The email mentioned that their hardcover would be out in two weeks and hoped I could “take a look” with a “free viewing license”. I responded with my mailing address. They didn’t take the hint, sending back instructions on downloading some proprietary DRM viewer with an attached license. The note said that if I liked it, then they would send me the print version.

At that point, I bowed out. I am not going to install some random software I’ve never heard of in order to look at your comic to give you free promotion. Who knows what kind of hooks it would put in my OS or how hard it would be to get rid of it afterwards? I was getting a skeevy feeling from the beginning, anyway, since the graphic novel supposedly dealt with a situation that the submitter sold snake-oil-style products to handle. I suspect the whole thing was some kind of “creative” guerrilla advertising method.

Here’s the lesson: If you want coverage for your project, you need to make it easy for the press, not more difficult. I don’t want special software or little-known formats. I prefer print, although I’ll take online, but if you don’t trust me not to distribute or copy your PDF, don’t send it to me. I can’t do an accurate review anyway if my experience differs that much from that of the average reader’s.

If I don’t already know you or your work, you have an uphill battle. Like someone advertising a job opening these days, I get more submissions than I can manage, and if your project doesn’t strike me, I am looking for ways to rule you out quickly, to avoid wasting the time of both of us.

If you put out a comic, you have a ton of competition. You are battling against brand name superheroes and addictive manga and critically praised graphic novels and free webcomics for your customer’s and my time and attention. The state of the world is that I have more great comic work to cover than I can handle. Current count: 50 books on review stack, 20 more coming in. These are outstanding, diverse works by known, reputable, quality artists and writers. This is a wonderful problem to have, because I look forward to reading all of them, and I’m thrilled by what awaits me.

• Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
• Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness
• Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe

Links go to my reviews, which looked at now, are shallower than I would like, because it took me years and multiple re-reads to truly appreciate what Bryan Lee O’Malley was doing with the series and characters. He’s created the defining comic series of the late 2000s with a unique visual language and a complex use of narrative devices that powerfully involve and entertain the reader. It’s astounding to read the books one after another and see how much he developed over the years.

Anyway, that was a lead-in to wallowing in the concluding volume, Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour. I have also been sampling the various videos available, including this new featurette:

Which sums up the movie’s approach brilliantly in a quote by director Edgar Wright: In musicals, people burst into song to express emotion. Here, they break out in fights. I applaud Universal for making all of the promo trailers and ads available in a dedicated YouTube channel. It’s easy for customers to sample the film and see how cool and faithful it’s going to be. (Out August 13!) I have no idea how they’re going to get everything from the books in there, but most of what I’ve thought of has been shown in some fashion, so I can’t wait to see it. Even more fun is the remix channel, which uses clips to create weird little spoken-word raps.

Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour
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The book of the week is, of course, Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour (Oni Press, $12), the final volume in the series and the precursor to the movie, due out next month and eagerly anticipated. However, although Diamond is shipping the book this week, it’s not supposed to be on sale until the 20th, so that doesn’t count.

Manga-wise, the only volume I’m interested in is the 16th book of Inubaka Crazy for Dogs (Viz, $10), but thanks to Viz’s generosity, I’m reading it now. I also read Bighead Press’ Escape From Terra ($13) back at ordering time; unfortunately, I didn’t care much for it.

So that leaves me with periodical comics. Oni has the second issues of two series I’m enjoying, Frenemy of the State and The Sixth Gun, at $4 each. That leaves me with $7, which is enough to get Birds of Prey #3 (DC, $3) and Avengers Academy #2 (Marvel, $3), with $1 left over for tax.

If I was going to the comic shop, I’d flip through Bongo Comics’ Comic Book Guy The Comic Book #1 ($4), to see what kind of approach they were taking. If anyone checks it out, let me know. I’d probably also be curious about Girl Comics #3 (Marvel, $5), just to see who’s in this issue of the anthology.

That’s all just introduction to say that Dark Horse is putting out a comic that promises to explain the biggest gap in the Firefly franchise — what was the story of Shepherd Book? Lots of hints were dropped, but in November, Dark Horse brings out Serenity: The Shepherd’s Tale (JUL10 0030), written by Joss’s brother Zack Whedon, to answer our questions. It’s $15 for only 56 pages, but in hardcover.

When Jason Little put out Shutterbug Follies in 2002, I had high hopes for the promised continuing stories with the lead character. But then the publisher quit doing graphic novels and he moved the character to the web. Now, finally, here comes another book: Motel Art Improvement Service (JUL10 0050, $19.99, Dark Horse, due November). It features Bee taking a cross-country bicycle trip. Accident causes her to work as a motel housekeeper, where she investigates various crimes in Little’s “bubblegum noir” style. You can read a sample at beecomix.com. Thankfully, it appears that the formats are similar between the two books.

Past Lies
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With Dark Horse and now Image doing first-issue reprints of long-running titles (or those with sufficient trade paperbacks behind them to justify the promotion) for a dollar, it’s clear that publishers realize that they need to provide starting points and good deals to readers. But I find myself wondering just how effective they are. If you’re aware of the property, you can presumably flip through one of the book collections at your comic shop, library, or bookstore. If you’re looking for cheap comics, you’re not going to be satisfied by something that by definition isn’t going to be a satisfying read on its own. (And there are even cheaper options to sample elsewhere.)

I’d ask “if they’re ads, why not just give them away?” but I know the answer to that one. Putting some minimal value on them prevents the uninterested but greedy for ordering them into stores and/or taking them just because they’re free. But I’m still wondering: Are dollar comic tastes successful? Or do they help convince authors that the publishers are doing something to keep their books selling? (Or both, I suppose.) On the other hand, it can be difficult to find a good starting point if you’re new to comics and have been hearing about long-running series but aren’t sure if they’re for you. $1 to read an actual issue of Usagi Yojimbo or Hellboy may be just what you need.

Tricked
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I was getting a bit discouraged, flipping catalog pages but not finding anything that looked like what I wanted: unique perspectives of high quality and solid craft, stories made to be told in comics, not brand extensions or licensed properties. Then I found Oni, which is promising the return of the Hopeless Savages. Ah, I’ve missed that loving, creative punk family.

Greatest Hits (JUL10 1089, $19.99, due October) is 360 pages collecting “all the existing Hopeless Savages material” — which I assume means the three books plus the B-Sides comic. More exciting: “new adventures in 2011!”

That’s not the only anticipated return from Oni. Back in April, I noted that Oni’s hardcover reprint of Past Lies might be an interesting sign of something — and so it turned out to be. The second Amy Devlin mystery, All Saints Day (JUL10 1091, $19.99) is also due in October.

Alex Robinson’s Tricked (JUL10 1148, $19.95, Top Shelf, due September — which makes it the only one coming out in the standard two months after solicit, and it’s a reprint) gets a dynamite new cover, shown here, designed by Matt Kindt (Super Spy). How eye-catching! The cassette is a great choice for this interconnected soap opera that involves a rock star and memory and fans and collectibles and history. Also, this is a good reminder to me to reread it.

Love and Capes 2
Going to the Chapel
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Although I was planning to buy a copy, now, I’m rethinking. I already own the issues, some of which are signed, I think. There’s no extra material that I’m aware of, so I wouldn’t be upgrading. (Although Thom also says that there was a word balloon glitch in issue #10 that is fixed in this collection.) I don’t want to buy a known error copy, especially since there’s a possibility of a later reprint with the order corrected.

Although that will only happen if there are enough buyers to sell through this print run, and I don’t like the karma of hoping other people buy something I know is flawed (in an admittedly minor way). Plus, IDW isn’t very good about keeping books in print sometimes, so waiting may mean I miss out, or have to pay inflated prices later.

Yet $20 is a noticeable amount to pay for something I already have, especially when it’s not a clear upgrade. I don’t understand why the publisher is releasing a copy with a known error, either. But I love the series so much, and I want to see it continue and thrive. So I probably should go ahead and buy it, and think of it as a donation to support a creator whose work I adore and a chance to own a unique copy. Decisions, decisions.

I guess this is another example of how any speed bump to the habit of buying is a bad thing. Consumers who stop and think may wind up mired in all kinds of factors irrelevant to the key question: Do I want this book now? In my case, the answer is no, not right this minute. I’m going to think about it some more, maybe try to see a copy at some of the conventions yet to come this year. If I was a better true fan, this wouldn’t bother me.

Odd Is on Our Side
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Odd Thomas, a fry cook who can communicate with the dead, first appeared in four Dean Koontz novels. As part of their press release, Del Rey said that In Odd We Trust is in its sixth printing and “continues to sell strongly”.

Odd Is on Our Side will be the next graphic novel. It will be written by Fred Van Lente (Comic Book Comics, Action Philosophers, Hercules) and will be illustrated by Queenie Chan (The Dreaming), who drew the first one. It’s due out October 5.

All of these graphic novels are new stories with the character set before the time period of the novels. They’re based on “extensive outlines written by Dean Koontz”, which means that the best-selling author has found a way to franchise his character into another format. The next two will be out in 2011 and 2012.

Odd Is My Co-Pilot is written by James Kuhoric (who’s described as a “well-known comics writer” — apparently mostly on other licensed projects, including Battlestar Galactica and Army of Darkness) and illustrated by Queenie Chan. The fourth is a departure in the art style, being done by Ikari Studio (no person? they’re based in Barcelona and draw manga for videogames) and written by Landry Q. Walker (Little Gloomy, although he is “best known for translating film and television projects to the comic book medium”).

Strangely, Odd Is on Our Side is currently the 8th best-seller in the manga category on Amazon right now, I guess because of who the publisher is. This is yet another example, I fear, of Del Rey moving their focus from translated manga to franchised brand spin-offs in comic form. At least these books are new stories, not just adaptations thrown at the graphic novel market, even if they do put property over creator in their construction.

Out this week is Beasts of Burden, the gorgeous graphic novel by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson about dogs who fight mystical forces. (But that description doesn’t do the series justice, or attest to the immense creative skill on display here.) The book collects the four issue miniseries along with the earlier short stories from the various Dark Horse Book of … anthologies. This complete story, provided by Dark Horse, originally appeared in The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings. Enjoy!

The genius painted storybooks of the Scary Godmother series — Scary Godmother, The Revenge of Jimmy, The Mystery Date, and The Boo Flu — are due back in print from Dark Horse (JUN10 0051). Excellent priced at $25 for the four stories, plus additional design material, the book is perfectly scheduled for October 20.

I’m not mentioning DC this month (except here, in self-contradictory fashion) because I’m not interested in reading violent and depressive superheroes, video game adaptations (WildStorm), or crime comics about serial killers (Vertigo). I understand the strategy of sticking to what you know best during tough economic times, but a lack of variety means a lack of interest from me and other non-traditional readers. That’s brought home by seeing CMX titles listed that will never be released. Sad.

Polly and Her Pals
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Sometimes, when it comes to classic comic strips, I have a hard time getting past the reputation and engaging with the work directly. Polly and Her Pals (IDW, JUN10 0383, $75) is an exception to that problem. This oversized hardcover reprints the Sunday pages from 1925-1927 of a comic about a young flapper and her pa. It’s astoundingly involving cartooning, unusual and funny.

The Sisters’ Luck
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The Sisters’ Luck (SLG, JUN10 0720, $12.95) sounds fascinating, but I’ve never heard of the author, Shari Chankhamma, before. Thank goodness she has a website, although there’s very little mention of the book on it. But I can see her art, which I like. The premise involves twins. One gains good luck, while the other spews bad, which they don’t learn until they separate for college. After that, the bad luck one wants to get back together; while the good one doesn’t. It’s a fascinating metaphor for siblings’ lives growing apart and the forces that can affect a family. It would be nice if the publisher put up some kind of preview, though.

If you’re eagerly anticipating the Scott Pilgrim movie and the conclusion to Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novel series, why not try his earlier work, Lost at Sea (Oni Press, JUN10 1082, $11.95)? It’s a quieter, more meditative look at young people trying to figure out what they want from life. I like it a lot.

Q: When did you start creating the Ouija Interviews?

The first one, Theo Wallis, I made that minicomic in 2003.

Q: What brought them about? Can you tell me more about the circumstances behind them?

For three years, my older brother Jeff was the manager of the hostel on Nantucket Island. It’s called the Star of the Sea, and it’s in this gorgeous 200-year-old building that used to be a lifesaving station for ships that crashed on the rocks. I went out to visit him a few times; the hostel’s on a quiet little corner of the island, far from town. At night, he’d have some friends over, the fog would roll in, we’d open a bottle of wine and bring out this cheap glow-in-the-dark Ouija board.

For most of the interviews, I wasn’t even on the board, I was the one transcribing everything. Jeff knew a lot of the seasonal workers on the island, kids from all over the world who came to work in the hotels or restaurants for the summer. There were in particular some girls from Australia and Ireland who seemed to be really great on the Ouija board — if they had the planchette, it would just fly, you’d get conversation and jokes and all sorts of stories. It turned into these hilariously fun and magical evenings, and when I got home and was unpacking, I found the notes I had made, the transcriptions. And I thought to myself, this would make a great little comic book.

Q: Some people seem to suspect that these sessions weren’t “real” — can you address their concerns?

I do encounter a lot of wide-eyed disbelief when I tell people that. I won’t tell you they’re “real” in the sense it was really spirits we were talking with. I never got any verification beyond a reasonable doubt that it was anything beyond the ideomotor effect. My brother will tell you that in at least one instance he’s convinced something real happened, but I unfortunately wasn’t present for that one, so I’m still pretty skeptical. However, in the sense that the interviews really happened, and were transcribed from actual sessions with the Ouija board, they are 100% real. I made a few small edits here and there for brevity, but for the most part, the comics are made verbatim from the notes. But it’s also not like it was golden every time we picked up the planchette; there were plenty of interviews that didn’t make it into the book because they were banal, or seemed malevolent, or didn’t make any sense at all.

Q: What other comics have you done? How do the Ouija Interviews compare in popularity to them?

I have a series of short story comics called Shuteye, they’re longer and more involved than the Ouija Interviews. I’ve done a few little educational minis, one about the writer Karel Capek and where the word “robot” came from, one about the primates used in the early days of the space program. And I have a daily autobio comic on the web at www.sauceome.com. It’s a food diary, but it’s as much about my own neuroses and issues of self-image as it is about my love for really great food. Each of these projects probably has a slightly different audience, but the Ouija Interviews have always been the most popular. I think the characters are eye-catching and cute, they tend to draw people in, a lot of people have told me that they’re a great conversation piece.

It’s funny, because I don’t feel like I really did all that much work for them; I didn’t really write them, and the characters and page design are pretty simple. The Shuteye comics, on the other hand, I’ve spent months on the writing and crafting of the stories, they take me much longer to illustrate and put together, and they don’t seem to attract nearly as much attention. I get a little secretly giddy every time someone picks up one of the Shuteye issues, just because I put so much more time and energy into them, but I’m also delighted that people like the Ouija Interviews so much.

Q: Why collect them in a book?

They were originally four minis, and each mini was one person’s story, a little snapshot into what that person’s life was like, and how they felt about their death. I still think they worked really well like that, but when you have them all in one place you get a fuller picture of what we’re like, of what it’s like to be alive. Some life stories are short and tragic, some are long and happy, some are a little shallow and frivolous, some are quietly profound. I also had a bunch of little snippets, shorter interviews that weren’t long enough for a minicomic, but were still kind of beautiful and moving, and I was looking for a way to share them too.

Q: How did you win a Xeric Grant for them, and how has that benefited you?

The Xeric Grant was great! It was a little intense, applying for it. They want a lot of information; you have to really have your act together. I think one of the best parts of the application process was that they wanted a statement of purpose. They want you to really think about WHY you are making this book, why it needs to be a comic book, what’s the point of it. It makes you really examine what you’re doing and think very consciously about it. Anyway, I had the book pretty much complete, I got together all the paperwork they want to see, packaged it all up and sent it off, and six months later, I got the letter letting me know my application was accepted.

Of course, the money part of it is wonderful. I blew my entire grant on the printing, but I was really particular about the paper I wanted, the ink colors, the felted debossed cover; my printing costs actually went over my grant amount, so some of it came out of my own pocket. If you’re not like me, though, you can use the grant money on advertising, on shipping, on promotional costs, all sorts of things, so it’s a great resource for self-publishers.

But maybe more important than the money, I feel like the grant gave me some validation, too. The Xeric Grant garners a bit of attention and respect, and it’s great for marketing. I’m in some fantastic company, too — all sorts of amazing artists have won the Xeric. It can be a really effective launch pad for a comics artist’s career.

Q: What are you working on next?

I have one more story that I want to do for my Shuteye series; it’s in the writing stage right now. This will be the sixth story in the series, and I think it’ll cap it off nicely. When I’m done with it, I’m planning on collecting the whole series into a single volume. I might try pitching it to publishers, although I’m pretty comfortable with self-publishing at this stage as well, so we’ll see what happens.

My thanks to Sarah for sharing more of the background behind this fascinating little book. You can find out more about her work at www.jakze.com.

• Benny and Penny in the Toy Breaker
• Luke on the Loose, Benny and Penny in The Big No-No!
• Benny and Penny in Just Pretend, Otto’s Orange Day, Silly Lilly
• Mo and Jo Fighting Together Forever, Jack and the Box, Stinky
• Little Mouse Gets Ready
• Zig and Wikki: Something Ate My Homework

This may be the first time I’ve found an entire company line worth talking about!

First Finder, and now another comic classic will be returned to print by Dark Horse.

Due out October 20, Scary Godmother will reprint the four children’s books in the series by Jill Thompson: Scary Godmother, The Revenge of Jimmy, The Mystery Date, and The Boo Flu. These painted fairy tales are gorgeously executed and wonderfully imaginative.

Also in the new hardcover, cover-priced at $24.99, will be concept designs and a new cover (shown here). I hope this means that a second book, reprinting the three comic series, is due to follow! It’s a crime that such lovely material for all ages isn’t fully available.

Toon Books, publisher of wonderful graphic novels for kids (although they think they’re too short to be graphic novels), has just launched a special blog for emerging readers featuring the adorable mice Benny and Penny, created by Geoffrey Hayes. The characters can also be found in the books Just Pretend and The Big No-No!.

The blog will feature a new comic strip every Monday and a “you write the cartoon” blank every Wednesday. The author has promised to actively participate as well, responding to comments.

(For my opinion on the comics vs. graphic novel debate, I think the Toon publications are graphic novels because they’re stand-alone stories in substantial bindings intended to be stocked long-term, instead of more disposable temporary issues. The generally accepted term for such books are “graphic novels”, because comics, rightly or wrongly, have other connotations.)

I’ve been looking forward to Faith Erin Hicks’ work on Brain Camp (First Second, $16.99, MAY10 1030) since I saw her preview of it earlier this year. She’s not the writer — the story’s from Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan, who earlier did City of Spies, another graphic novel from the same publisher — but the concept, about spooky goings on at a retreat meant to produce prodigies, sounds fascinating as well.

NBM is printing Networked: Carabella on the Run ($12.99, MAY10 1072), based on the webcomic by Gerard Jones and Mark Badger posted at Privacy Activism. It’s about a blue-skinned girl who learns how much other people can find out about us online. I agree with the concept — people don’t know how much information is available about them without their consent — but I’m not sure how well the sketchy art will translate to paper, and the material seemed to err a bit too much on the side of message over story. But I only read a few panels, and they talked about reworking the art a bit, so I’m probably worrying with no basis. It’s a stunning idea for a graphic novel, regardless.

The book of the month will be Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour (Oni Press, $11.99, MAY10 1089), the conclusion of the outstanding series by Bryan Lee O’Malley. We should see Scott finish defeating Ramona’s evil exes, and I hope the two reconcile in time for a happy ending. It’s been wonderful seeing O’Malley’s development over these six years, with all this creativity and imagination being captured for years of re-reading.

The winner of a copy of Mercury is … Marc Sobel! In answer to the question of what his favorite metal was, he said:

I’m going with Einsteinium. Not only does it have the best namesake, but its atomic number is 99, it is the rarest of all metals (none exists in nature) and also the most deadly.

Isn’t that fascinating? I learned so much about metals and laughed at clever jokes — readers here are so creative and know so many interesting things! Thanks to everyone for participating and for reading the site.

Blacksad
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However, perhaps because of their printing process and/or locations, their solicitations are frequently extended for these books. For example, Beanworld Book 3 was solicited in July of last year. Items in that catalog normally come out starting in September; this book was published in December, an extra three-month delay. The ship date information is listed when the books are offered, so customers should be aware of it, but it is a change from how many companies operate. (And I’ve known people to get burned if they aren’t paying attention; they see books in the September or October listings that they expect to arrive before Christmas, but in reality, they’ll come in the next year.)

Why I’m talking about this now, though, is due to two Dark Horse books I was eagerly anticipating that have been delayed beyond even this usual extended period. First is the Blacksad hardcover, bringing the Ibooks material back into print with some new content. It was offered in November 2009 with a then-listed due date of March 2010. That didn’t happen.

By checking the Dark Horse website and Amazon, I’ve found that it’s now due end of June/early July. (The dates don’t match, but since they’re within two weeks of each other, that’s not of much concern.) I appreciate that Dark Horse is keeping the website updated with new information; that’s a big help. But is there a better way to notify eager customers (who often have to commit to preorders in comic stores) of schedule changes? They have a newsletter, but it’s all ads and sell copy, not product updates.

Sinfest Volume 2
Order this book – but it’s a gamble!

Of more concern to me is this: What happened to Sinfest Volume 2? Originally solicited in July 2009, the book was marked on the website as available in April 2010 (of which today is the last day). However, now I can’t even find a page for the title on their site; they only list book one. Amazon shows the book with a publication date of April 15, but says “Temporarily out of stock. Order now and we’ll deliver when available.” That’s not a good sign, since there’s no evidence they were ever in stock.

I read through six months of Previews Product Changes and Cancellations and Shipping Updates to see if any information showed up there, but it didn’t. (Since those pages apparently aren’t Google-able. And OMG, how does Marvel get away with the sheer volume of changes they make every week from what was offered and purchased?! Then I found the best example of how the system is broken: notes that say “oh, this book isn’t really 160 pages, but only 40, but we’re not changing the price.” That’s a recipe for disappointed customers who feel ripped off.)

Am I doomed not to have a nice continuing reprint of my favorite webcomic? Or should I just be patient and hope it shows up at some undefined future point? The problem with this approach to their stock is that I’m now thinking of Dark Horse as a roulette wheel. If my number comes up (which may take a while), great, I get the book I want. But I may never know when I’m on a losing streak and a book just disappears. Am I missing some way to easily get updated schedule changes on Dark Horse products?

To commemorate the quicksilver of the title, post a comment here saying what your favorite metal is and why. The winner will be selected by random number draw and announced at 4 PM East Coast time on Friday, April 30.

(U.S. entries only, please. Winner will be emailed for their physical mailing address, so please leave a valid email address with your comment. It won’t be used for any other purpose. If email is not answered or a valid email address is not provided, a replacement winner will be selected.)

I first heard of Dork Diaries when Brian Hibbs mentioned it in his analysis of 2009 sales, saying:

The second best-selling item (68,657 copies) on the BookScan list for 2009 was something that I don’t imagine most of us would call “comics,” per se -– Dork Diaries by Rachel Renee Russell –- it has words and it has pictures, but I’m not going to say that they really work together in the unified whole that most would consider “comics”. If anything I would compare this more to Diary of a Wimpy Kid, yet those titles aren’t listed on this chart whatsoever. So it’s one of those categorization problems I was discussing earlier, really. Dork Diaries is very close to “comics”, so we’ll let the cognoscenti argue that one out.

Ok, I’ll take a stand on this one, now that I’ve been sent a review copy of the sequel, Tales From a Not-So-Popular Party Girl (due out in June). This is not a comic, or a graphic novel. Here’s what the first four pages look like:

This is not a comic. This is a novel set to mimic handwriting with frequent sketchy illustrations. (I’m assuming that the reproduction of the images — see p2, for example — will be adjusted in the print version, since this is an advance copy.) And from what I can tell, not having read a full book in either series, it’s pretty much the same as Wimpy Kid, only for girls, so the focus is on parties and popularity. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun to read (and obviously popular), but it’s not a comic. (Neither is Wimpy Kid. Are you listening, Harvey Awards?)

Interesting: There are a couple of notes on this volume that it will also have an ebook version available. Given the Kindle’s issues with graphics, I have to wonder how well that will work, without the pictures?

I do have to say that this comes closer to comics than a new Scholastic series, The Amazing Adventures of Nate Banks, which has two books about a boy obsessed with comics who finds superheroes and supervillains in his home town. These are straight chapter books with a whole eight (!) pages of color comics bound in the middle. They’re by Chris Giarrusso, who also does Mini Marvels. The writer, Jake Bell, is clearly a comic fan himself, since the town is named Kanigher Falls and the first book is titled Secret Identity Crisis. I guess these are aimed at parents who want their comic-loving kids reading “real” books.

“With Hachette’s overwhelming success in the book market, we can’t imagine a better partner as Marvel looks to expand its presence in the book market” said David Gabriel, Marvel Senior Vice President of Sales & Circulation. …

“Diamond Book Distributors has been very instrumental in the growth of our graphic novel business, nearly tripling our sales in the book market over the last five years, and we thank them for their efforts. The decision to switch book market distributors was a very difficult one but as evidenced by the extension of our Direct Market agreement, our working relationship with Diamond remains very close. We remain extremely appreciative of our Direct Market retailers and continue to grow that vital market.”

They certainly need the book market help, as we discussed here in August 2009. Marvel’s bookstore sales, from observation, are far below what they should be given their strong brands. It’s typical that they needed to include information to reassure direct market retailers, some of whom can be touchy about traditional comic publishers looking to grow other markets.

Some observers are speculating that the change was affected or caused by the Amazon sales glitch in March, in which many publishers distributed by Diamond Book saw prices on their products slashed, of which Marvel was the most widely affected. It’s unlikely, since we don’t know how long this change had been planned or discussed internally. It is surprising that Disney books (Marvel’s new corporate parent) are distributed not by Hachette but by HarperCollins, as Heidi MacDonald points out. She also talks with a Diamond Book VP who confirms that Marvel was their biggest client.

You’ll probably still pay shipping, and there’s a $10 minimum purchase, so you’ll have to buy at least two books. But most of the single-author volumes are $6, with Horror Classics and Robert Louise Stevenson at $5, and the two newest (color) books, Science Fiction Classics and Louisa May Alcott, $9. I’ve also reviewed the Oscar Wilde and Gothic Classics volumes.

Love and Capes Volume 2
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Then again, they’re putting out a second volume of Love and Capes (APR10 0387, $19.99), my favorite superhero series. Thom Zahler keeps the issues going under his own Maerkle Press label, but IDW handles the collections.

Things have been tough out there for traditional print comic publishers, and there’s no sign they’re getting better any time soon. Negative Burn used to come out from Desperado Publishing; now it’s with IDW. Hack/Slash was part of Devil’s Due; now it’s from Image. Creature Tech also moved to Image from Top Shelf. It’s all about small publishers and creators seeking shelter from a larger umbrella and moving up in the catalog if they can. There’s not much room any more for the small publisher, one step up from a self-publisher, with only a handful of titles.

Nothing Better: Into the Wild
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I feel for the older indy publishers, most. They remember the days when the direct market was all that mattered, and they struggled through (for decades, sometimes) trying to survive that market when their material really was aiming elsewhere. Now that bookstores and digital distribution are the growth markets, they still have a foot in the previous camp, and I wonder sometimes if that split focus won’t tear them apart. Or I’m just shooting off my mouth about things I don’t know enough about.

I’ve already had the pleasure of reading Nothing Better: Into the Wild (APR10 0929, Dementian Comics, $15); in fact, it was one of my Best Graphic Novels of 2009. Now you can order it through your comic shop, and if you enjoy funny and heart-warming stories about college roommates, you should.

The Terrible Axe-Man of New Orleans
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It’s not a graphic novel, but I must recommend the new issue of Comic Book Comics. There’s no other comic series like this, providing a factual yet funny overview of key moments in industry history. #5 (APR10 0977, Evil Twin Comics, $3.95) is the All-Lawsuit Issue, covering Jack Kirby’s fight with Marvel, Howard the Duck, Dan DeCarlo’s Josie and the Pussycats, Miracleman, and more!

Every June, there’s a new entry in Rick Geary’s Treasury of 20th Century Murder series. This year, it’s The Terrible Axe-Man of New Orleans (APR10 1022, NBM Publishing, $15.99), a killer of grocers, of all things. And I’m glad they come out in summer, when sunny breezes and bright days can shake off the maudlin, creepy stories told authentically. I wish Geary didn’t have such fascination for unsolved murders, because I’m always left wondering just what really happened, an answer we’ll never know. (There’s a preview online.)

When I read Past Lies back in 2006, I liked the supernatural mystery enough to hope we’d get more stories with the characters. Instead, we’re getting a hardcover reprint (APR10 1040, Oni Press, $19.99). Maybe that’s a good sign that there’s still potential for followup?