This week's comic shop shipment is slated to include the following new titles. Read on to see what comics-blog commentators and web-savvy comic shops are saying about them (more to be added as they appear), check out our previews at the links, and contact your local shop to confirm availability.
For a change of pace let's kick things off with…
"CONFLICT OF INTEREST RESERVOIR: Nicolas Mahler parodies the superhero comics industry in his characteristic style with Angelman, a 96-page color hardcover; $18.99. A new softcover edition of Fredrik Strömberg’s Black Images in the Comics (I’ve read and enjoyed the 2003 edition) offers valuable insights on a large collection of depictions; $19.99. And editor John Benson presents Squa Tront #13, an all-new 48-page fanzine on things EC and related; $9.99." – Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal
96-page full-color 7" x 9.75" hardcover • $18.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-534-1
"A really weird, somewhat adorable little book by the Austrian artist Nicolas Mahler that I am happy to suspect is as close as Fantagraphics is ever going to come to publishing superhero comics. It's a minimalist reaction against, and parody of, mainstream comics' conventions of character, storytelling, drawing, design, financial structure, interaction with their readers… it's attractively executed for sure, and pretty funny…" – Douglas Wolk, ComicsAlliance
"Lotsa good, splurge-worthy stuff this week, including… Angelman, a rather cutting (if you look at the cover you’ll see I’m making a pun here) superhero parody from Austrian cartoonist Nicolas Mahler…" – Chris Mautner, Robot 6
"For my splurge item, I’m going to take Mautner’s recommendation and grab Nicolas Mahler’s Angelman. I can use some cutting superhero parody this week." – Michael May, Robot 6
"A funny and biting take on superhero comics — or as I often like to spell them, 'sooperhero comics.' Angelman has powers like empathy and enemies like Gender-Bender (a plastic surgeon). A minimal yet endearing art style — and a biting look at superhero comics, fans and the business behind them." – Benn Ray (Atomic Books), Largehearted Boy
"I did not expect to see a nice-looking Fantagraphics hardcover featuring Nicolas Mahler's work, so this was a pleasant surprise." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter
Black Images in the Comics (Softcover Ed.)
by Fredrik Strömberg
304-page black & white 6" x 6" softcover • $19.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-562-4
"…I’m definitely curious enough about Fredrik Stromberg’s Black Images in the Comics (Fantagraphics, $19.99) to pick it up; comics’ early racism is often ignored, so I’m looking forward to learning more, and then getting depressed about it." – Graeme McMillan, Robot 6
"A fascinating survey of… comics from the past 100 years from all over the world all featuring black characters. Each entry includes an accompanying essay. Overall, a compelling look at the changing role of race in comics and therefore culture. – Benn Ray (Atomic Books), Largehearted Boy
Squa Tront #13
edited by John Benson
48-page black & white/color 8.5" x 11" softcover • $9.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-571-6
"…Fantagraphics has the latest issue of Squa Tront, the longest-running EC-focused crit/fan mag evar. At $10, that’s certainly at least worth a flip-through." – Chris Mautner, Robot 6
"I've read this and it was as surprise for me. I generally adore Squa Tront, and magazines that use a specific focus to build a perspective on comics more generally. I thought this a strong issue just for the presentation of Jack Davis war-era cartooning. This is the kind of thing I want to do with my own relationship to comics when I grow up." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter
Maggie the Mechanic (Love and Rockets Library — Locas Book 1)
by Jaime Hernandez
272-page black & white 7.5" x 9.25" softcover • $14.95
ISBN: 978-1-56097-784-1
The Girl from H.O.P.P.E.R.S. (Love and Rockets Library — Locas Book 2)
by Jaime Hernandez
272-page black & white 7.5" x 9.25" softcover • $14.95
ISBN: 978-1-56097-851-0
"So you hear people talking all the time about Jaime Hernandez and how he's one of the most amazing cartoonists working in the English language and all that, and there are so many Love and Rockets collections in so many formats, and where do you start? If you're one of the people who prefers to start at the beginning, there is a new printing of this stout little paperback [Maggie the Mechanic] out this week, which collects his earliest, sci-fi/punk-type 'Locas' and 'Mechanics' stories, as well as a new printing of the second volume, The Girl From H.O.P.P.E.R.S., in which he hits the groove in which he's stayed most of the time since then. I never get tired of re-reading these." – Douglas Wolk, ComicsAlliance
"I will… buy everything Jaime Hernandez does just short of new printings. I'd sure check my damn bookshelves to make sure I had one, though. This early material reads quite well in those paperbacks, I think." – Tom Spurgeon, The Comics Reporter
Castle Waiting Vol. 1
by Linda Medley
456-page black & white 5.5" x 8" hardcover • $29.95
ISBN: 978-1-56097-747-6