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Sugar Sugar Rune Vol. 1

By Moyoco Anno
224 pages, black and white
Published by Del Rey

By now, it’s hard to have missed out on the pop culture juggernaut that was Pokemon. Even if you were fortunate enough to never see an episode of the show, or the card game, or the multiple video games, or even the movies, you’re probably still familiar with the basic concept of kids trying to collect all the different Pokemon creatures. In retrospect, I think that’s what instantly caught my attention with Sugar Sugar Rune; it took the “gotta catch em all!” attitude and gave it an interesting twist… instead it’s about two girls competing to collect boys’s hearts.

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Quicken Forbidden #13

Written by Dave Roman
Art by John Green
32 pages, black and white
Published by Cryptic Press

It’s been a while since I’ve checked in with Dave Roman and John Green’s Quicken Forbidden, a distinctly unusual and inventive comic series about a young girl who discovers that going down the proverbial rabbit hole is much more dangerous than Alice let on. And what better time to take a look at Quicken Forbidden than its final issue… right? Well, yes, actually.

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Peculia and the Groon Groove Vampires

By Richard Sala
80 pages, black and white
Published by Fantagraphics Books

Ever since I first encountered Richard Sala’s work in his animated short “Invisible Hands” (for MTV’s Liquid Television) I’ve been a fan. Reading his new graphic novel Peculia and the Groon Groove Vampires, I’m reminded once more why I think Sala’s work is so great; it’s not quite like anything else out there, but in the best possible way.

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Pervert Club Vol. 1

By Will Allison
120 pages, black and white
Published by Radio Comix

When I first heard the title Pervert Club I was a little dubious. My initial reaction was that it was somehow a book that would be making fun of others, or somehow mocking. It wasn’t until an hour later that it suddenly hit me that there was a much more logical use of the word “pervert”—that the word was being reclaimed as a badge of honor, not shame. And happily? That’s exactly the case for this first collection of Will Allison’s fun little comic.

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Surrogates #1

Written by Robert Venditti
Art by Brett Weldele
32 pages, color
Published by Top Shelf Productions

All right, I’ll admit it—when I first heard about Top Shelf Productions publishing The Surrogates I was a little skeptical. When I think of Top Shelf, after all, the first thing that leaps to mind isn’t a science-fiction action adventure mini-series. What I’d failed to take into account, though, is that Top Shelf’s publishing credos isn’t about genre so much as it’s about quality, and based on the first issue The Surrogates definitely fits the bill.

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Spiral-Bound (Top Secret Summer)

By Aaron Renier
184 pages, black and white
Published by Top Shelf Productions

The old adage of “You can’t judge a book by its cover” isn’t always 100% true. Covers can absolutely be misleading, don’t get me wrong. Sometimes, though, you look at a cover and you just feel like you know everything about the book. For me, that was definitely the case with Aaron Renier’s debut graphic novel Spiral-Bound (Top Secret Summer); seeing a humanoid elephant, dog, and rabbit falling into a sketched monster’s jaws, I just knew that this was going to be an inventive and exciting book, and that’s exactly what I got.

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Bumperboy Loses His Marbles!

By Debbie Huey
96 pages, brown and white
Self-published; distributed by AdHouse Books

This may sound strange, but I felt like I knew Bumperboy even before I read Bumperboy Loses His Marbles! Maybe it’s because for a while now I’ve had friends who’ve been telling me how cute Debbie Huey’s mini-comics are. Maybe it’s all of the great pictures from the Bumperboy website, with a little cardboard stand-up of Bumperboy posing with various people and places all over the world. Or maybe it’s just because Bumperboy looks so cute?

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Capote in Kansas

Written by Ande Parks
Drawn by Chris Samnee
136 pages, black and white
Published by Oni Press

I have a confession to make: I received an advance copy of Capote in Kansas and initially thought, “How could this possibly be interesting?” A week or so passed, and when I was packing my bag for traveling out to San Diego for Comic-Con International I absent-mindedly threw it in for something to read during the off-hours. Flash forward to the Saturday night of the convention, when artist Chris Samnee hesitantly asked me what I thought of the book. Having had a few drinks at that point, and all filters removed from my vocabulary, I blurted out exactly what I was thinking. “Oh my god, it’s the best effing book I’ve read all year!” I yelled. “It’s just so effing good!” A little surprised by my exuberance, Samnee said, “You should put that in the review.” Well, drunk or sober, I stand by those feelings so it seems that Samnee is getting his wish.

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Cavalcade of Boys Vol. 1-2

By Tim Fish
192 pages, black and white
Published by Poison Press

With the invasion of comics from Japan into English now in full force, newer readers might be surprised that just a few years ago many people would find it odd to see romance comics of any sort on sale. Now, of course, such a beast is a bit more unsurprising. That means it’s a perfect time for Tim Fish to collect his Cavalcade of Boys comic; if there was ever a modern comic book audience that wants more good romance comics, that time is definitely now.

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Super F*ckers #1

By James Kochalka
32 pages, color
Published by Top Shelf Productions

James Kochalka is one of the modern kings of alternative comics; his books range from autobiographical (American Elf), to nature versus technology parables (Monkey vs Robot), to children’s stories (Pinky & Stinky), and anything else Kochalka can dream up. Now he’s tackling super-hero comics… and trust me, they’ve never looked quite like Super F*ckers.

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