Plutona

I had my eye on Plutona from its very first issue, but after skimming through the intro in issue 1, I decided to wait until the trade paperback came out so I could read it all at once. MAN, what a wait that was!!!! But finally the trade did indeed come out and it was quite worth it!
The story of a group of troubled highschoolers (middle -schoolers?) who come across the seemingly dead body of their town's resident super-heroine Plutona changes their lives and creates a divide between the friends in a way they can never come back from!
As shown in Sweet Tooth, Jeff Lemire certainly knows how to write from the mind of youngsterws, and with Emi Lenox's wonderful storybook art, create a very surreal fantasy story.

Snotgirl #1

When I went in to pick up the Plutona Trade Paperback and the latest Usagi Yojimbo Collection, I saw the first issue of Snotgirl with artwork by Bryan Lee O'Malley.  Though the story line (of a girl who is a Dazzling Fashion Blogger online but a Hay-Fevered Runny-Nosed Insecure girl in real life) intrigued me, I'm not a big fan of O'malley's art, and so passed it up. Only when I got home I found out O'Malley wasn't the interior artist, and the girl they got to do inside illustrations was Leslie Hung, someone who absolutely EXCELS in drawing beautiful gals!!! I also found that the O'Malley cover I saw was a variant, and that the real cover was done by Hung herserf, and so I made a mad rush BACK to the comic store to pick it up!!! As you can see, it.is.freaking.beautiful!!!
Interesting story so far, we'll see if this one goes anywhere...

Rat Queens, Vol.1: Sass and Sorcery

My friend Gerg is responsible for introducing me to more comic titles than I can count, some I loved and some I really didn't like, but there were a handful of comics that he personally collected but didn't bother trying to get me to read them as he felt they "weren't your type of comics", and one of his very favorites was Kurtis J. Weibe and Roc Uphurch's RAT QUEENS, a sword and sorcery tale concerning four kick-butt fantasy maidens and their loves and battles in the time of middle-earth...
Normally I wouldn't have bothered checking this out, but it was part of the half-off sale at the local comic store so I took a chance...and i'm glad I did, this comic is GREAT fun! Now, to look for the rest!

iZombie, Vol.1: Dead to The World

My first exposure to iZombie was an issue where Gilbert Hernandez had done a guest spot. I love Los Bros Hernandez and so my comic shop held an issue for me in case I was interested. I bought it and read it but didn't get around to really readin ti til i saw a used copy of the first Trade Paperback "Dead to the World" on sale.
WOW, was it  Good!!! Interesting storylines, characters , and artwork: Michael Allred looks like he's channeling Charles Burns or Chris "Coop" Cooper with his illustartions and wierd charicature characters. And is it just me or does main character Gwen. the titular "zombie" of the strip look not just a little like Blondie's Debbie Harry?

Morning Glories, Vol.1: For A Better Future

When I strolled into the comic store in town, I was thrilled to find that they had all of their graphic novels on sale for half price(!) and with that in mind, i grabbed a bunch of 'em that i was curious about but didn't have the funds to go exploring. And among the haul I took was the Nick Spencer/Joe Eisma strip "Morning Glories" about a mysterious school and its equally mysterious students.
Was an OK read for the first time, but I'll have to grab at least a couple more books before I can see exactly where this comic is heading...

We Stand On Guard

Just started reading the awesome Brian K Vaughan/Steve Skroce Graphic Novel WE STAND ON GUARD and Holy CRAP am I LOVING it! Cool Characters and situations in a post-apocalyptic future where the United States is in Battle against Canada with hi-tech weaponry and giant freaking robots. Funnily enough, my friend tried to dissuade me from reading this, saying it was “meh”, but after reading just ONE chapter at Barnes and Nobles, I HAD to pick it up! Superb art and storytelling!!!

East Of West, Vol.1: The Promise

Finally took everyone’s advice and began reading EAST of WEST, the Sci-Fi/Western Tale of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the factions set to do battle with them, and so far so good- wonderful art and intriguing characters… I only have the first book… I saw some used copies of the collected graphic Novels on sale at a used bookstore in town, I’d better go see if they still have them!

Unfollow, Vol.1: 140 Charaters

Just finished reading the DC/VERTIGO Graphic Novel UNFOLLOW:140 CHARACTERS, about 140 random people who are chosen to inherit a billionaire's fortune, with the knowledge that if any of them die, the deceased reward will be distributed among the survivors. Cue Battle Royale Homage!!

Archie

As a huge, huge fan of artist Fiona Staples, i knew I had to get this one, but I'm REALLY not a fan of these new Archie reboots, as you may recall in my entry on "Afterlife With Archie"...Somehow in these new versions,  they forget how all the characters were basically good and likeable people. Veronica and Reggie are always portrayed in these new ones as 100% bad and Mr. Lodge as a cranky old tyrant, even Jughead, the most laid-back and mellow dude ever, is portrayed as more of a condescending and arrogant guy. And sadly, this new series is just like the others: despite its' awesome art, these reboots, though probably great for the kids of today, just don't do it for me.

Persepolis

A thoroughly intriguing and captivating tale about the real-life story of a young girl named Marjane Satrapi growing up in a war-torn Iran, her teenage years in France and her return as a young woman to her repressed homelands.

Sweet Tooth, Vol.1-6

After hearing how much I loved his earlier recommendation for Manifest Destiny, my friend Gerg suggested I might like Sweet Tooth, the story of a young boy born with deer antlers on the verge of Apocalypse. It was an okay series, good to spend a week reading.

The Humans, Vol.2: Humans Till Deth

 

As a guy who loves the whole 60's Culture, the VERY adult comic series THE HUMANS continues their Monkey-eyed take on hippies, motorcycle gangs. the Vietnam war  and Alcohol, Sex and Drugs with so much excitement and energy it's like watching a movie! Really great series...and is it just me or is main character Johnny a dead-ringer for Neil Young???

The Fuse, Vol.3: Perihelion

Continuing on with Anthony Johnson and Justin Greenwoood's wonderful space saga THE FUSE with their third book following the exploits of Space Station Detectives Rystovich and Dietrich.
They seem to be softening up Klem Rystovich in this one, portraying her a bit more womanly and even hinting at a former romantic backstory. An excellent ongoing series.

Afterlife With Archie

Re-read this one again to see if I liked it any better than I did the first time around, but it looks like I'm the only one who hasn't warmed up to this revamp as everyone else seems to be praising it to the high heavens, LOL.

Beasts of Burden: What The Cat Dragged In

Just finished re-reading the awesome "Beasts of Burden by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson and my friend informed me that a new Beats of Burden special had just come out! What timing!

MPH

Re-read this one again just for the fun of it! A great One-Shot Graphic Novel!

4 Kids Walk Into A Bank

Along with the awesome Manifest Destiny book, Gerg also gave me the first in a 5-part series called "4 Kids Walk Into A Bank" that he really loved. Can't say I cared for this as much as he did, but then again he was always a bigger fan of the "witty youngsters" kind of stories than I...

Manifest Destiny, Vol.1-3

When my friend Gerg comes to visit, he always brings a bunch of new titles he thinks I'd like, and among the comics he brought on his latest visit, was an insanely creative graphic novel about an alternate history Lewis & Clark trudging through and mapping out the great untamed wilderness of unexplored America... and battling the Mystical Creatures, Otherworldly Aliens and Abominable Animal Aberrations they come across!!!
WOW, just like ATOMIC ROBO, with its evil mastermind Thomas Edison and Cool Agent Carl Sagan, this "History that never was" features ‎Meriwether Lewis and ‎William Clark as the coolest Gun-totingest agents ever, and ‎Sacagawea as a kick-butt super-warrior ready to take on and disable any new menace they come across!
I IMMEDIATELY fell in love with this one and RAN to the comic store to grab the other two Trade Paperbacks so I could catch up on 'em all! Manifest Destiny has become a HUGE fave of mine!

Beasts Of Burden: Animal Rites

Ahhhh, just finished re-reading the AWESOME Evan Dorkin/Jill Thompson Graphic Novel BEASTS OF BURDEN: ANIMAL RITES, oh how I love this series!!!! Was even better the second time around as I now know and love all of the characters and could take the time to examine all the little things Thompson draws in her pictures that make the comic such a joy to look at!

Coraline

My friend has a young daughter who is just getting into reading stuff of the sci-fi/fantasy/comic genre (the George O'Connor/Rick Riordan-ish Mythology stuff, to be precise) and we've been scrambling to find new things for her to give her daughter to check out. I re-read  this, thinking it would be a GREAT book to give her,(I love this book so much!) but my friend said her daughter had already watched the movie and wasn't much interested in reading a comic version. Oh Well.

Desolation Jones

Just felt like re-reading the excellent Warren Ellis/JH Williams TPB Desolation Jones: Made in England again. Man, this is such a great comic, such a shame they dropped the strip after this arc. Still, at least it's kind of a contained story that you can read and enjoy without worrying about it having a huge unresolved ending.

The Walking Dead, Vol.25: No Turning Back

I was not a regular monthly collector of Rober Kirkman/Charles Adlard's Walking Dead, opting to wait for the huge 50 issues thick "Compendium" Editions, but I found it was agonizing waiting so long to see what happened next to Rick Grimes and his crew, additionally, So much time had passed that i would have to re-read all the previous omnibuses before to remember what happened!
Finally, after the third Omnibus, I decided that I jsut couldn't wait for the next omnibus, and finally began collecting the trade paperbacks which came out a bit more regularly, starting with Trade 25.
Awwwww so good!

Lazarus, Vol.4: Poison

Picked up the latest trade collection of the cool Greg Rucka/Michael Lark series LAZARUS and decided to re-read the entire series again from Book One! The futuristic story of Forever Carlyle, bodyguard and protector of her family as the factions go to war is such a exciting series that I'm surprised at how few people I know have heard of it. This should be a lOT more popular!

Harrow County, Vol.2: Twice Told

Continuing on with Cullen Bunn and Tyler Crooks' wonderfully spooky and mesmerizing comic HARROW COUNTY. Seems like these books come out a lot faster and more frequent than others, and that's a good thing!

Love And Rockets #8

What a happy surprise walking in to my local Barnes and Nobles and seeing this sitting on the shelf! As you know, release dates for Love and Rockets have been famously unpredictable since like, forever, and so when one happens to come out it's like a special gift!