Monday, February 27, 2017

ALL STAR RECOMMENDS FOR FEBRUARY 28TH


Afternoon, friends...

Staffers at the offices of Kodansha Comics USA must be high-fiving and actually resuming somewhat regular office hours once again after dropping no less than five notable books on the market last week. Happiness volume 3 and Inuyashiki volume 6 are absolutely worth your time and money for differing reasons (the former being a terrifically engrossing teen-vampire saga with inspired Impressionistic flourishes, the latter being virtually 200 pages of armed Japanese tactical police unloading automatic weapons into a genocidal cyborg).

However, I'm assuming the highest interest will be in the three The Ghost In The Shell re-releases, so I'll just say a few quick words about those as I haven't found the time yet to dig right in. The books, as objects, are excellent. Hardcover, oversized and (thankfully) featuring crisp matte paper, they are about as high quality a reproduction of Shirow Masamune's classics a reader could ask for.

There is some controversy concerning the first volume, in that several previously and controversially published pages have been excised from this new edition and many a completist is crying foul. Honestly though, if you're concerned enough to actually raise a stink about two pages of pretty gratuitous and unnecessary sexual activity cut/redrawn from a manga that otherwise keeps its objectification very much under skin-tight suits, well, you might actually just need to get out a little more. All Star's Mitch tells me the store blew through its initial orders, so you might want to pop in and put your name down for if you've missed out on these classic rereleases.


COMIC OF THE WEEK : BLACK DOG: THE DREAMS OF PAUL NASH
By Dave McKean
Published By Dark Horse

Of the many regrets I have over the hundred-odd instalments of this column I've written, the biggest and greatest may well be that I did not read Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash in time to give it a slot on the Best of 2016 list.

I'm assuming that, like me, you know little about Paul Nash, the soldier who went on to become Britain's "Official Artist on The Western Front" during World War I, outside of seeing some of his potent, nightmarish paintings of the war here and there. Black Dog seeks to amend this knowledge gap by way of a non-linear comics biography told via Nash's dreams. McKean, most famous for his covers for the Neil Gaiman-scripted Sandman series as well as several comics collaborations also with Gaiman, is an admirer of Nash and immersed himself in biographical data and war history for this work created as part of NOW, a British Arts project in remembrance of the centenary of WWI. 

Black Dog covers much of Nash's life, personally, artistically and on the battlefield, by way of numerous short little chapters - each one of Nash's dreams, each immersed in symbolism and each illustrated in a completely different style. I'll admit, even as a fan of McKean's solo work, that it's almost easily to take his immense talents for granted. There is the McKean "look" we are familiar with: the odd multi-media sculptures, the heavily shopped photographs, but if nothing else, Black Dog is a reminder of just what a skilled and varied artist McKean is. Each and every chapter of Black Dog is equally beautiful and equally unique, from the scratchy colour pencil utilised in "1921 - Rye Harbour with Claud Lovat Fraser, 1918 Ypres Salient" to "1917 - Military Hospital, Gosport" with its feverish vision assimilating Nash's own war paintings by way of Harvey Kurtzman Blazing Combat comics, to the surreal pen and ink distortions on display in "1906- The Planes Preparatory School, Greenwich London," in which we flash back to young Nash's school days, where the artist is beaten by a "teacher" depicted as a massive, towering, ogre of a figure. Each and every chapter of Black Dog is a distinct and stunning work of individual art and each a "private landscape" of Nash's own rich, if frequently disturbed, inner worlds.


There is deep meditative and contemplative writing on display here also, reflecting Nash's own thoughts across all these periods of his life, as McKean brings his breathtakingly painterly phantasmagoria. Art, war, existence, creation, death, it all could be so cliché and laboured but McKean is a writer - a fact often downplayed when discussing his work - and a great one at that. Here is Nash, dreaming whilst convalescing in "1917 - Swedish Hospital, London," images of monstrous, entwined blood-red thorns growing outside his window:

"Later, I would hear about the bodies torn and broken, sinking in the quagmire, abstraction, bits of tissue and mud and ash consuming each other. Somewhere in the midst of the screams, the trivial pain in my side. The guilt, the loss, I feel a sharp scratching on my retina. Or at the back, behind my eye, deeper."



And what of the black dog himself? The titular figure and reoccurring symbol of Nash's dreamscapes? Is he the war? A darker aspect of Nash's psyche? Death itself manifested? Perhaps Black Dog all three of these things. He is at times a terrifying creature, at others a confidant, at others a companion. Perhaps the most telling moment comes near the book's end, where, during a dream featuring Nash's wife Margaret, the peace of post-war life is shattered when Nash declares that he must "take the dog for a walk." "You don't have to," comes a saddened Margaret's reply, before Nash follows his black dog, happily trotting along ahead of him, right back to the near Armageddon of the battlefield.

Struck by the beauty in life and driven to recreate it on his canvas, Paul Nash was ultimately defined by his depictions of wartime destruction. Black Dog's rear cover has a picture of Nash's grave. "Whatsoever things are lovely think on these things," it reads, right under the date of July 11th, 1946, the date Nash "fell asleep." The battle to strive for the light while stuck in the dark is expertly depicted by McKean, who imbues the subject of his greatest solo work with immense sensitivity and kindness even as his dreams become the stuff of tortured nightmare. Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash is beautiful comics work, a tribute to a brilliant artist and wonderful man and a love letter to life and the art of creation. Highly recommended.


WEBCOMIC OF THE WEEK : WAR OF THE GLADIATORS
By Frank Frazetta

From 1949s Real Life Comics #50 comes this early work by everyone's favourite Fantasy art icon, Frank Frazetta. The legend of Spartacus leading the slave uprising against the Romans would seem classic fodder for an artist like Frazetta, whose loincloth-wrapped, muscle-bound barbarians basically defined an entire strain of sword and sorcery aesthetic. This, however, is very early Frazetta and as such the pages are very much by an artist still on the way to his ultimate artistic endgame. This developmental peek alone should make "War of The Gladiators" worth a look for the curious reader and Frazetta freak alike, steeped as it is in the Golden Age comics aesthetic in which it was created. You'll have to click on each individual page on Pappy's Golden Age Comics Blogzine to enlarge, but that's not too much work to do, really, for a look at rare sequentials by a comics icon.





COMICS VIDEO OF THE WEEK : SPIDER-MAN MUSIC 1967-69 
(ALL BACKGROUND MUSIC)

Thanks to the glory of YouTube, here's almost a complete hour of totally swingin' (groan) music from the classic '60s Spider-Man cartoon composed by one Ray Ellis. Stripped of dialogue and incidental sounds as much as possible, this is a pretty fun way to spend an hour - I swept the house and did the dishes quite happily with this music bopping away in the background.



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, February 26, 2017

New Comics For Wednesday 1st of March


NOSTALGIA! WE LIVE FOR IT! How about you? If you love going treasure hunting and looking over comic and toy collections both new and old, then you really need to lock yourself in to join us Saturday the 4th of March for our next ALL STAR COMIC BACK ISSUE AND TOY FAIR!

Saturday the 4th will feature a huge line up on independent comic and toy sellers with their collections of four colour and plastic treasures on sale over two floors. Then from Sunday the 5th until Sunday the 12th we'll have the All Star selection of Back Issues available to look through, featuring new "old" collections and $2 recent new issues as well.

​An exciting in store event any way you look at it, start making your checklists now and we hope to see you there!


Then there was new comics!

DC's master of magic returns to the pages with a collection of hard to find issues in ZATANNA BY PAUL DINI TP.

Those least likely can surprise us all, as we come to find in this return of the King/Queen, modern swords and sorcery series from Dark Horse, ONCE AND FUTURE QUEEN #1.

Joe Hill's (Locke & Key) re-imagining of the old "Tales From the Dark Side," TV show never made it onto modern TV screens, but with Gabriel Rodriguez (also Locke & Key) now bringing to life this chilling dive into the void, jump in with this collection TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE HC.

Who doesn't like anthropomorphic animal stories? Chinatown meets Animal Farm in ANIMAL NOIR #1 as you follow PI Imannuel Diamond (the Giraffe) and friends as they get caught up in the "prey fantasy movie industry".

America Chavez is Miss America no more! After teaming up in the Young Avengers, fighting through the secret wars in A-Force she is now leading a new team of Ultimates. America needs to find herself though and decides to get herself a college education, if she can get away from saving the universe in AMERICA #1.

Writer/Artist, Daniel Warren Johnson delivers a brand new Image series, EXTREMITY #1. A brilliantly bizarre world of revenge and battles between warring clans, that is somewhere between the beauty and imagination of Studio Ghibli meeting the intensity of Mad Max.

It's been almost a year's wait but the rag-tag, beer swilling crew the RAT QUEENS #1 are back! Get ready for a NEW STORY ARC of classic misadventures as the crew get back to what they do best, SLAYING MONSTERS! Featuring new artist OWEN GIENI (Shutter, Negative Space) tackling the action packed fantasy.

Comics stalwart JEFF LEMIRE starts a new heartfelt and personal ongoing series in ROYAL CITY #1. A story that charts the lives, loves, and losses of a troubled family and a vanishing town across three decades. 

Big week for Spidey fans with SPIDER-MAN HOMECOMING PRELUDE #1, getting you primed for Peter's return to the big screen! CLONE CONSPIRACY OMEGA brings the Clone Conspiracy to an end, but its ramifications for Spider-Man are huge!

Your favourite indie creators are teaming up to bring you ALL TIME COMICS CRIME DESTROYER #1, a new superhero series inspired by golden-age goodness! Get ready for Josh Bayer and Benjamin Marra to introduce you to your new favourite heroes in this over-the-top first issue!

Justin Jordan of LUTHER STRODE fame is back with a new mini-series for Vertigo, SAVAGE THINGS. A band of assassins trained by the government have turned on their handlers to inflict terror on the masses, and expose the secrets of their creation and there's only one man can stop them. 

Its mysteries and friendships abound when the Lumberjanes team-up with the gang from Gotham Academy in LUMBERJANES GOTHAM ACADEMY TP .

It's hard to get folks to take you seriously as a chef when the only people interested in your cooking are monsters, as we find out in BRAVE CHEF BRIANNA #1.

As Wally faces the foe who erased him from history, the Titans inch ever closer to uncovering the events that launched a rebirth in TITANS TP VOL 01 THE RETURN OF WALLY WEST (REBIRTH). Then Jim Lee leads the DC's dirtiest almost dozen on their toughest mission yet with SUICIDE SQUAD TP VOL 01 THE BLACK VAULT (REBIRTH).

Can't get your fill of TV's Riverdale, well now you've got the chance to go deeper into the mystery with the RIVERDALE ONE SHOT.

DEATH OF X TP sets up the next stage of the X-men's evolution and ups the ante in a BIG way for a number of X-Icons.

Pairing with the X-men and Inhumans impending conflict, Warren Ellis presents a mini series focusing on the Inhuman that senses the faults in everything in KARNAK TP FLAW IN ALL THINGS.

If tomorrow animal gained the intelligent of man what would happen? You'd be mistaken if you thought anything good, find out just how sideways things go in this new series from Aftershock Comics with ANIMOSITY TP VOL 01

Hollywood is built on preying on the masses insecurities and fears. What happens when something changes the stakes and preys on Hollywood, in Image's GLITTERBOMB TP VOL 01 RED CARPET.

The lines are drawn for the cast of Walking Dead with a head to head battle against the biggest swarm of undead we've seen yet in WALKING DEAD TP VOL 27 WHISPERER WAR.

Sick of waiting for the release of the Lego Batman Movie to hit that screen? Get all the behind the scenes lowdown in the LEGO BATMAN MOVIE MAKING OF MOVIE HC.

Prepare yourself for a surreal colour explosion with this new graphic novel, SUMMERLAND GN.

Add a new previews catalogue to the mix and you've got yourself quite a week. As always spot something you are after be sure to let us know before Wednesday morning for us to get it sorted for you.


MARVEL
AMERICA #1
AVENGERS #5
BULLSEYE #2 (OF 5)
CHAMPIONS #6
CLONE CONSPIRACY OMEGA
DEADPOOL #28
DOCTOR STRANGE #18
HAWKEYE #4
MARVEL UNIVERSE AVENGERS ULTRON REVOLUTION #9
MARVEL UNIVERSE ULT SPIDER-MAN VS SINISTER SIX #8
MONSTERS UNLEASHED #4 (OF 5)
MOON KNIGHT #12
SILK #18
SLAPSTICK #4
SPIDER-MAN 2099 #21
SPIDER-MAN HOMECOMING PRELUDE #1 (OF 2)
STAR WARS #29
TOTALLY AWESOME HULK #1.MU
UNSTOPPABLE WASP #3

DC COMICS
AQUAMAN #18 VAR ED
BATMAN #18 VAR ED
CYBORG #10 VAR ED
DC COMICS BOMBSHELLS #23
DEATH OF HAWKMAN #6 (OF 6) VAR ED
FALL AND RISE OF CAPTAIN ATOM #3 (OF 6)
FLINTSTONES #9 VAR ED
GREEN ARROW #18 VAR ED
GREEN LANTERNS #18 VAR ED
HARLEY QUINN #15 VAR ED
INJUSTICE GROUND ZERO #7
JUSTICE LEAGUE #16 VAR ED
MIDNIGHTER AND APOLLO #6 (OF 6)
NIGHTWING #16 VAR ED
SHADE THE CHANGING GIRL #6 VAR ED
SUPER POWERS #5 (OF 6)
SUPERMAN #18 VAR ED

VERTIGO
EVERAFTER FROM THE PAGES OF FABLES #7
SAVAGE THINGS #1 (OF 8)

BOOM
BIG TROUBLE LITTLE CHINA ESCAPE NEW YORK #6
BRAVE CHEF BRIANNA #1
GIANT DAYS #24
OVER GARDEN WALL ONGOING #11
WOODS #30

DARK HORSE
BALTIMORE THE RED KINGDOM #2
CALL OF DUTY ZOMBIES #3
KINGSWAY WEST #4
ONCE AND FUTURE QUEEN #1

DYNAMITE
JAMES BOND #1

IDW
ANIMAL NOIR #1
COSMIC SCOUNDRELS #1 (OF 5)
JUDGE DREDD ANNUAL #1
MASK MOBILE ARMORED STRIKE KOMMAND #3
MY LITTLE PONY ANNUAL 2017 #1
X-FILES (2016) #11
X-FILES DEVIATIONS 2017

IMAGE
EXTREMITY #1
INVISIBLE REPUBLIC #15
NAILBITER #30
PAPER GIRLS #12
RAT QUEENS #1 CVR C WOMENS HISTORY MONTH CHARITY VAR
ROYAL CITY #1 CVR B WOMENS HISTORY MONTH CHARITY VAR
THINK TANK VOL 5 #1
WALKING DEAD #165

VALIANT
FAITH (ONGOING) #9

MISC
ALL TIME COMICS CRIME DESTROYER #1
ASSIGNMENT #3 (OF 3)
CEREBUS IN HELL #2
CINEMA PURGATORIO #8
DREGS #2
MOTOR GIRL #4
RIVERDALE ONE SHOT

MAGAZINES
MARVEL PREVIEWS #20 MARCH 2017
PREVIEWS #342 MARCH 2017

TRADES
ANIMOSITY TP VOL 01 (MR)
AQUAMAN TP VOL 08 OUT OF DARKNESS
BATMAN 66 MEETS STEED & MRS PEEL HC
BRITISH INVASION MOORE GAIMAN MORRISON MODERN COMI
CARNAGE USA TP NEW PTG
CLASSIC GI JOE TP VOL 19
COMPLETE TALES FROM THE CON TP
CORTO MALTESE GN IN SIBERIA
DAREDEVIL BY MARK WAID OMNIBUS HC VOL 01
DAVE STEVENS ROCKETEER ARTISAN ED TP DIRECT MARKET EXC
DEATH OF X TP
GLITTERBOMB TP VOL 01 RED CARPET (MR)
GRIM DEATH & BILL ELECTROCUTED CRIMINAL HC (C: 0-1
GUARDIANS OF GALAXY BY JIM VALENTINO OMNIBUS HC
KARNAK TP FLAW IN ALL THINGS
LEGO BATMAN MOVIE MAKING OF MOVIE HC (C: 1-1-0)
LUCIFER TP VOL 02 FATHER LUCIFER
LUMBERJANES GOTHAM ACADEMY TP (C: 0-1-2)
NEW AVENGERS BY BENDIS COMPLETE COLLECTION TP VOL 03
SCIENCE COMICS BATS SC GN (C: 0-1-0)
SHANG-CHI MASTER OF KUNG FU OMNIBUS HC VOL 03
STARSEEDS HC (C: 0-1-2)
SUICIDE SQUAD TP VOL 01 THE BLACK VAULT (REBIRTH)
SUMMERLAND GN (MR)
TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE HC
TITANS TP VOL 01 THE RETURN OF WALLY WEST (REBIRTH
TRANSFORMERS AUTOCRACY TRILOGY HC
UNCANNY INHUMANS HC VOL 01
UNCLE SCROOGE HIMALAYAN HIDEOUT TP
WALKING DEAD TP VOL 27 WHISPERER WAR (MR)
WAYWARD TP VOL 04 THREADS & PORTENTS (MR)
X-FACTOR EPIC COLLECTION TP GENESIS AND APOCALYPSE (RES)
ZATANNA BY PAUL DINI TP



MERCH
DC SUPER PETS CRACKERS & GIGGLES PLUSH TOY 2 PACK

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

LOGAN GIVEAWAY!


For one last time, Hugh Jackman returns to the role he created as we meet a very different Wolverine.
Ageing, with his recuperative powers ebbing, Wolverine is truly vulnerable for the first time. After a lifetime of pain and anguish, he is directionless and lost in a world where the X Men are all but legend.
His mentor Charles Xavier, a confused shadow of his former self, convinces Wolverine to take on one final mission with perhaps the greatest stakes of all.
A powerful, dramatic and emotional story, this will show us the legend in a way we have never seen him before.


Thanks to the savage beasts from Twentieth Century Fox and LOGAN in cinemas March 2nd, we have two collectable replica Logan claws valued at $150 each to give away!


To go into the draw for your chance to win all you need to do is comment "Even without a mutant healing ability I would go full berserker rage to defend ______ ." fill the blank with a tag of the person you are furiously protective of and you'll be entered in the draw.

Terms and Conditions:
-Only entries made via the comments on the Facebook post will be included in the draw.
-Entries will be "liked" by All Star to notify the comment have been entered in the draw,
-All entries will go into the All Star Barrel and winners will be drawn at random.
-Entries close 6pm Monday the 27th of February and the winners will be announced Tuesday the 28th and notified soon after as to how to collect their prize.


A huge thanks again to Twentieth Century Fox and LOGAN in cinemas March 2nd.

Monday, February 20, 2017

ALL STAR RECOMMENDS FOR FEBRUARY 21ST


R.I.P JIRO TANIGUCHI 


I had literally just emailed off last week's column when I found out that Jiro Taniguchi had died. Taniguchi was yet another manga artist underappreciated by western publishers, with the vast bulk of his body of work still untranslated and the smattering of English books printed in scant supply. Taniguchi was adept at action and suspense (The Ice Wanderer and Other Stories for example), but if you can find it, I recommend hunting down his beautiful The Walking Man, published by Ponent Mon in 2014, a virtually plotless series of tales featuring a character who just simply likes going for walks. It is, hands down, the single most relaxing and therapeutic comic you will ever read - making even last year's chill-fest, Tom Gauld's Mooncop, look like the next Star Wars film in comparison. Taniguchi's work was never nothing less than beautiful and his intricate detail is on full display in The Walking Man, his entreaty for us all to just slow down, take in the day, take in our surroundings, step outside ourselves and remember that we are a part of something far more beautifully huge than the trappings of our own minds and bodies. 


The Walking Man, for me anyway, not only functions as a clarion call for Japanese society to remain connected with the beautiful natural surrounding they've been blessed with, but also as something of anti-manga, a rebellion against the speed readers who plough through page after page of Shonen Jump on the train without pause, and a deliberate attempt to expunge not just motion (most ubiquitously found in the form of lazy speed lines) from the page but also conflict and even action. The Walking Man is about taking everything in to the fullest, each moment, savouring it, even the process of reading itself. Every illustrated motion, from the popping open of a can of drink to even every single stride the character makes, appears frozen in time, still, whole, complete and utterly calming. It is actually one of my favourite comics of all time, far cleverer than it appears and at times meditative to the point of inducing near trance. It's the Music For Airports of comics. Rest in the most placid and tranquil of peace, Jiro Taniguchi, it is well earned.


Now from the departure of one master to the arrival of another...


COMIC OF THE WEEK : MY FAVORITE THING IS MONSTERS VOL.1
By Emil Ferris
Published By Fantagraphics

It's Chicago, 1968. A young misfit of a girl named Karen Reyes loves art, but her absolute favourite thing is monsters. Karen identifies with monsters on a deep level, she's able to distinguish between the good monsters and the bad, and the freak-loser-misfit tag she's saddled with socially gives her a degree of empathy for beings such as the Frankenstein Monster that others her age likely do not possess. She desperately wants to be turned into a literal monster, making her outsider status complete and giving her the power and strength she struggles to find day-to-day. She scribbles away in her notebooks, copying the covers to monster magazines of the period, and is taught to draw by her elder brother, Diego "Deeze" Reyes. Deeze is himself something of an outcast with his heavily tattooed skin and constant drinking, yet he easily maintains his status as the local heartthrob. He's an incessant womaniser, stringing along a parade of local women with his handsome features and "bad guy" rebel attitude. The Reyes siblings are raised by a single parent, a mother who is superstitious to the point of obsession, heavily religious, but also deeply loving. They are a weird but obviously tight-knit little family but there is secret, hidden family tragedy waiting to fracture their closeness.

Karen is not shown much kindness in her life outside of her little family. Her best friend (who she deeply loves) has turned her back on her in a quest for popularity and peer acceptance and her bullying is near constant. What little kindness there is comes in the form of her upstairs neighbour, the eccentric Anka Silverberg, a Jewish WWII survivor who nurtures Karen's artistic streak and gives her odd gifts such as balled up pieces of bread. When Anka is brutally murdered, Karen is determined to solve the mystery. She begins keeping the company of Anka's stern, elderly husband, Sam. Drunk and grief-stricken, Sam Silverberg pulls out a cassette tape on which Anka reveals her incredible life story, in which clues to her gruesome death abound.

It's a rare thing to find an artist arriving as fully formed as Emil Ferris. She grew up in what basically amounts to Karen's neighbourhood in the '60s and lived in a diverse and vibrant outsider community (see this week's webcomic below for the sourcing of her biographical information). There is much of Karen in Ferris and this is perhaps why My Favorite Thing Is Monsters feels, much of the time, so painfully real. Ferris had scoliosis and much of her childhood was subsequently spent virtually immobile. Hunchbacked as a result of her condition, Ferris too had a natural affinity for the monsters of film and magazine as well as, obviously, a love of art. Her beautiful, scratchy lines reveal a smorgasbord of influences, yet I'm not sure that there's ever been anything quite like this in comics before and if there has, it surely has not been executed with such unbelievable skill.


My Favourite Thing Is Monsters is told in the form of Karen's scribbled notebooks. The vast majority of it is drawn in biro, and pretty much the rest of it in fineliner, with the odd excursion into brush, wash and (possibly) colour pencil. Every page looks as though it's come from an A4 lined notepad, complete with red margin line running vertically down the page, evenly spaced blue lines horizontally and even faux hole punch marks and a spiral binding. There's urgency on the pages, but Ferris maintains deep control of her images throughout. Ferris is fond of cross-hatching a fine lattice of multi-coloured biro lines on her characters, creating soft yet striking contours and textures and depths. Karen herself is drawn almost totally throughout as a little werewolf girl, almost like something from Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are gone mystery-solver, her diminished, devolved image of herself near total even as she wears her "monstrous" outsider status as something of a badge of pride. Anka Silverberg is a bombshell. Consistently the most realistically drawn figure in the book, her piercing eyes frequently have something of the ubiquitous gaze about them, peering out intensely from the page. Anka's story is engrossing, cutting across decades, and it's a testament to Ferris' writing skills just how easily her story flips between coming of age drama to mystery to horror and back again so seamlessly, never losing sight of her characters' humanity and keeping her story firmly on the tracks. 

It's worth reinforcing just how good the writing actually is. As an art object alone, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters is a rousing success but coupled with the beauty and frequent poetry of its words, it becomes something really, truly special. It is wonderfully plotted, but also beautifully scripted, each character's voice distinctive and uniquely articulate. The complete package is so compelling I lugged it around with me for three days (it is large and, at 360 pages, it is heavy) until it was finished, the book gathering astonished double-takes from tram commuters sitting opposite along the way, some of whom, I'm sure, assumed I was literally reading some wunderkind's literal exercise book doodles.

Originally slated for release last October (the copies were stuck at sea after the freight company went broke - no, seriously), it's been a long journey for Ferris' epic book. Six years of work went into creating this project and its first massive half reveals itself to be a dense, sprawling slab of innovative, beautiful and restlessly creative comics, rich in character and history and symbol and myth and a multitude of genres, expertly and lovingly put onto the page. 


Unfortunately, we have to wait until this Halloween for the concluding half of Emil Ferris' debut project, a length of time that seems cruelly long but maybe just long enough to soak in her pages and really appreciate just want she's somehow accomplished with Volume 1. Even with the buzz and the weight of prolonged expectation, My Favorite Thing Is Monsters is page after page of just shockingly great comics. There is more to unpack here, much more, from Karen's African-American friend and Frankenstein stand-in Franklin, to WWII-era occultism, to the destructive nature of secrets. But all of that is for you to discover. Consider My Favorite Thing Is Monsters essential and indispensible. 



WEBCOMIC OF THE WEEK : THE BITE THAT CHANGED MY LIFE
By Emil Ferris

If you're not sold by now, here is a typically beautiful webcomic Emil Ferris made to both detail the circumstances under which My Favorite Thing Is Monsters was created (spoiler: tough and long) and to promote its long-delayed release. "The Bite That Changed My Life" features the gorgeous biro crosshatched lattices that are sure to be Ferris' trademark and her unique almost mural-like approach to many of her pages. For even more Ferris, check out this lengthy interview with her over at The Comics Journal. It's noted therein that she's somewhat reclusive, so the frankness and openness on display in "The Bite That Changed My Life" is made all the more surprising.
Wonderful stuff.



COMICS VIDEO OF THE WEEK : CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1962)

Settle in, boils and ghouls, for a creepy feature-length classic that My Favorite Thing Is Monsters' protagonist Karen Reyes actually watches towards the tail end of volume one, the 1962 cult classic Carnival of Souls. Quick synopsis for the uninitiated: Mary survives a drag race gone wrong and winds up in a creepy little town with no memory of how she actually survived the deadly accident. Thus begins a series of creepily paranormal incidents and interaction with provincial weirdos, all leading to a spooooooky twist ending. It's a can't miss, basically.



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, February 18, 2017

New Comics For Wednesday 22nd of February


WHAT A WEEK!
This shipment is just clock full of amazing releases before we even get to this weekend's All Star Women’s Comic Book Club meet up!




 Happening this Saturday FEBRUARY 25TH from 5pm-6:30pm, join the club and meet new friends and talk about comics including the book of the month PAPERGIRLS TP 01.
You'll also find the MAKE YOUR OWN COMIC BOOK MARK-CRAFTING TABLE and a COMIC BOOK SWAP on that afternoon, as well to get in the spirit of the 80's setting of Papergirls, there is a 80's dress theme for those interested. For all the details just have a look HERE.
Hopefully see you there.

Then on the following weekend, the 4th of March...it's about that time again



THE ALL STAR COMIC BACK ISSUE AND TOY FAIR!
Mixing things up a little, it's a massive in store event to help you complete your collection or perhaps help starting a new one!
For all the details head to the event page HERE.

And then...COMICS!

Could you co-exist with Demons? In a world inhabited with characters of the underworld, follow Detective Daniel Ashton as he treads the thin blue line and will sacrifice anything to save his daughter in DARKNESS VISIBLE #1.

There can be only ONE in HIGHLANDER AMERICAN DREAM #1. Catch a glimpse into the past of Scottish swordsman Connor MacLeod as he navigates through the American Civil War and 1950's Manhattan in the lead up to "The Gathering".

Are you as EXCITED as we are for then new Zelda game! Well have a journey into the legend in this must have complete collection of illustrations and concept art in LEGEND OF ZELDA ART & ARTIFACTS HC.

A new revelation of HELLBOY's past comes to light in VISITOR HOW AND WHY HE STAYED #1 (OF 5). An unnoticed visitor was sent at Hellboy's conjuring and was task to take out the beast, but something stayed his hand. Find out what in this new series written by Mike Mignola!

Greg Rucka (Lazarus, Black Magick) starts of a new series in OLD GUARD #1 with critically acclaimed artist Leandro Fernandez (The Discipline, Punisher: MAX). A story of old soldiers who never die, but what happens when their past eventually catches up to these immortal mercenaries? Will it shed light on why they can't die? Or kill them?

More Rucka with his returns to Wonder Woman! What tragedy has befallen the Princess of the Amazons? And why has it stopped her famed Lasso of Truth from working? Find out in WONDER WOMAN TP VOL 01 THE LIES (REBIRTH).
Then are you looking forward to the upcoming Wonder Woman movie? Did you dig the costume from BvS? Why not celebrate with this beautifully sculpted statue BATMAN V SUPERMAN DOJ WONDER WOMAN STATUE.

Robo space adventure, paranormal skateboarding, breakdancing, and social swordplay! It's almost too much too handle! Find out how they've jam packed so much into this Shoen-jump style comics anthology SUN BAKERY #1.

Hang on Lobo's joined the JLA!? And Killer Frost!? Find out why Batman has assembled such an extreme team in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #1.

What better place to drown your past than the bright neon, noisy, sensory overload of Las Vegas! As Elektra tries to turn a new leaf in ELEKTRA #1, can she truly escape her violent past when a new player hits the town with her firmly in his sights?

Anthropomorphic magically adventures abound in the new volume of Kurt Busiek's epic fantasy hits the shelves in AUTUMNLANDS TP VOL 02 WOODLAND CREATURES. Can young dog-wizard Dusty and the Great Champion survive the mountains to find the secrets to help save the world?

The first "Bat Family" crossover of the Rebirth titles hits in BATMAN NIGHT OF THE MONSTER MEN HC. As chaos encompasses Gotham when corpses are mysteriously revived into giant monsters! It'll take all of the family to save Gotham!

A forgotten Cosmic classic by Jim Starlin, featuring early Mike Mignola artwork gets a deluxe hardcover treatment in COSMIC ODYSSEY DELUXE EDITION HC.

It's been a wild ride since the start of Aaron and Bachalo's Stephen Strange run but this arc kicks it up a gear with the Doctor under attack from a different arch nemesis every issue in DOCTOR STRANGE PREM HC VOL 03 BLOOD IN AETHER.

The much loved and celebrated puppetry masterpiece has a renewed life in the sequel we thought we'd never get to see in JIM HENSON POWER OF DARK CRYSTAL #1 (OF 12).

The popular new cartoon series returns to comics to BOOM Studios with STEVEN UNIVERSE ONGOING #1.

Writer/artist Gabriel Hardman delves into a done in one horror tale BELFRY (ONE-SHOT) that hints that may just strip you of your humanity....spoooooky!

A fan of the TV hit Vikings or Brian Woods Northlanders? Then you are going to want to pick up HEATHEN #1, the tale of a Viking warrior Aydis who leaves her home to embark on a quest to take out a corrupt God-King!

Grant Morrison, Paul Pope, Dave McKean, Bill Sienkiewicz, Farel Dalrymple, Yuko Shimizu, David Mack. Excited yet? An all star lineup of creators interpret the timeless tales of the Gift of Fire in PROMETHEUS ETERNAL ONE SHOT.

Black Mask Comics unleashes their latest with the science teens go nuts in QUANTUM TEENS ARE GO #1.

Furthering the adventures the classic Capcom VS arcade games, this week see the start of the bout of pixel heavy weights in STREET FIGHTER VS DARKSTALKERS #0.

With the Ghost in the Shell movie almost here, why not revisit the classic manga printed for the first time with traditional Japanese right to left reading, in English collected in two hardcover volumes, GHOST IN SHELL DLX RTL HC ED VOL 01 and GHOST IN SHELL DLX RTL HC ED VOL 02.
As well as a special release for the first time collecting the "lost" stores by Shirow Masamune after completing the original manga series, GHOST IN THE SHELL 1.5 DLX RTL HC ED.

The second part of the hugely underrated Warren Ellis' Bond series delivers yet again on high thrill spy espionage in JAMES BOND HC VOL 02 EIDOLON.

The new Riverdale series is a true teen soap opera delight but if you are bit more of a purest the new JUGHEAD TP VOL 02 should make you happy.

Holy swords and space invaders in this Kingdom of Heaven meets Aliens mini, LAKE OF FIRE TP.

Much anticipated new volume of OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA TP VOL 04 reveals both answers and secrets when Kyle Barnes and Sidney have conversation that will change everything!

Penny Dreadful might be done but you get go deeper in the backstory with this prequel collected in PENNY DREADFUL TP. Revealing the events that lead to Vanessa to try and find childhood friend Mina Harker, the true nature of the vampiric that infest Victorian London is exposed.

Another writer/artist, Gregg Schigiel this week get to re-release his all age superhero tale in the graphic novel, PIX TP VOL 01 ONE WEIRDEST WEEKEND.

Hit TV and comic series Rick and Morty gets a sweet little mini series starring everyone's favourite incepted pal Mr. Poopybutthole, who teams up with Summer in RICK & MORTY LIL POOPY SUPERSTAR TP VOL 01.

Social media starlets, friendships, allergies, anxieties and manslaught is all up for grabs in the first collection of Scott Pilgrim, Bryan Lee O'Malley's latest, SNOTGIRL TP VOL 01 GREEN HAIR DONT CARE.

Which is nicely timed with the release of again another artist/writer, Vanessa Davis' autobiographical comic SPANIEL RAGE GN that is filled with self-deprecating anecdotes about her anxieties and truths about the contradictions of living in one of the world's biggest cities, New York.

Masters Of The Universe meets M.U.S.C.L.E figures. A more perfect pairing of 80's toylines is hard to imagine. The Super 7 gangs do it again with the next MOTU MUSCLE FIGURES WAVE 2 PACKA, PACK B, PACK C and PACK D.

The Loyal Subject's are at it again with this rad new line of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers with their TLS X MMPR ACTION VINYL 16PC BMB DIS WV 1 line. Can you assemble the whole team?

And there you have it. What a week. Spot something else there you aren't already down for but need us to stash? Just be sure to let us know before Wednesday morning and we'll get it sorted.


MARVEL
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #24 CC
AVENGERS #4.1
BLACK PANTHER #11
CAPTAIN AMERICA STEVE ROGERS #12
CHAMPIONS #1.MU
DEADPOOL THE DUCK #4 (OF 5)
ELEKTRA #1
ENCHANTED TIKI ROOM #5 (OF 5)
EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN #19 IVX
GHOST RIDER #4
GREAT LAKES AVENGERS #5
HULK #3
INFAMOUS IRON MAN #5
IVX #5 (OF 6)
MIGHTY CAPTAIN MARVEL #2
MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR #16
MOSAIC #5
OCCUPY AVENGERS #4
PROWLER #5 CC
ROCKET RACCOON #3
SCARLET WITCH #15
SOLO #5
SPIDER-GWEN #17
SPIDER-MAN DEADPOOL #14
SPIDER-WOMAN #16
THANOS #4
THUNDERBOLTS #10
UNCANNY AVENGERS #20

DC COMICS
ACTION COMICS #974 VAR ED
BATGIRL #8 VAR ED
BATMAN 66 MEETS WONDER WOMAN 77 #2 (OF 6)
BATMAN BEYOND #5 VAR ED
BLUE BEETLE #6 VAR ED
DEATHSTROKE #13 VAR ED
DETECTIVE COMICS #951 VAR ED
FLASH #17 VAR ED
FUTURE QUEST #10 VAR ED
HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS #15 VAR ED
HELLBLAZER #7 VAR ED
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #1
KAMANDI CHALLENGE #2 (OF 12) VAR ED
SCOOBY DOO TEAM UP #23
SUICIDE SQUAD #12 VAR ED
SUPERGIRL BEING SUPER #2 (OF 4)
TEEN TITANS #5 VAR ED
WONDER WOMAN #17 VAR ED

VERTIGO
ASTRO CITY #41
CLEAN ROOM #16
FROSTBITE #6 (OF 6)

BOOM
ADVENTURE TIME COMICS #8
BACKSTAGERS #7 (OF 8)
JIM HENSON POWER OF DARK CRYSTAL #1 (OF 12)
JOYRIDE #10
SLAM #4
STEVEN UNIVERSE ONGOING #1

DARK HORSE
ALIENS VS PREDATOR LIFE AND DEATH #3
SERENITY NO POWER IN THE VERSE #5 (OF 6)
VISITOR HOW AND WHY HE STAYED #1 (OF 5)

IDW
ANGRY BIRDS FLIGHT SCHOOL #1
BACK TO THE FUTURE #17
BATMAN TMNT ADVENTURES #1 DIRECTORS CUT
DARKNESS VISIBLE #1
DIRK GENTLY SALMON OF DOUBT #5
HIGHLANDER AMERICAN DREAM #1
MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC #51
OCTOBER FACTION DEADLY SEASON #5
OPTIMUS PRIME #4
REVOLUTIONARIES #2
STAR TREK GREEN LANTERN VOL 2 #3
STARSTRUCK OLD PROLDIERS NEVER DIE #1 (OF 6)
TMNT UNIVERSE #7
TRANSFORMERS LOST LIGHT #3

IMAGE
BEAUTY #12
BELFRY (ONE-SHOT)
BLACK ROAD #7
CURSE WORDS #2 CVR C IMAGE TRIBUTE VAR
DESCENDER #19 CVR B IMAGE TRIBUTE VAR
DRIFTER #17
FEW #2 CVR B IMAGE TRIBUTE VAR
FIX #8
LOOSE ENDS #2 (OF 4)
MAYDAY #4 (OF 5)
MONSTRESS #10 CVR B IMAGE TRIBUTE VAR
OLD GUARD #1
OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA #25 CVR B IMAGE TRIBUTE VAR
REVIVAL #47 CVR B IMAGE TRIBUTE VAR
SHE WOLF #6
SHUTTER #27
STRAY BULLETS SUNSHINE & ROSES #21
SUN BAKERY #1
SURGEON X #6

ONI
INVADER ZIM #17
LETTER 44 #30
MEGA PRINCESS #4
MOTRO #4 (OF 10)
RICK & MORTY #23

VALIANT
DIVINITY III STALINVERSE #3
HARBINGER RENEGADE #4

MISC
DISNEY PIXAR CARS #1
FOGGY NOTIONS
HEATHEN #1
HOOKJAW #3 (OF 5)
JUGHEAD #13
PROMETHEUS ETERNAL ONE SHOT
QUANTUM TEENS ARE GO #1
ROUGH RIDERS ON THE STORM #1
SKEPTICS #4
STREET FIGHTER VS DARKSTALKERS #0
TANK GIRL GOLD #4 (OF 4)

TRADES
ALEX TOTH BRAVO FOR ADVENTURE ARTIST ED HC
ALL NEW X-MEN TP VOL 03 INEVITABLE HELL HATH SO MUCH FURY
AUTUMNLANDS TP VOL 02 WOODLAND CREATURES
BATGIRL AN ADULT COLORING BOOK TP
BATMAN BEYOND TP VOL 03 WIRED FOR DEATH
BATMAN NIGHT OF THE MONSTER MEN HC
BRITANNIA TP
CALL OF DUTY BLACK OPS III TP
CARE BEARS PUZZLING PATH GN
COSMIC ODYSSEY DELUXE EDITION HC
CROSSED PLUS 100 TP VOL 03
DAREDEVIL BACK IN BLACK TP VOL 03 DARK ART
DAREDEVIL EPIC COLLECTION TP BROTHER TAKE MY HAND
DEADPOOL BACK IN BLACK TP
DECELERATE BLUE GN
DOCTOR STRANGE PREM HC VOL 03 BLOOD IN AETHER
DOCTOR WHO 12TH TP VOL 04 SCHOOL OF DEATH
EDGAR BURROUGHS TARZAN JESSE MARSH OMNIBUS TP VOL 01
ELEKTRA BY MILLIGAN HAMA AND DEODATO JR COMP COLLECT TP
FRUITS BASKET COLLECTORS ED TP VOL 10
GHOST IN SHELL DLX RTL HC ED VOL 01
GHOST IN SHELL DLX RTL HC ED VOL 02
GHOST IN THE SHELL 1.5 DLX RTL HC ED
GREEN LANTERN THE SILVER AGE OMNIBUS HC VOL 01
HAPPINESS GN VOL 03
HILO GN VOL 03 GREAT BIG BOOM
INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US YEAR FIVE HC VOL 02
INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US YEAR FIVE TP VOL 01
INUYASHIKI GN VOL 06
IRWIN ALLEN LOST IN SPACE HC VOL 02
JACKBOOT & IRONHEEL TP
JAMES BOND HC VOL 02 EIDOLON
JUGHEAD TP VOL 02
LAKE OF FIRE TP
LEGEND OF ZELDA ART & ARTIFACTS HC
MISTRY PI TP VOL 01
OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA TP VOL 04
PENNY DREADFUL TP
PIX TP VOL 01 ONE WEIRDEST WEEKEND
PUNISHER AND BULLSEYE TP DEADLIEST HITS
RICK & MORTY LIL POOPY SUPERSTAR TP VOL 01
SHAFT IMITATION OF LIFE TP
SMURFS GN VOL 20 DOCTOR SMURF
SMURFS MONSTERS GN
SNOTGIRL TP VOL 01 GREEN HAIR DONT CARE
SPANIEL RAGE GN
SUPERMAN BATMAN TP VOL 05
TOKYO GHOUL GN VOL 11
TRANSFORMERS IDW COLL PHASE 2 HC VOL 05
VINTAGE ROMANCE COMIC BOOK COVERS COLORING BOOK TP
WARHAMMER 40K EXTERMINATUS GN (C: 0-1-2)
WOLVERINE VS DEADPOOL TP
WONDER WOMAN TP VOL 01 THE LIES (REBIRTH)

MERCH
BATMAN V SUPERMAN DOJ WONDER WOMAN STATUE
DC GALLERY JLA TAS BLACK CANARY PVC FIGURE
LEGENDS OF TOMORROW FIRESTORM AF
MOTU MUSCLE FIGURES WAVE 2 PACK A
MOTU MUSCLE FIGURES WAVE 2 PACK B
MOTU MUSCLE FIGURES WAVE 2 PACK C
MOTU MUSCLE FIGURES WAVE 2 PACK D

TLS X MMPR ACTION VINYL 16PC BMB DIS WV 1

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

RINGS DOUBLE PASS GIVEAWAY!


A new chapter in the beloved RING horror franchise. A young woman becomes worried about her boyfriend when he explores a dark subculture surrounding a mysterious videotape said to kill the watcher seven days after he has viewed it. She sacrifices herself to save her boyfriend and in doing so makes a horrifying discovery: there is a “movie within the movie” that no one has ever seen before… 


Thanks to the unnerved folks from Paramount Pictures and the RINGS in cinemas February 23rd, we have 5 Double In Season Passes to give away!

To go into the draw for your chance to win all you need to do is comment "I pledge not to wuss out and watch Rings if ______ is sitting alongside me " fill the blank with a tag of the person you'd feel most comfortable being terrified with and you'll be entered in the draw.

Terms and Conditions:

-Only entries made via the comments on the Facebook post will be included in the draw.
-Entries will be "liked" by All Star to notify the comment have been entered in the draw,
-All entries will go into the All Star Barrel and winners will be drawn at random.
-Entries close 6pm Monday the 20th of February and winners will be announced Tuesday the 21st and notified soon after as to how to collect their tickets.


A huge thanks again to Paramount Pictures and the RINGS in cinemas February 23rd.
For more info head to www.RingsMovie.com.au
©2016 Par. Pics. 






Monday, February 13, 2017

ALL STAR RECOMMENDS FOR FEBRUARY 14TH



Love. It takes many forms. If I could hand out a monstrously oversized heart-shaped box filled with novelty chocolate to anyone this Valentine's Day it would likely be to Amazon Studios who last week announced the details of something called Too Old To Die Young, a new TV series by none other than Nicolas Winding Refn and Ed Brubaker. There's your perfect match right there. The series will see an ensemble of characters and follow their "existential journeys from becoming killers to samurais in the city of angels." Aside from the fact that I'm pretty sure the plural of samurai is actually samurai, this is a flawless, exciting announcement and a perfect creative pairing. Set your clocks for 2018.

In the meantime, kisses for all. Here are some comics you should read. Mwah.


COMIC OF THE WEEK : THE DISSOLVING CLASSROOM
By Junji Ito
Published By Vertical

The famous customary politeness of Japanese people is largely built around the frequent and near-constant stream of apologies you'll both hear and speak during any given day. Witness this article on the art of the apology, Sumimasen: The Most Useful Word in The Japanese Language, which not only breaks down how to apologise and when, but every single use of apology words, from a casual "excuse me," to a grave apology, to even a substitute for a situation where we might actually use "thank you" but may have inconvenienced someone in some small way in the process - the example used in the article, a good one, is if someone holds a door open for you. 

It would take a strange mind to make a satanic body horror comic out of something so seemingly innocuous, but enter Junji Ito, veteran creator of the weird and repulsive, whose latest arrival in English, The Dissolving Classroom, tasks itself with turning the apology into something sinister to the point of being literally malefic. In a little afterword comic for The Dissolving Classroom, Ito's lead character, Yuuma Azawa, tells us, "Apology press conferences are major events! Popular entertainment! Think of an entire country anticipating your public apology! Infidelity! Adultery! Eating snacks! Late to work, Last minute cancellation! Turning a blind eye! You've got no shortage of reasons to apologise to yourself, I bet!"
He's right, of course. Anyone who feels anxiety to any degree will likely be listing potential unmade apologies in their heads right now. There's something masochistic about it also - the constant beating oneself up over slights made, significant or not, to others and true to form Ito also takes this notion and, in the form of Yuuma Azawa, fetishises it. "...apology is pleasure!" Yuuma gleefully tells us in Classroom's afterword strip before prostrating himself before a large audience. 

Yuuma spends the bulk of the near 200 pages preceding this afterword apologising. We first meet him arriving at a new high school and he's already apologising. He gets bullied for his apologies and keeps on apologising. He simply won't stop. Things go from awkward to unsettling pretty quickly and finally, inevitably, to the horrific, when the bodies of those around him, who've listened to his incessant apologies, begin literally melting. It turns out that, in Ito's messed up world, apologies are satanic things, a means to communicate with what is literally the Christian devil, a being drawn perfectly and classically by Ito as a fanged, horned, shaggy goatlike creature with wings and a pentagram in the centre of its forehead. That's Yuuma. His little sister, Chizumi, is even worse.

Chizumi, a little devil-pixie of a girl runs around terrorising people and is frequently the reason for Yuuma's apologies. Unlike Yuuma, Chizumi is clearly and obviously evil - her bulging eyes and cruel smile and freakish tongue marking her as monstrous from the get go. She's also the star of the show. The Dissolving Classroom is a cycle of stories, all linked together and all revealing, bit by bit, the full origin of these horrible siblings. "Chizumi in Love" is one of the stories within (appropriate for Valentine's Day) and sees the little hell-sprite fall for Tomohito, a sweet little boy of her own age, who spurns her advances by running from her in utter terror. Ito's facial expressions are brilliant here, Chizumi acting coy and cute, Tomohito a shivering wreck, terrified at the inevitability of her next appearance and romantic overture.

There's been some talk that Ito's lost his teeth - the glory days of Izumaki and Tomie long gone. Sure, his excursion into biography/comedy comics with Junji Ito's Cat Diary may not have been terrifying or overly weird, but as I noted in my cat comics column (which I'm still unjustly proud of, btw) way back in December 2015, Cat Diary succeeded amazingly in Ito turning his own horror tropes back upon himself and being all the more riotous for it. Fragments of Horror, his subsequent return to horror short stories, didn't exactly blow the roof off the top of my head, but did signal intent to get right back down to business. Dissolving Classroom is exactly that business - it is so strange, so odd, compellingly readable, shocking at times, funny at others. Ito turning civil behaviour and long-standing custom into something literally satanic is so clever. A Heavy Metal devil talking to a clean cut kid by way of his earnest apologies to others is about as inspired a skewering of Japanese culture as we're likely to get in some time. 


WEBCOMIC OF THE WEEK : TIME OF TRIAL
By Lee Elias and Howard Nostrand

From 1963 and via the frequently plundered Bristol Board site comes this frankly amazing single-page romance comic by Lee Elias and Howard Nostrand. "Time of Trial" from First Love Illustrated #90 is a classic little primer on both surviving and pulling the plug on a long-term relationship that has evolved into an engagement. Each of the six lushly-inked panels (there's some serious Johnny Craig vibes going on here) covers a different scenario with a different engaged couple, from learning that each partner may have different interests (duh) to ensuring you are emotionally mature to endure a marriage, to even rebounding after a failed relationship. It's a surprisingly frank and useful little comics artefact, clear in its advice to what was back then probably a sizeable audience and, honestly, not much has changed at all: "Better a broken engagement now than a broken marriage later on!" 



COMICS VIDEO OF THE WEEK : LOVE AND ROMANCE COMIC BOOK COVERS

If watching 22 minutes of original romance comic book cover art doesn't push your yes buttons, well consider us broken up right now. This is an amazing video, showing viewers inked, pasted-up covers to such titles as Young Love and Heart Throbs and then revealing the finished, printed product right after. Seriously, some of these covers are just beautiful. I could do without the American Beauty music, but whatever, just turn it down and substitute your own personal Let's Get It On. 



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.