Wednesday 31 October 2018

LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY CEREBI....OUT TODAY!


Benjamin Hobbs:

Hurry! Hurry!  THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY CEREBI is out today at your LCS! 

While your at your LCS, make sure to tell them you want GIANT SIZE JINGLES, on sale JAN 2019!
Promotional strip by David Birdsong!

Next week: It's that time of the month again...Cerebus tries to ride Jingles!

Tuesday 30 October 2018

December previews stuff

Hi, Everybody!

The Vark Wars continue. If you want in: thevarkwars@gmail.com

And Then:

Travis Pelkie returns with his regular monthly selection for Cerebus fans of comics and books featured in the latest Diamond Previews catalog. Travis is co-founder of the Atomic Junk Shop, a site about comics and other fun pop culture. To see your comics featured here or at the Atomic Junk Shop feel free to send an email to Travis at: atomicjunkshoptravis [at] outlook [dot] com.

Didn't we suggest this one?
CANADIAN VARK #1
(W) Dave Sim (A) Dave Sim, Gustave Dore (CA) Lee Thacker, Benjamin Hobbs
Now! With No Reprints! Book Length All-In-One Issue! Cerebus' Canadian Inaugural Address, 2020; Cerebus is his own Bioethics Mandarin; Cerebus beheads everyone at a campaign stop; Cerebus as "Mecca/Jerusalem/Vatican City"-style candidate; Voluntary carbon tax paid only by environmentalists; Nutrient-dense Locavore Eco-magno variant systems; Friedrich Nietzsche, Environment Minister; Dancing With The Inconvenient Stars starring Jennifer Lopez as Al Gore; The Whore of Babylon serializes her diary online from when she was Cerebus' intern; the three answers that answer ANY question in a Liberal or NDP riding; Cerebus, Political Jargon Monster; "And Men Shall Call Him H.E.L.O.C." Batvark and Woolly-Bully's Sacred African Mask of Doom. 

Travis sez: Of course you already ordered this, it's got all new stuff! 

WAR BEARS HC
(W) Margaret Atwood (A/CA) Ken Steacy
From the Booker Prize-winning author of The Handmaid's Tale, comes this historical fiction graphic novel tracing the Golden Age of Canadian comic books.

Oursonette, a fictional Nazi-fighting superheroine, is created at the peak of World War II by comic book creator Al Zurakowski who dreams of making it big in the early world of comics publishing.

A story that follows the early days of comics in Toronto, a brutal war that greatly strains Al personally and professionally, and how the rise of post-war American comics puts an end to his dreams.

Internationally and New York Times best-selling novelist Margaret Atwood and acclaimed artist Ken Steacy collaborate for one of the most highly anticipated comic book and literary events! Collects War Bears issues #1-3. 

Travis sez: I mentioned this when the first issue came out, but now comes the collection of the Margaret Atwood/Ken Steacy book about the Golden Age of Canadian comics.  Sounded interesting!

Not art from this, this is from a previous series. Just FYI
XERXES FALL HOUSE DARIUS RISE ALEXANDER HC
(W) Frank Miller (A/CA) Frank Miller
Frank Miller returns to the world of 300 with this sprawling historical epic! Persian King Xerxes sets out to conquer the world to avenge his father Darius's defeat and create an empire unlike anything the world has ever seen . . . Until the hardy Greeks produce a god king of their own, Alexander the Great. Collects issues #1-#5 of the miniseries. 

Travis sez: Frank Miller's sequel (prequel?) to his 300 comic.   

EC ARCHIVES HC PIRACY
(W) Carl Wessler, Various (A) Wally Wood, Various
Collecting the complete run of the EC Comics cult classic Piracy; featuring stories about the violence and cruelty of the pirates that sailed the seven seas. Across these pages sail plunderers, pillagers, buccaneers, whalers, smugglers, pearl divers, treasure hunters, mutineers, and many more, in these brutal tales of life on the water. Piracy issues #1-#7 in full color! Features stories drawn by all-star comic artists Wally Wood, Jack Davis, Al Williamson, Graham Ingels, Reed Crandall, Bernard Krigstein, George Evans, and more.

Travis sez: The comics that inspired the pirate bits in Watchmen, I believe.  It's EC, it's pirates, it's great artists.  It should be cool! 




VOYAGE TO THE DEEP HC
(W) Sam Glanzman (A/CA) Sam Glanzman
Follow the adventures of a shape-shifting atomic sub battling sea creatures, arctic monsters, sonic attacks, anti-matter generators, global terrorism, and more! Four tales of the atomic submarine Proteus and her crew in one graphic novel! First, the submarine Proteus has just finished its shakedown run and heads out to explore the Mariana Trench, but when the ship arrives, it not only has to deal with giant sea creatures, but an act of terrorism that threatens the entire world! Plus, a monster larger than the Proteus, a fanged sea creature and an anti-matter generator that threatens to tear apart the world, and an unknown enemy unleashes sonic destruction on the Proteus, and then the world! Only the Proteus and her crew can stop them!
Advance solicited for February release! 


Travis sez: It's Alive and IDW put out a hardcover of the Sam Glanzman stories from the '60s.  I believe I contributed to the Kickstarter of this (and pledged for the print version), but I have not yet gotten a physical copy.  I have to double check that I was supposed to, though.


CHARLIES ANGELS TP VOL 01
(W) John Layman (A/CA) Joe Eisma
The Angels are back, baby! -- The original Angels, Jill, Kelly and Sabrina! Travel back to the swingin' 70s, and revisit the butt-kicking, crime-fighting, mold-breaking lady detectives who took 70s TV by storm, ready to do the same to comics 40 years later!

Break out your bell-bottoms, feather your hair, and jump back to an era of peanut-farmer presidents, gargantuan gas-guzzlers and foxy female detectives... for a globe-trotting adventure that's simply too big and epic for the 70s-era boob tube.

Written by elderly Eisner winner and solicitation-writing former-superstar John Layman, and with art by his scrappy but lovable youngster pal, Joe Eisma. This is one graphic novel you DON'T DARE TO MISS!!!!


Travis sez: The jiggle TV series comes to comics, written by Cerebus mega fan John Layman.  He's a good writer, so it should be semi-interesting, at least.

HER INFERNAL DESCENT TP VOL 01
(W) Zac Thompson, Lonnie Nadler (A/CA) Kyle Charles
A tale of loss told in five parts.

Any good mom would march through the inferno of HELL to get her family back. Unable to cope with the burden of grief, a middle-aged mother descends the nine circles of hell to retrieve her forsaken family. Guided by the ghosts of William Blake and Agatha Christie, this no-nonsense matriarch journeys deep into a bizarre underworld filled with celebrity sinners, surreal landscapes and absurd tasks.

From Lonnie Nadler and Zac Thompson, the writers of the break-out hit The Dregs and Cable, and Kyle Charles, the artist of Roche Limit, comes a journey through hell unlike anything you've experienced before.

HER INFERNAL DESCENT vol 1 contains the complete first story arc, issues #1-5.


Travis sez: This one involves a trip to Hell where William Blake is encountered.  Perhaps an aardvark is in a background shot? 

ABSOLUTE SWAMP THING HC VOL 01 BY ALAN MOORE
(W) Alan Moore (A) Shawn McManus, Dan Day, Rick Veitch, Alfredo Alcala, Others (A/CA) Stephen R. Bissette, John Totleben
Alan Moore's legendary run of Swamp Thing tales is collected in Absolute format at last, completely recolored for this new edition! This first of three volumes includes Moore's first Swamp Thing story, issue #20's "Loose Ends," a prelude to his haunting origin story, "The Anatomy Lesson," which reshapes Swamp Thing's mythology with terrifying revelations. Collects Saga Of The Swamp Thing #20-34 and Swamp Thing Annual #2.

Travis sez: I'm reluctant to tell you to spend money on DC books, and I'm wary of this one because it's newly recolored, but it's Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, and John Totleben on Swamp Thing!  It's still a high water mark of the medium.



DETECTIVE COMICS BEFORE BATMAN OMNIBUS HC VOL 1 & 2
(W) Jerry Seigel, Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, Others (A) Others, Joe Shuster, Fred Guardineer, Bob Kane
DETECTIVE COMICS exploded in 1939 with the debut of Batman in issue #27-and now, for the first time, DC reprints the first 26 issues of this groundbreaking series, almost none of which have ever been reprinted before, in a two-volume slipcased set! The first volume, collecting issues #1-13, stars crime-fighters like Slam Bradley, Bart Regan, Speed Saunders and more! And Volume Two, collecting issues #14-26, stars characters like the Crimson Avenger, Fu Manchu and more! Please note that these stories will be scanned directly from original copies of these issues. 

Travis sez: This is another one that makes me go ooh.  The first 26 issues of Detective Comics (the pre-Batman stuff, as you probably know) is reprinted for the first time.  You probably have a spare kidney you can sell for the scratch to buy this one. 

DECADES MARVEL IN 40S TP HUMAN TORCH VS SUB-MARINER
(W) Bill Everett, Carl Burgos, More (A) Bill Everett, Carl Burgos, More (CA) Alex Schomburg
Celebrate 80 years of Marvel Comics, decade by decade - beginning with the first two superstars of the Flying Forties! The original Human Torch and Namor the Sub-Mariner get along as well as fire and water, and several of Timely's greatest comics feature the twin titans clashing in fantastic feature-length fisticuffs! A rivalry for the ages is born when Namor, mistreated by the surface world, attacks New York - and the Torch stands in his way! As World War II rages, Namor decides to create peace by flooding the planet! Can the Torch and his young sidekick, Toro, bring Namor back to his senses? They'd better - because the Nazis are on the attack, and the Golden Age archrivals must put aside their differences aside and unite against a common foe! Collecting material from MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS #7-10 and HUMAN TORCH COMICS #5B, #8 and #10.

Travis sez: Marvel's starting a new "Decades" series of trades, and this one is stuff from the 1940s, the Human Torch and Sub-Mariner fights.  That's some pretty cool stuff (including, I think, the "drawn over a weekend" issue).

Next Time: Hobbs. 

Monday 29 October 2018

November Previews stuff

Hi, Everybody!

Travis Pelkie returns with his regular monthly selection for Cerebus fans of comics and books featured in the latest Diamond Previews catalog. Travis is co-founder of the Atomic Junk Shop, a site about comics and other fun pop culture. To see your comics featured here or at the Atomic Junk Shop feel free to send an email to Travis at: atomicjunkshoptravis [at] outlook [dot] com.


Buy two! (I do.)
CERBERUS IN HELL (2018) #1
(W) Sean Michael Robinson, Dave Sim, Sandeep Atwal (A) Sean Michael Robinson, Gustave Dore, Dave Sim (CA) Benjamin Hobbs
Three-headed Cerberus stars in his own title! Two of those three heads are criminally-actionable parodies. Guess who? Featuring Batvark as the Bassoon Fairy. Is Cerberus identifying as "bat-winged-demon curious"? Hell's Illegal Organ Market; Hell's Civic Improvement Health Committee; Hell's Green Economy Civic Improvement Committee; Is Cerebus short? Or Vertice-Specitic-Personal-Elevation Oriented? Or Height-Appropriate-Capacitation Statused? Cerebus has trouble digesting the Book of Jeremiah; Cerebus and the Whore of Babylon debate Kanye West; Cerebus seeks out company; Botoxing newborns: Is Big Pharma behind it? Or Mattel? Cerebus and an Arch-Demon Team-Up; Cerebus the Stand-up comedian; Why you don't want to tell the old "So, this pig asks a djinn to turn him into a human being ... " joke; Cerebus' computer is hacked; Friedrich Nietszche vs. Batvark (yes, again!); the Redeeming Power of the Cheers theme song; Also! Hillary Clinton isn't conceding just yet! 

Travis sez: Look, if you didn't already order this, why are you coming to this site, really? 

OUTER DARKNESS #1 CVR A CHAN (MR)
(W) John Layman (A/CA) Afu Chan
Sci-fi and horror collide in this new series from the co-creator of CHEW!
  
Mankind has colonized the galaxy, but during our interstellar travels, we discovered a terrifying secret out in the Outer Darkness of space. Join Captain Joshua Rigg and the crew of the starship Charon as they encounter demonic possessions, hauntings, cosmic horror, and more!
  
All-star writer JOHN LAYMAN (CHEW) and artist AFU CHAN (Immortal Iron Fists) are ready to let you know that outer space is terrifying. 

Travis sez: A new spooky scary sci-fi story from Cerebus mega fan John Layman, of Chew fame.   

24 PANELS TP
(W) Alan Moore, Al Ewing, Sara Kenney, Alex De Campi, Laurie Penny, Paul Cornell, Dilraj Mann, Antony Johnston, Lizz Lunney, Leigh Alexander, Dan Watters, Ram V. (A) Melinda Gebbie, Doug Braithwaite, Jan Wijngaard, Ted Brandt, Rosy Higgins, Gavin Mitchell, Rachael Smith, Dilraj Mann, Robin Hoelzemann, Lizz Lunney, Tom Humberstone, Sarah Gordon (CA) Tula Lotay
In June 2017, the Grenfell fire killed 72 people in a 24-story tower block in West London. 24 PANELS is an anthology comic to support the PTSD needs of the survivors. Curated by KIERON GILLEN (THE WICKED + THE DIVINE), it features 24 stories, each no longer than 24 panels. Half drawn from professional creators who volunteered their time and half drawn from open submissions, 24 PANELS is about community, hope, and (most of all) raising as much money as possible.

Travis sez: A story by Alan Moore highlights this anthology done to raise funds for survivors of the tower block fires in London last year.  A good cause and a story by one of the greats of the medium?  Cool

PROBLEM OF SUSAN AND OTHER STORIES HC
(W) Neil Gaiman (A) Scott Hampton, Paul Chadwick, Lovern Kindzierski (A/CA) P. Craig Russell
From New York Times best-selling author Neil Gaiman and Eisner-award winning artist P. Craig Russell, Scott Hampton, and Paul Chadwick comes a fantasy graphic novel anthology of essential Gaiman stories.

Two stories and two poems. All wondrous and imaginative about the tales we tell and experience. Where the incarnations of the months of the year sit around a campfire sharing stories, where an older college professor recounts a Narnian childhood, where the apocalypse unfolds, and where the importance of generational storytelling is seen through the Goldilocks fairytale. These four comic adaptations have something for everyone and are a must for Gaiman fans! 

Travis sez: The latest book adapting Neil Gaiman stories to comics, and this one includes "October in the Chair", a wonderful tribute to Ray Bradbury. 

MODERN FANTASY TP
(W) Rafer Roberts (A/CA) Kristen Gudsnuk
A young Ranger woman who came to the city with dreams of adventure, her drug dealing reptilian wizard roommate, and her boisterous Dwarf maiden BFF embark on a modern-day quest to save the world while struggling to keep their crappy day jobs and pay off their student loans. Joined by a thief, an elf, a cleric, and a barbarian, the rag tag group are embroiled in an adventure involving magical amulets, the mafia, and a cult! Collects issues #1-#4 of the miniseries.
Travis sez: The Office meets D&D, from what I understand, it's a collection of the miniseries written by Plastic Farm's Rafer Roberts (a book Dave recommended before) and drawn by Henchgirl's Kristen Gudsnuk.  I expect it should be good. 

GRUMBLE #1
(W) Rafer Roberts (A/CA) Mike Norton, Marissa Louise
When the forces of good and evil are hunting you down, the only logical thing to do is disguise yourself as a dog and go on the run! Eddie is a low-rent hustler who got magically turned into a pug during a con gone wrong. Tala is Eddie's long-lost, part-demon daughter. When Tala finds herself the target of powerful inter-dimensional forces, she goes to Eddie for help-setting off a chain reaction of chaos and destruction that could threaten the very fabric of existence. Can Eddie and Tala put aside their differences long enough to survive the magical mayhem and madness that they started, or will they kill each other first? (It's probably the second one!) For readers who like it gruff and anthropomorphic, get ready for your new favorite comic! 

Travis sez: Hey, it's Rafer Roberts again, this time drawn by the great Mike Norton.  A dude gets turned into a pug dog and he's on the run from the forces of good and evil.  Uh-oh! 

SAVAGE SWORD CONAN HC ORIG MARVEL YRS OMNIBUS VOL 01
(W) Roy Thomas, Stan Lee, More (A) Barry Windsor-Smith, John Buscema, More (CA) Gabriele Dell'Otto
Crom! This inaugural volume ushers in Marvel's line of definitive Savage Sword of Conan collections. After the breakout success of Conan's color comic, Marvel brought the legendary sword-and-sorcery saga of Robert E. Howard's hero to its black-and-white magazine line. In lushly illustrated novel-length adventures with all the drama, violence and allure the comic book medium can offer, writer Roy Thomas and Marvel's greatest artists craft a host of Conan classics like Barry Windsor-Smith's "Red Nails" and John Buscema's "Black Colossus" and "A Witch Shall Be Born" featuring the infamous Tree of Death are just the beginning! Collecting SAVAGE TALES (1971) #1-5 and SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN (1974) #1-12 and SPECIAL (1975) #1.

Travis sez: Now that Marvel is going to have Conan back in 2019 they're promoting the heck out of his stuff.  Here's the early years of Savage Sword of Conan, the B&W magazine, and one highlight of this is Barry Windsor-Smith doing "Red Nails". 

CARSON OF VENUS #2 PIRATES OF VENUS
(W) Len Wein (A/CA) Michael William Kaluta
This is the thrilling conclusion to the masterpiece adaptation of Pirates of Venus by comic book legends Michael Kaluta and Len Wein! Edgar Rice Burroughs' incredible imagination takes off as "Wrong Way Carson" makes his historic trip to Venus and encounters a world of fantastic creatures and civilizations. Carson of Venus #2 Pirates of Venus comes with two covers - Main and Limited-Edition B&W Cover by living legend Michael Kaluta. 

Travis sez: Last time I talked about Previews stuff, the first issue of this one was offered.  Apparently it was a 2 issue thing.  So I hope you ordered this too. 





DUNKIRK ONE SHOT
(W) Paul S. Newman (A/CA) Sam Glanzman
Each Combat one shot features true stories from World War II, illustrated by comic book legend, WWII vet, and Eisner Award-nominee Sam Glanzman! This Dunkirk issue features three main stories: "Dunkirk," "Cchannel Battle," and "Last to Leave"! Plus: the back-up story "One by Sea" and 1-page stories "A Most Deadly Air Raid" and "The First Aircraft Carrier"! 

Travis sez: Drew Ford's It's Alive! imprint gives us another Sam Glanzman work with this one shot Dunkirk.  Should be good. 






MEANWHILE #9
(W) David Hine (A) Mark Stafford, Sarah Gordon (A/CA) Frazer Irving
"The Needleman," Part Two. The sense-shattering conclusion of Martin Simpson's tour-de-force. Decisions made by Sarah Gordon's The Collector may not be for the best - for him, for the town, for the world! Mark Stafford and David Hine present the penultimate episode of The Bad Bad Place. Danger lurks everywhere for Ginny Skinner's Gail Key's Psychic Lost Item Helpline. And featuring a special guest Strangehaven story by comic genius, Frazer Irving! Cover by Frazer Irving. 

Travis sez: Frazer Irving draws a chapter of Strangehaven.  Should be rather interesting!




 Next Time: December's previews. Because I don't wanna "copy/paste" anymore tonight.