Click the full post link below for a tentative list of titles due to ship next week.
Adventure Comics #522
Anita Blake Circus Of Damned Ingenue #1 (Of 5)
Ant-Man & Wasp #3 (Of 3)
Astounding Wolf Man TP Vol 4
Avengers Childrens Crusade #4 (Of 9)
Avengers Prime #5 (Of 5)
Avengers Thor Captain America Off Index Marvel Universe #9
Azrael #16
Batman Beyond #1
Batman Confidential #52
Billy The Kid Ghastly Fiend London #4
Brightest Day #17
Bring The Thunder #2
Choker #5 (Of 6)
Darkness #88
Darkness Four Horsemen #3 (Of 4)
Dc Comics Presents Lobo #1
Doc Macabre #2 (Of 3)
Doom Patrol #18
Edge Of Doom #3
Fraction TP
Freedom Fighters #5
Generation Hope #3
Green Hornet #12
Green Hornet Blood Ties #3
Halo TP Helljumper
House Of Mystery #33
Iron Man Legacy #10
iZombie #9
Jonah Hex #63
JSA All Stars #14
Kookaburra K TP
Madame Xanadu TP Vol 3 Broken House Of Card
Marineman #2
Ozma Of Oz #3 (Of 8)
Raise The Dead II #2
She-Hulks #3 (Of 4)
Spider-Man Origin Of Species Prem HC
Starman Congorilla #1
Steel #1
Superboy #3
Sweet Tooth #17
Thanos Imperative Devestation One-Shot
The Suicide Forest #2 (Of 4)
Transformers Drift TP
Transformers Ongoing #15
Transformers Prime #1 (Of 4)
Ultimate Comics Captain America #1 (Of 4)
Vampirella #2
Walking Dead Weekly #1
Weird Worlds #1 (Of 6)
Who Is Jake Ellis? #1
Wolverine Best There Is #2
X-Factor #213
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Due To Arrive 07/01/11
The Gosh! Authority 29/12/10
Welcome back, pie fanciers. The last delivery of the year comes coughing and spluttering onto the shelves a mere shadow of its former planned glory. Thanks to Narnia conditions in the North and a situation regarding couriers not doing any couriering in said conditions, it transpires we have only a handful of titles for you this week. However there are some good’uns in the batch as always, and the missing bits will wind their weary way to us next week in more clement weather.
Breaking news on the Gosh! front is that we have a rare job vacancy. Fancy working with us? Here’s a job description and all the other informatory bits and bobs.
My pick of the week is the latest offering from the increasingly prolific Nobrow. Jon NcNaught’s previous book Birchfeld Close was a lovely looking thing and Pebble Island is a worthy follow-up. “Far across the Atlantic Ocean lies the windswept shore of Pebble Island, a secluded place where time goes slowly, and the seasons all happen at once, where rocks on the beach are perfectly round, and TV broadcasts are limited and late.” It’s a silent, 38-page graphic novel in blue and orange, drawing on McNaught’s childhood in the Falklands. Paul Gravett was right, as usual, when he likened McNaught to a mix between Gosh! Favourites Chris Ware and Tom Gauld. Highly recommended.
BATTLE MiLK 2: Tangents and Transitions is a collection of sci fi and fantasy concept art by the six San Francisco-based animation artists (including Kilian Plunkett) listed here. Each artist provides a commentary on their process alongside the 120 or so full colour images. Have a review and loads of preview pictures.
David Finch starts a new ongoing series with his pulp noir Batman: The Dark Knight #1, which he both writes and draws. The story is in keeping with Morrison continuity and in fact the two collaborated on the recent Batman: The Return and also a story in Batman #700. “Dark Knight will take Batman in a bit of a darker direction. He's going to be dealing with mysticism, dark arts, and demonology. All things that are well outside of his comfort zone. The challenge for Batman will be to pit his brains and grim determination against forces that defy logic and fear. But he's a fast learner, and he'll have help.” Finch talks about it with Newsarama and you can see some of his pencils here.
Hellboy: The Sleeping and the Dead is a new two-parter from Mike Mignola, collaborating for the first time with Scott Hampton of Simon Dark and Books of Magic fame. An old man with insider knowledge on the coming vampire apocalypse sets the stage for a gothic story that looks like a lot of fun. Alabaster girls with velvet gowns and cleavage abound. Preview over at Dark Horse.
In Red Special: Eyes Only, original artist on the Warren Ellis miniseries Cully Hamner takes the reigns to give you a prequel to what is now-a-major-motion-picture. Can’t find any previews for this one so you’ll just have to wait and see.
Robert E. Howard’s Savage Sword #1 is the first eighty-page chunk of an anthology series featuring Howard’s classic characters – some of whom have never been drawn before. There’s new stuff as well as old stuff by the likes of Marc Andreyko (Manhunter), Paul Tobin (Spider-Man & The Secret Wars), Tim Bradstreet (Punisher), Robert Atkins (G.I. Joe) and more. It even reprints the recoloured Conan epic Worms of the Earth by Roy Thomas, Tim Conrad and Barry Windsor-Smith in its entirety. For a preview you can head over to Dark Horse again.
Speaking of reprints, if you want to bag yourself some classic Steve Ditko but don’t much fancy the expensive hardcovers make sure you pick up DC Comics Presents T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1. It features stories from issues #1, 2 and 7 (circa 1965ish) including the 10-pager A Matter of Life and Death with art by Wallace Wood and Ditko.
That’s about it! Told you it was wee. New comics day this week is Thursday as usual. We close at 2pm on New Year’s Eve (that’s Friday) and are shut all of New Year’s Day. Next week you can grab your new comics on Friday the 7th of January, and then it’ll be Wednesdays permanently from then on. Why? I don’t know, ask the Americans.
-- Hayley
In Store 24/12/10 - 30/12/10
Click the full post link below for a list of items in store this week.
Age Of Bronze #31
Batman The Dark Knight #1 (David Finch)
Detective Comics #872
Battlemilk 2 Tangents & Transitions In Concept Art SC (Plunkett)
Bulletproof Coffin #6 (Of 6)(D. Hine/S. Kane)
Elephantmen #29
Flash #8 Brightest Day
Gotham City Sirens #18
Green Arrow #7 Brightest Day
Green Lantern #61 Brightest Day
Hellboy Sleeping & Dead #1 (Of 2)(M. Mignola/S. Hampton)
Hit-Monkey TP Year Of Monkey
Incognito Bad Influences #2(E. Brubaker/S. Phillips)
Incorruptible #13
Incorruptible TP Vol 3
DC Comics Presents JLA #1
JLA The 99 #3 (Of 6)
Justice Society Of America #46
Nemesis #4 (Of 4) (M. Millar)
Pebble Island HC (Jon McNaught)
Previews #268 January 2011
Red: Eyes Only One-Shot (Hamner)
Robert E Howard's Savage Sword #1
Scalped #44 (J. Aaron)
Siege TP Thunderbolts
Spider-Man TP Real Clone Saga
Stan Lee's Traveler #2 (M. Waid)
Action Comics #896 (P. Cornell)
Teen Titans #90
Thor Vs Seth Serpent God TP
DC Comics Presents Thunder Agents #1
Thunderstrike #2 (Of 5)
Tomb Of Dracula Omnibus HC Vol 3
Transformers Best Of Starscream TP
MANGA
Gente TP Vol 2
Oh My Goddess Rtl TP Vol 16
Job Vacancy at Gosh!
Gosh! has been around for nearly 25 years now, and in that time we’ve built up what we hope to be a reputation for excellent, knowledgeable service (not to blow our own trumpet too loudly), and a range of graphic novels that are second to none. We’re a small, busy store that needs staff who can juggle friendly, helpful service with a diverse range of administrative tasks, while also helping to maintain a well-presented shop floor. Needless to say, organisational skills and an attention to detail are a must. Experience within a busy retail environment is essential, and it’ll certainly be a bonus to have had experience within the book trade.
The position itself will be flexible within certain parameters, which are laid out in the job description. The fact is, though, that we like to let people’s strengths lead them to certain roles within the shop, and there are certainly opportunities for all our staff to place their own stamp upon Gosh’s identity.
So drop us a line if you’re interested! The position will be available immediately, though we’re happy to wait for the right person if you can’t start straight away.
Please send your CV and a brief cover letter for the attention of Andrew or Josh to info@goshlondon.com.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Due To Arrive 23/12/10
Click the full post link below for a tentative list of titles due to ship next week.
Action Comics #896
All New Batman The Brave And The Bold #2
Astonishing Spider-Man Wolverine #4 (Of 6)
Astonishing X-Men Xenogenesis #4 (Of 5)
Atlas TP Return Of Three Dimensional Man
Avengers #8
Avengers Assemble TP Vol 1
Batman The Dark Knight #1
Bring The Thunder #2
Bullseye Perfect Game #2 (Of 2)
Captain America #613
Carnage #2 (Of 5)
Chaos War X-Men #1 (Of 2)
Daken Dark Wolverine #4
DC Comics Presents JLA #1
DC Comics Presents Thunder Agents #1
Deadpool Corps #9
Deadpool Corps Prelude TP
Deadpool Team-Up #886
Detective Comics #872
Essential Avengers TP Vol 6 New Ed
Flash #8 Brightest Day
Gears Of War #15
GI Joe #25
GI Joe Disavowed TP Vol 2
Gotham City Sirens #18
Green Arrow #7 Brightest Day
Green Hornet #12
Green Lantern #61 Brightest Day
Halo Fall Of Reach Boot Camp #3 (Of 4)
Hellboy Sleeping & Dead #1 (Of 2)
Hellcyon #4 (Of 4)
Heroic Age X-Men #1
Hulk #28
Jack Of Fables #49
JLA The 99 #3 (Of 6)
Justice Society Of America #46
Ka-Zar By Mark Waid & Andy Kubert TP Vol 1
Marvel Masterworks Uncanny X-Men TP Vol 3
New Mutants #20
One Month To Live Prem HC
Osborn #2
Raise The Dead II #2
Scalped #44
Secret Warriors #23
Secret Warriors TP Vol 3 Wake Beast
Shield #5
Siege TP Thor
Siege TP Thunderbolts
Simpsons Super Spectacular #12
Spider-Girl #2 Big
Spider-Man TP Black Cat
Super Hero Squad Gn TP Infinity Sword Quest
Supreme Power TP Nighthawk New Ptg
Teen Titans #90
Tiny Titans #35
Tomb Of Dracula TP Vol 3
Transformers Best Of Starscream TP
Transformers Sector 7 #4 (Of 5)
True Blood #6 (Of 6)
Ultimate Comics Avengers 3 #5 (Of 6)
Ultimate Comics Thor #3 (Of 4)
Vampirella #2
Walking Dead #80
What If? #200
Widowmaker #2 (Of 4)
Wizard Magazine #234
X-23 #4
X-Men Forever 2 #14
X-Men To Serve And Protect #2 (Of 4)
The Gosh! Authority 22/12/10
I’ve been waiting days to deploy this photograph of the Gosh! Christmas tree. Please look at it with the reverence and sentimentality it deserves, perhaps even stopping to utter a hushed ‘aaaw’. As for when you can come and see its finely decorated fronds you’ll have to work around these:
Christmas Eve: 10am - 3pm.
Christmas Day: CLOSED
Boxing Day: CLOSED
New comics day this week is Thursday and we’re open 10am ‘til 7pm as per usual. And what awaits you there? Many things, not least of which is a whole bunch of manga. There’s been something of a manga drought of late on the Gosh! Blog but I’ll attempt to make it up to you now. There’s a new volume of Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys (that’s 12, count ‘em) plus the second instalment of the strange and brilliantly titled I’ll Give It My All... Tomorrow. If you didn’t catch the first volume Comics Worth Reading can fill you in, and we’ve got it in stock if you like the sound of it. Will Bingley (of Gonzo fame) also wants me to point out that Children of the Sea Volume 4 has arrived too and the series is “very good.”
I like the look of A Single Match by Garo veteran Oji Suzuki. It’s another one of those dead fancy Drawn & Quarterly presentations of alternative stuff from the early 1970s only recently becoming available to us lot in the West. D&Q put it thusly: “Suzuki explores memory, relationships and loss with a loose narrative style, filling each tale with a sense of unfulfilled longing. He plumbs the dissolute depths of human psychology, literally bathing his characters in expansive shadows that paradoxically reveal as much as they obscure.”
It was published in France a couple of years ago under the title The Red Kimono, so to our bilingual friends I say, “don’t get confused.” There are some untranslated Japanese pages here from when Dirk Deppey picked up some old issues of Garo and excitedly scanned them in, plus a huge PDF preview of a different bit entirely.
Last week we had Jodorowsky and Moebius’ Madwoman of the Sacred Heart on our new shelves for a fleeting moment before they disappeared. This week (if you’re quick) you can get your hands on The Incal: The Classic Collection Deluxe Hardcover, which as the superlatives suggest is one excellent book indeed (and there are only 750 of the things around!). Widely considered a masterpiece, The Incal is the sci-fi tale of detective John Difool who accidentally discovers the key to the Universe. It’s presented in its original colours and comes in a swish slipcase too. You can see some pictures of it here. Consider it the Absolute Incal.
From the same publishing house comes Tikitis, a mad looking book from Jerry Frissen and Fabien M, the team who previously brought you Lucha Libre. The retirement of some masked heroes doesn’t go to plan when it transpires their supposedly tranquil tropical island is full of mad scientists, voodoo zombies, jungle warriors et al. Preview at the Humanoids blog.
Duncan The Wonder Dog TP Volume 1 is a thing you might like if you’re a fan of Dave McKean.
In their review, Time’s Techland call the “frantic science-fictional meditation on the relationship between people and animals” the debut book of 2010 and as we’re very nearly at the end of the year that means they’re pretty damn sure of it. The first volume alone is a dense 400 pages long, 28 of which you can read in this ‘ere preview. Writer and illustrator Adam Hines is interviewed by Comicbook Resources and Publishers Weekly.
Duncan the Wonder Dog
As an antidote to Jack Black’s face on the side of buses I suggest Kelley Jones’ (Batman, Sandman) Gulliver’s Travels HC in which he illustrates each chapter of Jonathan Swift’s classic in full colour. Even these days some things do not exist on the internet – a preview of this book is one of those things.
Trickster is an anthology of twenty Native American tales told by Native writers and illustrated by various artists. As with all collections like this there are excellent bits and then there are the other bits with the comic sans lettering that leave you wondering “Why?” That aside it’s a pretty fine looking book and you can read all about it here.
Speaking of anthologies, remember Pood? The first issue came out back in Summer, a huge broadsheet affair in the style of Wednesday Comics but done by a whole gang of alternative comics creators. The second issue is out this week and in it you can find stuff by Jim Rugg, Joe Infumari, Sara Edward Corbett, Hans Rickheit and loads more. Highly recommended.
Edible Secrets: A Food Tour Of Classified U.S. History is a book by Michael Hoerger and Mia Partlow about the shady and bizarre political ventures revealed in declassified intelligence documents – all somehow told through the context of food. The Eisner Award-winning Nate Powell (Swallow Me Whole) provides the illustrations (some of which you can see here) and says “Fred Hampton, Fidel Castro, the Rosenbergs, Ronald Reagan, and the MK-Ultra program are all hopelessly intertwined with top-secret snacking. FOR REAL.”
Joe Sacco is the face of war reportage, comics-wise, but over at the War is Boring website (where comics appear alongside the work of regular war correspondents) they’re giving him a run for his money. Reporter David Axe has been sent pretty much everywhere – Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Chad, East Timor just to name a few. While there and freed from other assignments, he wrote for himself “explor[ing] his inner conflicts with the same intensity he records the ones between guerrillas and counterinsurgents.” Matt Bors illustrates the comics, a form chosen by Axe because “comics come with baggage that’s useful for what I’m trying to do. Comics lull you into a false sense of security. You think, this will be funny or at least unserious. Then we hit you with the explosions and the dismemberment. That contrast lends a sharpening effect to the awfulness and violence. Also, comics are great for conveying the, ahem, comic moments of being a war reporter: the bizarre Walmart-style arms shows, all the waiting around in crappy bars and hotels, the goofy stories that war-addled fixers always tell.” More of that here.
The hugely popular viral webcomic Axe Cop is collected in trade paperback this week, and previewed here. It was created by 5-year-old Malachai Nicolle and illustrated by his 29-year-old brother Ethan Nicolle. If you’ve not read that story of how that happened go and do it now because it’s sugary sweet.
Also out in paperback is Marvels: Eye of the Camera, the sequel to the Kurt Busiek/Alex Ross Marvels series; Peter & Max: A Fables Novel by Bill Willingham (reviewed here); and Viking Volume 1: Long Cold Fire which includes the original story by Ivan Brandon and Nic Klein along with a pile of never-before-seen stuff.
As for comics, there’s a new one out from Matz and Luc Jacamon, creators of Eisner-nominated crime noir The Killer. Set in the near future, it’s a sci-fi tale of war and the media:
“I'm an avid reader of history, politics, geo-strategy. I have been working in videogames for over fifteen years now, where I am involved with the storytelling of a lot of Tom Clancy titles, like Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon, so I like those subjects. Around that time, 9/11 had already happened and the whole world was changing - ramping up toward a bigger war than Afghanistan. Also, reality TV was getting bigger and bigger. It felt to me that the two mixed together would be an interesting topic, especially if we mix in private interests, mercenaries and private companies.”
More of that interview with Matz over at Comicbook Resources. There’s also a preview and an early review.
There’s a new one-shot called The Cape based on a piece in Joe Hill’s highly recommended short story collection 20th Century Ghosts. Jason Ciaramella and Zach Howard adapt it for the comic. There’s a preview here but mind how you go; it might make you cringe like an onscreen kick to the nuts.
Green Lantern gets into the spirit of all things tinselly with Green Lantern Larfleeze: Christmas Special One-Shot by Geoff Johns and Brett Booth, in which the leader of the Orange Lanterns lands on Earth post-Blackest Night. "He finds out there's this being who gives people things, and goes to find him," Johns said referring to Santa Claus. "Hal Jordan has to explain to him what stories are. He's not happy."
And lastly, the new Christmas-themed Beano-annual styled issue of Dodgem Logic features a cracking ghost story by its hairy captain Mr Alan Moore. Fellow contributor Robin Ince says it will be “a spooky joy to skeptics”. There’s also Harry Hill writer David Quantick and Savage Pencil’s new serialised graphic novel about a mental Edwardian painter, plus dozens of pages by the likes of Stewart Lee, Alabama 3, Josie Long, Melinda Gebbie, Kristian Hammerstad, Barney Farmer and Lee Healey.
Merry Christmas, Bedford Falls.
-- Hayley
In Store 17/12/10 - 23/12/10
Click the full post link below for a list of items in store this week.
Betty & Veronica Friends Double Digest #210
Alan Moore Neonomicon #3 (Of 4)
American Vampire #10
Angel Illyria #2 (Of 4)
Secret Avengers #8
Axe Cop TP Vol 1
Azrael #15
Batman Annual #28
Batman Dark Knight Archives HC Vol 7
Batman Incorporated #2
Batman Streets Of Gotham #18
Black Widow Prem HC Name Of Rose
Blue Beetle Black And Blue TP
Boris Karloff Tales Of Mystery Archive HC Vol 4
Chaos War Dead Avengers #2 (Of 3)
Chew #16
Cyclops #1 (Matz/L. Jacamon)
DC Universe Legacies #8 (Of 10)
Doctor Who Special #27
Dr Who Magazine #429
Duncan The Wonder Dog TP Vol 1
Dynamo 5 Holiday Special 2010 #1
Edible Secrets A Food Tour Of Classified US History SC(Nate Powell)
Fantastic Four #586
Flash Gordon Comic Book Archives HC Vol 2
FX 2 Lost Land TP
Green Hornet Golden Age Remastered #5
Green Hornet Year One #7
Kato #6 (Kevin Smith)
Green Lantern Corps #55
Green Lantern Larfleeze: Christmas Special One-Shot (G. Johns)
Guild Vork One-Shot
Gulliver's Travels HC Vol 1(J. Swift/K. Jones)
Halcyon #2
Haunt #12
Hellblazer #274 (P. Milligan)
Hitman TP Vol 3 Local Heroes (New Ptg)
Incal Classic Collection Deluxe HC(Jodorowsky/Moebius)
Incredible Hulks #619
Invincible #76
Invincible Iron Man #33
Invincible Iron Man TP Vol 4 Stark Disassembled
Iron Man Rapture #3 (Of 4)
Jeffrey Jones A Life In Art HC
Joe Hill's The Cape One-Shot
Justice League Generation Lost #16
Justice League Of America #52
Kill Shakespeare #8 (Of 12)
Klaws Of Panther #4 (Of 4)
Kull The Hate Witch #2 (Of 4)
Legion Of Super Heroes #8
Little Lulu's Pal Tubby Vol 2 TP
Mad Magazine #507
Magnus Archives TP Vol 1
Marvels TP Eye Of Camera
Mice Templar Vol 3 #1
Mighty Samson Archives HC Vol 2
Morning Glories #5
Namor First Mutant #5
Outsiders #35
Peter & Max A Fables Novel TP
Pood #2 (Jim Rugg Et Al)
Power Girl #19
Punisher In Blood #2 (Of 5)
Ratchet And Clank #4 (Of 6)
Reid Fleming: World’s Toughest Milkman HC
Robert Jordan Wheel Of Time Eye Of The World #8
Savage Dragon #167
Bart Simpson Comics #57
Sixth Gun #7
Spider-Man #9
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #151
Star Wars Invasion Rescues #6 (Of 6)
Star Wars Omnibus TP Quinlan Vos: Jedi in Darkness
Stargate Vala Mal Doran TP
Stuff Of Legend: Jungle #3 (Of 4)
Superior #3 (Of 6) (M. Millar)
DC Comics Presents Superman #3
Superman Batman #79
Tank Girl Bad Wind Rising #1 (Of 4)
Teen Titans Cold Case One-Shot
Teen Titans Ravager Fresh Hell TP
Thor Wolves Of The North One-Shot(Mike Carey)
Tikitis HC (J. Frissen)
Top Cow Holiday 2010 Special GN
Trickster: Native American Tales An Anthology GN
Twisted Toyfare Theatre TP Vol 11
Ultimate Comics Doom #1 (Of 4)
Untouchable One-Shot (M. Carey)
Usagi Yojimbo #134
Usagi Yojimbo TP Vol 9 New Ptg
Art Of Vampirella HC
Vampirella Archives HC Vol 1
Viking TP Vol 1 Long Cold Fire(I. Brandon/N. Klein)
War Is Boring GN
Warlord Of Mars #3
What If? Dark Reign One-Shot
Wildcats #30
Wonder Woman #605
X-Files 30 Days Of Night #6 (Of 6)
Deadpool #30
Deadpool Pulp #4 (Of 4)(L. Campbell)
Uncanny X-Men #531
X-Men #6
X-Men Legacy #243
X-Men Noir TP Mark Of Cain
DC Comics Presents
Young Justice #3
Zatanna #8
MANGA
20th Century Boys GN Vol 12(Naoki Urasawa )
A Single Match HC (O. Suzuki)
Bleach TP Vol 33
Chi Sweet Home GN Vol 4
Children Of The Sea TP Vol 4
Ga Geijutsuka Art Design Class GN Vol 3
House Of Five Leaves TP Vol 2
Ooku Inner Chambers GN Vol 5
I'll Give It My All Tomorrow TP Vol 2
Peepo Choo GN Vol 3
Soul Eater TP Vol 4
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Due To Arrive 23/12/10
Click the full post link below for a tentative list of titles due to ship next week.
Alan Moore Neonomicon #3 (Of 4)
American Vampire #10
Angel Illyria #2 (Of 4)
Art Of Vampirella HC
Axe Cop TP Vol 1
Azrael #15
Bart Simpson Comics #57
Batman Annual #28
Batman Incorporated #2
Batman Streets Of Gotham #18
Black Widow Prem HC Name Of Rose
Blue Beetle Black And Blue TP
Chaos War Dead Avengers #2 (Of 3)
Chew #16
DC Comics Presents Superman #3
DC Comics Presents Young Justice #3
DC Universe Legacies #8 (Of 10)
Deadpool #30
Dynamo 5 Holiday Special 2010 #1
Elephantmen #2
Fantastic Four #586
Green Hornet Golden Age Remastered #5
Green Hornet Year One #7
Green Lantern Corps #55 Brightest Day
Green Lantern Larfleeze Christmas Special #1
Guild Vork #1
Haunt #12
Hellblazer #274
Hellboy Sleeping & Dead #1 (Of 2)
Hit-Monkey TP Year Of Monkey
Incognito Bad Influences #2
Incorruptible #13 & TP Vol 3
Incredible Hulks #619
Invincible Iron Man #33
Jeffrey Jones A Life In Art HC
Joe Hill's The Cape One-Shot
Justice League Generation Lost #16 BD
Justice League Of America #52
Kevin Smith Kato #6
Kill Shakespeare #8 (Of 12)
Klaws Of Panther #4 (Of 4)
Kull The Hate Witch #2 (Of 4)
Legion Of Super Heroes #8
Lone Ranger & Tonto #4
Marvels Eye Of Camera TP
Mice Templar Vol 3 #1
Namor First Mutant #5
Nemesis #4 (Of 4)
Outsiders #35
Power Girl #19
Previews #268 January 2011
Punisher In Blood #2 (Of 5)
Robert E Howard's Savage Sword #1
Secret Avengers #8
Sixth Gun #7
Spider-Man #9
Spider-Man TP Real Clone Saga
Stan Lee Traveler #2
Star Wars Invasion Rescues #6 (Of 6)
Superior #3 (Of 6)
Superman Batman #79
Teen Titans Cold Case #1
Teen Titans Ravager Fresh Hell TP
Thor Vs Seth Serpent God TP
Thor Wolves North #1
Thunderstrike #2 (Of 5)
Ultimate Comics Doom #1 (Of 4)
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #151
Uncanny X-Men #531
Untouchable One-Shot
Usagi Yojimbo #134
Vampirella Archives HC Vol 1
Warlord Of Mars #3
What If Dark Reign
Wildcats #30
Wonder Woman #605
X-Files 30 Days Of Night #6 (Of 6)
X-Men #6
X-Men Legacy #243
X-Men Noir TP Mark Of Cain GN
Zatanna #8
The Gosh! Authority 15/12/10
Afternoon, all. The Quality Streets are on the counter so it must be nearly Christmas. At the end of this post I’ve listed our hours over the traditionally patchy period before us. I’m not putting them up here in the vain hope you’ll accidentally cast your eyes over the soggy middle bit of this post. Try not to think of it as “soggy” but “gooey” or something, rather like the caramel bit in a Golden Barrel. As I said, the Quality Streets are now on the counter. I implore you to eat them before we do. Please. Save us from our fat selves.
Continuing on from last week’s Nobrow delivery, we’ve got two more tardy additions to the shelf. Ada by Berlin-based artist Atak is an illustrated version of Gertrude Stein’s first ‘word portrait’ originally written in 1908, supposedly about her lover Alice Toklas. It’s all handwritten and hand-drawn, then printed in four colours (no half tones, design nerds) using a process similar to chromolithography, thus making it feel like something far older than it is. I invite you to be suitably impressed:
Temporama is a new one by Clayton Junior who also appears in last week’s A Graphic Cosmogony. Originally from south Brazil, Clayton now works in a London studio, in which you can see him sitting if you go and read this interview here. As for the book, Temporama is a silent story about a night of strange happenings, a sort of short arthouse film. Behold the midnight fridge raid:
Saying “There’s some old Moebius stuff back in print, come geddit!” is pretty much all I need to do here, but for those of you who need further convincing: 
Mad Woman of the Sacred Heart originally came out in (I think) 1996 and as its editor says, “It's one of those stories that is impossible to define in a few sentences. But, it's a story that, when read, forces you to think about life, art, love...” and even argues that it’s a greater, bolder story than the classic Alexandro Jodorowsky/Moebius effort The Incal. In the long unavailable Madwoman, a student becomes impregnated by her professor with what she believes to be John the Baptist reincarnated, and thus begins a journey of madness to bring forth the Second Coming of Christ. It’s weird. If you’ve already read it perhaps you’d like to read this post on Comics for Serious.
Another champion of the weird: The Steve Ditko Archives HC Volume 2: Unexplored Worlds is a compendium of the bizarre and horrific stories Ditko pumped out in his astonishingly prolific period pre-superheroes, when he was recovering from a near-fatal bout of tuberculosis. There’s a great article at Wired about the year he spent working for the notoriously trashy Charlton Comics where these stories first appeared in 1956/1957. Wired also have several preview pages that will either make you want this book or wonder about the effects of tuberculosis on the mind. Either works.
Sergio Zaniboni: Non Solo Diabolik SC is a career-spanning artbook from the guy most famous for the comic Diabolik which if you’re anything like me you only know about because of the strange Mario Bava film adaptation.
Obviously he did loads of other stuff and this book is a chronological view of all that plus unpublished sketches and lesser-known works. The text is all in Italian but it’s fairly picture-heavy anyway.
Another career-spanning tome is John Buscema: The Michelangelo of Comics in hardcover and soft, billed as an exhaustive look at the work of one of Marvel’s main guys in the ‘60s and ‘70s. The legendary Buscema worked on nearly every Marvel title and did over two hundred Conan the Barbarian stories in a career that spanned decades. Loads of interviews with people he’s worked with plus hundreds of bits of art too.
Motel Art Improvement Service HC is the latest collection of Bee! the popular webcomic by Jason Little. When we last saw Bee she was embroiled in a murder mystery in the Ignatz Award-winning Shutterbug Follies. This time she winds up with an artist on the run who’s decided to better the art in motels around the country. Little blogs about it over at the Dark Horse website and there’s an interview with him at Publishers Weekly.
El Vocho is a graphic novel by Steve Lafler (BugHouse) which he seems to have self-published or at least will continue to do so with your help via Kickstarter. If you like black and white scratchy zines this may well be up your street. The Comics Journal have a review of it along with some pages and and interview with the guy too. Maybe it’ll change your life, who knows.
Warren Ellis sees a long unavailable piece of work back on the shelves this week, Two-Step TP, a three-issue sci-fi romance with guns and rude words. In fact I think all of the rude words are in this one. It originally appeared back in 2003, illustrated by Amanda Connor and Jimmy Palmiotti. Why would you want it? The potty-mouthed Ellis says, “Amanda and Jimmy drew the sh*t out of it. And there’s a bloke in there who f*cks cars.” What else could you possibly ask for?
Steve Niles has two books out on Thursday, the first being the Mystery Society TP Volume 1, collecting the series illustrated by Fiona Staples, and the second is Doc Macabre #1 (of 3), another collaboration with horror comics behemoth Bernie Wrightson. The new series continues to expand the world the two created with Dead, She Said and you’ll even see cameo appearances Detective Coogan and the Ghoul. In an unconfirmed future project the two plan to reunite all their leading men: "The whole plan was to create all these characters and put them together in a group, kind of a like a Bernie Wrightson 'Defenders.' A group of monsters, who, because of their special circumstances, can take on these things.” More of that interview with Niles here, and Wrightson talks about it over at Fearnet.
Even more macabre but undoubtedly less comedic is Suicide Forest #1 (of 4), the latest miniseries from the creators of The Veil. It’s set in a forest just outside Tokyo, based on an actual place famous for being the most popular site for suicides in Japan. Vice Magazine did a documentary on it. Newsarama have preview the comic here.
The Occultist is a one-shot from Tim Seeley (Hack/Slash) and Victor Drujiniu, with character designs by Guy Davis (B.P.R.D.). "It's about a down-on-his-luck guy named Rob who just got dumped by his girlfriend and now has to go to work. There's some peripheral stuff involving crow-demons and spellbooks and a tattooed wizard, but y'know, that's the basic thrust.” Seeley places it in “that sort of psuedo-superhero world that a lot of Dark Horse's great characters inhabit. It's the same kind of place The Mask took place in, where masks of Loki and such are floating around and up for grabs." Preview it here, and you can read the rest of the interview over at CbR.
John Byrne’s Next Men was a hugely popular series that ran for thirty issues in the early ‘90s. Now some fifteen years later, IDW are bringing it back. John Byrne’s Next Men #1 is a good jumping on point for new readers as Byrne says in this interview, because he was embarking on a new story when it went into hibernation all those years ago anyway. It’s an ongoing series but essentially finite: Byrne plans to end the rebooted title around #50. Preview of the first instalment over at Comixology.
Rick Remender writes a back-up story in this week’s What If? Spider-Man, entitled What If: The Venom Symbiote Possessed Deadpool which will be released in parts in the various What If? offerings this month. Word on the street is there’s a Deadpool/Venom one-shot pencilled in for February so if you can wait that long you’ll eventually be able to get them in one chunk. Preview here.
Following the whole Shadowland thing Black Panther now finds himself the guardian of Hell’s Kitchen, and we find ourselves with a comicbook name change. Black Panther: The Man Without Fear #513 used to be Daredevil: The Man Without Fear, but you probably knew that. David Liss (Daring Mystery Comics 70th Anniversary Special) pens the new issue and Francesco Francavilla (Zorro) does the pictures. Preview ‘em here.
Lastly, Strange Tales II #3 is the last of the series and it looks to be a good’un. Kate Beaton, Toby Cypress, Tim Hamilton, Terry Moore, Ty Templeton, and Dean Haspiel are all in it plus a story written by the late Harvey Pekar in which Pekar himself meets The Thing. Check out some preview pages why don’t you.
Not to toot our own horn or anything, but the Gosh! Blog has been nominated in Most Wanted’s Book Blogger Awards. You can go vote for us if you agree with them. Toot toot.
Now all that’s left is to tell you about our crazy Christmas hours. Get yer diaries out, here it comes:
New comics days over the next month or so are as follows:
December 23rd (Thursday)
December 30th (Thursday – No delay Christmas week, surprisingly)
January 7th (Friday)
AND THEN IT GETS WEIRD: New comics day will regularly be Wednesdays instead of the traditional Thursday starting from the 12th of January. As someone who’s pretty much only just started writing 2010 instead of 2009 I won’t think any less of you if you continue to pop in on Thursdays right through to August. But you might miss your comics.
As for opening times:
Christmas Eve: Closing at 3pm.
Christmas Day: CLOSED
Boxing Day: CLOSED
New Year’s Eve: Closing at 2pm.
New Year’s Day: CLOSED
…but we’re open on the Sunday at regular hours (10am ‘til 6pm) and it’s business as usual from then on.
-- Hayley
In Store 10/12/10 - 16/12/10
Click the full post link below for a list of items in store this week.
Jughead's Double Digest #166
2000 AD Prog 2011
Chopper Surf's Up TP
Ada (Atak - Nobrow)
Amulet SC Vol 1 Stonekeeper
Angel #40
Anita Blake TC Vol 3
Assassins Creed The Fall #2 (Of 3)
Atomic Robo Deadly Art Of Science #2
Avengers Academy #7
Avengers Vs Pet Avengers #3 (Of 4)
Batgirl Greatest Stories Ever Told TP
Batman #705
Batman And Robin #18 (P. Cornell)
Batman Orphans #2 (Of 2)
DC Comics Presents Batman #3
Big Questions #15 (A. Nilsen)
Birds Of Prey #7
Black Panther Man Without Fear #513
Black Terror #12
Boys Highland Laddie #5 (Of 6)
Brightest Day #16
Captain America Man Out Of Time #2
Chaos War #4 (Of 5)
Chaos War Thor #2 (Of 2)
Classics Mutilated: Dread Island HC
Conan The Road Of Kings #1 (Of 6)
DMZ #60 (B. Wood)
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep #18
Doc Macabre #1 (Of 3) (Wrightson)
Doctor Solar Man Of Atom #4
Dungeons And Dragons #2
El Vocho GN
Farscape Ongoing #14
Gen 13 #39
Giancarlo Alessandrini
Green Hornet #11
Green Lantern #60 Brightest Day
Green Lantern Emerald Warriors #5
Green Lantern/Plastic Man: Weapon Of Mass Deception
Vertigo Resurrected Hellblazer #1
Hi Fructose: Collectors HC Vol 2
Ides Of Blood #5 (Of 6)
Iron Man Legacy #9
Iron Siege #1 (Of 3)
John Buscema: Michelangelo Of Comics HC & SC
Light TP Vol 1
Loki #2 (Of 4)
Mad Woman Of The Sacred Heart HC (Jodorowsky/Moebius)
Meta 4 #4 (Of 5) (Ted McKeever)
Metalocalypse Dethklok #2 (Of 3)
Mighty Crusaders #6 (Of 6)
Mighty Samson #1
Motel Art Improvement Service HC
Multiverse Magazine #1
Mystery Society TP Vol 1
John Byrne Next Men #1
Occultist One-Shot
Official Handbook To The Marvel Universe A To Z Update #5
Phantom Complete Dailies HC Vol 2
Powers Definitive Coll. HC Vol 4
Preacher HC Vol 3 (Garth Ennis)
Proof: Endangered #1
Rawhide Kid TP Sensational Seven
REBELS TP Vol 3 Son And The Stars
Rip Kirby HC Vol 3
Secret History #13
Sergio Zaniboni: Non Solo Diabolik SC
Sherlock Holmes HC Vol 3
Simpsons Comics #173
Stan Lee Soldier Zero #3 (Cornell)
Amazing Spider-Man #650
Spirit #9
Star Wars Legacy War #1 (Of 6)
Steve Ditko Archives HC Vol 2
Strange Tales II #3 (Of 3)
Street Fighter Legends Ibuki TP 3
Suicide Forest #1 (Of 4)
Supergirl #59
Superman #706
Superman Secret Origin Deluxe HC
Tales Of The Dragon Guard Into The Veil #3
Tales Of The Green Lantern Corps TP Vol 3
Temporama (C. Junior - Nobrow)
Thor First Thunder #4 (Of 5)
Thunder Agents #2
Thunderbolts #151
Tick New Series #7
Time Masters Vanishing Point #5 Titans #30
Tron Movie Adaptation #2 (Of 2)
Two-Step TP (Warren Ellis)
Unwritten #20
Usagi Yojimbo TP Vols 8, 9 & 10 New Printings
Velocity #3 (Of 4)
Victorian Undead II #2
Vittorio Giardino
What If? Spider-Man One-Shot
Witchblade Annual 2010 #1
Deadpoolmax #3 (Lapham/Baker)
Generation X Classic TP Vol 1
New Mutants Forever #5 (Of 5)
Uncanny X-Force #3
Uncanny X-Men TP Birth Of Generation Hope
Wolverine #4
X-Factor #212
X-Necrosha TP
MANGA
Alice In The Country Of Hearts GN Vol 5
Detroit Metal City GN Vol 7
Fruits Basket Ult. Ed GN Vol 6
Inu Yasha TP Vol 55
Itsuwaribito GN Vol 1
Jojos Bizarre Adventure TP Vol 16
Kamisama Kiss T Vol 1
Pokemon Adventures TP Vol 10 2nd Ed
Slam Dunk GN Vol 13
Swans In Space GN Vol 3 (Of 3)
Talking To Strangers GN
Telling Tales GN
Ultimo GN Vol 3
Yotsuba &! GN Vol 9
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Due To Arrive 16/12/10
Click the full post link below for a tentative list of titles due to ship next week.
Amazing Spider-Man #650 Big
Angel #40
Assassins Creed The Fall #2 (Of 3)
Atomic Robo Deadly Art Of Science #2 (Of 5)
Avengers Academy #7
Avengers Vs Pet Avengers #3 (Of 4)
Batgirl The Greatest Stories Ever Told TP
Batman #705
Batman And Robin #18
Batman Orphans #2 (Of 2)
Birds Of Prey #7
Black Panther Man Without Fear #513
Black Terror #12
Boys Highland Laddie #5 (Of 6)
Brightest Day #16
Captain America Man Out Of Time #2 (Of 5)
Chaos War #4 (Of 5)
Chaos War Thor #2 (Of 2)
Chronicles Of Conan TP Vol 20 Night Of Wolf
Conan The Road Of Kings #1 (Of 6)
DC Comics Presents Batman #3
Deadpool Pulp #4 (Of 4)
DeadpoolMax #3
DMZ #60
Doc Macabre #1 (Of 3)
Doctor Solar Man Of Atom #4
Dungeons And Dragons #2
Farscape Ongoing #14
Gen 13 #39
Generation X Classic TP Vol 01
Green Hornet #11
Green Lantern #60 (Brightest Day)
Green Lantern Emerald Warriors #5
Green Lantern Plastic Man #1
Iron Man Legacy #9
Iron Man Rapture #3 (Of 4)
Iron Siege #1 (Of 3)
John Byrne Next Men #1
Light TP Vol 01
Loki #2 (Of 4)
Meta 4 #4 (Of 5)
Metalocalypse Dethklok #2 (Of 3)
Mighty Crusaders #6 (Of 6)
Mighty Samson #1
Mystery Society TP Vol 01
New Mutants Forever #5 (Of 5)
Occultist #1
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A To Z Update #5
Powers Definitive Collection HC Vol 04
Rawhide Kid TP Sensational Seven
Rebels TP Vol 03 The Son And The Stars
Sherlock Holmes HC Vol 03
Simpsons Comics #173
Spirit #9
Stan Lee Soldier Zero #3
Strange Tales 2 #3 (Of 3)
Supergirl #59
Superman #706
Tales Of The Dragon Guard Into Veil #3 (Of 3)
Tales Of The Green Lantern Corps TP Vol 03
The Suicide Forest #1 (Of 4)
Thor First Thunder #4 (Of 5)
Thunderbolts #151
Tick New Series #7
Time Masters Vanishing Point #5 (Of 6)
Titans #30
Tron Original Movie Adaptation #2 (Of 2)
Two Step TP
Uncanny X-Force #3
Uncanny X-Men TP Birth Of Generation Hope
Unwritten #20
Vertigo Resurrected Hellblazer #1
Victorian Undead II Holmes Vs Dracula #2
What If Spider-Man
Wolverine #4
World War 3 Illustrated #41
X-Factor #212
X-Files 30 Days Of Night #6 (Of 6)
X-Necrosha TP
The Gosh! Authority 08/12/10
Best thing out this week by miles is Gonzo: A Graphic Biography of Hunter S. Thompson by our very own Will Bingley and friend o’ Gosh! Anthony Hope-Smith and you can call me biased if you want to. You may remember I mentioned it last week, alluding to maybe having a special Gosh! Exclusive Bookplate Edition round about now. Well, that is a thing that definitely happened. Read about it here. Excellent Christmas present for anyone who likes the grandaddy of Gonzo and we’ve even got the wrapping paper to match it.
We’ve also got a boatload of stuff from those arty folk Nobrow whose screenprinted offerings are some of the best-smelling books we stock (I’m quite serious – stick your beak in next time). There’s Nobrow #4: Like Night and Day, their (possibly) biannual anthology featuring excellent illustrators from the world over. We’ve got all three previous issues on the shelves downstairs if you missed ‘em – Gods & Monsters, The Jungle, and Topsy Turvy. They only ever print 3000 copies of these things so if you’re thinking about it I’d get in before they disappear. Here are a few images I stole wholesale off their fancy website:
There’s also A Graphic Cosmogony HC which not only includes a fun word to say on its cover but an introduction by the Man at the Crossroads, Mr Paul Gravett behind it. It’s a comics compendium in which 24 artists tell the history of life, the universe and everything in a few pages as if it’s their own personal Genesis, though as this reviewer quite rightly points out there’s “no specific religion unless your spiritual allegiance lies with the great comic in the sky”.
The first edition of this one sold out completely but Nobrow has improved it for round two: A Bento Bestiary is the result of two Bristolian men’s efforts to draw the near-forgotten Japanese Yokai, an ancient race of demons who further down the family tree would become Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan and terrorise the earth. You’ve probably seen the drawings by Toriyama Sekien who attempted to illustrate each one of them in the 18th Century. Here’s what Ben Newman and Scott Donaldson’s look like:
Wolf’s Whistle is the first in Nobrow’s Behind the Tails series, which is a line of prequels to the fairytales we all know. This one’s all about what happened before the Three Little Pigs, when the Big Bad Wolf was just a scrawny little dude who drew comics after school. It’s by a guy called Bjorn Rune Lie who has preview pages and loads of amazing bits of art over on his blog.
And the last one out the bag Nobrow-wise is Hildafolk by Luke Pearson, in which a girl called Hilda follows the sound of a bell and ends up in strange lands ruled by magical folk. As with all of the Nobrow people he has a decidedly beautiful blog. Look at it with your eyeballs.
We’re about a month late for the Mexican Day of the Dead but that’s generally how publishing tends to work. Day of the Dead: El Dia De Los Muertos is from the same people who brought you those two usual Gosh! suspects, Burlesque Poster Design and Wildsville: The Art of Derek Yaniger. It’s another big, beautiful coffee table book of graphic design giving you a tour of how the Mexican tradition with its sugar skulls, flowers and devils has been appropriated by contemporary artists, hot rodders, tattoo artists and even Latino gangs. There are girls in corsets with their faces painted like skulls, manipulated ancient magazine covers, cartoons and all sorts. I approve.
IDW’s Eisner-Award winning Library of American Comics (dedicated to preserving and reprinting the very best comic strips in American history) launch their new oversized hardcover Champagne Edition series this week, starting with Cliff Sterrett's Polly and Her Pals, considered by critics and historians to be one of the essential old timey strips. This book collects every Sunday page from 1925 to 1927 in full colour, along with the topper strips Damon and Pythias and Dot and Dash. It’s edited by Dean Mullaney (former publisher of Eclipse Comics: MiracleMan, Zot!) who also provides you with the biographical and background stuff that we’ve all come to expect from them. They do things properly, they do.
In trade paperback you can get Sweet Tooth Volume 2: In Captivity, the ongoing series by Jeff Lemire (Essex County) of which Andrew is a raving fan. There’s also Orc Stain Volume 1 by James Stokoe (Oni Press’ Wonton Soup), a fantasy story set on a war-ridden planet overrun by orcs. Stokoe spoke to Comicbook Resources about it late last year where you can see a bunch of preview pages too.
The first four issues of Gosh! Favourite Roger Langridge and Chris Samnee’s Thor: The Mighty Avenger (previously seen on the Gosh! Blog here) are collected in trade along with a couple of early Journey into Mystery reprints to keep them company. You can also pick up #7 of the series as well, previewed here.
New titles starting this week include Let Me In: Crossroads #1 (of 4) which is the prelude to the American version of the Swedish film. I’ve not seen the remake yet so I don’t know why the blurbs are being so specific, but I can (in a pointless aside) highly recommend the original film and not just because of the top notch Scandinavian knitwear (but it has to be said they are very good at jumpers). The cover’s by the exceedingly excellent Sean Phillips (Incognito), written by Marc Andreyko (Manhunter) and drawn by Patric Reynolds (Serenity). Preview at CbR.
27 is a new one from Image by Charles Soule and Renzo Podesta which – if Bleeding Cool is right – will potentially go the way of Chew with respect to its soaring popularity. It’s about musicians who die at the age of 27 (Kurt Cobian, Jimi Hendrix et al) and a 27-year-old musician who tries to change his certain fate. There’s a preview over at iFanboy.
Marvel’s latest is a four-parter called Widowmaker (first issue out this week) in which an all-new Ronin targets Marvel’s super-spies for death. Head to CbR for a sneak peek.
And finally, this year Brendan McCarthy is urging you to give the Gift of Weirdness at Christmas. Comicbook art dealer Albert Moy has acquired a huge stash of art from all periods of McCarthy’s career. There are outtakes from his DC Solo book, Spider-Man: Fever, character designs like The Spark and Battery Girl, some great concept art for a Beatles project and many other rare and bizarre pieces. Moy’s doing a one-off online sale of the work in the run up to Christmas here. It’s unlikely this stuff will turn up again so nab it while you’re able.
That’s about your lot. See you Thursday. I’ll be the one shivering in a big jumper.
-- Hayley