New Comics For Wednesday 9th of December

After a lovely weekend of looking over Brian K Vaughan's stunning Private Eye Deluxe Hardcover, we are just in time to recharge our comic batteries with this week's incoming list!Oh but before we get to that, we'd like to announce a in-store event we'll be hosting next Sunday the 13th of December...

Presto’s The Big Bang Theory Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock Tournament

Thank's to Presto and The Big Bang Theory, on Sunday 13th December 11am-4pm we'll be playing host to Australia's first Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock Tournament. It's an open invite and there will be prizes on offer. Bonus All Star points for anyone keen enough to show up in cosplay too, whether be as your favourite hero or character from Big Bang! Should be a great, so hopefully catch you ringside on the day!

Now COMICS!

What a way to creating a hugely popular new comic character? Mash two already popular characters together and see what happens in GWENPOOL SPECIAL #1. Delve deeper into the mystery of the Avengers resident hex caster with SCARLET WITCH #1. BATMAN TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #1 is something you may have never thought you'd live to see but thankfully DC and IDW have come together to make one of the oddest team up's of all time happen. Get swept away in the DKIII hype all over again with the chance to pick up the first issue special edition in DARK KNIGHT III MASTER RACE #1 (OF 8) COLLECTORS ED. Trouble in love? Why not create the perfect romantic partner with a collection of personalities of history's greatest lovers because that exactly what Peter Milligan has done in NEW ROMANCER #1. A perfect society with no war, poverty or hunger comes with a mysterious high price, so we find out in Image's SYMMETRY #1. Fan's of Criminal and Stray Bullets definitely need to pick up Ed Brisson's latest "hard luck" tales in another Image first, VIOLENT #1. Some late 90's Vertigo horror tales from some of the best talent in the game back then and today in the new printing of FLINCH TP BOOK 01. Fargo meets Witness in BOOM's latest SNOW BLIND #1. And two local's art appearing on covers this week. For something a little different try INSEXTS #1, a racy new series about a pair of friends set in the Victorian era that get mixed in with the occult and develop "sexy" insect abilities? SIXTH GUN DUST TO DEATH TP gives us our half yearly fill of spooky supernatural western adventures. One of the year's biggest indie hits, about the point of no return with a powers flair gets collected in WE CAN NEVER GO HOME TP. And also a big shout out to Erin Hunting on the GRUMPY CAT #3 cover and Jeffrey "Chumba" Cruz on the new series STREET FIGHTER UNLIMITED #1!

Anything else you notice that you might be after, just let us know and we'll get it sorted.

MARVEL

ALL NEW HAWKEYE #2

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #4

BLACK KNIGHT #2

CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS #3

DEADPOOL #3

GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #3

GWENPOOL SPECIAL #1

HERCULES #2

MARVEL UNIVERSE GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #3

MAX RIDE #2 (OF 5) ULTIMATE FLIGHT

SCARLET WITCH #1

SECRET WARS #8 (OF 9) SWA

SPIDER-GWEN #3

SPIDER-MAN 2099 #4

STAR WARS ANNUAL #1

ULTIMATES #2

UNCANNY AVENGERS #3

DC COMICS

BATMAN #47 HARLEY QUINN POLYBAG ED

BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL #10

BATMAN SUPERMAN #27

BATMAN TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #1 (OF 6)

CATWOMAN #47

CONSTANTINE THE HELLBLAZER #7

DARK KNIGHT III MASTER RACE #1 (OF 8) COLLECTORS ED

DC COMICS BOMBSHELLS #6

DETECTIVE COMICS #47 (ROBIN WAR)

EARTH 2 SOCIETY #7

GOTHAM ACADEMY #13 (ROBIN WAR)

GRAYSON #15 (ROBIN WAR)

GREEN ARROW #47 HARLEY QUINN POLYBAG ED

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARKSEID WAR LEX LUTHOR #1

NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #15

RED HOOD ARSENAL #7 (ROBIN WAR)

STARFIRE #7

TELOS #3

VERTIGO

FABLES THE WOLF AMONG US #12

NEW ROMANCER #1 (OF 12)

SLASH & BURN #2

TWILIGHT CHILDREN #3 (OF 4)

BOOM

GIANT DAYS #9 (OF 12)

LANTERN CITY #8 (OF 12)

MUNCHKIN DECK THE DUNGEONS #1

OVER THE GARDEN WALL #4

SNOW BLIND #1

DARK HORSE

ABE SAPIEN #29

ALABASTER THE GOOD THE BAD & THE BIRD #1

HARROW COUNTY #8

MASSIVE NINTH WAVE #1

MIRRORS EDGE EXORDIUM #4

PLANTS VS ZOMBIES GARDEN WARFARE #2 (OF 3)

REBELS #9

DYNAMITE

GRUMPY CAT #3 (OF 3) CVR ERIN HUNTING

PATHFINDER HOLLOW MOUNTAIN #2 (OF 6)

PRECINCT #1 (OF 5)

IDW

BACK TO THE FUTURE #3 (OF 4)

EIGHTH SEAL #1 (OF 5)

MICKEY & DONALD CHRISTMAS PARADE

MICKEY MOUSE #7

MY LITTLE PONY HOLIDAY SPECIAL

STAR TREK GREEN LANTERN #6 (OF 6)

STAR TREK ONGOING #52

TMNT AMAZING ADVENTURES #5

IMAGE

BIRTHRIGHT #12

CODENAME BABOUSHKA CONCLAVE OF DEATH #3

FASTER THAN LIGHT #4

HEAD LOPPER #2

LIMBO #2

MONSTRESS #2

NO MERCY #5

SAINTS #3

STRAY BULLETS SUNSHINE & ROSES #10

SYMMETRY #1

TREES #13

VIOLENT #1

WALKING DEAD #149

WE STAND ON GUARD #6 (OF 6)

ONI

INVADER ZIM #5

RICK & MORTY #8

VALIANT

IVAR TIMEWALKER #11

NINJAK #10

UNITY #25

MISC

BLACKLIST #5

BROKEN MOON #3 (OF 4)

DOCTOR WHO 11TH YEAR TWO #3

DOCTOR WHO 12TH #16

DOCTOR WHO 8TH #2 (OF 5)

HEROES VENGEANCE #3 (OF 5)

HIP HOP FAMILY TREE #4

INSEXTS #1

RACHEL RISING #38

SECONDS HELPING DRAWING ASST MEMOIR ONE SHOT

SPONGEBOB COMICS #51

STREET FIGHTER UNLIMITED #1 CRUZ ULTRA JAM COVER

THE TROLL (ONE SHOT)

WES CRAVEN COMING OF RAGE #3 (OF 5)

TRADES

AMAZING WORLD GUMBALL ORIGINAL GN VOL 01 FAIRY TAL

BLACK PANTHER BY PRIEST TP COMPLETE COLLECTION

BUNKER TP VOL 03

COLLECTED ESSEX COUNTY LTD ED HC

CROGAN ADVENTURES COLOR GN VOL 02 LAST OF THE LEGI

DIFFERENT UGLINESS DIFFERENT MADNESS HC

DRIFTER TP VOL 02

ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK TP VOL 01

FEATHERS HC

FLINCH TP BOOK 01

GI JOE A REAL AMERICAN HERO TP VOL 13

GRINDHOUSE MIDNIGHT TP VOL 04 LADY DANGER & NEBULINA

HARLEY QUINN HC VOL 03 KISS KISS BANG STAB

HARLEY QUINN TP VOL 02 POWER OUTAGE

HAWKEYE HC VOL 02

INFINITY GAUNTLET TP WARZONES

IRENE GN VOL 05

IZUNA DLX HC

JACK THE RIPPER HC

KID ETERNITY DELUXE ED HC

NEVERBOY TP

NEW VAMPIRELLA TP VOL 02 GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

POET ANDERSON DREAM WALKER HC

RUNAWAYS BATTLEWORLD TP

SHOWMAN KILLER HC VOL 01 (OF 3)

SIXTH GUN DUST TO DEATH TP

SNOW GN

SQUADRON SINISTER TP

SUICIDE SQUAD TP VOL 02 THE NIGHTSHADE ODYSSEY

TEEN TITANS GO TRUTH JUSTICE AND PIZZA TP

UNCLE GRANDPA TP VOL 01

VIOLENZIA & OTHER DEADLY AMUSEMENTS GN

WALKING WOUNDED UNCUT STORIES FROM IRAQ HC

WE CAN NEVER GO HOME TP

MERCH

DC COMICS ICONS JOKER STATUE

DC UNIVERSE FLASH CLASSIC COSTUME ARTFX+ STATUE

BACK IN STOCK

BACK TO THE FUTURE #1 (OF 5) 2ND P

KLAUS #1 (2ND PTG)

BATMAN ANIMATED SERIES MAN BAT AF

DARK KNIGHT III MASTER RACE #1 (OF 8)

DARK KNIGHT III MASTER RACE #1 (OF 8) BLANK VAR ED

DARK KNIGHT III MASTER RACE #1 (OF 8) THOMPSON VAR

DARTH VADER #13 MANN CONNECTING VAR VDWN

DC COMICS BATMAN WOOD FIGURE

DC COMICS SUPERMAN WOOD FIGURE

JIM HENSONS STORYTELLER DRAGONS #1

ALL STAR RECOMMENDS FOR DECEMBER 1ST

Breaking News: Christmas comes late this year. Get ready to change your plans as Humanoids has moved the holiday to mid-January with the release of their Tipping Point anthology. An assemblage of work by the most loaded artistic roster of any single anthology possibly ever (no, really), Tipping Point features Eddie Campbell, Frederik Peeters, Naoki Urasawa, Atsushi Kaneko (finally in English! I can shut up about that now!), Paul Pope, Taiyo Matsumoto, John Cassaday, Keiichi Koike, Bob Fingerman, Emmanuel Lepage, Boulet, Katsuya Terada, Bastien Vives and a cover by Enki Bilal. Top that. The only brief to creators was to create a story where there is “a clear-cut split…a mutation, a personal revolt or a large scale revolution…”

Although the antho has already been quite justly criticised for being a total sausage-fest, the top-shelf quality of the work of these international sausage-havers is utterly indisputable. That line up is insane, with six of the artists previously mentioned at some point in this column (with more to come) and four of them having put out some of my absolute favourite books of this year alone. With Humanoids releasing the project simultaneously in English, French and Japanese, Tipping Point feels very much like a real celebration of the medium as a global whole. Whether you choose to call it comics, bandes dessinee or manga, this project will have you covered. The “slightly oversized” format is a bit of head-scratcher for a project that seems tailor made for full blown Humanoids enormousness, so if anyone has the scratch to buy me one of the 100 mammoth limited editions, I’ll be your best pal.

COMIC OF THE WEEK : COPPERHEAD 

By Jay Faerber & Scott Godlewski

Published By Image Comics

As potential Gateway Comics go, there’s probably nothing speedier, sleeker or easily metabolised as writer Jay Faerber and Scott Godlewski’s Copperhead. It’s a comic packed with character development but yet somehow moves so quickly that such fleshed out, 3D beings shouldn’t be able populate it and continue to grow as they do. Narrative captions are verboten, dialogue is short and punchy, scenes are edited of any potential bloat and its sense of fun and adventure is constantly dialled up to maximum. It’s pretty much like what would happen if the late, great Elmore Leonard wrote a space western. I would hand it to a reader new to comics in a heartbeat.

Clara Bronson is the new Sherriff of Copperhead, a seedy mining town on the arid planet of Jasper. Some sort of interplanetary war has put humans in charge of Jasper, leading to much post-colonial resentment from the large marsupial-like natives, one of whom, Budroxifinicus (or “Boo”), is now Sherriff Bronson’s deputy. Immediately thrust into the chaos of Copperhead, Clara faces a family of feuding cyclopean hillbilly aliens, must navigate the overtures of industrialist Benjamin Hickory, enlist the services of an alcoholic doctor, survive all manner of criminals and monstrosities in the desert, put aside her mistrust of artificial humans created as soldiers during the war and be a dependable mother to her young son Zeke. All the while, her angry, imprisoned ex plots both escape and revenge.

Populating his cast with SF versions of all manner of Western genre archetypes, Faerber eliminates cliché through his use of not only humour but surprising plot twists, giving even the characters with the least amount of potential (one would think) a much fuller role than initially expected. Story develops outwards through character interaction and action sequences and Clara, eager to stamp her authority on Copperhead, constantly pushes everything forward – interpersonal relationships and confrontation alike. Tactical but spontaneous, brave, capable and highly trained, she’s the complete opposite of The Marquis of Anaon (discussed last week), whose constant fear and lack of ability to handle the unknown and the deadly will likely see him dead one day.

In many ways, however, Copperhead is the Godlewski show. Faerber, stripping things back as much as possible, shows great selflessness in allowing his artist to create such cinematically clean and open pages, showcasing his dynamic and modern character design, his flashy action sequences, his flowing, always clear layouts. As at home in a bar as he is in a desert-set machine gun fight with alien critters, Godlewski’s versatility is impressive, his multitude of unique characters all able to express a very wide and clear range of emotions.

At the back of Volume One is Faerber’s plot for the second issue. Running just two pages, this sequence/page breakdown is a beautiful reminder to those of us who overwrite (*raises hand*). Clear and concise, containing every story beat it needs for Godlewski to begin work, the energy of this book’s creation begins with nothing more than a two page document. In many ways, it’s the perfect summation for Copperhead’s straight-ahead, no nonsense, unfiltered good-time comics vibe. You’ll burn through your first reading of it, but far from being disposable, Copperhead offers a virtual clinic on creating high octane comics energy without sacrificing the personality and substance of your characters.

WEBCOMIC OF THE WEEK : HOW I TOLD MY GRANDMA I’M TRANSGENDER

By Dylan Edwards

Well, this is great. Dylan Edwards tells his Grandmother he’s trans, lists positive and negative role models/examples of transgendered characters onscreen and off and reinforces the power of art – in all its forms – to help solve issues of identity in this biographical and educational webcomic. “Find what speaks to you” is its ultimate message and perhaps create it too, for you never know just who your creation might help.

http://fusion.net/story/224413/dylan-edwards-trans-visibility-comic/

COUNTDOWN TO MOZ METAL: HEAVY METAL SEPTEMBER 1978 

Looking through my notes on this the September ’78 issue of Heavy Metal, I’m wondering if I had a bad day when I scrawled them all down. For a magazine containing Moebius, Druillet, Corben, Claveloux, Voss and more you think I’d be pretty satisfied with the results. Apparently not. I suspect the sameness of the periodical set in, which is really unfair when you think about it, it’s like complaining that you’ve been served your absolute favourite food for meal after meal after meal. It’s not your favourite food’s fault you maybe want a toasted sandwich instead…

This issue opens with an editorial that practically begs its readers to cease sending in unsolicited submissions (how very 2015 of them) in a typically brilliant way, citing the poor condition of the long-suffering submissions editor whose mind is “reeling under the impact of yet another tale of interspecies sex aboard an orbiting time machine.” Terrific.

There’s a lot of content in this issue, mainly short strips, many of them not so hot. However, Lone Sloane goes full frontal nude in this chapter of “Gail” making me wonder if last issue’s call for decency was just some bored editor trolling. “Airtight Garage” meanders along beautifully and sumptuously. Zha and Claveloux’s “Off-Season” continues, as does “New Tales of the Arabian Nights” by Corben and Strnad but literally nothing happens in this chapter of the latter. Legendary letterer John Workman provides a three panel curiosity, “Smadakcaj Tree,” of note only because it’s clear Workman has kept some serious artistic chops up his sleeve. Orion very nearly suckles poison from a traitorous lover’s breast in the latest chapter of his titular (see what I did there?) adventure that’s so full of lovely, curvaceous, bathing nudes that I felt a little uncomfortable reading it in the lunchroom lest I be deemed a total perv. Heilman awakens, more glam rock than ever, in yet another dimension, beats up some cultish hippies and saves a mysterious Queen from sacrifice in a most swashbuckling manner. Stephen Bissette stops by with his one pager, “Urban Renewal,” which is about flying insects fighting each other…I think. It’s actually kind of tough to make out what’s going on which is a bummer.

Brocal Remohi’s “The Horror of G’zalth” is a pretty amateurish strip by a clearly accomplished artist reminiscent of Jean-Claude Gal and Ernie Chan who’s fond of cutting oddly between scenes and filling his hero’s thought balloons with things like, “A woman…why are they chasing her?” as a mysterious woman on horseback is clearly shown being chased by a veritable army of mysterious foes. Lovely to look at, this thing is narratively and structurally pretty bad. A quick check of Remohi, who I must admit I know nothing about, reveals a venerated Spanish artist who did a lot of work for the Spanish version of Creepy amongst other things, so he clearly has the last laugh here.

“Croatoan” is Tom Sutton, Alfredo Alcala and Stephen Oliff’s adaptation of Harlan Ellison’s controversial 1975 story about a man who descends into the sewers to retrieve the most recent of many late-term abortions he “fathered” then flushed down the toilet. Discovering a hidden world of bulbous-headed mutant babies riding similarly flushed alligators (now fully-grown), our awful protagonist will soon learnt that there are some sins that will not be forgotten nor forgiven. It’s a striking adaptation of Ellison’s controversial, oddball story, told much like Moench and Nino’s work on Theodore Sturgeon’s “More Than Human” adaptation, with big blocks of text functioning as captions around the panels. Moench and Nino make this work far more successfully than Sutton and friends, but “Croatoan” is a worthy experiment and any time more Sutton and Alcala art can be viewed is a good time.

The more I think about this issue, there’s actually quite a lot to like. Perhaps it’s not the meal itself, rather the poor choice of substantial garnishing that made it initially just not to my taste.

COMICS VIDEO OF THE WEEK : CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR – TRAILER WORLD PREMIERE 

An absolute no-brainer for inclusion this week is the trailer for the third (and final?) Captain America movie, the cinematic version of the Civil War storyline.

Three words: Black Panther, yay. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVdV-lxRPFo

See you next week. Love your comics.

Cameron Ashley spends a lot of time writing comics and other things you’ll likely never read. He’s the chief editor and co-publisher of Crime Factory (www.thecrimefactory.com). You can reach him @cjamesashley on Twitter.

New Comics For Wednesday 2nd of December

Hoping folks enjoyed our VIP Christmas Shopping Day and now it's the mad dash to the finish line of Xmas and the end of the year. Before that however there is the little issue of this week's comics!

A BIG week for All Different Marvel #1's. We have a new DD written by actual lawyer, Charles Soule with DAREDEVIL #1. Planet Hulk scribe Greg Pak returns to a very different jade giant in TOTALLY AWESOME HULK #1 with the help of Frank Cho. Marvel's Western universe continues along from the 1872 series with RED WOLF #1. Who makes the list in HARLEY'S LITTLE BLACK BOOK #1 for this new team up series? Has there ever been a sidekick's role more coveted than that of Batman's Robin? With so many different versions of the title floating around the DCU there needs to be a ROBIN WAR #1 to sort out who deserves it most! Middle Eastern "cop" drama unfolds in the new Vertigo series, SHERIFF OF BABYLON #1. Cullen Bunn, manages more unsettling, supernatural small town scares in the collection of his HARROW COUNTY TP VOL 01 COUNTLESS HAINTS. Double down on the Brian K. Vaughan locks of the week with PAPER GIRLS #3 and the super stunning hardcover, previously only available as a webcomic, PRIVATE EYE DLX ED HC. On the subject of stunning books, the collected works of James Jean in PAREIDOLIA TP is surely going to be too much beauty to bear. It's finally time to get schwifty with RICK & MORTY TP VOL 01. Following one great sci-fi series with another, albeit more 70's space fantasy in the indie hit, SPACE RIDERS TP VOL 01 VENGEFUL UNIVERSE. Find out for yourself want all the hype and excitement is about with the first collection of SPIDER-GWEN TP VOL 00 MOST WANTED. Spend some time with the Turtles favourite couple in TMNT CASEY AND APRIL TP. The next thrilling chapter in the day to day life of Marvel's nicest hero is also in with UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL TP VOL 02 SQUIRREL YOU. 

It's a pretty incredible line up this week and if there is anything else we need to add for you, just let us know!

MARVEL

ALL NEW ALL DIFFERENT AVENGERS #2

ALL NEW INHUMANS #1

ALL NEW X-MEN #1

DAREDEVIL #1

DOCTOR STRANGE #3

EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN #3

GUARDIANS OF INFINITY #1

HOWARD THE DUCK #2

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #4

MIRACLEMAN BY GAIMAN AND BUCKINGHAM #5 (MR)

NOVA #2

RED WOLF #1

SPIDEY #1

STAR WARS #13 VDWN

TOTALLY AWESOME HULK #1

VISION #2

DC COMICS

ACTION COMICS #47

ALL STAR SECTION 8 #6 (OF 6)

BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL #9

BATMAN ARKHAM KNIGHT #11

BATMAN BEYOND #7

CYBORG #5 LOONEY TUNES VAR ED

GOTHAM ACADEMY #12

GOTHAM BY MIDNIGHT #11

GREEN LANTERN #47

HARLEYS LITTLE BLACK BOOK #1

LOBO #13

MIDNIGHTER #7

PREZ #6 (OF 6)

ROBIN WAR #1 (OF 2)

SECRET SIX #8

SENSATION COMICS FEATURING WONDER WOMAN #17

TEEN TITANS #14 LOONEY TUNES VAR ED

VERTIGO

SHERIFF OF BABYLON #1 (OF 8)

SURVIVORS CLUB #3

UNFOLLOW #2

BOOM

ADVENTURE TIME #46

ADVENTURE TIME FIONNA & CAKE CARD WARS #5 (OF 6)

JIM HENSONS STORYTELLER DRAGONS #1

JOHN FLOOD #5

ROWANS RUIN #3

TOIL & TROUBLE #4 (OF 6)

WOODS #18

DARK HORSE

ANGEL AND FAITH SEASON 10 #21

BARB WIRE #6

CALL OF DUTY BLACK OPS III #2 (OF 6)

DEAD VENGEANCE #3 (OF 4)

JOE GOLEM OCCULT DETECTIVE #2

LARA CROFT FROZEN OMEN #3 (OF 5)

MYSTERY GIRL #1

PLANTS VS ZOMBIES ONGOING #6 GROWN SWEET HOME

THIS DAMNED BAND #5 (OF 6)

DYNAMITE

ALIENS VAMPIRELLA #4 (OF 6)

BOBS BURGERS ONGOING #6

CAGE HERO #2 (OF 4)

JAMES BOND #2

SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT #1 (OF 4)

TRAIN CALLED LOVE #3 (OF 10)

IDW

ATOMIC ROBO & THE RING OF FIRE #4 (OF 5)

D4VE2 #4 (OF 4)

DONALD DUCK #8

INSUFFERABLE #8

MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDS FOREVER #23

OCTOBER FACTION #11

SKYLANDERS SUPERCHARGERS #2

TMNT AMAZING ADVENTURES #4

TMNT COLOR CLASSICS SERIES 3 #12

TRANSFORMERS #48

X-FILES SEASON 11 #5

ZOMBIES VS ROBOTS #10

IMAGE

BLACK JACK KETCHUM #1 (OF 4)

BLACK SCIENCE #18

CITIZEN JACK #2

DARK CORRIDOR #5

EAST OF WEST #22

HUMANS #10

IXTH GENERATION #7

NAILBITER #18

PAPER GIRLS #3

PLUTONA #3

REVIVAL #35

ROCKET GIRL #7

SAVAGE DRAGON #209

THEYRE NOT LIKE US #10

WHERE IS JAKE ELLIS #5 (OF 5)

ONI

AUTEUR SISTER BAMBI #5 (OF 5)

VALIANT

X-O MANOWAR COMMANDER TRILL #0

MISC

BIGFOOT SWORD OF THE EARTHMAN #1 (OF 6)

CARVER PARIS STORY #1

DOCTOR WHO 10TH YEAR TWO #3

DOCTOR WHO 12TH #14

DOCTOR WHO 9TH #5 (OF 5)

FUTURAMA COMICS #77

GRANT MORRISONS 18 DAYS #6

JOHNNY RED #2 (OF 8)

MAGIC WHISTLE VOL 3 #1

PACIFIC RIM TALES FROM THE DRIFT #2

REPLICA #1

WE CAN NEVER GO HOME #5 (OF 5)

TRADES

21ST CENTURY TANK GIRL HC

ABADDON GN

ABSOLUTE BATMAN THE COURT OF OWLS HC

ADVENTURE TIME ORIGINAL GN VOL 06 MASKED MAYHEM

ALL NEW X-MEN HC VOL 03

ALPHA HC (KNOCKABOUT)

BATMAN 66 HC VOL 04

BATMAN 66 TP VOL 03

BATMAN VS SUPERMAN TP

BIG MAN PLANS TP

BUTTER AND BLOOD GN

CHEW OMNIVORE ED HC VOL 05

DAREDEVIL TP VOL 04 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MATT MURDOCK

DEADPOOL BY POSEHN AND DUGGAN HC VOL 04

DEADPOOL VS THANOS TP

DISNEY ROSA DUCK LIBRARY HC VOL 04 LAST CLAN MCDUC

DMZ DELUXE EDITION HC BOOK 05

DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP OMNIBUS TP

DOCTOR WHO 11TH HC VOL 03 CONVERSION

DONALD DUCK DIABOLICAL DUCK AVENGER TP

EARTH 2 WORLDS END TP VOL 02

GHOSTBUSTERS GET REAL TP

GOD HATES ASTRONAUTS TP VOL 03

GRANT MORRISONS 18 DAYS TP VOL 01 WAR BEGINS

GRAPHIC INK THE DC COMICS ART OF IVAN REIS HC

HARROW COUNTY TP VOL 01 COUNTLESS HAINTS

IZOMBIE OMNIBUS HC (MR)

LOEG NEMO TRILOGY HC SLIPCASE ED

MARVEL 1872 TP

MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDS FOREVER TP VOL 05

NINJAK TP VOL 02 SHADOW WARS

PAREIDOLIA TP

POKEMON XY GN VOL 05

PRIVATE EYE DLX ED HC

RAT QUEENS DLX HC VOL 01

RICK & MORTY TP VOL 01

SPACE RIDERS TP VOL 01 VENGEFUL UNIVERSE

SPIDER-GWEN TP VOL 00 MOST WANTED

SPIDER-VERSE WARZONES TP

STAR-LORD AND KITTY PRYDE TP

STRAIN TP VOL 06 NIGHT ETERNAL

STRAY BULLETS TP VOL 04 DARK DAYS

TMNT CASEY AND APRIL TP

TMNT HC KEVIN EASTMAN COVERS 2011 - 2015

TMNT TP BOX SET VOL 01

UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL TP VOL 02 SQUIRREL YOU

UNCANNY X-MEN PREM HC VOL 06 STORYVILLE

WALKING DEAD OMNIBUS HC VOL 06

WOLVERINE EPIC COLLECTION TP DYING GAME

WOLVERINE OLD MAN LOGAN TP VOL 00 WARZONES

WORLDS FINEST TP VOL 06 SECRET HISTORY

X-MEN YEARS OF FUTURE PAST TP

MERCH

DC COMICS BATGIRL STATUE

DC COMICS COVER GIRLS CATWOMAN STATUE

FLASH TV STATUE

VINYL IDOLZ BATMAN 1966 BATGIRL VINYL FIG

VINYL IDOLZ BATMAN 1966 JOKER VINYL FIG

VINYL IDOLZ BATMAN 1966 ROBIN VINYL FIG

BACK IN STOCK

SANDMAN OVERTURE DELUXE ED HC

ALL STAR RECOMMENDS FOR NOVEMBER 24TH

Another brisk one this week, as various deadlines for other things click together to form some kind of evil Voltron of deadline. Oh! And Jessica Jones! I’ve seen two of them as of this particular deadline. So good, eh??

 COMIC OF THE WEEK : THE MARQUIS OF ANAON: THE BLACK VIRGIN

By Fabien Vehlmann & Matthieu Bonhomme

Published By Cinebook

When last we saw Jean-Baptiste Poulain he was sailing away from The Isle of Brac, having had some supernatural experiences and almost unwittingly catching a murderer. The locals of Brac dubbed Poulain “The Marquis of Anaon” – “Anaon” meaning “Lost Souls,” and in Poulain’s second adventure, “The Black Virgin,” he’s accepted his role as a kind of ghost detective/debunker, travelling from place to place to solve crimes of potentially supernatural origin.

For the past two years, at Christmas, women have been horribly murdered near the Shrine of The Black Virgin in rural Puy Marie.  The shrine is of special significance to local gypsies, so of course suspicions are cast their way and in particular toward a lovely fortune teller. Poulain, struggling to ingratiate himself with the locals, is not wanted by either the travelling gypsies or the townsfolk. The superstitions of both sides swell and when another body is found, Poulain begins to doubt his ability to uncover the murderer.

The wonderful thing about the Anaon books is just how bumbling Poulain actually is as out slightly mystical, know it all crime solver. Even here, having realised some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy by owning the “role” of The Marquis of Anaon, he’s still far from becoming a brave and heroic crusader. He screams when he’s frightened, vomits when he finds a mutilated chicken placed in his bed as warning, can’t keep his pistol from quivering when pointed at a potential threat. Getting by on an aura of near mysticism that’s completely self-created, Poulain is in many ways as much of a fraud as the charlatans he encounters as he digs deeper into the mystery. However, all of these foibles actually make Poulain a far more human character and in many ways even more relatable. His intent is good and just, his open-mindedness in an era of bible-thumping and belief in curses is commendable, his bumbling attempts at bravery made somehow even braver by the fact that he can’t fight and scares easily. He pushes ever onward with minimal help, into grave dangers he’s in no way ready to handle.

Bonhomme’s art is as gorgeous as ever. His bleak woods of winter-dead trees, his snowfalls, his gypsy camps and frosted stonework impeccable and atmospheric.  Fond of framing longshots with spindly branches and Mignola-esque trees in the foreground as characters meet in the mid-ground, his staging is perfect, his layouts direct. Vehlmann’s script is brisk, yet punctuated by entire pages of quiet moments, allowing his artist to shine and his characters a moment to breathe.

Presented in oversize album format, “The Black Virgin” is a beautiful comics package that foreshadows further development and even eventual disaster for our fledgling hero. Cinebook touts itself as “The 9th Art Publisher” and with comics as cinematic, compelling and visually lovely as The Marquis of Anaon series, they’re backing up the boast.

WEBCOMIC OF THE WEEK : AGAINST THE FLOW

By Nick Sousanis

I’m halfway through Nick Sousanis’ Unflattening and unless he totally screws up the back end it’s poised to be the most important example of the medium produced this year. Described as “an insurrection against the fixed viewpoint,” Sousanis masterfully utilises all the strengths of our beloved artform to maximum effect in breaking down not only comics, but the very nature of perception (and thus reality) in a blend of art, science and philosophy. It’s a special book, one that will make your synapses crackle as you turn the pages. Sadly, as Harvard University Press publishes it, Unflattening is not available through Diamond Distributors meaning All Star can’t get it for you. This sucks. Thankfully, however, you can get a taste of what Sousanis is all about (his intricate, thoughtful utilisation of comics space, his gift of transmuting scientific and philosophical thought into visual art) in “Against The Flow,” a one-page webcomic found at the Boston Globe.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2015/10/03/sousanis/XOMd3JBYnEdzQCWHM6twTJ/story.html

COUNTDOWN TO MOZ METAL: HEAVY METAL AUGUST 1978

What? This can’t be right! Censorship hits the offices of Heavy Metal! So many letters from concerned moralists have been received that overt (male) nudity and copulation is to be toned down as of this August ’78 issue. No more will the swinging dicks of Corben’s heroes be seen and letterer extraordinaire John Workman has been told to shuffle word balloons around to cover up some of the more risqué sexual activity.

A moment of silence, please.

…..

…..

…..

…..

Okay.

Anewly shackled Corben still belts out a typically lavish chapter of “New Tales of the Arabian Nights” with Sindbad having to deal with a (loincloth-wearing) demon who has made a vow not to harm Sindbad himself, but has set his sights on Sindbad’s wife instead. Slightly clichéd heroics from Strnad’s script here, but hey, at least there’s heroics. After last chapter I was practically rooting for the demon…

Zha and Nicole Claveloux’s “Off-Season” debuts, a surreal strip about two private detectives aboard an experimental train that unexpectedly dissolves around them before they reach their seaside destination. Finally meeting their client, a reedy young woman who does not reveal the nature of her business with our detectives by chapter’s end, Claveloux’s fine black and white cartooning with it’s odd, expressive characters and thoughtfully curved architecture make for some perfectly dreamy atmospherics.

Moebius’ “Airtight Garage” continues on in all its oddness and beauty, as does Gray Morrow’s “Orion,” Moench and Nino’s adaptation of “More Than Human” and Druillet’s “Gail.”Chapter Three of Voss’ “Heilman” brings to mind a lustier, even more unhinged version of Jim Starlin’s Warlock run in it’s distortions of time and space, with Heilman resuming once more the “eternal cycle of life and death” and coming up against a vessel that sucks in the souls of the dead which he has to orgasm his way out of.

Finally, “Planet of Terror” by Caza and Paul Montellierre deserves a special mention for its far-out, sensory overload graphics and love-filled climax.  A man presses a strange button in his elevator and is subsequently blasted into the cosmos. Finding himself a prisoner in an alien zoo, he is made to live in an apartment, wear a suit, eat cereal and watch his “masters” on TV with their “disgusting voices hollowingly babble vile incantations” (sic). Thankfully, respite from this drudgery and banal horror comes in the form of love when our narrator encounters a beautiful woman. This being a French comic, love and sex are the answer to everything and in their union, man and woman are transported to a psychedelic utopia of their very own. Kind of trite and obvious in a Slaughterhouse Five goes The Fifth Element way, but, man, “Planet of Terror” is just so beautiful to look at that it boosted my Hippy levels up 20% just reading it.

COMICS VIDEO OF THE WEEK: ORBITAL COMICS PRESENTS: SOUTHERN BASTARDS DIRECTOR’S COMMENTARY WITH JASON AARON & JASON LATOUR

Oh, this is fun.

London’s Orbital Comics are back with another of their in-store Director’s Commentaries (last linked to in this column when Becky Cloonan stopped by Orbital to discuss Gotham Academy). This time it’s the Jasons, Aaron and Latour, hilariously and yet informatively and educationally pulling Southern Bastards first story arc apart with the breezy chatter of two very good friends.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYz6zCKl9eQ

See you next week. Love your comics.

Cameron Ashley spends a lot of time writing comics and other things you’ll likely never read. He’s the chief editor and co-publisher of Crime Factory (www.thecrimefactory.com). You can reach him @cjamesashley on Twitter.

New Comics For Wednesday 25th of November

After a serious binge viewing of Netflix Jessica Jones on the weekend, we are ready to get back to some comics reading. Here's a little (actually loooong) lists of things happening in and around the store to look forward to this week.

First up we'll be having a little VIP Christmas Shopping day on Saturday the 28th with festive fun to officially kick off the holiday season...more details to come. Also on that day you could stand to head to Squishface Studio and check out Ben Hutchings latest work from Milk Shadow Books with the Iron Bard Ballisto Launch. Then there is the next All Star Women's Comic Book Club November Meet featuring the first Black Widow trade paperback, being hosted HERE in the store on Sunday the 29th from 5pm. Following that is the The Melbourne LGBT Comic Book Group November Meeting is taking place on Monday the 30th at the Hare and Hyenas from 6:30pm, chatting about Young Avengers Volume 1 among other comic things. Both groups are always keen to see new folks come along, so be sure to look into them if you are interested. And finally the massive news of Tom Taylor and James Brouwer's graphic novels from Gestalt Publishing are coming to life with THE DEEP ANIMATED SERIES starting Monday the 30th, at 7:30AM on 7Two! Be sure not to miss it!

And then....COMICS!

The return of Frank Miller (if only in plots) to DC and one of his great legacies, Dark Knight in DARK KNIGHT III MASTER RACE #1 is no doubt filling people with equal amounts of anticipation and trepidation. With Azzerallo and Kubert involved as well, it should still rate high on your interest meter.  the Only a few new issue #1's this week for Marvel BUT they are some winners, with titles like MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR #1 and VENOM SPACE KNIGHT #1, how can we go wrong?! JACKED #1 from Vertigo gives us superpowers through pill popping and the nasty lows people hit looking for their next superpowered hit. RINGSIDE #1 throws us into the darker side and shady dealings of professional wrestling, perfect for those looking for a hero redemption story. As popular as the FLASH is right now it is surprisingly hard to find collections of anything pre-Flashpoint, thankfully now fixed with the release of  FLASH BY GEOFF JOHNS TP BOOK 01. Enjoy Bryan Lee O'Malleys latest books Seconds? Compliment that book with the behind the scenes serving of SECONDS HELPING DRAWING ASST MEMOIR ONE SHOT. Plus the latest wave from the excellent BATMAN ANIMATED FIGURE line is due! Compliment a weekend of Jessica Jones with catching the original comics and the new printing of JESSICA JONES TP ALIAS VOL 03. And to round the week out December's Previews for new comics and goodies coming out in Feb next year will also be available for you to look through.

Anything you need help securing just let us know!

MARVEL

ALL NEW WOLVERINE #2

ANGELA QUEEN OF HEL #2

AVENGERS VS INFINITY #1

CARNAGE #2

CHEWBACCA #4 (OF 5)

DARTH VADER #13 VDWN

GROOT #6

GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #2

GUIDE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNI INCREDIBLE HULK IRON MAN #2

HAIL HYDRA #4 SWA

HOWLING COMMANDOS OF SHIELD #2

MARVEL UNIVERSE ULT SPIDER-MAN SPIDER-VERSE #1 (OF 4)

MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR #1

SHIELD #12

SILK #1

SILVER SURFER #15 SWA

UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #2

VENOM SPACE KNIGHT #1

DC COMICS

AQUAMAN #46 LOONEY TUNES VAR ED

BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL #8

BATMAN ARKHAM KNIGHT ROBIN SPECIAL #1

BATMAN ENDGAME DIRECTORS CUT #1

DARK KNIGHT III MASTER RACE #1 (OF 8)

DC COMICS BOMBSHELLS #5

DEATHSTROKE #12 LOONEY TUNES VAR ED

FLASH #46 LOONEY TUNES VAR ED

GRAYSON #14 LOONEY TUNES VAR ED

HE MAN THE ETERNITY WAR #12

JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #6

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #5 LOONEY TUNES VAR ED

OMEGA MEN #6

ROBIN SON OF BATMAN #6 LOONEY TUNES VAR ED

SINESTRO #17 LOONEY TUNES VAR ED

SUPERMAN #46 LOONEY TUNES VAR ED

SUPERMAN LOIS AND CLARK #2

SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #23 LOONEY TUNES VAR ED

WE ARE ROBIN #6

WONDER WOMAN #46 LOONEY TUNES VAR ED

VERTIGO

AMERICAN VAMPIRE SECOND CYCLE #11

ART OPS #2

JACKED #1 (OF 6)

BOOM

MUNCHKIN #11

POWER UP #5 (OF 6)

WILDS END ENEMY WITHIN #3 (OF 4)

DARK HORSE

ADAM.3 #4 (OF 5)

COLDER TOSS THE BONES #3 (OF 5)

CONAN THE AVENGER #20

ELFQUEST FINAL QUEST #12

EMPOWERED SPECIAL #7 PEW PEW PEW B&W

FIGHT CLUB 2 #7

GROO FRIENDS AND FOES #11

HALO ESCALATION #24

HELLBOY BPRD 1953 WITCH TREE RAWHEAD BLOODY BONES

ITTY BITTY HELLBOY SEARCH FOR THE WERE-JAGUAR #1

TOMORROWS #5 (OF 6)

DYNAMITE

PS BLACKCROSS #6 (OF 6)

IDW

DANGER GIRL RENEGADE #3 (OF 4)

FISTFUL OF BLOOD #2 (OF 4)

GHOSTBUSTERS ANNUAL 2015

STAR TREK ONGOING #51

TMNT ONGOING #52

TRANSFORMERS MORE THAN MEETS EYE #47

TRANSFORMERS SINS OF WRECKERS #1 (OF 5)

UNCLE SCROOGE #8

WALT DISNEY COMICS & STORIES #725

IMAGE

BLACK MAGICK #2

CHEW #52

FADE OUT #11

FUSE #16

INVISIBLE REPUBLIC #7

JUPITERS CIRCLE VOL 2 #1

KAPTARA #5

OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA #13

POSTAL #8

RINGSIDE #1

RUMBLE #9

SAGA #31

SPAWN #258

SWITCH #2

ONI

BLOOD FEUD #2 (OF 5)

STRINGERS #4 (OF 5)

VALIANT

BLOODSHOT REBORN #8

IVAR TIMEWALKER #11

X-O MANOWAR #42

MISC

ARCHIE #4

BART SIMPSON COMICS #99

CAPTAIN CANUCK 2015 ONGOING #5

JUGHEAD #2

PROVIDENCE #6 (OF 12)

SECONDS HELPING DRAWING ASST MEMOIR ONE SHOT

MAGAZINES

MARVEL PREVIEWS DECEMBER 2015 EXTRAS

PREVIEWS #327 DECEMBER 2015

TRADES

ART OF TOMB RAIDER OFF ART BOOK HC

ASSASSINS CREED GN VOL 06 LEILA

BATMAN 66 MEETS THE GREEN HORNET TP

CAPTAIN CANUCK UNHOLY WAR TP

CROGAN ADVENTURES COLOR GN VOL 02 LAST OF THE LEGION

DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES TP VOL 01

DEADPOOL CLASSIC TP VOL 14 SUICIDE KINGS

EARTH 2 HC VOL 06 COLLISION

EARTH 2 TP VOL 05 THE KRYPTONIAN

ETERNAUT HC

FLASH BY GEOFF JOHNS TP BOOK 01

FRANKENSTEIN UNDERGROUND TP

GLANCE BACKWARD HC

HOPELESS SAVAGES BREAK GN

J SCOTT CAMPBELL TIME CAPSULE HC

JAMES BOND OMNIBUS TP VOL 01 NEW PTG

JESSICA JONES TP ALIAS VOL 03

JUNJI ITOS CAT DIARY YON & MU GN VOL 01

KABUKI LIBRARY HC VOL 02

KITCHEN TP

LEGENDERRY RED SONJA TP

MARVEL 1872 TP

MILES MORALES ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN ULT COLL TP BOOK 03

MY LITTLE PONY ART IS MAGIC TP

SIXTH GUN DUST TO DEATH TP

SONS OF THE DEVIL TP VOL 01

SPAWN RESURRECTION TP VOL 01

SPREAD TP VOL 02 CHILDRENS CRUSADE

THE VALIANT DLX HC

TOMB RAIDER TP VOL 03 QUEEN OF SERPENTS

UNITY TP VOL 06 THE WAR MONGER

USAGI YOJIMBO SAGA TP VOL 05

MERCH

ARROW TV ARSENAL AF

BATMAN ANIMATED SERIES BANE AF

BATMAN ANIMATED SERIES MAD HATTER AF

BATMAN ANIMATED SERIES NIGHTWING AF

BATMAN ANIMATED SERIES SCARECROW AF

DC COMICS SUPER PETS STREAKY PLUSH FIGURE

THE NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES BATGIRL BENDABLE FIGURE

THE NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES HARLEY QUINN BENDABLE FIGURE

THE NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES ROBIN BENDABLE FIGURE

BACK IN STOCK

BACK TO THE FUTURE #2 (OF 4)

BLACK MAGICK #1

GRUMPY CAT #1 (OF 3)

GRUMPY CAT #2 (OF 3)

PAPER GIRLS #1

SANDMAN OVERTURE DELUXE ED HC

TWILIGHT CHILDREN #2 (OF 4)