- Mark on Peter Bagge's Buddy Does Seattle

b o o k s f o r D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 4

Chronicles Of Lucky Ello by Peter Thompson, Dog & Water by Anders Nilsen, Lady Pep by Julie Doucet (£6-50 each, Drawn & Quarterly) - The first batch of 'petit livres' artbooks from the esteemed Drawn & Quarterly. Peter Thompson is a sometimes Marc Bell collaborator, you might have seen some of their work in KRAMER'S ERGOT VOL 4. There's very little to tell about this one but the bemused elephant on the cover has me more than intrigued. Nilson also appeared in ERGOT 5, his Sisyphus meeting the minotaur bookended the whole beautiful collection. DOG & WATER is 'the story of wild animals, armed confrontation, an oil pipeline, and swimming to Asia. It follows a boy and his bear as they wander further into the middle of nowhere and away from everything they know.' The bear is a teddy bear strapped to his back in case you were wondering. Hmm, maybe I should get some more of his BIG QUESTIONs. Lotsa lovely stuff with birds. Doucet, rather frustratingly, has been knocking out her own, handmade book SOPHIE PUNT over the last few years. It seems to be a catch-all for whatever she's done be it lino-cut prints, illustrations or collage work. Maybe she was just visiting the comics world for a while, or maybe the lack of recognition made her drift elsewhere. Looking at LONG TIME RELATIONSHIP it's easy to see that she's worth looking at, whatever medium she decides to use and, getting on my well-worn soap-box, it's all storytelling anyway, you don't have to use sequential panels of whatever. Maybe it's just the new JUXTAPOZ staring me in the face, but some of her stuff makes me think of Yoshimoto Nara and the way his paintings feel like single panel comics but in a different way from the old pop artists used to steal, actually contributing. Anyway, Julie we love you. More please.

Blood: A Tale (£12-99, Vertigo/DC) by J.M. DeMatteis & Kent Williams.

'The sea turned to blood.

'And the blood gave up its secrets.'

Kent Williams' finest moment in comics, and one of my most fondly remembered titles - to the extent that I have the original issues, the original reprint, and even the Vertigo versions of this admittedly cryptic series. Does it stand up to my memories? Visually it exceeds them, as I've just discovered, but my tolerance for wilful obscurity has taken a knocking since I was a teenager, so the somewhat surreal nature of the storytelling ('fever-dream' is right) which appealed to the young Bauhaus fan doesn't quite do it for me as it did back then. What it does do is propel the tale along at a swift and fluid rate, and much here lies in the flow and rhythm. Set in an ancient, pagan world of tribal rituals and primal bloodlust, it's a story of eternal love and the cycle of life, but bollocks to all that because it's all in the visuals which are the Muth-like watercolours in flesh, stone, carmine, burnt umber and black. I would be massively surprised if Ashley Wood's chief influence after Sienkiewicz was not Kent Williams. His naked forms - and a lot of these figures are naked - are as classically beautiful as Caravaggio's more penumbral, biblical figures, with, for me, the advantage of a looser wash like Jürgen Görg's. It won't hurt sales that there are fangs involved as well. More on all that in December.

Maggots (£12-99, Highwater) by Brian Chippendale - Oh, yes! 'Brian Chippendale, a founding member of the Fort Thunder collective, as well as a celebrated poster artist and rock drummer, has spent the past seven years of his life filling page after page of his journals with cryptic, frenetic, shockingly dense comics. Currently at roughly 1500 pages, Chippendale's work flows seamlessly from fantasy to reality, until all boundaries are eradicated and the reader is, willingly or not, drawn into his waking-nightmare world. Equal parts autobiographical adventures, anarchist rants, enviro-political diatribes, sexual fantasies and oddly enough, vegan recipes, Maggots is a challenging, powerful, brilliant work that is reminiscent of Jean Genet's 'Our Lady of the Flowers' in its sheer intensity of emotion.' This stuff is mental. For a start, you read the first row of panels left to right, then down to the right-most panel of the second and read right to left and then continue this snaky path throughout. The backgrounds are a hyper-detailed, manic obsessive mass of cross-hatching and squiggles and the lettering seems to be done with some arcane foreign version of the old John Bull printing set. (Anyone got a font for this?). These are comics produced for the sheer joy of putting pen to paper and seeing where your mind and hand wander to. Preview courtesy of Indyworld mag here. Brian is sending me some copies of his PEENUT BUTTER NINJA, he contributes to PAPER RODEO and is the drummer in Lightning Bolt. Hurray!

Wet Moon vol 1: Wandering Companionless (£9-99, Oni) by Ross Campbell. It's just the haircut and the glasses, I know, but this puts me in mind immediately of a gothed-up version of GHOST WORLD. Or is it just the haircut and the glasses? Chloe and her friends smoke and sit about in a small college town in the American South. They dress to depress, but they're just as emotionally frail as other kids. Ross was the artist on Anthony Johnston's SPOOKED, and has since softened up a little. It says black and white here, which is a little disappointing because the restrained hints of colour on the cover are absolutely perfect. Can we have just a whiff of that pale beetroot inside, please?

Love Fights vol 2 (£9-99, Oni) by Andi Watson - The conclusion of the superhero assisted rom-com.

The Dial & other stories (£7-50) by Chris Reynolds - 'Imagine Edward Hopper's paintings and Andrei Tarkovsky's films transposed to a rural Wales occupied by benign aliens. Yet Reynolds' visions remain uniquely his own, gently sinister and insinuating.' - Paul Gravett Comics International Sept 2004

Buddy Does Seattle (£9-99, Fantagraphics) by Peter Bagge - Three hundred and forty pages of bile about people, places and scenes. To use a Seattle analogy, let's call Dan Clowes the Nirvana and Bagge the Mudhoney of the late eighties Fantagraphics scene. Everybody thought that Bagge would be the big one (ignoring that fact that Clowes hasn't redecorated his living room in a lovely shade of brain) but it turned out the other way around. I haven't read through the old HATE stuff in years and although I enjoyed it at the time I don't know how it will stand up. This stuff might turn out to be an updated version of the FREAK BROTHERS. This is the entire Seattle story arc from Hate.

Star Wars Tales vol 5 (£14-99, Dark Horse) by many – Guest spots from Peter Bagge, Gilbert Hernandez & Tony Millionaire all doing what they usually do but, this time, with registered trademarks of the Lucas Empire.

Mister X vol 2: The Secret Life Of Mister X (£11-99, IBooks) by Dean Motter & Seth - After the Hernandez Brothers left (or whatever happened) the series sort of floundered. Strange idea to get Seth in to do the artwork and, naturally, it gave the book a different tone. ' Mr. X is a mysterious megalopolis master-planner gone mad. This is a dark, moody saga of his obsession to build a dream - the ultimate city - how that dream for perfection gets twisted into something far different, and the price Mr. X pays to fix a dream that has become the perfect nightmare.'

Global Frequency vol 2: Detonation Radio (£9-99, Wildstorm/DC) by Warren Ellis & others. Six more shards of short, sharp sci-fi where there are 1001 operatives on the Global Frequency, each dreading the call from Miranda Zero to drop whatever they are doing, and save this self-destructive world. Their unique talents are brought out in different combinations for different operations, but at their core is Aleph, the girl who sits at the heart of the underground network, coordinating the teams via the Global Frequency network. Unfortunately someone's just found out where she is... Artists this time around include Simon Bisley, Gene Ha and Chris Sprouse.

John Constantine: Hellblazer – All His Engines h/c (£16-99, Vertigo/DC) by Mike Carey & Leonardo Manco. Difficult to say, really since this is an original hardcover. Quite why this couldn't just be in the regular series, where Carey's reduced its popularity by 25% to an all time low here, I have no idea. The film, I expect. Mysterious, worldwide plague puts people in a coma, including Constantine's mate's granddaughter. Chas calls John in. Bish, bash, bosh: job's a good'un. Well, there'll be 100 pages of swearing and sorcery in between the last two sentences, but I don't foresee much more happening.

Swamp Thing: Bad Seed (£6-50, Vertigo/DC) by Andy Diggle & Enrique Breccia. If you want to catch up with Alec, Tefé, and Abby, so does John Constantine, because the plant elemental which is the Swamp Thing has been split from its human conscience and is threatening to throw a planetary scale tantrum.

Adventures In The Rifle Brigade (£9-99, Vertigo/DC) by Garth Ennis & Carlos Ezquerra. Both World War II comedy commando series (I can't remember when I last used the word 'commando' - oh wait, yeah I can), in which the Rifle Brigade, a grotesque bunch of military misfits, bungle their way through missions for dear old Blighty. The first issue of the original mini-series was hilarious, the rest didn't quite follow through for me, but maybe I wasn't in 'the zone'.

Barnum s/c (£12-99, Vertigo/DC) by Howard Chaykin, David Tischman & Nico Henrichon. Anyone out there enjoy this? Actually, did anyone out there buy it? A review would be gratefully received.

The Building Opposite (Fanfare/Pontent Mon) by Vanyda. Interactions of the inhabitants of a three-storey block of flats.

Transgenesis: 2029 vol 1: Fides (£9-99, Humanoids/DC) by Anne Ploy & Didier Pagot. More Euro sci-fi, and in the year 2029, a country's 'new theocratic government has developed a bio-engineered virus called 'Fides' [that's the Latin for 'faith' - possibly the first practical use I've ever found for 9 years learning the language -ed.] that kills anyone who doubts the state religion. Now theology student Marie Appton must risk everything to stop the Fides program and put an end to the dictatorship!' You wouldn't be on your own if your country had oil, love.

B.P.R.D.: Plague Of Frogs (£13-99, Dark Horse) by Mike Mignola & Guy Davis. The mysterious origins of Abe Sapien, featuring the monstrous frog men from HELLBOY: SEEDS OF DESTRUCTION, and some right gnarly art from Guy 'textures' Davis.

The Irregulars (£8-50, Dark Horse) by Steve-Elliot Altman, Michael Reaves & Bong Dazo. A Sherlock Holmes escapade in which the (evidently drug-addled) master sleuth sends street urchins to infiltrate the alleys of Whitechapel following a string of grisly murders there, for which the police believe Watson responsible. That's right, instead of taking them in off the streets and giving them a home, Sherlock, the world's keenest mind, sees fit to deploy a bunch of youngsters to the very centre of a bloodbath. That's Victorian Values for you.

Megaton Man vol 1 (£11-99, IBooks) by Don Simpson - Late eighties superhero parody and a sweet one at that. Trent Phloog was either bitten by a radioactive frog or there was some sort of top secret government testing going on. No one's really sure.

Astonishing X-Men vol 1: Gifted (£9-99, Marvel) by Joss Whedon & John Cassady. Okay, I had more than a few doubts about this, and I despair whenever corporate greed, laziness and disdain for reader's credulity has supheroes or villains miraculously brought back to life. But this works. If I have any problems with the series so far (this reprints the first six issues, and #7 is two months away, so feel free to order this and the series starting from #7), it is, improbably enough, Cassady's art. Of course each panel is gorgeous, he's the guy who makes PLANETARY visually breath-taking, but they're so over-rendered here that the storytelling itself is positively viscous rather than fluid. Your eyes become too fixated on individual images to allow them to move freely across the page. Still, what beautiful pages, and I'm sure I don't have to tell anyone here that Joss Whedon created Buffy The Vampire Slayer, which wasn't my cup of tea at all, but did impress many including, for the first few seasons, Dominique and Mark. I am told by those who know what they're talking about, that it was witty, spunky and all those words which mean something jaunty and fun. And so is this. The White Queen is as superficial and bitchy as ever, and now has a new foil in no-longer-quite-so-young Kitty Pryde who gives as good as she gets. And the storyline poses an interesting dilemma resounding with historical relevance, which is 'If there was a cure for the mutant gene - one that could not only prevent mutation further down the genetic line, but actually treat your 'condition' and make you 'normal' again - would you as a mutant take it? How would that make you feel about yourself? And how would it affect social opinion?'

The relevance of course is to the historical and sadly even contemporary concept amongst the religious (self-)right(eous), of homosexuality (and I use that unattractively clinical term deliberately in this context) as an illness which can and should be cured. It's not a new parallel in X-books; the mutant as metaphor for minorities of all sorts had been a constant conceit throughout. But it's particularly well played here, with hundreds of mutants queuing to be made more acceptable to society, and make their life easier in the process. Nor are all members of the X-Men immune to this temptation, and it sets off all sorts of divisive squabbles within their ranks before two equally vital questions are asked: 'Does the process work?' and, 'If so, how?' And that, my friends, is where the real cleverness comes in, and (without giving too much away) where my first sentence in this preview came from. Nicely set up from the very first issue, readers were just as cleverly thrown off the scent by Cassady himself, with a mischievous campaign of disinformation he plotted on Marvel's own website. For the moment I shall say no more, but this isn't the sort of Magneto/Xorn nonsense from Claremont and Austen (or, more likely, Marvel-on-High) which customers have had to contend with in EXCALIBUR or X-MEN itself.

Wolverine: The End (£9-99, Marvel) by Paul Jenkins & Claudio Castellini. Touted as a book end to ORIGIN, this retained my interest right to the very second page.

Ultimate Fantastic Four vol 2: Doom (£8-50, Marvel) by Warren Ellis & Stuart Immonen. Ah, Doom! Doom, Doom, Doom... I've no idea what I'm typing here. I'm tired and cruising in neutral before Channel 4 news. Ummm... Victor Van Damme as he's called in the Ultimate universe was part of the scientific project which blew up in everyone's face (because Damme in a bout of I-know-best arrogance altered the mathematical forumulae/coordinates without telling anyone first), displacing former child prodigies Reed Richards, Susan Storm, dippy young brother Johnny, visiting thicko Ben Grimm and indeed Victor himself throughout the globe, and substituting part of their genetic make-up with something else altogether (I'll explain more when the book arrives, for the case is made convincingly by Ellis via a more scientifically minded Susan Storm than we're used to). Now the Four are reinstalled in what's become their high-tech home, and trying to work out not only what's happened to them biologically, and how, but what they're now capable of. They'll have to learn on the job, though, because Damme from Denmark has dispatched a plague on mechanical mosquitoes their way, in order to kill them. Best parts of this are the science, but it's not without humour either. And Doom doesn't just wear and armour here, he's become armour. Armour with the feet of a goat.

Avengers Disassembled: Thor (£9-99, Marvel) by Mike Avon Oeming & Andrea Divito/Avengers Disassembled: Captain America (£9-99, Marvel) by Robert Kirkman, Priest & Scot Eaton & Joe Bennett/Avengers Disassembled: Iron Man (£9-99, Marvel) by Mark Ricketts, John Jackson Miller & Tony Harris, Jorge Lucas. Last few issues of the titles' current volumes whose relationship to the actual Avengers Disassembled storyline is virtually non-existent. Oeming kills Thor, the whole of Asgard and a pantheon of uber-gods in a story bubbling with Norse twaddlery, Kirkman provides a few moments of humour in an otherwise standard CA punchfest, and Ricketts doesn't.

JLA: Another Nail (£8-50, DC Elseworlds) by Alan Davis. Sequel to JLA: THE NAIL, with attractive art and a cosmic scale.

DC: The New Frontier vol 1 (£12-99, DC) by Darwyn Cooke. The dawning of DCU's Silver Age, focussing on the pre-heroic escapades of Hal Jordan and co.. It's not a world I'm familiar with, but it's gone down a storm with thirty-to-fifty-year-olds here who are heavily into DC, and I can see why: Cooke shares the same fondness for the characters and era as his readers, and has a similar retro aesthetic to Allred's. You can still buy the originals if you want, I was a little overoptimistic, so we have three or four of the complete series left over.

Shimura (£14-99, DC/2000ad) by Robbie Morrison & Frank Quitely, Colin MacNeil, Robert McCallum & others. Hondo City is the Tokyo of the Judge Dredd world, which has retained Samurai 'values' alongside its bleeding-edge technology. And it is indeed a Judge story (or several, I've no idea - I never read 2000AD, which I imagine is quite odd in the British industry), just not a Dredd story (or stories). Anyway, Quitely does some art, which gives me an excuse to mention that we have a single pack of FLEX MENTALLO by Grant Morrison and Quitely, for which we're charging an extortionate £40, such is the certainty that it will never be reprinted, for legal reasons. What legal reasons? Ask the Charles Atlas estate.

Megatokyo vol 3 (£6-50, Dark Horse) by Fred Gallagher. 'Megatokyo is a delightful and imaginative work of American manga,' says Publisher's Weekly blissfully unaware either of the definition of manga or the web work itself, it seems. Can the 55,000 people who bought the first two volumes be wrong? (well, probably 22,500 given that each probably picked up both). Hell yes, how many units do you think Chuck Austen's X-MEN is currently shifting?

Ascend (£9-99, Image) by Keith Arem, Scott Cuthbertson & Christopher Shy. Attention all Giger fans: you will love Shy's art, which has been on sale here in the form of his artbook, Ronin. He's a class act. Don't know whether the story'll measure up (three banished angels, waging war on earth), but it's the perfect vehicle for his techno-gothic painting.

PVP vol 2: PVP Reloaded (£7-99, Image) by Scott Kurtz. More office-bound gag strips from the man who brought you Scott McCloud as The Oracle in his parody of The Matrix.

As If! Vol 1 (£8-50, Afterburn Comics) by Amy Mebberson. Not to be confused with the pouty T4 soap opera aimed at teenagers with Attention Deficit Disorder mainlining sugar-saturated solution of liquid methedrine, this is yet another webcomic about two (female) best friends at school, and the copy mentions 'terrifying lunchbox treats' and 'puppies'. Christ, do we need a comicbook equivalent of My Little Pony? It also references the 80s as a 'glorious decade' - which of course they were, musically (oh, shut up), but politically we had to contend with Thatcher, Reagan and Apartheid. Also: Clause 28, Edwina Currie, the Poll Tax, Nancy Reagan's bloody astrologer (oh, yeah, remember that?), Mary Whitehouse, Jeffrey Archer, Ferdinand Marcos, Imelda Marcos, and Arthur sodding Scargill. And then there was the shuttle crash, the Bradford stadium inferno, AIDS itself and the death of Eric Morecambe. So no, not much that was glorious about the 80s apart from 4AD records, Vaughan Oliver packaging and John Taylor of Duran Duran sitting astride an elephant.

Caballo, Small Hands (£6-50 each, Daniel Zezelj) by Zezelj. Two very different books from the artist you might have seen illustrating Brian Azzarello's EL DIABLO western mini-series. The first is a collection of war zone stories, past and present. 'The protagonists are sailors, soldiers, children and tigers, balancing on the line between shadow and light, disaster and hope, imaginary and real.' The second is about a boy abandoned on the streets of New York. 'Alone and dumb, he is following in the imaginary steps of jazz pianist, Thelonoius Monk, hoping to find the exit.'

Complete Dark Days slipcased h/c (£65-00, IDW) by Steve Niles & Ben Templesmith. IDW previously offered a boring old hardcover version of this, but this returns to the oversized format of their 30 DAYS OF NIGHT special edition, complete with the original outline, all six scripts, conceptual artwork and a brand-new 30 DAYS OF NIGHT story.

Remains (£12-99, IDW) by Steve Niles & Kieron Dwyer. Zombies, basically.

Popbot collection book two (£23-50, IDW) by Ashley Wood. See BLOOD graphic novel above for something equally beautiful, but slightly more coherent.

Yuggoth Cultures s/c or h/c (£12-99/£18-99, Avatar Press) by Alan Moore, Ryp, Talbot, Wolfer, Zarate, Burrows & various. Essays, scripts and interviews flesh/pad out adaptations of old short stories etc. to a total page count of one hundred and ninety-two. Isn't my enthusiasm infectious today?

Spookhouse: Book Two (£12-99, IDW) by Clive Barker, Robert E Howard & Scott Hampton. Another batch of watercolour horror.

Maitena: Women On The Edge vols 1 & 2 (£7-99 each, Riverhead) by Maitena. First translation for Buenos Aires syndicated strips, the nub of which is concisely captured in the title.

Charley's War vol 1 h/c (£14-99, Titan) by Pat Mills & Joe Colquhon. We're the shop that likes to say: 'Yes!'. 'Yes, we have it!' 'Yes, we can get it!' 'Yes, but I don't think I broke anything.' Rarely do we have to say: 'No.' (I'd like the opportunity, but nobody ever asks.) Nevertheless, the one question over the last fourteen years we have consistently had to answer with a 'Sorry, no...' - and it crops up frequently - is, 'Are there any graphic novels of Charley's War available?'. Come December... you'll all stop asking, won't you? From the pages of BATTLE: 'In 1916, Charley Bourne lies about his age to enlist and fight on the battlefields of France. But thoughts of glory and patriotism are swept aside by the horror and needless sacrifice amidst the trenches of the First World War.' Described as 'a truly classic piece of British comics history,' I will for once accept the hype. It is.

Classic Dan Dare: Marooned On Mercury #4 (£14-99, Titan) by Frank Hampson. As is this. From the pages of EAGLE, Dan Dare and company have crash landed on Mercury. Here comes the Mekon. Volume one has finally seen print, and is sitting on the shelves, awaiting your pleasure.

Yaakov And Isaac vol 1 (£10-50, Mahrwood Press) by Joe Kubert. Apparently created twenty years ago, as a boys' adventure with more than a hint of moral guidance (Rabbi David Pape of the Chabad Moshiach Times was at the very least a consultant), I've not seen this material before. It does sound horribly dated to me. NBM are currently producing a new slew of HARDY BOYS comics, if you're interested - by Scott Lobdell and Lea Hernandez.

Quixote (£6-50, Image) by Michael Avon Oeming, Bryan Glass & Oeming. This is an illustrated novel, not a graphic novella. Dominique Angel, tv reporter, uncovers the story of a crusading urban vagrant who believes the streetpunks are monsters, government agents are demons, and Dominique's own boss is the Devil himself. Is the man delusional, or onto something? Oeming is the artist on POWERS. 300 pages.

Glenn Fabry: Monograph h/c (££23-50). Over 100 colour and black and white studies culled from the PREACHER cover artist's sketchbook.

What Is Goth h/c (£10-50, Red Wheel) by Voltaire. Very lucrative, for a start. Illustrated, self-deprecating mischief-making from the man responsible for those CDs I recently reviewed, OH MY GOTH! and DEADY THE MALEVOLENT TEDDY comics. Enter freely, and of your own accord.

Don Bluth's The Art Of Animation Drawing (£9-99, Dark Horse) by Don Bluth. Fascinating, I'm sure, but nothing to do with us. This is a guide to designing characters, 'adapting those characters to script, voice talent, and music; directing the 'performances' of your characters; the timing and rhythm of movement...' from a chap who had something to do with An America Tail.

Crumb Sketchbook vol 10 (£12-99, Fantagraphics) by Robert Crumb - One of the few artists whose sketchbooks are as satisfying as his actual comic works. In fact, when you come to judge Crumb, you've got to look at his sketchbook work to get the whole picture. The rambling about Doucet/Nara ties in with this bit, okay?

also scheduled:

Bouncer: Raising Cain (£11-99, Humanoids/DC) by Alexandro Jodorowsky & Francois Boucq

Broken Halo: Is There Nothing Sacred? (£12-99, Broken Halos) by Darrell C.L. Donald & Tim Vigil

Devil May Cry vol 1 (£10-50, Dreamwave) by James McDonough & Adam Patyk

Dot Dot Dot (£5-99, Cyberosia) by Marcel Guldermond

Dragon Arms vol 2 (£6-50, Antarctic Press) by Carl Stone & David Hutchinson

Drive-In (£8-50, Avatar) by Joe R Lansdale & Andres Guinaldo

Elfquest: The Grand Quest vol 6 (£6-50, DC) by Richard & Wendy Pini

Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne vol 3 (£16-99, Marvel) by Byrne

Fantastic Four vol 5: Disassembled (£9-99, Marvel) by Mark Waid, Karl Kesel & Paco Medina, Mike Weiringo

Havok vol 1 (£8-99, Quest Miniseries International) by Mark Barnard & Terrie Smith

How To Draw Manga Supersized vol 5 (£12-99, Antarctic Press) by various

Identity Disc (£8-99, Marvel) by Robert Rodi & John Higgins

Jay's Days vol 3 (£7-50, Landwaster Books) by Jason Marcy with Joe Meyer & Jeremy Kaposy

Junior Pirates vol 1: Beginnings hc (£10-50, Mahrwood Press) by Chuck Dixon, Guillermo Mendoza & Eduardo Alpuente

Loyola Chin & The San Peligran Order (£6-50, Slave Labor) by Gene Yang

Lucifer's Garden Of Verses: The Devil On Fever Street (£10-50, NBM) by Lance Tooks.

Mac Tin Tac (£10-50, Conundrum Press) by various

Major Damage (£9-99, Sky Dog Press) by Chris Bailey

Marvel Holiday Special (£10-50, Marvel) by many

Marvel Masterworks: The Incredible Hulk vol 2 hc (£32-99, Marvel) by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Gil Kane, John Romita

Mysteries Of The Red Moon vol 1 (£8-50, SAF Comics) by Carlos Trillo & Eduardo Risso

Mystique vol 3: Unnatural (£8-99, Marvel) by Sean McKeever & Manuel Garcia

Nagdila: Tale Of The Golden Age vol 1 (£10-50, Mahrwood Press) by Eric Mahr, Steve Polls

New X-Men: Academy X vol 1: Choosing Sides (£9-99, Marvel) by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir & Randy Green, Staz Johnston

Nodwick Adventure Log vol 1 (£10-50) by Aaron Williams

Proof Of Concept (£8-50, AiT/PlanetLar) by Young, Tucker, Couciero, Saunders, Johns & Flynn

Ralph Snart Adventures vol 6 (£9-99, Now) by Marc Hansen

Red Star vol 3: Prison Of Souls limited hc (£32-99, Archangel Studio) by Christian Gossett with Snakebite & Paul Schrier

Robo-Hunter: Verdus (£9-99, DC/2000ad) by John Wagner & Ian Gibson, Jose Ferrer

Saga Of Seven Suns: Veiled Alliances (£11-99, Wildstorm/DC) by Kevin J. Anderson & Robert Teranishi

Spectacular Spiderman vol 4: Disassembled (£9-99, Marvel) by Paul Jenkins & Michael Ryan, Humberto Ramos

Spiderman: Maximum Carnage (£16-99, Marvel) by lots

Strangers In Paradise book 3 part 6 h/c (£32-99, Abstract Studios) by Terry Moore.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Archives vol 5 hc (£32-99, DC) by many

Uncanny X-Men: The New Age vol 1: The End Of History (£8-50, Marvel) by Chris Claremont & Alan Davis

Valkyrie: Golden Age Collection vol 1 (£9-99, Verotik) by Fred Kida

Venom v Carnage (£6-50, Marvel) by Peter Milligan & Clayton Crain

What If? Classic vol 1 (£16-99, Marvel) by Many

White Lama vol 2: Road To Redemption (£11-99, Humanoids/DC) by Alexandro Jodorowsky & George Bess

World's Finest Comics Archives vol 1 hc (£32-99, DC) by many

X-Men: Dream's End (£8-50, Marvel) by Scott Lobdell, Joe Pruett, Robert Weinberg & others

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

Ghost In The Shell 2: Man Machine Interface (£19-99, Dark Horse) by Shirow Masamune - 'March 6, 2035. Motoko Aramaki is a hyper-advanced cyborg, a counter-terrorist net security expert heading the investigative department of the giant multi-national, Poseidon Industrial. Partly transcending the physical world and existing in a virtual world of networks, Motoko is a fusion of multiple entities and identities, deploying remotely controlled prosthetic humanoid surrogates around the globe to solve a series of bizarre crimes. Meanwhile, Tamaki Tamai, a psychic investigator from the Channeling Agency, has been commissioned to investigate strange changes in the temporal universe, brought about by two forces, one represented by the teachings of a professor named Rahampol, and the other by the complex, evolving Motoko entity. What unfolds will be all in a day's work...a day that will change everything, forever.'

Clip and save this information as you'll need it when going through the book. I read the first few chapters or sort of read through them. It's a very dense read. And you sort of get distracted by the continual nudity or nigh-nudity. There's a very high nipple count here. And the art/storytelling is full on. He's using more computer generated images in his work than ever before, possibly more than any other artist I've seen. The backgrounds are computer rendered, then there's the floating 'Minority Report' type screens and the buzzing fish-lipped robot helpers all done in acid-spiked hyper colours. As I said, it's a very dense read, untypical of manga storytelling. But he's still one of the big names in Japanese comics. I still love his APPLESEED and the original GHOST IN THE SHELL was miles above the film version and a great essay on artificial intelligence. When the book comes out I'll stock up on Nurofen and give it another go. The issues sold very well but, to me, it looked like a mix of Tomorrow's World, Business Lunch and the Playboy channel printed on tin-foil.

888 vol 1 (£6-50, Comicsone) by Noriko Kuwata

Adrenalin vol 1 (£6-50, Infinity Studios) by Jung Hwa Lee

Ai Yori Aoshi vol 7 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Kou Fumizuki

B'tx vol 7 (£6-50, Tokyopop) byMasami Kurumada

Blue Spring vol 1 (£7-50, Viz) by Taiyo Matsumoto

Boys Be… vol 2 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Itabashi Masahiro & Tamakoshi Hiroyuki

Category Freaks vol 1 (£6-50, Comicsone) by Sakurako Gakurakuin

Chronicles Of The Cursed Sword vol 10 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Yeo Beop-Ryong & Park Hui Jin

Chrono Crusade vol 3 (£6-50, ADV) by Daisuke Moriyama

Couple vol 3 (£6-50, CPM) by Jae Sung Park & Sung Jae Park

Crazy Love Story vol 2 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Lee Vin

Cyborg 009 vol 9 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Shotaro Ishinomori

Dark Edge vol 2 (£6-50, Comicsone) by Yu Aikwawa

DearS vol 1 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Peach-Pit

Demon City Hunter vol 3 (£6-50, ADV) by Hideyuki Kikuchi & Shin-ichu Hosoma

Doll vol 3 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Mitsakazu Mihara

Dragon Hunter vol 10 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Hong Seock Seo

Dragonball Z vol 18 (£6-50, Viz) by Akira Toriyama

Dream Gold vol 1 (£6-50, ADV) by Tatsurou Nakinishi

Dream Saga vol 3 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Megumi Tachikawa

Eternity vol 3 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Shin Yong-Gwan & Park Jin-Ryong

Evil's Return vol 3 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Hwan Shin & Jong Kyu Lee

Excel Saga vol 10 (£7-50, Viz) by Rikdo Koshi

Fairies' Landing vol 7 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by You Hyun

First King Adventure vol 1 (£6-50, ADV) by Moyamu Fujino

Full House vol 3 (£6-50, CPM) by Soo Jan Won

Girl Got Game vol 7 (£6-50, Tokyopop) byShizuru Seino

GTO vol 22 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Tohru Fujisawa

Gunparade March vol 2 (£6-50, ADV) by Hiroyuki Sanadura

Hard Boiled Angel vol 3 (£6-50, CPM) by Hyn Se Lee

High School Girls vol 3 (£6-50, Comicsone) by Towa Oshima

Hyper Police vol 1 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Mee

Hyper Rune vol 2 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Tamayo Akiyama

Immortal Rian vol 4 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Kaori Ozaki

Iron Wok Jan vol 11 (£6-50, Comicsone) by Shinji Saiyo

Kare Kano vol 13 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Masami Tsuda

King Of Hell vol 9 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Kim Jae-Hwan & Ra In-Soon

Lagoon Engine vol 1 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Yukiro Sugisaki

Lupin III – World's Most Wanted vol 3 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Monkey Punch

Maniac Road vol 3 (£6-50, Comicsone) by Shinsuke Kurihashi

Mink vol 5 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Megumi Tachikawa

More Starlight Straight To Your Heart vol 1 (£6-50, ADV) by Hiro Matura

Mystical Prince Yoshida-Kun! vol 1 (£6-50, ADV) by Natsuki Yoshimura

Najica Blitz Tactics vol 3 (£6-50, ADV) by Takuya Tashiro

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

Oh My Goddess! vol 19: Sora Unchained (£12-50, Dark Horse) by Kosuke Fujishima

Pet Shop Of Horrors vol 10 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Matsuri Akino

PhD: Phantasy Degree vol 1 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Son Hee-Joon

Pita Ten vol 7 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Koge-Donbo

Priest vol 14 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Min Woo Hyung

Psychic Academy vol 6 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Katsu Aki

Queen's Knight vol 2 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Kim Kang Won

Remote vol 4 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Tetsuya Koshiba & Seimaru Amagi

Saiyuki vol 6 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Kazuya Minekura

Sgt Frog vol 6 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Mine Yoshizaki

Slayers: The Claire Bible (£6-50, CPM) by Hajime Kanzaka Shoko Yoshinaka

Snow Drop vol 7 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Choi Kyung-Ah

Soul To Seoul vol 1 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Kim Jea-Eun

Steel Angel Kuruki vol 9 (£6-50, ADV) by Kaishaku

Storm Riders part 2: Invading Sun vol 7 (£11-99, Comicsone) by Wing Shing Ma

Story Of The Tao vol 10 (£9-99, Comicsone) by Ding Kin Lau & Andy Seto

Taimashin Mashin Taidohen vol 1 (£6-50, ADV) by Misaki Saito & Hideyuki Kikuchi

Tengai-Retrogirl vol 1 (£6-50, ADV) by Rin Asano

Threads Of Time vol 3 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Mi Young Noh

To Heart vol 3 (£6-50, ADV) by Ukyou Takao

Tokyo Babylon vol 5 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by CLAMP

Tokyo Tribes vol 3 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Santa Inoue

Tori Koro vol 1 (£6-50, Comicsone) by Hideki Kakinuma

Video Girl AI vol 10 (£7-50, Viz) by Masakazu Katsura

Wild Act vol 10 (£6-50, Tokyopop) by Rie Takada

Yongbi The Invincible vol 3 (£6-50, CPM) by Ki Woon Ryu & Jung Who Moon

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

Concrete: Human Dilemma #1of 6 (£2-60, Dark Horse) by Paul Chadwick. The prospect of a new CONCRETE series, between five and fifteen years ago, would have had me drooling. Chadwick was responsible for some of the most intelligent and thought-provoking material in comics ten years ago, but with so much of substance having appeared since, it takes all my reserves of affection for the man to get worked up here. And I should get worked up. 'I've long thought the population explosion was our most dire problem. It's a unique event in history; a vast experiment in how much stress the closed system of the biosphere can take. In places like Easter Island we can see how it might play out.' And that's not like Dave Sim or myself saying that: Paul's just had a child. 'Human nature is the series' broader theme - our drive for sex, for symbolic immortality, for family, for acquisition of wealth, for collecting. Combine those with our inability to deal with threats that aren't sudden or dramatic, and you have Human Nature in a nutshell.' The premise of CONCRETE is simple: speechwriter Ron Lithgow's mind was transferred (by aliens, but please ignore that, it's the only part of fantasy in this fiction) from his own body into a ten foot block of walking, talking Concrete. This robbed him of much that he was used to, but not his imagination, for it presented him with opportunities most of us could only dream of, from walking unaided at the bottom of the ocean to seeing the world clearly at midnight (he most emphatically doesn't fight crime, except environmental). It also made him a bit of a celebrity. Now he's been asked to lend his name to controversial population control program; meanwhile his assistant Larry has, if I read between the lines correctly, got someone up the duff. 'As a young man,' Paul continues in an interview, 'you're never ready for kids, the responsibility, the loss of freedom. But a retired old man, satisfied with his career achievements and financial success, just can't do the father-child things a younger man can (and wives, biologically, can't wait until their mates are 'ready'). I've felt the strain, so I can put my characters through it convincingly, I think.' A lot of the previous material is currently out of print, but we've a few old tpbs, and the COMPLETE CONCRETE, which reprints the ten-issue main series, remains available. Hopefully both short stories collections, the other core work, will be reprinted in conjunction with this new venture.

Ultimates 2 #1 (£2-25, Marvel) by Mark Millar & Bryan Hitch. The superhero title - and I never thought I'd say this - that actually has something for everyone, outside of the most arty Leon Sadler fan or indoctrinated Fantagraphics employee. Am I exaggerating? Oh yeah, but it's the best-selling superhero title as a book here by a very wide margin, and the one that consistently has some of the most ardent indie fans here grinning with guilty pleasure. So what do I have left to say about the title which improbably makes it into my current top five semi-regular reads alongside (now that CEREBUS has gone), HUMAN TARGET, PROMETHEA, FLUFFY, and THE DROWNERS? Nothing this month, wait until it arrives, or ask us to send you the original reviews if you're new. I will mention that I went apopleplectic when the initial solicitation for this arrived and proposed that copies would be split, 50/50 between full-colour versions, and black and white sketch versions (interior as well as exterior). There is no way that 50% of their readership would prefer or even settle for the latter, and there's no way 100% would want both, in spite of the esteem in which we all hold Bryan. Thankfully Marvel marketing have since changed their greedy little minds, but you can still have both if you want, just ask. And I, err, will indeed be having both myself.

Ultimate Secret #1 of 4 (£2-25, Marvel) by Warren Ellis & Steve McNiven. Another Ultimates crossover by Warren Ellis, hot on the heels of ULTIMATE NIGHTMARE (indeed it ties in directly), subscribers to which will automatically receive this, though please feel free to decline. Once more Ellis has gone for the sci-fi angle, and one of his own personal passions (see the ORBITER softcover now on sale), space flight. A new propulsions system means that a journey to Mars has been reduced to a handful of days, but someone or something has taken this development badly enough to destroy the craft before launch. Features The Ultimates and the Ultimate Fantastic Four.

What If... (£2-25 each, Marvel) by Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Peter David, Dame Christopher Claremont, Karl Kesel & Gaydos, Maleev and more. Ooookay, there are now officially way too many Marvel titles a month - although actually that happened six months ago - and indeed tpb reprints, so I have in retaliation ignored almost all of those and shoved them under 'also scheduled'. Ordinarily I wouldn't even bother with these, but you just saw Bendis and Brubaker there, didn't you? WHAT IF was Marvel's utterly pointless self-referential title in which they posed alternate timeline questions, such as 'What If The Phoenix Had Lived?' (that was before we discovered that, you know, she did), 'What If Spider-Man joined The Fantastic Four?' (which, again, he later did), and 'What If Marvel Readers Had Absolutely No Imagination Of Their Own?' (which many of the title's paying public obviously didn't). So I have absolutely no idea why Bendis thought it might be an interesting exercise to ask himself and foist on us the questions and answers to 'What If Jessica Jones Had Joined The Avengers?' (art by ALIAS artist Gaydos), and 'What If Karen Page Had Lived?' (art by DAREDEVIL artist Maleev). Equally improbable is that Brubaker thought about anything other than the money when pondering 'What If Aunt May Had Died Instead Of Uncle Ben?', although I'm not really that surprised at Peter David mulling over 'What If General Ross Had Become The Hulk?'. There's two others this month on top of that. What may - may - prove more interesting is...

Wh...Huh? (£2-99, Marvel) by Bendis, Millar, Ennis, others & Jim Mahfood. In the style of NOT BRAND ECHH, this sends up the WHAT IT? concept with questions that nobody really cares about. See above, stupids!

Biff! Bam! Pow! #1 (£2-95, Slave Labor) by Evan Dorkin & Sarah Dyer - 'The latest from the House of Fun is a FULL-COLOR action anthology about all the things that make the universe go 'round – superheroes, monsters, monkeys and the never-ending battle between the good, the bad, and the stupid. Biff! Things kick off with controversial Interstellar Anyweight Champ One Punch Goldberg, and how she left the mob-run boxing world to become a full-time crime-fighter. Bam! Kid Blastoff locks up against Smartypants, the villain with a Thinking Cap that makes his every moronic thought real (and really dangerous). Pow! Sibling rivalry gets out of hand in 'Billy vs. Super-Rad!' Thirteen-year-old Billy can't stand his older brother, a beloved jock superhero, so he sets out to become his #1 arch-enemy!'

Hate Annual #5 (£3-50, Fantagraphics) by Peter Bagge - More Buddy Bradley, more Lovey, 'Bat Boy' from the Weekly World News and some illustrated essays.

Temporary #1: Curves & Ladders (£2-95, Origin) by Damon Hurd & Rick Smith. Hmm, potential. 'It's never a typical day at the office for Envy Saint-Claire. Working for the AllTrades temp agency, every day she's someone else - sitting at someone else's desk, drinking someone else's coffee, talking to someone else's friends, living someone else's life. But only for a day. Everything in Envy's life is temporary, and that's just the way she likes it.'

Trigger #1 (£2-20, Vertigo/DC) by Jason Hall & John Watkiss. 'In the not too distant future, 87% of America's corporations have been consolidated into one government-sanctioned corporate entity: Ethicorp. The result has allowed [the] country's citizens to live safely and securely in a clean, terror-free, and productive environment. Society is dosed on nonstop Vid feeds, feel-good drugs, clean sex and low crime. And most people happily embrace Ethicorp's corporate motto: 'We Get the Bad Out!' ...To keep society so 'shiny,' Ethicorp secretly controls legions of high-tech killers - known on the streets as 'Triggers' - that act as one-man (or woman) judge, jury and executioner whenever Ethicorp sees something 'bad'. But be careful, because 'bad,' like beauty, is often in the eye of the beholder.' Apart from the fact that it sounds like Ethicorp is judge and jury, and the Trigger merely the executioner, and it all sounds a little trite (in comics: SEAGUY, DARK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN to name but two) and didactic, this is the best art I've seen from Watkiss, whom I've never enjoyed, not even remotely, but who's found a whole new bag of visual tricks to make him a bit like David Lloyd inked by Stuart Immonen. Or is that the other way round? Jason Hall wrote BEWARE THE CREEPER, the Vertigo series set in the Paris art scene of the mid-1920s. Anyone thinking of buying this from Amazon or Wal-Mart should read that first line again, and remember it once it's all come to pass.

Stalkers one-shot (£4-99 Atomeka) by Mark Verheiden & D'Israeli. Similar to the above, but seen from the point of view of the Stalkers'/Triggers' boss, whose missions' success/failure has an impact on the share prices of the corporations employing elite government SWAT team. D'Israeli you may know from Warren Ellis' Lazarus Churchyard, Verheiden from THE MASK or the tv series Smallville.

Detective Comics #801 (£2-20, DC) by David Lapham, Mike Carey & Ramon Bachs, Nathan Massengill, John Lucas. This is your second wake-up call to David Lapham's 12-part stint on Batman (the first was last month for the back-up story in DETECTIVE COMICS #800). And don't be put off (if you were) by Mike Carey's appearance in the writing credits - he's doing the back up feature for the next four months, not interfering with Lapham. 'Gotham city at night is no place for children, as Batman knows all too well. As the Dark Knight tries to shut down a drug ring that's turned deadly, Bruce Wayne must contend with a wayward 14-year-old who's getting dangerously close to Gotham's underworld.'

Catwoman #38 (£1-80, DC) by Scott Morse & Paul Gulacy. Shame Scott's not on art chores as well, he's the antitethesis of Gulacy, and would have fitted in well with the original art direction after the relaunch. Scott was responsible for SOULWIND, THE VISITATION, and the purple-Spangle-coloured BATMAN: ROOMFUL OF STRANGERS one-shot, all of which he drew as well as wrote. Damn, now I'm desperate for a purple Spangle. They don't make them any more, do they?

Gotham Central #26 (£1-80, DC) by Ed Brubaker & Jason Alexander. I know it says 'Greg Rucka' on the solicitation, but it's not. Doesn't really matter, they're both excellent on the precinct drama, which this times involves the murder of a famous televangelist (hurrah!), and all the evidence points to Catwoman.

Deadshot #1 of 5 (£2-20, DC) by Christold N. Gage & Steven Cummings. Wasn't going to bother, but I've previewed more irrelevant Marvel series before, and I liked some of the dialogue I read, against clipped visual pacing, which won't, unfortunately translate here. Deadshot's a vague cross between The Punisher and Bullseye, who discovers he has a daughter living in a less than salubrious neighbourhood, and decides to clean it up. Yeah, does sound ho-hum, doesn't it? But as I said, the pages I've seen will at least get me to take a gander on release, and which point I'll report back.

Solo #2 (£3-50 DC) by Richard Corben, John Arcudi & Richard Corben. Couldn't remember what this was for a moment, then realised that it was a DCU title which spotlights an artist (#1 is about to be Tim Sale) and gives them different writers to illustrate on a number of tales. This time Corben's choosing to do his own legwork in which he 'brings to life a mummy in ancient Egypt, takes us into the trenches of a futuristic war, straps on a six-shooter for a good old-fashioned western, and then brings about the plague!'. Then he illustrates Arcudi on a Jim Corrigan Spectre story.

Astro City: The Dark Age #1 of 12 (£2-20, Wildstorm/DC) by Kurt Busiek & Brent Anderson. Twice the size of even the longest ASTRO CITY tales so far, and easily the most eagerly anticipated (this is me writing this, not a DC employee, I've read all the letter columns, listened to customers, and have more than my own share of curiosity to boot), in which we'll finally learn why citizens of the city feel so ashamed when they mention The Silver Agent. Set in the early '70s, 'in the wake of a global catastrophe, two brothers deal with family secrets and social upheaval'. Containing far more humanity than most superhero series, this really isn't an action comic - it's a reaction comic that generally has as much to with the ground-level individuals in residence as it does to the more colourful characters flying across the skyline. It was one of the first comics containing superheroes outside of WATCHMEN and DARK KNIGHT RETURNS to rate as intelligent, but it's been so infrequent and indeed overtaken that its profile has dropped to the point that one forgets that Neil Gaiman was moved enough to provide an introduction to one of the books (all four permanently in stock). Brent Anderson is its permanent artist, another rarity in a superhero series, lending it a consistency of style most lack, and I've just realised that it doesn't go without saying that this is Kurt's own baby through and through. But it is, which is why it's so much better - so very much better - than anything he's done outside of MARVELS, and the forthcoming SUPERMAN: SECRET IDENTITY trade.

Batman/Danger Girl (£3-50, Wildstorm/DC) by I couldn't care less.

The Amazing Joy Buzzards #1 (£2-20, Image) by Mark Smith & Dan Hipp. Josie & The Pussycats scenario in which a rock-and-roll band fights giant robots and such. On their recent UK tour Duran Duran played an anime-style video during, I think, Careless Memory, in which they did precisely that: fight giant robots. The curious thing was the male half (quarter?) of the audience appeared to be made up exclusively of 55-year-old brickies, presumably dragged reluctantly along by their younger - and almost universally hideous - wives. LeBon flattered them with something like, 'What a great-looking audience!' when it fact he'd have done them all a favour by telling them to go home, lose weight and come back again when they'd made a fucking effort. No one seemed to be remotely interested in Goldfrapp's awesome support set, so I guess this lot were the Sharons of their day, rather than the Futurists. Anyway, this looks like absolute rubbish - sorry to have bothered you.

Hunter-Killer #0 (25 pence, TopCow/Image) by Mark Waid & Marc Silvestri. Superpowered blah blah blah, corrupt government blah, 'Watch the Watchmen' blah blah blah blah, 'blacker than Black Ops!' blah. Apparently Marc Silvestri (most recently seen on NEW X-MEN) is 'groundbreaking'. The only way I'd believe that is if I saw him with a pneumatic drill.

Samurai: Heaven & Earth #1 of 5 (£2-25, Dark Horse) by Ron Marz & Luke Ross. Looks exactly like a Crossgen title. 1704 in good old feudal Japan, and a lone samurai warrior sets out on a quest to retrieve his wife who's been abducted by enemies. It's going to be a long journey through the empire of China, right across Europe, to the palace of Versailles, just south of Paris. There he must confront the greatest swordsman ever known, and the most overwrought interior decor the world has ever seen.

Flaming Carrot #1 (£2-20, Image) by Bob Burden - I've still a fondness for the Carrot and all that comes when Burden's writing and drawing. Sheer dada-ist insanity and glorious jumps of logic and the defenestration of reason. This feels like part of the eighties revival but, in a way, he never went away. Bob's also working on this.

Skyscrapers Of The Midwest #1 (£3-50 Adhouse Books) by Joshua W. Cotter... was awarded the 2004 Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics. Now, I don't know this anthropomorphic title from Adam, but the award's name is taken from the shop owned and run by Jamie Sime in San Francisco, and although he's previously written applause for at least one title which I've questioned the merits of (PLANETE OF THE CAPES), the shop itself is by all accounts very well regarded. As in, you could do worse than take his judgement just as seriously as our own. So here's what it says, and I'll take a look on arrival: 'Capturing the rural solitude and sadness of a land full of anthropomorphic country cats, [this] hits a nerve that would make a grown man cry. With stories of childhood trauma and exploration, this comic gives voice to a new creator within our field.'

Lunch Hour Comix #1 (£3-50, Alternative Comics) by Robert Ullman. A cross between 24-hour comics as practised by Scott McCloud, Dave Sim and Neil Gaiman (you complete a single comic within 24 hours), and James Kochalka's SKETCHBOOK DIARIES (in stock), this is a collection of journal strips done by someone in his lunch hour. I have no concept of what one of those is.

Hypothetical Lizard #1 (£2-99, Avatar) by Alan Moore, Antony Johnston & Lorenzo Lorente. Once again, this is not Moore writing for comics, this is an adaptation of an old novella. I try so hard to get into his reconstituted material at Avatar - and I've loyally read the preview - but I fail every time. {I remember reading the short in an anthology of comic writers doing prose. Remember 'Call My Bluff' with Frank Muir? All those unused words from the Larger English Dictionary? Imagine all of them from a 25-year run of the program reshaped into a story about something or other - Mark}

Full Circle #1 (£2-95/£2-60, Full Circle Publications) by Simon Reed & Simon Bisley. Press release time. Think of that deep, gravely voice which presages most awful action movies: 'In a world which knows no rules. A Land where every clan competes for survival. Surviving clans sprawl across the remnants of the earth. They band together under the leadership of their clan chief. There is one who has come to change the course of events and break the cirkle for all time united under a new clan. For good or evil each clan followed its own path but now their existence is threatened. The phoenix is the last hope to bind the clans together for protection but the Sabre Clan has a new agenda! Visit www.fcp.cc for all forthcoming titles by Full Circle Publications including Simon Bisley's Full Cirkle issue #2 due out in November.' They meant to spell 'circle' that way. I don't know why.

Very Big Monster Show (£4-99, IDW) by Steve Niles & Butch Adams. All-ages horror this time out, in which traditional monsters like mummies and vampires aren't scaring the kids these days, except for Theo. His loyalty to the legends of terror inspires him to help them regain their confidence to frighten once more.

Comics Journal #264 (£ Fantagraphics) -

m e r c h a n d i s e - e v e n t u a l l y

Please note: merchandise doesn't always ship on time. I mention this with Christmas in mind. Yes, Christmas! Oh my sweet lord.

Tim Burton's Toxic Boy & Staring Girl t-shirts (two designs, £17-99 each). Both of these are babydoll efforts, the first white with black-striped sleeves, the second in baby blue. Stain Boy, Toxic Boy and Voodoo Heart t-shirts will be back in stock around the same time.

Emily The Strange Plush (£14-99). Not as exciting as...

Emily The Strange Cat Plushes (£10-99 each). Four different black cat plushes (cuddly toys), all suitably suspicious or, in the case of Miles, war-torn. 'Warning!' it says. 'Keep away from other toys.'

Gama-Go & Scary Girl wristbands (£4-99 each, Dark Horse) - Makers of cute toys give you wristbands!

Frank Miller's Sin City: Marv 12' statue (£175-00 Dynamic Forces). My soul is consigned to hell for even mentioning Dynamic Forces, purveyors of all things signed for a price, but it's a magnificent statue, as Marv, draped in grey mac and held together by bits of sticking plaster, points a gun and grimaces.

Cheshire Totoro t-shirt (£15-99) - Totoro? SQUEAL! Yes, that's the general reaction from all who've seen the film. The shirt (in men & women's designs) has the main Totoro's big, broad smile, a cute nose and two eyes. All on a Totoro coloured shirt.

Daniel Clowes's Pogeybait vinyl figure (£29-99, Presspop) - With real cloth nappy! How many times did Pogeybait appear in Eightball? More than one? I can't remember. He's in the 20TH CENTURY EIGHTBALL book anyhow. >From the same company that bought you the Little Enid doll. They'll also be doing the lifesize Pupshaw figure that I wish I had ordered.

Cerebro Helmet (£175-00 Marvel). 'To me, my X-Men!' Yes, you too can now don this dainty hairdryer and whilst waiting for your perm to set, you can locate mutants around the globe, from David Blunkett in England, to Michael Jackson in cloud cuckoo land. You can train them in your danger room, dress them up in gaudy gear (that stable's looking mighty empty in Micky's case), then send them out into the world to protect humanity... Good God, that would take an awful lot of training, wouldn't it?

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', 'The Complete Frank', '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 written by Stephen and Mark, then edited by a clumsy cockatoo.

l e t t e r s I don't suppose for five seconds you're reading this, but a big cheers to Phil Jupitus for the plug on Radio 6, and to Geoff Savory for persuading him to come and see us. I wonder if he's mates with Jonathan Ross?

Yes, well - hi there. There was a desperate plea for correspondence in the last mailshot. So here it is.

After a couple of years of visiting your splendid establishment, and through some sort of mental coercion finding myself visiting weekly to pick up all the things I have ordered, I had this thought. You really should include in the mailshot a list of the cd's you have been playing this month!

It probably won't increase your sales, but you do play a lot of stuff I like the sound of, and don't recognise. Hope all is fluffy and wonderful, and that the carpet isn't too stained with the blood of dead Avengers.

Rob Lewis II

You've appealed to our vanity with perfect precision, Rob. This month we've largely been playing: Nick Cave - Abattoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus Dub Pistols - Six Million Ways To Live The Creatures - Hái Phoenix Down (unreleased demo, hopefully their second ep) Blow Monkeys - Atomic Lullabies (Stephen) Joni Mitchell - Hejira Lightning Bolt - Wonderful Rainbow Flying Burrito Brothers - Sin City Sketch Show - Loophole The Melvins - Neither Here Nor There (Mark) Galaxie 500 - Uncollected Tom Tom Club - Tom Tom Club Red House Painters - Down Colourful Hill Iron & Wine - The Sea & The Rhythm Human League - Travelogue (Tom) Floyd Ferris, I am convinced, has worked behind our counter:

Dear the comic shop, Have you got anything that's about nu-metal, marijuana and wrestling? I recently received a P45, hence my old work email will have bounced messages back to you. Should have removed it when I learned of the impending colossal tragedy (as jobs go, it stank, ho hum, I have moved on to better things). Anyroad, please add me to the mailshot again, I miss them.

Thnx, Floyd Ferris

You missed out 'graffiti' and 'tattoos', but had me in stitches. Also, I'm going to nick that crossed-out effect for future gimmickry, so cheers for that, and good to have you back, Floyd! The weirdest request so far has been for a kitchen utensils. I swear to god someone once came in and asked if we sold colanders.

Dear all, Thank you for your regular reviews which I unfortunately read irregularly. I noticed a plea for reviews of Thieves and Kings. Whilst I have been reading this from the start it is far too difficult to review properly suffice it to say that as a primary school teacher it is the sort of story I would want to read in class. As a sidenote recently I achieved the age of thirty and as a present my fiancé brought me some original Thieves and Kings art. M'Oak not only sent a personal message but also sent some awesome sketches with the picture which were amazing on their own. As a long-time comic aficionado I have found that many of my favoured comic creators seem really uptight about comics and need to use them to offer 'messages'. This is all well and good and has not detracted from my reading pleasure but it was nice to find someone who seems a normal guy. Anyway would it be possible for you to put 'I am legend' on my list please. Thank you Dan Ainscow

M'Oak does seem to be the human equivalent of Spring, doesn't he? He also gave us one of our earliest plugs in the letters column waaay back when, for which we've always been extremely grateful. Simon Robinson's review has already arrived, and will be cast upon you when the book hits the shelves. You lucky people.

Hello guys, I hope all is well with you. Thanks as always for the mailshot. My reason for writing today is to pick your gargantuan brains (once again). Today's subject is the iconic Captain America.

It's going to be one of those letters, isn't it?

He is often billed in Marvel publications, and indeed on their website, as 'The worlds most formidable hand-to-hand combatant', and the like. In fact, on the website's cast of characters his fighting ability scores higher than Danny Rand's, aka Iron Fist. 'So +@*&ing what'? I hear you cry. And I take your point.

Why is when anyone writes that, you just know they're going to carry on regardless?

Just for the sake of continuity however, I feel Marvel are obligated to at least TRY to justify their character's abilities - even if it's with pseudo-science, technobabble, and ill-informed rationale. For instance, I accept Spider-Man's origins, even though, a spider which was the same size as a man, would be as strong as...GASP...a man. (Spiders aren't renowned for their strength, and certainly not for their agility - they're actually comparatively clumsy creatures). And even though the 60's cartoon song should really go; 'Is he strong? Listen bud, he's got radioactive blood...and so therefore, no. He's actually very weak, can't stop being sick and quite probably has days to live.'

LOL!

None of that matters though, because I appreciate the effort to at least in part explain his origins. Which brings me back to the world's greatest hand to hand combatant, or, 'Alabama's hardest man'. 'The super-soldier serum has taken Steve Rogers to peak human standards. Even surpassing an olympic athlete.' So? Even at Carl Lewis's olympic heights, at no stage did I think that he could go five rounds with Big Dave who drinks in the Blacksmith's Arms. Not a chance. Let alone take on the might of the German army single handed, even if he HAD had a couple of Judo lessons, which by the way, was all Steve would have had time for before the government sent him off to the front. So where were all the Ninja masters? At what point did Steve master all the world's fighting styles? Did he do a distance learning course? 'Hi, congratulations on purchasing the Eastern Promise audio kung-Fu course. Place the enclosed housebrick on something sturdy, we'll be breaking it later on in the tape...' And I seriously doubt he could walk on rice paper without crinkling it. Especially in those boots. Imagine the Red Skull's surprise when his elite troopers were soundly thrashed by a body-builder hoying a dustbin lid around the place. You couldn't write it. Unless you work for marvel. Now, Batman - ok. Fifteen years spent travelling the globe, learning from the masters. He's put the hours in, he deserves the title. Judge Dredd - once again, fifteen years in the academy of law learning applied violence, you'd probably regret spilling his pint as well. Danny Rand even went to another dimension to achieve absolute enlightenment, making him 'The ultimate martial artist', oh, and he can turn his fist into an irresistible object, 'A thing of iron' .... And yet, our Steve, (who is, at best, a nerd on steroids) would STILL give him a good hiding. Apparently. I mean, come on. Best regards, Andy.

That's it, Page 45 has finally been reduced to the 'who's stronger?' debate. I'm sending my CV to Wizard magazine right now. I've not been able to stomach more than a cursory glance at the 1940s' CAPTAIN AMERICA back catalogue, but all that was required back then was to put on a decidedly unsteathly set of threads and bash some Nazis about. Origins were as profound as 'Aargh, I've been bitten by a mongoose, I shall fight evil and... Actually, I'm bleeding to death here...' I've some memory that the Whizzer was actually bitten by a mongoose, but that was pseudo-1940s stuff written in the 1970s. I don't know is the simple answer. And if I did I probably wouldn't tell you, just to see what happens to a man who's plagued by thoughts like these. So do let us know how you are in November. :)

Hello all, I'm pretty sure the 'T' stands for 'transgendered'. I think.

...wrote Dan Pawley in response to my ignorance when covering the gay guide to comics (PRISM @ £3-50).

I would have to be going to a liberal American university and have a large collection of Bikini Kill T-shirts before I could be 100% definite. And now on to all the stuff I want this month...Persepolis for sure - I really liked the first one. Tommysaurus Rex - the review makes it sound just plain great. Which is the job of a review I suppose.

Well, I fucked up mightily with EXCALIBUR, then, didn't I?

Also We3 unless I'm too late (did I miss Seaguy?) and the new Dr Parsons. Can you also add The Walking Dead to my standing order, starting from issue 12. Have you covered this book in the mailshots yet? I am really enjoying it - if you ever liked the George Romero zombie films, you'll love this.

If anyone is persuaded by this - and the fact than Dan has just displayed exemplary taste in the other orders - book one is back in stock, book two imminent.

I'm moving to Cardiff soon. I've just spent 18 months in one country where they hate the English, so I might as well try another. Which means I might be able to come to your birthday party. Hoorah! cheers Dan

Fantastic! We were hoping to host the party as close as possible to our actual anniversary, but that is, frankly, insane given that everywhere looks booked for Christmas at weekends. We're still looking at a couple of new options, but we can't have a party without Dan, now can we? On a more vital note, I've now finished my part of the Recommended Reading List and Mark is beavering away with scans and layouts.

Am I the only Micronauts fan in the world?!?

asked Andrew Price, of otherwise sound body and mind. No, I told him, there are two others. Both, by happy coincidence live in Kingston, Jamaica, where they've set up a fan club for each other, and swap imaginary Micronauts stories into the late, Caribbean evening.

Ah... If only I lived in Kingston... Then again... I had a week off work with flu in July and listened to approximately sixty hours of reggae in five days, at the end of which I was singing songs which had no relevance to me or my life - 'Don't call I Jamaican, I man a African', 'Send me home to Ethiopia'...

Andrew is Welsh.

Went to see 'Hellboy'. Excellent. Can I suggest you cover yourself in nicotine patches, take a hip flask and see it on the big screen?

That's the only way it'll happen. Apparently the best scene features kittens in a subway.

I never acquired the ability/self-confidence to dance (although on the handful of occasions I've managed to transcend my self-consciousness and shake my booty I've been told I've acquitted myself tolerably well - the last time was about six years ago, Sian and I were at a club with some friends, supernatural powers descended on me and I was consumed by the urge to do the John'n'Uma thing from 'Pulp Fiction' with Sian, to which I succumbed...). If only I could have encountered a DJ who played Robyn Hitchcock... All these 'if only's... See you then. Hope you're all ok. Andrew.

Fine and dandy, cheers. The following is a public service announcement on behalf of a comicbook creator:

Greetings. For those of you familiar with THE NORM, by Michael Jantze, you may have heard by now that he has decided to retire the strip from newspaper syndication. We are now trying to see if continuing the strip as an online comic and comic book is a viable idea. We think that by keeping the website lively, it will help bring readers to the comic books and ultimately to your shops. You can read all about it at http://www.thenorm.com. I AM NOT asking you to donate to the cause. As a small business owner, we fully understand the financial constraints you face. We are asking that you make the attached flyer available if you sell the book in your stores to help get the word out. Thanks for your support. Cheers Nicole Jantze THE NORM Magazine Number 5 hits comic book shops on October 13 through Diamond Distributors. THE NORM Magazine is a bi-monthly publication October Book Signings: October 9-10 Minnesota's Fall Con October 16 - Ohio State University Comic Art Festival October 23 - Dallas Comic Con

And here's some good knowledge for UK comicbook creators...

Hi. I seem to remember that when i first sold you some of my books ('Now What?'), you said something about sharing information with other self publishers, such as other places we have had success. So i thought I'd quickly let you know that i've had some of my books taken by shop in Bristol called 'Here' (you probably know it already). It seems like a really good place, full of interesting arty stuff. So perhaps you can spread the word. The website is: www.thingsfromhere.co.uk Keep up the sterling work! John Scarratt

Anyone who produces lovingly hand-crafted comics, please write in and share your knowledge, so that we can share it with other creators. Not nearly enough places stock works like Leon Sadler's - and we must have sold a good 60-80 of each of his 'items' here, so any new venue will make a huge different to these titles sales.

Dear Sir Or Madam On behalf of the Air Force Board, it gives me great pleasure to invite you to a presentation on the Royal Air Force of today on 21st October 2004 at The Council House, Old Market Square, Nottingham. You may be wondering why we have written to you. Well, we believe that it is important for all members of society to have access to details about the current roles and activities of the Royal Air Force. We hope that, after attending our presentation, you will have an up-to-date knowledge of the Royal Air Force and be better able to enter into the defence debate, ongoing within our society. At the event, you will have the opportunity to meet members of the Royal Air Force firsthand in a relaxed and informal atmosphere.... The evening will begin with a drinks reception, followed by a fast moving, multimedia presentation, during which we will give a comprehensive overview of the Royal Air Force. At the end of the presentation there will be time for questions before adjourning for tea and coffee; precise timings are on the enclosed invitation card. A wide cross-section of your local community is being invited and it should be both an enjoyable and informative evening, which I am sure you will find worthwhile. Please feel free to extend this invitation to as many of your friends and family, including teenage children, as well as colleagues, who may wish to attend.. I only ask that you let us know who will be attending by returning the enclosed reply card, or by contacting us on the above telephone of e-mail address... Your Faithfully, R. Whitwel Head of the Royal Air Force Presentation Team 01494 49 5730/5731/5732/5736 sec@rafpt.demon.co.uk

I've not made that up, you know. I've truncated it, but it's a real invitation, sent through the post, and you can go and pester them if you want. I couldn't work out why they were doing this, until I got to the bit 'including teenage children...' - at which point all was revealed. So that's it for another typically tardy mailshot, except to confess that 'Never read your press' is advice which I've never been able to get the hang of. So I laughed long and hard when I discovered in COMICS INTERNATIONAL #177 not only that I'd just made to No.3 in the popularity stakes of things readers like most about the magazine... but also that I was the columnist they'd most like defenestrated! I wonder if they were the same people...