99
“A negligent mother, an affair, a broken family, domestic abuse, and drugs are among the subjects in these Goth short stories that revolve around the lives of teenagers with complicated problems.” - This sounds pretty great in a car-crash sort of way. The title just makes it so much better/worse as well.

MAY073664 COURTNEY CRUMRIN AND THE FIRE THIEFS TALE 5.95
Yay! As much as I appreciate Ted Naifeh as a diverse and multi-talented creator (with bills to pay), I kind of wish someone would drop a pile of money on him to just come up with new Courtney Crumrin stories for the next four or five years. Build up a nice library of fantastic, spooky material for kids (that adults enjoy too!).

AUG073984 FRUITS BASKET VOL 18 GN (OF 22) 9.99
I feel kind of bad that I stopped reading this after the second volume. It’s so popular I feel like I should at least know what’s going on, and reading it through Wiki feels like cheating.

AUG073419 GARTH ENNIS CHRONICLES OF WORMWOOD HC (MR) 27.99
Was this any good? It sold really well for us but I never really read any of it.

APR073696 PALESTINE HC 29.95
One of the weird things about working at a comic store, or having worked at a comic store for 13 years now, is that you’re always kind of surprised by what you DON’T own, rather than what you do. I’ve read Palestine at least twice, met Mr. Sacco a few times, and have hand-sold at least a couple hundred of these books. But I went to go and grab it from my bookshelf the other day and it turns out I don’t have it. I’ll be remedying that this week with this HC, which looks absolutely gorgeous, is stuffed to the gills with new material, and is really an essential for any bookshelf, being one of the first long-form journalistic works in the comics medium.

JUN073779 SCOTT PILGRIM VOL 4 SCOTT PILGRIM GETS IT TOGETHER 11.95
I turned down the Advance Reader Copy, I haven’t read any of the reviews or interviews, and except for a 4 or 5 page sequence that I actually performed live one day (that was a lot of fun) I have no idea what to expect, more or less, with this one. I can’t wait. :)

AUG072225 WORLD WAR HULK #5 (OF 5) WWH 3.99
I can’t get over how good this series is, when so much of what Marvel publishes these days is so terrible. Here’s hoping that they don’t cop-out on the ending.

SEP073317 ZOMBIES CALLING GN 9.95
Canadian Faith Erin Hicks releases her first original graphic novel this week, and sure, it’s about zombies, but there are actually lots of good zombie books coming out right now, even if you’re not one of those hardcore WWZ-types. I like Faith Hicks’ work a lot, she’s been doing this great webcomic called ICE online for (I think…) a few years now, and she’s been around ‘the scene’ longer still. I read a preview of this one somewhere and the dialogue, humour, pacing, and especially the art are all really excellent. If you get a chance, give this one a look because I think it’s going to be something of a sleeper hit, and I’m sure that the author and the publisher (Slave Labor Graphics) would rather it was an out-and-out spectacular hit, you know what I’m saying? Anyway, if you’re a Scott Pilgrim type looking for something else to pick-up this week, this is my pick for you.

…

Alright, like I said, League is also shipping this week, but only to U.S. Stores. I hope that as customers outside of the U.S. that you won’t be pissed off at your local comic book guy or gal, the situation really is out of their hands. If Scott Dunbier, arguably the most beloved guy at Wildstorm, lost his job over defending this one and trying to get it into the U.K. and Canada, then believe me, there’s nothing that the poor schmuck behind the counter at your local shop can do. Just try and be happy and understanding, make the world a better place, etc.

And with that, the full shipping list is behind the cut: Read the rest of this entry »

Hi there folks, the following comics and graphic novels are scheduled to ship to The Beguiling Books & Art in Toronto, Canada, on Wednesday November 7th from Diamond Comics Distributors. Not all books on this list will show up at all stores on the same week, but if you see it here, it’s probably at least worth asking your local retailer about.

So it looks like the much, much-anticipated 4th volume of Scott Pilgrim has been bumped to November 14th. Which, with the release of the third League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and at least one other major book I’m forgetting, means that you better start saving your pennies. This week is no slouch either, it’ll pummel your pocketbook if you let it.

SEP073598    ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY VOL 18.5 PX PORTFOLIO (MR) (C    32.00
I was fortunate enough to pick up Chris Ware’s lovely Acme Novelty Library 18 1/2 Portfolio a few weeks back, beautifully reprinting the “Thanksgiving” covers he produced for “The New Yorker” last year at poster size, a totally essential purchase. They’re really well printed and produced, and the short ‘follow-up’ strip that’s included is excellent as well. I don’t know how anyone can dismiss his work, and I’m not going to beat around the bush here, Ware created three outstanding ‘characters’ in these 6 short comics pieces, breathed life into them and let them interact, not a one of whom could be considered a stand-in for Ware. $32 is a steep admission to six comics, admittedly, but for five archival art prints (and a slightly lesser-printed sixth strip) it’s kind of a deal.
JUN072192    ASTONISHING X-MEN #23    2.99
SEP070077    BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER #8    2.99
Big week for fans of television-scribe-turned-comics-impressario Joss Whedon.
SEP073289    AZUMANGA DAIOH OMNIBUS VOL 1 GN    24.99
I feel like I should be watching these Omnibus editions really carefully, because I think we’re going to see a truckload of them in the next few years, and they’ll start to push the per-volume price of manga down into the “$3-$6″ range you see in Japan, even though the total buy-in is higher. I also wonder how long bookstore buyers will bite… It’s nice to have one SKU to track instead of four, but this is also taking up the space of four books on the racks and only charging as much as 2 and a half. Can it earn its shelf-space starting at a disadvantage?

JUL070292    CAIRO HARDCOVER (MR)    24.99
I want to pick up and take a look at the Cairo hard cover from Vertigo, because the preview they released was fairly interesting… I’m also curious to see if they’re doing anything in here that couldn’t be done in a mini-series, anything intrinsic to the OGN format… other than the black and white.
JUN073852    CHARLEYS WAR VOL 4 BLUES STORY HC (C: 0-1-2)    19.95
New Charley’s War is always worth noting. I still haven’t read any of them, sadly, but my friend Jason swears by them so they’re always sort of ‘on the list’ of things to read, if I could.
SEP073628    COMIC STRIP MASTERPIECES (BUNDLE OF 10) (NET)    PI
Better retailers will be giving away this 11×17 broadsheet promoting great classic comics reprint collections from Fantagraphics, Drawn & Quarterly, Checker, and IDW.
AUG072277    CRIMINAL #10 (MR)    2.99
Brubaker and Philips wrap up another excellent collaboration with Criminal #10, the end of the “Lawless” arc. Man, that last issue was a near-perfect comic book. This series is really phenomenal, I wish everyone read it.
SEP072167    DARK TOWER GUNSLINGER BORN PREM HC    24.99
Thanks for releasing my Dad’s Christmas gift in time for Christmas, Marvel!
SEP074025    DOROTHY OF OZ VOL 1 GN    11.95
AUG074038    STAR PROJECT CHIRO VOL 1 TP    11.95
I’m curious to see how Toronto’s UDON Studios do with their first manwha titles which are all released this week, Dorothy of OZ and Star Project Chiro. I kind of helped out on these, at least conceptually, and I wonder what the public reaction will be? I think a VERY manga-style ‘Wizard of Oz’ is kind of a no-brainer, and Chiro is by the same creator as the manwha Bring It On! which I kinda-liked. Interesting times.
JUL074019    GIANT ROBOT #50 (C: 0-1-2)    4.99
Congratulations to GR on their golden anniversary! You’re my favourite magazine.
JUL070018    GROO HELL ON EARTH #1 (OF 4)    2.99
There’s a new Groo series from Aragones and Evanier, and those are always fun reads.
JUL078014    HEROES HC ALEX ROSS COVER    29.99
JUL078015    HEROES HC JIM LEE COVER    29.99
Man, I hope this doesn’t suck. We’ve got a lot of these coming in…

AUG074063    NARUTO VOL 22 TP (C: 1-0-0)    7.95
AUG074064    NARUTO VOL 23 TP (C: 1-0-0)    7.95
AUG074065    NARUTO VOL 24 TP (C: 1-0-0)    7.95
There are at least 50 new manga shipping this week including the next three Naruto volumes, though it doesn’t look like anything I’m reading regularly is coming out. I always find that a little shocking.
AUG074094    NAUSICAA WATERCOLOR IMPRESSIONS HC (C: 1-0-0)    34.99
Actually, we got Nausicaa: Watercolour Impressions in early through our book distributor. That thing is gorgeous, printed larger than even the original Ghibli art books and featuring a wealth of rare and (I think) important full-colour art by Hayao Miyazaki. Ghibli fans: Bring the BIG bag to carry your purchases home, this week.
Full shipping list behind the cut:
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Hi there folks, here are a few of the more interesting comics and graphic novels scheduled to ship to The beguiling Books & Art in Toronto, Canada this week. The full list of books is behind the cut below. Now, these books may not show up at all retailers at the same time, but if you see something here it’s probably at least worth asking your retailer about…

…actually, I haven’t really got the time this week. Sorry about that. I did want to point out that the second issue of Jordan Crane’s UPTIGHT (MAY073466 UPTIGHT #2 2.50) is shipping tomorrow. He had preview copies at San Diego this weekend and it was quite enjoyable, standing nicely on its own and full of solid comics. If you’ve got $2.50 to spare this week, pick this one up. You won’t regret it.

Full list behind the cut:

Read the rest of this entry »

Hi there folks, here are a few of the more interesting books scheduled to ship to the Beguiling Books & Art in Toronto, Canada this week. The full list is behind the cut below. Now, these books may not show up at all retailers at the same time, but if you see something listed here, it’s probably worth asking your local comic book retailer about…

MAY070162 ALL FLASH #1 2.99
This is replacing the previously-solicited FLASH #14, and I have a feeling that it probably wasn’t ordered as high as it should have been (see: Green Lantern Sinestro Corps, the second printing of which is shipping this week). I dunno, are people gonna care about the return of Wally West (and family)? I guess we’ll find out…

MAY073311 BONE VOL 6 OLD MANS CAVE COLOR ED HC (C: 1-0-0) 18.99
MAY073310 BONE VOL 6 OLD MANS CAVE COLOR ED SC (C: 1-0-0) 9.99
Can you imagine if the original series had come out with this much regularity? ;)

APR073468 FLIGHT VOL 4 GN (C: 0-1-2) 24.95
It looks like the west coast are getting their copies of FLIGHT this week. I keep seeing all of my friends talking about how pretty this is, and it’s killing me. Hopefully the extra copies we ordered will show up before next Wednesday, but if I gotta wait, I gotta wait. It certainly looks like it’s worth waiting for.

NOV064107 GANZFELD 5 JAPANADA TP (C: 0-1-2) 29.95
This newest issue of THE GANZFELD features a dual focus on cartoonists from Japan and Canada, hence the title. Sounds right up my alley.

MAY073508 LEVITATION PHYSICS PSYCHOLOGY SERVICE OF DECEPTION 12.95
MAY073507 WIRE MOTHERS HARRY HARLOW & THE SCIENCE OF LOVE GN 12.95
It’s the newest two books from Jim Ottaviani and G.T. Labs. Called “G.T. Labs first books on the science of the unscientific”, WIRE MOTHERS is about experiements done to determine the nature of love, and LEVITATION is about… well, stage magic, sort of. They both sound really neat, and with collaborators including Dylan Meconis on WIRE MOTHERS and Janine Johnston on LEVITATION, they should look great too.

DEC061861 MADMAN GARGANTUA HC 125
DEC061862 MADMAN GARGANTUA HC LTD S&N ED (C: 0-1-2) 150
Has anyone seen this yet? Is it as nice as I’m expecting?

APR070210 SHAZAM THE MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL #4 (OF 4) 5.99
The final issue of Jeff Smith’s stamp on the character, and it’s being released in the midst of other… interpretations… of the character and mythos that could not be more opposed to the best-selling, feel-good version. Oh, comics.

…the rest of the shipping list is behind the cut: Read the rest of this entry »

Hi there folks. Here are a few of the more interesting comics that are scheduled to ship to The Beguiling Books & Art in Toronto, Canada this week. These books may not show up at all retailers at the same time, but if you see a title here it’s probably at least worth asking your local retailer about.

…big news for Matsumoto fans, posted here tonight at 9PM. See you then! For now, here’s a few books I think are worth your time this week, which is a day later because of Canada Day and Independence Day. Not much in the way of commentary right now because I’m swamped…
APR070173 ALL STAR SUPERMAN #8 2.99 - Yay!

APR073978 DRAGON HEAD VOL 7 GN (OF 10) (MR) (C: 1-0-0) 9.99 - Double Yay!
MAY070228 FAKER #1 (OF 6) (MR) 2.99 - Looking forward to checking out this strange-sounding new Vertigo series.

MAR072058 FALLEN SON DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA IRON MAN 2.99 - Marvel sent out a threatening note about this one, ordering us not to ruin the ending if we got this in our first-look packs. Sadly, we don’t subscribe to that program.

APR073963 KINGDOM HEARTS II VOL 1 GN (OF 5) 9.99 - $$$

MAR078185 NARUTO VOL 15 TP (C: 1-0-2) (PP #765) 7.95 - $$$ Also!

APR072328 RUNAWAYS #27 2.99 - Whedon!
MAR070262 SILVERFISH HC (MR) 24.99 - New David Lapham OGN!

MAY073718 SYNCOPATED COMICS VOL 3 (MR) 15.00 - New from my buddy Brendan Buford…

APR074036 TEZUKAS BUDDHA VOL 8 JETAVANA SC (C: 0-1-2) 14.95 - Did Diamond ship volume 7?

Full list after the cut:

Read the rest of this entry »

Hi there folks. Here are a few of the more interesting comics that are scheduled to ship to The Beguiling Books & Art in Toronto, Canada this week. These books may not show up at all retailers at the same time, but if you see a title here it’s probably at least worth asking your local retailer about.

FEB070077 ART OF BONE HC 39.95
APR060046 ARTIST WITHIN HC 39.95
MAR070019 BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER OMNIBUS VOL 1 TP 24.95

Looks like the slow-boat from the orient finally showed up this week, as Dark Horse is shipping a ton of trade paperbacks and graphic novels. These three are probably the most “Important”, with the ART OF BONE hotly anticipated by a lot of folks. It’s too bad that, for whatever reason, we were actually allocated on our order… We ordered an absolute ton of this one which means what we’re getting might actually last us through new comics day, particularly as it’s a heavy week for trades, but it also might not. Ah well. At least there’s the year-late ARTIST WITHIN hardcover that, like the relatively-recently released IN THE STUDIO by Todd Hignite, lets us peer into the creative enviroments of the giants of graphic novel-dom. I guess we’ll find out if it was the concept or the creators involved and the stellar execution that made Hignite’s book such a strong seller for us. And that BUFFY OMNIBUS I mentioned a while back is out too, and a full four weeks earlier than originally planned! I’m tempted to say that someone over at Dark Horse is actually reading my blog, but more-than-likely they’re reading the dozens of comics, buffy, and Joss Whedon blogs that picked up on my original post. I guess that counts for something!

APR072348 CRIMINAL #7 (MR) 2.99

So… Ed Brubaker popped up in my comments section last week (we had a nice chat in e-mail, he’s a good guy), and now I feel a little like all comments on this book should be addressed directly to him rather than out into the ether like everything else that I write. So, here goes: “Ed? CRIMINAL #6 was top-notch, seriously. I have to admit that you lost me with the end of the last story arc… The ultmate planner playing all the angles just decides to charge in and start shooting people? It didn’t jibe… jive… one of those two. Anyway, the first arc was solid but I didn’t dig the ending, but this new arc, that first issue? It might have been stronger than the whole first arc. It took all the stuff I liked about SLEEPER and just dropped the dudes firing electricity out of their hands: good stuff. I’m looking forward to this one for sure, top of the to-read pile.”

“Oh, and for extra kiss-ass points, I still have 1-6 AND the trade in stock at the store.”

APR070195 GREEN LANTERN SINESTRO CORPS SPECIAL #1 4.99

DUDE! MY DC REP SAID THAT THIS ISSUE IS TWICE AS CRAZY AS THE FLASH THAT CAME OUT LAST WEEK! SWEET!

MAY073453 HUMAN DIASTROPHISM PALOMAR VOL 2 TP 14.95
MAY073451 GIRL FROM HOPPERS LOCAS VOL 2 TP 14.95

I don’t know what’s going on with Diamond, but we’re getting this second collection of the Gilbert Hernandez L&R a week after everyone else, AND it’s severely allocated, AND we’re not getting the Jamie collection. Frustrating!

EDIT: Jason pointed out in the comments section that we actually are getting the second LOCAS book this week, and I just skimmed over it by accident. Sorry, my bad. And we’re getting the full amount too, whereas we’re only getting 1/3 of our Palomar order. I hope Gilbert and Jamie don’t come by the store on Wednesday, notice that we didn’t order as many of Gilbert’s book, and then hate us forever. That would totally suck.
JAN070377 NEIL GAIMAN AND CHARLES VESS STARDUST HC (RES) (MR) 39.99

Early buzz on this film? Very, very good indeed. Someone compared it to an updated “The Princess Bride,” which is much-beloved by many. And me. So you know? That’s pretty high praise. While not technically comics, this one is heavily illustrated and features the work of two comics masters. I’m kind of excited to see a Gaiman movie opening soon (with CORALINE hot on its heels). According to the Vertigo website, this new oversized hardcover edition is… well, exactly the same as the first oversized hardcover edition. Unless this is really fucking big or something…? I guess we find out Wednesday.

MAR073755 TEZUKAS APOLLOS SONG SC (MR) 19.95
APR074035 TO TERRA VOL 3 TP 13.95

Yay! Vertical loves us and is blessing us with good manga! Thank you, Vertical!

APR072368 ULTIMATES 2 VOL 2 GRAND THEFT AMERICA TP 19.99
Who had three-weeks-after-#13 in the pool? Oh wait, I did. But there wasn’t really a pool.

FEB071919 WALKING DEAD #38 (MR) 2.99
It’s agony waiting for this book… I guess that’s a good thing?

- Christopher

The rest of the shipping list is behind the cut: Read the rest of this entry »

Hi there folks. Here are a few of the more interesting comics that are scheduled to ship to The Beguiling Books & Art in Toronto, Canada this week. These books may not show up at all retailers at the same time, but if you see a title here it’s probably at least worth asking your local retailer about. Oh, and the full list of what’s shipping is underneath the cut at the bottom of this post. There are like, 200+ line items this week! Yowzers.

APR074059 DEATH NOTE VOL 12 TP (C: 1-0-0) 7.99
If you’re not so much a fan of the manga, you probably don’t differentiate the series DEATH NOTE–by creators Ohba Tsugumi and Obata Takeshi and published under Viz’s Shonen Jump line–from the rest of the avalanche of titles that are dropped onto comic and book stores every week. No less than 42 brand new manga titles this week, speaking of which. But that really is a shame, as DEATH NOTE is a stand-out work in the field. It’s certainly not perfect, and no one is going to hold it up and compare it to NEW TALES OF OLD PALOMAR #2, also out this week, as a superior work. But DEATH NOTE is a sterling example of excellent comics for a mainstream audience, the middle ground that everyone and their dad is shouting from the rooftops that the comics industry needs more of. DEATH NOTE is what Warren Ellis has been talking about for years, and what Kim Thompson was getting at, in his way, in that little essay about “crap” he wrote a while back. The series has a great high-concept (a notebook which will kill anyone who’s name is written in it), just enough sci-fi fantasy to have widespread appeal, attractive young characters, beautiful art, and an actual considered aesthetic that’s carried throughout the project. Oh, and every chapter ends on a cliffhanger, making it as addictive as crack.

DEATH NOTE ends on volume 12 this week (there is a 13th volume which acts as a guidebook to the series, but the narrative wraps up here) and I think it will easily enter the pantheon of great, lasting series that will define manga as a category as appealing to more than the 12-18 set. Literally anyone I’ve introduced the series to at The Beguiling has come back for more, and if you want to add something really good to your stack of comics this week, see about picking up the first volume for yourself. You’ll curse me for it, 12 volumes and $96 later. :)

(Also of Note: Ever the opportunists, the Shonen Jump people had the smart idea of launching 2 new mature-themed series today, hoping to hook the readers who are buying their final Death Note’s. GIN TAMA is a considerably more supernatural version of BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL, while STRAWBERRY 100% is… apparently about cute girls or something, I dunno. Out of my frame of expertise.)

JAN071929 PHONOGRAM VOL 1 RUE BRITANNA TP 14.99
I got lost on this series 3 issues in, partly because it started to hit some shipping delays and partly because, despite our best efforts, we kept selling out of the floppies on this supernatural exploration of britpop music. PHONOGRAM picked up readers seemingly with every issue, and our sales and sell-through just kept increasing as the series progressed. I’ve heard almost no word of the series’ overall quality, but at least in terms of sales, the customers–including many new faces–kept showing up right through to the end.

Next time though, guys? Any chance of a cover design where the logo is visible over the top half of the book? It kind of makes racking a bitch.

APR071850 REPO #1 (OF 5) 3.50
After a detour into a zombie-filled old west, creators of TEENAGERS FROM MARS Rick Spears and Rob G. are back with a new limited series from Image Comics featuring an AKIRA-style setting and repo-men versus an army of sex-clones named Wendy. It sounds like a hoot, and promises lots of mayham and exploding set-pieces, which is both refreshingly honest and will look great, if their past work is anything to go by.

MAY073126 YOTSUBA MANGA VOL 4 TP 9.99
Hah, apparently fan-whinging does accomplish something. The much beloved children’s series gets a new lease on life, which is a victory for charming, funny comics everywhere. One hopes. A wierd little girl named Yotsuba moves into a new neighborhood, and is fascinated by everything she sees. It’s a little like My Neighbor Totoro, but instead of adorable plush animals, there’s an air-conditioner and some bewildered neighbors. Kids? Kids love it, we sell tons. But the grown-ups love it too, which is rare for any property, and it’s nice to see that ADV have wised up and decided to continue releasing it.

For more on the appeal of YOTSUBA, and this volume in particular, check out Tom Spurgeon’s review of this volume at ComicsReporter.com.
 

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