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Whiskey Dickel, International Cowgirl

Written by Mark Ricketts
Art by Mike Hawthorne
120 pages, black and white
Published by Image Comics

Yeehah! You might be hearing people shout that out a lot these days, and it’s probably because they’ve gotten their first glimpse of Whiskey Dickel, International Cowgirl. On the surface, this is a really attractive book, designed to look like a nice leatherbound volume with an attractive picture of Whiskey Dickel herself on the cover, a nice solid paper stock, and a great little notation that its genre is “cowgirl fiction”. Of course, once they actually open the book, expect a lot more “yeehah!”s coming from their direction.

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Shutterbox Vol. 1

By Tavisha and Rikki Simons
160 pages, black and white
Published by TokyoPop

I’ve been a fan for quite a while of Studio Tavicat—the umbrella name often used by creators Tavisha and Rikki Simons—so it’s no small surprise that I’ve been hearing about ShutterBox for a while. I’d just about given up hope on ever seeing this particular project, especially when the original venue never happened, when seemingly out of nowhere, ShutterBox Volume 1 appeared. After reading the book, I realized that having things just appear like objects out of a dream or a vision is really more apt than I initially thought…

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Excel Saga Vol. 1

By Rikdo Koshi
200 pages, black and white
Published by Viz

For a while now I’ve been hearing about a Japanese anime series called Excel Saga. I was told it was wacky, it was bizarre, it was hysterically funny. So of course, I never got around to seeing it. However, when I heard that Viz was publishing the Excel Saga manga, I figured that was a good a way as any to see what all the fuss was about.

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Boys Over Flowers Vol. 1

By Yoko Kamio
216 pages, black and white
Published by Viz

If there’s one thing that reading Japanese comics has taught me, it’s that their school system is set up very differently than ours. What school you go to carries a great amount of prestige, with parents often spending a great deal of money to get their children into a school that will look good when promotion time comes around. When reading Boys Over Flowers: Hana Yori Dango, I also got another very important lesson—that if Japanese schools are really like this, they’re very much not the place for me.

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Last Exit Before Toll

Written by Neal Shaffer
Penciled by Christopher Mitten
Inked by Dawn Pietrusko
96 pages, black and white
Published by Oni Press

When Neal Shaffer and Daniel Krall’s One Plus One debuted last year, readers might remember how excited I was about their first project, with its sense of unease and mystery about it. Now Shaffer’s back with a new graphic novel, Last Exit Before Toll, drawn by Christopher Mitten and Dawn Pietrusko. The immediate question I found myself having was, “Will this just be One Plus Two or something different?” I had no idea just how different that would be.

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Battle Royale Vol. 1

Written by Koushun Takami
Drawn by Masayuki Taguchi
216 pages, black and white
Published by TokyoPop

A couple of years ago, it seemed every time I turned around I couldn’t escape from talk of Battle Royale. A movie rapidly approaching cult status, everyone kept talking about its brilliant satire of television and violence and how everyone really had to see it. Viz recently published a translation of the original Battle Royale novel (the basis for the manga and then the movie), and now TokyoPop has gotten into the action as well with the first volume of the manga. Having just finished reading this first volume, I can’t decide if I need to rush out and pick up the novel and DVD, or if I should wait so I don’t have the rest of the manga spoiled for me…

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Same Difference and Other Stories

By Derek Kirk Kim
144 pages, black and white
Published by Small Stories, distributed by Alternative Comics

Don’t trust editors. I should engrave this on the top of my monitor or something, because every time I ignore this adage I end up spending money. I first got suckered by Matt Wayne from Milestone Media, who promised me that if I didn’t love Maison Ikkoku he’d give me my money back. Fourteen volumes later, I was happier if a bit poorer. Ever since then, I keep getting sucked into new books by editors saying the same thing. When they haven’t published the book themselves, I figure it must be sincere, and it usually is… and my wallet ends up a bit lighter. This time the blame goes to James Lucas Jones from Oni Press, who did the whole, “If you don’t like it I’ll give you your money back” thing with Derek Kirk Kim’s Same Difference and Other Stories. You’d think I would have seen the end result a mile away.

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Fallen Angel #1-2

Written by Peter David
Penciled by David Lopez
Inked by Fernando Blanco
32 pages, color
Published by DC Comics

Over a decade ago, Peter David’s comics were one of the reasons why I went to the comic book store every month. Desperate to read the next installment of Incredible Hulk, it was one of the first comics that made me really pay attention to who was writing a book instead of the characters inside. So when DC Comics announced David’s new series Fallen Angel, seeing David’s name still brought back fond memories, and I made sure to give it a proper chance.

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Shaolin Soccer Vol. 1

By Andy Seto
128 pages, color
Published by ComicsOne

For the past year or two, it’s been hard for me to escape the buzz around the upcoming American release of Hong Kong movie “Shaolin Soccer”. Actor Stephen Chow attended Comic-Con International last year and was reportedly amazed at how many people were not only aware of his movie, but avid fans. As the release date grows closer and closer, I find myself all the more intrigued and excited about this movie… so I was thrilled when I found out that ComicsOne was publishing Andy Seto’s comic adaptation of the movie as well. As far as I was considered, this was the perfect way to get a preview.

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Poppie’s Adventures Vol. 1: Serpents in Paradise

Written by Julie Yeh
Drawn by Jack Hsu
48 pages, color
Published by Way Out Comics

You know those old commercials about two great tastes that go great together? I think that can apply to more than just chocolate and peanut butter, myself. Take the Xeric Grant and Comic-Con International. The first is a fund that helps creators print their comics; the second is the largest comic convention in the United States where you never know just what you’re going to find. So when the two come together… well, let’s just say that my wallet is always a little lighter by the end of the trip, but usually for a good reason.

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