Adapted by Tony Wong
Based on the novel by Rui-An Wen
Art by Andy Seto
128 pages, color
Published by ComicsOne
Every time I turn around these days, there seems to be a new book from ComicsOne illustrated by Andy Seto. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Para Para, Story of the Tao, Shaolin Soccer… the list goes on and on. With the release of The Four Constables Vol. 1, though, I think ComicsOne has found the most attractive book by Seto to date.
Written by Craig McKenney
Art by Gervasio with Estudio Haus
48 pages, black and white
Published by Headless Shakespeare Press
It’s a little surprising that there aren’t more comic books about stage magicians. I find them fascinating, using illusion to transport people to other worlds where the impossible can happen. Aside from Jason Hall and Matt Kindt’s Mephisto and the Empty Box and Jason Lutes’s Jar of Fools, though, there’s been a real lack of stories in recent times in this particular genre. You can imagine how eager I was, then, to read Craig McKenney and Gervasio’s new comic book The Magic If.
Written by Kurt Busiek
Art by Cary Nord with Thomas Yeates
Color art by Dave Stewart
32 pages, color
Published by Dark Horse
As far as marketing strategies go, it’s a pretty cunning one. In October, Dark Horse released the first of four volumes reprinting Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith’s run on Conan (with the second and third volumes released in December and February). In November, they released a special twenty-five cent comic, Conan: The Legend, letting Kurt Busiek, Cary Nord, and Dave Stewart show their take on the character. All of this, of course, leading up to Conan #1 being released at the end of February. Now that’s how you build up excitement for a new comic series.
By Christopher Varian
112 pages, black and white
Published by Etompro
The evening of Christmas Day, I came home to discover the apartment above mine had burst a pipe—and left unattended, water was now pouring into my living room through the light fixtures and vents in the ceiling. One of the strongest streams of water was splattering directly on a padded envelope that I’d dropped on the floor the day before, in a hurry to meet my family for dinner. I figured that, like many other possessions, whatever was in that envelope was ruined. It wasn’t until the next day that I opened it up to see what was inside and discovered that against all odds, the book was still intact. Taking it as a sign, I promised that sooner or later it would get reviewed… and while it’s a little over two months later, I’m finally getting to that promise.
Written by Malcolm Bourne
Art by Mike Allred
112 pages, black and white
Published by Oni Press
If you were reading comics in 1992, chances are you already knew the name Malcolm Bourne. His big writing debut was that January, but he’d already made a reputation for himself in what were the comic discussion forums of that era: letter columns. Witty, erudite, and carefully spoken, your letter column just wasn’t complete until Bourne graced its presence once. Then in January 1992, Bourne and a little-known artist named Mike Allred debuted a mini-series at Dark Horse, Tales of Ordinary Madness. It’s a little over a decade later, and the book has a new lease on life as a trade paperback. Now that time has distanced its potential readers from Bourne’s reputation as a letter column scribe, the question remains: Is it any good?
Edited by Tom Pomplun
144 pages, black and white
Published by Eureka Productions
Growing up, two of my favorite books to read over and over again were Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. It wasn’t until I got older that I really started to discover that Twain was also a writer of numerous short stories, linked together by a display of wit and cunning. I remember wishing at the time that someone had marketed his short stories to younger readers. I may be older now, but I’m no less delighted to see that Graphic Classics: Mark Twain seems to be doing just that.
Edited by Tony Goins, Tim Fischer, and Dara Naraghi
40 pages, black and white
Published by Ferret Press
Sometimes all it takes is one story in an anthology to catch my attention. That was the case with Ferret Press’s Panel: Architecture, a comic with stories all around the theme of architecture. When I saw it had one of my favorite unsung creators, well, I certainly had to take a look at the whole book. It just goes to show, all you really need is that one hook to bring the reader on board.
By Josh Neufeld
24 pages, green and white
Published by Alternative Comics
Josh Neufeld’s travel stories have caught my attention ever since they first appeared in Keyhole years ago. Neufeld and his then-girlfriend (now wife) backpacked through large stretches of southeast Asia, and the resulting adventures have appeared in comic stories since then. With The Vagabonds, Neufeld has his own solo book to both reprint and hopefully present new stories about his adventures in both foreign lands and those places a little closer to home…
By Al Burian
160 pages, black and white
Published by Microcosm Publishing, distributed by Top Shelf Productions
When I first opened up Things Are Meaning Less, I felt like I’d somehow read it before. It took me a minute to realize that this wasn’t true; what I’d mistaken for the actual material was instead a similar mood that other material had also evoked. It brings to mind books by creators like John Porcellino, who tell stories about everyday life with a certain wistfulness that quickly infects the reader. Needless to say, I think this is a good thing indeed.
Written by Steve Niles
Art by Greg Ruth
32 pages, color
Published by Dark Horse
Dark Horse’s horror line and author Steve Niles both seem to be debuting new books every time I turn around. It almost goes without saying that there’s a slight overlap between the two, including Niles’s newest book Freaks of the Heartland. What intrigued me the most about Freaks of the Heartland wasn’t the larger-than-life, paranormal aspect of the book… but the real terror of every day life.
