Studio Stuff: Comics Comics Comics Comics…

This hard cover contains issues 1-44, plus an annual from Marvel’s original Star Wars run. I actually own a copy of issue #1, but have never read anything beyond it, so I’m looking forward to this classic. I was a fan of the Dark Horse runs of various Star Wars Expanded Universe titles, but it’s kind of interesting that SW is now back at Marvel via the Disney acquisition.

So, this past Saturday, May 2nd, was Free Comic Book Day. I spent all day with 2 out of 3 of my sons at a Cub Scout event, but on the way home we met up with my other son and my wife to check out the festivities at a “local” comic book store (local is relative when you live in the boonies, anything within an hour or so is still “local”). It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a comic book store and actually had the time to peruse the shelves and boxes and walk away with an armload of goodies. We walked out of there with quite the stack of stuff, fortunately there was a 50% off sale going on, otherwise, well, I’d likely only have half of what we got. Duh.

This is most of the haul from Saturday, the kids had already grabbed a few things and had run off to read in bed when I was setting up this photo. The actual “free” items run vertically down the left hand side.

Needless to say I have a lot of good reading ahead of me. And a need for more bookshelves in my studio. We spent some time chatting with the guy working there (who I think was the owner, in hindsight I’m not certain) and he clued us in to a few items that I wouldn’t have found otherwise. The Incal and The Metabarons are both published by a French publisher, Humanoids. One of the creators of The Incal is none other than acclaimed artist Moebius, whose work I’ve been aware of for many years and I’ve always been in awe of the few snippets I’ve seen (high level of precision and detail…go figure), but I’ve never actually gotten my hands on any of his work. Once I have a chance to crack that open I’m sure I’ll be writing more about it.

Another view of the stack, minus some more stuff the kids pulled out (mostly the Iron Mans, Spidermans, and Daredevils).

Lots of cool stuff I’m looking forward to. A new creation from Jeff Smith, creator of the fantastic Bone series (every human who with eyes should read that), some of Marvel’s The Dark Tower graphic novels (I have the first few, which were great, but fell behind quickly. I’m a huge fan of TDT books, they are epic), some Avatar related books (I love both The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra so much I wish I lived there), some Lone Wolf and Cub collections (another one that I have a book or two from in a smaller format. It’s been around a long long time, I always wanted to get my hands on more, but the shear number always proved too daunting. Until now), as well as this interesting Grant Morrison book 18 Days, which is about the final battle of several mythological heroes from different cultures. Sounds interesting and contains some beautiful illustrations.

In addition to all THAT, this happened towards the end of last week, too…

Behold! All five currently available Vinland Sagas!

My wife surprised me with the remaining 2 Vinland Saga books (again, not expected nor deserved). There are more in the works, which I’m sure will prove frustrating once I blow through these (really, who wants to actually wait for stuff?). Very pumped about these.

And finally…

I’ve heard good things about this.

This is what I’m currently reading. I’ve heard good things about this, my friend Jorj really loves the anime (which I just found available on Hulu, but I won’t start watching until I finish reading this massive paper brick of awesome). So far the story is very interesting. It’s a little fast in spots, but it just started unfolding a little better when I was reading it yesterday. The art is a little loose and rough, a bit poorly refined in some panels, making it difficult to follow just what the heck is going on (there’s a glut of speed lines), and tough to distinguish certain characters, but that has started to appear tighter the further into it I get. Just flipping forward (which, being another Japanese Kodansha import, is right to left) it looks like the art improves some more. I’m not the photo realistic art snob I was as a teen anymore, I appreciate a wide variety of styles and I learn from them all, but one of the main goals of art in the graphic medium is to NOT take away from the story, and I feel that it does at the beginning. However, I am still sucked in and itching to find out what happens next.

As far as what I’m actually working on at the moment…I think I’m back to finishing up a t-shirt design and then on to the 10 Things children’s book again. There have been so many other distractions and obligations in the last week or several that I feel extremely unproductive (and very grumpy about it). Heck, here it is, almost time for the kids to come home and I haven’t put pen to tablet yet, I’ve just been doing chores, Cub Scout obligations, backing up files, and writing this blog. I need more Tobys.