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May 6, 2016
Atomic Books Comics Preview - May 6, 2016
In the weekly Atomic Books Comics Preview, Benn Ray highlights notable new comics, graphic novels, and books.
Benn Ray is the owner of Atomic Books, an independent bookstore in Baltimore. He also runs the Mutant Funnies Tumblr.
Atomic Books has been named one of BuzzFeed's Great American Bookstores, as well as one of Flavorwire's 10 greatest comic and graphic novel stores in America.
Cinema Purgatorio #1
by Alan Moore / Kevin O'Neill
Comics legend Alan Moore introduces his new ongoing comics anthology series, featuring work from him and his League of Extraordinary Gentlemen co-creator Kevin O'Neill. This issue also includes work from Garth Ennis, Max Brooks, Kieron Gillen, Christos Gage, Gabriel Andrade and more. So far, the results are reminiscent of the famed British sci-fi/action anthology series, 2000A.D.
Night Air
by Ben Sears
Night Air is a fun, sci-fi, haunted adventure that tells the story of a sleep-deprived goggle-wearing guy and his robot sidekick which takes them from cheating at cards to being trapped in a haunted house, lured by the promise of treasure.
Repeat Offenders (CBA Volume 33)
by Julia Scott
This lovely hardcover features the gorgeous artwork of Julia Scott, where she plays with iconic images from The Simpsons, Ren and Stimpy, Beavis and Butt-Head and more. Diary-like entries of text show a funny, bizarre Millennial dealing with with existential ennui with astoundingly clever creativity.
Rules For Dating My Daughter
by Mike Dawson
In the current alt-comics landscape, it's easy to ask, "Where are the comics that don't just wrestle with the personal, but the philosophical and political as well?" The answer would be, "Right here in Mike Dawson's Rules For Dating My Daughter." This is a funny and insightful collection of comics essays, like multi-panel editorial cartoons as well as comics that tell the story of an imperfect father doing his best.
Video Tonfa
by Tim Goodyear
Just the other day I was talking to a friend about how I used to watch movies at home. First, I'd stop by the video store and spend 45 minutes browsing the shelves. Then I'd bring home a stack of movies. Then, I'd pull out a stack of film reference encyclopedias like the Videohound Guide or David Thompson's Biographical Dictionary of Film (or both), and spend my time "watching" the movie by looking up character actors, writers and directors. This was, of course, before streaming and IMDB. Video Tonfa is the perfect thickness for such a guide, loaded with Goodyear's reviews of nearly 300 films. But here's where Goodyear takes it an extra step, instead of looking up movies, he was redrawing movie covers and characters. So what I'm saying is that Video Tonfa mixes the video movie guide with an exquisite sketchbook for a hand-drawn/written catalog of Goodyear's personal experiences with films like District 9, Night Shift, The Hills Have Eyes, Better Off Dead, and more.
Why Would You Do That
by Andrea Tsurumi
Tsurumi's comics are both funny, and refreshingly inventive not only in structure (which sometimes is like a reading a fun map), but in content - here we have ghost bras, battles between Yup and Nope, Faces of Death, Cake Vs. Pie and more.
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, Mutant Funnies
also at Largehearted Boy:
other Atomic Books Comics Preview lists (weekly new comics & graphic novel highlights)
Online "Best of 2015" Book Lists
Antiheroines (interviews with up and coming female comics artists)
Book Notes (authors create music playlists for their book)
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)
