Sometimes you just need to pause and appreciate a wonderful Love and Rockets cover.
I mean, just look at it:
It’s purt’near perfect. Not a line wasted. So much expressiveness depicted so simply and beautifully. And to think this is how Jaime draws all the time.
I was processing some Love and Rockets issues at the shop the other day, and I just had to pause and admire this cover. It really is an attention-grabber, even among the typically-excellent covers both Jaime and Gilbert regularly provide for their works.
Speaking of Love and Rockets, I don’t know that I ever shared this with you folks…in issue #40, Jaime ‘n’ Gilbert took a page to thank the readers and retailers and friends/family for their support of the magazine over the years…here’s a little tiny scan of it to refresh your memory:
Here’s a detail of one of the balloons from near the top of the page:
I’m in an issue of Love and Rockets! Okay, it’s just my first name, but I know it’s me, and that’s good enough. I was very happy to see that when this issue first came out, and I’m still very pleased by it now. That was most kind of them.
Anyway, in conclusion: the Hernandez Bros. – great artists, and great guys.
Some new stuff due out in shops today:
- The big release for the day is the long-awaited Bloom County Complete Library Vol. 1, beginning the complete reprinting of Berkeley Breathed’s classic comic strip. I’ve been wanting something like this ever since I first discovered we weren’t getting every strip in the paperback collections, and now, at last, here it is. Can’t wait to see it.
- Batman and Robin #5 – Glad to say that #4, even without the art by Frank Quitely, was still quite the good read, so #5 should be a lot of fun as well. The meshing between Morrison and Philip Tan isn’t quite as seamless as Morrison’s partnership with Quitely, but it’ll do, it’ll do.
- Doom Patrol #3 – Still enjoying the Metal Men back-up more than the lead, which is a shame since normally I love reading Doom Patrol series.
- Grimjack: Manx Cat #3 – Just finished my rereading of Grimjack (as noted here), so I’m totally primed for this new issue.
- Haunt #1 – That Robert Kirkman/Todd McFarlane (and a couple of other artists) project is out this week. I kinda wonder how this will do saleswise.
- Irredeemable #7 – So glad this is on a regular schedule (like all Boom! Studio titles), because I jones hard for the next issue once I reach the end of the current one. Haven’t felt like that about a title since…Preacher, maybe? I mean, I do like all the comics I read, but I’m usually patient enough to wait the month (or, ahem, more) between issues. Irredeemable actually makes me want the month to pass faster, which, at my advanced age, I’m usually against.
- Models, Inc. #2 – Didn’t get a single person looking for the first issue (starring the host of some reality show) aside from our regulars. Sometimes the real world coverage pays off, and sometimes it doesn’t.
- Planetary #27 – Finally. Now get the trade out for the last part of the series so we can start selling those. (Though I’m guessing we’re getting the deluxe hardcover volume 4 first…and DC should rerelease the other volumes in their hardcover editions, I think, since it’s been so long since those have been on the market and being able to get a full set in HC may encourage sales on a HC volume 4.)
- Rebels Annual #1 – I do like this series, but $4.99 on the annual is like daring people to buy it.
- Strange Tales #2 – Marvel’s “let the indie guys take on our characters” anthology was a surprise hit seller for us, so we upped the orders on #2 – and we’re getting shorted on our order. Figures. We’ll have replacements next week, but still a little annoying when it happens.
- Superman: New World of Krypton #8 – I’m enjoying this comic, and not so much the currently (mostly) Supermanless Superman and Action titles.
- Tarot Witch of the Black Rose #55 Glow-in-the-Dark edition – At last, Chris Sims can read his copy of Tarot under the covers without a flashlight!
- Sweet Tooth #2 – Sold about one zillion copies of #1 at the $1 promo price. I’ll be happy if a fraction of that zillion comes back for #2.
- Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories #699 – I liked the Mickey Mouse comic from last week, the first of the classic Disney character comics from Boom! Studios. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with this week’s release. I’m probably not going to keep reading every Disney comic Boom! puts out (though I’ll likely stick with Uncle Scrooge), but I do plan on sampling the early installments of all these series.
- X-Babies #1 – Oddly enough, I’m curious to see just how they use Marvel’s long-defunct characters from the Star Comics kids line.
