5. ENDER'S GAME: BATTLE SCHOOL #1Written by Chris Yost; art by Pasquel Ferry
Marvel
$2.99
If you're the kind of person who doesn't like to read many novels and prefers to wait until they get made into films or comic books then this is your day. If you're a fan of Orson Scott Card's immensely popular 1985 sci-fi novel, Ender's Game, you're also very lucky. Having much success with translating Stephen King's Dark Tower novels into a series of comics, Marvel is at it again with the first part of an adaption of Card's futuristic story of a brilliant 8 year old who may be Earth's last hope against a potentially devastating alien invasion.
If you prefer to wait for the movie, there's no telling when that will happen though Card has said that this comic is the first step to moving this story to a visual medium and you could do worse than having artist Pasquel Ferry on board for that.
4. POHADKYBy Pat Shewchuk and Marek Colek
Drawn & Quarterly
$13.95 | 128 pgs
This week's thing of beauty might very well be this illustrated "folk tale" from two artists, one Ukranian and one from the Czech Republic. Both pull on elements of their culture's rich artistic history to create a collection of sad, lower-case-"g"-grim fairy tales. Pat Shewchuk and Marek Colek are artists that reside in Toronto and work in the animation industry as the studio known as Tin Can Forest. You can get a taste of their work by perusing their website.
3. SULK #1: BIGHEAD AND FRIENDSBy Jeffrey Brown
Top Shelf
$7.00 | 64pgs
Jeffrey Brown is known mostly for his touching, very personal memoir comics like Clumsy and Unlikely but he's also got a very weird sense of humor and a willingness to use his crude, DIY artistic style to tackle any sort of genre that strikes his fancy. In his new pocket-sized graphic novel series, Sulk, Brown starts off with a superhero story featuring the very emo Bighead - a superhero more likely to get taken down by his own feelings than by a super villain. This new anthology style series will take on more than just the superhero genre in future issues. Look for Jeffrey Brown's take on mixed martial arts in issue #2 and future issues will try out the fantasy genre as well as meditate on the comics form itself.
Preview the story of Bighead here.
2. IMMORTAL IRON FIST VOL. 3: THE BOOK OF THE IRON FISTWritten by Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Roy Thomas, Len Wein; art by Travel Foreman, Leandro Fernandez, Khari Evans, Gil Kane, Russ Heath, and more
Marvel
$24.99
Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction's relaunch of Immortal Iron Fist has been one of the most enjoyable books Marvel has put out in the last couple of years. What makes the book so great, among other things, is the idea they've presented that over the centuries there have been sixty-six different men and women who have carried the mantle of Iron Fist. Throughout the present day story of current Fist, Danny Rand, we've seen intriguing flashbacks to many of these previous Fists. The third hardcover volume collects issues #7 and #15-16 which focuses on some of these Iron First of old like Wu Ao-Shi, Bei Bang-Wen and fan favorite Orson Randall, the Iron Fist of the WWII era. There's also some one-shots collected here like Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death and The Origin of Danny Rand featuring some classic 70s-era stuff.
1. THE MAN WHO LOVED BREASTSBy Robert Goodin
Top Shelf
$4.00 | 32 pgs
No, no, I haven't started dipping into the Eros catalog or anything. The Man Who Loved Breasts is a one-shot comic by a guy who has worked on such wholesome TV programs as Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys, for crying out loud.
This short story, published by Top Shelf (ahem), is about a man stuck in a job he hates who decides to pursue a living in a field that speaks more to his heart. You can see where this is going. Or maybe you can't, which is where it gets interesting. Either way, it sounds like a story with universal appeal.
Robert Goodin's comic work has appeared in various anthologies like Mome, Typhon and McSweeny's and his fluid linework, full of character and energy, is definitely a product of his animation experience. See for yourself.
10 comments:
Can someone please put a copy of The Man Who Loved Breasts in my bag please?
I'll do it, Rich--I've got something else to put in there anyway.
I know this is a family blog, but neither of those last two entries will look very good out of context if a google search brings them up. I'm just saying.....
Rich-- where were the special mentions this week?
Dang, I already deleted Jason's almost identical reply, just to keep the conversation from turning that way. I guess I owe Jason an apology. Psyche!
Go figure-but I too would LOVE to have one of those in my bag...didn't know someone wrote a book about me...
Has anyone read the Ender's Game comic? I'm curious as to what the reaction is for that.
Shawn,
You can read all about my reaction to Ender's Game comic in my new "graphic novella", The Man Who Loved Ender's Game. It is a magical journey of self-discovery as I give up the dreary working world, and follow my passion. And by that I mean locally-produced, Hugo Award winning science-fiction. It is sure to be on every critic's "most excerable" list.
Phil
By family blog, do we mean our readership is 35 year olds and their moms?
Ha, that was fanboy humor there.
Grrr! Foiled by the Harbin-Mansell team yet again!!!
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