The pickings are slim this week at Midtown Comics, but it’ll take much worse to stop these bloggers from finding a way to spend their money.
From David: I’ve made a conscientious effort to like Kaori Yuki’s manga, but I’ve had limited success. I always end up appreciating the style but not getting invested in the story or characters. I’m happy to report that I’m having good luck with Yuki’s Grand Guignol Orchestra, so my pick for this week will be the second volume of that series. I wrote a brief review of it last week, and I’ll tempt you further with this brief snippet: “Our protagonists go undercover in a convent, looking for a sacred relic and investigating the grisly murders of young nuns. This mini-arc is shaping up to be both creepy and very funny, provided you find secretive nuns committing and subjected to unexpected violence funny, which, I assure you, I do.”
From Kate: Oh, manga, I’m stepping out on you this week. I just can’t muster the enthusiasm for Jormungand or Maoh: Juvenile Remix, and Biomega descended into incoherent nonsense two volumes ago. My pick, therefore, is issue six of The Walking Dead Weekly (Image). When I first heard that Image would be re-issuing the series, I was skeptical: who would really want to read it in weekly installments when The Walking Dead was already collected into trade paperbacks? Turns out the answer is me. The story is a familiar one, fashioned from the DNA of 28 Days, I Am Legend, and Dawn of the Dead, but it scores major points for brisk pacing, strong characterizations, and sharp artwork. What’s genuinely surprising, however, is just how well the story works in thirty-two page installments. The issues aren’t exactly self-contained, but each has a satisfying dramatic arc. I’m hooked!
From MJ: I, too, have difficulty getting behind any of this week’s new releases, so I’m going to follow David’s lead and pick out something that was technically released last week. I’m also going to go even further off our usual Midtown Comics list by choosing something available only online. My Pick is volume four of Sooyeon Won’s Full House, recently completed with the release of chapter six at NETCOMICS’ online portal. I’ve fallen a bit behind with this delicious screwball romantic comedy manhwa, but witness my enjoyment of the first two volumes here. This is a great time to pick up the series, even from scratch, with each volume coming in at $1.50 apiece ($.25 per chapter) for a 48-hour rental period. Though I do wish NETCOMICS offered some kind of ownership option, (preferably chapter downloads, though I’d settle for an eManga-style permanent rental) it’s hard to quibble with the price.
Kris says
February 7, 2011 at 12:07 pmI’m looking at Comixology’s ship list for this week, but it seems nearly everything listed actually came out LAST week.
Listed for me are: Black Bird 7 (last week), Grand Guignol Orchestra 2 (last week), Maoh Juvenile Remix 4, Story of Saiunkoku 2 (last week), Gunslinger Girl omni 1 (last week).
Melinda Beasi says
February 8, 2011 at 12:01 pmYeah, I think stores that rely on Diamond are a week behind with these.
Kris says
February 8, 2011 at 1:57 pmI don’t know. My comic shop wasn’t. They order through Diamond and I got all of those when I went by on Saturday.