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Screamland #1

Written by Harold Sipe
Art by Hector Casanova
28 pages, color
Published by Image Comics

Never let it be said that I don’t have a sense of humor. With so many different comics hitting the stands, one often has to make quick decisions on if a book will make the “review stack” or not, these days. In the case of Harold Sipe and Hector Casanova’s Screamland #1, I glanced at the first three pages—and promptly laughed so hard that I knew this was making the pile. I can’t think of a better way to make sure someone buys your book.

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Princess at Midnight

By Andi Watson
64 pages, black and white
Published by Image Comics

What little kid didn’t dream of having a fantasy life that was radically different from their own? It’s a simple and smart hook, and one that Andi Watson really uses to its best advantage in Princess at Midnight, a new one-shot comic. Best of all, though, is that I think Princess at Midnight could be used as an example of how a book can find just the right length.

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North World Vol. 1

By Lars Brown
152 pages, black and white
Published by Oni Press

You’ve no doubt encountered “fusion” cuisine, where two or more different styles of food are applied to the same dish. Japanese meets Italian? Mexican meets Chinese? You name it, it’s out there. I mention this not because I’m craving dinner, but rather because I’m surprised we don’t hear about “fusion genres” when it comes to writing. Take, for instance, Lars Brown’s North World, which takes fantasy and modern day settings and crushes them into one. And you know what? So long as you don’t think about it too hard, it tastes pretty good.

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Fart Party

By Julia Wertz
176 pages, black and white
Published by Atomic Book Company

I have a confession to make—the title of The Fart Party made me simultaneously eager and loathe to read Julia Wertz’s book. On the one hand, it’s hard to not see anything called The Fart Party and not groan a little inside. But, well, I have to admit that farts can be awfully funny at times. It wasn’t until I finally read Wertz’s story (with Laura Park) in Papercutter #6 that I knew I needed to sit down and check this out. And you know, I’m awfully glad I did.

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Hellblazer: Joyride

Written by Andy Diggle
Art by Leonardo Manco
192 pages, color
Published by Vertigo/DC Comics

If there’s one property that Vertigo will probably publish until the end of time, it’s Hellblazer. They’ve got good reason to; its staying power has proven in over 240 issues of the main comic, almost 30 trade paperback collections, numerous mini-series, and twenty years of continuous publication. What’s actually a little surprising, then, is that it not only continues to chug onwards but that writers are able to keep the series fresh—a feat that new writer Andy Diggle has succeeded with his start as Hellblazer‘s new writer.

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Hurricane Season #1

By Jon Sukarangsan
48 pages, black and white
Published by Fortune Cookie Press

There are times, when reading a comic, when I seriously wonder if I’m reading fiction or non-fiction. That was certainly the case with Jon Sukarangsan’s Hurricane Season. With books like these, the problem isn’t anything done wrong by the creator. Rather, it’s that as you read the comic, the storytelling is so convincing that it feels like something that they’d personally experienced. That said, with a book like Hurricane Season I’m actually a little relieved that it isn’t reality.

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Metro Survive Vol. 1

By Yuki Fujisawa
208 pages, black and white
Published by DrMaster Publications

In the 21st century, one particular sub-genre I’ve noticed gaining a lot of prominence these days is the “post-disaster” story. It’s not so much about the incident itself, but rather people caught up in its wake that have to fight to survive. That’s not to say that this sort of thing is a recent idea, of course, but I don’t think it’s any small coincidence that in the past decade there’s an increased frequency in which these sort of stories show up in popular media. The latest one I’ve found crossing my path is Yuki Fujisawa’s Metro Survive, a two-volume story about a group of hapless individuals trapped by a horrible disaster. The problem is, I’m not entirely sure Fujisawa can decide just what the true disaster of this story really is.

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Flight Explorer Vol. 1

By Matthew Armstrong, Bannister, Phil Craven, Steve Hamaker, Ben Hatke, Kazu Kibuishi, Johane Matte, Jake Parker, Rad Sechrist, and Kean Soo
112 pages, color
Published by Villard Books

The Flight anthologies are always books that I look forward to, full of stories that spark the imagination and bring a sense of wonder to the page. When I heard that an all-ages edition of Flight, called Flight Explorer, was set to come out I was both excited and worried. On the one hand, the Flight books have always been full of top-notch material. But would a deliberate attempt to go exclusively all-ages somehow hinder the creators? Like so many worries about upcoming books, there are times when I seriously wonder why I don’t just accept in advance that people know what they’re doing.

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ClanDestine Classic

Written and penciled by Alan Davis
Inked by Mark Farmer
312 pages, color
Published by Marvel

When Alan Davis’s ClanDestine first debuted in the mid-90s, I remember absolutely loving it almost instantly; to me it was a perfect mix of superhero struggles and family squabbles. Davis’s run ended after just eight issues, with a later X-Men vs. the ClanDestine mini-series wrapping up his time with the characters. Now that he’s returned to them for a new mini-series, his older work with the characters is back for another outing in a handsome collection—and it’s interesting to review those stories a little later and wiser and see just how I feel about them now. Sometimes, the memory really does cheat just a bit.

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Otto’s Orange Day

Written by Jay Lynch
Art by Frank Cammuso
40 pages, color
Published by Toon Books

Françoise Mouly is known for all sorts of accomplishments; being the co-editor and publisher of the independent comics anthology RAW, a lengthy stint as the art director for The New Yorker, curator of art exhibits. I must admit, though, that when I hear her name one of the first things that leaps to mind for me is her work on the Little Lit series of books, taking both cartoonists and children’s book creators and having them collaborate to create short stories using the comic book format but pushed through the children’s book market. Now, Mouly’s done it again with her new line of Toon Books, creating children’s books that are told using comic books’s sequential art. When the end result is like Jay Lynch and Frank Cammuso’s Otto’s Orange Day, well, it’s hard to believe that more people aren’t doing just this.

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