Guest Post: New Comics Wednesday (5/23/12)

For BigBro's first installment and an explanation of terms, click here. He will be visiting intermittently to share his knowledge of comic books, graphic novels and literary material in general. Give him some love in the comments or email me and I will forward your comments to him.

I’m on the road this week.  So this post will be short. 

One area we haven’t talked about is webcomics.  Webcomics are similar in style to Sunday comic strips and viewable through a web browser.  One of the best is Abominable Charles Christopher.  Karl Kerschl weaves a tale of anthropomorphic animals that could rival Bambi or The Lion King.  For almost 5 years, he has posted a new comic every Wednesday.  You have some pleasant reading ahead of you.  Enjoy.

Pull List: Prophet #24 (digital)

New Comics Wednesday 5/16/2012

For BigBro's first installment and an explanation of terms, click here. He will be visiting intermittently to share his knowledge of comic books, graphic novels and literary material in general. Give him some love in the comments or email me and I will forward your comments to him.

When you think of comics what comes to mind?  If you said the adventures of Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and their friends, you wouldn’t be completely inaccurate.  While superheroes tend to dominate the American market, comics are a diverse medium and not a single genre.  It takes a little more digging but there is a depth to graphic storytelling that goes deeper than the capes and tights set.  In these blog posts, I hope I can open your eyes to some of the better examples.

Craig Thompson’s OGN, Blankets, is one of the best tales comics have to offer and is my favorite book in any medium.  I devoured this almost 600-page semi-autobiography in just a couple days.  It was as if Thompson’s art and dialog were meshed into the basic language of my brain.  I highly recommend this coming of age tale to anyone who has always been close to their sibling(s), has fond memories of their first love or has struggled with faith.

Pull List: Secret Service #2, Justice League #8 (digital), Saga #2 (digital)

Guest Post: New Comics Wednesday (5/9/2012)

For BigBro's first installment and an explanation of terms, click here.  He will be visiting intermittently to share his knowledge of comic books and the characters many of us have come to appreciate through movies like Thor, Captain America or Iron Man (just a short list).  Give him some love in the comments or email me and I will forward your comments to him.

So you saw The Avengers (or Avengers Assemble in the UK) and are wondering what comics to read.  First, we should thank Jack Kirby and Stan Lee for the Avengers bombastic 1960s origin.  However, it was Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch who made Hollywood take notice.  In 2002, they reinvigorated the then ailing Avengers franchise with The Ultimates:

The Ultimates #1 by Mark Millar & Bryan Hitch

âMarvel Entertainment

Their sleek 21^st century reimagining wowed readers and signaled that these concepts were ripe for film.   Suddenly it wasn’t radiation and gamma bombs that gave superpowers but clandestine attempts to recreate the supersoldier program that birthed Captain America.  In a stroke of genius, Millar and Hitch recast Nick Fury, the foremost spy in the Marvel Universe, as Samuel L. Jackson.  The brilliance of Millar’s words and opulence of Hitch’s art show through on every page.  So if you’re interested in the roots of the films you’ve been enjoying for the last four years, look to the following books:

The Ultimates Vol. 1: Super Human

The Ultimates Vol. 2: Homeland Security

The Ultimates 2, Vol. 1: Gods and Monsters

The Ultimates 2, Vol. 2: Grand Theft America

A word of warning, these stories like the film should be considered PG-13.  If you were confused by the first post-credit reveal, you might want to check out this.

Pull List: none (Sad, isn’t it?)

Guest Post: New Comics Wednesday 5/2/12

I'm grateful to have the opportunity to loan my "space" out to other people from time to time.  I hope my guest writers will introduce you to new and interesting material that goes beyond june bugs or Samscratch.

BigBro has always been interested in comic books.  In fact, his interest might be the only reason I ever learned anything about the X-Men, and I have to credit him for cultivating a deep love of Star Wars in me.  Periodically, he will be here to host New Comics Wednesday.  All of your questions and comments will be forwarded to him so show him some love in the comments!


Welcome to the first installment of New Comics Wednesday.   My name is Ronnie (aka BigBro or My Precious) and this will be my intermittent Wednesday guest blog.  Why Wednesday you ask?  Wednesday is the magical day that new comic books are released in North America (and now the UK) every week.  With these posts I will try to give you a glimpse into the world of graphic storytelling from vibrant superheroes to somber memoirs.  We should begin with a glossary of common terms that you will need for this journey.

Comic:             Sequential art and dialog or narration that tell a story.

Comic Book:   Generally used to refer to a serialized 20-30 page magazine format comic.  Also referred to as “floppies” or “pamphlets” but not by me.

Trade:             A collection of multiple comic books into bound format that usually tells a full story.  Also referred to as “TPB” or less accurately as “Graphic Novels.”

OGN:               Original Graphic Novel.  Original stories not previously serialized in comic books.  This is the proper usage of Graphic Novel.

LCS:                 Local Comic Shop.  Specialty stores that carry comic books and other related merchandise.

Pull List:         A subscription service generally offered by a LCS.  I will be posting my weekly pull list at the bottom of each installment of New Comics Wednesday.

Day & Date:    Digital comics offered the same day as their print counterpart on apps like ComiXolgy.

That should be enough to get you started.  This week is a special week in comics.  Once a year on the first Saturday in May, we celebrate Free Comic Book Day (FCBD).  On that day, comic shops have special offerings from participating publishers that are free to the public.  Follow the link below to found out this year’s offerings and where you can find a participating LCS.  Then, go check out your LCS this Saturday and get some free comics. 

Pull List (5/2/2012): Earth 2 #1, G.I. Combat #1, Action Comics #8 (digital)

Pull List (FCBD): DC Comics: The New 52 Special Edition