We sell SNAKE OIL

That's right... Comix Connection sells SNAKE OIL, the acclaimed comic from local creator Chuck Forsman. Chuck recently dropped off copies of the last three issues of SNAKE OIL at Comix Connection, so the wait is over! HERE's a link to Chucks blog, and here's a great review of SNAKE OIL on the COMICS JOURNAL website. I highly recommend this eclectic title... it has a unique voice rarely found in comics.

Old Man Logan Returns!

After the mind-blowing ending of Wolverine #73 and one long and very cruel delay, the moment Wolverine fans have been waiting for is almost here! Yes, this coming Wednesday, September 23rd, the conclusion to the saga of Old Man Logan arrives on our shelves!

Logan's home, his family is dead, and his claws are out! See the history of the Wolverine vs Hulk conflict reach a brand new level of barbarity this Wednesday! See you then!

Highest Recomendation to Indie Lovers!

Meet Asterios Polyp: middle-aged, meagerly successful architect and teacher, aesthete and womanizer, whose life is wholly upended when his New York City apartment goes up in flames. In a tenacious daze, he leaves the city and relocates to a small town in the American heartland. But what is this “escape” really about?

As the story unfolds, moving between the present and the past, we begin to understand this confounding yet fascinating character, and how he’s gotten to where he is. And isn’t. And we meet Hana: a sweet, smart, first-generation Japanese American artist with whom he had made a blissful life. But now she’s gone. Did Asterios do something to drive her away? What has happened to her? Is she even alive? All the questions will be answered, eventually.

In the meantime, we are enthralled by Mazzucchelli’s extraordinarily imagined world of brilliantly conceived eccentrics, sharply observed social mores, and deftly depicted asides on everything from design theory to the nature of human perception.

Asterios Polyp is David Mazzucchelli’s masterpiece: a great American graphic novel.

Go read Brian's Batman Blog!

Local comic fan, part-time Comix Connection Counter Monkey, owner of two thousand drill bits, and all around swell pal Brian Linnen has started a highly entertaining weblog... BRIAN'S BATMAN BLOG! Go give it a read! Good stuff, updated twice weekly!

Marvel Comics has aquired the rights to Marvelman (Miracle Man)!

Thats right Marvel Comics will begin what looks like newly written tales of Marvel Man, and possibly reprint the classic tales as told by Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman.

From Wikipedia: Marvelman, known for trademark reasons as Miracleman in his American reprints and story continuation, is a fictional comic book superhero created in 1954 by writer-artist Mick Anglo for publisher L. Miller & Son. Originally intended as a United Kingdom home-grown substitute for the American character Captain Marvel, the series ran until 1963. He was revived in 1982 in a dark, post-modern deconstructionist series by writer Alan Moore, with later contributions by Neil Gaiman.

Did anyone read the latest issue of WOLVERINE (#70) yet?

It's part of the "Old Man Logan" story-arc that's running through WOLVERINE right now, and explains why Wolvie refuses to pop his claws and fight back. What did you think? It made the hair stand up on my arm, personally! This is the best story about Wolverine that I've read since the "Weapon X" story that ran through MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS back in the '90s. I love Wolverine as a character, but in my opinion he's rarely done right. This is great stuff.

What do you think? I'm wondering if it's more fake reality from Mysterio, or not.

Oh, and don't get too excited... the next issue has been resolicited until MARCH! Grrrr.

This Book's the Best Club in Town!

Is a mix tape more than a mix tape? Is it a spell woven in sentiment and beats, pop songs well chosen for a perfect line or inference of a desire? Is a DJ a wizard? Are tracks cast to effectively catch dancers in the spell of 12" remix after remix? Writer, Kieron Gillen, and artist & letterer, Jaime McKelvie, pondered this kind of stuff and worked up a bit of magic of their own in the comic book series, Phonogram, which showed us a world where music is power, there's magic in the airwaves, pop genres are religious denominations, and bands serve as ministers of the music to the masses. Who hasn't been caught in such a spell? Being slightly music obsessed, especially with the Brit Pop of the mid 1990s, this series was easily one of my favourite books of 2007! Phonogram introduced us to David Kohl, a Brit Pop enthusiast ten years on after the scene had imploded, selfishly wielding his magicks on women, haunted by the ghost of his fallen goddess, Brittania, his life a nostalgic stand still, in opposition to the "now" spirit of the pop music he covets. However, when Britannia's place in existance is in danger, David has to fight to save her memory and harness the embodiment of her spirit! It's a little hard to explain, especially in trying to maintain an unspoiled reading experience for those whose curiosity this post might pique!

And hey! now the magic's back in the sequel, Phonogram: The Singles Club, which is a seven issue series, all telling a piece of "an evening of ecstatic pop songs, magic by proxy of dance and discovering what you do when the music stops". Brit Pop of the 1990s is mainly sitting this one out from what I see in this first issue, but there's still much love of great music and lots of lyric dropping, which always makes me a little giddy because I am fascinated with how song lyrics creep into our conversational speech or at least they do for me!

The entrance fee for this experience is $3.50 an issue, as was the first series, but the sweet treat this time is it's in full colour! The first issue, entitled "Pull Shapes" is on our fine shelves now! And if that issue's title doesn't conjure up an image of The Pipettes in your head, let me remedy that now!

CLICK HERE to watch The Pipettes - "Pull Shapes" Official Music Video!

Late Weekend Comics Chat - The Electronic Renaissance Edition!

So... what did you pick up and read this week? Any particular favourite issue? Maybe a cool collected edition of something?

My top favs that I made time to sit down with were All-Star Superman #12 (which got me a little teary eyed), The Spirit #21, the gorgeous hard cover collected edition of the 12 issue Local series, and the cool sequel to the original graphic novel Plain Janes, now finds the Janes in Love!

Not a bad week!

Now it's your turn to share! Post a comment!

Superman's Canadian Heritage?

Okay... so Superman's not Canadian, but one half of the famous pair that created him was from Toronto, and that creator's sur name, much like Eisner's, was adopted to address the award for Canadian accomplishments in the field of comics. Of course, I'm talking about Joe Shuster!

The child of poor Jewish immigrants, Shuster worked as a youngster as a newspaper boy for the Toronto Daily Star and in his spare time devoted himself to his favourite hobby of sketching. At the age of ten he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, met a fellow student at Glenville High School by the name of Jerry Siegel, and the pair began collaborating together on a science fiction fanzine. Years later, they began working for National Publications on a book called New Fun, created some original characters like the musketeer swashbuckler "Henri Duval" and the supernatural crime-fighter strip Doctor Occult, both of which debuted in the October 1935 issue of New Fun #6. From here they kept re-tooling their original comic proposal of a "strong man in tights", who was originally dismissed, but fortunately after a few revisions, National editor, Vin Sullivan, chose it as the cover feature for National's Action Comics #1 which hit in June 1938. And well the rest is comic book history...

If you'd like to know more about this early part of the genesis of the granddaddy of all super-heroes I recommend the new all-ages picture book from Random House, Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman!

Written by Marc Tyler Nobleman and illustrated by Ross MacDonald, this book tells "the true story of the events leading up to two teenagers' creation of a character that would change the course of popular culture".

Now to get back to that part about Superman's Canadian heritage? This is the commercial about Shuster from Canada's Heritage Commercial Series. I used to see this all the time on TV, and while it's been argued that it is a little off in its portrayal of events, I personally enjoyed seeing it each time I'd catch it during some show. As an American living in Canada for a time, these commercials taught me a lot of interesting tidbits about figures and events in Canada's history. The one about the Halifax Explosion was of particular interest to me.

So check out the commercial, and definitely take a look at Boys of Steel. It's a beautiful book, and it's in stock now!

A REMINDER - Meet horror author BRIAN KEENE at the York store September 6th

In case you missed it:
The gang at Comix Connection is proud to announce a very special event... the DEAD OF NIGHT: DEVIL SLAYER Release Party featuring acclaimed horror novelist (and now Marvel Comics writer!) BRIAN KEENE!

Timed to coincide with the release of the first issue of Marvel Comics' DEVIL SLAYER comic book, Brian Keene will be appearing at COMIX CONNECTION - YORK (only, sorry) on Saturday, September 6th from 1:00PM until 4:00PM to celebrate his first ever writing credit on a Marvel comic book! Woot! Come on out and meet Brian and get a copy of DEVIL SLAYER #1 autographed by the man himself! Available also will be a selection of Brian's novels and copies of HELLBOY: ODDEST JOBS which just shipped and features a prose story by Brian!

Be a part of Marvel Comics history... and give Brian big props on living a long-held dream!

Writer Brian Keene to pen new DEVIL SLAYER comic for Marvel!

Horror/suspense author (and Comix Connection favorite) Brian Keene is set to write a new four-issue DEVIL SLAYER comic for Marvel Comics this fall!


From Brian Keene's website (CLICK HERE):

“When I was six-years old,” Keene said, “my father took me to the newsstand and bought me issues of The Defenders, Man Thing, and Captain America. I took them home, read them, and immediately abandoned my childhood dreams of being an astronaut or a cowboy. Instead, I wanted to write for Marvel Comics. I’m pleased and honored to finally see that become a reality.”

We're all looking forward to it Brian! Sounds like a match made in... Hell?

(Oh, and if you haven't read all of Brian's awesome novels, pick them up at Comix Connection... we have them in stock! TERMINAL and THE RISING are good starts, and KILL WHITEY was just released in hardcover. Highly recommended!)

DRAWN: The Illustration and Cartooning Blog

Manager Jared sent me THIS LINK to the cool DRAWN blog. Check it out. It's loaded with tons of great links to many cool sites of a non-superheroic comic bent. Poke around and see what you find.

The Pick of the Week

is WORLD WAR Z: AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE ZOMBIE WAR by Max Brooks.

From the Random House website:

FINALLY, THE WORLD WILL COME TO KNOW THE TRUE STORY OF HOW DANGEROUSLY CLOSE THE HUMAN RACE CAME TO ITS DEMISE

(snip)

WORLD WAR Z is Max Brooks's life work. Logging countless hours of travel to capture and preserve first-hand experiences from the Dark Years, Brooks records in great detail the one aspect that has been neglected in all previous re-tellings of this war: the extraordinary job we did in coming together to thwart our extinction and reign triumphant.

Since the end of official hostilities, numerous attempts have been made to document the Zombie War. WORLD WAR Z is the definitive account of the technological, military, social, economic, and political details as told through survivors' stories of how civilization went from the brink of extinction to a universal victory against the living dead.

More HERE and HERE at Wikipedia.

A must-have for all zombie fans! Available at Comix Connection, natch! RAAAAAAARRR!

Youse all fancy pants

Getcher FANCY PANTS! For those of you who got the super-cool GOON FANCY PANTS Volume 1, there's this from the Dark Horse Comics website:

The Goon: Fancy Pants Volume 2--The Rise and Fall of the Diabolical Dr. Alloy (limited edition hardcover)

Writer and Artist: Eric Powell

This special volume collects all the tales of one of The Goon's most nefarious villains-the diabolical mad scientist, Dr. Hieronymous Alloy-in one handsomely designed (and handsomely priced) signed hardcover. Chronicling the rise of the mysterious evil genius from his early days as a misunderstood visionary, to his status as one of the finest scientific minds in the world, and finally to his inevitable spiral into madness, this hardcover is a must-have for every serious fan of the Goon. What's more, every volume is signed by Powell himself. Buying this book should be like dodging a brick-a no-brainer!

* Copies of The Goon: Fancy Pants Vol. 2 hardcover will be printed to inital orders and is exclusive to the direct market.

* Signed by Eric Powell!

Format: FC, 136 pages, Ltd. Ed. HC, 7" x 10"
Suggested Price: $24.95

This will ship in January, but orders are due in September, so let us know if you want a copy. I'm sure all of you who got volume one two years ago will want one!

(I like saying FANCY PANTS. FANCY PANTS FANCY PANTS FANCY PANTS!)

Graphic Lit/ Panels and Pixels

If you aren't already, you should be reading Chris Mautner's review column, Graphic Lit, that appears regularly in the Harrisburg Patriot-News. Always insightful and entertaining, Chris has gotten me to check out various comics and graphic novels that I somehow overlooked. A great example of Chris' spot-on reviews can be found HERE where he checks out the first issue of WORLD WAR HULK. His videogame/comic review weblog is Panels and Pixels, found HERE.

It's nice to see that an excellent comic review column can flourish here in Central Pennsylvania. Kudos, Chris! And the rest of you, go read and enjoy!

Jojo's Graphic Novel Recommendation Vol. 1, Number 1

In April, Oni Press published Shenanigans, a romantic comedy of a graphic novel, of how far one guy will go to keep his girl and how he'll make all the wrong moves in trying to do so. If this book were a film its feel would be a wacky Billy Wilder scenario and script getting a punch in the dialogue department a la Kevin Smith.

It's a fun, quick read! But here's five other good reasons to pick it up:

1.) Because one of the coolest cats I got to know, during my art school days in Canada, Mike Holmes drew it, with writer Ian Shaughnessy (Strangetown -also by Oni Press!).

2.) It's a great read for anyone who loves a good comedy, but I discovered it's also a great comic us guys can pass onto the ladies in our lives who may not read comics -my wife read it, and it's the first comic she's enjoyed in a while outside of the last Andi Watson book I forced on her.

3.) It's affordable and it's published by Oni Press, so you know it's gotta be cool!

4.) It's got a hot blonde, a crazy Irish bartender, and a guy with a bit of an "identity crisis" on his hands. And we all know how wacky books with an Identity Crisis turn out, just ask that Meltzer guy!

5.) It's got the Comix Connection Stamp of Approval... or least, this guy's approval! So buy it! Read it! Love it! Let's make my buddy a comic book superstar!

Enjoy!