ProductWiki

Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:08:19 -0500

Published in 2000, Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid on Earth was the first release by cult-classic cartoonist Chris Ware that saw widespread attention. The book tells the story of the titular Jimmy Corrigan meeting his father for the first time in his adulthood while intermittently showing the events of his grandfather's childhood during the World's Columbian Exposition in 1901. It has received widespread critical acclaim and numerous awards.

DEMO (Comic Book)

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 11:15:30 -0400

Demo is a series of 12 short-story comics each following a different character as they struggle with the extraordinary powers they've been gifted/cursed. Each story is isolated from the other, the only connection being similar motifs and struggles the characters encounter. Even the art changes, as illustrator Becky Cloonan changes her style to match the story being presented.

Demo was originally presented in twelve different standalone issues. After completion the publisher, AiT/Planet Lars, collected the issues into a single bound book. In the book's forward writer Brian Wood explains how the concept of Demo arose out of a pitch to Marvel on a group of teenagers with powers. Brian states that Demo is darker and grittier than that original pitch, with the powers reducing their importance with the later stories focusing entirely on the characters themselves and their relationships.

Issues

NYC
Emmy
Bad Blood
Stand Strong
Girl You Want
What You Wish For
One Shot, Don't Miss
Mixtape
Breaking Up
Damaged
Midnight to Six
Mon Dernier Jour Avec Toi (My Last Day with You)

Reception

Wizard Magazine's "Best Indy" for 2004
Two Eisner Award nominations in 2005

Best Limited Series
Best Single Issue

One Piece: East Blue 10-11-12

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:07:38 -0500

Viz's re-releasing of hugely popular shonen (youth-oriented) manga One Piece in three volume sets priced at a third less than their standalone costs continues with this release containing volumes 10, 11 and 12. The story continues with the conclusion of the fan-favorite Arlong Park arc, where Luffy and his crew battle against the villainous fish-men. From there, the story leaves the East Blue, the ocean in which the story had taken place until now, and moves into the saga of the crew's adventure in the kingdom of Alabasta, a country in the legendary ocean called the Grand Line.

One Piece: East Blue 7-8-9

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:52:12 -0500

Continuing the re-release of One Piece volumes in sets of three for the price of two, volumes 7, 8 and 9 are collected in one 600-page book. These volumes continue the immensely popular shonen (youth-oriented) story of rubber pirate Luffy, his growing and increasingly-bizarre crew, and their dreams of exploring the open sea and discovering treasure. Concluding the arc of Baratie, the ocean-going restaurant, and beginning the Arlong Park arc, these volumes are often seen by fans as the point where many of the themes and traditions of One Piece were first established.

One Piece: East Blue 4-5-6

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:41:16 -0500

Continuing the immensely popular shonen (youth-oriented) story established in the first three volumes, the second omnibus release packages together volumes 4, 5 and 6 for the price of two standalone counterparts. The now epically-long story continues through its first primary story arc as Luffy and his growing crew battle Captain Kuro's pirates and begin their adventure on the ocean-going restaurant. Like the first set, all the question sessions, bonus pages and supplementary diagrams from the individual releases have been included.

One Piece: East Blue 1-2-3

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:32:33 -0500

Collecting the first three volumes of the hugely popular shonen (youth-oriented) manga into one 600-page volume, Viz Media hopes to catch people who were interested in reading the series but intimidated by the large number of books. In the true shonen form of mixing high-action fights with fantastical exploration, One Piece has joined the ranks of Dragon Ball and Astro Boy in success in Japan. The manga tells the story of Luffy, a young boy with the ability to stretch his body and dreams of becoming the king of pirates. He gathers a crew and sails into the Grand Line, a notorious ocean where the legendary treasure of One Piece is said to exist. In these first volumes, readers see the origin of Luffy's power and dreams, his encounters with three of his future crew members, and his battles against the crews of Buggy the Clown, Aldiva and the marine unit of Captain Morgan. This release features all the bonus content, such as preliminary sketches and interviews with the author, found in the individual volumes. It has an MSRP equivalent to just two separate volumes, however.

Apollo's Song

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 10:52:22 -0500

First released in Japan in 1970, with an official English translation and release by Vertical Inc arriving in 2007, Apollo's Song is one of the many classic graphic novels released in the time period by "God of Manga", Osamu Tezuka. The manga explores several scenarios ranging from a futuristic society to an isolated island, all of which have been created to teach an abused and distraught boy about the concept of love in horrifically tragic ways.

Tekkon Kinkreet: Black & White (All in One)

Fri, 08 May 2009 11:01:00 -0400

"In the sprawling Japanese metropolis of Treasure Town as a Disney-esque corporate empire is slowly gentrifying the darkest of its corners, Black and White live like insane Lost Boys, twin cat-shamans of the city and yin to one another's yang. Black is all action and cruelty, violence and rage; his maybe-brother White is love and magic, wonder and... well he's pretty violent, too. They hop from rooftop to rooftop and power-line to power-line like punk rock avatar superheroes of their chosen home, tights made of junk and capes of trash their uniforms, the abandoned cars they sleep in their headquarters. These two erstwhile boy-kings have, however, finally met their match as the cops, the crooks, and the corporate empire decide it's their turn to run the show."

-Matt Fraction, author of Casanova and Punisher: War Journal