Highlights from the past week, with commentary from the NFNT gang:
Abe Sapien Volume 4: The Shape of Things to Come (Dark Horse, 9781616554439)
Andrew S: I’m really looking forward to seeing the next Abe Sapien volume. I’ve enjoyed seeing where they’ve taken the character and can’t wait to see what comes next for him.
Barbarian Lord (Clarion Books, 9780547859064)
Thomas: Some readers, especially younger ones, may ask “aren’t barbarians people who fight all the time and act tough and use old speak?” And this comic answers with an adorable yes.
Charlie Brown: Pow! (AMP! Comics for Kids, 9781449458263)
Andrew S: I’m always up for seeing more Charlie Brown collections, and AMP! collections so far have been fantastic (I reviewed two of the other ones) So I’m pleased to see another collection coming out.
Disney Fairies Volume 15: Tinker Bell and the Secret of the Wings (Papercutz, 9781597077293)
Jennifer W: Disney Fairies – very popular. I think I might be a couple volumes behind though.
Flowers of Evil Volume 10 (Vertical, 9781939130662)
Thomas: We’re nearing the end! Will bad habits die hard, or have the protagonists truly matured into a new age?
Flowers of Evil: Complete Collection (Sentai)
Thomas: Episode 7: that classroom scene completely validates animating the manga.
Hilda and the Black Hound (Flying Eye Books, 9781909263185)
Jessikah: Love Hilda. Love, love, love.
Jennifer W: I just handed one to a girl who complained that they don’t make enough “girl comics”!! and all her friends took one as well.
Marissa: I absolutely love the Hilda series! I keep recommending them to patrons and then they never return!
Andrew S: Like others have mentioned I’ve become a huge fan of Hilda and I’m always happy to see more of her come out so that new readers can discover her and what comes next.
Moomin Volume 9: the Complete Lars Jansson Comic Strip (Drawn & Quarterly, 9781770461574)
Eva: Moomins! Moomins, Moomins, MOOMINS! I’ll never get enough of them!
Jennifer W: I love Moomins and have been buying the collection for myself, but I had to weed the volumes we had – they just don’t circulate. The smaller, colored paperbacks do a little better, but not much.
My Love Story Volume 1 (Viz, 9781421571447)
Jenny: I’m looking forward to My Love Story. It’s by the same creator as the sweetly goofy High School Debut and sounds like it’ll be another fun, refreshing series that doesn’t quite fit the usual shojo mold.
Phantom Thief Jeanne Volume 3 (Viz, 9781421566276)
Jessikah: Solid Magical Girl story. Very nice art work. I think it will be a hit.
Ranma ½ 2-in-1 Volume 3 (Viz, 9781421566160)
Thomas: This volume includes volumes 5 and 6 of the original series, meaning it contains the story of Ryoga undergoing insane strength training in a bid to keep up with Ranma’s developing speed and ability. That’s always the sweet spot of a shonen manga to me, when the characters all reach “the next level” together and their skills start to really reflect their personalities. In this case, Ranma has learned the “Chestnuts Roasting Over An Open Fire” technique that uses his speed to throw punches all over the place (chaotic, scatterbrained). Ryoga learns “Breaking Point,” which focuses all his strength into his finger to shatter rocks (focused, singleminded).??I could do this for a lot of Ranma ½ stories. Pardon the fanboy, everyone.
The Strain Volume 1 (Dark Horse, 9781616550325)
Thomas: I’m generally wary of horror comics, but The Strain is genuinely creepy to me!
Anna: I’m really excited to re-read “The Strain” in preparation for the TV show.
X-Men: Battle of the Atom (Marvel, 9780785189060)
Thomas: A quintessential X-Men book insofar as multiple convoluted timelines and casts are combined, only to be discarded.
AND NOW FOR THE COMPLETE LIST
The following list of new releases is compiled from Diamond Comic Distributors’ complete weekly shipping list and Anime News Network’s Releases encyclopedia
Graphic Novels
AC Comics
- GOLDEN AGE GREATS SPOTLIGHT VOL 15
AMP! Comics for Kids
- CHARLIE BROWN POW TP
Atheneum
- MERCURY GN NEW PTG
Bongo
- SIMPSONS COMICS COLOSSAL COMPENDIUM TP VOL 02
Clarion Books
- BARBARIAN LORD GN
Dark Horse
- ABE SAPIEN TP VOL 04 SHAPE THINGS TO COME
- CHRONICLES OF CONAN TP VOL 27 SANDS UPON EARTH
- DOCTOR SOLAR ARCHIVES TP VOL 03
- STRAIN HC VOL 01
DC Comics
- ANIMAL MAN TP VOL 06 FLESH AND BLOOD
- BATMAN BRUCE WAYNE FUGITIVE TP NEW ED
- JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA TP VOL 01 DANGEROUS
- NIGHTWING TP VOL 04 SECOND CITY
- TALON TP VOL 02 THE FALL OF THE OWLS
Digital Manga
- BLUE SHEEP REVERIE GN VOL 06
- KINOKOINU MUSHROOM PUP GN VOL 01
Drawn & Quarterly
- BENSONS CUCKOOS GN
- MOOMIN COMPLETE LARS JANSSON COMIC STRIP HC VOL 09
Hermes Press
- BUCK ROGERS COMP MURPHY ANDERSON SUNDAYS 1958-59 HC
- PHANTOM COMP SERIES HC CHARLTON YEARS VOL 03
Hill & Wang
- NOT THE ISRAEL MY PARENTS PROMISED ME TP
IDW
- KNUCKLEHEADS FIST CONTACT TP
- TMNT MICRO SERIES TP VOL 01 NEW PTG
- TMNT ONGOING TP VOL 01 CHANGE IS CONSTANT NEW PTG
Image
- ROCKET GIRL TP VOL 01 TIMES SQUARED
Kodansha
- SEVEN DEADLY SINS GN VOL 03
- SHERLOCK BONES GN VOL 06
- UQ HOLDER GN VOL 02
Marvel
- GUARDIANS OF GALAXY BY JIM VALENTINO TP VOL 02
- MARVELS AGENTS OF SHIELD DECLASSIFIED SLIPCASE HC
- MU GUARDIANS OF GALAXY COSMIC TEAM UP DIGEST TP
- STAR LORD TP GUARDIANS OF GALAXY
- X-MEN TP BATTLE OF ATOM
Nobrow
- HILDA & BIRD PARADE GN
- HILDA & BLACK HOUND GN
- HILDA & MIDNIGHT GIANT GN
- HILDA & TROLL GN
Ossm Comics
- FOSTER GN
Papercutz
- DISNEY FAIRIES GN VOL 15 SECRET WINGS
- NANCY DREW DIARIES GN VOL 02
Rebellion/2000AD
- US HONDO CITY JUSTICE TP
Seven Seas Entertainment
- ARPEGGIO OF BLUE STEEL GN VOL 01
- HAGANAI I DONT HAVE MANY FRIENDS MORE FAIL GN
- SACRED BLACKSMITH GN VOL 05
Sideshow Productions
- SPARKS GN
Titan
- AI PRESENTS WEIRDING WILLOWS HC VOL 01
Tor
- RINGWORLD GN PART 1
- ROBERT JORDAN EYE OF THE WORLD HC VOL 05
Valiant
- HARBINGER WARS DLX HC VOL 01
- UNITY TP VOL 02 TRAPPED BY WEBNET
Vertical
- FLOWERS OF EVIL GN VOL 10
Viz
- 07 GHOST GN VOL 11
- CASE CLOSED GN VOL 51
- D GRAY MAN 3IN1 TP VOL 04
- DEMON LOVE SPELL GN VOL 06
- FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST 3IN1 TP VOL 08
- MIDNIGHT SECRETARY GN VOL 06
- MY LOVE STORY GN VOL 01
- NARUTO GN VOL 66
- NISEKOI FALSE LOVE GN VOL 04
- PHANTOM THIEF JEANNE GN VOL 03
- POKEMON ADV BLACK & WHITE GN VOL 04
- POKEMON ADVENTURES GN VOL 23 FIRERED LEAFGREEN
- RANMA 1/2 2IN1 TP VOL 03
- RIN-NE GN VOL 15
- SKIP BEAT 3IN1 TP VOL 08
- SWEET REIN GN VOL 03
- YU GI OH ZEXAL GN VOL 05
Zenescope
- GFT AGE OF DARKNESS TP VOL 01
Anime
Sentai
- Flowers of Evil – Complete Collection
- Sasami-san@Ganburanai
Viz
- Naruto Shippuden 19
Keep in mind that titles are not always available from book vendors on the same dates as they are released in comic book stores, so not all of these will be available everywhere at the same time. Check with your vendors, just to be sure!
