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August 13, 2014
Atomic Books Comics Preview - August 13, 2014
In the weekly Atomic Books Comics Preview, Benn Ray highlights notable new comics and graphic novels.
Benn Ray is the owner of Atomic Books, an independent bookstore in Baltimore. The Mobtown Shank is his blog, and his comic Said What? is syndicated weekly in the Baltimore Sun's B-Paper.
Atomic Books has been named one of Bizarre Magazine's 51 geekiest places on the planet, as well as one of Flavorwire's 10 greatest comic and graphic novel stores in America.
Demon #1
by Jason Shiga
The first installment in a promised 21-issue series finds Shiga's protagonist in a sort of Groundhog Day-esque purgatory in a shitty motel in Oakland, CA. The smooth linework and muted colors reveal a character desperate to, but somehow supernaturally incapable of, killing himself - via hanging, wrist-cutting, shooting, pill-taking, etc. After each attempt our protagonist finds himself awake back in the motel, disappointingly alive with slight hints of evidence as to what transpired. Shiga's stuff is always smart and this promises to be a fun and weird (if not depraved) story.
Heroes of the Comics: Portraits of the Legends of Comic Books
by Drew Friedman
The famous photo in the front of this book of Al Jaffee and Will Elder says it all! Friedman's Heroes of the Comics could also be accurately titled History of the Comics. The book offers page after page of important, significant, lesser-known and cult comics creators and publishers - with a one page history and stunning portraits in Friedman's amazing realistic style. Simply fascinating and utterly beautiful.
Jim
by Jim Woodring
Jim collects the psychedelic wanderings of Woodring's self-titled comic alter-ego. While no less awesomely strange than Woodring's Frank or other books, Jim is much more narrative.
Monsters Of The Deep
by Jon Marchione
The silk-screened cover and the fold-out- flip book construction of this mini is impressive enough, but then one side focuses on an anthology of art about fictitious water monsters, and the other focuses on real monsters. It’s the perfect component for Shark Week!
A Very Brief History of Buttons #1
by Christen Carter / Joel Carter
Look down at your jacket - or over at your bag. The odds are you have a button attached to something. This over-sized, gorgeous full-color zine takes a look at a number of buttons - from one made for George Washington all the way through Obama. With The Beatles, Guided By Voices, The White Stripes, The Coneheads, Elvis and The Yellow Kid in between. It's a fascinating history, and I'm hoping the Busy Beaver Button Co. continues to mine and print more historical button zines.
Questions, concerns, comments or gripes – e-mail benn@atomicbooks.com. If there’s a comic I should know about, send it my way at Atomic, c/o Atomic Books 3620 Falls Rd., Baltimore, MD 21211.
Atomic Books & Benn Ray links:
Atomic Books website
Atomic Books on Twitter
Atomic Books on Facebook
Benn Ray's blog (The Mobtown Shank)
Benn Ray's comic, Said What?
also at Largehearted Boy:
other Atomic Books Comics Preview lists (weekly new comics & graphic novel highlights)
Online "Best of 2013" Book Lists
52 Books, 52 Weeks
Antiheroines (interviews with up and coming female comics artists)
Book Notes (authors create music playlists for their book)
guest book reviews
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly Books of the Week (recommended new books, magazines, and comics)
musician/author interviews
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
Short Cuts (writers pair a song with their short story or essay)
WORD Bookstores Books of the Week (weekly new book highlights)
