We shouldn’t just collect or flip books, we should also read them. A good story can make your purchase well worth the money spent if you ask me. After all, we buy books to read for entertainment right? Even if you can’t flip them, reading is just as rewarding.
We tend to focus on mostly the floppy copies each week and kind of ignore the trades and hardcovers that come out week after week.
These can be one off books, collected editions or special editions.
I’ll start off saying hopefully nobody lost any digits yesterday in the July 4th festivities. Now it’s back to business though, comic book reading business.
First up is a title I read up until issue 5 or 6 but started to hold off due to my reading and pull lists getting out of hand. So I’ve been waiting on the trades to start hitting store shelves to binge read.
From The New York Times bestselling writer Matt Kindt (Mind MGMT) and artist Tyler Jenkins (Peter Panzerfaust) comes the Eisner Award-nominated rural mystery series chronicling the tragic lives of the Grass Kings, three brothers and rulers of a self-sufficient trailer park kingdom – a fiefdom of the hopeless and lost seeking a promised land.
The grass kingdom is run by middle brother Robert, who has been grief-stricken since losing his daughter years ago.
When a mysterious young woman flees to their community in search of safety, Robert takes her in. As her true identity comes to light, Robert must decide if his chance at atonement is worth risking the entire Kingdom. Collects issues #1-6.
They have released Grass Kings HC Vols 1, 2 and 3 already if you prefer hardcovers. These can usually cost a bit more than the trades.
I’m probably going the same route with Black Badge from the same team up. Great story telling and you gotta love Tyler Jenkins art and style. The simplicity of the drawn lines with the subtle water color effect just adds to the story telling.
I love Swamp Thing, probably one of my favorite DC characters. If you missed out on some of the more recent specials that covered Swamp Thing, then this new hardcover might be up your alley.
Swamp Things Roots of Terror Deluxe Ed HC
In this new collection, Swamp Thing is out of his element as he shepherds a lost boy through a blinding blizzard and other hazards of a strange, frozen tundra. In this touching and harrowing tale of survival, the pair must navigate countless threats throughout a bewildering terrain-with a bloodthirsty snow monster hot on their heels. But how long can they rely on each other?
Plus, on Halloween, the barrier between worlds grows thin-and only the Swamp Thing is strong enough to face the monsters that come from the other side. In addition, this book features the final Swamp Thing story from the monster’s co-creator, Len Wein. Originally intended as the start of a new series, it is presented here with art by Kelley Jones.
Collects stories from SWAMP THING WINTER SPECIAL #1, SWAMP THING HALLOWEEN HORROR GIANT #1 and stories from CURSED COMICS CAVALCADE #1 and YOUNG MONSTERS IN LOVE #1.
Makes me wish I waited as the Winter Special and Cavalcade issues I know were like pretty pricey to begin with. Now you can get both and two others all in one for less than the price of two of these.
This next pick is a must pickup for me. Although I must admit, I’ll likely pick it up at NYCC since I know they’ll be available then.
JUST IN TIME FOR CONVENTION SEASON-the ultimate comic con crime tale! Comics won’t just break your heart. Comics will kill you.
Hal Crane should know, he’s been around since practically the beginning. Stuck at an out-of-town convention, waiting to receive a lifetime achievement award, Hal’s weekend takes us on a dark ride through the secret history of a medium that’s always been haunted by crooks, swindlers, and desperate dreamers.
BAD WEEKEND-the story some are already calling the comic of the year from its serialization in CRIMINAL #2 and 3-has been expanded, with several new scenes added and remastered into a hardcover graphic novel, in the same format as BRUBAKER and PHILLIPS’ (KILL OR BE KILLED, FATALE, CRIMINAL) bestselling MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN JUNKIES. This gorgeous package is a must-have, an evergreen graphic novel every true comics fan will want to own. Collects CRIMINAL #2-3 with new expanded content.
You can’t go wrong with a Brubaker Phillips book. Brubaker is the master narrator who’s narration is so surreal, it makes you feel like you’re part of the story and you are inside the narrators head.
The last pick probably isn’t for everyone but after reading the story behind the story, it’s got my interest. I also a love a good sci-fi distopian future.
13 Astonishing Lives Of The Neuromantics
13 is a space opera that evokes Heavy Metal in its sexuality, innovation, and flat-out strangeness. In a future beset by poverty and subjugation, the privileged live in orbital penthouses and use the underclasses for parts.
One young man has his arms taken from him and undertakes an epic journey to become whole.
This was a kickstarter done by Northwest Press and so far I found only two online shops selling this. Midtown and Atomic Empire.
Written and illustrated by Yves Navant, this was hard work in between his day job and taking care of his sick mother. He wanted his mother to stay alive long enough to see his work complete and as he finished the final page while she was in the hospital, she had kept promising him she would hold out until he was done. He visited her the same day he finished the final page but soon after she passed on. I read most of this story about the creator on Westword.com.
It’s definitely a book I intend to check out.