As it sometimes happens, my original concept for a Nexus Graphica episode leads me down a rabbit hole, digging deeper and deeper into the abyss of nonsense. Rather than subject you, our loyal reader, to the unadulterated chaos of my thoughts, I decided to reach into the Klaw archives and reprint a circa 2001 essay that originally appeared as part of my previous long running SF Site column ]url=http://www.sfsite.com/geeks01.htm]Geeks With Books[/url] and reprinted in my collection Geek Confidential.

One of my earliest pieces on graphic novels, "Broadminded" recounts the struggles of an unabashed comics fan in the often close-minded realities of 90s science fiction fandom and publishers.

Check it all out plus my reviews of the latest Tardi and the lauded French cartoonist Ludovic Debeurme American premiere over at SF Site.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived at the Geek Compound.

Conan the Barbarian
by Robert E. Howard

Promo copy:

THE CLASSIC STORIES THAT INSPIRED THE BLOCKBUSTER FILM

Conan the Barbarian is one of the greatest fictional heroes ever created—a swordsman who cuts a swath across the lands of the Hyborian Age, annihilating powerful sorcerers, deadly creatures, and whole armies of ruthless foes. Today his name is synonymous with the epic battles of ancient times, but Conan originated in the early decades of the twentieth century with one of the founding fathers of fantasy, the visionary Robert E. Howard. The unforgettable stories collected here form a thrilling adventure, following Conan from his mercenary youth to his bloody conquests on the frontier and even the high seas. Bold and enduring, the legend of Conan the Barbarian continues to grow in popularity and influence.

Includes these stories:

The Phoenix on the Sword
The People of the Black Circle
The Tower of the Elephant
Queen of the Black Coast
Red Nails
Rogues in the House

Seduce Me in Flames
by Jacquelyn Frank
Cover by Craig White

Promo copy:

ICY RECEPTION
Ambrea Vas Allay is the rightful heir to the throne of Allay. But when she is summoned home from exile, she discovers that her father, who had executed her mother, has died. Her young half-brother, controlled by their uncle, has taken power. Ambrea is torn by an impossible choice: renounce the crown or waste away in prison. The last thing she expects is to be liberated by a huge, tattooed Tarian—or to feel a searing passion for her mysterious rescuer.

SMOLDERING DECEPTION
Rush “Ender” Blakely loves being part of the elite force of the Interplanetary Militia and the mission to save the princess Allay. But the tough Tarian hides a fiery secret—a blazing power that makes him literally too hot to handle. He must be crazy to carry a torch for this strong, beautiful princess—when any intimacy between them is bound to be explosive.

BLAZING INSURRECTION
As Ambrea steels herself to take back the throne, does she dare entrust this scorching stranger with the fate of an empire—and, even more so, with her heart?

The Black Lung Captain
by Chris Wooding
Cover by Raphael Lacoste

Promo copy:

Chris Wooding, author of the thrilling novel Retribution Falls, returns to a fantastical world of spectacular sky battles and high-flying heroics for another epic adventure.

Deep in the heart of the Kurg rainforest lies a long-forgotten wreck. On board, behind a magically protected door, an elusive treasure awaits. Good thing Darian Frey, captain of the airship Ketty Jay, has the daemonist Crake on board. Crake is their best chance of getting that door open—if they can sober him up. For a prize this enticing, Frey is willing to brave the legendary monsters of the forbidding island and to ally himself with a partner who’s even less trustworthy than he is.

But what’s behind that door is not what any of the fortune hunters expect, any more than they anticipate their fiercest competitor for the treasure—a woman from Frey’s past who also happens to be the most feared pirate in the skies.

Books received 7/12/11 was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived at the Geek Compound.

Conan the Barbarian
by Robert E. Howard

Promo copy:

THE CLASSIC STORIES THAT INSPIRED THE BLOCKBUSTER FILM

Conan the Barbarian is one of the greatest fictional heroes ever created—a swordsman who cuts a swath across the lands of the Hyborian Age, annihilating powerful sorcerers, deadly creatures, and whole armies of ruthless foes. Today his name is synonymous with the epic battles of ancient times, but Conan originated in the early decades of the twentieth century with one of the founding fathers of fantasy, the visionary Robert E. Howard. The unforgettable stories collected here form a thrilling adventure, following Conan from his mercenary youth to his bloody conquests on the frontier and even the high seas. Bold and enduring, the legend of Conan the Barbarian continues to grow in popularity and influence.

Includes these stories:

The Phoenix on the Sword
The People of the Black Circle
The Tower of the Elephant
Queen of the Black Coast
Red Nails
Rogues in the House

Seduce Me in Flames
by Jacquelyn Frank
Cover by Craig White

Promo copy:

ICY RECEPTION
Ambrea Vas Allay is the rightful heir to the throne of Allay. But when she is summoned home from exile, she discovers that her father, who had executed her mother, has died. Her young half-brother, controlled by their uncle, has taken power. Ambrea is torn by an impossible choice: renounce the crown or waste away in prison. The last thing she expects is to be liberated by a huge, tattooed Tarian—or to feel a searing passion for her mysterious rescuer.

SMOLDERING DECEPTION
Rush “Ender” Blakely loves being part of the elite force of the Interplanetary Militia and the mission to save the princess Allay. But the tough Tarian hides a fiery secret—a blazing power that makes him literally too hot to handle. He must be crazy to carry a torch for this strong, beautiful princess—when any intimacy between them is bound to be explosive.

BLAZING INSURRECTION
As Ambrea steels herself to take back the throne, does she dare entrust this scorching stranger with the fate of an empire—and, even more so, with her heart?

The Black Lung Captain
by Chris Wooding
Cover by Raphael Lacoste

Promo copy:

Chris Wooding, author of the thrilling novel Retribution Falls, returns to a fantastical world of spectacular sky battles and high-flying heroics for another epic adventure.

Deep in the heart of the Kurg rainforest lies a long-forgotten wreck. On board, behind a magically protected door, an elusive treasure awaits. Good thing Darian Frey, captain of the airship Ketty Jay, has the daemonist Crake on board. Crake is their best chance of getting that door open—if they can sober him up. For a prize this enticing, Frey is willing to brave the legendary monsters of the forbidding island and to ally himself with a partner who’s even less trustworthy than he is.

But what’s behind that door is not what any of the fortune hunters expect, any more than they anticipate their fiercest competitor for the treasure—a woman from Frey’s past who also happens to be the most feared pirate in the skies.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived at the Geek Compound.

The Falling Machine (The Society of Steam, Book One)
by Andrew P. Mayer
Cover by Justin Gerard

Promo copy:

In 1880 women aren’t allowed to vote, much less dress up in a costume and fight crime…

But twenty-year-old socialite Sarah Stanton still dreams of becoming a hero. Her opportunity arrives in tragedy when the leader of the Society of Paragons, New York’s greatest team of gentlemen adventurers, is murdered right before her eyes. To uncover the truth behind the assassination, Sarah joins forces with the amazing mechanical man known as The Automaton. Together they unmask a conspiracy at the heart of the Paragons that reveals the world of heroes and high-society is built on a crumbling foundation of greed and lies. When Sarah comes face to face with the megalomaniacal villain behind the murder, she must discover if she has the courage to sacrifice her life of privilege and save her clockwork friend.

The Falling Machine (The Society of Steam, Book One) takes place in a Victorian New York powered by the discovery of Fortified Steam, a substance that allows ordinary men to wield extraordinary abilities, and grant powers that can corrupt gentlemen of great moral strength. The secret behind this amazing substance is something that wicked brutes will gladly kill for and one that Sarah must try and protect, no matter what the cost.

Blackdog
by K. V. Johansen
Cover by Raymond Swanland

Promo copy:

Long ago, in the days of the first kings in the north, there were seven devils…

And long ago, in the days of the first kings in the north, the seven devils, who had deceived and possessed seven of the greatest wizards of the world, were defeated and bound with the help of the Old Great Gods…

And perhaps some of the devils are free in the world, and perhaps some are working to free themselves still…

In a land where gods walk on the hills and goddesses rise from river, lake, and spring, the caravan-guard Holla-Sayan, escaping the bloody conquest of a lakeside town, stops to help an abandoned child and a dying dog. The girl, though, is the incarnation of Attalissa, goddess of Lissavakail, and the dog a shape-changing guardian spirit whose origins have been forgotten. Possessed and nearly driven mad by the Blackdog, Holla-Sayan flees to the desert road, taking the powerless avatar with him.

Necromancy, treachery, massacres, rebellions, and gods dead or lost or mad, follow hard on the their heels. But it is Attalissa herself who may be the Blackdog’s—and Holla-Sayan’s—doom.

Sword of Fire and Sea: The Chaos Knight, Book One
by Erin Hoffman
Cover by Dehong He

Promo copy:

Three generations ago Captain Vidarian Rulorat’s great-grandfather gave up an imperial commission to commit social catastrophe by marrying a fire priestess. For love, he unwittingly doomed his family to generations of a rare genetic disease that follows families who cross elemental boundaries. Now Vidarian, the last surviving member of the Rulorat family, struggles to uphold his family legacy, and finds himself chained to a task as a result of the bride price his great-grandfather paid: the Breakwater Agreement, a seventy-year-old alliance between his family and the High Temple of Kara’zul, domain of the fire priestesses.

The priestess Endera has called upon Vidarian to fulfill his family’s obligation by transporting a young fire priestess named Ariadel to a water temple far to the south, through dangerous pirate-controlled territory. A journey perilous in the best of conditions is made more so by their pursuers: rogue telepathic magic-users called the Vkortha who will stop at nothing to recover Ariadel, who has witnessed their forbidden rites.

Together, Vidarian and Ariadel will navigate more than treacherous waters: Imperial intrigue, a world that has been slowly losing its magic for generations, secrets that the priestesshoods have kept for longer, the indifference of their elemental goddesses, gryphons—once thought mythical—now returning to the world, and their own labyrinthine family legacies. Vidarian finds himself at the intersection not only of the world’s most volatile elements, but of colliding universes, and the ancient and alien powers that lurk between them.

Books 7/12/11 Pyr edition was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived at the Geek Compound.

The Falling Machine (The Society of Steam, Book One)
by Andrew P. Mayer
Cover by Justin Gerard

Promo copy:

In 1880 women aren’t allowed to vote, much less dress up in a costume and fight crime…

But twenty-year-old socialite Sarah Stanton still dreams of becoming a hero. Her opportunity arrives in tragedy when the leader of the Society of Paragons, New York’s greatest team of gentlemen adventurers, is murdered right before her eyes. To uncover the truth behind the assassination, Sarah joins forces with the amazing mechanical man known as The Automaton. Together they unmask a conspiracy at the heart of the Paragons that reveals the world of heroes and high-society is built on a crumbling foundation of greed and lies. When Sarah comes face to face with the megalomaniacal villain behind the murder, she must discover if she has the courage to sacrifice her life of privilege and save her clockwork friend.

The Falling Machine (The Society of Steam, Book One) takes place in a Victorian New York powered by the discovery of Fortified Steam, a substance that allows ordinary men to wield extraordinary abilities, and grant powers that can corrupt gentlemen of great moral strength. The secret behind this amazing substance is something that wicked brutes will gladly kill for and one that Sarah must try and protect, no matter what the cost.

Blackdog
by K. V. Johansen
Cover by Raymond Swanland

Promo copy:

Long ago, in the days of the first kings in the north, there were seven devils…

And long ago, in the days of the first kings in the north, the seven devils, who had deceived and possessed seven of the greatest wizards of the world, were defeated and bound with the help of the Old Great Gods…

And perhaps some of the devils are free in the world, and perhaps some are working to free themselves still…

In a land where gods walk on the hills and goddesses rise from river, lake, and spring, the caravan-guard Holla-Sayan, escaping the bloody conquest of a lakeside town, stops to help an abandoned child and a dying dog. The girl, though, is the incarnation of Attalissa, goddess of Lissavakail, and the dog a shape-changing guardian spirit whose origins have been forgotten. Possessed and nearly driven mad by the Blackdog, Holla-Sayan flees to the desert road, taking the powerless avatar with him.

Necromancy, treachery, massacres, rebellions, and gods dead or lost or mad, follow hard on the their heels. But it is Attalissa herself who may be the Blackdog’s—and Holla-Sayan’s—doom.

Sword of Fire and Sea: The Chaos Knight, Book One
by Erin Hoffman
Cover by Dehong He

Promo copy:

Three generations ago Captain Vidarian Rulorat’s great-grandfather gave up an imperial commission to commit social catastrophe by marrying a fire priestess. For love, he unwittingly doomed his family to generations of a rare genetic disease that follows families who cross elemental boundaries. Now Vidarian, the last surviving member of the Rulorat family, struggles to uphold his family legacy, and finds himself chained to a task as a result of the bride price his great-grandfather paid: the Breakwater Agreement, a seventy-year-old alliance between his family and the High Temple of Kara’zul, domain of the fire priestesses.

The priestess Endera has called upon Vidarian to fulfill his family’s obligation by transporting a young fire priestess named Ariadel to a water temple far to the south, through dangerous pirate-controlled territory. A journey perilous in the best of conditions is made more so by their pursuers: rogue telepathic magic-users called the Vkortha who will stop at nothing to recover Ariadel, who has witnessed their forbidden rites.

Together, Vidarian and Ariadel will navigate more than treacherous waters: Imperial intrigue, a world that has been slowly losing its magic for generations, secrets that the priestesshoods have kept for longer, the indifference of their elemental goddesses, gryphons—once thought mythical—now returning to the world, and their own labyrinthine family legacies. Vidarian finds himself at the intersection not only of the world’s most volatile elements, but of colliding universes, and the ancient and alien powers that lurk between them.

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived at the Geek Compound.

Lucille
by Ludovic Debeurme

Promo copy:

Winner of the René Goscinny Prize and the Angoulême Essential Award.

After years of acclaim in Europe, graphic novelist Ludovic Debeurme makes his English-language debut with a book of quiet grace and staggering emotional power.

This rich and intimate story follows two teenagers, Lucille and Arthur, as they struggle with the complex legacies inherited from their families: legacies of illness and pride, of despair and hope. Somehow two lonely misfits form an instant connection, and with the intoxicating boldness of youth, they journey together across Europe, discovering each other, discovering themselves, and hoping against all odds to make their own destiny.

Lucille is more than a story about anorexia, alcoholism, and adolescence. It’s a story of love amidst tragedy, full of the halting awkwardness of life and the operatic grandeur of teenage emotion.

The War That Came Early: The Big Switch
by Harry Turtledove
Cover by Carlos Beltran*

*I assume this is NOT the Mets outfielder.

Promo copy:

In this extraordinary World War II alternate history, master storyteller Harry Turtledove begins with a big switch: what if Neville Chamberlain, instead of appeasing Hitler, had stood up to him in 1938? Enraged, Hitler reacts by lashing out at the West, promising his soldiers that they will reach Paris by the new year. They don’t. Three years later, his genocidal apparatus not fully in place, Hitler has barely survived a coup, while Jews cling to survival. But England and France wonder whether the war is still worthwhile.

Weaving together a cast of characters that ranges from a brawling American fighter in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in Spain to a woman who has seen Hitler’s evil face-to-face, Harry Turtledove takes us into a world shaping up very differently in 1941. The Germans and their Polish allies have slammed into the gut of the Soviet Union in the west, while Japan pummels away in the east. In trench warfare in France, French and Czech fighters are outmanned but not outfought by their Nazi enemy. Then the stalemate is shattered. In England, Winston Churchill dies in an apparent accident, and the gray men who walk behind his funeral cortege wonder who their real enemy is. The USSR, fighting for its life, makes peace with Japan—and Japan’s war with America is about to begin.

A sweeping saga of human passions, foolishness, and courage, of families and lovers and soldiers by choice and by chance, The Big Switch is a provocative, gripping, and utterly convincing work of alternate history at its best. For history buffs and fans of big, blood-and-guts fiction, Harry Turtledove delivers a panoramic clash of ideals as powerful as armies themselves.

Conan the Adventurer: Season One

Promo copy:

Produced by Sunbow, the 1980s animation giant behind Hasbro’s Transformers and G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero, Conan The Adventurer focuses on the titular hero and his frends Jezmine, Snagg, Needle, Greywolf and Zula and their quest to rescue Conan’s family from an evil spell cast by the Serpent Man wizard Wrath-Amon. Armed with a powerful sword forged from Star Metal and faith in his god Crom, Conan will not stop until his family is safe and the evil wizard is reimprisoned in the mystical Abyss.

Stuff received 7/7/11 was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

Let’s take a quick look to see what’s arrived at the Geek Compound.

Lucille
by Ludovic Debeurme

Promo copy:

Winner of the René Goscinny Prize and the Angoulême Essential Award.

After years of acclaim in Europe, graphic novelist Ludovic Debeurme makes his English-language debut with a book of quiet grace and staggering emotional power.

This rich and intimate story follows two teenagers, Lucille and Arthur, as they struggle with the complex legacies inherited from their families: legacies of illness and pride, of despair and hope. Somehow two lonely misfits form an instant connection, and with the intoxicating boldness of youth, they journey together across Europe, discovering each other, discovering themselves, and hoping against all odds to make their own destiny.

Lucille is more than a story about anorexia, alcoholism, and adolescence. It’s a story of love amidst tragedy, full of the halting awkwardness of life and the operatic grandeur of teenage emotion.

The War That Came Early: The Big Switch
by Harry Turtledove
Cover by Carlos Beltran*

*I assume this is NOT the Mets outfielder.

Promo copy:

In this extraordinary World War II alternate history, master storyteller Harry Turtledove begins with a big switch: what if Neville Chamberlain, instead of appeasing Hitler, had stood up to him in 1938? Enraged, Hitler reacts by lashing out at the West, promising his soldiers that they will reach Paris by the new year. They don’t. Three years later, his genocidal apparatus not fully in place, Hitler has barely survived a coup, while Jews cling to survival. But England and France wonder whether the war is still worthwhile.

Weaving together a cast of characters that ranges from a brawling American fighter in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in Spain to a woman who has seen Hitler’s evil face-to-face, Harry Turtledove takes us into a world shaping up very differently in 1941. The Germans and their Polish allies have slammed into the gut of the Soviet Union in the west, while Japan pummels away in the east. In trench warfare in France, French and Czech fighters are outmanned but not outfought by their Nazi enemy. Then the stalemate is shattered. In England, Winston Churchill dies in an apparent accident, and the gray men who walk behind his funeral cortege wonder who their real enemy is. The USSR, fighting for its life, makes peace with Japan—and Japan’s war with America is about to begin.

A sweeping saga of human passions, foolishness, and courage, of families and lovers and soldiers by choice and by chance, The Big Switch is a provocative, gripping, and utterly convincing work of alternate history at its best. For history buffs and fans of big, blood-and-guts fiction, Harry Turtledove delivers a panoramic clash of ideals as powerful as armies themselves.

Conan the Adventurer: Season One

Promo copy:

Produced by Sunbow, the 1980s animation giant behind Hasbro’s Transformers and G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero, Conan The Adventurer focuses on the titular hero and his frends Jezmine, Snagg, Needle, Greywolf and Zula and their quest to rescue Conan’s family from an evil spell cast by the Serpent Man wizard Wrath-Amon. Armed with a powerful sword forged from Star Metal and faith in his god Crom, Conan will not stop until his family is safe and the evil wizard is reimprisoned in the mystical Abyss.

With the year half over, here’s the top ten graphic novels that read/reviewed so far this year.

10) Morning Glories Volume 1: For A Better Future Written by Nick Spencer Art by Joe Eisma (Image)

A synthesis of Buffy, The Vampire Slayer and an Orwellian nightmare, Spencer and Eisma reveal the diabolical realities behind the Morning Glory Academy, a prestigious prep school. Six brilliant students from different backgrounds join the school, encountering all sorts of weirdness: ghosts, torture, mind control experiments, and murder. Spencer deftly relates the teenage pathos and chaos as events unfold. Eisma’s clean draftsmanship and realistic rendering ideally bring life to this intriguing story. Much like the above-mentioned Buffy, the creators manage to make the truly terrible palatable and even enjoyable. Morning Glories Volume 1: For A Better Future offers an interesting take on the oft-told tale of teen angst and anguish.

9) Dungeon Quest, Book One and Book Two by Joe Daly (Fantagraphics)

Millennium Boy, Steve, Lash Penis, and Nerdgirl grab their weapons and journey on a mystical quest to recover the missing parts of the Altlantean Resonator Guitar and to return the borrowed penis sheath to prophet and poet Bromedes. Using role playing game tropes as a template, Daly, creator of the acclaimed Red Monkey Double Happiness Book, illustrates the often twisted reality of the contemporary slacker with little subtlety but from a fresh perspective. Littered with violence, inappropriate sexual innuendos, misguided bravado and infused with hilarity, Dungeon Quest (of which two 136 page volumes are available) promises a uniquely entertaining graphic novel experience.

8) League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1969 Written by Alan Moore, Art by Kevin O’Neill (Top Shelf)

The new 96 page chapter of Moore and O’Neill’s acclaimed series finds the immortal trio of Mina Murray, Allan Quatermain, and Orlando far from the Victorian roots of their previous adventures. Set in London near the end of the mod-sixties, the group continue their century-long war with Alastair Crowley, begun in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1910. New allies for the League include Jerry Cornelius and Jack Carter (from the novel Jack’s Return Home, popularized as the Michael Caine film Get Carter). Moore does an exquisite job of incorporating the League within the chaotic world of 1969. Perhaps the finest installment since the first series, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1969 concludes with a shocking turn of events, leaving the reader eager for the concluding book.

7) Stumptown Volume 1: The Case of the Girl Who Took her Shampoo (But Left her Mini) Written by Greg Rucka Art by Matthew Southworth (Oni)

With comics such as Queen & Country and Whiteout, Rucka established a much deserved reputation for producing superior crime stories featuring female protagonists. In Stumptown Volume 1: The Case of the Girl Who Took her Shampoo (But Left her Mini), Rucka returns to this familiar territory. In order to pay back a massive gambling debt, Stumptown Investigations proprietor Dex Parios searches for the missing granddaughter of Sue-Lynne, head of the Confederate Tribes of the Wind Coast’s casino operations. During her quest, Dex reveals the darker sides of Portland, OR. She receives numerous threats and beatings. She is shot and no one trusts her. Making things even more difficult, the surly Dex continually angers both the police and the gangs. As with all of Rucka’s works, the relationships between the characters propel the tale. Through his dialogue and pacing, he elevates the potentially stereotypical portrayals into powerful individual identities. The moody, minimalist Southworth art further enhances the riveting tale. As an added bonus, this hardcover volume includes a reprint of the rare 8-page, micro-comic Dex Parios adventure and a selection of promotional items.

6) iZombie: Dead to the World Written by Chris Roberson Art by Michael Allred (Vertigo)

In an era littered with countless zombie stories, mostly mediocre to terrible, Roberson and Allred successfully morph the tired undead concept into a superior 21st century slacker neo-gothic. Eugene, OR grave digger Gwen Dylan lives a most unusual existence. Her closest friends include a ghost and a were-terrier. Her recent crush hunts monsters for a centuries-old secret society. Beautiful, bitchy vampires threaten Eugene. And to top it off, Gwen must eat a fresh brain at least once a month or become a shambling monster straight out of a Romero flick. After consuming a brain, Gwen acquires the deceased’s lifetime of memories. Her most recent meal, a victim of foul play, haunts Gwen until she finds his killer. Beautifully rendered by the popular Allred, his unusual stylings lend the perfect off-kilter vision required for this oddball concept. The acclaimed Roberson, author of over a dozen prose books and several comic book series including Superman, Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love, Stan Lee’s Starborn, and Elric: The Balance Lost, delivers some of his finest and creative comic work to date. The unpredictable and excellent iZombie: Dead to the World deftly recycles and collects over-used ideas into a superior and wholly original graphic novel.

5) The Sixth Gun Book 1: Cold Dead Fingers Written by Cullen Bunn, Illustrated by Brian Hurtt (Oni)

The second series collaboration from the creators of the excellent supernatural noir thriller The Damned offers a creepy, magic-infused Western complete with terrifying beasts — living and undead — gunfights, and the occult. Confederate General Oleander Hume seeks out the Sixth Gun, the key to unlocking an unstoppable power. Mysterious gunslinger Drake Sinclair protects the young Becky Moncrief, current owner of the powerful Sixth Gun, against Hume and his magically-enhanced henchman. Bunn’s pitch perfect script, combined with the unique artistic talents of Hurtt, deliver the finest horrific western since the best of the Lansdale-Truman stories of the 90s.

4) Dick Briefer’s Frankenstein by Dick Briefer Edited with an introduction by Craig Yoe (IDW)

Continuing the early 21st century trend of repackaging largely forgotten comic book classics in affordable handsome editions, historian Craig Yoe re-introduces Dick Briefer’s horror-cum-comedy-cum-horror-again Frankenstein. Briefer’s tale of a monster’s revenge against his maker initially appeared in Prize #7 (1940), spawning the first ongoing series of horror comics. This incarnation of Shelley’s creation proved to be very popular, largely thanks to Briefer’s intelligent scripts and ghastly illustrations. In Prize #45 (1945), Briefer re-imagined the series as a humor strip. Proving he was as adapt at comedy as terror, Briefer hilariously lampooned popular culture, horror, and social conventions. Following an editorial edict, the stories returned to their spooky roots three years later in Frankenstein #18. With the advent of the Comics Code Authority in 1954, the long running series ended. In Dick Briefer’s Frankenstein, Yoe collects the finest Frankenstein tales from all three epochs. Yoe’s introduction recounts the creator and series history alongside rare art including an example of Briefer’s Daily Worker strip Pinky Rankin (someone needs to collect those Communist action hero’s stories) and Alex Toth fan doodles.

3) 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente by Wilfred Santiago (Fantagraphics)

Roberto Clemente’s name adorns the annual Major League Baseball award for the sport’s most humanitarian athletes. Not just the first great Puerto Rican baseballer (and some would argue still the greatest) to play in the United States, Clemente famously and often quietly displayed the best of humanity. In this emotionally moving biography, the Puerto Rican Wilfred Santiago magnificently chronicles the often tragic life of this icon. Beginning with Clemente’s final game, where he collected his 3,000th hit, Santiago quickly hearkens back to Clemente’s poverty stricken childhood of homemade bats and practice with soda caps through his disturbing journey into the minor leagues of the Jim Crow era of institutionalized racism and onto his life as a star outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Santiago expertly traverses Clemente’s tribulations, losses, and success with ease and skill. His portrayal of the baseball games rank among the finest ever attempted in this medium. Under the masterful hands of Santiago, 21 evolves into far more than just a biography of a sports figure. It showcases a life worth emulating.

2) Mister Wonderful by Daniel Clowes (Pantheon)

The Oscar-nominated Daniel Clowes, creator of Ghostworld, Wilson, and Eightball, crafts a bittersweet tale of a middle-aged man’s search for companionship. Originally serialized in The New York Times Magazine, Mister Wonderful follows the neurotic, divorced Marshall on his first date in six years. In his typical fashion, Clowes relies on caricature as he expertly reveals complex emotional layers mixed within a heady collection of humorous and poignant scenes. This all-to-real vision incorporates many of our own fears, inadequacies, and hopes. Simultaneously simple/complex, beautiful/ugly, and romantic/cynical, the thin (77 pages) volume engages the reader, successfully lingering long after the last page.

1) Daytripper by Fábio Moon & Gabriel Bá (Vertigo)

Twin brothers Moon and Bá beautifully recount the life of Brás de Oliva Domingos, crafter of obituaries and son of a world-famous Brazilian writer. The lavishly illustrated chapters relate important epochs of his life, each ending with his untimely and shocking death. Emotionally wrought and expertly told, the lyrical Daytripper breathes new life into the tired slice-of-life format and emerges as one of the best graphic novels of the year.

Graphic Novels: Top Ten of the Half Year ’11 was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

With the year half over, here’s the top ten graphic novels that read/reviewed so far this year.

10) Morning Glories Volume 1: For A Better Future Written by Nick Spencer Art by Joe Eisma (Image)

A synthesis of Buffy, The Vampire Slayer and an Orwellian nightmare, Spencer and Eisma reveal the diabolical realities behind the Morning Glory Academy, a prestigious prep school. Six brilliant students from different backgrounds join the school, encountering all sorts of weirdness: ghosts, torture, mind control experiments, and murder. Spencer deftly relates the teenage pathos and chaos as events unfold. Eisma’s clean draftsmanship and realistic rendering ideally bring life to this intriguing story. Much like the above-mentioned Buffy, the creators manage to make the truly terrible palatable and even enjoyable. Morning Glories Volume 1: For A Better Future offers an interesting take on the oft-told tale of teen angst and anguish.

9) Dungeon Quest, Book One and Book Two by Joe Daly (Fantagraphics)

Millennium Boy, Steve, Lash Penis, and Nerdgirl grab their weapons and journey on a mystical quest to recover the missing parts of the Altlantean Resonator Guitar and to return the borrowed penis sheath to prophet and poet Bromedes. Using role playing game tropes as a template, Daly, creator of the acclaimed Red Monkey Double Happiness Book, illustrates the often twisted reality of the contemporary slacker with little subtlety but from a fresh perspective. Littered with violence, inappropriate sexual innuendos, misguided bravado and infused with hilarity, Dungeon Quest (of which two 136 page volumes are available) promises a uniquely entertaining graphic novel experience.

8) League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1969 Written by Alan Moore, Art by Kevin O’Neill (Top Shelf)

The new 96 page chapter of Moore and O’Neill’s acclaimed series finds the immortal trio of Mina Murray, Allan Quatermain, and Orlando far from the Victorian roots of their previous adventures. Set in London near the end of the mod-sixties, the group continue their century-long war with Alastair Crowley, begun in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1910. New allies for the League include Jerry Cornelius and Jack Carter (from the novel Jack’s Return Home, popularized as the Michael Caine film Get Carter). Moore does an exquisite job of incorporating the League within the chaotic world of 1969. Perhaps the finest installment since the first series, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1969 concludes with a shocking turn of events, leaving the reader eager for the concluding book.

7) Stumptown Volume 1: The Case of the Girl Who Took her Shampoo (But Left her Mini) Written by Greg Rucka Art by Matthew Southworth (Oni)

With comics such as Queen & Country and Whiteout, Rucka established a much deserved reputation for producing superior crime stories featuring female protagonists. In Stumptown Volume 1: The Case of the Girl Who Took her Shampoo (But Left her Mini), Rucka returns to this familiar territory. In order to pay back a massive gambling debt, Stumptown Investigations proprietor Dex Parios searches for the missing granddaughter of Sue-Lynne, head of the Confederate Tribes of the Wind Coast’s casino operations. During her quest, Dex reveals the darker sides of Portland, OR. She receives numerous threats and beatings. She is shot and no one trusts her. Making things even more difficult, the surly Dex continually angers both the police and the gangs. As with all of Rucka’s works, the relationships between the characters propel the tale. Through his dialogue and pacing, he elevates the potentially stereotypical portrayals into powerful individual identities. The moody, minimalist Southworth art further enhances the riveting tale. As an added bonus, this hardcover volume includes a reprint of the rare 8-page, micro-comic Dex Parios adventure and a selection of promotional items.

6) iZombie: Dead to the World Written by Chris Roberson Art by Michael Allred (Vertigo)

In an era littered with countless zombie stories, mostly mediocre to terrible, Roberson and Allred successfully morph the tired undead concept into a superior 21st century slacker neo-gothic. Eugene, OR grave digger Gwen Dylan lives a most unusual existence. Her closest friends include a ghost and a were-terrier. Her recent crush hunts monsters for a centuries-old secret society. Beautiful, bitchy vampires threaten Eugene. And to top it off, Gwen must eat a fresh brain at least once a month or become a shambling monster straight out of a Romero flick. After consuming a brain, Gwen acquires the deceased’s lifetime of memories. Her most recent meal, a victim of foul play, haunts Gwen until she finds his killer. Beautifully rendered by the popular Allred, his unusual stylings lend the perfect off-kilter vision required for this oddball concept. The acclaimed Roberson, author of over a dozen prose books and several comic book series including Superman, Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love, Stan Lee’s Starborn, and Elric: The Balance Lost, delivers some of his finest and creative comic work to date. The unpredictable and excellent iZombie: Dead to the World deftly recycles and collects over-used ideas into a superior and wholly original graphic novel.

5) The Sixth Gun Book 1: Cold Dead Fingers Written by Cullen Bunn, Illustrated by Brian Hurtt (Oni)

The second series collaboration from the creators of the excellent supernatural noir thriller The Damned offers a creepy, magic-infused Western complete with terrifying beasts — living and undead — gunfights, and the occult. Confederate General Oleander Hume seeks out the Sixth Gun, the key to unlocking an unstoppable power. Mysterious gunslinger Drake Sinclair protects the young Becky Moncrief, current owner of the powerful Sixth Gun, against Hume and his magically-enhanced henchman. Bunn’s pitch perfect script, combined with the unique artistic talents of Hurtt, deliver the finest horrific western since the best of the Lansdale-Truman stories of the 90s.

4) Dick Briefer’s Frankenstein by Dick Briefer Edited with an introduction by Craig Yoe (IDW)

Continuing the early 21st century trend of repackaging largely forgotten comic book classics in affordable handsome editions, historian Craig Yoe re-introduces Dick Briefer’s horror-cum-comedy-cum-horror-again Frankenstein. Briefer’s tale of a monster’s revenge against his maker initially appeared in Prize #7 (1940), spawning the first ongoing series of horror comics. This incarnation of Shelley’s creation proved to be very popular, largely thanks to Briefer’s intelligent scripts and ghastly illustrations. In Prize #45 (1945), Briefer re-imagined the series as a humor strip. Proving he was as adapt at comedy as terror, Briefer hilariously lampooned popular culture, horror, and social conventions. Following an editorial edict, the stories returned to their spooky roots three years later in Frankenstein #18. With the advent of the Comics Code Authority in 1954, the long running series ended. In Dick Briefer’s Frankenstein, Yoe collects the finest Frankenstein tales from all three epochs. Yoe’s introduction recounts the creator and series history alongside rare art including an example of Briefer’s Daily Worker strip Pinky Rankin (someone needs to collect those Communist action hero’s stories) and Alex Toth fan doodles.

3) 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente by Wilfred Santiago (Fantagraphics)

Roberto Clemente’s name adorns the annual Major League Baseball award for the sport’s most humanitarian athletes. Not just the first great Puerto Rican baseballer (and some would argue still the greatest) to play in the United States, Clemente famously and often quietly displayed the best of humanity. In this emotionally moving biography, the Puerto Rican Wilfred Santiago magnificently chronicles the often tragic life of this icon. Beginning with Clemente’s final game, where he collected his 3,000th hit, Santiago quickly hearkens back to Clemente’s poverty stricken childhood of homemade bats and practice with soda caps through his disturbing journey into the minor leagues of the Jim Crow era of institutionalized racism and onto his life as a star outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Santiago expertly traverses Clemente’s tribulations, losses, and success with ease and skill. His portrayal of the baseball games rank among the finest ever attempted in this medium. Under the masterful hands of Santiago, 21 evolves into far more than just a biography of a sports figure. It showcases a life worth emulating.

2) Mister Wonderful by Daniel Clowes (Pantheon)

The Oscar-nominated Daniel Clowes, creator of Ghostworld, Wilson, and Eightball, crafts a bittersweet tale of a middle-aged man’s search for companionship. Originally serialized in The New York Times Magazine, Mister Wonderful follows the neurotic, divorced Marshall on his first date in six years. In his typical fashion, Clowes relies on caricature as he expertly reveals complex emotional layers mixed within a heady collection of humorous and poignant scenes. This all-to-real vision incorporates many of our own fears, inadequacies, and hopes. Simultaneously simple/complex, beautiful/ugly, and romantic/cynical, the thin (77 pages) volume engages the reader, successfully lingering long after the last page.

1) Daytripper by Fábio Moon & Gabriel Bá (Vertigo)

Twin brothers Moon and Bá beautifully recount the life of Brás de Oliva Domingos, crafter of obituaries and son of a world-famous Brazilian writer. The lavishly illustrated chapters relate important epochs of his life, each ending with his untimely and shocking death. Emotionally wrought and expertly told, the lyrical Daytripper breathes new life into the tired slice-of-life format and emerges as one of the best graphic novels of the year.

After a couple of months’ hiatus, the monthly geekgasm feature returns with four different Star Trek series, animated X-Men, lots of Lovecraft, the acclaimed, oddball horror flick Rubber, Mad Men, and hopefully the premiere of the previously announced The Final Programme. With both The Last Airbender and Skyline debuting on Netflix, July 16 shall forever be known as Crappy Sci-Fi Streaming Day.

* denotes streaming for the first time via Netflix.
* denotes streamng in HD

Premiering July 1:

18 Again
*1984
All Dogs Go to Heaven
Ancient Mysteries: Astrology
Ancient Mysteries: Bigfoot
Ancient Mysteries: Dragons
Ancient Mysteries: The Fountain of Youth
Ancient Mysteries: UFOs
Ancient Mysteries: Witches
Betty Boop: The Queen of Cartoons
Blessed (2004)
*Brain Dead (2007)
*The Broken
*Charmed Seasons 1-8
Crazy as Hell
*Crazy Eights
Dahmer
*Doctor Who and the Daleks
*Dracula A.D. 1972
Dragnet
*The Exorcist
*The Final Programme
Foxy Brown
The Fly (1958)
The Fly 2
*Glenn: The Flying Robot
*Godkiller
*Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
History’s Mysteries: Roswell
History’s Mysteries: Secret Societies
In Search of History: The Knights Templar
*Let Me In (2010)
*Lewis Black: Stark Raving Black
*Link (1986)
*Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown
*Lust for a Vampire
Man’s Best Friend(1993)
Memento
Mimic 3: Sentinel
*Night of the Comet
Nightmare Man (2006)
No Country for Old Men
The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
Nostradamus: Prophet of Doom
The Omega Men
*One Touch of Venus
Osmosis Jones
*Pelt
*Perkins’ 14
Retrograde
*Rubber (2010)
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
*Scars of Dracula
Seventeen Again
*Spy Kids
*Star Trek Seasons 1-3
*Star Trek: Enterprise Seasons 1-4
*Star Trek: The Next Generation Seasons 1-7
*Star Trek: Voyager Seasons 1-7
Street Fighter
*Superfly
*Tarzan, the Ape Man
*The Tomb (2006)
Tooth and Nail
True Stories
*The Tudors Season 3
Video Games: Behind the Fun
*Vince Vaughn’s Wild West Comedy Show
Warlock: The Armageddon
*When a Killer Calls
*The World of Drunken Master
*X-Men Seasons 1-5
*X-Men: Evolution Seasons 1-3

Premiering July 12:

Kung Fu Magoo

Premiering July 15:

*The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu

Premiering July 16:

The Last Airbender
*Skyline

Premiering July 17:

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
*Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (All this new Star Trek and they choose to show this one in HD?!?!)

Premiering July 22:

*Birdemic: Shock and Terror

Premiering July 27:

*Mad Men Seasons 1-4

Info courtesy of FeedFliks.

Impending Geekgasm on Netflix Instant Watch – July edition was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon