Diamond’s Disappearing Data

I like Hope Larson’s books, so I preordered All My Friends from my local comic shop. Under Diamond code JUL21 1661, it was originally due out yesterday. The book didn’t ship. Amazon says it’s been rescheduled to next January. That’s a shame, but it makes sense — lots of publishers are having production...

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The Death of Doctor Strange #1

I’m not crazy about the concept behind The Death of Doctor Strange #1, a five-issue miniseries written by Jed MacKay and illustrated by Lee Garbett. The more events promote a morbid ending that readers already know won’t stick, the less it means, and the cheaper the gimmick becomes. Admittedly, this...

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Aquaman: The Becoming #1

I don’t know why I believe any more that any superhero comic will be a good starting point. They’re all so invested in their universes that it’s nearly impossible to join in without a lot of work and investment. I haven’t read DC comics for a while — I have so many other things to read these days, with...

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Night of the Animated Dead – Why?

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has released a 71-minute animated remake of George Romero’s zombie movie classic. Night of the Animated Dead retells the 1968 Night of the Living Dead. The studio is promising “terrifying new content not found in the original” (and sent me a review copy). I wouldn’t know,...

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A Man and His Cat Volume 4

Umi Sakurai continues to build out this world, balancing moments of substantial emotional depth with scenes of cute cat behavior with universal appeal. A Man and His Cat volume 4 follows up from the previous volume. Hibino’s resentment towards Mr. Kanda, from the days when they were both concert pianists,...

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Writing for the Beat

Hi, friends! Apologies for lack of posts here — I’ve been writing for other sites for a bit. And that’s what this note is about: I had the fun of covering the new Doctor Who news (which I’m SO excited about!) for the Comics Beat. As well as chiming in on the Weekend Reading column. I hope to be making...

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Drawn That Way

Drawn That Way by Elissa Sussman is a young adult novel very of our time. It’s about creativity and industry sexism and who gets to make entertainment and finding (or making) a supportive community. Hayley dreams of nothing but creating animation for genius director Bryan Beckett’s studio. As a high...

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Shirley and Jamila Save Their Summer

Shirley and Jamila Save Their Summer was recommended to me for a reason that should become obvious shortly. Jamila Waheed is new to the neighborhood. She wants to play basketball, but her mother is forcing her to go to summer science camp. The local basketball court is too far away for her to go by...

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The Valley of Fear

The Valley of Fear is the least-known of the four Sherlock Holmes novels, and I’m not sure why that is. It was written late, first appearing in 1914, but it’s a good mystery. Like most of the other novels, there’s a lengthy digression where Arthur Conan Doyle writes an adventure story to explain the...

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The Hound of the Baskervilles (Usborne Graphic Classics)

After reading all of the comic adaptations of The Hound of the Baskervilles I could find — nine of them, all told — for an upcoming article in Sherlock Holmes magazine, I was beginning to despair at finding a classic, faithful presentation. So many of them were “punched up”, made more dramatic in ways...

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Bullet

Bullet is a sweet little superhero story that’s almost done crowdfunding. It’s (accurately) described as follows: After college student Dale DeSouza suddenly develops super speed, he splits his time between fighting villains and courting one of the researchers helping him find out more about his powers....

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Mr. Bride Volume 1

Mr. Bride volume 1 by Natsumi Shiba establishes a simple premise as a way of getting two people together in an “opposites attract” situation. Hayami is a successful career woman who’s a slob at home. Co-worker Yamamoto discovers the mess and cleans up for her. The two end up rooming together, complicated...

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Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju Volume 10

The Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju series concludes with volume 10. It came out almost three years ago, and this volume — along with some of the others in the series, apparently — may be currently out of print. But I still wanted to talk about it because as a wrap-up, it’s beautifully...

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Conventions in the Age of COVID

Less than a month until New York Comic Con! Are people ready? Should be interesting to see what this is like, as I can’t find any information on publishers setting up there. Guests — of whom the biggest names are William Shatner, George Takei, John Cena, and Chris Claremont — are appearing, but photo...

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Alice in Leatherland

Out in early November is the collected Alice in Leatherland. It’s the story of a children’s book author who finds satisfaction and love by moving to a big city and working in a sex toy store. As written by Iolanda Zanfardino and illustrated by Elisa Romboli, Alice is almost too good to be true. She’s...

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Underground Back in Print at End of Month

Underground was a miniseries, later collection, written by Jeff Parker, illustrated by Steve Lieber, colored by Ron Chan, and published by Image Comics back in 2010. I enjoyed the adventure story, about two rangers playing cat-and-mouse in a disputed cave system with those who are trying to kill them....

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