Indies Preview Review for October Part 2 of 2

AS PROMISED PART 2

Heart Monster Press
Deformitory GN by (W/A) Sophia Wiedeman
This Xeric Grant Award-winning surreal graphic novel follows the misadventures of Delores, who works in an office. Her hands, tired from typing, transform into claws, complete with faces, cute eyes, and mind of their own. Delores, lonely in the city, becomes friends with her claws, talking to them on the subway, giving them coffee and food. But her new claws have something in mind for Delores, taking her to the Deformitory! $6.00 Visit Sophia’s website here and her blog here

Lee: We’re all about the Xeric here at Comics And…, even though Jim hates the award shows they have lead us to some great books such as Old Man Winter! And, keeping the tradition, this sounds great! If you google around you can see lots of early praise. This is worth looking into.
Jim: An award does not make a comic great or not, but a bunch of different people who like the book is a good recommendation. The more diverse the crowd who likes, the better chance I will also like it.

IDW Publishing
Bloom County Complete Library Vol. 01 HC by Berkeley Breathed (w & a & c)
Collecting every strip from December 8, 1980, through September 26, 1982, in chronological order, with a new cover inset by Breathed. Berkeley Breathed's Bloom County burst onto the American comic scene in December 1980 and it soon became one of the most popular comic strips of all time. The endearing and quirky denizens of the strip included Milo Bloom, Steve Dallas, Michael Binkley, Cutter John, Bill the Cat, and Opus the penguin. Bloom County was a strip that dealt with many issues relevant to the period. Occasional Context Pages are being added throughout this collection, giving the reader a greater understanding of the time. This is the first time Bloom County has been collected in a handsome hardcover library, five volumes in all. Each newspaper strip is reproduced in chronological order from first to last. Great effort has been made to ensure the highest production values are achieved. Most strips were either shot from printer's proofs or Breathed's own original art. This is the first of five volumes. FC. 288 Pages 11 x 8.5 $39.99

Lee: The only reason I’m not buying this through my local comic store is because I know the wife will get it for me at Christmas. Now I just have to wait for it.
Jim: Yikes yet another book I must have. This is my second favorite modern stip with Calvin and Hobbes still being my favorite. Breathed is a fantastic artist, very good writer and Opus is very, very cool.

Rocketeer Complete Collection Vol. 01 HC (deluxe ed.) by Dave Stevens (w & a & c)
The "basic edition" will contain: The Complete Rocketeer saga is collected into one handsome hardcover volume for the very first time, combining The Rocketeer and The Rocketeer: Cliff's New York Adventure into great book. Dave Stevens classic adventure strip is set in the 1930s and is an homage to the classic pulp novels of the time. Cliff Secord is a stunt pilot who happens upon a top-secret experimental Jet pack and meets adventure head on! Long considered a classic, the Rocketeer has been out of print for years. BUT the Deluxe Edition will feature everything in the regular hardcover edition but will be printed in a larger format (8 x 12 inches) and will contain more than 100 additional pages of sketches, preliminaries, layouts, and much, much more. A cornucopia of Dave Stevens art, many of these treasures have never been published before and will be printed here from the original art to ensure the highest quality reproduction possible. FC. 248 Pages 8 x 12, $75.00

Lee: Dave Stevens did very little comic work so any fancy hc of his material is a must buy for me. This is great stuff. The basic version is available for $30 but don’t skimp! This book will be worth every single extra penny.
Jim: Ouch. For a slow month this month is very expensive. Stevens work is nothing short of genius, it was a huge loss when Dave died so young.

McSweeneys
Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary GN by (W/A) Justin Green
A lost classic of underground cartooning, Binky Brown meets the Holy Virgin Mary is Justin Green's autobiographical portrayal of his struggle with religion and his own neuroses. Binky Brown is a young Catholic struggling with all the usual problems of adolescence - puberty, agnosticism, and the fear that the strange ray of energy emanating from his private parts will strike a picture of the Holy Virgin Mary. First published in 1972, this is the controversial masterpiece that invented the autobiographical graphic novel. $29.00
Lee: It’s hard to believe the first autobiographical comic emerged from the Comix scene of the early 70’s. But, it certain inspired generations of cartoonist to tell the world about every trivial detail of their life. It’s supposed to be good but I’m not sure if I need more Comix in my collection than I already have.
Jim: Oh thank god a book I can skip.

NBM
Vatican Hustle GN by (W/A) Greg Houston
When a crime boss daughter turns up missing, who's he gonna to call? Boss Karate Black Guy Jones, that's who! The two-fisted, karate chopping, crime solving machine is kicking ass and taking names from the gutters of Baltimore all the way to the streets of Rome. No dog's too big for this cat to take down! Mimes, clowns, drunks, pizza, donkeys, pornography, gambling! Vatican Hustle has it all! $11.95 Visit Greg here
Lee: As far as I can tell, Greg Houston is an artist who decided to publish a comic book. And, I’m all excited about it. His illustration abilities are awesome so I’m sold. As an art guy, I have to get this because it’s going to look beautiful.
Jim: As a story guy I can pass. What's up with the old style linking Lee? Where are the hypelinks we all know and love.
Lee: Fixed!!! It was operator error when setting the post up.

Year of Loving Dangerously HC by (W) Ted Rall (A) Pablo Callejo
It's the 80's and Ted is in college in New York City and slipping. His pranks, lack of focus, and restlessness get him kicked out of school. Unable to find a job, rejected by his parents, he's on the verge of suicide. Instead he finds comfort in the arms of many women he meets casually and puts up a front for. It may sound like an ideal grift but the toll is much higher than one may imagine. Between acidly funny and disturbingly real, Rall pours out his guts on a hard turning point in his life. $18.95 Previews were hard to come by but here’s page 8, Page 9, Page 10, Page 11, and finally Page 12!

Lee: Ted Rall is actually an editorial cartoonist with many, many years of cartooning experience, so I’m surprised that he’s opening up like this. It makes it even more interesting that Rall has succeeded in life with all the problems that he had. Finally, Callejo drew Bluesman from NBM which was very, very good so I know the art will be top notch.
Jim: Let me know what you think as this is the type of stuff I have to hear is good before I will consider reading it or not.

Oni Press Inc
Stumptown #1 by (W) Greg Rucka (A) Matthew Southworth
Dex is the proprietor of Stumptown Investigations, and a fairly talented P.I. Unfortunately, she's less adept at throwing dice than solving cases. Her recent streak has left her beyond broke-she's into the Confederated Tribes of the Wind Coast for 18 large. But maybe Dex's luck is about to change. Sue-Lynne, head of the Wind Coast's casino operation, will clear Dex debt if she can locate Sue-Lynne's missing granddaughter. But is this job Dex's way out of the hole or a shove down one much much deeper? $3.99

Lee: Brand new Rucka without any of the editorial control of the Big Two. This should be great! Obviously, Rucka doing crime comics is a no-brainer.
Jim: I agree, but I have loved reading Queen and Country and Whiteout as graphic novels so much I'm tempted to wait for the trade on this, I probably will get the comic, but his stuff reads great as collected works.

Rebellion
Judge Dredd Mechanismo SC by (W) John Wagner (A) Colin MacNeil, Peter Doherty, Carlos Ezquerra
A new kind of justice is coming to the mean streets of Mega-City One! The Judge forces have been savaged by the bloody zombie war during Judgement Day. When there is a major cubebreak, it's time to call in Mechanismo. Wired for law and built to judge, the robo-enforcer soon becomes an unstoppable force! $24.99

Lee: It’s a light month so I’ll take the opportunity to plug some Judge Dredd. Rebellion’s trades collection some of the best Dredd material out there, so these are always worth getting. If you’re looking to experiment with Dredd, then start here.
Jim: I was heavily into Dreed at one period and still enjoy going back and reading his adventures. Jsut out and out pure fun.

Lee: While there were some interesting books, overall I have to say the month was a bust. There wasn't very much that was super-duper interesting. Oh well, this just lets me save some money for next month.
Jim: Saves you money??? Are you crazy with just the Gaham Wilson book this month was still expensive, slim pickens, but big dollars!