What are you reading in August, 2009?

With some birthday money, I just picked up All-Star Superman Volume 2 by Grant Morrison and The Dresden Files: Storm Front by Jim Butcher and illustrated by Ardian Syaf. I also ordered an early Grant Morrison, Steed and Mrs. Peel (I'm an Avengers fan).

It's great to read you're sticking with Morrison, jn!

My reading radar for August has more than a few intriguing blips. On the top of the list is the newly revamped Detective Comics. Longtime star Batman is absent, thanks to the "Batman Reborn" era, and the controversial Bat-Woman, Kathy Kane, takes the starring role. Greg Rucka writes and the extraordinarily talented JH Williams III pencils one of the most beautiful single-issue comics that I've seen this past year. This comic has become a visual treat, and reads like a Raymond Chandler novel.

Next, I'm going to tackle the first of a forthcoming six-issue science fiction series from Mario and Gilbert Hernandez, creators of Love and Rockets, Citizen Rex. The black/white series features long-legged ladies, celebrity robots, asks the question, "What Compels Life without a Soul?" Once I come to a conclusion, I'll file my report here.

And if I'm not exhausted after I get through those two books, I'm going to revisit one of my favorite independent books - Steve Emond's very emo Emo Boy from Slave Labor Graphics. It's poetic, hilarious, and, I've heard, has just been optioned as a feature film!

finishing up Dave Steven's last book.. "Brush with Passion", and re-reading
The paintings of J. Allen St. John.... amazing stuff!!

I'm catching up with the current DC titles mainly.

I was just at the Chicago Comic Con and picked up a bunch of $5 and $6 hardcover bargains, including The Eternals by Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr., and A Mystery Play by Grant Morrison and JJ Muth, and some good paperback bargains like From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, Promethea by Alan Moore, J. H. Williams, Mick gray and Charles Vess, and Midnight Days by Neil Gaiman.

You are unstoppable, JN!

I've heard many good things about Chicago Comic-Con, and I'm wondering if its about on the same level as the WonderCon that we host here in San Francisco end of February/March?

I also read that DC Comics was doing a pretty large promotion there for Blackest Night, too. Any impressions?

I'm a novice, Rolandeco! This was my first Comic Con, so I can't compare. All I can tell you is I had a blast.

On the day I was there my daughter was my guide, and took me to two good illustrators (I had them draw Gaiman's Dream and Death in a sketchbook). I didn't do the panels, and the celebrity booth visits were limited to my daughter's favorites - American Gladiators like Venom and Fury, and the woman who played Anya on Buffy (Emma Caulfield), who was charming but a lot tinier than I expected. If James Olmos from Battlestar Galactica had been there as he was at other times that would have grabbed me. The many attendees wearing costumes were fun, and the atmosphere was great - people were having a good time and talking about their favorites, etc.

The best part for me was all the bargains. I don't generally collect single issue comics, but there were tons of marked down collections and graphic novels, some of which I've mentioned above. My daughter teased me because I began turning my nose up at 50% off as not being enough of a bargain, given the other markdowns there.

I didn't see a DC promotion of Blackest Night, although I could have missed it. A friend who writes articles on this kind of thing said that next year's Comic Con in Chicago is going to be bigger and that DC and Marvel are going to have a much bigger presence.

Thanks for the info, jn. If James Olmos (or for that matter, Jamie Bamber or Mary McDonnell, one of my favorite actresses) were there -- and if I was there haha -- I'd let myself get grabbed, too!

While I'm a longtime comic collector of the monthly issue variety, there are always certain trades that I want for whatever reason, especially if I don't collect the monthly title but want a particular storyline. And then there are the OGNs, the original graphic novels, that by definition aren't available in a monthly pamphlet format. And of course on occasion, there's a collected edition that is just downright cool -- a personal library "must-have."

I thought I'd recommend one (or two) to you, jn. The first is Rasl by Jeff Smith, who's most well-known for his long-running and very all-ages reader-friendly series, Bone. While some of the content is on the Mature Readers cusp (though its nothing prime-time TV doesn't portray in spades), its a beautifully yet simply rendered story. As a monthly, its a black-and-white comic, with a 6-issue/year schedule. I think you, and maybe even your daughter, might enjoy it.

A second unsolicited (!) recommendation of mine - and one that definitely looks amazing in its collected format -- is Darwyn Cooke's DC: The New Frontier. Cooke (like Smith) both writes and illustrates, and his periodic depiction of the early days of DC's heroes post-Korean War is really something grand.

I try to find the best discounts I can for graphic novels, too. One online store that focuses only on GN's and trades from all the major (and independent) publishers is called In-Stock Trades. They're out of Indiana, I think.

The website is http://www.instocktrades.com/default.aspx.

Read "World of Krypton" last night (Paul Kupperberg's version from 1979). Has adult Kal-El's presence on the planet been part of another story line before the mini-series? I've read just a bare minimum of Superman titles so might have just missed it. Anyway - it's a nice story and nice art. And we get to see Krypto and Beppo when they leave the world, the stealing of Kandor and the history behind the Phantom Zone (at least as it stays in the era).

And now I have the other two Krypton mini-series lined up - E. Nelson Bridwell's "Krypton Chronicles" from 1981 and John Byrne's "The World of Krypton" update from 1987.

>9 Rolandeco: Thanks for the great tips, Rolandeco. I loved Jeff Smith's Bone, so I'll look for Rasl. I've been reading a lot of positive reviews recently about Darwyn Cooke's Parker: The Hunter, and now you've got me interested in his DC: The New Frontier. I also bookmarked the In-Stock Trades site.

Recommendations, unsolicited and otherwise, are one of the many reasons I enjoy LT, so I really appreciate it.

If you haven't read it, a recent one that has stuck out for me is Local by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly (pardon the goofy touchstones). Memorable main character in Megan, great drawing, and consistently good stories that are interconnected and resolved in the end.

Hey JN, you are most welcome. I've seen those reviews of Parker: The Hunter, too! And I've been tempted to make that purchase. (Now you've got me thinking again...!)

As an aside, I'll mention that I had an opportunity to have drinks with Darwyn Cooke about a year and a half ago. He had come to the 2008 Wonder Con in San Francisco to help DC Comics promote the release of the DC: New Frontier-inspired animated film, Justice League: The New Frontier (which is really fun, and does a great job capturing the feel as well as the story of his comics story). He's such a down-to-earth guy, with a great love of the medium and the characters he portrays. All his work really comes across as the labors of love they are.

I share your opinion of Wood and Kelly's "Local" - I read it as a monthly, and enjoyed it a lot. Much in the same vein is Wood's earlier collection, same B&W format of somewhat related stand-alone stories revolving around a central theme, entitled Demo. It's also quite good - I believe the monthly was a total of 13 issues.

Thanks, Rolandeco. Good to hear about Darwyn Cooke. I find it tough when a good author turns out to be a jerk; Knut Hamsun who wrote Hunger among others comes to mind.

I had noticed Demo when I was looking for more Brian Wood, and now I'll move it up the list. Currently I'm reading Gaiman's Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader (also picked up at Comic Con), and enjoying its clever alternate stories about Batman.

I'd recommend Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli to everyone. It's about the best Graphic Novel to come out of the US for quite a while.

I'm tackling A Drifting Life at an age when I'm supposed to being applying to art school. So it's helpful reading about a young artist's (who is now an old man) struggle to define himself as an artist.

Teen: along those same illuminating lines, you may want to check out Alec: How to be an Artist and Fate of the Artist, both by Eddie Campbell. They both tell of his (by way of his alter-ego character) long struggle to make it in the comics business.

Of course, Eddie - who's noted for his own works as well as his collaboration with Alan Moore on From Hell, among other writers - eventually made it through pretty well, eh?

I think you'll like 'em.

I just read the new Madame Xanadu trade paperback, Disenchanted. I was seduced by the pretty pictures, but found the writing disappointing. Overblown & melodramatic generally, and I honestly don't understand the last few pages, where she reaches some realization that changes the course of her life. I'm not familiar with this character, so maybe long-time DC readers will get what I missed.

I just finished Alan Moore's Promethea, the first of a 5 part series. I enjoyed it, but am uncertain whether to read the others. If you liked the series, or didn't, please let me know.

Right now I'm reading Grant Morrison's Mystery Play, which is quite bizarre so far.

@18: I loved Promethea. If you enjoyed the first collection, the other 4 have the same stunning artwork and writing.

Speaking of Grant Morrison, I really liked his Seven Soldiers of Victory miniseries, which was collected into 4 trade paperbacks.

Fables 12: The Dark Ages by Willingham is on it's way right now. i'm so excited!

I just read & liked the trade collection NYX: No Way Home. If not as magically bleak as the original series, I thought it was true to character, added some interesting background ideas, and kept the same look & feel as the original Josh Middleton art.

Marjorie Liu has restored my faith that novelists can successfully write for comics. I had my doubts after reading Tamora Pierce's White Tiger miniseries a couple of years ago, which read like an awkward movie script. (And then, sigh, Ed Brubaker unceremoniously killed off that incarnation of the character in Daredevil...)

My best reads this week were:
Batgirl #1 and Daredevil #500.
Both issues were surprising reads that enhanced the characters in good ways. I am very excited to see which way they both go.

I second your Batgirl as a best read for late August, d_perlo. I also really liked the first issue of the Blackest Night: Superman mini-series.

And before the month is out, my copy of the latest Fantastic Four (#570, I believe) should be in my hands. Marvel's got a new creative team coming on board, including Jonathan Hickman, who writes another Marvel series, Secret Warriors, that's pretty darn good. Classic Nick Fury action in a post-Invasion world :)