Mark on American Splendor: Our Movie Year

b o o k s f o r N o v e m b e r 2 0 0 4

Human Target: Living In Amerika (£9-99, Vertigo/DC) by Peter Milligan & Cliff Chiang. 'Confused? You will be after this week's episode of...' Christopher Chance is The Human Target, a man who lives other people's lives in order to save them. So lost is he in his work that most recently he has to use his not inconsiderable skills of impersonation - and a lot of prosthetics - to even look like Christopher Chance, because underneath it all he now has the face and wife of dead Frank White. Complicating things further this time round, he's persuaded into looking like Charlie Rivers who's posing as John Charles and thinks Christopher Chance is actually Molloy, an active terrorist left-over from The Weathermen cell. Chance's mission? Catch Molloy. And that's just one of the stories within. In terms of ingenuity of plot and slights of hand, this is the cleverest book currently on the market. Plus it has guns, for those that want them. There are three previous books (from the mini-series, the original graphic novel, and the current series) all written by Milligan and all superb. I have absolutely no idea how he does it.

Bosom Enemies: Bridgework (£4-50, A Fine Line) by Donna Barr, An Insupportable Light (£14-50, A Fine Line) by Donna Barr -Following on from the excellent, chilling BOSOM ENEMIES: ALL TURNED AROUND/STINZ we get more of the soldiers transformed. 'German Lieutenant Stephan Egger and American Sergeant Stewart Harrow stagger ashore outside San Francisco. It is 1970. They're as young as they were years before during Word War Two. They can't remove their uniforms - or even the same old dirt. Before they know it, they're thrown in jail for fighting under the bridge at the Presidio - and they're being bailed out by Stephan's grand-daughter. It's a culture clash across time and place, and people wearing hobnails shouldn't get on a skateboard.' AN INSUPPORTABLE LIGHT is the original Stinz novel from 1981 and I can't wait to see how Donna's stories hold up without her lush visuals. Trina Robbins described this better that I can - 'Donna Barr's writing could not possibly be like her drawing, because she draws faster than most people think. It comes close in other ways, though. In An Insupportable Light, Barr has found a way, as she does in her comics, to create a world taken from her own brain which we nonetheless are certain we must have read about somewhere in some history book or other.

Possessed of an uncanny knowledge of the European middle ages — due to exhausting research or a past life? — she brings a village and a people — several kinds of people — to life and demonstrates, with a writing style that is part poetry, part irony, how the very worst things can happen, purely by happenstance, to the most well-meaning of souls.'

It's Only A Game vol 1 (£9-99, Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.) by Charles M Schulz & Jim Sasseville - One of the other strips about children and baseball by Schulz. After creating PEANUTS, Schulz created a second syndicated strip. None of these strips have been reprinted.

Stickleback (£4-50, Alternative) by Graham Annable - Well, I think he's funny. After two books of GRICKLE, a handful of HICKEE anthologies, Annable gives us another strange one. ' An eccentric George Stickleback spends life in his apartment with his cat Patty surrounded by meticulously arranged men of toilet paper. A mission from the outside world to console a friend imposes an unwelcome break in Mr. Stickleback's routine.' Have a look at his site.

Above & Below: Two Tales Of The American Frontier (£6-50, Drawn & Quarterly) by James Sturm - A collection of two, pre-GOLEM'S MIGHTY SWING books by the creator of CEREAL KILLINGS. 'The Revival' is an examination of religious fundamentalism at the turn of the 19th century and 'Hundreds Of Feet Below Daylight' a story of voracious greed set against the backdrop of an Idaho mining town built on the blood of massacred Chinese.

American Splendor: Our Movie Year (£10-99, Random House) by Harvey Pekar & R. Crumb, Mark Zingarelli, Gary Dumm, Kevin Brown, various - It's all getting too self-referential! The comic of the movie of the book of the life! Eeeek! The AMERICAN SPLENDOR film gave Harvey his second wave of fame. Now, not just an oddball cult figure from the Letterman show, he had a bona fide film of his life so, in the eyes of many, that makes his more valid and provokes more interest in his comics. This is the story from Sundance to Cannes to the Oscars. They really should make a movie of this one.

Hutch Owen: Unmarketable (£9-99, Top Shelf) by Tom Hart - One of my favourite creators brings back his most popular (in the greater scheme of things) characters. 'Hutch Owen, the homeless rebel that battles the corporate forces that control our lives. Included in the volume are: 'Public Relations', where Hutch is pitted against the Warner company and a PR firm bent on redesigning the World Trade Centre site (this 92-page story - the longest Hutch story to date - was a one-page-per-week improvisational drama begun as a personal response to 9-11): 'Aristotle', in which Hutch winds up in Warner's employ as a slogan writer: as well as a surreal Hutch Owen '24-hour comic' in which Hutch battle the trends of the 'far future' when everyone wants to be on TV and thinks they have something new to say.' And there's more. The Hutch stories are always more direct than his floating, beguiling works like THE SANDS and some of his mini. His art, always gloriously scratchy has become more self assured, the panels fuller, the whole page a better composition. Highly recommended.

What're You Lookin' At? (£10-99, Fantagraphics) by Johnny Ryan - Politically incorrect, not for children and very funny. Ryan's attack on popular culture continues in this book, reprinted from ANGRY YOUTH COMICS and other sources. If Mike Diana had been force fed Kurtzman/Elder MAD and made to watch daytime tv this might have happened.

Strangers In Paradise vol 15: Tomorrow Now (£9-99, Abstract Studios) by Terry Moore. Katchoo's career as an artist takes off big time. Also this month: Strangers In Paradise pocket vol 3 (£11-99), and I love the covers' unifying design.

Tales >From Fish Camp (£6-50, AIT/Planetlar) by Danielle Henderson. The Alaskan fishing village experience for a New York City girl. Whisky and wizened old men, hours of filleting, and very little sleep. What an unusual subject for a comic. I'm in, and will report when it's out.

Bone: One Volume edition limited edition signed h/c (£80-00, Cartoon Books) by Jeff Smith. Only 2000 copies will be available - and not all of them here - of this deliriously lush package which, as well as including all 1,300 pages of the charming comicbook fantasy, features a full-colour signed and number bookplate, end pages printed with a map by, surprisingly enough, Mark (AKIKO) Crilley, gold, embossed lettering on the cover and - this I love - gilded edges to the pages. Several of you have ordered a 'Bone One Volume hardcover'. Can you confirm whether it's this edition you're after, please? Cheers!

Thieves & Kings vol 5: The Winter Book (£10-99, I-Box Publishing) by Mark Oakley. Hugely ambitious fantasy series which to my shame I confess I've let slip from my reading list, and I don't know why. It's wonderful stuff, with a truly unique visual style, but in the end I began to find it heavy going. Does someone out there fancy writing us a review of the current issues so that I can use it when this book appears?

30 Days Of Night: Return To Barrow (s/c £12-99, h/c £26-99, IDW) by Steve Niles & Ben Templesmith. Third book in the vampire series full of inky blacks and sharp teeth. This sees the return to Alaska where there isn't much light, which is probably just as well given what you'd see.

Lore (£12-99 IDW) by Ashley Wood. 'Thrust into a world where beasts of legend are made flesh, Jennifer Bradley must unravel the story of her father's mysterious death before humankind is wiped out forever.' Oh, is that what was happening? Exploded art with lots of washes, like a cross between Bill Sienkiewicz and Kent Williams.

How Loathsome (£8-99, NBM) by Ted Naifeh & Tristan Crane. This gets a mention in the PRISM COMICS anthology/resource which I've just reviewed for part B. Here's what Tom wrote when it appeared in hardcover (and before you get confused he opens with a quotation, rather than confession!)

'Saturday night was already proving a disaster. Nick had invited me at the last possible moment to a private S/M play party in the Berkley Hills. While I wasn't exactly in the mood to watch strangers have what passes for sex these days, I pulled on some tight PVC and went along anyway. On the way over, Nick's friend Kelley was sharing in gruesome detail how he had been born with a tail. Kelley also has three nipples, a fact he finds infinitely fascinating. 'I wish the doctors hadn't removed it. Think about it I could have gotten it pierced or something.'' Drugs, debauchery, death and androgyny. Naifeh has really been allowed to let rip here. The streets of San Francisco are filthy and dim-lit through his pen, and only serve as passage to the grotty bars and seedy, sweaty Goth clubs Tristan's characters frequent. The Goth dives are particularly well visualized, all bad dance and squeaks of P.V.C. against leather. It's the visual equivalent of the sound a brick wall makes being stabbed with a blunt knife. Grating. In contrast, the dreams and flashbacks which account for a sizable chunk of the book, are beautifully rendered in a rose tinted nostalgic way. Reminiscent of his work on GLOOM COOKIE. Or in the case of the (often) drug-fuelled flashbacks rife with paranoia and disillusion, Naifehs' style is more Giger thru Ashley Wood. It's nice to see an artist I've liked for so long experiment. It's even better to see him pull it off.

Awakening (£6-50, Oni) by Neal Shaffer & Luca Genovese. Neal came up trumps with the absenteeism of LAST EXIT BEFORE THE TOLL, now he turns his hand to toff horror, set in a prestigious boarding school (not Shrewsbury, then), where young Francesca is so traumatised by the murder of one her classmates that she's struck mute. Worst still it seems it wasn't just a random occurrence, as she finds herself haunted my murders yet to occur, and discovers that this all happened before.

Losers vol 2: Double Down (£8-50, Vertigo/DC) by Andy Diggle & Jock and Shawn Martinbrough. 'If I read the word 'groundbreaking' from DC once more, I will skip straight to the next line without ordering a single copy of whatever they're mis-peddling. It's said by self-imposed monitors of our mental well-being that repetitive swearing devalues its currency; the same applies to transparent hype - it's fucking atrocious.' Guess who that was in a recent CI column? And guess how DC describe this series?

Sgt Rock: Between Hell And A Hard Place (£11-99, Vertigo/DC) by Brian Azzarello & Joe Kubert. Review from the h/c release:

Some writers have a voice. You can hear it in everything they pen, and sometimes that's a good thing, and sometimes you wonder if they can do anything else. Almost all of Brian's recent projects have been urban crime, from 100 BULLETS to CAGE and even the current BATMAN arc, and you know you're reading an Azzarello book. So it came as something of a surprise to crack this open and hear a completely different voice, one equally assured, but with a completely different dialect. I don't know if it was realistic, because I wasn't around American soldiers in World War II, but it was completely convincing, which is the salient point - even if I didn't understand it all. I'm not remotely interested in war comics, so it was a very tough sell, right up until the very first three panels when Kubert had me hooked. Joe is to World War II what Eddie Campbell is to Victorian England. You just can't imagine anyone doing a better job of conveying the time or place. This is a dark, dirty, and relatively colourless terrain, nature and construct alike pummelled to an inhospitable wreckage. Hazardous too - there's no telling what's between those trees. Azzarello maintains a clipped pace as SS officers are captured, then murdered, with one gone missing, leaving each man in Easy Company to wonder whether the other did it. And of course there's a bit of a war going on, so they're not given much opportunity to mull it all over. Before a furious finale split between two locations, there's a particularly good mine scene, which doesn't end how you might imagine. If you want more, it is as ever in the dialogue, where each individual tries to work out what they believe they're doing, how they can do it, and whether they'll be able to live with themselves if they don't die first. That's what the nicknames are all about: leaving their old lives behind in the hope that they can resume them later, and not carry too much of the baggage back with them.

Y: The Last Man vol 4 - Safeword (£8-50, Vertigo/DC) by Brian K Vaughan & Pia Guerra, Goran Parlov & José Marzán jr. The series which suggests that a world exclusively run by women might be just as fucked up as the one we currently live in. Yorrick is the sole living male since the mysterious event wiped mankind off the map, leaving womankind to bury their dead and pick up the pieces. Now he has to deal not only with his survivor guilt, but also a bit of unsolicited experimental sex from his youth. And when I say 'has to', he really does have to, because he's been strapped to a bed, stripped, and pumped full of drugs - by someone supposedly on their side.

American Flagg! vols 1 & 2 s/c (£12-99 each, Image) of complete h/c (£32-99 or £45-99 signed, Image) by Howard Chaykin. The hardcover features a new story. 'In 2031, chaos is the new world order. Worldwide nuclear and chemical conflict, environmental disasters and nationalism have driven the United States government - and the corporations that own it - to Mars. The government and its parent companies, now renamed the PLEX, run things ion absentia from the red planet. The only real law on Earth is enforced by the Plexus Rangers. Reuben Flagg was the star of a television series dramatising the fictional adventures of one such Plexus Ranger. When Flagg was replaced by a hologram, he was drafted into the Plexus Rangers and assigned to protect the city of Chicago. Along with Raul, the smartest talking cat alive, and Luther Ironheart, the stupidest robot ever, and surrounded by a bevy of the most beautiful women of the 21st century, Flagg faces an uphill battle protecting and defending the American way of life.. or rather, what's left of it.' The series from the late 1980s (I think) picked up a total of nine Eagle Awards, something I mention because the awards have been revived and you can vote right now on-line if you fancy (see letters column). The art is a cross between Walt Simonson and Steranko, with a bit of Jim Starlin and Gil Kane thrown into the faces. Sound effect lettering adds to the energy.

Ministry of Space s/c (£9-99, Titan) h/c (£16-99, Image) by Warren Ellis & Chris Weston, with colours by Laura Martin. Accomplished alternate world mini-series in which, following WWII, Britain was the one to win the space race. By getting their hands dirty. Majestic art from Chris Weston, who went on to work miracles with THE FILTH.

Kinetic (£6-50, DC) by Kelly Puckett & Warren Pleece. Life is challenging enough for Tom inside and outside of school, and it's not surprising he's become so shy and self-contained: his body has revolted at a very early age, leaving him vulnerable to a number of potentially fatal conditions including haemophilia, diabetes and, most noticeably, amyotrophy. But perhaps the most debilitating effects of all stem from the smothering of his mother, who, in her well-meaning but obsessive concern for his health, constantly disempowers the boy, humiliating and - in one instance involving a girl - effectively emasculating him. Then, all of a sudden, his vulnerability vanishes when his body doesn't just repair itself overnight, but overcompensates. No medical explanation, that's not what this is about. This is about being an idiot, about putting your foot in it, and completely blows away the idea that if you're used to being awkward, the arrival of 'superpowers' is going to somehow set you on the road to glorious accomplishment. Or ruin your wardrobe. Or even get the girl. Coloured in bleached tones by Brian Haberlin, Pleece's subdued artwork is perfect for the story of an introvert who can't stop himself spying on a girl as she undresses, or stop himself confessing to her afterwards.

Road To Perdition 2: On The Road (£9-99, Paradox/DC) by Max Allan Collins & José Luis Garcia-Lopez, Steve Lieber, Josef Rubenstein. Same writer as the original book, different artists, set in the period when Michael O'Sullivan and his son were on the run.

Astro City: Local Heroes h/c (£16-99 DC Wildstorm) by Kurt Busiek & Brent Anderson. Busiek has built his picture of Astro City out of a collage of different times and considered perspectives, and here are some more of them. I did warn you I was hoping to be brief this month, and most people wait for the softcover anyway.

Superman: Secret Identity (£12-99, DC) by Kurt Busiek & Stuart Immonen. Another instance of a misleading title (cf BATMAN: GOTHAM CENTRAL), given that this has nothing to do with Kal El at all. My guess is that DC doesn't reckon it will sell without the word 'Superman' in front of it, whereas it's more likely to put Page 45's potential audience off. And you shouldn't be put off. This is Kurt ASTRO CITY Busiek writing rather than Kurt AVENGERS/THUNDERBOLTS Busiek, and it's possibly even more eloquent than ASTRO CITY. I wasn't remotely impressed with the premise when I first heard it, but the execution was so good that I now rate my initial reaction as one of my worst critical misjudgements in 10 years. So, now you know what it's not (set in the DC universe and rubbish), here's what this is (set on a clean, modern day slate and thoughtful): Clark Kent is a young lad in Kansas whose parents really weren't thinking when they christened him. All his life he's had to endure jibes about his name, and birthday and christmas presents focussing almost exclusively on the Superman theme, just because he shares the comicbook character's name. It's not as if he has superstrength. He can't hear whispers several miles away. He can't fly. Can he? Much to Clark's surprise he finds he can. What happens next is neither predictable nor for the most part melodramatic. Just when you think Busiek's in danger of coming close, he veers swiftly away, whilst under Immonen's excellent line, sense of scale and some smooth and unusual colouring it remains visually arresting. The series follows Kent through his college days, early career as a journalist then successful writer, husband and father, all the while attempting to balance his desire to help with his need for privacy and his family's safety as government agencies seek to entrap him. There's a sense of real danger throughout, as Clark struggles to make the right decisions, where one slip could mean irreversible damage to himself or to others. I'll elucidate when the book arrives.

Superman: For Tomorrow vol 1 h/c (£12-99, DC) by Brian Azzarello & Jim Lee. First half of the current storyline in which millions of people have vanished, including Superman's wife, and one year on still no one knows why. During a coup on a foreign dictatorship, Superman discovers the what if not the why or even how, with the who growing increasingly complicated. Most of the time, though, he's having a conversation with a priest. And then it happens again. Azzarello explores the boundaries of power, the extremities of man's wilful cruelty and destruction, and the limits of one individual's self-assigned mandate. Then the Justice League arrive, with doubts.

Common Grounds (£12-99, Image) by Troy Hickman & Perez, Pacheco, van Scriver, Jurgens, Medina, Kieth. A sort of ASTRO CITY meets HITMAN series of shorts centring on a coffee shop where superheroes hang out, and supervillains also, with unpredictable results. Stories are told, coffee is drunk, and at one point a waitress cleverly bluffs her way out of abduction.

Powers: Forever (£12-99, Marvel) by Brian Michael Bendis & Michael Avon Oeming. The final story from the old volume of powers, which goes waaaay back to the dawn of human history, stops off in several eras en route to the present, and suggests that Detective Walker is a mite older than he looks. Can't say it was my favourite arc, nor the most convincing, but it was quite ambitious. Famously involves monkey sex.

Ultimate Spiderman vol 11: Carnage (£8-50, Marvel) by Brian Michael Bendis & Mark Bagley. Another one bites the dust, and quite cruelly too.

Ultimate Spiderman vol 5 h/c (£19-99, Marvel) by Brian Michael Bendis & Mark Bagley. Collects softcovers 9 and 10.

The Pulse vol 1: Thin Air (£8-99, Marvel) by Brian Michael Bendis & Mark Bagley. A luke warm Luke Cage and a personality-jettisoned Jessica finance the future health care of themselves and their expected child through Jessica taking a job at the Daily Bugle. A co-worker investigating irregularities at Osborn industries winds up dead, and suddenly it's personal for J. Jonah Jameson. I'm going to read this again, and hopefully I can muster more enthusiasm than 'yeah, it's okay but it ain't ALIAS'.

Daredevil vol 10: The Widow (£11-99, Marvel) by Brian Michael Bendis & Alex Maleev. Most of Matt Murdock's girlfriends wind up dead: Karen Page, Elektra, Heather whose surname I forget. Natasha Romanov, however, is a more difficult, seasoned target, having been a Russian spy, agent of SHIELD and even an Avenger at one point. But now the so-called Black Widow is a pawn between two nations' struggles, with the US seriously considering handing her over to those who would like her dead. Natasha's only tactic is to hide in plain sight, in the media glare that is Murdock's life, now that they suspect his secret. Of course, Matt's married now, even if his wife doesn't want him. And Daredevil's the new Kingpin of crime.

Punisher Max vol 2: Kitchen Irish (£9-99, Marvel) by Garth Ennis & Leandro Fernandez. Irish paramilitaries in Hell's Kitchen. Features dismemberment, a turf war, a gruesomely mutilated face and a humourless Frank Castle attempting to clean up the mess as a favour to a friend.

Blade: Black & White (£10-50, Marvel) by Marv Wolfman, Chris Claremont & Tony DeZuniga, Gene Colan. A million miles away from the screen version, this material comes from the '70s black and white magazines VAMPIRE TALES and MARVEL PREVIEW etc..

She-Hulk vol 1: Single Green Female (£9-99, Marvel) by Dan Slott & Juan Bobillo. You may have seen the hype, if not do take it from me that fanboys here and there are really gunning for this title for fear that it should fall. Why? They consider it original, irreverent fun. Is it? Why yes, moderately so. Deals impishly with lawyering for superhero clients. Apparently Marvel comics can be used as evidence, whereas I've always thought most of them used to be a crime.

X-Statix vol 4: X-Statix vs the Avengers (£12-99, Marvel) by Peter Milligan & Mike Allred. Hear Tike diss Captain America! See Myles hit on Hawkeye! See Iron Man and Mr. Sensitive get naked! All this for Doop's exploded brain. Ah, it's the end, all Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, but not before a frankly silly homage to the Avengers/Defenders war from the 1970s.

Kingdom Of The Wicked h/c (£10-50, Dark Horse) by Ian Edginton & D'Israeli. SCARLET TRACES team's tale of a children's author whose mental decline lands him in the very realm of his own imagining. Only now the realm has gone to seed under the dark cloud of war, with teddy bears dressed in khaki and wearing WWI helmets.

Creased (£6-50, Image) by Daniel Miller. 'Things that can go wrong whilst striving towards that ever-elusive 'perfect' relationship.'

Bombaby (£8-99, Amaze Ink) by Antony Mazzotta. Thoroughly odd work visually reminiscent of Kyle Baker's computer colour work. Sangeeta is the reincarnation of an Indian goddess. That much I followed.

Poison Elves Dark Wars vol 1: Heavens Devils (£10-50, Sirius) by Drew Hayes. Fantasy with a goth rock flavour (that'd be cider'n'black, then - which would make for an interesting iced lolly) with swords and fishnet stockings.

Achewood vol 1 (£12-99, Checker Book Publishing) by Chris Onstad. Website anthropomorphics and robottery.

Doctor Solar, Man Of The Atom vol 1 h/c (£32-99, Dark Horse) by Paul S Newman & Bob Fujitani, Frank Bolle. More nostalgia, and once again not from the Valiant era ten years ago, but from the nuclear 1960s.

Star Trek: Key Collection vol 3 (£15-50, Checker Book Publishing) by some. I was going to type out the theme music, but couldn't work out how to represent the sweep just before the crescendo. Yes, it is late in the day. Why do you ask?

Passenger (£8-50, Cyberosia) by Marc Bryant & Mal Jones. 'Superstar director Finch Jenkins has it all: fame, fortune, women, and the ghost of a convicted murderer using him in a redemption scam. Will Finch ditch the ghost before he goes crazy?' How do you do that? Ditch the ghost, I mean. I know how you go crazy: it involves a copy of PREVIEWS, a computer screen, and twelve hours of solid typing.

Melancholy Death Of Oyster Boy s/c (£7-99) by Tim Burton. Tim Burton's book of illustrated tragedies given lyrical form. A cross between Lewis Carrol and Edward Gorey.

Hanging Out With The Dream King ltd hc (£26-99, Fantagraphics) ed by Joe McCabe. Signed copies of the book mentioned last month, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Comicbook Legal Defence Fund.

Golden Age Of DC Comics: 365 Days hc (£19-99) by Les Daniels. Another hefty slab (744 pages rates as hefty to me) of nostalgia, designed as ever by Chip Kidd, this time in landscape format. 365 images from the archives.

Marvel Encyclopaedia vol 6: Fantastic Four h/c (£19-99, Marvel) by Jeff Christiansen, Kit Kiefer & more. Learn the vital stats of Aunt Petunia. Possibly.

Best Of The Legion Outpost (£11-99, Twomorrows) ed by Glen Cadigan. Yes, this is the best of a fanzine dedicated to the Legion of Superheroes. Someone tell Chris Ware's Rusty Brown.

m a n g a r o u n d - u p

Ray vol 1 (£6-50 A D Vision) by Akihito Yoshitomi. It's not about the plot (Ray, raised on a farm as a living organ donor - she lost her own eyes, but the ones she has now work better - has her suppressed childhood memories of that time reawakened by a chance encounter as a nurse, then it's revenge time), it's the art that stands out as reminiscent of Jimmy Cheung (SCION and, soon, YOUNG AVENGERS). And I like Jimmy Cheung. Yoshitomi was responsible for EAT-MAN, if that helps.

A.I. Love You vol 6 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Ken Akamatsu

Apocalypse Meow vol 3 (£6-50 A D Vision) by Motofumi Kobayashi

Apocalypse Zero vol 1 (£6-50, Anime Works) by Takayuki Yamaguchi

Aquarian Age: Juvenile Orion (£6-50, Broccoli International) by Sakurako Gokurakuin

Aria vol 3 (£6-50 A D Vision) by Kozue Amano

Arm Of Kannon vol 4 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Masakazu Yamaguchi

Baron Gong Battle vol 1 (£6-50, Anime Works) by Masayuki Taguchi

Battle Royale vol 10 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Kochun Takami & Masayuki Taguchi

Battle Vixens vol 5 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Yuji Shiozaki

Candidate For Goddess vol 5 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Yukiru Sugisaki

Comic Artists: Asia (£16-99) by Rika Sugiyama

Comic Party vol 4 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Sekihiko Inui

Cosplay Koromo Chan (£6-50, Comicsone) by Mook

Crayon Shinchan vol 10 (£6-50, Comicsone) by Yoshito Usui

Crescent Moon vol 4 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Haruo Iida

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon vol 9 (£8-99, HK Comics Limited) by Wang Du Lu & Andy Seto

Culdecept vol 3 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Shinya Kaneko

D.N.Angel vol 5 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Yukiru Sugisaki

Desert Coral vol 3 (£6-50 A D Vision) by Wataru Murayama

Desire (£8-50, Digital Manga) by Maki Kazumi & Yukine Honami

Diabolo vol 2 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Kei Kusunoki & Kaoru Ohahi

Dragon Knights vol 17 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Mineko Ohkami

Dragon Voice vol 2 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Yuriko Nishiyama

Duck Prince vol 3 (£6-50, CPM) by Ai Morinaga

Enmusu vol 1 (£6-50 A D Vision) by Takahiro Seguchi

Et Cetera vol 3 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Tow Nakazaki

Four Constable vol 4 (£8-99, Comicsone) by Wen Rui An & Andy Seto

Fruits Basket vol 6 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Natsuki Takaya

Full Metal Panic vol 6 (£6-50 A D Vision) by Shouji Gatou

Gadjet vol 1 (£6-50 A D Vision) by Hiroyuki Eton

Gamerz Heaven vol 1 (£6-50 A D Vision) by Maki Murakami

Get Backers vol 6 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Yuya Aoki & Rando Ayamine

Gravitation vol 9 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Maki Murakami

Gundam Seed vol 3 (£7-50, Del Ray) by Masatsugu Iwase, Hajime Yatate & Yoshiyuki Tomino

Happy Mania vol 11 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Moyoco Anno

Hellsing vol 5 (£8-99, Dark Horse) by Kohta Hirano

High School Girls vol 2 (£6-50, Comicsone) by Towa Oshima

Ikebukuro West Gate Park vol 3 (£8-50, Digital Manga) by Ira Ishida & Aritou Sena

Imperfect Hero vol 1 (£6-50, Comicsone) by Gureko Nankin

Indian Summer vol (£6-50, Comicsone) by Takehito Mizuki

Initial D vol 15 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Shuichi Shigeno

Instant Teen: Just Add Nuts vol 2 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Haruka Fukushima

Jing: King Of Bandits - Twilight Tales vol 2 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Yuichi Kumakura

Jinki Extended vol 3 (£6-50 A D Vision) by Sirou Tunasima

Kindiachi Files: Kindiachi The Killer: Part 1 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Kanari Yozaburo & Sato Fumiya

King Of Fighters vol 1 (£8-99, Comicsone) by Wing Yan & King Tun

King Of Hell vol 8 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Ra In-Soo & Kim Jae-Hwan

Love Or Money vol 1 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Sang-Eun Lee

Mahoromatic: Automatic Maiden vol 4 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Bow Ditama & Bunjiro Nakayama

Mouryou Kiden: Legend Of The Nymphs vol 1 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Tamayo Akiyama

Mythology Of The Heavens vol 1: God Of War (£6-50, CPM) by Hyun Se Lee

Neck & Neck vol 1 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Sun Hee Lee

One vol 5 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Lee Vin

Passion vol 3 (£8-50, Digital Manga) by Shinobu Gotoh & Shok Takaku

Peach Girl Authentic vol 2 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Miwa Ueda

Peigenz vol 4 (£6-50, Comicsone) by Park Sung Woo

President Dad vol 1 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Ju-Yeon Rhim

Princess Tu Tu vol 1 (£6-50 A D Vision) by Mizuo Shinome

Rave Master vol 12 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Hiro Mashima

Rebirth vol 11 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Woo

Rebound vol 11 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Yuriko Nishyama

Record Of Lodoss War Grey Witch vol 3 (£6-50, CPM) by Ryo Mizuno & Yoshihiko Ochi

Samurai Deeper Kyo vol 10 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Akimine Kamijyo

Samurai Executioner vol 3 (£6-50, Dark Horse) by Kazuko Koike & Goseki Kojima

STONe vol 2 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Sin-Ichi Hiromoto

Sweet & Sensitive vol 3 (£6-50 A D Vision) by Park Eun-Ah

Tezuka's Buddha vol 5: Deer Park hc (£16-99, Vertical) by Osamu Tezuka

Tezuka's Buddha vol 6: Ananda hc (£16-99, Vertical) by Osamu Tezuka

Tramps Like Us vol 3 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by ?

Ultraman Tiga vol 2: Past Sins, Present Dangers (£12-99, Dark Horse) by Tony Wong & Khoo Fuk Lung

Vaizard vol 1 (£6-50 A D Vision) by Michihiro Yoshida

World Of Narue vol 3 (£6-50, CPM) by Tomohiro Marukawa

Worst vol 3 (£8-50, Digital Manga) by Hiroshi Takahashi

also shipping:

Agents (£6-50, Antarctic Press) by Benn Dunn

Alien Legion: Footsoldiers (£12-99, Checker Book Publishing) by Alan Zelenetz, Frank Cirocco, Terry Austin & Whilce Portacio

Alpha Flight vol 1: You Gotta Be Kiddin' Me (£9-99, Marvel) by Scott Lobdell & Clayton Henry.

Ant: Days Like These (£6-50, Arcana Studio) by Mario Gully

Army Of Darkness: Ashes To Ashes (£9-99 Devils Due) by Andy Hartnell & Nick Bradshaw

Art Of Marvel vol 2 hc (£19-99, Marvel)

Astronauts Of The Future (£9-99, NBM) by Lewis Trondheim & Manu Larcenent

Avatar vol 2: Claws In The Wind (£9-50, SAF Comics) by Rafael Fonteriz & Juan Miguel Aguilera

Basil Wolverton Reader vol 2 (£16-99, Opp) by Wolverton

Blue Tunics vol 1: Blues In Black & White (£7-99, Reney Editions) by Will Lambil & Raoul Cauvin

By The Numbers: On The Road To Cao Bang (£9-99, Humanoids/DC) by Laurent Rullier & Stanislas

Darkham Vale Dracou Imperative vol 1 (£11-99, APC) by Jack Lawrence

Essential Iron Man vol 2 (£10-99, Marvel) by Stan Lee & Don Heck, Gene Colan

Faro Korbit vol 1 (£11-99, APC) by Mike Baron, Mel Rubi & John Freeney

Girl Genius vol 3 (£13-99, Airship Entertainment) by Phil & Kaja Foglio

Green Lantern: Legacy - The Last Will & Testament Of Hal Jordan (£11-99, DC) by Joe Kelly & Brent Anderson, Bill Sienkiewicz

In My Skin: The Eminen (£10-95, Omnibus) by Barnaby Legg, James McCarthy & Flameboy

JLA vol 15: The 10th Oracle (£8-50, DC) by John Byrne, Chris Claremont & Jerry Ordway

Judge Dredd: Judgement Day (£11-99/2000ad) by Garth Ennis & others

Justice League Of America Archives vol 9 hc (£32-99, DC) by Dennis O'Neil & Dick Dillins, Sid Greene, Joe Giella

Killer Princesses (£6-50, Oni) by Gail Simone & Lea Hernandez

King Collected Edition (£15-50, Fantagraphics) by Ho Che Anderson

Krazy & Ignatz 1933-1934: Necromancy By The Blue Bean Bush (£9-99, Fantagraphics) by Geo Herriman

Last Heroes (£12-50, IBooks) by Steven Grant & Gil Kane.

Marvel Age Fantastic Four vol 2 (£3-99, Marvel) by Marc Sumerak, John Layman & Joseph Dodd

Marvel Age Spider-Girl vol 2 (£5-50, Marvel) by Tom Defalco & Pat Oliffe

Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Captain America vol 1 hc (£32-99, Marvel)

Marvel Masterworks: The Avengers vol 4 (£32-99, Marvel) by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas & Don Heck

Mirrorwalker (£7-99, Now Comics) by Marv Wolfman & Barry Daniel Petersen

Modesty Blaise vol 4: Black Pearl (£10-99, Titan) by Peter O'Donnell & Jim Holdaway

Nick vol 2: Goodnight Nick (£9-50, SAF Comics) by Morphée & Hermann

Nikolai Dante: The Romanov Dynasty (£12-99, 2000ad) by Robbie Morrison, & others

Nikopol Trilogy (£11-99, Humanoids/DC) by Enki Bilal

Ninja High School vol 4 (£6-50, Antarctic Press) by Ben Dunn & various

Nothingface (£8-50, Digital Webbing) by Kel Nuttall & Yildray Cinar

Outsiders: Sum Of All Evil (£9-99, DC) by Judd Winnick & many

R. Crumb Conversations (£12-99) ed by D.K. Holm

R. Crumb's Kafka (£8-50, IBooks) by Robert Crumb with David Zane Mairowitz

Raider A Cold Day In Heaven vol 2 (£8-99, Maerkle Press) by Thomas Zahler

Ring Of Roses (£8-50, Image) by Petrou & Watkiss.

Steve Ditko: Space Wars (£9-99, Vanguard) by Ditko

Tales Of The Realm ltd signed h/c (£26-99) by Robert Kirkman & Matt Tyree

Technopriests vol 2 (£9-99, Humanoids/DC) by Alexandro Jodorowsky & Zoran Janjetov, Fred Beltran

The Gift vol 1 (£9-99, Image) by Raven Gregory & Kirkham, Gallli, Buccelato.

Tokyo Knights (£6-50, Image) by Michael Reneger, Robert Place Napton & Ph.

Tom Strong vol 4 hc (£16-99, ABC/DC) by Alan Moore & others

Transformers: Energon vol 2 pocket book (£7-50, Dreamwave) by Simon Furman, Joe Ng, James Raiz & Alex Milne

Venom vol 3: Twist (£8-99, Marvel) by Daniel Way & Skottie Young

X-Ray Comics vol 2: Swine (£7-99, Amaze Ink) by Landry Walker & Eric Jones.

Zombie highway (£8-50, Digital Webbing) by Jason Pell & Roberto Viacava

c o m i c s f o r N o v e m b e r 2 0 0 4

Or Else #1 (£2-60, Drawn & Quarterly) by Kevin Huizenga, Imperial #1 (£2-60, Highwater) by Jordan Crane - Two new series from two of the finest names from the self-publishing area. And for me, that means that they're two of the finest names in comics today. Huizenga's SUPERMONSTER mini-comics are a great document of an artist trying out new tricks, developing their own personal style and finally (with the glorious issue fourteen) doing something that noone has done before. In a few years he'll be up there with Clowes and Ware. In the meantime, this appears to consist of reprints from SUPERMONSTER and there's nothing wrong with that.

Crane's work has been a little elusive over the past few years, distribution of his stuff has been patchy at best, so it's heartening to see that Highwater have decided to put out a quarterly series, a 'collection of short stories that will be self-contained with no cliff-hangers and no abandoned experiments. Expect more of Jordan's hauntingly poetic drawing, heart-wrenching humor and impeccable design that have been lauded by Print Magazine, Flaunt Magazine and the Village Voice.'

Bipolar #5 & #1 (£2-20 each, Alternative) by Tomer Hanuka, Asaf Hanuka, Etgar Keret - ' Tomer and Asaf Hanuka are twins. They share a similar genetic structure but were raised in different places. This condition creates a special tension between their stories and styles and is the foundation of Bipolar. Asaf, with writer Etgar Keret is telling the story of Pizzeria Kamikaze about a guy with a broken heart who committed suicide only to find himself at Pizza Kamikaze, a regular day job in a world where everyone died before and now it's about passing time. Tomer is telling personal stories with a twisted time sense that will put you right now, a year ago, and in the future.'

'Each edition has conducted readers on an excursion through curious environments, full of sights that conjoin the common and the disorienting and of situations that are at once both ordinary and unaccountable.'

~The Comics Journal

The cover isn't as beautiful as the fourth issue but that's pretty hard to top. Finally, Alternative gets around to reprinting the first issue as well so we'll have all parts of this series in stock. Good stuff.

Shaolin Cowboy #1 (£2-60, Burlyman Entertainment) by Geof Darrow with the Wachowski Brothers - Failed movie or tv career? Your one idea run its course? Welcome to comics, J, Joss and, now, Andy & Larry! Pull up a chair. As Darrow's drawing this it will look darn pretty. Ooh, actually he's created, written and drawn it and the brothers are just helping out with dialogue.

The Incredibles #1 of 4 (£2-25 Dark Horse) by Brad Bird & Ricardo Curtis.

'Hey, I saved your life!'

'You didn't save my life, you ruined my death!'

Pixar's new movie (Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo etc.) takes the Buzz Lightyear route and sets its sights on supheroes. Please be advised: the art here carries none of the animation's charm, don't judge this book by its cover.

BPRD: The Dead #1 of 5 (£2-25 Dark Horse) by Mike Mignola & Guy Davis. Just a reminder to some of you that you specified you wanted the last Mignola/Davis mini-series rather than BPRD as a whole, so you're going to need to remind us to save this for you. Especially since it carries the Abe Sapien subplot on.

Strangehaven #17 (£2-20, Abiogenesis Press) by Gary Spencer Millidge. Seriously.

Warren Ellis' Apparat project (£2-60 per issue, Avatar) by Warren Ellis & Juan Jose Rype, Carla Speed McNeil, Laurenn McCubbin, Jacen Burrows. Four one-shots (ANGEL STOMP FUTURE, FRANK IRONWINE, QUIT CITY, SIMON SPECTOR - you can match the titles to the order of artists listed) which take the idea of what might be the content of comics today if the 1930s pulp magazines had evolved without the influence of superheroes. The categories are (respectively) sci-fi, crime, aviation, and the sort of Doc Savage superhero-adventurer-noir.

Detective Comics #800 (£2-60) by Andersen Gabrych, David Lapham & Peter Woods, Cam Smith, David Lapham. STRAY BULLETS crime creator David Lapham provides a backup story (that's the bit we're interested in here), which serves as an intro to his regular run on the title starting next month. I'm sorry, I'll write that again: his regular run on the title starting next month. There's more...

Darkness #17 (£2-25, Image) by David Lapham & Lapham, Denham. Script and layouts by the aforementioned David Lapham, who's evidently discovered that parenthood is by no means cheap. You all know what Batman entails, but this title will almost certainly be a complete unknown to STRAY BULLETS readers. Wish I could help you out, I've never been able to stomach it either. 'Jackie Estrado [he who controls or is controlled by The Darkness, I believe, and somewhere at the back of my mind I seem to remember he has connections to the mafia] checks into an Atlantic City casino gone horribly wrong, where he encounters mobster menace aplenty, and the true depths of his powers... and his soul.' I've only been to a casino once, when I was eight. You can do that in Malta. I bet on the garlic snails, which were delicious. Absolutely no point to that story at all.

JLA: Classified #1 (£2-20, DC) by Grant Morrison & Ed McGuinness. New series (while the old one continues under Kurt Busiek) with a rotating roster of creators. Morrison returns for the first three issues, picking up on his Ultra-Marines thread.

The Question #1 of 6 (£2-20, DC) by Rick Veitch & Tommy Lee Edwards. Psychobabble alert.

The Intimates #1 (£2-20, DC Wildstorm) by Joe Casey & Giuseppe Camuncoli. Superbrats go to superschool. Death/done. Done/death.

Wildstorm Winter Special (£3-50 DC Wildstorm) by Bruce Jones, Will Pfiefer, Tom Peyer, Alan Warner & Carlos D'Anda, Scott Iwahashi, Josh Middleton, Cary Nord. Separate stories featuring Apollo and Midnighter; Jack Hawksmoor; Zealot; Deathblow. Flagged here because of Josh (NYX, SKY BETWEEN BRANCHES) Middleton.

Angeltown #1 of 5 (£2-20 DC, Vertigo) by Gary Phillips & Shawn Martinbrough. SHOTCALLERZ writer does LA crime involving the disappearance of a basketball pro after his wife's murder. Murky art.

Burglar Bill #1of 6 (£2-20, Image) by Paul Grist. Revised reprint of the Dancing Elephant Press series, including a 10-page prologue and the first BURGLAR BILL story from 1986.

Firebreather: The Iron Saint (£3-99, Image) by Phil Hester & Andy Kuhn. Follow up to the recent book in which the young half-human half-dragon wrestled with his heritage. Now he wrestles with a black knight outside the Houses of Parliament over here.

Avengers Finale #1 (£2-60, Marvel) by Brian Michael Bendis & David Finch, George Perez, Steve Epting, Jimmy Cheung. Don't understand why this isn't simply AVENGERS #504. Same writer, same artist (with guests), same story. Moves straight into...

New Avengers #1 of 500 (£1-70, Marvel) by Brian Michael Bendis & David Finch. What remains to be seen is - other than a change in cast which was itself a regular feature in the old series - how this title proposes to be any different from its predecessor. What (specifically, because we don't have all day) does Bendis feel was broken in the old one? Was it their location, their government affiliation, their aspirations or something more fundamental? Other than the writing and art. I guess we just have to trust Bendis - and anyone who's read ALIAS, DAREDEVIL, POWERS and indeed ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN will be quite prepared to do so. He's not one for the obvious, he's not one for the mundane except in its positive sense, and he's not the sort of person to start something without knowing exactly where he's going. Along for the ride: Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman and Wolverine so far.

Captain America #1 (£2-25, Marvel) by Ed Brubaker & Steve Epting. Love Ed Brubaker (SLEEPER etc.), can't begin to imagine what he's up to here, or why. Love Steve Epting too, who started off as a fine enough Buscema/Kubert clone, then went away for a while before emerging fully transformed on Crossgen's EL CAZADOR, woefully wasted on a pedestrian script.

Iron Man #1 (£2-60, Marvel) by Warren Ellis & Adi Granov. This assignment's a bit more obvious than Brubaker on CAPTAIN AMERICA, given Ellis' well documented fascination with emerging and proposed technology, his hands-on use of the communication side of it, and his love of sci-fi. If you've not seen Granov's art before there are far more pluses than the slight minus that the painting's so rich the panels are static. And it's as rich as vault of gold bullion, an analogy appropriate enough for the redesigned armour. Or at least appropriate enough for me to slap out today. His metals sheen rather than shine, giving the armour real weight, so that you can feel the combustion required to propel it into the sky. There's also a real sense of the mechanics involved in movement - the joints etc..

New Thunderbolts #1 & 2 by Busiek, someone else I can't recall it's only just been announced maybe Nicieza? & Grummet (£2-25 each, Marvel). Return of the team series no one really cared for before, written by the same people.

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #1 (£2-60, Marvel) by Joe Casey & Scott Kolins. Reopening of the festering wound which was the old nonsense Bendis saw fit to reboot, set in the early days when, incredibly, they wanted the Hulk as part of the team.

Marvel Team-Up #1 (£1-70, Marvel) by Robert Kirkman & Scott Kolins. Scott Kolins strikes me stylistically as a half-hearted Todd McFarlane. Robert Kirkman's enthusiasm for this series strikes me as financial. The premise remains almost the same: a rotating roster of Marvel superheroes team up each month to take on a bad guy. Where it departs is that there's a plot thread throughout. Makes some sense when you think about it: a threat to something or someone emergences, and it's going to be pure chance which supheroes are around at the time to deal with it. Doesn't it strike you as odd that if, say, there's a monster on the loose in Manhattan, only a single superhero or team react to the news? No, it wasn't at the forefront of my mind, either.

Spider-Man: India #1 (£2-25, Marvel) by Jeevan J. Kang, Suresh Seetharaman, Sharad Devarajan & Jeevan J. Kang. The legend of Spider-Man reinterpreted as taking place in India.

The Pulse #6 (£2-25, Marvel) by Brian Michael Bendis & Brent Anderson. Will the considerable change of art style weight this series down a little? Here's hoping. New storyline following the repercussions for Jessica and Luke Cage in the aftermath of Bendis' still emerging SECRET WAR mini.

Killzone #1 (£2-20 Dreamwave) by John Ney Rieber & Travel Foreman. Bloody hell, now we have a comic based on a PS2 game that hasn't even come out yet. Sci-fi war, down in the trenches.

m e r c h a n d i s e

Tim Burton Voodoo Girl book & figure boxed set (£17-50, Dark Horse). Difficult one, this, because although the Tim Burton figures are normally snatched up by the dozens-a-day on first release, almost every who'll want a Voodoo Girl doll will already have the book she's from : THE MELANCHOLY DEATH OF OYSTER BOY h/c (see book section for a description of the new softcover version).

Tim Burton Stick Boy & Match Girl notecard & figures boxed set (£16-99, Dark Horse). Pencil-thin figures in a faux matchbox, along with eight notecards (4 each of two different designs) and envelopes. Which would be marvellous if anyone actually wrote to each other any more. With a pen, I mean. Dark Horse now have dozens of beautifully designed paper and envelope packages - everything from GOODBYE CHUNKY RICE to Woodring and Dirge, but no one buys them. Well, okay, a few go as birthday presents, and my guess is that they're used instantly by the recipient to write thank you letters on, or not at all.

Tim Burton t-shirts (£16-99, Dark Horse). Two designs this month: Pin Cushion Queen babydoll (as in li'l lady-size), white with red stripes round the neck and on the sleeves; Mummy Boy on grey. Both designs come in sizes S to XL, with the Mummy Boy expanding to a full XXL at the cost of a quid extra.

Death mini-bust (£45-00 DC). Another in the Endless series designed by Kevin Nowlan.

Batman: Hush t-shirt (£16-99 Graphitti) by Jim Lee. Grey t-shirt on which the Dark Knight materialises, as if through mist or smog. S, M, L, XL, and XXL for an extra quid.

Roman Dirge's Little Bun Bun t-shirt (£20-99 L, XL only). Precious little pink-eared bun bun stands all white and wide-eyed on a black tea shirt, declaring innocently, 'I'll #$£*ing cut you.'

UK Postage (overseas at cost):

£1-00 for the first comic (unless there's a book included in the package in which case it's just 25 pence), and 25 pence thereafter.

£1-00 each for Tokyopop or Lonewolf books, £3-00 for 'The Complete Bone', £1-50 each for other books or t-shirts.

'JLA/Avengers oversized double h/c slipcased edition', ''Behind The Panels', 'Cages', 'Comics, Comix & Graphic Novels' and 'Love & Rockets: The Complete Palomar' will cost a flat £5-00 postage, but anything ordered on top of them will of course be postage free, because.....

Maximum postage for all this lot is £5-00.

Posters and prints are sent separately @ £1-50.

Standing Orders:

To ensure that you never miss a single issue of a title you read, Page 45 provides a free standing order service either for personal collection or sending by post. All you have to do is tell us which titles you want, and we'll save them for you as they come out. You can visit or phone as often as you want, but we must hear from you at least once every three months, please. Single orders and reservations just as gratefully received as any others.

More information can be found in Comics International (£1-50), the Previews catalogue (£3-25), at www.ninthart.com and www.sequentialtart.com or indeed by e-mailing us at page45@page45.com

Want tips on producing your own comic? - Download the .pdf - http://www.reddingk.com/

Our web-site address is www.page45.com. Construction, design and management by Dominique Kidd.

Removal instructions: there is no way out. Oh, okay, just type 'remove' in the subject heading, and feel our desolation.

Page 45 is a comic shop.

We are:

Mark Simpson

Stephen L. Holland

Tom Rosin

Page 45

9 Market Street

Nottingham

NG1 6HY

Tel: (0115) 9508045

Monday to Saturday 9am to 6pm.

Page 45 mailshots bitten by Stephen and Mark, then edited by a boss-eyed bushbaby.

l e t t e r s

Apparently we've just had a Secret Shopper round our neck of the woods.

Usually they're people sent by head offices to check on the customer service of their staff, or employed by Watchdog on BBC tv. Never ends well, does it? Want to see how the four Nottingham comic shops fared? It's somewhere here, though probably not right at the top: http://www.borderlinemagazine.co.uk/blog/

And that's why we have no upstairs. Wheelchairs and pushchairs welcome. You'll find our 'aisles', if you can call them that, perfectly wide enough.

http://www.borderlinemagazine.co.uk/blog/

Here's another shopper - the one I mentioned at the end of the last letter column as having spent a fortune at rush hour - who has revealed his secret self as one Ivan Towlson:

That was probably me, the one with the crap handwriting ('Spooken... it might be by... er... Sebastian...?' -- sheesh),

We finally got there: it was Antony Johnston's SPOOKED. Then I showed Ivan what passes for my bizarro handwriting and suddenly he felt rather better.

...now flailing frantically to find what's left of his carpet under a sea of Page 45 bags and salivating disgustingly at finally having got his hands on some more Donna Barr (and finally, finally finishing bloody Cerebus).

Forget about whatever you had underneath, Page 45 carrier bags make an excellent carpet in themselves - booze spillage just wipes off, and if you're feeling miffed you can just walk all over us.

Thank *you* for all the recommendations and reviews. I would buy you guys many pints just for persuading me to try Bone, never mind all the weird and wonderful things I would never otherwise even have heard about.

Ivan, let me get this straight: you've just spent a ridiculous amount of money here and you want to buy us pints?! You're a god amongst men, and a blessing to industry.

Speaking of industry, here's my editor over at SBCB:

The Eagles Have Landed

Well, they will do at the Bristol Comic Expo on 5th-6th-7th November.

And to celebrate the return of the longest running British awards, only two websites have been cherry picked from all others to host online voting. One is a retailer - not, I hasten to add, the Best Retailer In The UK (tm), whichever shop that is, I forget at the moment. The other is one is the Second Best Comics Website In The World (tm), otherwise known at Silver Bullets. Or SBC. Or silverbulletcomicbooks.com. Or SBCB. Or any number of other alias as we cover up our nefarious promotion of those corrupters of youth known as comics.

SBC loves Page45 - at least one of our staff buys via mail order, and the site's Senior Editor (who he?) actually shops there. So why give business to a competitor (boo), come to SBC and vote for your favourites:

http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/eagle

Regrettably there is no category for Best Retailer - a foregone conclusion you shout - but it would be remiss of me not to point you in the direction of category 4.1, Favourite Comics-Related Website and the third option presented there.

...

Well, it was worth a try.

Please visit and cast your votes, and feel free to pass the link around any other comics websites, mailing lists or junkies you know. You have until the end of September to vote, so don't delay, visit today! Oh dear, I can't believe I actually wrote that.

Cheers!

Craig R. Johnson, Senior Editor

www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com

I think that was a commercial.

My housemonkey has moved out to live with his gorgeous young lady, Kate. Hasn't improved his sanity:

Morning. (oooh, I just looked at the time and since I started reading this it at 11-something it has become morning! Damn you and your interesting mailshots!)

I remember that there were some things I was interested in mentioned in the mailshot, but I can't remember what they were and can't be bothered to scroll through it all again to try and find out. You should add buttons to each review so we can register an interest ('need', 'want', 'keen', 'interested' and 'yeah, but am I bothered?') or move everything shiny to the front of the shop next time I'm in.

Night night,

o

Or - how about this? - you could select 'edit message' before you start reading, and change the colour of the reviews as you go along, to the appropriate level of lust. Red could mean you need twelve copies this very instant; pink could mean you were feeling slightly daring; yellow would mean you'll never be able to read it on the screen; and purple would probably be a reflection on my prose. I know, I know, you just like pressing buttons.

Hello there Mark,

Sorry, mate, you've got me instead. Mark's busy selecting some 'phat' 'choons' for his next set. If we'd known in time, we'd have let you all know where his last gig was (Junction 7), and when (last Friday). Seriously, he's a DJ. Ever danced to Robyn Hitchcock before? ;-)

I just read the first issue of Singularity 7 (IDW) that I picked up last time I was in. For the love of god can you please remove this from my standing order list! What was I thinking?!... well erm, the art looked nice, and I have really been enjoying 'Lore' so I thought it might be worth a look.

Whoops.

Must learn to wait for reviews first! The writing is a little sub-standard to say the least. In total agreement with the review in the latest mailshot. As you said, the plot offers little more than a flimsy Matrix rip off... I believe I have issue 2 waiting for me in my box, I will honour this if need be... But is there any way to be rid of it? I will gladly buy other things to compensate! Multiple things! Any alternate suggestions welcome... I was interested in that latest issue or two of Eightball... let me know. Will try and drop in next week some time. Later, Matt.

As if we'd force another issue of that on you! Lastly, our own Dominique sent the following from Cambridge:

hello all!

please read this, i think it is hiiiiiiiiillllllaaaarious :)

xoxox Dominique

http://69.93.112.102/~pbook/

If you have half an half hour and regularly sell on e-bay, it's definitely worth your while. Someone tried the scam the guy, so the man cooks up the most elaborate, transatlantic revenge. Okay, so I know it's all a bit brief - well, briefer - this time round, and the reviews may end being in a weird order, but I've just half an hour left before I drive down to see Dominique, and then I need to crack on with my part of the Recommended Reading List, because I'm holding Mark up something chronic. He's already scanning the illustrations... Take care, folks, and thanks as ever for reading.