Ladies Making Comics

Market Monday: May 15th, 2013 New Releases

Book of the Week

Adventure Time: Playing with Fire GN, written by Danielle Corsetto

AN ALL-NEW ADVENTURE TIME ORIGINAL GRAPHIC NOVEL! Join Flame Princess, alongside Finn and Jake, as she leaves the Flame Kingdom and goes on her very first adventure! Written by acclaimed cartoonist Danielle Corsetto (GIRLS WITH SLINGSHOTS) and drawn by rising star Zack Sterling (BRAVEST WARRIORS, ADVENTURE TIME). A pocket black and white edition appealing to fans of SCOTT PILGRIM and Japanese manga!

~Preview~

Firsts of the Week

Avengers: The Enemy Within #1, written by Kelly Sue DeConnick

THE OPENING SALVO TO THE HOTLY ANTICIPATED AVENGERS/CAPTAIN MARVEL FOUR PART EVENT! Can’t keep a good Captain down! Vicious echoes of the Avengers’ past are cropping up all over Manhattan…and a grounded Captain Marvel refuses to be left behind. Who is the sinister figure behind these incursions and what does it have to do with Carol Danvers’ mysterious condition? But is this villain real or just a figment of Captain Marvel’s increasingly deadly imagination?

~Preview~

Regular Show #1, art by Allison Strejlau, colored by Lisa Moore

REGULAR SHOW… IT’S ANYTHING BUT! Cartoon Network’s powerhouse series now has its own comic book series! Hot on the heels of the smash hit adaptation, ADVENTURE TIME, KaBOOM! unveils the next all-ages comic phenomenon! Join Mordecai the Bluejay and Rigby the Raccoon, a couple of best bros in their twenties just tryin’ to chill for a bit, man. But when you’re livin’ in as crazy a world as they are, no day can be called…regular! Ask your retailer about the pre-order variant by Chris Houghton (ADVENTURE TIME, REED GUNTHER) and the incentive variant by Dustin Nguyen (BATMAN, L’IL GOTHAM)!

~Preview~

Collection of the Week

Captain Marvel vol. 2: Down TP, written by Kelly Sue DeConnick

Marvel NOW! Captain Marvel goes head to head with…Captain Marvel?! Former Captain Monica Rambeau returns, but what’s her problem with Earth’s new Mightiest Hero? What threat lurks below the ocean’s surface? And can both Captain Marvels stop it before they get shipwrecked? Then: Carol finally returns home…but changed. What is weakening her powers? How will the lifelong high-flyer react when she discovers she can no longer fly? What’s keeping the super hero from being super heroic, and who wants her to stay that way? And as Captain America intervenes with a surprising gift, Carol confronts a new version of an old foe: Deathbird! What happens when your enemies know your most dangerous secret? Collecting CAPTAIN MARVEL (2012) #7-11.

More new releases under the cut!

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FYI: Upcoming Move, LMC Updates to Remain Irregular Until at Least July.

Due to an inconveniently timed restructuring of the company I work for, I have been given only a little over a month’s notice that I will be relocating from Boston to Washington DC. Fortunately, I have already secured an apartment among all the other young professionals in Arlington, so the most anxiety-ridden part of moving has been dealt with. However, this still leaves me with plenty of work- and move-related tasks and responsibilities that need to take precedence above all. So blog updates will continue to be erratic until I am settled in my new life.

On the plus side, I will have a week off between when I leave Boston and when I am expected to report to my new assignment, So I will mostly be getting a feel for my nation’s capital as a resident rather than the tourist I’ve been many, many times, But I will also have more free time for blogging (and planning ahead) as well as exploring the DC comics scene! Any advice any of my DC-based readers about what to check out (comics-related and otherwise) would be enthusiastically welcomed.

My entire immediate family will all be living in Massachusetts by the time  move, so fret not, my Boston-comics scene friends! I intend to come up for the rescheduled Boston Comic Con in August and Arisia ‘14 in January, and hope to reconnect then. Massachusetts has been my home for 15 years and Boston for 8 of them. It will be strange to move, but I doubt I’ll ever truly leave.

Iron Man 3 is the best old-school James Bond movie ever.

(Oh look it’s my one-sentence Iron Man 3 review from my general/pop-culture Tumblr)

Market Monday: May 1st, 2013 New Releases

Book of the Week

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo vol. 2, adapted by Denise Mina

Vertigo presents the concluding volume of the official graphic novel adaptation of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO!

In Book 2, the mystery of Harriet Vanger’s disappearance deepens as crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the indomitable Lisbeth Salander join forces to crack the decades-old case. Together they uncover a twisted secret that may end up costing them their lives. Don’t miss the gripping conclusion to one of the most thrilling books of all time!

Firsts of the Week

New series!

The Movement #1, written by Gail Simone, cover by Amanda Conner

We are faceless. We are limitless. We see all. And we do not forgive.

Who defends the powerless against the GREEDY and the CORRUPT? Who protects the homeless and poverty-stricken from those who would PREY upon them in the DARK OF NIGHT?

When those who are sworn to protect us abuse their power, when toxic government calls down super-human lackeys to force order upon the populace…finally, there is a force, a citizen’s army, to push order BACK.

Let those who abuse the system know this as well: We have our OWN super humans now. They are not afraid of your badges or Leagues. And they will not be SILENCED.

We are your neighbors. We are your co-workers. And we are your children.

~Preview~

OMG YOU GAIZ IT’S A SESAME STREET COMIC!

Sesame Street #1, art by Amy Mebberson

Sunny Day! Chase the clouds away as Sesame Street comes to comics for the first time! Join Elmo, Big Bird, Grover, Cookie Monster, and all of your favorites in this fantastic first issue! Featured this issue, Elmo decides to become a superhero, but he doesn’t have any powers! It will be up to the always lovable Super Grover to teach Elmo that he can have any superpowers he wants, because he already has the greatest superpower - imagination! Available with 5 interlocking covers.

Collection of the Week

Castle Waiting vol. II: Definitive Edition HC by Linda Medley

THE SECOND VOLUME OF THIS CLASSIC FANTASY, NOW IN AN EXTENDED AND IMPROVED VERSION

With its long-awaited second volume, Linda Medley’s witty and sublimely drawn fantasy eases into a relaxed comedy of manners as Lady Jain settles into her new life in Castle Waiting.

Unexpected visitors result in the discovery and exploration of a secret passageway, not to mention an epic bowling tournament. A quest for ladies’ underpants, the identity of her baby son Pindar’s father, the education of Simon, Rackham and Chess arguing about the “manly arts,” and an escape-prone goat are just a few of the elements in this delightful new volume. The book also includes many flashbacks that deepen the stories behind the characters, including Jain’s earliest romantic entanglements and conflicts with her bratty older sisters, the horrific past of the enigmatic Dr. Fell, and more.

Originally released in a slightly shorter version when the series ceased publication, this new edition includes over 60 pages’ worth of brand new additional story and epilogue, and the entire book has been re-lettered in a livelier, more inviting style for an even more engaging reading experience.

It’s a light week so the rest aren’t below a cut!

Earth 2 #12, art by Nicola Scott

The drums of war begin to sound as the heroes of Earth 2 rally behind Dr. Fate—and a threat from Apokolips becomes all too real!

Planet of the Apes: Cataclysm #9, co-written by Corinna Bechko

WHAT DANGER LURKS IN THE FORBIDDEN ZONE? Still recovering from the terrible cataclysm that rocked the planet, Doctor Zaius tries to maintain the fragile coalition of apes, chimps and orangutans, in an effort to ensure that the rebuilding of Ape City continues apace. But the cataclysm also shook something loose in the Forbidden Zone that could fracture Ape society as we know it…

Sherlock Holmes: The Liverpool Demon #4, co-written by Leah Moore

Drummond, now on the run, seeks shelter in Hitchcock’s Menagerie, but how long will it be before Inspector Thornton tracks him down? The final piece of the puzzle falls into place for Holmes as he and Watson return to the scene of Tom Christian’s murder. Yet the route they take is far from straight and perhaps more dangerous than even the Great Detective could imagine.

~Preview~

Ultimate Comics X-Men #26, colored by Jordie Bellaire

“NATURAL RESOURCES” CONTINUES! Fortress Utopia! The Mutant Nation is Under Siege! And General Ross is leading the charge!! Can Kitty and Mach Two work together for the good of mutantkind?! Jimmy Hudson prepares for war!!

~Preview~

Market Monday: April 24, 2013 New Releases

Book of the Week

Who Is AC? GN written by Hope Larson

Meet Lin, a formerly average teenage girl whose cell phone zaps her with magical powers. But just as superpowers can travel through the ether, so can evil. As Lin starts to get a handle on her new abilities (while still observing her curfew!), she realizes she has to go head-to-head with a nefarious villain who spreads his influence through binary code. And as if that weren’t enough, a teen blogger has dubbed her an “anonymous coward!” Can Lin detect the cyber-criminal’s vulnerability, save the day, and restore her reputation? Available in Hardcover and Softcover editions.

~Preview~

Firsts of the Week

First of its return!

A Distant Soil #39 by Colleen Doran

15-year-old Liana now sits on the throne of the Avatar, a living weapon of mass destruction, the most powerful psionic in the universe. And she’s pointed directly at Earth. Back after a six-year hiatus, the final chapter of the critically acclaimed space opera series begins in a bi-monthly release from Image/Shadowline

Issues #1-38 available for free online!

First of Sara Pichelli’s Art!

Guardians of the Galaxy #2, art by Sara Pichelli

While London deals with the brutal Badoon invasion, the fate of the Guardians of the Galaxy may have been decided millions of miles away.

~Preview~

One-Shot!

My Little Pony: Rarity, written by Katie Cook

Rarity is in need of some well-deserved R & R after working hard on her new fashion line. A sweet spa retreat turns sour when Rarity learns that the establishment is a little too “down to earth”! How will this resourceful pony make the best out of this “rustic” situation? Read on to find out!

~Preview~

Collection of the Week

The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger - The Battle of Tull TP, co-written by Robin Furth

Roland Deschain, last of the gunslingers, continues searching for the Man in Black. Instead, he finds Tull, last stop of civilization - a town of devil grass, desert sand and despair. A town of lost souls, including Allie, the once-pretty barmaid whose encounter with the Man in Black left her saddled with a fearsome, cursed secret. Tull may seem to be on the very edge of the world, with nothing past the horizon but a steep fall to oblivion, but Roland believes otherwise: that beyond Tull lies a hidden truth that means everything to the fate of Mid-World. The Man in Black holds the key to that mystery, and Roland is going to keep following him - even through a trap set in Tull - to unlock it. Collecting DARK TOWER: THE GUNSLINGER - THE BATTLE OF TULL #1-5.

More new releases under the cut!

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The Week of April 14-20, 2013 (and then some)

This has been a trying week for me personally, as a Bostonian and otherwise. Thankfully, none of my friends or family have been injured or killed, and the greatest tangible impact the week’s events have had on me personally is the postponement of Boston Comic Con. I will miss the energy and community of that event that I feel we could all use right now, but it is a small price to pay for the public’s safety and the first steps towards achieving justice for the losses and chaos we have gone through. (ETA: Fun Fact: it is sheer coincidence I posted this a mere 5 minutes after he was captured. Didn’t even realize he had been until I scrolled through my dash some.)

But life goes on and comics do too! I’ve missed this feature for more weeks than I’ve actually done it, but I’m going to keep intending to do it and hopefully do it more.

You may want to save this link for later because they’re having malware issues right now, but Comics Should Be Good at Comic Book Resources has revealed the audience-chosen Greatest Gail Simone Stories Ever Told! Basically all of Secret Six is there, but so are a few arcs of Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman, Welcome to Tranquility, and her still-uncollected Deadpool run (the Deadpool Classic series is about to catch up to it soon, though.) It’s a fun walk down memory lane and makes me want to reread all of them!

 Alison Bechdel’s blockbuster memoir Fun Home has been adapted into a musical, which will debut in October at the Public Theater in New York City:

FUN HOME 
Music by Jeanine Tesori 
Book and Lyrics by Lisa Kron 
Based on the Alison Bechdel book 
Directed by Sam Gold 
October 1 - November 3, 2013 

From four-time Tony Award-nominated composer Jeanine Tesori (Caroline, or Change) and Tony-nominee Lisa Kron (In The Wake,Well) comes a fresh, daring new musical based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Alison Bechdel. When her father dies unexpectedly, graphic novelist Alison dives deep into her past to tell the story of the volatile, brilliant, one-of-a-kind man whose temperament and secrets defined her family and her life. Moving between past and present, Alison relives her unique childhood playing at the family’s Bechdel Funeral Home, her growing understanding of her own sexuality and the looming, unanswerable questions about her father’s hidden desires. Directed by Sam Gold, FUN HOME is a groundbreaking, world-premiere musical about seeing your parents through grown-up eyes.

The musical was developed at the prestigious Sundance Institute’s Theater Lab last year.

Posy Simmonds has reacted to last week’s passing of ex-UK Prime Minister Margaret “Iron Lady” Thatcher with a picture-book style fairytale called “King Ironsides” available over at The Guardian. It’s extremely amusing, even to an American who only really knows Thatcher’s legacy from Meryl Streep’s The Iron Lady and whatever I picked up from the complaints of my LSE poli-sci student friends when I lived in London.

The Paris Review visited Miriam Katin’s studio, where I learned for the first time that she was an animator on one of my all-time favorite TV shows, Daria. She also had this great anecdote about being the oldest person to work at MTV:

I get a phone call, and she says to me, this girl, “This is human resources. You’ve made a mistake on your birthdate.” And I say, “Oh, well, I always make mistakes. What did I do?” And she says, “Well, you wrote you were born in 1942.” I say, “Yes?” So she says, “I’m sure you meant 1982.” “No.” “1972?” “No.” Now she’s getting spooked. I mean, everyone around there is an infant. I say, “Look, let me make it easier for you, I was born in 1942, and I am still alive and working.” She was totally freaked out. It was a such a great story, MTV used it in training sessions.

Bonus Art Thing:

You’ve probably seen Hanie Mohd’s art nouveau superheroine ballgown pin-ups before. Now you can buy prints and tee-shirts from WeLoveFine.com!

Other Things I Do!

It’s a new season of Mad Men, which means it’s a new season of the Mad World Podcast! With Between the Panels and Geeks of Doom’s William Goodman and #Television editor Tahlia Hein, we discuss the latest episodes and you can listen to it! The usual podcast exhortions apply: Subscribe! Review!

Also, I finally caved and started a personalish Tumblr where I currently post sporadically about other pop culture things, but which will likely soon devolve (or evolve, depending on your perspective) into reblogs of cat gifs.

Market Monday: New Releases for April 17, 2013

Featured Book of the Week

muZz vol. 1 by Foo Swee Chin

There is heaven and hell for those dearly departed remembered by the living, but muZz is the place where unspoken, untold dreams and secrets go when those who made and hid them expired. On the train heading towards muZz, a girl wakes up and finds herself unable to remember anything about herself and surrounded odd creatures. From Nightmares & Fairy Tales co-creator Foo Swee Chin comes this new graphic novel filled with the vivid imagery only she can deliver.

Collection of the Week

Angel & Faith vol. 3: Family Reunion TP, art by Rebekah Isaacs

Angel’s quest to resurrect Giles has brought an old friend to London-Willow! Tensions run high as these two confront the loss of Giles, but before blood can be shed, Willow has a proposition. She’ll help Angel on his quest if he’ll help her find magic. To do that, she’ll need Connor to get them into Quor’toth, a hell dimension where magic runs deep. Collects issues #11-#15.

More of this week’s new releases under the cut!

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Market Monday: April 10, 2013 New Releases

Featured Book of the Week

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley

Lucy Knisley loves food. The daughter of a chef and a gourmet, this talented young cartoonist comes by her obsession honestly. In her forthright, thoughtful, and funny memoir, Lucy traces key episodes in her life thus far, framed by what she was eating at the time and lessons learned about food, cooking, and life. Each chapter is bookended with an illustrated recipe-many of them treasured family dishes, and a few of them Lucy’s original inventions.

~Preview~

Firsts of the Week

Ultron #1AU, written by Kathryn Immonen

Ultron took over the world. Ultron killed the heroes. Ultron…is your father. When you’re Victor Mancha, android teen Runaway, “daddy issues” doesn’t quite cover it.

~Preview~

Collection of the Week

M3 TP, written by Erica Schultz

M3 is the award-winning crime thriller about an assassin’s search for the truth. It follows Machiavella Maria Marcona, an assasin hunted by FBI agent Christopher Morris, the son of one of her victims. When Machiavella’s handlers turn against her, an unlikely alliance is formed.

~Preview~

More new releases under the cut!

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Market Monday: Release Date April 3, 2013

Featured Book of the Week

Letting It Go HC by Miriam Katin

The world of Holocaust survivor and mother is turned upside down by the news that her adult son is moving to Berlin, a city Katin has villainized for the past forty years. As she struggles to accept her son’s decision, she visits the city twice, first to see her son and then to attend a Museum gala featuring her own artwork. What she witnesses firsthand is a city coming to terms with its traumatic past, much as Katin herself is. Letting It Go is a deft and careful balance: wry, self-deprecating anecdotes counterpoint a serious account of the myriad ways trauma inflects daily existence, both for survivors and for their families.

Katin’s follow-up to We Are On Our Own

Firsts of the Week

Princeless vol. 2 #1, art by Emily Martin

Adrienne is back! The princess who ran away is back along with her new friend, Bedelia the girl blacksmith and her loyal guardian dragon Sparky. Now that Adrienne has escaped, she has her eyes set on freeing her sisters. First up is the most beautiful girl in all the kingdom, Angelica. However, things will not be easy for our heroines as the King believes Adrienne is dead and has put a bounty on her killer: Adrienne.

The Last of Us: American Dreams #1, co-written and art by Faith Erin Hicks

The comics-exclusive prequel to the new game from Naughty Dog! Creative director Neil Druckmann teams with breakout comics star Faith Erin Hicks to present the story of thirteen-year-old Ellie’s life in a violent, postpandemic world. A newcomer at a military boarding school, Ellie is reluctant to toe the line, which earns her new enemies-and her first glimpse of the world outside.

More of this week’s releases under the cut!

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Market Monday: March 27, 2013

Featured Book of the Week

Husbands HC, co-written by Jane Espenson, with art by Natalie Nourigat and Tania del Rio

Written by Husbands creators Jane Espenson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Brad Bell, this is the comic-book continuation of the sitcom phenom. Husbands tells the story of famous gay newlyweds Brady and Cheeks, who sparked a media firestorm when they woke up legally wed after a drunken Vegas weekend. Now, a mystical wedding gift launches the couple on a series of adventures-a tongue-in-cheek journey through iconic genre realms-filled with obstacles that threaten to tear them apart. Follow Brady and Cheeks into a superhero showdown, a fairytale fantasy, a Holmesian mystery, an epic galactic battle, a madcap high school romp, and a saucy secret-spy thrill ride. Includes bonus “making of” material and a special introduction.

~Preview~

Firsts this Week

First of a new creative team!

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #5, written by Heather Nuhfer, art by Amy Mebberson, covers by Stephanie Buscema and Amy Mebberson

Attention, everypony! Get ready for another unforgettable adventure in the land of Equestria. Twilight Sparkle and gang are confronted with a perilous new danger in the form of a long-unseen enemy! See how the Magic of Friendship prevails in the start of a brand new story arc!

Not so much a first as a one-shot but still awesome!

Time Warp #1, includes a story by Gail Simone

Let’s do the time warp again! It’s time for another fantastic Vertigo anthology filled with spectacular sci-fi stories. Robots, deep space and lots of time travel twists by a bevy of comic greats and the up-and-coming stars of tomorrow. Damon Lindelof and Jeff Lemire bring us a blast from DC’s past, plus another installment of the “Dead Boy Detectives” from Toby Litt, Buckingham and Victor Santos, Matt Kindt presents a stirring story of man vs. machine—and so much more!

~Preview~

Collection of the Week

Astonishing X-Men vol. 11: Weaponized, written by Marjorie Liu

It’s the explosive aftermath to the year’s most talked-about wedding! The X-Men are on the run, and Northstar accepts a deadly assignment. Meanwhile, newlywed Kyle learns the hard way marrying Northstar also meant marrying his family. And in this case, that means the X-Men! Will Kyle and Northstar survive their first married mission? Meanwhile, Susan Hatchi reveals her connection to the X-Men. How long can the team survive with her nanobombs circulating through their bloodstreams?As Hatchitech weapons start appearing around the globe and civilians are caught in the crossfire, the X-Men must make a decision: take down Hatchi or save their teammate Karma! Plus: Someone is attacking friends and associates of the X-Men, and it’s up to Wolverine and his team to stop them. Collecting ASTONISHING X-MEN (2004) #52-56 and ANNUAL #1.

More new releases under the cut! 

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Weekly Cool News Round-Up: March 17-23, 2013

Some expanded thoughts and heads-ups on news items curated throughout the week.

Some follow-up thoughts on Phoebe Gloeckner, Diary of a Teenage Girl, and ubiquitous question of “autobiography” in comics. I was having lunch with my mom today, and though she’s not much of a comics reader, she’s a fantastic and supportive mother who reads this blog because it’s a thing I do. She mentioned that she started to read the interview with Gloeckner I posted earlier in the week and commented on her vehement annoyance at being asked about the “autobiographical nature” of her work. I replied that, as far as I could tell, Gloeckner’s teen years did involve a good deal of drug and sexual abuse, and like any creator she draws on her experiences for material to write about, but she couldn’t and/or wouldn’t point to specific instances in her work as things that actually happened. Sort of offhand, I concluded, “When you think about it, that’s an intensely personal thing to ask someone.”

I had never thought of it that way before, but it is sort of ridiculous how much comics criticism harps on the “autobiographical” part of semi-autobiographical comics, as if the value in the works are in that they “happened” rather than being great works of comics. Maybe it’s because we’ve got the gold standards of Maus and Fun Home, both of which have the overarching theme of their creators trying to understand their respective fathers. So we can’t deal with the idea that, by contrast, Jimmy Corrigan is a book about estranged fathers by a cartoonist who was estranged from his father, but is not about that particular man and his father. And that attitude gets really voyeuristic and creepy when you apply it to work like Gloeckner’s. 

I don’t think anyone does it maliciously or lasciviously, but interviewers should really be more mindful of what they’re actually asking someone when they ask if their work is autobiographical. In the case of Phoebe Gloeckner, she has essentially spent decades being asked “Is this how you were actually raped in real life? Were you really prostituted out for drugs by someone you trusted?” and so on. Would you ask anyone those questions in real life? If you answered yes and are not a social worker or a therapist, go sit in the corner and think about your life choices. Your horrible, horrible life choices.

Are you a Mexican comics creator? Editorial Resistencia might be interested in your work! Founded in 1999 by former magazine editor Josefina Larragoiti for writers in niche genres ignored by the Mexican mainstream publishers, they started publishing graphic novels in 2007. So far, as far as women go, they’ve published Cecilia Pego’s Visiones y Evasiones. No idea what their policy on Chican@ creators is, but they appear to have a very open editorial policy, so it can’t hurt to ask!

A cool-looking Kickstarter this week, Irish comics collective Zenpop is trying to raise £5,000 to publish their rainbow-themed first anthology Chroma. The majority of creators involved are women, including Leeann Hamilton (Finn & Fish) and Anthea West (The Earthbound God), which is a nice thing to remember when you read the fabulous Maura McHugh’s recent post on women being left out of an “Irish Comics Month” event.

Bonus Art Thing

No idea if the artist was a woman on this, but the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library posted this early manga image on their blog. It’s from 1921 and is about Japanese women’s liberation of the time: