Coming Soon: The Top 27 Books Shipping in June

Abadazad Books 1 and 2 - Described as a mix of "prose, art and comics," these 2 books (each 160 pages) complete the story started with CrossGen. Published by Hyperion Books for Children.

Action Philosophers - Collects the first three Xeric-winning issues of Action Philosphers by Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey. Fun stuff, though better in small doses. Published by Evil Twin Comics. 96 pages for $6.95 is not a bad deal at all.


The Complete Future Shocks - Collects all of Alan Moore's early short stories from 2000 A.D. including some early work with Dave Gibbons, John Higgins, Bryan Talbot and many others.

Angry Youth Comix #11 - New stuff from Johnny Ryan is always worth a look.

Art Out of Time - From Ganzfield publisher (Picturebox, Inc) Dan Nadel comes this book of "high quality reproductions of little seen or hard to find classic comics." Sounds very interesting. Published by Harry N. Abrams. Be sure to check out this excellent preview at the Comics Reporter.

Bardin the Superrealist - From Spanish cartoonist Max, the creator of The Extended Dream of Mr. D., this new hardcover collection is 80 pages of short stories and gags that are described as "wild" and "surreal." It's hard to find a lot of info on this book in English, but here's a good 1 page preview. Published by Fantagraphics.

Can't Get No - this 350+ page graphic novel is printed in half sized, landscape format. It follows a man on his journey of self discovery across the post 9/11 American landscape. Sounds interesting and Rick Veitch is one of those creators capable of pulling this off. Worth a look anyway. Check out the preview at IGN's website.



The Eternals - Neil Gaiman's new Eternals mini-series, illustrated by John Romita Jr., is the closest thing Marvel has to DC's All Star series. Worth checking out this fist issue to see if it leans more toward the Superman or Batman end of the spectrum.

Get A Life - Nothing to do with the underappreciated classic Chris Elliot show from the late '80s, Get a Life is a new collection of Mr. Jean stories from Dupuy and Berberian, who have graced many a Drawn & Quarterly anthology. Generally excellent French slice-of-life work. And while you're at it, check out Paul Gravett's interesting article on their 20+ year partnership.

Maybe Later - more new work from Dupuy and Berberian, but this time working solo, as each artist kept "a secret journal." Gravett calls Maybe Later "one of the most honest and engaging autobiographical graphic novels in the genre and a fascinating 'behind-the-scenes' glimpse into the creative process." Not convinced? Then check out the always worthwhile review by Tom Spurgeon.


Flight volume 3 - honestly, I haven't read the first two Flight anthologies, but based on this extensive preview over at Comic Book Resources, this one looks like it may be worth checking out.

Grease Monkey - I'm not sure if I'll end up getting this, given all the other stuff I have to read, but I remember reading a few issues of this a long time ago when Kitchen Sink published it, and thinking it was far, far better than the concept might lead you to believe. Plus, Tim Eldred is a great artist. Full color, 352 pages. Definitely worth a look.


Hoax #4 - I've been a fan of Hoax from the very first issue, but if experience proves true, indie anthologies like this really hit their stride around the fourth or fifth issue (Kramers Ergot, for example). In addition to the usual stable of artists, Hans Rickheit and Dash Shaw contribute.

In the Hands of Boys - I don't know much about this, but the premise sounds interesting. "A high school teacher inherits the fortune of a friend who is killed in Bosnia - and responsibility for his 10-year old son." The preview at Comicon looks pretty good, and a quick scan of creator Melody Nadia Shickley's website proves she's an artist with skill. Worth a look, at least. Lucifer's Garden of Verses vol. 4: The Devil & Miles Davis - Lance Tooks is a creator to watch. Similar to Kyle Baker, his innovative page layouts and extensive use of Photoshop make for a very unique storytelling experience. While not perfect, I did enjoy volume 3 of this series, and given how much I love Miles Davis, I'm very curious about this book. Published by NBM.

Midnight Sun #1 - this looks awesome. Eisner-nominated BenTowle (Farewell, Georgia) returns with a 5 issue mini-series about an ill-fated team of Italian explorers lost in the North Pole. The preview from Slave Labor looks very promising.



Mome vol. 4 - the perfect synthesis of format, content and experimentation, Mome has become THE lit-comics anthology for this generation. This issue features another long-form story by David B., as well as the return of John Pham and Paul Hornschemeier and contributions from Anders Nilsen, Jonathan Bennet, Gabrielle Bell, Kurt Wolfgang, Martin Cendreda, R. Kikuo Johnson, Andrice Arp, Sophie Crumb, Jeffrey Brown and David Heatley. Essential.

Morlac - By Norwegian artist, Lief Tande. This piqued my curiosity. From French publisher La Pasteque's website: "This silent graphic novel which works under Oubapo laws is a multi-layered tale, which multiply under the influences of the main character and his decisions. The reader is then confronted with not only one single story to follow, but multiple stories that cross paths. Morlac is an exceptionally creative book with masterful use of deconstructed narrative." Sounds interesting, right?

Out of Picture - This anthology, from French publisher Paquet, features eleven short stories from some of the top illustrators in the animation industry, all of whom work for Blue Sky Studios, the studio responsible for Robots and Ice Age.

Silk Road to Ruin - Published by NBM (see a preview here). I actually got to see a preview of this book at the New York Comic-Con back in Feb. and it looks very interesting. Ted Rall travels to Central Asia, and this book, a combination of cartoon and prose, recounts his experiences.


Solo #11 - The penultimate issue spotlights Sergio Aragones. This series has been above average to excellent, depending on the creator, and it's a real shame that its officially cancelled as of #12.

Superf*ckers #3 - James Kochalka's little bastard superheroes are back. So far, this series has been very funny, in the South Park vein of humor, with impressive coloring.

Supermarket #4 - the best new mini-series of the year comes to an end.

Tales of Woodsman Pete - Described as a series of short vignettes linking Woodsman Pete to the Paul Bunyan legend, it's hard to know whether Lille Carre's debut graphic novel will be good or not, though Top Shelf's track record is impressive. Worth a look, at least.

Tommyrot: The Art of Ben Templesmith - What a cover! I don't tend to go for these art books usually, but this might be the exception. Published by IDW.

Wally's World - Subtitled "The Brilliant Life and Tragic Death of Wally Wood, the World's Second Best Comic Book Artist." The latest comic book artist biography from Vangaurd Productions promises never before published artwork and photographs, and features the gorgeous Chip Kidd cover above.