Babymouse Queen of the World

The advance readers copy of Babymouse Queen of the World/ flipped with Babymouse Our Hero is fun and sassy reading. The brother sister team of Jennifer Holm (a children's author) and her brother (a graphic designer) will be releasing this series through Random House kids in December 2005. There are simple black and white illustrations, but also with pink highlights like hearts and backgrounds.
I will encourage our children's librarians to look for it (and keep my copy - thanks Chad!)


Babymouse

Comics piling up.....

I'm behind in comics from last week. Still have Desolation Jones, Villians 5, Aquaman 34, Shazam vs. Superman to read. The Walking Dead 3 TP was excellent-- finding a jail to begin a new life in and all the trials and drama of that. Supergirl 2 was OK-- enjoyed the Superboy interaction- but I'm unsure I can stick with this series. The Teen Titans appearing was interesting, but I just can't buy into the Supergirl character, despite her angst and trying.

A message from a Luna Brother!

...checked my mail today to find this message from Jonathan Luna, currently working with brother Joshua on GIRLS, yippee! I was pondering Girls and Y the Last Man, and shot off the message below to the Luna Brothers.

From: "Jonathan Luna"

Subject: Re: Girls and Y the Last Man
Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 08:55:05 +0000

Thanks for writing!
What a crazy crossover that would be!

Jonathan and Joshuahttp://www.lunabrothers.com/


----- Original Message -----
From: midnjcomic@comcast.net
To: we@lunabrothers.com
Sent: Sunday, September 25, 2005 10:47 PM
Subject: Girls and Y the Last Man

Girl Talk Brothers,
It occurred to me today that my two most anticipated comics are Girls and Y the Last Man. Ethan and Yorick have many of the same qualities-- self-depricating, trouble with girls, and floppy brown hair. The problems of the two worlds could be solved--- The Girls killing off the women in your comic could give some men to Y, where Yorick and his monkey are the last males on Earth. Do you think you could talk with Brian K. Vaughan and work on a teamup crossover comic? Putting these two boys together would be excellent.

Redhead Fangirl

Forbidden Planet New York

I went to the Forbidden Planet comic store in NY. It was a nice bookend to my Forbidden Planet visit in Dublin.
Didn't even venture to the anime/manga second floor,
but the first floor was packed with comics, graphic novels, and lots of figurines. I didn't see any back issues, which is the mark of a *great* comic store.

Only bought 2 comics (but got a 10% student discount)...Banana Sunday #2 and Smoke and Guns, recommended by Yet Another Comics Blog. The main character in S&G is a cigarette girl, and I've always wanted to be a cigarette girl for Halloween.

WASHing

Serenity 3 of 3...with the special Wash cover... It's hard to judge a comic based on a series I've seen and actors I have a mental picture of. The voices, mannerisms and look of the characters is already set. That's why I like creating the whole world in my head-- and then when a movie is cast for a book or comic, it can be 'perfect' casting, or totally disappointing. What is not disappointing is Alan Tudyk, who plays Wash in Serenity. (or the pirate guy in Dodgeball or the gay stripper in 28 days..).

Crime fightin' librarian

The ultimate Batgirl site is http://www.bat-hound.com/batgirl/.
There is no stone left unturned in the Barbara Gordon/Batgirl/Oracle and Dick Grayson/Robin/Nightwing saga. If you are interested in collectibles (Batgirl underoos! Superfriends Lunchboxes!), Timelines, Film and TV...everything Batgirl...you have to check it out. Gush, gush, gush!
My favorite modern image from the site and classic image of Babs and Dick are posted...

My war with Brian

My War with Brian- by Ted Rall

The story of a junior high student relentlessly bullied. And some redemption too.

His bully made him "stronger, but he also made me meaner, less trusting, and hateful of hypermasculine men" (who digs hypermasculine men anyway? oh, i know some girls do, but those are the girls with fake bake tans, white blonde hair with dark roots, and shirts that say "porn star" or "baby phat").

I love the dedication:"MWWB is dedicated to the loners, misfits, and losers for whom childhood is an unspeakable horror. Hang tough- adulthood really is better".

Johnny Blaze and Strange Girl in hell

The latest 2 comics I've read are different, yet both meet on the same playing field of hell. Strange Girl 1, begins with a skatepunk young girl with uberreligious parents who demand she have daily family bible study...just as we feel sorry for the terrified Beth, the Rapture begins. Her parents are indeed called to heaven, and Beth is left to survive with hordes of demons and the nightmare of Lord Belial. Ten years later, Beth has grown up and survives the hell on Earth.

This is another Image comic I wanted to give a chance. I liked the edgy punk look of Beth. The artwork may be too 'harsh' for me...not in content but the sharp edges of the characters. Actually, my favorite part of the comic was Rick Remender described his inspiration for the series.

I also read the latest Ghost Rider. With the new movie coming out, there will be a lot of new Ghost Rider fans. The artwork was so detailed and the red and gold flames of hell were shockingly vivid. The story, however, left me a little uninspired, espite all the high points of a race out hell and an angel on Johnny Blaze's side.

Rex Libris-- I, (am a) Librarian

"Your time is up, you fiendish, barnacle-brained, arch-malignant monster of maliciousness! Now get the hell out of my library!"

from Rex Libris, I Librarian published by SLG

Batgirl on the move

C found this online decal store...so I had to get a special Batgirl (with red hair, natch). You will find me crusing around central Jersey. My coworker said "Batgirl- LOVE IT". A patron told me "You got it bad, girl!". Does this mean I've crossed into the 'rabid fangirl' territory?

Monkeypuff

Monkeys are cool. Look at the attitude from this one. Well, it is a Philly monkey, so that's no surprise. ( Nothing related to a comic whatsoever)

Skipped the light fandango

The stack of comics I haven't read yet is getting bigger and bigger on my desk. I don't think I've had this much "homework" since finishing grad school in June! At least this is fun and not information science theories and research models. Ghost Rider, AC Dark Age 3, Aquaman, Villians 5, House of M 6, Serenity 2 (Alan Tudyk cover), Superman Shazam, Ex Machina TP1, Walking Dead TP3, Strange Girl 1,2...

Right now I'm processing 2 new GN's that my library just received "Why are you doing this?" by Jason and Go Girl! for the Juvenile section.

A closer named Jack Cross

Jack Cross #1 from DC. Warren Ellis has created a noir closer in Jack Cross. The opening interior pages of a Chicago street and hotel are amazingly detailed. There is a "hail" of gunfire by four identically dressed, stone faced agents.

Jack Cross interior art .pdf

There is actually little text in this issue. Removing the art, it might take 5 minutes to read every word. Some sentences pack a punch, like "We have the package. Prepare to sanitize the location."

My small complaint is with the faces of Jack and the other characters-- it could just be personal preference, but there is a sameness and blankness that strikes me.

Take the Titans bowling, take them bowling

Just read Teen Titans #27. I grabbed in on a whim, after watching some Teen Titans shows recently. I didn't realize the guest writer was Gail Simone-- she is rocking the house on Birds of Prey!

Best comic quote, while the Titans bowl, "Interesting. He makes himself angry at the white things, the better to hit them with the heavy ball." "Guys like to pretend their conquering everything, Raven."

Best dramatic quote: "I mean, mentors and role models...those, we got already. It's parents we're short on."

Teen Titans #27

Dead ant, dead ant, deadant, deadant...

Reading ANT issue 1...keep singing this from that old joke in my head "dead ant, dead ant, deadant..." like the Pink Panther theme...

ANT 1. Image comics seems to be getting it all right recently, with Girls, Invincible. I love the Invincible doll inserted into this issue. I also love the Comic Con drawings of the Hotel Pennsylvania, where the Big Apple Con is held. The female character is drawn too extreme for me. I don't mind sexy, but her boobs are like watermelons! So while there are elements of the story I like, the women are too stipperlike for me.

Tropic Transylvania SPF150

Since it bites that new comics come out tomorrow because of the holiday,
I'll write about ~Bite Club~

The Del Toros- fabulously wealthy outcasts in Miami, and by outcasts I mean vampires. But there are 300,000 vampires in Miami . Eduardo Del Toro is killed, and his three children make sense of his death and the family business. Risa-- well, she's a sexual predator, indie record label and deadly vamp. Eddie-- violent, proud, and trying to raise son Danny with a better life. This leaves Leto, America's first ordained vampiric priest, left the family business by Eduardo, and lusts after his sister Risa.

The stage is set for the story-- family, pride, sex, violence, betrayal, lesbians, vice cops and an alligator--Howard Chaykin and David Tischman's story here crackles and pops with David Hahns artwork sizzling like the Miami sun. Frank Quitely created 6 covers, all reproduced in the trade thankfully. I love the faux-advertisement look of the first three. Quitely has my eye since reading WE3.

Bust and Men we love

While taking breaks on today's 12 mile bike ride, I read Bust Magazine (it's a great indie/feminist/shopaholic mag) because of the profile of Brian K. Vaughan in the "Men we love" issue. If his work on Y the Last Man, Ex Machina, and the Runaways wasn't enough, his quotes made me love him more...

"Brian K. Vaughan defines the stereotype of comic book writers as dateless dorks with little-to-no understanding of the female psyche. In fact...he isn't even afraid to use the F-word....'I do consider myself a feminist'"

"I started losing my hair about the same time I cashed my first check from Marvel. I think when you get into comic books you immediately lose your hair."

BUST Men we love



And a profile of Josh Homme, the yummy redhead from Queens of the Stone Age!

Scottless

I was utterly bummed that Scott Beatty was not able to be at the Philly Comicon today. He had a death in the family. I carted a huge bag of Batgirls, Robin Year One, Nightwings, and even that heavy DC encyclopedia!

But-- I got to see several dealers that I know, like Bill from Frankenstein Comics, Jeff from JNS, Leonard, Richard. Getting to know people now, not just as R's redhead sidekick.

And digging through the 8 for $1 bins I found some keepers...and bought some back Y issues...and R found me a 'Special Batgirl' and a Mary Jane cover of Spidey.


View from the doorway at the Philly Con.

Banana! Nap! Bananap!

Banana Sunday is a mystery (how can 3 monkeys talk?) with high school drama (what's the story with Kirby and cute Martin). Cutely written by Root Nibot (is that an anagram?) and illustrated by Colleen Coover.

It's also a character study of 3 monkeys-- the intellectual Chuck orangutan, Go-Go gorilla, and Knobby, who learned english from romance comics and woos the ladies.


"You've got funny monkeys"- Nickels, the reporter.

DC helps comic retailers in Katrina areas

The Comic Asylum posted this article about DC giving retailers in Katrina areas free DC items, with more help to come...

DC to help comic retailers hurt by Hurricane Katrina