www.86thfloor.com     PREVIEWS VOL. XVIX #7 July 2009  

Independent Comic Publishers
(Companies beginning with F)

FANFARE / PONENT MON

THE SUMMIT OF THE GODS VOLUME 2 GN
(W) Yumemakura Baku (A) Jiro Taniguchi
Did the truth about George Mallory's ascent of Everest in 1924 die with him on those unforgiving slopes? Or was the secret buried deep within a simple camera? Photographer Fukamachi seeks the truth of this 75 year-old enigma and enlists the help of fabled mountaineer Habu Joji and his journal to recover the lost history. (C: 0-1-2)
SC, 6x8, 336pgs, B&W (2 of 5) SRP: $25.00

FANTASY FLIGHT PUBLISHING

LEGEND OF PERCEVAN BOOK 2
(W) Jean Leturgie, Xavier Fauche (A) Phillipe Luguy
The adventures of the brave knight, Percevan, continue as the heroes race to rescue Kervin’s beloved pet Guimly from phantom kidnappers! Plus: Two more stories of action and danger in distant lands.
HC, 8x11, 160pgs, FC $19.95

FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS

STRANGE SUSPENSE: THE STEVE DITKO ARCHIVE VOL. 1 HC
(E) Blake Bell (W/A) Steve Ditko
BEHOLD TRUE BELIEVERS! AT LAST! THE BOOK YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOUR ENTIRE LIFE! Before SPIDER-MAN and DR. STRANGE! Before AYN RAND and MR.A! Legendary comic book genius STEVE DITKO was conjuring all manner of horrors at his creepy drawing table. Join FANTAGRAPHICS as we cast our spell with this FULL COLOR collection of PRE-CODE DITKO comics! Every story from the first two years of STEVE DITKO’s magnificent and mysterious career will be presented with our trademark common sense and attention to detail. MAKE MINE FANTAGRAPHICS! with STEVE DITKO!
HC, 7x10, 224pgs, FC $39.99

WEST COAST BLUES HC
(W) Jean Patrick Manchette (A) Jacques Tardi
Fans of CRIMINAL and THE HUNTER will fatally agree that JACQUES TARDI’s masterpiece of comics crime fiction will SLAY! KILL! and MAIM! its way into your cold, cold heart. After abandoning his humdrum middle-class life, aimless George Gerfaut is sucked into a spiral of brutality involving a flatulent war criminal and two hired assassins. Hardboiled and bloody, TARDI’s pen appears infused with seething, malevolent energy as he renders the gory and grisly goings-on of Gerfaut’s funereal tale. A double shot of humor and violence to help chase the f***ing blues away!
HC, 7x10, 80pgs, B&W $18.99

YOU ARE THERE
(W/A) Jacques Tardi with Jean-Claude Forest
JACQUES TARDI with JEAN-CLAUDE FOREST (of BARBARELLA fame) ushered in the era of the European graphic novel with this absurdist, satirical, existentialist classic. The combination of FOREST’s writing and TARDI’s gorgeously detailed, elegantly stylized neo-”clear line” style makes YOU ARE THERE a feast for both the eyes and the mind. Beautiful, pouty women lull and linger across the page of this brainy romp as FOREST and TARDI savagely attack the corrupt and the corruptable. Laugh aloud and gasp as our audacious authors snap the intellectual brassiére of France and then stab and skewer the European obedience to etiquette and decency with glee. Find out where you are by reading YOU ARE THERE!
HC, 8x11, 192pgs, B&W $26.99

OFFERED AGAIN

THE CLASSIC PIN-UP ART OF JACK COLE
(E) Alex Chun
This beautifully reproduced selection of sensual pin-up art from Jack Cole’s 1950s career as the premier PLAYBOY cartoonist shows that there was far more to Cole than his brilliant PLASTIC MAN.
SC, 8x11, 104pgs, B&W $18.99

BETSY AND ME SC
(W/A) Jack Cole
Mere months before his suicide, PLASTIC MAN creator Jack Cole debuted a syndicated newspaper strip. BETSY AND ME, a breezy domestic farce is collected here in its entirety. (AUG073639)
SC, 9x6, 104pgs, B&W $12.95

THE THREE PARADOXES HC
(W/A) Paul Hornschemeier
An intricate, complex autobiographical graphic novel blending multiple threads of reality and fantasy, each drawn in a different style, coming together as one story questioning change, progress, and worth in the artist’s life. (OCT088009)
HC, 7x9, 80pgs, FC $16.99

STRANGE AND STRANGER: THE WORLD OF STEVE DITKO HC
(E) Blake Bell
Part art book, part biography, this critically
acclaimed monograph traces STEVE DITKO’s
life and career, his unparalleled stylistic
innovations, and his strict adherence to his
own (and Randian) principles. Featuring the
finest full color reproductions known to man! (MAR083707)
HC, 9x12, 216pgs, FC $39.99

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ALL AND SUNDRY: UNCOLLECTED WORK—2004-2009 HC
(W/A) Paul Hornschemeier
More than any previous collection of Hornschemeier’s work, this comics medley demonstrates the variety and depth of the cartoonist’s interests and pursuits. Searching and imaginative, no one is free from Hornschemeier’s gaze: Michael Jacskon, Sylvester Stallone (RAMBO!) and Ulysses S. Grant all make apperances. Be up to date with this dazzling “hoard kit” of literary comics from the young master!
HC, 8x10, 208pgs, FC $29.99

SQUIRREL MACHINE HC
(W/A) Hans Rickheit
This darkly driven, grisly gothic graphic novel will be the sleeper hit of the year. Promise! Set in a fictional 19th century New England town, Rickheit’s tale follows the relationship of two brothers as they develop and reveal their hand-crafted musical intruments... musical instruments made from animal carcasses!!! Meticulous, strange and hauntingly beautiful, SQUIRREL MACHINE is a must-have for fans of H.P. Lovecraft, SANDMAN and HELL-BOY.
HC, 7x10, 192pgs, B&W $18.99

MOME VOL. 16 SUMMER 2009
(E) Gary Groth, Eric Reynolds
7 x 9, SC, 120 pages, FC, $14.99
ISBN 978-1-60699-153-4
Features all new short stories by Archer Prewitt, Dash Shaw, Renée French, Lili Carré, Laura Park, Conor O’Keefe, Nathan Neal, Ben Jones, Frank Santoro, Jon Vermilyea, and Sara Edward-Corbett, as well as the debut chapter of Ted Stearn’s latest FUZZ & PLUCK epic “The Moolah Tree.” Plus the second chapter of T. Edward Bak’s soon to be acclaimed graphic novel Wild Man—The Strange Journey and Fantastic Accounts of the Naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller; From Bavaria to Bolshaya Zemlya (And Beyond).
SC, 7x9, 120pgs, FC $14.99

THE COMICS JOURNAL #300
(E) Gary Groth, Mike Dean, Kristy Valenti
ISBN 978-1-60699-290-6
IT’S HERE! THE COMICS JOURNAL #300!!! and to celebrate this momentous occasion, we’ve pulled out all the stops! As well as our hair! To bring you the finest comics-related publication possible! This must-have spectacular features intergenerational interviews between alt-wiz Kevin Huizenga and reigning Maus king Art Spiegelman; indy comics publisher/cartoonist/musician Zak Sally and Love & Rockets co-creator Xaime Hernandez; Bottomless Belly Button prodigy Dash Shaw and Asterios Polyp elder auteur David Mazzucchelli; comics artists/teachers Steve Bissette and Joe Kubert; Martin Luther King chronicler Ho Che Anderson and American Flagg! creator Howard Chaykin; Honest Frank Quitely and Watchman Dave Gibbons! And much, much more...
SC, 8x10, 272pgs, FC $14.99

:01 FIRST SECOND

BALL PEEN HAMMER GN
(W) Adam Rapp (A) George O'Connor
The world is dying. After most of the city succumbed to the plague, Welton's staying inside permanently. But hiding in his claustrophobic basement room exacts a gruesome price, and he becomes part of a collective that's killing children. Infected with the plague himself, with no way to find the woman he loves, Welton takes refuge in apathy — until someone knocks on his door! (C: 0-1-2)
MATURE THEMES
SC, 6x8.5, 144pgs, FC SRP: $17.99

REFRESH, REFRESH GN
(W) James Ponsoldt, Benjamin Percy (A) Danica Novgorodoff
There's nothing Josh, Cody, and Gordon want more than their fathers home safely from the war in Iraq — unless it's to get out of their dead-end town. Three teenagers on the cusp of high school graduation struggle to make hard decisions with no role models to follow, discovering the possibilities for the future when all the doors are slamming in their faces, believing their fathers will come home alive so they can be boys again. Based on Benjamin Percy's award-winning short story, "Refresh, Refresh." (C: 0-1-2)
MATURE THEMES
SC, 6x8.5, 144pgs SRP: $17.99

TINY TYRANT: THE LUCKY WINNER GN
(W) Lewis Trondheim (A) Fabrice Parme
The Tiny Tyrant tyrannizes again! Join Ethelbert, the world’s most diminutive despot, as he searches for smugglers, creates giant rats, and has difficulty with long words. This companion to The Ethelbertosaurus offers readers six more fun-filled stories in a large, kid-friendly format. (C: 0-1-2)
SC, 7.5x10, 64pgs, FC SRP: $9.99

FULL CIRCLE PUBLICATIONS

THICKER THAN BLOOD #3
(W) Simon Reed (A) Mike Ploog, Simon Bisley
Eric is desperate, he has lost everything and Andrew is roaming Scotland getting angrier and hairier. Andrew's wife has gone off to find him now she has discovered his whereabouts, unbeknownst to her of the danger she faces. Meanwhile, the local priest who holds the villagers in his thrall has brought new life to an old fashioned witch hunt following Andrew's trail. Eric must decide what the best course of action is and how to warn his brother. (C: 0-1-0)
MATURE THEMES
RES. from Previews Vol. XVIII #11 (NOV084073)
28pgs, FC (3 of 3) SRP: $3.95