Nothing says fun like the musty smell of your favorite comic book! Mmmmmmmm...musty. Plus...what can you say about the incredible illustrations that come from Japan? OH YA!! You know what I'm talking about...Huh, Huh! No worries comic fans, we've gotcha covered! Everything Comic, Animation, Adaptation and Merchandising related will be found right here...all with the same felling just like when you watched your very first TRUE Japanese, un-rated Anime...all by yourself...cozy.

This Week in Comics: Comic-Con Edition!

Have you heard the new Stars album? Doesn’t it kind of suck?

Welcome to This Week in Comics, where every day is a comic book and I forgot about this column because this week is Comic-Con and I have about a dozen other concerns right now.

MONDAY

First Issues

Neonomicon #1 (of 4)

(Alan Moore/Jacen Burrows)

Image Comics

An Alan Moore comic is a bit of a rarity these days, huh? Guy’s pretty much in F*%k Comics mode, having nearly completely divorced himself from the comics industry save for writing the next (and final?) League of Extraordinary Gentleman series — did you read the first issue? How fantastic was it? — and Neonomicon. And the next League issue isn’t coming out until next year, so buy Neonomicon to tide you over.

TUESDAY

New Manga Day

Dragon Ball Z Volume 8 (VIZBIG Edition)

(Akira Toriyama)

Viz Media

Don’t let the anime fool you: Dragon Ball Z is a fun fight comic. Because it’s not full of filler material like the show and you can read it at your own pace, it doesn’t feel interminable! Still, it’s a big fight comics, so I want as much Dragon Ball Z as I can in one volume. I can’t vouch for these later stories where the gang fights Majin Buu because I stopped caring about the franchise as a teenager when this was around in the US, but I imagine there’s lots of punching.

WEDNESDAY

Mainstream Superhero Stuff

Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman: Volume 1

(Jonathan Hickman/Dale Eaglesham/Neil Edwards)

Marvel Comics

Jonathan Hickman’s Fantastic Four is one of my favorite superhero comics. It seriously puts most other superhero comics to shame in its brains and imagination. Now the first five issues are available in trade, which I believe includes the story arc where Reed Richards teams up with Reeds from alternate universes to save the universe. Wonderful.

THURSDAY

Not Quite Friday, but Still Exciting

Pale Horse #2 (of 4)

(Andrew Cosby/Michael Alan Nelson/Christian Dibari)

BOOM! Studios

Pale Horse #1 was a pleasant surprise: there were no zombies, vampires or other genre elements. Instead, it was just a hard and fast cowboy comic where a guy shoots a lot of guys. And there are horses. Therefore, I am excited for Issue 2.

FRIDAY

TGIC(BGB)

CBGB #1 (of 4)

(Kieron Gillen/Sam Humphries/Marc Ellerby/Rob G)

BOOM! Town/BOOM! Studios

A music-related comic by Kieron Gillen. That’s all I need to hear. But the Jaime Hernandez cover ain’t too shabby, either.

SATURDAY

Essential Reading

Cerebus Guide To Self Publishing

(Dave Sim)

Aardvark Vanaheim

There are a lot of how-to books about self-publishing comics. I haven’t read any of them, but I can assure you that Dave Sim’s book is indispensable compared to the others for the simple fact that Dave Sim has spent his entire career self-publishing. He never had to sell out or take jobs from Marvel or DC to pay the bills. Surely he has a TON of insight on the topic.

I guess there’s an expanded edition of this book out, which I assume has new material and is therefore worth a read.

SUNDAY

Last Issues

Red Mass For Mars #4 (of 4)

(Jonathan Hickman/Ryan Bodenheim)

Image Comics

Speaking of Jonathan Hickman…

I had no idea this series hadn’t finished, as the first issue came out TWO YEARS ago. Alas, these things happen when you self publish, even through Image Comics. I guess now Hickman could afford to finish it up or something. Yay!

Danny Djeljosevic