DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week for March 26, 2014

COMICS

Yo Joe! Followers of the League picks know we have a special place in our heart for G.I. Joe! Celebrate sensei Larry Hama’s G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero issue #200 by heading to Hub Comics in Somerville for your free copy of the $5.99 book! 200 copies available! … Silver Surfer #1 from Dan Slott (Spider-Man) and Mike Allred (FF, Madman) apes Doctor Who by grabbing a companion for his long space journey with the Power Cosmic! … Gaiman’s Sandman is back with J.H. Williams III on art, issue #2 of Sandman: Overture is out today. Picks this week from Robin Hood: Outlaw of the 21st Century on Kindle!

EARTH PRIME TIME: LIZ PRINCE ‘ALONE FOREVER’ SIGNING AT BROOKLINE BOOKSMITH

Somerville comic artist Liz Prince celebrates the release of her first feature length graphic novel Alone Forever (Top Shelf Productions) at Brookline Booksmith on Tuesday, February 11. She tells us about the book, OkCupid dates, Valentine heart captions, and fleeting and awkward MBTA romances.

DIGBOSTON: Hey Liz! Thanks for joining us today. Wow, Alone Forever is actually a thing now. Congrats! How excited were to to open your advance copies?
Liz Prince: It was really exciting. The books came while I was visiting my mom in New Mexico, but my boyfriend sent me a photo of a pile of boxes that arrived, so I made him open it and send me photos of the book. Kind of funny that I saw my book for the first time over the phone, but it was awesome to get off the plane and come home and have 3 boxes full of Alone Forever: The Singles Collection waiting for me.

Now I can’t wait to show the world my comics about sadness and cats.

DIGBOSTON: I love the idea of a Singles Collection for your webcomic. Is there any new heartbreak in the book or are these all on your site?
There are about 20 pages of new material, including a comic essay on all of the OkCupid dates I’d been on, that’s embarrassing enough to make you want to get pick up the book for sure.
There are also some comics from other anthologies and zines in the book that never made it online, but definitely fit into the Alone Forever oeuvre. Plus, it’s way easier to read my books on the toilet in paper form. If that isn’t the ultimate endorsement, I don’t know what is.

DIGBOSTON: From Boom to Top Shelf, to making art for one of the most popular break-in related pop punk bands, Masked Intruder, you’ve gotten some great attention lately! How are you coping with the fame?
Easy: I agreed to write and draw a 250+ page graphic novel in under a year, so I really don’t leave the house much. I’m almost done with that project, which is a graphic memoir (buzzword alert) about my childhood called Tomboy; it will be out in the fall (like how I slipped that in there?). There is also more Masked Intruder stuff going on, that band got huge and I couldn’t be happier for them. I’ve always wanted to be a band’s Chris Shary, so I’m trying to take the Masked Intruder thing in that direction.

[READ MORE at DIGBOSTON.COM]

EARTH PRIME TIME: JACK TURNBULL SIGNING @ HUB COMICS

Local independent comic book creator Jack Turnbull teams up with MK Reed (The Cute Girl Network, First Second Books) for a reading and signing on Saturday, December 7 atHub Comics. Jack’s book, I Escaped a Satanic Ninja Cult will be available as well, and he joined us today to talk about it.


DIGBOSTON: What’s happening over at Hub on Saturday? It appears…you’ll not be appearing alone!
Jack Turnbull: On Saturday, Hub Comics is hosting three graphic novelists: MK Reed, who is from Brooklyn and currently on a book tour, yours truly, and Tim Finn, owner of Hub Comics. Each artist scans selections from their graphic novels panel by panel and publicly narrates them using Powerpoint.  Liz Prince, Dash Shaw, and Nichole J. Georges have done this in the past (to name a few) and the result is surprisingly effective. At the end of the reading there will be a signing and maybe time for a little Q &A. Let me emphasize–the event is free!

MK Reed’s new book seems amazing, Have you seen a preview of The Cute Girl Network?
Her newest book, The Cute Girl Network, is actually available now through Hub Comics (and wherever finer graphic novels are sold). I have purposely not read it so I may experience the full effect of her performance.  That being said, the synopsis presented sounds like it is a romantic comedy that is simultaneously relatable and eccentric (the best romantic comedies are). Jane, a charming, skateboarding new girl moves to town and quickly falls for Jack (not me; fictional Jack). Everything is right as rain until Jane finds out through what appears to be a a secret conspiracy called “the cute girl network” that Jack has a history and baggage. MK Reed’s newest work has a blurb on the back from the mighty, unstoppable Kate Beaton, author of “Hark! A Vagrant!”. She is high praise, so I’m very excited.

The Gute Girl Network – MK Reed (First Second Books)

And Mr. Finn is reading as well?
Tim Finn, owner of Hub Comics and all-around awesome guy, will be reading selections from the always off-beat and legendary cartoonist Fletcher Hanks. Hanks is well known for his odd and non-conventional super hero story structures, high fructose corn syrup color palette, and endlessly inventive imagination. Hanks worked primarily during the golden age of comics (’30s and ’40s). The Comics Journal crowned him the “Ed Wood” of comics. His stories are twisted and “lo-fi” in the best possible way.

I suggest not bringing milk to drink during his reading because the chances of it flying through your nose from laughing too hard are very high.

Check out Paul Karasak’s edited anthologies of his.

[READ MORE at DIGBOSTON.COM]

ADS:

EARTH PRIME TIME: DASH SHAW SCREENING + SIGNING AT HUB COMICS

Dash Shaw is an uncanny force in the comic book art world, using multimedia for his process and expanding his definition of comics from webcomics and the page to animation. Fantagraphics will be releasing his latest work, New School, this month. Dash was able to talk to us in the middle of his book tour after returning from MoCCA (Museum of Comic & Cartoon Art) Arts Fest this weekend, where he was featured as a special guest. Dash signs books and screens animation at Hub Comics this weekend on Saturday at 7pm.

 
DIGBOSTON: Dash, thanks for taking the time. How was this weekend for you?

DASH SHAW: Great. We had 3 New Stories and New Jobs.

“Yes, very qualified” — New Jobs - Dash Shaw

Your comic book work is not easy to define to a reader who hasn’t read it, but your fingerprints are unique. Do you consider your work to be more fine art than illustration?

I make comics. I don’t have any interest in showing work in galleries. I didn’t grow up looking at art in galleries. I looked at drawings in books. There are super talented other cartoonists who are also interested in showing in galleries, but I’m not. I don’t even like the term “art comics” because it implies that the art is more important than the story.

[READ MORE at DIGBOSTON.COM]

EARTH PRIME TIME: HUB COMICS REBOOT IN SOMERVILLE

LeaguePodcast manager Matt Dursin and myself made our way to the celebrations at Hub Comics in Union Square, Somerville on Saturday to see what the Hub was about, Bub! The local comic shop (LCS) celebrated being open four years with a fresh new vibe. New owner Tim Finn has let the sunlight into the shop for the relaunch, both literally and figuratively, by unblocking the windows and by paying tribute to the memory of previous owner James Welborn, who passed away in May of last year.

[READ MORE AT DIGBOSTON.COM]