From the lighthearted to the macabre, gift ideas for comics fans
If you have a comics fan in your life, there’s a plethora of gift possibilities on shelves at comic-book stores and other retail outlets. Most comic stores should have staples including comic-book collecting supplies, graphic novels and even gift certificates.
The following is a selection of some gifts that should please a discerning reader.
Happy Birthday, Matt Fraction
Happy 34th birthday to writer Matt Fraction, currently chronicling the adventures of the Uncanny X-Men and the Invincible Iron Man. While Fraction’s a big-shot Marvel writer these days, my favorite work of his is the heist drama “Last of the Independents” from AiT-Planet Lar.
Here’s what I wrote about “Last of the Independents,” by Fraction and artist Kieron Dwyer, when I named it the top graphic novel of 2003:
Influenced by guy movies such as “Unforgiven” and “Charley Varrick,” “Last of the Independents” features bank robber Cole Claudle, just one big score away from retirement. When that robbery is much bigger than expected, Claudle finds himself fighting the mob and trying to keep himself and his friends safe long enough to escape.
If you want to experience the Fraction oeuvre, here’s a handy top 10 list of my favorites.
1. Last of the Independents
2. Immortal Iron Fist: With Ed Brubaker and David Aja, Fraction reinterpreted the Iron Fist mythos into a first-rate kung-fu thriller.
3. The Annotated Mantooth: A zany spy comedy with a gorilla and a giant robot. Back when I worked behind the counter in my comic-book store, this was a go-to sale.
4. Casanova: Casanova Quinn is thrown into the life of a double agent following his twin sister’s death. “Casanova” is a Steranko-esque, 1960s-style, over-the-top adventure.
5. The Invincible Iron Man: Fraction writes a cool, suave Tony that should fit right in to people’s perceptions of the character following the Robert Downey Jr. movie.
6. The Five Fists of Science: A steampunk graphic novel which features Nikola Tesla vs. Thomas Edison.
7. The Order: A short-lived Defenders spinoff that featured the superhero team assigned to California as part of the Initiative project.
8. Thor: Ages of Thunder: Fraction looks at Marvel’s Thor as related to the Norse myth cycle.
9. @HoboDarkseid: Not a comic, but Fraction’s goofy twittering as a hobo Darkseid was a reminder that the man is flat-out funny.
10. Uncanny X-Men: While it’s tough to bring anything brand-new to a franchise like the X-Men, Fraction has done a good job of making it seem fresh while still honoring the past.
Click past the cut for a full review of “Last of the Independents,” originally published in July 2003.
Best comics of the 00’s chosen by AV Club
The AV Club runs down its best comics of the 2000s in an article that’s sure to start lots of debate. I’m working on by best of 2009 list right now, and will probably try to put together a best-of-decade list myself sometime after that. The AV list is good, but no Scott Pilgrim? (As many people are saying.) To me that comic DEFINES comics in the 00’s. Click through to see the full list, and feel free to leave your comments — or nominations — here.
- Matt Price
Q&A with Neil Kleid of Brownsville, The Big Kahn
Neil Kleid first came to my attention as the writer/artist of the Xeric-winning “Ninety Candles,” an innovative graphic novel in which each panel represented a year. Here’s what I wrote about the book in early 2005, naming Ninety Candles one of the best graphic novels of the year:
Neil Kleid’s experimental “Ninety Candles” follows the life of cartoonist Kevin Hall, with one panel representing each year of Hall’s life. The book was done improvisationally, with no pre-existing script — each day represented in the book was created in a day.
Kleid has since created the Jewish gangster story “Brownsville,” coming to the iPhone via Panelfly, and one of the best graphic novels of 2009, “The Big Kahn.” The following is a Q&A with Kleid about those projects.
Gangster graphic novel makes move to iPhone
Award-winning graphic novelist Neil Kleid is taking his Jewish gangster graphic novel, “Brownsville,” to the iPhone.
“The process is definitely exciting,” Kleid said in a recent interview. “Each and every day another smart phone comes to market — be it iPhone, Pre, Droid or Blackberry — and the comic book industry is matching them stride for stride. The only thing, as a cartoonist or graphic novelist you really need to do is change your point of view, understand that this is the limitless new horizon and get on board.”
“Brownsville,” from publisher NBM, is the story of Murder, Incorporated, the Jewish hit operation of the 1920s and ’30s.
Grandville is anthropomorphic steampunk thriller
Today’s graphic novel recommendation: Grandville. It’s like Sherlock Holmes meets James Bond by way of Quentin Tarantino, starring anthropomorphic animals in an alternate Napoleonic Europe.
It’s by Bryan Talbot, who most recently wowed everybody with “Alice in Sunderland” and is the creator of “The Tale of One Bad Rat” and “Tales of Luther Arkwright.”
Grandville stars Detective Inspector LeBrock, a badger with a keen eye for detail who’s handy with both guns and fists. This Scotland Yard inspector lives in a Britain that’s become a footnote, connected to France by railway, where Paris is the center of the steampunk European world.
A murder puts LeBrock and his assistant on the trail of a giant conspiracy that could affect the entire Napoleonic Empire.
This book works on a number of levels, with interesting allusions to children’s literature and current events, and is beautifully drawn besides. Talbot’s storytelling remains top-notch.
Talbot is already at work on a sequel, Grandville Mon Amour, which is set for a 2010 release, according to fan site bryan-talbot.com.
- Matt Price
Trailer for Whiteout film starring Kate Beckinsale
Check out the trailer to Whiteout, directed by Dominic Sena and set for release on Sept. 11, 2009. The film stars Kate Beckinsale and is based on the Greg Rucka-Steve Lieber graphic novel from Oni Press.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to become graphic novel
Del Rey Books has announced it will publish “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Graphic Novel.” It will be based on the New York Times bestselling book by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith.
The book takes Jane Austen’s classic novel and adds “zombie mayhem.”
“Not only is it exciting for Del Rey to be a part of this year’s most remarkable publishing phenomenon, ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Graphic Novel’ is just flat-out one of the coolest books on our list ever,” said Del Rey editor Tricia Narwani.
The graphic novel will be adapted by Tony Lee, recent writer of “Doctor Who” comics, and Cliff Richards, artist of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” comics.
“Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Graphic Novel” is scheduled for January release.
- Matt Price
Archaia announces original graphic novel for Kindle
Publisher Archaia will bring four original graphic novels to Amazon’s Kindle platform over the next 12 months, the publisher announced. These graphic novels will also be available for the Kindle iPhone and iPod Touch apps.
“Elk’s Run” creators Joshua Hale Fialkov and Noel Tuazon will kick off the program with “Tumor.”
Tumor is a Los Angeles noir about a private investigator with a terminal brain tumor trying to close one last case before the cancer kills him. It will be released as eight individual chapters over the next six months that will then be collected into a hardcover edition.
The first chapter of Tumor is available now on the Kindle for free, with subsequent chapters priced at 99 cents. Writer Fialkov is pleased to bring his story to this new format.
“I’ve loved my Kindle from Day One, and as soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted Tumor to be available for the platform,” said Fialkov in a release. “Archaia understood that the Kindle is a unique opportunity to get their comics out there and into the hands of a whole new fanbase who are avid book readers, but may have not read a graphic novel in years.”
You can check out Tumor for the Kindle here: http://tinyurl.com/mvx84k.
Chapter Two will be released during the week of August 3rd, and each subsequent chapter will be released every three weeks. More information about Tumor is available at www.tumorthecomic.com.
Also coming up for the Kindle is Mr. Murder is Dead, co-published by Before the Door Pictures, which is Zachary Quinto’s publishing company. Mr. Murder is dead is a black and white original graphic novel written by Victor Quinaz.
- Matt Price
Dark Horse announces host of new products at Comic-Con
A display of some of the coming titles from Dark Horse Comics
Archive editions of classic Archie comic books and a Conan one-shot by Darick Robertson show the variety of projects announced by Dark Horse at Comic-Con International in San Diego. Here’s a list from the eclectic publisher of upcoming products:
365 Samurai and a Few Bowls of Rice – Swiss artist J. P. Kalonji’s graphic novel comes to America. A young swordfighter must kill 365 samurai on a quest to avenge his master-in a fun, humorous, cartoony style.
Age of Reptiles – Film designer Ricardo Delgado returns with the third installment of his epic (silent) dinosaur comics series. Carnivores hunt herbivores on a migration south.
Aliens vs. Predator: Three World War – The 2009 relaunch of the Aliens and Predator series comes together with a creative team of John Arcudi and Rick Leonardi.
Archie Archives – The classic Archie comic books get the deluxe treatment in a series of hardcovers as the newest editions to the Dark Horse Archives series.
Blacksad – Collecting all three of the international award-winning European volumes, the third of which has not been published in English before. This crime noir about a cat detective, PI John Blacksad, is a phenomenal anthropomorphic story with fully painted artwork. By Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido.
Casper Anniversary Special – A 64-page hardcover celebrating Casper’s sixtieth anniversary and featuring his first appearance in comics.
Conan: The Weight of the Crown – Darick Robertson writes and draws our first Conan one-shot since the
Darick Robertson sketches for a fan.
Conan the Cimmerian relaunch. This comic is part of Dark Horse’s all-new One-Shot Wonders program.
Dark Horse GelaSkins – Decorative coverings for phones and laptops featuring some of Dark Horse’s most popular properties, including The Umbrella Academy, Yoshitaka Amano, Tim Burton, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hellboy, and many more. A select few will be available at the Dark Horse booth during the convention as supplies last. The whole program is set to launch in September 2009.
Devil – Devil is an original Japanese manga being created for Dark Horse by Torajiro Kishi and animation powerhouse Madhouse Studios, featuring genetically designed vampires in a sci-fi police drama set in Tokyo.
Electropolis – Electropolis: The Infernal Machine is the perfect companion to Mister X: Condemned. Visionary artist Dean Motter revisits his unique brand of “antique futurism” in a story full of familiar faces, including a memorable cameo by Mister X himself.
Final Fantasy Boxed Set – A luxurious edition that stays true to the original Japanese collection of the complete Final Fantasy artwork by Yoshitaka Amano.
Furry Water and Mesmo Delivery – Eisner winner Rafael Grampá comes to Dark Horse with two books: Mesmo Delivery, a reprint of his psychedelic small-press debut; and Furry Water, cowritten with Daniel Pellizzari, a six-issue postapocalyptic action comic.
One-Shot Wonders – A new program running from October to December, highlighting some of Dark Horse’s biggest characters and properties in standalone comics retailing at $3.50 each. The program includes “Sugarshock,” Conan, Hellboy, Abe Sapien, Star Wars (two titles), “Dr. Horrible,” and The Goon.
The Art of Blade of the Immortal – Hardcover edition of the original Japanese book with 32 new bonus pages not previously available. This book will be in the style of the Dark Horse The Art of . . . and Library Edition series.
