You Should Buy Things

Pre-ordered today: Douglas Wolk's Reading Comics. Wolk has been doing a phenomenal job with his 52 Pickup blog (which I'm really going to miss checking every week!), his Salon pieces are always excellent, and frankly, we as a medium needed this book, and I'm thrilled that it's a writer and critic as talented as Doug who got there first.

So yes, if you like comics, you should preorder it too, hint hint. The Chris Ware / Chip Kidd cover vibe would not really have been my choice, but I'm sure it does hit a certain demographic sweet spot, especially in the book trade, where people continue to believe that Jimmy Corrigan is the greatest comic ever produced. (It is not. At all. Though I'll admit I should re-read it, it's been several years now.)

And while you're buying things, feel free to plunk down some cash for the most ludicrous thing DC has published in a while: Showcase Presents: The War That Time Forgot Vol. 1. I shouldn't have to give you anything more than the most basic of summaries: A platoon of World War II soldiers are stranded on an island filled with dinosaurs. Written by Bob "Gun Jockey!" Kanigher, one of those Silver Age pulp-style comics writers (he did a lot of Sgt. Rock) whose stuff is... completely and utterly unlike anybody else. I'm not joking when I say he might be one of my favorite comics writers, purely because his scripting is just so apeshit and his style so unique. Anyway, how can you turn down a book with the following story titles:

"The Robot And The Dinosaur!"
"Doom Came At Noon!"
"Tidbit For A Tyrannosaurus!"
"Dinosaur Sub-Catcher!"
"Doom At Dinosaur Island!"
"Battle Of The Dinosaur Aquarium!"
"Mission X!"

500-plus pages of absolute lunacy for only $11.55 on Amazon (though if you want to support your local comics store, please do -- $16.99 cover price). You'd be a fool not to. (This one's actually out next week, but we got it in our bundles at work today, hence my trembling excitement.)