Almost every time the name of SLG publisher Dan Vado is mentioned, the word “survivor” is appended to it — surviving over 20 years in an industry that provides indie comics only scant handholds in its forbidding rockface is no mean feat.

But you will never know just how much of a survivor Vado and crew are until you read Five things we survived at SLG., an account of rodent, insect and human scourges on their physical offices. The most famed, of course, is the drunk driver that plowed through their office in 2004 — thanks to a woman who insisted on stealing the keys to someone else’s car after everyone deemed her so drunk they had taken away her own car keys.

Here’s to Dan and his crew for surviving it all and giving us some great comics along the way.

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Slave Labor Graphics continues to publish the unusual, the fun, the quirky!

Take a look below, visit the website, and let us know what caught your fancy!  Was it the cheap, DRM-free digital comics?  The Disney titles?  The Drunken Monkeys sports apparel?  The mondo Tiki titles?

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Everything can be Beaten

Follow the adventure of IT as he discovers a door out of his monotonous life beating kittens and into an exciting new world where all sorts of new things can be (and generally are) beaten. This FULL-COLOR 6 x 5″ storybook tale of discovery is written and with layouts by Jhonen Vasquez (under the name Mr. Chancre Scolex) and vividly painted by his friend, Mr. Crab Scrambly

Originall printed as a small, CD sized booklet, this edition will be printed larger, in hardcover edition and feature a new cover. Cover pictures is NOT ACTUAL COVER!

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Malleus Maleficarum: The Original Medieval Guide to the Catching and Burning of Witches

In 1487 Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger wrote the Malleus Maleficarum, the premiere manual for exposing, capturing, prosecuting and burning witches used by every right-thinking European magistrate of the late middle ages. Cartoonist Mike Rosen has adapted this warm and uplifting tome which fueled a wave of witch-hunting that lasted for nearly two centuries and cost nearly 60,000 people (mostly women) their lives.

The adaptation’s tongue-in-cheek tone exposes a kind of paranoid thinking which exists to this day in some circles and answeres all of those nagging eternal questions; Do witches kill newborn babies for use in their rituals? Can they turn men into beasts? Can they steal mens’ penises, collecting them in great numbers, to hide in, say, a bird’s nest up in a tree, where they then move around like squiggly phallic snakes and eat corn and oats? Finally, most importantly, do witches have sexual relations with devils? How do they have sexual relations with devils? And could we hear some more about these sexual relations with devils?

Nothing makes for a fun read like torture, murder, infanticide, and disembodied penises! Always fun and educational.

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Loserville, Volume One: And Then You Might Explode

Alex Cox presents a story that can only be set in Loserville. Deke and Jenna are a happily married couple working their way through life until something unexpected changes their lives. Deke has ambitions, he wants to be either a novelist, or screenwriter, or artist, or professional wrestler. He can’t decide which, all he knows is he doesn’t like working at an insurance company. Jenna, on the other hand, is a workaholic. While Deke is not sure what it is that Jenna does, he does know that she complains about it – a lot. Jenna also complains about having hot feet and that she might have the worst disease in the world: Multiple Sploderorsis. A disease that dooms you to a life of crippling pain… and then you might explode! Not very many people have it, because they all explode. Now Deke and Jenna are faced with the challenges of knowing that she might explode at any minute. Because sometimes that’s just the way these stories go.

Imagine Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes) as a grown-up trying hard to work at becoming an adult but maybe not getting it. That’s Loserville.

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The Floundering Time

Best friends Emma and Joey are in their senior year at a women’s college, navigating through their last days in the school’s isolated scene. Emma is harboring a long standing crush on her transgender friend Elliott, while messy Joey works her way through stoic bad-girl types. They stumble through drunken parties, rock shows and day trips, avoiding the looming questions of their “futures” in pursuit of misguided crushes and cool girl status.

Katy Weselcouch started drawing comics during her teenage zine years in Syracuse, NY. She studied art at Smith College, an experience that informed her love of mixed-up girl heroines. This is her first graphic novel. She currently resides in Brooklyn, NY, where she alternates between her creative endeavors and a career in the peculiar world of New York fashion.

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Java Town and Other Unlikely Destinations

Tired of long lines at the airport or road trips that lead nowhere? Sick of the same old monuments and dusty geologic formations? Now you can visit fascinating non-existent locales from the comfort of your favorite reading spot. Exclusively with this book you will see such sights as Java Town: the city that never sleeps – because it can’t, Surly Flats: Trailer parks and waitresses as far as the eye can see, Manville: Beer, buds, and big screen TV as well as other (and other worldly) stops along the way. Java Town collects stories from the ongoing webcomic by Scott Saavedra and combines them with stories from the old Java Town comic book series previously published by SLG.

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The Royal Historian of OZ

Frank Fizzle wishes his father would have just a single original idea, instead the Jasper Fizzle sees himself as the new “Royal HIstorian of OZ” as he insists on writing new OZ stories. When the failed writer discovers that Oz really exists, he makes an error in judgment that brands him a criminal in two worlds. Frank, may be doomed to pay for the “sins of the father” at the hands of the axe-wielding Tin-Man and the ghost of the Wicked Witch. Can Frank save the day and redeem the Fizzle family name, or will the drizzly ghost of the Wicked Witch of the West destroy them all?

This trade paperback collects all five issues of the Royal Historian of OZ series. Lots of extras and an introduction by Eric Shanower.

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Download the first issue of Knights of the Living Dead by Ron Wolfe and Dustin Higgins (Pinnochio Vampire Slayer) FREE from SLG. King Arthur vs the Zombies? Why not!

The dead have risen and they are walking in the time of King Arthur’s Round Table,  and one knight cursed with the “Walking Starvation” is one very close to Arthur and his court. So goes the premise of the new comic book series Knights of the Living Dead by Ron Wolfe and Dustin Higgins.

Knights of the Living Dead goes beyond its zombie comic mash-up exterior to present a a Young Adult adventure tale that goes deep into the essence of what it means to be human.  “When Ron Wolfe first showed me his short story, Knights of the Living Dead I immediately loved it.” said Dustin Higgins, who is no stranger to stories featuring the undead as the co-creator and illustrator of SLG’s Pinocchio Vampire Slayer “Ron continues to surprise me with his stories that seem to pull at you like quicksand.”

Wolfe crafted his monsters to beyond the surface frights and steeped them in a central message.  In Knights of the Living Dead the message might be that, if you’re waiting for someone else to come along and save the day – don’t. Zombies aren’t after us: Zombies are in charge of us.”

Knights of the Living Dead is being serialized digitally as part of SLG Publishing’s digital first initiative and Wolfe, a newspaper writer by trade, supports the idea of making initial inroads through digital distribution “SLG’s digital-release plan makes sense. It extends the market with the latest technology to reach the newest generation of readers.”

As the artist of the series Higgins sees other advantages to digital “Knights of the Living Dead is my first attempt at drawing an entire book digitally. So when people purchase the book to read on their computer, or iPad or other device of choice they are, in a sense, looking at the originals… as much as they exist.” he also went on to point out the potential benefit to consumers “You get the story at a much cheaper price than you would the print version and if you decide the story is awesome enough you’d like to have a physical copy, you can still get that at some point”.

Knights of the Living Dead is currently available at the SLG Publishing digital store in three formats ePub, .cbz and .pdf (www.slgcomic.com/eyemelt) as well as at the iTunes store and will be coming soon to Comixology, iVerse and Graphicly for sale through those readers as well as to BN.com for Nook and Nook Color. Issue #1 is a free download, each subsequent issue will be 99¢.

Earlier today Dan Vado, publisher of Slave Labor/SLG/Eyemelt/Amaze Ink announced that SLG would be the first publisher to go all-digital with their periodical comics. While he was careful to note that the digital channel is a new business priority for them, he also noted that SLG’s digital sales have been “minuscule” so far.

With all the talk about what is a sales record, we thought we’d ask the always candid Vado if he would be a pioneer in another regard and actually talk numbers. Which he did — with the caveat that, as noted above, their digital efforts have up until now been aimed at selling existing comics. “Selling downloads to people who probably already have the print versions is not really a road to success or a fair test of the platform,” he said. New comics going on the platform are what will really tell the tale.

So yeah. Things will only go up from here. Especially when a digital version of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, Jhonen Vasquez’s incredibly popular black comedy goes digital.
Vado writes: I will attempt to be refreshing and give you some actual numbers, but they seriously do not mean much as this is all too new and it doesn’t mean much when you consider that most of the titles we have been offering to this point has been older stuff and most of our marketing has been to people who already own that older stuff.

The best selling downloadable comic we have had is The Griffin #2 at around 200. This is like a 20 year old comic I did for DC Comics.

Most of the other books have struggled to get to triple digits.

What I have seen though is that where our print sales, and most specifically our direct market sales have declined to the point of not even being measurable, our digital sales have gone up every month, so this has the virtue of being something where there is nothing but upside to this and that what really needs to happen is that the marketing of new properties needs to go digital first in order to even remotely make print versions viable.

And [though] it kind of goes against what I said above, next year we will be offering digital versions of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac through all of our channels. Whatever the number it sells, THOSE comics will become the top digital comics.

Reflecting the realities of the comics market, Slave Labor, the veteran publisher of such classic comics series as MILK AND CHEESE and JOHNNY THE HOMICIDAL MANIAC, has decided to go digital-only with their periodicals. Slave Labor has been moving towards graphic novels for some time, but they still need a way to serialize books to pave the way for books — hence a move to completely digital serialization.

SLG’s books will be available on their website, and through such popular digital services as iVerse and comiXology. Initial releases include SANCTUARY by Stephan Coughlin — “The Jungle Book crossed with Lost,” and Chris Wisnia’s MONSTROSIS, a follow-up to last years quirky humor/adventure comic DORIS DANGER: GIANT MONSTER ADVENTURES. Both are available as a free download from the SLG website and iTunes. Upcoming series to see digital first releases include SNOW WHITE: THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY by Van Jensen and Robin Holstein; KNIGHTS OF THE LIVING DEAD (a zombie story set in the time of King Arthur’s Round Table) by Dustin Higgins and Ron Wolfe; and PEABODY & D’GORATH by M.D Penman.

Two years ago, SLG’s WARLORDS OF IO comic, by cult favorite creator James Turner, became a poster child for the dangers of Diamond’s new and more stringent listings policies when it was denied distribution due to not making a sales threshhold. Publishing and profiting from periodical format comics has become increasingly irrelevant for most indie comics publishers — that SLG even publishes them any more makes them a throwback.

However by making the movie, SLG is yet another early adapter — they were also one of the first comics publishers to make their comics digitally at all, via their Eyemelt service.

San Jose based comic book publisher SLG Publishing is embracing digital distribution of its titles and switching the company’s model for comic book series to a digital first distribution policy. “The market has been pushing us away from serialized comics and more towards books and graphic novels for some time” said SLG president and publisher Dan Vado “However it is difficult to publish a 200 page graphic novel from an unknown artist without having some sort of lower-cost entry point like a comic book series to help build an audience, so going digital first seems like a good way to introduce readers to new creators and build an audience which we can build on for potential book releases.”

SLG digital releases will be available in a number of formats and places. From it’s own website SLG comics will be available in .PDF, .CBZ and ePub format “Our ePub files have been formatted to look best on an iPad using iBooks” pointed out Vado ” but they should look good on whatever you like to read ebooks on”. In addition to selling from their own website new SLG releases will also be available at the iTunes store for readers with iOS devices who prefer the convenience of purchasing media inside the iBooks application. Nook and Nook Color owners will also be able to purchase books for those devices through BN.COM

This is in addition to SLG’s current digital distribution through app based stores like Comixology and iVerse “People like to consume in ways they are familiar and comfortable with, it’s not my intention to try and force our readers or new readers to have limited choices in terms of digital consumption. SLG has always maintained a strategy and policy of keeping it’s products in as many venues as will have them and that will extend into the digital world.”

SLG has already begun serializing two series which would have originally gone to print; Sanctuary by Stephan Coughlin, described by the publisher as The Jungle Book crossed with Lost,  tells the story of a mysterious island research facility and the animals and humans who live on it. Also being distributed digitally is Monstrosis by Chris Wisnia which is a follow-up to last years quirky humor/adventure comic Doris Danger: Giant Monster Adventures. Both titles are available at the SLG Publishing digital store as well as iTunes and BN.COM. The first issue of each series is a free download at both the publisher’s site as well as the iTunes store, each subsequent issue is 99¢.

 Upcoming series to see digital first releases include Snow White:Through A Glass,  Darkly by Van Jensen and Robin Holestein: Knights of the Living Dead (a zombie story set in the time of King Arthurs Round Table) By Dustin Higgins and Ron Wolfe and Peabody & D’Gorath by M.D Penman.

Vado admits that the current market for digital is minuscule but also points out that so was the market for digital books at one time and that now all reports are that eBooks are outselling physical books  ”Digital has the virtue of being a great way to market and see if new creators and concepts can gain any traction and also has the potential to be a real growth area for the medium.” 

SLG digital comics can be found at the following places
www.slgcomic.com/eyemelt - it’s own website
iTunes
BN.COM -(For Nook and Nook Color)
Comixology
iVerse
Graphicly
Panelfly

SLG Publishing is the San Jose, CA based comic book publisher is celebrating its 25th year and best known for being the publisher of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasquez. In addition to Vasquez, SLG has been the initial stepping-stone for many popular cartoonists including Roman Dirge and Evan Dorkin.

Continuing their moves into the e-world, SLG will be doing digital demos at their Comic-Con booth. Nothing too revolutionary in the means, but another example of how everything is going:

SLG Publishing will be showing the world that the future is now at Comic-Con International as the company will be showing off the various ways its titles can be purchased as digital downloads.

“We’ve been doing digital for some time, but we have never made it part of our convention presence” said SLG president Dan Vado “If digital is ever really going to take off for us we are going to have to show people how easy it is to purchase our comics as digital files”.

The Comic-Con booth display will feature a desktop system and a couple of iPads loaded with comic and book reading apps and software. “I think a lot of people don’t realize how many different ways they can read comic book content on their computers and mobile devices” added Vado “We will of course be showing all of our various app partners stores and systems but in addition we will be showing how people can buy ePub files from our site and read them in several different book readers, including iBooks the book reader which comes pre-installed on all iPads”.

In addition to the demo area the SLG booth will have QR codes where people with mobile devices can download free comics right into their mobile devices. SLG has offered some of its titles digitally for some time and has spent a lot of time researching different formats and delivery and reading systems “In no way are we going to pass ourselves off as experts on the subject of digital, I would be willing to bet that someone will come along at the convention and maybe teach us a thing or two” added Vado as he went on to say he was looking forward to learning new things himself.

Only a few days ago, SLG announced they would be selling digital comics via iVerse, and, in a sign of the continuing difficulty of selling small comics periodicals, they have announced that the final issue of ROYAL HISTORIAN OF OZ by Tommy Kovac and Andy Hirsch will only be available as a pdf download. Although low orders scuttled the final print issue, it will be available in the collected edition, which is due in September.

It’s getting tougher and tougher out there for EVERYONE. However, the digital option is at least available to make sure that the last issue is published.

Meanwhile Slave Labor, the long-running quirky comics publisher which has survived against all odds for over 20 years, has just teamed with iVerse to offer digital comics. We’ll vouch for MIDNIGHT SUN by Ben Towle, one of those Antarctic comics we’re so fond of, and the other initial offerings are sound, as well, including the popular REX LIBRIS.

SLG President and Owner, Dan Vado, said “I am very excited to be part of iVerse and I am looking forward to growing our digital initiatives with them. Every company selling comics in this space brings something unique and cool to the experience and iVerse seems to be well suited to meet both the current and future demands of selling digital comics and developing new marketplaces.”

The first wave of titles will include 18 issues from “Midnight Sun”, “Nightmares & Fairy Tales”, “Rex Libris”, and “Serenity Rose” with many more new and classic SLG series to be available through regular store updates going forward.

iVerse Media CEO, Michael Murphey, had this to say about the new partnership, “SLG is a company that we’ve wanted to work with for a very long time, and I’m really excited to have them on board. They have an interesting and diverse line of books that I think Comics + users are going to really dig.”

The initial list of books to be released today in the Comics+ app include:

Midnight Sun #1
Midnight Sun #2
Midnight Sun #3
Midnight Sun #4
Midnight Sun #5
Nightmares & Fairy Tales #1
Nightmares & Fairy Tales #2
Nightmares & Fairy Tales #3
Nightmares & Fairy Tales #4
Nightmares & Fairy Tales #5

Rex Libris #1
Rex Libris #2
Rex Libris #3
Serenity Rose #1
Serenity Rose #2
Serenity Rose #3
Serenity Rose #4
Serenity Rose #5

Titles are available now in the Comics + Application for iOS. For more information visit: http://comicspl.us

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The following is a selection of new comics titles due to be published in April 2011.   This list is not comprehensive, just what I’ve discovered browsing the Internet.  Below, you’ll find selected titles which caught my interest.  If you would like to browse forthcoming graphic novels and related books at your leisure, click here. These are not necessarily titles I will purchase, but which I will definitely look at once they arrive at my local comics shop or bookstore.

If you click that link above, you’ll see all the graphic novels at BN.com, sorted by date.  Lots of  graphic novels (and related books) scheduled from May to December.  Of course, there will be even more titles added and announced in time for the Holidays!  (You might want to use your tax return to buy some bookshelves.)

Please be advised that publication dates are not set in stone, titles may change, and covers may be altered. Also, your local comics shop might receive copies before your local neighborhood website or library.  I consider my tastes to be rather eclectic. If you feel I’ve neglected or slighted a title, publisher, or creator, please feel free to mention it in the comments below. Yes, you may promote your own work, but please include the ISBN for easy searching (and shopping!)

Disclaimer: I am employed by Barnes & Noble. This and any other posts by me at this site have no official connection to B&N.   As always, feel free to send us your PR. Even better, send us some free books!

Salt Water Taffy: Caldera’s Revenge! Part 1
by Matthew Loux

• $ 5.99
• Pub. Date: April 2011
• Publisher: Oni Press
• Format: Paperback, 72pp
• ISBN-13: 9781934964620
• ISBN: 193496462X

Patrick in A Teddy Bear’s Picnic and Other Stories
by Geoffrey Hayes

• $ 12.95
• Pub. Date: April 2011
• Publisher: Candlewick Press
• Format: Hardcover, 32pp
• Lexile: 0050L
• ISBN-13: 9781935179092
• ISBN: 1935179098

Pepper Penwell and the Land Creature of Monster Lake
by Steph Cherrywell

February has only 28 days, but is jam-packed with lots of great graphic novels and related titles!

Warning… looking at what appears so far on BarnesAndNoble.com, the rest of 2011 is going to be just as amazing! Click this link to discover more!  (Sweet Kirby Crackle! Corto Maltese, in English, from Rizzoli?!) Better start shopping for bookshelves now.

Since this list takes a lot of work, I will not be adding hyperlinks to the publishers or BN.com.  Most browsers allow you to search directly just by highlighting a term, or feel free to cut and paste into whichever web browser you prefer.

As always, I work for Barnes & Noble, but do not speak for them.  These are titles which caught my interest, and are worth a closer work.  I have not read any of these books (perhaps a comic here or there) so do not endorse any specific title on this list.  My tastes are not yours, so please recommend other titles below in the comments!  Also, the information below is subject to change.  Covers, publication dates, prices, formats… all data are subject to changes.

The Last Unicorn
by Peter S. Beagle, Peter Gillis, Renae DeLiz (Artist), Ray Dillon (Artist)

• $ 24.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Idea & Design Works, LLC
• Format: Hardcover, 152pp
• ISBN-13: 9781600108518
• ISBN: 1600108512

Stolen Hearts: The Love of Eros and Psyche
by Ryan Foley, Sankha Banerjee (Illustrator)

• $ 11.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Steerforth Press
• Format: Paperback , 88pp
• ISBN-13: 9789380028484
• ISBN: 9380028482

Lady Vivian Hastings: Long John Silver Volume 1
by Xavier Dorison, Mathieu Lauffray (Illustrator)

• $ 13.95
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Cinebook, LTD
• Format: Paperback, 56pp
• ISBN-13: 9781849180627
• ISBN: 1849180628

Zita the Spacegirl
by Ben Hatke

• $ 17.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: First Second
• Format: Hardcover, 192pp
• Lexile: GN310L
• ISBN-13: 9781596436954
• ISBN: 1596436956

• $ 10.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: First Second
• Format: Paperback, 192pp
• ISBN-13: 9781596434462
• ISBN: 1596434465

The Sign of the Four (Illustrated Classics): A Sherlock Holmes Graphic Novel
by Arthur Conan Doyle, I.N.J. Culbard (Illustrator), Ian Edginton (Adapted by)

• $ 14.95
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Sterling Publishing
• Format: Paperback, 136pp
• ISBN-13: 9781402780035
• ISBN: 1402780036

Scenes from an Impending Marriage
by Adrian Tomine

• $ 9.95
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
• Format: Hardcover, 40pp
• ISBN-13: 9781770460348
• ISBN: 1770460349

Popeye: Strong to the Finish: The Great Comic Book Tales of Bud Sagendorf
by Bud Sagendorf

• $ 29.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Idea & Design Works, LLC
• Format: Hardcover, 176pp
• ISBN-13: 9781600107474
• ISBN: 1600107478

Creators of the Superheroes
by Thomas Andrae

• $ 39.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Hermes Press
• Format: Paperback, 224pp
• ISBN-13: 9781932563535
• ISBN: 1932563539

Ayn Rand’s Anthem: The Graphic Novel
byAyn Rand, Charles Santino, Joe Staton (Illustrator)

• $ 15.00
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
• Format: Paperback, 144pp
• ISBN-13: 9780451232175
• ISBN: 0451232178

Age of Reptiles Omnibus
by Ricardo Delgado

• $ 24.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
• Format: Paperback, 400pp
• ISBN-13: 9781595826831
• ISBN: 1595826831

King of the Flies: The Origin of the World
by Mezzo, Pirus (Artist)

• $ 18.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
• Format: Hardcover, 64pp
• ISBN-13: 9781606993903
• ISBN: 1606993909

Pixies
by Sean Patrick O’Reilly

• $ 19.95
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Arcana Studio Incorporated
• Format: Hardcover , 150pp
• ISBN-13: 9781897548493
• ISBN: 1897548494

Pepper Penwell and the Land Creature of Monster Lake
by Steph Cherrywel

• $ 14.95
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: SLG Publishing
• Format: Paperback , 200pp
• ISBN-13: 9781593622053
• $ISBN: 1593622058

Ivy
by Sarah Oleksyk

• $ 19.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Oni Press
• Format: Hardcover, 192pp
• ISBN-13: 9781934964590
• ISBN: 193496459X

Hulk: The End
by Peter David, Dale Keown (Illustrator), George Perez (Illustrator)

• $ 16.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Marvel Enterprises, Inc.
• Format: Paperback, 160pp
• ISBN-13: 9780785151005
• ISBN: 0785151001

Classics and Comics
by George Kovacs (Editor), C. W. Marshall (Editor)

• $ 99.00
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Format: Hardcover, 288pp
• ISBN-13: 9780199734184
• ISBN: 0199734186

• $ 29.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Format: Paperback, 288pp
• ISBN-13: 9780199734191
• ISBN: 0199734194

Steve Canyon: The Complete Series, Volume 1
by Milton Caniff

• $ 49.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Hermes Press
• Format: Hardcover, 208pp
• ISBN-13: 9781932563771
• ISBN: 1932563776

On the Line
by Rian Hughes (Artist), Rick Wright

• $ 12.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Image Comics
• Format: Hardcover, 48pp
• ISBN-13: 9781607063469
• ISBN: 1607063468

Lewis and Clark: The Greatest Adventure of American History
by Nick Bertozzi

• $ 16.99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: First Second
• Format: Paperback, 144pp
• ISBN-13: 9781596434509
• ISBN: 1596434503

Inanna’s Tears
by Rob Vollmar, mpMann (Artist)

• $ 19.95
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Archaia Studios Press
• Format: Hardcover, 136pp
• ISBN-13: 9781932386790
• ISBN: 1932386793

The Falklands War: Cinebook Recounts Series
by Bernard Asso, Joel Rideau, D. Chauvin (Illustrator), Marcel. Uderzo (Illustrator)

• $ 11.95
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Cinebook, LTD
• Format: Paperback, 48pp
• ISBN-13: 9781849180566
• ISBN: 1849180563

Madman Atomica
by Mike Allred

• $ 125.00
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Image Comics
• Format: Hardcover, 900pp
• ISBN-13: 9781607063414
• ISBN: 1607063417

Johnny Red: Falcons’ First Flight
by Tom Tully, Joe Colquhoun, John Cooper

• $ 19.95
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Titan
• Format: Hardcover, 128pp
• ISBN-13: 9781848560338
• ISBN: 1848560338

Cowboys and Aliens
by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg

• $ 24.00
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Format: Hardcover, 112pp
• ISBN-13: 9780061646652
• ISBN: 0061646652

Millar and McNiven’s Nemesis
by Mark Millar

• $ 19 .99
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Marvel Enterprises, Inc.
• Format: Hardcover, 112pp
• ISBN-13: 9780785148654
• ISBN: 0785148655
• Edition Description: Premiere HC

Sex Ed 101: Fully Illustrated XXX Lessons in Lust Offered by Enrique Villagran
by Enrique Villagran

• $ 12.95
• Pub. Date: February 2011
• Publisher: SQP
• Format: Mass Market Paperback, 72pp
• ISBN-13: 9780865622111
• ISBN: 0865622116

Landry Walker and Eric Jones’ Little Gloomy, a staple of the goth comics world for years, is being adapted into a cartoon called Scary Larry. Unfortunately, as of now, it is only being seen in France:

Little Gloomy, the all-ages spooky comic book series by Landry Walker and Eric Jones, is being produced as an animated television series by Timoon Animation and director Chris Columbus’ 1492 Pictures.

The animated series, which has been retitled Scary Larry, is about a teen werewolf who forms a rock band with his monster friends. The show has been greenlit for 52 13 minute episodes which will air first in France on Canal Plus. No US distribution for the show has been announced yet.

The comic book, which was originally designed for an anthology comic book series, has seen a few different incarnations during its SLG Publishing run, including being a regular feature in Disney Adventures magazine.

“Any long time readers will note that there are some structural and visual differences between the show and the comic.” said writer and co-creator Landry Walker about the animated series. “The majority (but certainly not all) of these were implemented by Eric and myself when re-imagining Gloomy for the world of television.” Artist and co-creator Eric Jones added “Much of what can be seen in the show represents what might have been a third comic series, had we had the time and inclination to publish a third series.”

More info here, and even a trailer!

Continuing our previews of ELMER, the graphic novel by Gerry Alanguilan, available this month from SLG.

Continuing our preview month, here’s a 16-page preview from Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer Volume 2: The Great Puppet Theater, the sequel to the best-selling Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer by Van Jensen and Dusty Higgins. In this installment, our wooden vampire hunter meets other like him in a story inspired by the great Italian puppet theaters seen to this day in Sicily. The Great Puppet Theater is published by SLG and is on sale this month.

There’s more info on the book at pinocchiovampireslayer.com, on the Facebook page or on Twitter @p_vampireslayer.

SLG has posted their con schedule at their blog, which includes an epic signing list of Jhonen Vasquez, Drew Rausch, Van Jensen, Dusty Higgins, Gene Luen Yang, Greg Wiesman, Aaron Alexovitch AND MANY MORE. Full details here.

Going to Comic-Con in San Diego this year? Lots of good folks are going to be signing at our booth, so be sure to stop by and say hi and support EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM!!!!

You will also get to meet the guy to the right as Pinocchio the little wooden boy will be at our booth all four days.
We will be trying something new this year with scheduled times for portfolio reviews. Given the way Comic-Con goes this may go out the window by the end of Preview Night, but let’s give it a go.

Speaking of Preview Night, we do not have any scheduled signings, but if you are there and want a portfolio review I will be there (I being Dan Vado) the entire night with nothing better to do than curse the notion of having to be open on Wednesday night.
Panels? try these:

Spotlight on Dustin Higgins and Van Jensen
Thursday, JULY 22
1:30-2:30pm
ROOM 3

The Year of the Writer: Indy Writers Unite!
Friday, JULY 23
4:30-5:30pm
ROOM 3
The Year of the Writer: Indy Writers Unite! panel will include Van
Jensen, Larry Marder, Terry Moore, Carla Speed McNeil and James Sturm.

And, what’s that you say? Where are Landry Walker and Eric Jones? Can it be that they finally succumbed to  common sense and stayed home for Comic-Con? No chance, they will be at their own Idiot Ink booth (which we are calling the SLG Annex) at booth # 1630 for the entire show.