PICK OF THE MONTH

Only In The Comics Biz Dept.: George Herriman's KRAZY KAT is the most acclaimed comic strip of all time. This is not hyperbole: among the strip's avid admirers have been Joyce, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Picasso, and Kerouac. And yet, most of the strip has never been collected.

Eclipse had been working on it, until they went bankrupt in 1995. Now Fantagraphics picks up where they left off with KRAZY & IGNATZ: THE KOMPLETE KAT KOMICS 1925-26 (JAN02 2440, pg. 284, $14.95), and as a bonus it's designed by Chris Ware.

The strip's premise was simple, a triangle between Krazy, a cat; Ignatz, a mouse; and Offissa Pupp, a dog. Krazy, one of nature's innocents, is besotted with Ignatz. Ignatz resents Krazy and is forever beaning her with bricks. Offissa Pupp wants to protect Krazy and is forever hauling Ignatz off to jail. But Krazy doesn't want his protection; Ignatz's bricks send her into raptures.

The strip consists mainly of variations on this theme, which sounds dull, but wasn't; Herriman was able to do to his theme what Charlie Parker could do to a Tin Pan Alley standard. As Bill Watterson (CALVIN AND HOBBES) astutely noted, "The constraint of KRAZY KAT's narrow plot seems to have set free every other aspect of the cartoon to become poetry, and the strip is, to my mind, cartooning at its most pure." Even the landscape was dynamic - the moon would twist into impossible shapes, and the buttes of the strip's setting, Coconico County, based on the Arizona desert Herriman loved, would practically dance across the horizon.

For further information, visit the web's best Krazy Kat resource: www.krazy.com.

DARK HORSE/DC COMICS (including Wildstorm, Vertigo, and Mad)/IMAGE COMICS/CHAOS! COMICS/ONI PRESS/TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS/etc.

...all join forces in SEPTEMBER 11, a project so big it takes up two volumes. VOLUME 2 (STAR14692, pg. 26, $9.95) is from DC, and VOLUME 1 (STAR14691, pg. 26, $9.95) is from everyone else. Contributors include Eisner, Miller, Moore, Gaiman, Moorcock, and a couple hundred others.

There are four pages of samples in Previews, and more at Newsarama.

DARK HORSE COMICS

THE SCORPION KING #1 is the prequel to the movie of the same name, which is the prequel to the sequel to THE MUMMY. Features wrestler The Rock and his amazing stunt eyebrow.

You wouldn't expect that opera could be adapted to comics, but P. Craig Russell does a creditable job in the now-collected RING OF THE NIBELUNG: RHINEGOLD & VALKYRIE VOL. 1 (JAN02 0023, pg. 36, $21.95). Beats sitting through a 15-hour stage production.

DC COMICS

It's official: DC is pinning its hopes on a new Bat-glut. In addition to THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and the ongoing 10-CENT/ MURDERER/FUGITIVE mishegoss, this month we get the hardcover graphic novel BATMAN: NINE LIVES, the collection BATMAN/HUNTRESS: CRY FOR BLOOD, and the miniseries BATMAN/DEATHBLOW: AFTER THE FIRE. Also, there's an oversized issue of ROBIN, part written by outgoing regular Chuck Dixon and part written by, of all people, Jon Lewis, creator of the acclaimed but deeply obscure TRUE SWAMP.

Have they got anything without Batman? Well, there's SWAMP THING VOL. 5: EARTH TO EARTH (JAN02 0645, pg. 97, $17.95), the latest, badly overdue collection of Alan Moore's trailblazing run. There's also the popular GREEN ARROW revamp by overexposed, overrated uberfanboy Kevin Smith. Those have Batman in, as the solicitations are careful to note, but they haven't got much Batman. There's also the collection of MAD superhero spoofs, in which Batman figures heavily, but not as heavily as in BATMAN/HUNTRESS, BATMAN/DEATHBLOW, BATMAN/EGGS, BACON, BATMAN AND SAUSAGE, BATMAN BATMAN BATMAN BATMAN baked beans and BATMAN....

Did I just reference Monty Python? Oh, god, sterilise me now.

Books that really haven't got Batman in them include:

A relaunch of HAWKMAN. Memo to DC, re: this and GREEN ARROW: blanked-out eyeslits on painted covers look stupid. You don't see Alex Ross doing it, do you? Photorealism cannot stop at the cornea.

KING DAVID (JAN02 0640, pg. 96, $19.95), by Kyle Baker. This is one of the family-friendly projects Baker has been pitching at DC for years to a response of, according to him, near-total indifference, on the grounds that such things would be very, very commercial anywhere but the direct market. This is basically a Disney movie on paper, which has its advantages (no musical numbers, for one). Me, I prefer Baker's earlier, more cynical books to the slicker and more calculated stuff he's doing now. But Baker is always wildly entertaining, and I'll take what I can get.

TOP TEN BOOK TWO (JAN02 0628, pg. 94, $24.95), the second volume of Alan Moore's well-liked superhero/cop ensemble drama, is out in hardcover.

Also from Vertigo is THE CRUSADES, which cannot be called well liked. Why hype a 13th issue that couldn't be less of a jumping-on point? Hint: THE CRUSADES is selling only slightly better than OUTLAW NATION. And that's just been cancelled.

MARVEL COMICS

The Max line is relaunching BLADE, a little too late for Black History Month, but just in time for Bend Over, Marv Wolfman Month.

Other firsts:

MUTANT X #1, an adaptation of the TV show, which, if any Fox lawyers are asking, has nothing to do with the X-MEN titles, even if it is heading the catalogue section labelled "X-MEN Titles".

Alex Ross and Jim Krueger write PARADISE X #1, the final instalment of the overblown *ls*w*rlds-type future of the Marvel Universe.

WIZARD ENTERTAINMENT

Synergy alert: WIZARD is doing a cover-feature retrospective of Garth Ennis's career at the same time that Black Bull is releasing Ennis' new JUST A PILGRIM miniseries.

AARDVARK-VANAHEIM / EXHIBIT A PRESS

Whatever else Dave Sim is, he's not predictable. I expected, in the couple dozen issues of CEREBUS he's got left, another riff on some Dead White Male 20th-Cen. American Novelist (I had Dreiser in the office pool). Instead he seems to be doing a parody of SPAWN, of the sort he hasn't done since he retired The Roach eight years ago. Only problem is, the time to parody SPAWN would have been 8 years ago...

Meanwhile, Sim gets a taste of his own medicine in SUPERNATURAL LAW #33 (JAN02 2431, pg. 282, $2.50), which features a cranky little grey critter named Huberis the Dybbuk.

ABSENCE OF INK COMIC PRESS

ABSENCE OF INK THEATRE #3 (JAN02 2158, pg. 218, $3.95) is the last issue of the anthology for now. The reason to seek this out is Rob Vollmar and Pablo Callejo's "The Castaways", a Depression-era hobo story that raises memories of KINGS IN DISGUISE. The rest of it is middling, and the "Gareth Axel: Insane British Comics Writer" strip from #2 gets serious demerits for its witless attack on Neil Gaiman. (Fanboys act as if he cheated on them by taking a leave from comics. Pheuuuw.)

AIT/PLANETLAR

...salvages the book WHITE DEATH (JAN02 2170, pg. 220, $12.95), a story about the horror of trench warfare in the avalanche-prone mountains of Austria in World War I. Charlie Adlard's charcoal art is a bit too mushy for my taste, but Rob Morrison's story, in its unremitting despair, serves as a useful reminder of a time when wars were not won by means of "daisy-cutters" and "bunker-busters."

ARCHIE COMICS

You're all familiar with Dan DeCarlo's cartooning, though you may not know it - he defined the look of the entire Archie line. He also created a fair number of properties for them, including Josie and the Pussycats, which was recently made into a feature film. DeCarlo argued that he never signed away ownership of Josie, but his claim was thwarted for good on Dec. 11, when the Supreme Court refused his appeal. Eight days later, he dropped dead of a heart attack. He was 82.

Just thought that deserved remembering.

AVATAR PRESS

Steven Grant debuts at Avatar, which is slowly being transformed by the sheer will of Warren Ellis into a respectable publisher. His MORTAL SOULS (#1 of 3, JAN02 2237, pg.233, $3.50) is a crime/horror story in which the beasties are qelipoths, basically the Qabalistic version of zombies. (Grant is good at digging up obscure hooks like that.) The question is whether artist Philip Xavier is better than the Avatar titty-book standard; judging from his website, he may well be.

CARTOON BOOKS

ROSE, the miniseries that gave the backstory for BONE's Gran'ma Ben, is collected (JAN02 2282, pg. 254, $19.95). Features gorgeous full-color artwork from renowned fantasy illustrator Charles Vess.

CROSSGEN COMICS

Mark Waid has scarpered, so the requisite bi-monthly new title is created by Ron Marz instead.

CYBEROSIA PUBLISHING

POPIMAGE VOL. 1 (JAN02 2360, pg. 270, $14.95) collects material from the substantial and stylish comics journalism website. Buy lots, not just because it ought to be good, but because if this proves viable then maybe there'll be a Ninth Art book and I can start earning royalties on this stuff. Right, Triple A boys?

Boys?

DANCING ELEPHANT PRESS

You'd best snap up KANE BOOK 5: THE UNTOUCHABLE RICO COSTAS (JAN02 2363, pg. 272, $12.95), because it'll be a while before you'll see anything new of Paul Grist's police procedural. Henceforth, Grist will be publishing KANE only in graphic novel format, skipping the pamphlet serialisation. It's a gutsy move, and I hope it pans out.

Grist is a cartoonist's cartoonist, deceptively simple in both drawing and writing. His art is stark and impeccably composed; his layouts are both clear and inventive; his stories successfully transcend the many clichés of station-house drama, and incorporate comic relief without sacrificing suspense.

No official site, but this unofficial one is excellent.

EUREKA PRODUCTIONS

...presents ROSEBUD GRAPHIC CLASSICS VOL. 2 (JAN02 2428, pg. 282, $9.95). This time, the subject is Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle. This one has fewer big-name cartoonists, but should still be a handsome package. Website: rsbd.net.

FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS

Heavyweight month at FBI. In addition to the KRAZY KAT book, there's the following:

After looking washed-up in the '70s, R Crumb resummoned his powers in the '80s and created the anthology WEIRDO, sort of an anti-RAW. THE COMPLETE CRUMB #16 (softcover: JAN02 2433, pg. 282, $18.95) wraps up the WEIRDO years, and will contain some of his best and most focused work.

THE GANZFELD (which may or may not be pronounced "Gonesville" or "Wholefield") looks rather like MCSWEENEY'S- a square-bound, design-savvy, straightfaced-but-not-somber eclectic literary magazine. I liked the material from their first issue, which I saw on their website (unfortunately now down for redesign), especially the useful article on irony (the death of which has been greatly exaggerated). VOL 2 (JAN02 2438, pg. 284, $24.95) will contain 100 pages of comics, including excerpts from Chris Ware's colour sketchbooks, and other comics-centric pieces, including an interview with MacArthur Genius Grant winner Ben Katchor.

THE COMICS JOURNAL #242 contains an interview by Gil Kane with adventure strip artist Noel Sickles, "an expanded review section" covering everything "from THE INVISIBLES to SKIBBER BEE BYE", and, most importantly to me, the return of R Fiore's column Funnybook Roulette. Fiore is the most cutting bastard ever to review comics, and this column's patron saint. I knew he hadn't forsaken me. I knew he'd return, when our need was greatest.

FOGELCOMIX

Will Kieron Dwyer's LCD #3 (JAN02 2462, pg. 285, $5.95) break the string of potentially actionable Starbucks cover gags?

If you've ever wondered what the big deal about underground comics was, THE APEX TREASURY OF UNDERGROUND COMICS/THE BEST OF BIJOU FUNNIES (JAN02 2464, pg. 285, $19.95) makes a fine primer. The APEX half gives profiles and samples from Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Gilbert Shelton, Justin Green, Bill Griffith, Kim Deitch, Spain, Shary Flenniken, etc.; the BIJOU half features many of the same people plus Skip Williamson. At 350 pages it's a bargain, and it's probably the only place you'll ever see Spiegelman's bar mitzvah picture.

JEWISH LIGHTS PUBLISHING

And speaking of bar mitzvahs, here's THE STORY OF THE JEWS: A 4000 YEAR ADVENTURE (JAN02 2514, pg. 296, $16.95), a 1998 book by Stan Mack. Mack is a non-fiction cartoonist of long-standing, perhaps best known for his Village Voice strip REAL LIFE FUNNIES ("All dialogue guaranteed overheard"). Mack's work is similar to Larry Gonick's CARTOON HISTORY, though not quite as visually interesting. But for eyeball kicks you could go read KING DAVID. Stan Mack you go to for actual history, thoroughly researched, usefully distilled, and irreverently portrayed.

Official website here

LAST GASP, INC.

Did you find JIMMY CORRIGAN too depressing? Wuss. Avert your eyes now, because no strip saps the will to live quite like AMY AND JORDAN (JAN02 2521, pg. 298, $17.95).

The strip is best remembered for having been in RAW, and it epitomises the qualities for which RAW got mocked. The tone is of crushing despair; as in a fever dream, somehow things can always get worse for hapless young lovers Amy and Jordan. The drawing is in the Art Brut style, which is a fancy French term for "looks like it was drawn by somebody who doesn't know what drawing is supposed to look like."

However, it's supposed to be over the top. Probably. I mean, how can one take seriously dialogue like: "There are worse things than being in prison. Just being alive is worse. Maybe if we're really lucky someone will strangle us in our sleep!"

Collections of the strip have been scarce and pricey (yes, even pricier than this), and so are back issues of RAW. This is as accessible as Beyer's work has been in a decade.

This website covers Beyer's career.

ONI PRESS

This month sees the debut of POUNDED (#1 of 3, JAN02 2562, pg. 306, $2.95). Written by Brian Wood and drawn by Steve Rolston, it stars Heavy Parker, a spoiled-rotten trust-funded faux-punk scenester peckerhead who will be first against the wall when the revolution comes. Wood describes it as akin to HATE, and, judging from the sample strips online, there's some Evan Dorkin in there too.

Rolston also drew the first arc of Greg Rucka's QUEEN & COUNTRY, now collected (softcover: JAN02 2564, pg. 306, $11.95), where he was not quite the man for the job. His style was a little too clean and cartoony for Rucka's sober, deglamorised espionage story. Nevertheless, it's recommended.

RISING TROUT PRESS

PLEEBUS PLANET VOL. 1: THE AMAZING MR. PLEEBUS (JAN02 2608, pg. 310, $8.50) is a children's book by Nick Abadzis. I know him only from HUGO TATE: O, AMERICA. Is this the sort of thing he's been doing since DEADLINE folded?

ROBOTS AND MONKEYS / TWO IRISH GUYS PRESS

It's not terribly prudent to preorder enigmatic comics sight unseen. But who wants to be prudent?

Tom Manning's RUNOFF (#1 & #2 PACK, JAN02 2609, pg. 311, $2.50; #3, JAN02 2610, pg. 311, $2.00) is a weird, isolated mountain town in Washington state (sounds like TWIN PEAKS, but Manning based it on his hometown) that nobody can leave. Matthew Cashel and Jeremy Haun's PARADIGM #1 (JAN02 2675, pg. 322, $3.00) is about... well, I'm not wholly sure, but it's endorsed by Gary Spencer Millidge (STRANGEHAVEN), and the art is striking - it's not too removed from Millidge's own photo-realistic style, actually.

Manning has a fancy-pants website, while Cashel and Haun have a straightforward one.

TITAN

Back in the early 80s, when I was in short pants, 2000AD commissioned Alan Moore to invent a knockoff of ET He studiously avoided the movie, but came up with something uncannily like ET anyway, namely SKIZZ (JAN02 2628, pg. 314, $16.99). Like D.R. & QUINCH (JAN02 2634, pg. 316, $14.99), it's very derivative, but reputedly very entertaining.

Back in the middle '80s, when I was in short pants, I thought that Transformers was the coolest idea ever. I'm grown up now and know better, but for people who don't, there's TRANSFORMERS VOL. 3: PRIMAL SCREAM.

Back in the late 80s, when I was in short pants (I liked short pants), there was a spate of comic books intended to kill for good the traditional superhero. It didn't work, you'll have noticed, but some of the books were good, and the most gleefully malicious of them all was Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill's MARSHAL LAW: FEAR AND LOATHING (JAN02 2630, pg. 316, $24.99). This makes other writers' stabs at "killing the Marvel Universe", Garth Ennis' included, seem like lite beer.

TOP SHELF PRODUCTIONS

Savvy readers will know that THE BIRTH CAUL and SNAKES AND LADDERS (one of the best books of 2001) were adapted by Eddie Campbell from Alan Moore's performance art pieces. But if you're American, you may not know that others of his pieces are available on CD, as they're hard to find in the US.

Top Shelf has been working to remedy that, and this month they've got Moore's newest, THE ANGEL PASSAGE (JAN02 2672, pg. 321, $20). It's about the half-mad poet of excess and instinct, William Blake, a subject that's a natural for Moore. He is again ably supported by the music of Tim Perkins. The record label has further info.

Also: James Kochalka's SKETCHBOOK DIARIES VOL. 2 (JAN02 2672, pg. 321, $7.95). To be honest, I haven't yet brought myself to give Kochalka the chance he deserves. With the winsome and impish persona he's cultivated, he's always struck me as the alt-comix answer to ZIGGY. But smarter people than myself swear by Kochalka's work, especially his diaries, so maybe I'm just a cynical bastard.

TYNDALE HOUSE PUBLISHERS

The first two volumes of the LEFT BEHIND books had print runs of about 125,000 each. That means they're selling about as well as any comic save DK2 has for years.

Apocalyptic right-wing Christian comics sell in the six figures, while Alan Moore's good wholesome occult comics sell a fraction of that. There is no God.

BOOKS

GIL KANE: ART AND INTERVIEWS (JAN02 2858, pg. 345, $27.99) is a companion book to GIL KANE: THE ART OF THE COMICS. Profusely illustrated.

Chris Ekman is a political cartoonist.

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