Monday, August 29, 2016

ALL STAR RECOMMENDS FOR AUGUST 30TH


Hi!

A shortish one by typical ASC Recs standards this week as a monster column is just around the corner. 

It's an all Michael DeForge week, however, so truly this is Exhibit A in the case of quality over quantity.


BIG KIDS
By Michael DeForge
Published By Drawn & Quarterly

Back in June, I featured Inio Asano’s wonderful Goodnight Punpun, a beautiful and odd coming of age story in which the main character (and his family) are drawn as scribbly bird-things that interact with (and appear normal to) the real world. This week, we again take a look at the turbulence of adolescence this time given strange life through Michael DeForge’s Big Kids, a book that further proves there’s still plenty of artful life yet in the bildungsroman genre.

Kafka’s The Metamorphosis gone teen angst and pop art, Big Kids is the latest longform work by the prolific Canadian comics creator (Lose, Ant Farm, First Year Healthy) and Adventure Time animator, a hallucinogenic journey into the teenage tipping point of heartbreak and subsequent personal evolution. Alex is a normal rebellious teen in a normal town who suffers a breakup with his (secret) lover Jared. The very next day, Alex awakens much like Kafka’s Gregor Samsa, completely metamorphosed into a different state of being. Yet while Samsa is a figure of absurdity and existential terror those who see his transformation into a giant bug, Alex is welcomed into a world where he, and others like him, are apparently the “evolved” species. 

Alex has actually become a “tree” in a world is divided up between “trees” like him and “twigs,” or those who have yet to manifest the change into tree. Twigs perceive the world as trees formerly did, or as you and I do, I suppose, but once the change hits a twig and they “grow” into a tree, everything is different, the world heightened in ways unimaginable to us twigs. There is no particular reason for the change from one form to the other. Clearly, Alex’s transformation was triggered by his emotional pain – the “change” now inherent in both his life experience and internal character. Yet trauma or heartbreak is not the sole reason for change, nor is the onset of puberty as many adults remain twigs and some, in certain cases, have moved back from tree to twig.

The world is now a radically different place to Alex the tree, abstract, vibrant and alive in ways he never could have imagined before and visually capitalised on by the artist in asudden riot of colour. The real beauty of DeForge’s work is highlighted in scenes depicting these new sensations as Alex comes to grips with this new world around him and how everything is now perceived and expressed by his being -- sounds, feelings, tastes, smells, sensations all take form and shape. In Big Kids, a song is a multi-legged insectoid, emotional pain is a red cloud shooting spurs into the sky – everything internal or ephemeral is actualised and given new life and expression by the artist. It’s a frankly remarkable use of the medium’s potential.


DeForge’s narration is matter-of-fact and introspective but his pages are shockingly vibrant, filled with clashing pinks and yellows, greens and reds, bursting off the page. His “tree world” is full of objects such as televisions and cars taken to the ultimate in surreal abstraction. Physically, Big Kids is a little object, a bit smaller than your hand, but it’s remarkable just how easily DeForge makes his quirky cartoon figures and their corresponding emotional states, just launch off the page. Scenes of tree characters coupling like the intermingling root systems of alien plants are somehow both tender and virtually sensual as well as being oddly hypnotic in their curling abstraction. Most remarkably, thanks to the grounding the narration provides, at no point whatsoever does any of the story feel remotely ridiculous. Just like Asano’s Goodnight Punpun, just like Kakfa's Metamorphosis it just simply is.

Further tempering all this strange visual wonder is the fact that it’s not really made clear whether or not existence is actually any better for the trees than the twigs, echoing real world doubts over changes and regrets we all feel and experience. DeForge says, “Big shifts in perspective seem monumental at first, especially in adolescence, like you’re leveling up—but in the end it’s a little disappointing and anticlimactic. I wanted to show that a number of the trees were ultimately ambivalent about the change, and a little wistful for how they viewed things before.”

Bittersweet and beautifully inventive, Big Kids cements DeForge’s place as one of comics' most distinctly singular modern voices. The heartbreak and the subsequent induction into adult emotional life that we’ve all experienced have never been explored quite like this in our medium before. A beautiful little book.


WEBCOMIC OF THE WEEK : STICKS ANGELICA, FOLK HERO
By Michael DeForge

Renaissance woman Sticks Angelica lives in the wilds of Ontario's Monterey National Park, keeping the company only of the wildlife that surrounds her, some of which has been marked for death and thus deemed okay for her to hunt. Some typically DeForgian stuff here in Sticks Angelica, Folk Hero, with Sticks pulling molecules from the air to examine them, and explaining that, as a former distance runner, she was in love with a man who she knew only by the familiarity of the back of his head until she inevitably would pass him by. 

The gags are frequently great and the art consistently so, particularly DeForge's close ups on the various strange vegetation that surrounds Sticks' home. The story threads peeking through clusters of stand alone strips are compelling (why has the young Girl McNally been marked for death?) and, man, is it weird. I've started you off from the very first installment, so read this one and keep hitting "previous" for the story to run sequentially to 91st and concluding strip. Terrific fun in the great outdoors.



COMICS VIDEO OF THE WEEK : ADVENTURE TIME -- LITTLE DUDE PREVIEW (CLIP 1)

Officially the tenth episode of the fifth season of Adventure Time, "Little Dude" was written and storyboarded by Big Kids creator Michael DeForge. After Finn and Jake go swimming, Finn's hat somehow magically comes to life and, as you'll see in this clip, begins eating everything in sight with some fairly disgusting results. Enjoy after lunch maybe...



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.


Sunday, August 28, 2016

New Comics For Wednesday 31st of August


A fifth week month can only mean one thing...CATCH UP WEEK, yet still awesome shipping list!
Also with a light week, it's the perfect time to mention our next instore event...



BATMAN DAY
SATURDAY 17TH OF SEPTEMBER
Coupling with our next All Star Kids Comics Club event, keep on the look out for more details but lock in the date now for a BAT-astic day!

Not much new in the way of Rebirth issues this week for DC but there is definitely a fill of Annuals and Special one shots available.

TMNT UNIVERSE #1 is released showcasing different creative teams presenting short stories for the supporting Turtle-verse.

The excellent new series from one of Marvel's most unused characters hits in trade, BLACK PANTHER TP BOOK 01 NATION UNDER OUR FEET from author Ta-Nehisi Coates and artist supreme, Brian Stelfreeze.

On the back of last year's hit Netflix series, find out more about one of Marvel's favourite private investigators in JESSICA JONES TP AVENGER.

The back story to the fantastic new Action Comics and Superman Rebirth series' is finally collected in the SUPERMAN LOIS AND CLARK TP.

The perfect team up of Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness deliver another brilliant pairing with SPIDER-MAN DEADPOOL TP VOL 01 ISNT IT BROMANTIC

Wanting to get up to scratch on the story behind Stephen Strange before he makes it to the big screen later in the year? DOCTOR STRANGE TP STRANGE ORIGIN is the perfect pick for you.

One of Mike Mignola's greatest tales is given the treatment it deserves in the special release of MIKE MIGNOLA SCREW ON HEAD & CURIOUS OBJECTS ARTIST ED HC

Since everyone have has been such good readers and collectors of comics, the return of one of comicdom's favourites is starting back up this week in SAGA #37!

And being the end of the month it's time for a new Previews for September too for all the latest releases expected in two months time.

Anything else here you need help with, just let us know before Wednesday morning and we'll get it sorted!


MARVEL
ALL NEW WOLVERINE ANNUAL #1
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #17 BDNM
ASTONISHING ANT-MAN #11 CW2
CARNAGE #11
CIVIL WAR II CHOOSING SIDES #5 (OF 6)
DARK TOWER DRAWING OF THREE BITTER MEDICINE #5 (OF 5)
DEADPOOL VS GAMBIT #4 (OF 5)
GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #11 CW2
HOWARD THE DUCK #10
HYPERION #6
MARVEL UNIVERSE GUARDIANS OF GALAXY #11
MS MARVEL #10 CW2
NOVA #10
ROCKET RACCOON AND GROOT #8 CW2
SILVER SURFER #6
SPIDER-GWEN #11
SPIDER-MAN #7 CW2
SPIDER-MAN 2099 #14 CW2
STAR WARS HAN SOLO #3 (OF 5)
THUNDERBOLTS #4
UNCANNY AVENGERS #13 CW2
X-MEN 92 #6

DC COMICS
DC COMICS BOMBSHELLS ANNUAL #1
EARTH 2 SOCIETY ANNUAL #1
FUTURE QUEST #4 VAR ED
GOTHAM ACADEMY ANNUAL #1
HARLEY QUINN AND HER GANG OF HARLEYS #5 (OF 6) VAR ED
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #9 VAR ED
LEGEND OF WONDER WOMAN #9 (OF 9)
SUICIDE SQUAD WAR CRIMES SPECIAL #1

VERTIGO
ART OPS #11

BOOM
ADVENTURE TIME COMICS #2
MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS #6
OVER GARDEN WALL ONGOING #5

DARK HORSE
ABE SAPIEN #36
ALIENS DEFIANCE #4
CRYPTOCRACY #3
GROO FRAY OF THE GODS #2
MAE #4
PREDATOR VS JUDGE DREDD VS ALIENS #2
WITCHFINDER CITY OF THE DEAD #1
WORLD OF TANKS #1

DYNAMITE
JAMES BOND #9

IDW
JEM & THE HOLOGRAMS #18
JIM THOMPSON KILLER INSIDE ME #1 (OF 5)
MICRONAUTS #5
MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC #45
POWERPUFF GIRLS (2016) #2
TMNT UNIVERSE #1
TRANSFORMERS #56
X-FILES ORIGINS #1

IMAGE
EAST OF WEST #29
EDENS FALL #1
JUPITERS LEGACY VOL 2 #3 (OF 5)
LAZARUS #24
SAGA #37
SONS OF THE DEVIL #10
SPAWN #265
TOKYO GHOST #10

ONI
MIGHTY ZODIAC #5 (OF 6)

VALIANT
4001 AD #4 (OF 4)
BLOODSHOT REBORN #16
X-O MANOWAR #49

MISC
AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE #10
BLUBBER #3
DOCTOR WHO 11TH YEAR TWO #12
GRANT MORRISONS AVATAREX #2
HENCHGIRL #10
LA MUERTA LAST RITES #1
MONTY THE DINOSAUR #1
PAYBACKS #2
REINCARNATE #1
SKIP TO THE END #1 (OF 4)
STREET FIGHTER LEGENDS CAMMY #2 (OF 4)
STREET FIGHTER UNLIMITED #9
VILE #1

MAGAZINES
IMAGE PLUS #5 (WALKING DEAD HERES NEGAN PT 5)
MARVEL PREVIEWS #14 SEPTEMBER 2016
PREVIEWS #336 SEPTEMBER 2016

TRADES
A-FORCE PRESENTS TP VOL 06
ALABASTER THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE BIRD HC
AMERICATOWN HC
ARROW THE DARK ARCHER TP
BLACKLIST TP VOL 02 ARSONIST
BLACK PANTHER TP BOOK 01 NATION UNDER OUR FEET
CHILDREN OF LOVECRAFT TP
DEADPOOL MINIBUS 2 HC
DOC SAVAGE SPIDERS WEB TP
DOCTOR STRANGE TP STRANGE ORIGIN
DOCTOR WHO 10TH HC VOL 05 ARENA OF FEAR
DOCTOR WHO 11TH HC VOL 05 THE ONE
DRAX TP GUARDIAN OF GALAXY
ENORMOUS TP VOL 02 IN A SHALLOW GRAVE
GUARDIANS OF GALAXY CLASSIC TP VOL 02 IN YEAR 3000
INSEXTS TP
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN PREM HC VOL 02 WAR MACHINES
JESSICA JONES TP AVENGER
LONGEST DAY OF THE FUTURE HC
LOVE & ROCKETS LIBRARY GILBERT GN VOL 04 LUBA & FA
LUCY & ANDY NEANDERTHAL HC VOL 01
MARVEL UNIV ULT SPIDER-MAN CONTEST CHAMPIONS DIGES
MARVEL UNIVERSE AVENGERS ASSEMBLE CIVIL WAR DIGEST
MIKE MIGNOLA SCREW ON HEAD & CURIOUS OBJECTS ARTIST ED HC
SCALPED HC BOOK 05 DELUXE EDITION (MR)
SECRET WARS TOO TP
SPIDER-MAN DEADPOOL TP VOL 01 ISNT IT BROMANTIC
STAR WARS JOURNEY TO STAR WARS HC FASE
STREET FIGHTER UNLIMITED HC VOL 01 NEW JOURNEY
SUPERMAN & THE JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA TP VOL 02
SUPERMAN BATMAN TP VOL 04
SUPERMAN LOIS AND CLARK TP
TELOS TP

MERCH
BATMAN ARKHAM KNIGHT HARLEY QUINN AF II
BATMAN BLACK & WHITE STATUE BY RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE
DC COMICS DESIGNER SER CAPULLO JOKER AF
DC ICONS JOKER DEATH IN THE FAMILY AF

BACK IN STOCK
GREEN LANTERNS #5
SNOTGIRL #1 2ND PTG

Monday, August 22, 2016

ALL STAR RECOMMENDS FOR AUGUST 23RD


Hi there and welcome to another week of All Star Recommends, probably the only column in the world stupid enough to attempt to mash classic Roman literature, art house French comics, US publishing history and Japanese pro wrestling into a single piece. 


COMIC OF THE WEEK : PEPLUM
By Blutch
Translated by Edward Gauvin
Published By NYRC

"An old passion is just an ulcer." -- Petronius, The Satyricon

Since its English language release a couple of months back by New York Review Comics, Peplum, by French creator Blutch (the pseudonym of Christian Hinckler) has proven to be the year’s most divisive comic. Two critics, both whom I respect, got into an online argument about it that turned quite bitter and more than a little weird. Other reader reviews have conveyed a complete sense of bafflement at the book’s immense stature and the near reverence that surrounds its creator or, contrastingly, total agreement with the book’s stature and further celebrated Blutch's whopping talents.

Obviously, I stand with the latter group or I would not be bothering to blather on about it here, but the criticisms of the haters are largely understandable at a surface level. Peplum, which originally began serialisation in 1996, will not be to every reader’s taste (what book is?) but it is a complicated, endlessly fascinating and beautiful work, rich in re-reading potential and real comics alchemy. It's not pretentious in the slightest and it's packed full of action, drama, stunning character design (those pirates!) and moments of unsettling brilliance. So what exactly is it? 

Translator Edward Gauvin, in a terrific introduction, tells us that Peplum is the "European term for the sword-and-sandal subgenre." Blutch's book is generally, mistakenly, regarded as an adaptation of Petronius’ The Satyricon, a book written in first century AD that has survived in fragments. Indeed, as currently arranged in my Penguin Classics edition, it's possible that certain scenes are not even in their original place. Ostensibly the bawdy, offbeat adventures of Encolpius, a man struggling with his own impotence, The Satyricon makes for truly odd reading for the modern reader and not just for its abrupt scene shifts and fractured nature. Gauvin, again in his introduction to Peplum, quotes from Blutch who says that The Satyricon is "...a literary UFO from the fourth dimension, because you don't really get what's going on, people are laughing and you don't really know why, things you find sad, they think are funny...it's like life on another planet." Blutch hits the nail on the head here, it's a quote so apt that the people at Penguin should stick it on the back of the next edition. The Satyricon is a bizarre piece of fiction, with homosexual rape, murder, robbery and drunken debauchery at every turn. It's overloaded with excess - excessive scenes, excessive characters, and even excessive prose. Yet the struggle to survive is real and gap between rich and poor is otherworldly in scope.

Despite this literary debt, however, Blutch's Peplum is about the furthest thing from an adaptation of The Satyricon as you are likely to find. Gauvin, again in his introduction, calls Peplum a “remix” of this piece of classical literature, but this doesn’t even go far enough for my liking. Sticking with a musical analogy, Peplum samples from The Satyricon, lifts a line here and there, an idea here and there, uses original moments and characters and layers entirely new story and sequence over the top, creating something wholly new from one of the world’s oldest (and still oddest) pieces of literature. In stitching together this new "song" Blutch, that literary magpie, has even thieved from Shakespeare and a 1953 ballet called The Lady in the Ice, the influence of which, as we shall see, cannot be overstated. Blutch: he's like The Avalanches of comics.


A group of bandits, led by the exiled Roman knight Puplius Cimber, discover a beautiful woman frozen in a block of ice. Struck by her loveliness, they decide to take her and keep her (mocked by a murder of crows as they haul her free), but disaster strikes and the group is cut down to a conniving sole survivor who may very well be The Satyricon's Encolpius. Taking Puplius Cimber's name, our protagonist becomes obsessed with the woman in the ice and so begins his strange, violent and surreal misadventures in order to possess her and keep her away from all who become similarly smitten with her. In the bowels of a merchant ship that Blutch scratchily, inkily draws as if its the bowels of hell, the sea-scared Encolpius/Cimber faces nightmarish breakdown and pirate raids; in a dusty landscape, he is stalked by chattering, giggling children and a tribe of women with no hands; if his obsession with the lady in ice the will allow it, true love comes his way in the form of a "little brother" who is the companion of a fellow thief our protagonist murders and, like Encolpius in The Satyricon, Cimber struggles with his own impotence. On and on Peplum goes, in wide-open and gorgeous pages, culminating in a visceral, wordless, bloody battle that feels both ancient and yet somehow post-apocalyptic. There's a real tension between past and present in Peplum that's in keeping with the source material. The only other thing remotely like it in comics form is Tardi and Picaret's Polonius (long suffering readers may recall this from my early Heavy Metal recaps) which, although created some two decades earlier than Peplum presents a similarly strange, distinctly, excessively Roman dystopia that's also a literal piece of future SF.

A wonderful Guardian review of Peplum suggests that the woman in the ice has cursed Encolpius/Cimber. My own reading is that he's so besotted that he's unhealthy obsessed. She is his complete, ruinous passion. The destructive memory of and all-consuming desire for her possession thwarts his happiness at every turn and eats away at him both mentally and physically. She has cursed him, bewitched him, but it's a curse of his own making and choosing.




J.P Sullivan, in his translation of The Satyricon, writes, "As we have it now, the text is interpolated, corrupt and fragmentary." In keeping with the original text’s fractured nature, Blutch completely abandons all transitional scenes and sequences. One moment, our protagonist is cast into the ocean after pirates scuttle the ship he’s aboard. The next he’s back on land, being terrorised by a savage tribe of natives. Do we, as readers, need to know how and why he was rescued from the ocean? No. Who cares. By deliberately cutting to the chase in the manner, Blutch not only mimics the fractured nature of his chief “source”material, but also adds an aura of, by turns, dreamy and nightmarish logic to his story and excises any potential superfluous narrative.




And the pages. Oh, the pages. How any comics lover could not find themselves almost transfixed by Blutch’s composition, his beautiful representations of anatomy in motion, the bug-eyed terror in the eyes of Encolpius/Cimber during scenes of horror, the construction of his chopped-up sequences, even the choice of moments left *off* the page, I can’t imagine. Publisher NYRC has given this volume a generous size and some beautifully thick and creamy paper to showcase Blutch’s black, smeary nights and stark days. It’s a beautiful book. A masterclass in comics construction, from both a visual and a written perspective, in its structure and execution, Peplum may prove controversial to some, but to me it’s more than worthy of the praise its admirers have heaped upon it, and hopefully, it’s the start of a lot more translated Blutch work to come.


WEBCOMIC...ERRR...JOURNALISM OF THE WEEK : DARK HORSE COMICS’ SECRET ORIGIN – AS TOLD BY THE PEOPLE WHO WERE THERE 30 YEARS AGO
By Jay Horton

Yes, two weeks straight where the webcomic is not a webcomic at all but, hey, at least I’ve got cool stuff for you to read. This week: an oral history of Dark Horse Comics, as stitched together by Jay Horton in order to celebrate the publisher’s thirtieth anniversary in the game. I love oral histories. The Other Hollywood: An Oral History of The Adult Film Industry is one of my favourite books of all time and the upcoming oral history of Fantagraphics, We Told You So: Comics as Art, is one of the year’s most anticipated projects for me personally.

While this much shorter effort no doubt glosses over some of the publisher’s darker days, it’s nonetheless a terrific look into the genesis and early days of the young upstart publisher from the troops on the ground at the time. It’s a fascinating peek behind the curtain for voyeurs of publishing (like me) and a must read for comics historians. 




COMICS VIDEO OF THE WEEK : NHK BEGIN JAPANOLOGY SEASON 6 EPISODE 16: JAPANOPHILES - KENNY OMEGA

Congratulations to Kenny “The Cleaner” Omega, who a little over a week ago became the first non-Japanese wrestler to win the G1 Climax, Japan’s biggest and most prestigious pro wrestling tournament. Seriously – in a country where pro wrestling is reported on by media as if it were a proper sport, winning the G1 is a massive, massive deal. Running over twenty nights this year, the G1 is a long and gruelling tournament that tours all over the country and consumes too much of my time in the process. It’s also extremely physical -- on the final night, Katsuyori Shibata, my fave, headbutted an opponent with such force he legitimately split his own forehead open (it sounded like a coconut being dropped on concrete) and, as the blood streamed down his face, amazingly ended up trending on Twitter. As you can imagine, just making it through this event in more or less one piece is a feat in itself.

In terms of match quality, Omega, a bilingual Canadian residing in Tokyo, had a solid tournament overall but his final two matches (with Tetsuya Naito and Hirooki Goto) to clinch the massively oversized trophy are both remarkable, must-see efforts. Omega’s had a fascinating, genre-stretching career thus far that not only includes bouts with Yoshihiko, a “wrestler” who happens to be nothing more than a blow up sex doll (no, really), and also rather infamously with Haruka, a nine-year-old girl, who he remarkably managed to keep completely safe. Morphing his gimmick from surfer to otaku gamer to clean-up “hitman” for the villainous Bullet Club faction, Kenny Omega has finally hit the top tier of the business. Not merely just now one of the world’s premier pro wrestlers, however, Omega is also a giant, giant nerd. This week’s video is part of Japanology, an NHK documentary series made in 2012, a few years before Omega's ascension through the ranks of the country’s top promotion, New Japan Pro Wrestling, began. Watch Omega converse with the strangely robotic presenter about stealing moves from video games, his fave manga, anime, and pop culture from the weird wonderland of Nippon, as hilarious old footage of him doing bicep curls on the beach, singing karaoke and having astonishing matches with that madman Kota Ibushi,plays over the top. This might feel like a weird inclusion to some readers, but make no mistake – comics changed Omega’s life.


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.

Sunday, August 21, 2016

New Comics For Wednesday 24th of August


Things are starting to warm up getting closer to Spring and this week's list looks like it's generating a little bit of heat too!

Will the mystery behind the Inhuman at the center of Civil War II be revealed or are we due to uncover more secrets in CIVIL WAR II ULYSSES #1.

Find out what Ted Cord and Jaime Reyes have been up to with the newest DC Rebirth title, BLUE BEETLE REBIRTH #1. Following this is the new starts for DC this week with DEATHSTROKE #1 and HELLBLAZER #1OMEGA MEN THE END IS HERE TP from new DC favourite writer, Tom King gives us the story behind this band of space misfits and their involvement in the murder of Kyle Rayner. 

Greg Pak's creator own series from Dark Horse that is a Western with magic and Eastern influences makes KINGSWAY WEST #1 sound well worth checking out. 

The Crusades is an interesting enough point in history in it's own right but add a dash of alien invasion and that makes Image's LAKE OF FIRE #1 even more tempting. The Kelly Sue and Emma Rios' stunning spiritual journey of ethereal legends continues, this time in a World War I setting with PRETTY DEADLY TP VOL 02 THE BEAR.

A great behind the scenes look into one of the 80's favourite cartoon universes with HE MAN & SHE-RA COMPLETE GUIDE CLASSIC ANIMATED ADV HC.

Social justice takes a real nasty turn Bendis and Maleev's SCARLET PREM HC BOOK 02

And if you loved that Suicide Squad film, the movie's breakout performance from actress, Margot Robbie is captured with the SUICIDE SQUAD HARLEY QUINN STATUE

As always feel free to let us know of anything else we need to add for you, just make sure to do so before Wednesday morning so we can can it sorted for you!

MARVEL
CAPTAIN AMERICA STEVE ROGERS #4 CW2
CAPTAIN MARVEL #8 CW2
CIVIL WAR II ULYSSES #1 (OF 3)
DEADPOOL #17 CW2
DRAX #10
EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN #13
INTERNATIONAL IRON MAN #6
MARVEL UNIVERSE ULT SPIDER-MAN VS SINISTER SIX #2
MARVELS DOCTOR STRANGE PRELUDE #2 (OF 2)
MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR #10
NEW AVENGERS #15 CW2
NIGHTHAWK #4
PATSY WALKER AKA HELLCAT #9
STAR WARS #22
STAR WARS FORCE AWAKENS ADAPTATION #3 (OF 6)
UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #11
UNCANNY INHUMANS ANNUAL #1
VENOM SPACE KNIGHT #11 CW2

DC COMICS
ACTION COMICS #962 VAR ED
BATGIRL #2 VAR ED
BLUE BEETLE REBIRTH #1 VAR ED
DEATHSTROKE #1 VAR ED
DETECTIVE COMICS #939 VAR ED
FLASH #5 VAR ED
HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS #3 VAR ED
HARLEYS LITTLE BLACK BOOK #4 VAR ED
HELLBLAZER #1 VAR ED
SIX PACK & DOG WELDER HARD TRAVELIN HEROEZ #1 (OF 6)
TEEN TITANS #23
TITANS #2 VAR ED
WACKY RACELAND #3 VAR ED
WONDER WOMAN #5 VAR ED

VERTIGO
CLEAN ROOM #11
LUCIFER #9
RED THORN #10

BOOM
LUMBERJANES GOTHAM ACADEMY #3
MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS 2016 ANNUAL #1
MUNCHKIN #20
REGULAR SHOW #38
SOMBRA #2 (OF 4)

DARK HORSE
BTVS SEASON 10 #30
CONAN THE SLAYER #2
DEPT H #5
KINGSWAY WEST #1
TOMB RAIDER 2016 #7
USAGI YOJIMBO #157
WEIRD DETECTIVE #3 (OF 5)

DYNAMITE
DEJAH THORIS #6 (OF 6)

IDW
ACTION MAN #3
ATOMIC ROBO AND THE TEMPLE OF OD #1 (OF 5)
BACK TO THE FUTURE CITIZEN BROWN #4 (OF 5)
DUCK AVENGER #0
GHOSTBUSTERS INTERNATIONAL #8
GODZILLA RAGE ACROSS TIME #1 (OF 5)
JUDGE DREDD (ONGOING) #9
MICKEY MOUSE SHORTS SEASON 1 #2 (OF 4)
ROM #2
TMNT ONGOING #61
X-FILES (2016) #5

IMAGE
ALOHA HAWAIIAN DICK #5 (OF 5)
CHEW #57
INVINCIBLE #130
ISLAND #10
LAKE OF FIRE #1
MECHANISM #2
OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA #20
RENATO JONES ONE PERCENT #4
SHE WOLF #3
SNOTGIRL #2
THIEF OF THIEVES #34

ONI
EXODUS LIFE AFTER #7

VALIANT
FAITH (ONGOING) #2
GENERATION ZERO #1
RAI #16 (4001 AD)

MISC
ARCHIE #11
BETTY & VERONICA COMICS DOUBLE DIGEST #246
DARK SOULS #4
DELETE #4 (OF 4)
DISNEY DARKWING DUCK #4
FUTURAMA COMICS #80
HERO CATS #12
OBLIVION #2
ONCE OUR LAND #2 (OF 2)
REVISIONIST #3
SPIRIT LEAVES #3
TANK GIRL 2 GIRLS 1 TANK #4 (OF 4)
VOLTRON LEGENDARY DEFENDER #2 (OF 4)
WRAITHBORN #6 (OF 6)

TRADES
ABC WARRIORS RETURN TO RO BUSTERS HC
ALENA TP
AMAZING FOREST TP
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN TP AMAZING GRACE
ANGORA NAPKIN CUDDLE CORE COLL ED TP
ASTRONAUTS IN TROUBLE TP
BATGIRL TP VOL 03 MINDFIELDS
BIGFOOT HC
CHRONICLES OF HATE HC VOL 02
CLARENCE TP VOL 01
DARK HORSE COMICS DC SUPERMAN COMPLETE TP
DEADPOOL WORLDS GREATEST TP VOL 03 DEADPOOL VS SABRETOOTH
DEFENDERS EPIC COLLECTION TP SIX-FINGERED HAND SAGA
DOCTOR WHO 12TH TP VOL 02 FRACTURES
DOCTOR WHO 2015 FOUR DOCTORS TP
EARTH 2 SOCIETY TP VOL 02 INDIVISIBLE
EVIL EMPIRE TP VOL 03
FILLER BUNNY COLLECTED WORKS TP
HE MAN & SHE-RA COMPLETE GUIDE CLASSIC ANIMATED ADV HC
HEXED HARLOT & THIEF TP VOL 03
HOMECOMING TP VOL 01
KONG THE KING HC
MONSTER TP
NEAT STUFF HC BOXED SET PETER BAGGE
NEW ROMANCER TP
OMEGA MEN THE END IS HERE TP
PRETTY DEADLY TP VOL 02 THE BEAR
REUNION GN
SCARLET PREM HC BOOK 02
SENSUOUS FRAZETTA SC
SOLOMON ROYAL ED HC
TEEN TITANS TP VOL 03 THE SUM OF ITS PARTS
TRANSFORMERS SINS OF WRECKERS TP
WALLY WOOD JUNGLE ADV JIM KING & ANIMAN SC
X-MEN TP WORST X-MAN EVER
X-MEN X-TINCTION AGENDA TP NEW PTG
YOURE ALL JUST JEALOUS OF MY JETPACK HC

MERCH
BATMAN ARKHAM KNIGHT JOKER AF
RICK & MORTY RICK 12IN PLUSH
RICK & MORTY SAD MR MEESEEKS 10IN PLUSH
S7ACTION MOTU BEAST MAN ACTION FIGURE
S7ACTION MOTU HE-MAN ACTION FIGURE
S7ACTION MOTU MER-MAN ACTION FIGURE
S7ACTION MOTU SKELETOR ACTION FIGURE
SUICIDE SQUAD HARLEY QUINN STATUE

SUICIDE SQUAD THE JOKER STATUE

Friday, August 19, 2016

DON’T BREATHE PREVIEW DOUBLE PASS GIVEAWAY!


DON’T BREATHE from director Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead) and stars Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zovatto and Stephen Lang. It is about a group of friends who break into the house and get more than they bargained for in the process. 


Thanks to those scary folks down the road at Sony Pictures and DON’T BREATHE in cinemas September 1st, we have 10 Double Passes to a Special Preview Screening at Hoyts Melbourne Central on Monday 29th August at 6.30pm to give away!

To go into the draw for your chance to win all you need to do is tell us, "The film's villain, Stephen Lang seems to get more bad ass the older he gets. Who is your favourite actor that seems to have only gotten more awesome with age?"


SPECIAL NOTE: As this prize is for a specific time and date, please only enter if you can attend the screening. 


Terms and Conditions:
-Only entries made via the comments on the Facebook post will be included in the draw.
-All entries will go into the All Star Barrel and winners will be drawn at random.
-Entries close 7pm Thursday the 25th of August and winners will be announced Friday the 26th and notified soon after as to how to collect their tickets.


A huge thanks again to Sony Pictures and DON’T BREATHE in cinemas September 1st

© 2016 Screen Gems Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Monday, August 15, 2016

ALL STAR RECOMMENDS FOR AUGUST 16TH


Comics! Huzzah!

To celebrate the release of the superlative Injection vol.2, this is essentially Warren Ellis week here at the ol' Recommends. Bad news, I'm sure, for those of you who do not care for the work of Mr Ellis, but if this just so happens to be you, please don't close this window before at least watching this week's video. That in itself is really worth a look.

Onward!



COMIC OF THE WEEK : INJECTION VOL. 2
By Warren Ellis, Declan Shalvey & Jordie Bellaire
Published By Image Comics

You like sandwiches. I like sandwiches. Everyone likes sandwiches. Just not as much as Vivek Headland likes sandwiches. Headland, genius detective and sandwich connoisseur, is the member of the cross cultural contamination unit who takes centre stage in this second volume of Ellis, Shalvey and Bellaire's Injection and it's hard not to imagine that he's totally stolen the show.

If you're coming in cold to this series, you can pop over and read my review of volume one if you like, which neatly tied in with another classic modern SF mind-bender, Frederik Peeters' Aama. Both series describe the birth of what are essentially A.I's created through what Peeters handily labelled "techno-natural creation processes." In the case of The Injection, invented by Headland and co., that entailed a dash of science, a pinch of technology and a helping of magic, with the resulting creation then "injected" into the Internet in an effort to speed up human progress. The Injection has been toying with us ever since, re-writing the rules of physics and re-creating the mythical. It's a techno-trickster god, learning and experimenting as it increases its influence over whatever it is that we call "reality."

Now, that's all rather heady SF stuff and you maybe can't be bothered with it. That's okay, because enter this creative team, packing pound for pound more comics swagger than possibly any other current collaborative comics unit and who, like The Injection itself, really decide to have some fun with their world with no prior knowledge of the series required for new readers. Seriously, all you really need to know is here and it's all essentially self-contained. Structurally, for such an ambitious book, that's impressive. 

Injection vol.2 is also completely hilarious. Ellis, a writer frequently given to inputting large doses of dark humour in his work, has sharpened his characters' typically pithy verbal barbs to their sharpest possible points. Seriously, this is a funny, funny book. It's Tanaka's Gon funny. It's the best of Giffen-era JLA funny. It's Ellis' own Nextwave funny. Barely a page passes without some impeccably placed verbal zinger or sight gag and, in Headland, Ellis may actually have found the best vehicle for his hyperbolic, frequently ridiculous insults. A quick shout-out to Fonografiks before continuing, as I am frequently harsh on letterers, for his clean fonts and simple but striking design proves not only handsome but also unobtrusive and easily read, allowing Ellis' riotous dialogue to rip along speedily and clearly and staying out of Shalvey and Bellaire's way in the process. Being unobtrusive, I imagine, is one of the hardest parts of lettering - Fonografiks makes it look easy.

Vivek Headland is contacted by John Van Der Zee, a widower who when looking at a photo of his dead wife and son, had visits of an erotic nature from his deceased bride. When the photograph was stolen, the visits unfortunately stopped. With his history and knowledge of his contacts preceding Headland, Van Der Zee rightly believes that the detective is "predisposed to sympathy with the supernatural" (although "sympathy" might be pushing it). Headland of course takes the case, introduces us to his staff of criminal ex-mercenaries, including the wonderful Red who functions as his butler/bodyguard, brings in some contacts from the larger cast and quickly discovers a connection to that engineer of the weird, The Injection. 

Packed with evil cults and gun battles and haunted laptops and accidental cannibalism, it's not just Ellis having a blast with Headland's adventure; you can almost see the whole team chuckling as the pages were prepared. Shalvey, as always, is up for anything - bicep hams, elbow joints exploding at the impact from a bullet, striking night time skylines and polyamorous sexual action, and all of it superbly laid out and framed. On one hand he's lucky to be working with a writer so skilled and generous as Ellis, on the other I can't really imagine anyone else doing as good a job. Ellis writes for his partners on this project, not just himself, and the seams between script and finished page are nowhere to be found. And I mean anywhere. Shalvey's range of expression is also superb, carrying the weight of many an Ellis gag with a deadpan stare or a look of confusion. Lines like, "I am Headland. I am offended by your ham, sir," would have none of the comedic punch they do with characters wearing the wrong expressions on their faces and Shalvey’s on particularly on point here.

Bellaire, who just scooped another Eisner for her growing collection is also superb. She understands that colours are there to round and enhance the linework, to help set mood and, in the case of a book like Injection, convey a sense of realism. Her work is painterly yet subtle, eschewing garishness constantly. If a scene needs to be largely brown, brown it is, yet still she creates textures and mood even as she limits herself. It's really lovely work and it's great to see her become so lauded whilst simultaneously demonstrating such restraint.

I've tried to find something, anything, but I don't have even a quibble about Injection vol.2, I really don't. The only real question is can the series actually top this? As The Injection spreads its influence ever further, tinkering with the world in ever greater ways and the ongoing plot cleverly sprinkled through Headland's adventure sows intrigue for the future, it's clear there's a long way to go. But even in the extremely unlikely event that this series crashes and burns from here on out, "The Adventure of the Elderly Ghost Sexer," as Headland hilariously dubs his case, will remain a highpoint in the careers of all involved. Injection is inspired, impeccably crafted comics.


WEBCOMIC...ERRR....SHORT STORY OF THE WEEK : THE LICH-HOUSE
By Warren Ellis

From 2013 comes this short story by our esteemed scribe, "The Lich House," commissioned by Institute of the Future as part of a series exploring the future of networking and interconnectivity. Ellis weaves a tale of an intruder breaking into a house that feels very much alive, if not exactly sentient, giving "murder" an extra element of calculated cruelty in the process. In cool, affectless prose, reminiscent in certain ways of that of your humble columnist's literary hero and similarly blackly-humoured futurist, J.G. Ballard, Ellis' story does a good job of being both a fascinating piece of futurist crime fiction and reading like some sort of detail-obsessed, field test journalism breaking down a product's technological powers. Bonus video included of Ellis describing the story's origin.


COMICS VIDEO OF THE WEEK : INJECTION #1 TALK WITH WARREN ELLIS & DECLAN SHALVEY


"Science is beautiful," says Warren Ellis. "It is our new wilderness landscape. It is the new forest full of weird animals and spirits sliding in and out of view on the edge of the clearing and the pool." If that alone doesn't make you want to watch this talk, featuring two of Injection's main creators shortly after the series launched, there's all sorts of process work included, Shalvey linking his and Bellaire's visual approach to the series with the unlikely (but now totally obvious) inspiration of Wes Anderson films and even Ellis, yes Warren Ellis, brimming with positivity as he urges us to see the up side of living in the "science fiction condition." This is excellent and inspirational stuff, expertly condensing a bunch of ideas Ellis has expressed at various futurist talks and showcasing Shalvey's skills and comics methodology perfectly.



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.

Saturday, August 13, 2016

New Comics For Wednesday 17th of August


HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE ALL STAR WOMEN'S COMIC BOOK CLUB! 
In two short years, Soph, Naja and Cazz have created a world class comic club that has inspired similar clubs to start up all around Australia. The meet up this Saturday the 20th of August from 5pm marks the club's second anniversary and will be a great afternoon out celebrating all things comics as well as the group itself!
If you'd like to attend or just find out more details check the event page here : https://www.facebook.com/events/959421770821992/


Now how do you feel about soon comics?

The tolls of Civil War II have been high and this week FALLEN #1 looks at the effect of the fallout from the passing of certain heroes. The worst crims in the Star Wars Universe are under siege in this jail break story with a twist in STAR WARS TP VOL 03 REBEL JAIL

DC #1's for this week are BATGIRL AND THE BIRDS OF PREY #1, the first Jim Lee issue of SUICIDE SQUAD #1 and with the popularity of the new TV show a fresh start for the Girl of Steel with SUPERGIRL REBIRTH #1. Some of the most classic Wonder Woman tales are finally back in print with the new collections of WONDER WOMAN BY GEORGE PEREZ TP VOL 01


Fans of BOOM's teen adventure/angst titles like Giant Days, Jonesy, Lumberjanes will most definitely want to take a look at the company's latest outing in this genre, with the behind the scenes fun and drama of amatuer theatre in BACKSTAGERS #1

Brian Wood manages three releases in one week, the newest being BRIGGS LAND #1 from Dark Horse, the story of the power struggles within America's biggest militia group.

SUPER F*****S FOREVER #1 from James Kochalka is the unfortunately named series about a group of rather rude superheroes with a back up story featuring local rad dude, Jake Lawrence

Image new limited series, DEMONIC #1 focuses on the lengths people will go too to keep their love ones safe, perhaps as far as selling your soul to the devil? Todd McFarlane shows us exactly why Spawn is the best around in wonderful fan service fashion with SPAWN KILLS EVERYONE ONE SHOT.

The team up that caught everyone by surprise is collected in BATMAN TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES HC

A military special forces unit made up of different "were" people is sent behind enemy lines in the first collection of CRY HAVOC TP VOL 01 MYTHING IN ACTION

God is murdered on his throne and Heaven wants answers and of course the first suspect on the list is the most famous of the fallen, Vertigo's Lucifer in LUCIFER TP VOL 01 COLD HEAVEN

If you happen upon anything else you are after from this week's list just let us know before Wednesday morning for us to help you out!



MARVEL
ALL NEW INHUMANS #10
ALL NEW WOLVERINE #11 CW2
BLACK WIDOW #6
CAPTAIN AMERICA SAM WILSON #12 CW2
CIVIL WAR II AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #3 (OF 4)
CIVIL WAR II CHOOSING SIDES #4 (OF 6)
CIVIL WAR II GODS OF WAR #3 (OF 4)
CIVIL WAR II X-MEN #3 (OF 4)
DAREDEVIL PUNISHER #4 (OF 4)
FALLEN #1
GWENPOOL #5
MIGHTY THOR #10
MOCKINGBIRD #6 CW2
POWER MAN AND IRON FIST #7 CW2
SPIDER-WOMAN #10 CW2
STAR WARS POE DAMERON #5
ULTIMATES #10 CW2
UNCANNY AVENGERS #12
WEB WARRIORS #10

DC COMICS
AQUAMAN #5 VAR ED
BATGIRL AND THE BIRDS OF PREY #1 VAR ED
BATMAN #5 VAR ED
DOCTOR FATE #15
GREEN ARROW #5 VAR ED
GREEN LANTERNS #5 VAR ED
HARLEY QUINN #2 VAR ED
INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US YEAR FIVE #16
JUSTICE LEAGUE #3 VAR ED
LEGENDS OF TOMORROW #6
NIGHTWING #3 VAR ED
SCOOBY APOCALYPSE #4 VAR ED
SUICIDE SQUAD #1 VAR ED
SUPERGIRL REBIRTH #1 VAR ED
SUPERMAN #5 VAR ED
TEEN TITANS GO #17

BOOM
ADVENTURE TIME #55
BACKSTAGERS #1 (OF 8)
JOYNERS #3
KLAUS #7
KONG OF SKULL ISLAND #2 (OF 6)
LUCAS STAND #3
LUMBERJANES #29

DARK HORSE
ALIENS DEFIANCE #3
BLACK HAMMER #2
BPRD HELL ON EARTH #144
BRIGGS LAND #1
DARK HORSE PRESENTS 2014 #25

DYNAMITE
BOBS BURGERS ONGOING #14
GARTH ENNIS RED TEAM DOUBLE TAP #2 (OF 9)
XENA WARRIOR PRINCESS #5

IDW
BACK TO THE FUTURE #11
DISNEY MAGIC KINGDOM COMICS #2 (OF 2)
JACKBOOT & IRONHEEL #1 (OF 4)
MARS ATTACKS OCCUPATION #5 (OF 5)
MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDS FOREVER #31
STAR TREK ONGOING #60
STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE #5
SUPER F*CKERS FOREVER #1 (OF 5)
TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE #3
TRANSFORMERS MORE THAN MEETS EYE #56
TRANSFORMERS TILL ALL ARE ONE #3
UNCLE SCROOGE #17

IMAGE
BLACK ROAD #5
DEMONIC #1 (OF 6)
DESCENDER #14
HORIZON #2
HUNT #2
I HATE FAIRYLAND #8
MANIFEST DESTINY #22
RUMBLE #13
SPAWN KILLS EVERYONE ONE SHOT
THROWAWAYS #2
WICKED & DIVINE #22

ONI
BRIK #2 (OF 6)
HEARTTHROB #5
INVADER ZIM #12

VALIANT
WRATH OF THE ETERNAL WARRIOR #10

MISC
AMERICA #2
DOCTOR WHO 9TH #4
DOCTOR WHO SUPREMACY OF THE CYBERMEN #2 (OF 5)
HIP HOP FAMILY TREE #12
INSEXTS #7
MIRACULOUS #4
SIMPSONS COMICS #232

MAGAZINES
STUDY GROUP MAGAZINE 4

TRADES
A&A ADV OF ARCHER & ARMSTRONG TP VOL 01 IN THE BAG
AMELIA COLE VERSUS END OF EVERYTHING GN
ANGEL SEASON 6 TP VOL 02
ATOMIC ROBO TP HELL & LIGHTNING COLLECTION
BACCHUS OMNIBUS ED GN VOL 02
BATMAN TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES HC
BIRD BOY TP VOL 02 LIMINAL WOOD
CRY HAVOC TP VOL 01 MYTHING IN ACTION
DEADPOOL AND MERCS FOR MONEY TP VOL 00 MERC MADNESS
DOCTOR WHO 12TH HC VOL 04 SCHOOL OF DEATH
HELLBLAZER TP VOL 14 GOOD INTENTIONS
INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US YEAR FOUR HC VOL 02
JEM & THE HOLOGRAMS TP VOL 03 DARK JEM
KIRBY GENESIS DRAGONSBANE TP
LOONEY TUNES GREATEST HITS TP VOL 01 WHATS UP DOC
LOVE & ROCKETS LIBRARY GILBERT GN VOL 05 OFELIA
LUCIFER TP VOL 01 COLD HEAVEN
POKEMON XY GN VOL 07
POLAR HC VOL 03 NO MERCY FOR SISTER MARIA
PRIVATE BEACH COMPLETE TP
ROCKETEER AT WAR TP
SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT TP
STAR BRAND TP VOL 02 NEW UNIVERSE
STAR WARS TP VOL 03 REBEL JAIL
THUNDA TP
TOKYO GHOUL GN VOL 08
TRANSFORMERS WAR WITHIN OMNIBUS TP
TUMOR HC
WONDER WOMAN BY GEORGE PEREZ TP VOL 01

MERCH
MARVEL ANIMATED STYLE IRON MAN STATUE
MARVEL ANIMATED STYLE THANOS STATUE
MOTU MUSCLE FIGURES PACK D
RICK & MORTY HAPPY MR MEESEEKS 10IN PLUSH
RICK & MORTY MORTY 10IN PLUSH

BACK IN STOCK
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA VOL 3 #1
BATMAN #4
GREEN LANTERNS #4
LADY KILLER 2 #1

SUPERMAN #4

Monday, August 8, 2016

ALL STAR RECOMMENDS FOR AUGUST 9TH


Good day fellow lovers of the ninth art...

"An artist should make experimental work." --Osamu Tezuka to Eiichi Yamamoto.

Rather fittingly, given this week's focus on anime legends, last week I happened to finally watch Belladonna of Sadness. Cineliciouspics (great name) are behind the Blu-ray release of this "lost masterpiece" of animation, the final ever film to come from Osamu Tezuka's Mushi Productions. A frequently stunning and gorgeous piece of psycho-sexual melodrama, Belladonna's source material is an odd one: a French novel from 1862, Jules Michelet's La Sorciere. Ripping along in a beautiful kaleidoscopic swirl, the film centres on Jeanne, a beautiful young woman raped on her wedding night by the town's Lord. Desperate for power, Jeanne makes a deal with a devil who happens to be...well, let's just say it...he's totally dick-shaped. Phallic imagery abounds over numerous scenes of sexual encounters both real and symbolic, in fact it's safe to say you've never seen so many dicks disguised as other objects before in your life. The film pretty much rolled over me with a psychedelic barrage.

Belladonna is also notable for its lack of lip-synching. Director Eiichi Yamamoto, in a supplemental interview, says that the lack of lip-synching was due to budget constraints and so he turned to an old form of Japanese puppetry, in which emotion is expressed without the movement of the puppet's mouths, for inspiration. Oddly, Belladonna of Sadness actually resembles a proto-motion comic in this respect and the fact that it so often resembles Christian Ward's work on Ody-C only heightens the feeling of watching a particularly vibrant comic play out before your eyes. Yamamoto, again in his interview, does not use the word "anime" to describe his work; he explicitly calls his movies "manga films." I've been critical of motion comics in this space in the past, but if they all looked like Belladonna of Sadness, I'd take that opinion back in a heartbeat. I mean, just look at this:



For fans of the freakiest of films and animation buffs, Belladonna of Sadness really does have to be seen to be believed. Special mention to the freak out fuzz rock score by composer, Masahiko Satoh, who just knocks it out of the park.


COMIC OF THE WEEK : QUEEN EMERALDAS VOLUME ONE
By Leiji Matsumoto
Translated By Zack Davisson
Published By Kodansha Comics

If you love comics even half as much as I do, you surely have to agree that we are living in a golden age. Yes, the Big Two have their ups and downs, but forget about them for a moment, let's talk about comics as a whole and the utter wealth of untranslated material finally, *finally* upcoming and in many cases already available in English. What we are seeing, incredibly, is the arrival of International comics culture to our shores. The comics deemed museum-worthy by other countries are given the publishing treatment they deserve in our very own language at last. Sure, it's taken decades, but we're getting there. We really are. For a lifer like me it's really an amazing thing to see happen.

The manga "boom" may be considered over by many and that's probably true, but by opening this truly massive area of comics and opening it widely, the reading experiences of comics fans everywhere has changed. Forever. No longer is manga "flipped;" the Japanese right-to-left format is now not only standard but generally considered to be integral to the true manga reading experience. Alt-manga from the arty end of seinen (Planetes, 20th Century Boys) to the full-blown gekiga of the meatiest parts of Osamu Tezuka's career and the work of Yoshihiro Tatsumi, for example, fills the publishing slates of companies as diverse as Fantagraphics, Drawn & Quarterly and Viz. The classics are coming. If they're not here already.

Case in point is this week's featured comic, the release of which had artists as diverse and distinct as Sarah Horrocks and Ian MacEwan tweeting about its arrival: Leiji Matsumoto's 1978 classic, Queen Emeraldas. Matsumoto has a frankly massive and terrifying body of work, having begun his manga in 1968 (at the rather ripe age of 30) with the last published credit I could find coming in 2014. There's a twenty-year gap in that comics lifetime as well, presumably due to Matsumoto's commitments in the anime world, where he shaped many a child's vision of the future with Space Battleship Yamato, better known in English as Star Blazers, and Space Pirate Captain Harlock. It's a massive anime career perhaps culminating with the celebrated collaboration with Daft Punk, Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (see this week's video) for which, thankfully, we have this photo, a photo that I believe should be shot into space for aliens to discover and learn about our culture:


Matsumoto's characters, although cartoonish against the realistic backdrops and settings, always appear to be in motion and from Queen Emeraldas' pages alone it’s unsurprising his career in anime is so revered. The strong profiles of Matsumoto's handsome, well-coiffed males and supermodel sleek females along with his vision of space as an impossibly vast blackness lit by the hopeful pinpricks of innumerable stars and supernovas exploding in violent and pink went a long way, with Battle of the Planets, in defining anime for me. Here, if you are curious, is Star Blazers in its entirety. The grungy naval vibe Matsumoto imbued his space operas with still resonates today - you can look no further than Becky Cloonan and Andy Belanger's Southern Cross for that.

Emeraldas cruises the galaxy in her wondrous pirate ship turned interstellar war craft, The Queen Emeraldas, for reasons she keeps entirely to herself, and encounters all manner of human awfulness along the way. Ship and Captain are bonded in ways than go beyond having the same name - they are destined to be with one another. Emeraldas, this super model-lithe space warrior, cloaked in black, is physically marred only by a scar from a gravity-sabre strike across her cheek - a constant reminder to herself that all conflict must be fast and must be fatal. 

The diminutive Hiroshi Umino also seeks solitude amongst the stars, having travelled from Earth to Mars in a homemade space ship. Crashing on Mars, he must scratch and claw his way back to the stars, but he is seemingly cursed to remain grounded forever. Mars, like many planets in this series, is a backwater desert, as gritty as an Italian Spaghetti Western. Wanted posters and violent outlaws prowl the surfaces of Matsumoto's dustbowl environments, drinking in shabby saloons and ruminating on the immensity of their own notoriety. Matsumoto seems to love juxtaposing these arid environments, filled with criminals of all sorts, with his cool, black expanses of space. It's on Mars that Emeraldas and Umino first meet and, from this point, their fates become linked as the stars become the pathway their freedom.

Both Emeraldas and Umino are fascinating character studies, particularly as they were created in late 1970s Japan. "The nail that sticks out is hammered down," is a well-known old Japanese phrase and Emeraldas, in stature as well as attitude, is the tallest nail imaginable, as encapsulated perfectly here:


Self-reliant, strong-willed, empowered, suspicious of men (for good reason as her backstory proves) and quick to violent action, Emeraldas maintains a stylish but haunted quality which Matsumoto's art plays up at every opportunity - close ups on her large, long-lashed eyes, gazing far away, placed amongst a backdrop of star-littered space are frequent, such as this:


Umino embodies the datsusara spirit - the abandonment of the salaryman life - seeking his freedom in space, becoming eminently relatable to 99% of readers in the process as he crashes and crashes and crashes again. With gritted teeth, clenched fists and a powerful work ethic, Umino sets out to achieve his goal, with Emeraldas as something of an inspirational muse (and occasional patron), and he flagrantly breaks any and every rule he must to get what he needs.

Matsumoto's melodrama-dripping narration and dialogue works beautifully with the gravitas of his stories. His rubbery male figures and impossibly angular females inhabit a comics world of stark blacks juxtaposed with large areas of negative space. Space ship interiors are stark black save for the blinking of highly detailed dashboard equipment:


Splashes and double-page spreads are frequently used to give a sense of cosmic scope -- ships or characters are tiny things amongst the immensity of the cosmos, or the dusty swirling of a landmass. Matsumoto expertly uses the black and white trappings of the medium by soaking his panels in black and then opening them up with expanses of white with the flip of the page. 

On the publishing side, Kodansha has done a wonderful job with its English edition, treating the material with the respect it deserves. Over 400 pages fill this first of two hardback volumes with slick but not glossy paper maximising the crisp pop of white against the inky pitch black. I doubt Matsumoto's pages have ever looked so good - his wonderful clouds of explosions burst off the page. On the downside, for such a legendary comic, there's a distinct lack of supplemental material (outside of some bonus short stories) that another publisher, such as Vertical, would have an abundance of. Hopefully next time. All in all though, make a spot on your shelf for Queen Emeraldas and begin the count down to the concluding volume two.


WEBCOMIC OF THE WEEK : AKIRA ENDPAPERS
By Katsuhiro Otomo

Staying pretty much on theme this week comes is this stunning selection of colour montage images that ran in the Japanese editions of Akira. To this day one of the most influential and acclaimed pieces of SF comics and anime, news broke that Kodansha is prepping a new deluxe box set of Otomo's classic to celebrate its 35th anniversary. Due for release in 2017, the set will feature hardcover volumes, slipcased, reading right-to-left, and with the original Japanese sound effects intact. *Swoon*. If you've never read Akira and can't stomach the $200US price tag attached to this new edition, I expect the regular, "flipped" artwork paperback editions will still be available. I'll be selling my set to make shelf space for this monster for sure.




COMICS VIDEO OF THE WEEK : INTERSTELLA 5555 - FULL MOVIE


And what could be more apropos than closing out with the stunning '70s anime aesthetic of Leiji Matsumoto turned into a fully-fetishised art object thanks to the pounding Euro house beats of those post-disco tricksters, Daft Punk? Nothing, that's what. "The Animated House Musical"? You’re damn right. There's even a precedent set for this kind of thing if you think it's a weird combo - witness this disco version of the classic theme to Matsumoto's Space Battleship Yamato for proof.

The story of an blue-skinned intergalactic dance music group (members: Shep, Arpagius, Drummer and Stella) whose beats are so mighty the band is are pilfered by us dirty humans and turned into corporate music-slaves, 2003's Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem is essentially one long music video for Daft Punk's second album, "Discovery", released in 2001. The Daft Punk boys have their fingers in every slice of the creative pie, however, along with Matsumoto who provided initial character designs and oversaw production. If you were unfortunate enough to grow up during a childhood without Star Blazers and even, conceivably I suppose, missed Interstella 5555's initial release I both pity and envy you. There is just so much to love about this that we could be here all day if I bang on any more about it. Argh, just embiggen as much as possible, turn those ad blockers on just in case and crank it, people, crank it up.

*begins awkward old white guy dancing*




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.