Zot!: The Complete Black and White Collection: 1987-1991

Zot! changed my life. The 36-issue comic series by Scott McCloud ran from 1984 to 1991. It started as a manga-influenced light-hearted superhero series, but by the end, McCloud was telling powerful stories about everyday life as a teen. McCloud is better known today as the author of Understanding Comics, a non-fiction exploration of the format; its followup, Reinventing Comics, which examines technology; and a how-to book, Making Comics. But he originally started with this series, an homage to the […]

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Best of 2008

As I sent them to Publishers Weekly at the end of last year. I know this is terribly late to post, but on the other hand, it’s never too late to talk about good comics. This was supposed to be a graphic novel list, but I couldn’t resist including manga (because I think separating the two is a kind of protectionism, due to manga outselling American graphic novels in most cases, and I enjoy reading both) and Sinfest, a webcomic […]

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High School Debut Volume 10

The sports festival that started in the previous volume continues in High School Debut volume 10, only with an added complication: Yoh’s friend Asaoka has declared his interest in Yoh’s girlfriend Haruna. Asaoka has a bet with Yoh; Asaoka will only leave Haruna (who’s blissfully unaware of all this) alone if Yoh beats him at the festival events. I know things had to change once Yoh and Haruna got together — but I sometimes miss the humor of the early […]

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Green Lantern: Interview With Tricia Helfer

It’s only a couple of weeks until Green Lantern: First Flight arrives, so here’s the latest in a series of interviews provided by Warner Home Video. This time it’s Tricia Helfer, the voice of Boodikka, and geek-favorite actress from Battlestar Galactica. QUESTION: What did you seek to convey vocally as Boodikka? TRICIA HELFER: Boodikka’s a fighter, a protector. She is very honorable in that she does what she thinks is right, even if some things go against the grain. She’s […]

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Twilight Manga Announced

Putting out a Twilight manga is a perfect combination for the teen girl target audience. No specific release date has been announced, but publisher Yen Press should have a huge hit, especially if they can get it out around the July 2010 date of the third movie. (I’m guessing November of this year, when the second film, New Moon, is due, is too soon.) Art is by Korean artist Young Kim, which makes me think it will be left-to-right, which […]

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Smart Moves at Boom!

Boom! Studios has made a number of important business-oriented announcements lately. I’m excited to see them because I think they demonstrate how this publisher is planning to be around for the long haul. They’ve named a new Sales Director, Jenny Christopher, a former Diamond Purchasing Brand Manager. This position allows Chip Mosher to concentrate on Marketing while Jenny focuses on mass market and newsstand distribution. (That Boom! HAS mass market and newsstand distribution relationships is a key indicator of what […]

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Leverage: The First Season

I found the opening season of the TNT original series Leverage — the Ocean’s 11-style TV show about a group of semi-reformed thieves working for justice — very enjoyable. If you haven’t been watching, you should check out this first season collection for some entertaining escapism as grifters take on powerful people when they’ve done wrong and no one else can set things right. Timothy Hutton stars as Nathan Ford, a former insurance investigator whose son died due to his […]

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Parker: The Hunter

It’s an unusual project, but one uniquely suited to the talents involved. Darwyn Cooke (The New Frontier, The Spirit) is adapting Richard Stark’s Parker novels into comic form; The Hunter is the first of four planned graphic novels. I haven’t read any of the original books myself, but since Cooke clearly has a great affinity for retro-styled works, and since crime/noir stories of this type work best with that kind of timeless feel, I expected an excellent match. This brief […]

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