Comic Book Candy

It's been a banner week for fans of Brian Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim ! We got a release date for the sixth and (supposedly) final volume of the awesome graphic novel series. Expect it to hit shelves on July 20th, 2010! More details at Oni Press As if it wasn't enough to send fans into rabid anticipation for "Finest Hour," the first trailer for the Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World film has also hit the internets! I was super nervous about this adaptation. The book has some very unique elements, ones that I feared the film creators might leave out, especially the Scott-imagines-his-life-as-a-videogame-aspect. But watching the trailer has quelled those fears, and also given me confidence in Michael Cera's ability to play more than one type of character (or at least a promise of the movie being so awesome it wouldn't bother me if he was still his awkward self). Enjoy the sneak peak below! (Sidenote: doesn't Chris Evans look dreaaaamy as evil ex boyfr...

As mentioned in my previous post, I have a problem with leaving comic book stores empty handed. If there's nothing new out that interests me, I'll dig through the back issues, see if I can find something to fill a gap in my collection, or just pick up a random issue based on the goofy cover. This can be a rewarding experience, but it's often an impulse to make the fruitless trip feel "worth while", and most of the time these issues end up getting filed away, unbagged and unread. This feeling of obligation is also present when I come across comics in an unexpected place, minus the buyer's remorse. One might see a secondhand book store as a likely place to find comics, but when you do find them, they are poorly organized and often have the price stickers stamped onto their covers. (Why why WHY do book stores feel the need to devalue their product?) But upon visiting chain store  Half-Price Books to (ironically) shop for CD's, I discovered that they dabble...

"Last Published on March 3rd, 2010" Way to go. I totally deserve a pat on the back for my rampant neglect of you devoted followers. Do I have a good excuse? Not really. But I have a few theories: Four Months worth of reading. It doesn't sound like much, but that's A LOT of catching up to do. I can't walk into a comic book store and leave empty handed. It is a problem. With the giant stack of unread books staring at me, I choose to add to the pile. I must be bad at math, cause I can't seem to figure out the basics of addition and subtraction... I would be a pasty-faced pussy-cove chickaleary in this case. I'm breaking one of my rules for reading . Treating it like a necessary task. Catching up can be daunting, but only if I treat it as a job rather than an optional, albeit rewarding past time. I need to remind myself to enjoy the ride, and that I won't miss anything if it takes me longer to catch up.  There are a lot of awesome comic blogs ou...

My first Wednesday store visit in months is exciting but also depressing since I'm still behind on my books, and also terribly broke. Luckily, I have some unused credit with one of the local stores, a benefit to trading in an unwanted rare variant cover (snicker). Girl Comics #1 This book has gotten a lot of buzz recently on the "blogosphere" (I feel like a douche just typing that word). It's had a few mentions on Comics Alliance ,  which has also dubbed this week Girl Week , a focus on female characters, creators, and a hilarious look at a long history of terrible female action figures.  This mini-series has also created a lot of unnecessary controversy over the title, which can come across as painfully sweet. When you get down to it though, it is called Girl Comics because of the all girl line up of creators, unlike Gotham Sirens, which I am pretty certain doesn't refer to Paul Dini and Guillem March . First Wave #1 Another first issue this week, First...

The books really piled up while I was away, and despite a lengthy visit to the local comic store on Friday, I escaped spoiler free! It was surprisingly easy to get back into the swing of things, and I'm looking forward to the (un)daunting task of reading four months worth of individual issues. Just a few observations from my first visit to a comic book store, stateside: Adi Granov is Doing an Awful Lot of Marvel Covers I'm a bit sad that we haven't seen a book of interior artwork from Adi Granov since the as-yet-to-be-finished Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas mini series, but it doesn't look like he's hard up for work. There were more than a few Granov covers on the shelf, not to mention a slew of covers to come as seen in the latest Marvel Previews . People still complain about having to wait three months for issues of Iron Man: Extremis , the infamous series relaunch from 2005, but Marvel never advertises his books as monthly titles. I was lucky enough to see some o...

I know I endlessly plug this book, but the hardcover of Greg Rucka and JH Williams III's first six issues of Detective Comics was released today can now be pre-ordered for June 30 and I couldn't resist the chance to once again urge you to buy this book , especially since Jock (no I didn't forget his last name, it's just Jock) has taken over the art on this series. I'll give his artwork a chance, but sadly I feel that there is little hope it will live up to his predecessor's amazing work. If my constant gushing and this little flip through of the first Rucka / Williams issue doesn't convince you to finally read this series (I've met a few reluctant readers, I used to be one) then I'll stop the endless plugging. That is until the new Batwoman series starts up in June! Detective Comics #854 from Comic Book Candy on Vimeo . Batwoman: Elegy Hardcover Publisher: DC Writer: Greg Rucka Artist: JH Williams III If you like... Batman (obvio...

I can't offer you a drink, but I can assure you that more posts are coming. I have just gotten back from Australia, which means I have a boatload of new books to read (only 4 months worth ) so expect my frequency of updates to improve very soon!

As comics continue to converge with other artistic realms, my tastes in other media frequently has an influence my comic book purchases. I enjoy listening to Tori Amos , so I read Comic Book Tattoo , a compilation of stories inspired by her songs. The same applies in reverse; I liked Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men , so I finally broke down and watched Buffy (and loved it). One should take risks in order to discover new things, just as you shouldn’t base all purchasing decisions on Amazon’s “if you like this, you’d probably like this” suggestions. But I’m happy to say that reading comics has exposed me to a lot of new works, whether in films, novels, or music. Here are a handful of my cross-media discoveries:   Criminal (the comic) --- Hard Case Crime Novels Some time ago there was an article in the back of an issue of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillip’s Criminal about Hard Case Crime, a new publisher that’s been re-releasing classic pulp novels, in addition to contemporary writers...

Girdle, don't fail me now! As seen in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 1

I really don’t like to rag on stuff here. There are plenty of people that are doing a fine job of voicing their disappointment with the current Marvel offerings ; but upon randomly picking up the “Origins of Siege” freebie from my bi-monthly comic book store visit, I can’t help but feel the need to add to the mix my own bafflement of this book. I am pretty late coming on the “who cares?” train, seeing how issue two of this event book comes out next week, my only excuse being that I am in Tasmania and only hear about things when other people blog about them or, in this case, I get a freebie that is meant to get me excited enough to purchase the first issue. 1. Worst Freebie Ever The whole point of Marvel sending out these free preview books to retailers is to drum up a little excitement. This particular preview included “An All-New “Siege” Prologue” and a sneak preview of Siege #1 . I can’t even come up with a clever remark about how dull this was. Norman Osborne and Loki sit around ...