Shiny New Comics

Okay, they might not be that shiny, but they are kind of glossy.

Darkwing Duck #1 - Suck gas, evildoers! He is the terror that flaps in the night.  He is the termite that devours your floor board.  He is the batteries that are not included.  He is the wierdo that sits next to you on the bus.  I could do these all day.  Give yourself a treat and check out this fantastic character.  The comic retains all of the charm and wit of the animated series.  It's sure to please old and new fans alike.  As "Double-D" would say, "let's get dangerous.

 

Walking Dead #73 - Rick and company have integrated into their new community fairly well.  Each has a new job and they are learning how adjust to life inside the wall.  Something still seems off about them, so Rick isn't going to feel safe until they get their guns back from the locked room. When Rick and Glenn make a play for the firearms, will their fragile peace fall apart?

Brightest Day #4 -  This is the follow-up series to Blackest Night and the driving force in the DC Universe.  If you want to make sense of super hero zombies of yesterday, you need to pick this book up.  Boston Brand (formerly Deadman) continues to get pulled around by the white ring as it slowly unveils its hidden purpose.

 The New Avengers #1 - In the wake of a few bad years for the Avengers, Steve Rogers gives Luke Cage an opportunity to put together his own team of Avengers.  It looks like they are going to start with a bang.  There is a supernatural threat emerging that is more than the world is prepared for.  You'll have to read this series to see if Cage and his new crew can pull it together fast enough to protect the Marvel Universe from this mysterious threat.



- Ryan

Seven Samurai

Nothing too heavy today, just some suggestions for samurai fans.  If you like ANY of the following characters, you should check out the rest of them.

1. Miyamoto Musashi - The main character of Takehiko Inoue's "Vagabond". This series follows a sensationalized account of the legendary swordsman's life.  Arguably the greatest swordsman to have ever lived, Musashi is already an interesting historical figure.  When coupled with Inoue's artwork, his journey to become the "strongest under the sun" is beyond compelling.  Beyond beautiful. Beyond words.

 2. Manji - Never one to make a lot of friends, Manji was responsible for the deaths of 100 men before being gifted with immortality.  As one who wants to die in battle, it's not a very good present (nor was it intended to be).  In order to lift this curse, the 800 year old nun responsible makes a deal with Manji.  If he cuts down 1000 evil people, she will let him pass on to the next world.  Even if the idea of an immortal swordsman doesn't appeal to you, the artwork of Hiroaki Samura is sure to impress.  The character design and fight sequences are genius.  Look for "Blade of the Immortal" (and the rest of these guys) in the manga section at Laughing Ogre.

3. Himura Kenshin - For those of you who don't want your bad @$$ swordsman killing people, check our Nobuhiro Watsuki's red-headed assassin.  While he has sworn off killing, his past is blood-soaked enough to make him a constant target of old grudges.  As a goverment assassin during the Bakumatsu War, Kenshin became known as the "Hitokiri Battōsai," mercilessly slaying anyone his superiors targeted. Now, he strives for peace in the era his bloody sword helped create.  I think we all know that never works out.  Read "Rurouni Kenshin" to see if this swordsman can protect his friends as well as his hope for a corpse-free life.

4. Roranoa Zoro - Another swordsman with the goal of being the strongest, Zoro trains and fights tirelessly.  Unlike Musashi, the quest is not for himself.  A tragic childhood promise drives this fighter to push himself beyond human limits.  Luckily, he joined up with the boy who dreams of being King of the Pirates, so he is given plently of opportunities to test his skills against the world's mightiest swordsmen.  Check out "One Piece", by Eichiro Oda. Yes, he does fight with three swords.

5. Usagi Yojimbo -The titular character of Stan Sakai's long running epic, Usagi is the epitome of what we expect from vagrant swordsmen.  He is honorable, spiritual, gullable, and deadly fast with a blade.  "Usagi Yojimbo" is a anthropomorphic window into the world of feudal Japan. Every issue of this series is a testament to Sakai's skill as a story teller.  Don't ignore this series because you harbor an aversion to rabbits. Usagi is a stand up guy, but he doesn't hold back when it comes to cutting down enemies.

6. Ogami Ittō -This guy is probably the one you should hire if you want a protector or an assassin.  If you imagine Batman for hire, you get this guy and his kid.  The stories in "Lone Wolf and Cub" are incredibly deep.  Anything I say about this series is going to fall short to the majesty of its reality.  You should know this is, in large part, what inspired Frank Miller (Sin City, Dark Knight Returns, Ronin) as a creator and artist. Read this series, by Kazou Koike and Goseki Kojima, to light your creative fire.

7. Takeshi Yamamoto -Being a swordsman to the captain of a pirate ship is pretty cool, but being the swordsman to a mob boss might be a little bit cooler (it's up for debate). Enter: Yamamoto.  This guy was the star baseball player at Namimori Middle School before falling in with Vongola the 10th (future mob boss) and his crew.  Yamamoto believes the mob thing to be a game (he's a dumb jock), but that doesn't stop him from learning his family's secret sword style to protect the others.  Look for this guy in "Reborn!" by Akira Amano.




- Ryan

Angie's Pick of the Month

Chew Vol. 2

Tony Chu, the cibopathic federal agent with the ability to get psychic impressions from the things he eats, is on a bizarre new case. A newly discovered fruit takes Agent Chu to a remote island full of secrets, strangeness-and a shadowy killer with a particularly sinister appetite.

 I cannot stress enough how awesome this book is. If you're looking for something outside the super hero genre, read Chew; if you want a good detective cop book, read Chew; if you like strange supernatural powers that you think would be terrible but are actually kind of really handy when put to use, read Chew. Basically I'm telling you to read Chew, I give really good advice.

Blackest Night Heroclix Starter Set

The "War of the Light" comes to HeroClix with the DC HeroClix Blackest Night Starter Set! As the Blackest Night encompasses the world, heroes and villains alike are deputized into the Lantern Corps to fight back against the legions of Black Lanterns. Choose a team of lanterns and take them into battle! This starter game includes everything a player needs to play HeroClix, including: seven 3D HeroClix miniatures - Green Lantern, Lex Luthor, Mera, Scarecrow, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and The Atom in their deputy Lantern costumes - each with a character card; all-new Green Lantern Sciencells Map; complete 2010 HeroClix rulebook; six Object tokens; twelve Terrain markers; and two 6-sided dice.

Who doesn't want red-lantern Mera vomiting blood everywhere? Favorite one EVER!

Picks of the Week

Chew #11

"JUST DESSERTS," Part One
A few months ago an intact mastodon was discovered encased in a glacier in Siberia. A few weeks ago the lab doing DNA sequencing on the prehistoric creature mysteriously burned to the ground. And a few days ago, Special Agent Tony Chu discovered an exclusive diner's club of the very, very rich who commit crimes in order to procure the meat of the rare, exotic and extinct. Tonight is their annual dinner. Guess who's coming to dinner to stop them?

Well its the start of a new storyline folks! Can Chu stop the evil riches from eating prehistoric and extinct animals AND get the girl? We shall see...

Unwritten #14

 The unveiling of the new Tommy Taylor novel is only a day away. London is locked down tight, and Tom's enemies are starting to circle - but it's his friends he should be watching...

The truth behind Lizzie Hexam and Jane Waxman is revealed! Where is Lizzie truly from and how much should Tommy really trust her?








Secret Six #22

It's the bloody (and we mean bloody) conclusion to the "Cat in the Cradle" arc! Catman rages against those that have been trying to destroy his life. Will tensions within the Six force them to leave Catman to fend for himself? And is someone leaving the team? Let's hope not! 



Is anyone else wondering why Cheshire's kids keep dying? Its like she's under some sort of gypsy curse. Would not want to be her kid...

Two Signings at Laughing Ogre Comics - High Street!!!!

Laughing Ogre Comics - High Street is proud to present two signings this Wednesday, June 9th! 

First up is Sean McKeever! 

After writing indie comics (such as the ensemble teen-drama The Waiting Place) for six years, Sean got his big break writing an issue of The Incredible Hulk for Marvel Comics in 2001. Since then, Sean has written hundreds of comics for Marvel, DC Comics and other publishers, including notable runs on Sentinel, Inhumans, Mystique, Marvel Adventures Spider-Man, Gravity, Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, Birds of Prey and Teen Titans.
Best known for delivering introspective, character-driven work, Sean also wrote several weeks of the Funky Winkerbean syndicated comic strip, much of which has been reprinted in the celebrated collection, Lisa's story: the other shoe.
In 2005, Sean won the Eisner Award for Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition.

Sean will be in to sign copies of his newest Marvel book, Young Allies. Here's a preview: http://www.newsarama.com/php/multimedia/album.php?aid=35774

Sean will be signing from 10-1 and 5-8.

Second, but certainly not least, is Chris Sprouse!

Sprouse launched his career in mainstream comics in 1989, his first credited work being a Chemical King story in an issue of DC Comics' Secret Origins. He then did a Two-Face story for Batman Annual #14 and then moved on to the limited series Hammerlocke. Sprouse then took on the sci-fi series Legionnaires, featuring teenaged versions of the characters in the Legion of Super-Heroes series, and eventually moved on to a number of one-shot and fill-in issues before illustrating a Star Wars mini-series, Splinter of the Mind's Eye, for Dark Horse Comics.
He then worked for Extreme Studios as the regular penciller of New Men, and in 1997, Sprouse drew several issues of Supreme, scripted by Alan Moore for the same publisher. After Supreme ended, a year later he and Moore created Tom Strong for America's Best Comics, for which Sprouse won two Eisner Awards in 2000, for Best Single Issue and Best Serialized Story. Sprouse was also the penciller on the 2004 Ocean mini-series, written by Warren Ellis and published by DC Comics. In 2007, Ocean was optioned for film.
In 2006, he began pencilling Wildstorm's Midnighter ongoing series, a spin-off of The Authority.
He was also the artist on the first issue of Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne with Grant Morrison as writer.<sup>[1]

 Chris will be in signing copies of his newest DC book, Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom! Here's a preview: http://wildstorm.blog.dccomics.com/2010/04/28/tom-strong-and-the-robots-of-doom-1-the-preview/</sup>

Chris will be signing from 11-2 and 4-6.

Make sure that you stop by and meet these very talented creators!

Picks of the Week

BLACKSAD HC VOL 01

Private investigator John Blacksad is up to his feline ears in mystery, digging into the backstories behind murders, child abductions, and nuclear secrets. Guarnido's sumptuously painted pages and rich cinematic style bring the world of 1950s America to vibrant life, with Canales weaving in fascinating tales of conspiracy, racial tension, and the "red scare" Communist witch hunts of the time. Guarnido reinvents anthropomorphism in these pages, and industry colleagues no less than Will Eisner, Jim Steranko, and Tim Sale are fans

AVENGERS PRIME #1 (OF 5)

They were friends, brothers and teammates through all of Marvel's greatest adventures, but recent events turned them into the bitterest of enemies. In the wake of the Siege of Asgard Thor, Iron Man and Steve Rogers are brought together on the same side once more, but these great heroes can't truly trust each other yet. They better start soon because something only the Big Three can handle is tearing their world apart. This all-new, grand and dangerous adventure will catapult our heroes into the explosive Heroic Age and will unite comics legend Alan Davis with Avengers scribe Brian Bendis for the very first time.

SERENITY FLOAT OUT ONE SHOT #1

Acclaimed writer/actor/comedian Patton Oswalt (The Goon, Batman, JLA, Dollhouse, Ratatouille) brings back one of Firefly's most beloved characters in this special spotlight issue!

Always ready with a brilliant aerial maneuver and a terrible one-liner, Wash was pilot of the Firefly-class ship Serenity in Joss Whedon's cult-classic TV series before being killed in the movie. Float Out includes three brand-new stories of Wash in a series of exciting smuggling raids, each providing a hair-raising escape or daring last-minute rescue! Featuring a cameo that will leave Serenity fans reeling, this special one-shot presents new tales of the Serenity universe's past and tantalizing hints about its future!

MOUSE GUARD LEGENDS OF THE GUARD #1 (OF 4)

Inside the June Alley Inn, located in the western mouse city of Barkstone, mice gather to tell tales, each trying to outdo the other. A competition, of sorts, begins. The rules: Every story must contain one truth, one lie, and have never been told in that tavern before. Legends of the Guard is a new Mouse Guard anthology series with artists and storytellers handpicked by creator David Petersen.