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The Best High-End Comic Book Gifts [2011 Geek Gift Guide]

Posted 11/21/11 3:00 pm EST by Alex Zalben in Comic Books, Gift Guides, Graphic Novels

When you’re looking past stocking stuffers this holiday season, and really want to get someone something that says, “I do not care about money at all, but I care about you,” you’re going to want to start looking at the higher ticket items. You know, the ones the guy behind the counter needs a key to access. Here’s our list of some high-end comic book gifts you might want to consider this Holiday season… After you’re done nibbling on your caviar, and laughing at the unwashed masses on Occupy Wall Street, of course:

Just Under $50…

Astonishing X-Men Omnibus

Collecting the entirety of geek god Joss Whedon and artist John Cassaday’s new-classic run on the title, this book presents all the soap opera, all the action, and all the insanity you could want from an X-Men book, and all for (just) under $50.

Talking Lunch: Mameshiba Invades North America

Posted 6/30/11 2:10 pm EST by Brigid Alverson in Comics For Kids, Graphic Novels, Manga, Toys

A boy drops a pea from his fork. The pea suddenly develops a face and floppy ears and announces "In French, dandelions are called pissenlit, which means 'urinate in bed.'"

Welcome to the wacky world of Mameshiba, where legumes from cashew nuts to coffee beans surprise unsuspecting diners with odd bits of trivia. Read More...

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Graphic Novel Review: Level Up

Posted 6/17/11 4:43 pm EST by Valerie Gallaher in First Second, Graphic Novels

Level Up, by Gene Luen Yang and Thien Pham, uses the iconography of classic video games to tell a unique and touching coming-of-age story. When talented gamer Dennis' father dies, he is haunted by the late man's request for his son to become a doctor. Dennis trades his joysticks for medical textbooks, ironically attempting to overcome his own delicate stomach on the road to becoming a gastroenterologist.

Assisting Dennis on this journey are four angels (who appear as though they were designed by Sanrio). When the identity of this quartet of incorporate beings is discovered, it brings the whole video game metaphor together in a most ingenious fashion. Further, while it seems as if the story is going to end in one particular way, close to the end it completely changes direction; it is that non-cliched resolution that I think makes Level Up stand out. Read More...

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MTV Geek Exclusive Preview: Vertigo Crime's 'Rat Catcher'

Posted 1/18/11 5:42 pm EST by MTV Geek in Graphic Novels, Previews, Vertigo Comics

From The New York Times Bestselling author of The Losers, comes Rat Catcher, a captivating story of double-crossings and murder -- and MTV Geek has exclusive preview pages from the original graphic novel that hits stands tomorrow!

There’s a burning Federal safe house just outside El Paso with a pile of burning bodies inside. The job appears to have been botched. Now, a washed-up FBI agent, with a close personal connection to the victims, has one last chance to hunt down the Rat Catcher before he disappears forever. There’s just one problem—he doesn’t exist—at least not to the Federal agents and marshals who oversee the Witness Protection Program. As the characters are identified and form alliances, two men in particular spiral towards each other in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse. Playing out across the badlands of West Texas with its wild and haunting nature, each of them hides a deadly secret from the other—a secret that could destroy them both…

Veteran writer Andy Diggle (whose book THE LOSERS was adapted into a major motion picture) returns to Vertigo with a fast-paced new crime thriller illustrated by debut Vertigo artist, Victor Ibañez. Internationally bestselling crime writer Ian Rankin says, “RAT CATCHER is hot stuff. Moral ambiguities abound, the action is fierce, and the artwork is deadly.”

So get reading because, in January 2011 the question will be: Just who is the Rat Catcher?

Read The Preview For "Rat Catcher" Here!

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MTV Geek's 10 Best Graphic Novels Of 2010

Posted 12/22/10 5:34 pm EST by MTV Geek in Best Of, Graphic Novels

2010 provided us with a diverse and fascinating array of great graphic novels to choose from. A PI with a brain tumor, a person caught between two worlds, a godlike psychopath, Scott Pilgrim, a brave museum curator, and a Dapper Man are among the protagonists on MTV Geek's list of the top graphic novels of the year.

#10: Revolver

Publisher: Vertigo
Writer: Matt Kindt
Artist: Matt Kindt

This impactful narrative of a life caught between two realities -- one of order, the other chaos -- is a stellar follow-up to Kindt's hit "Super Spy."

Illustrating the Tron Universe - Tron: Betrayal's Andie Tong

Posted 12/17/10 1:13 pm EST by Charles Webb in Comic Books, Disney Publishing, Graphic Novels, Movies

The new "Tron: Betrayal" graphic novel out from Disney Publishing is a must-read if you want to bridge the gaps between the original "Tron" and "Tron Legacy." We interviewed "Betrayal" writer Jai Nitz a couple of days ago, and now his collaborator on the project, artist Andie Tong, took a few minutes to chat with us about illustrating the world of Tron!

MTV Geek: Could you give our readers a little info on your comics background? Read More...

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Out There With Charles Burns's X'ed Out

Posted 12/13/10 2:00 pm EST by Eddie Wright in Comic Books, Graphic Novels, Pantheon, Reviews

What is Charles Burns latest, first fully-colored graphic novel, X'ed Out about exactly? Honestly, I don't entirely know. But that's the point.

I think.

X'ed Out is a book full of so many ideas that it might not be possible wrangle all the disparate thoughts that cropped up in my head as I read the tale and manage them into a concise review. X'ed Out is about a drug addicted and mentally unstable man named Doug who travels into an alternate reality made up of symbols that represent the many important moments and mistakes in his life.

And Tintin. It's also about Tintin.

For me, X'ed Out might be an examination of the artistic process. It is about the idea of ideas. The birth of inspiration. The moments in our lives that are digested and transformed into something different, something abstract, something that we don't fully understand. Every panel, every page is loaded with images that can only be interpreted as clues. But are they clues? Are they pieces in a puzzle? Will they connect? At this point, it's impossible to say as X'ed Out is only the first in a trilogy of tales. The next installment, The Hive is coming at some point in 2011. Read More...

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Daniel Clowes Zaps D+Q With 'The Death-Ray'

Posted 12/1/10 2:00 pm EST by Eddie Wright in Comic Books, Drawn and Quaterly, Graphic Novels

As first reported by Comics Reporter, Drawn and Quaterly will publish legendary, alternative comic artist Daniel Clowes' superhero graphic novel, The Death-Ray in Fall 2011.

The Death Ray tells the story of Andy, a teen orphan, who, after taking a puff on his first cigarette, discovers he has the super-power-like ability to believe he is capable of anything. Andy's discovery leads to a serious case of rageaholism and the discovery of a gadget that changes everything for him.

Drawn and Quaterly says that The Death-Ray re-purposes the iconic tropes of the superhero genre to tell a tale that is Read More...

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'Shark Week' Comes To Comics?

Posted 12/1/10 11:08 am EST by Valerie Gallaher in Comic Books, Graphic Novels

Discovery Communications, parent company of the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet, is looking to make a big splash in the comic book world on December 1st with the release of "Top 10 Deadliest Sharks." A joint project with Zenoscope under the comic publisher's all-ages imprint Silver Dragon, "Deadliest Sharks" is described as a non-fiction graphic novel.

Elizabeth Bakacs, vice president of licensing at Discovery Communications, described the comic to the Associated Press: "It has real-life shark attack stories. It has tips on how to stay safe and avoid shark attacks. It talks about the importance of sharks to our ecosystem."

Let's face it, these nature and science shows about the 10 deadliest animals and 10 wildest tornadoes and 10 fuzziest puppies are pretty awesome and popular -- why wouldn't they catch on as comic books?

"The Top 10 Deadliest Sharks" will be followed in 2011 by "Discovery Channel's Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Predators" and "Animal Planet's World's Most Dangerous Animals."
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