Publishers

Looking for a last minute giftable? B&N is selling The Walking Dead Compendium, Volume 1 for $29.99 -- half of the regular $59.99 price -- but only until 2:59 am December 20th, so don't dawdle. At 1088 pages, this collection of the first 48 issues of THE WALKING DEAD have proven a great entry point into the world of Rick Grimes vs the Zombies -- even at that price it's a consistent bestseller.

Amazon has the deets on GET JIRO!, the graphic novel brainstormed by master chef Anthony Bourdain, co-written with Joel Rose and drawn by Langdon Foss. it sounds a little like our dream of an American version of IRON WOK JAN has finally come true.

With the March (issue 7) solicitations out, we have a little better idea of what the first round of changes for the New 52/DCnU are. Some of these departures are thought to be the writer choosing to leave (Simone, Brandon) and some appear to be the writer getting the quick hook (Cornell, Gates). When these change decisions were made, there has been history of collected edition sale and it may be a little early to judge digital sales. (Do we know what happens to sales when the titles drop to $1.99? This is new enough, you'd really like to see more than 2-3 months of digital sales before trusting it.)

Don MacPherson gathers the evidence "for".

These are being removed left and right -- but luckily the trailer will be officially released on Tuesday. Until then we'll have to make do with these handheld versions.

"Top Shelf", indeed! Next year will see some amazing titles, and this year, there's fun stuff, as well as some quality reads. What caught your eye?

Lots of interesting stuff from Image! Some are all ages (so read them before you give them to a child, just to make sure they are age-appropriate!), some are "mature reader" (MR).

Comics from Europe! The latest offerings from Cinebook and Humanoids! Darwin! Mœbius! Milo Manara's Golden Ass! Zombies! John the Baptist!

Marvel is expanding its new reader-friendly line of graphic novels with some strong creative teams and some characters who seem to be ripe for Hollywood development.

Fresh off his success with his self-published SACRIFICE -- already sold out and a second printing on the way -- Sam Humphries has a gig writing JOHN CARTER: THE GODS OF MARS for Marvel, an all-ages five-issue miniseries which is apparently based on the second Mars novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The art is by Ramon Perez, fresh off TALE OF SAND, his Jim Henson adaptation for Archaia. This is a team we can get behind! The cover is by Julian Totino Tedesco   "Gods of Mars is going to be a blast -- tons of action and intrigue in a fantastic environment,” said Humphries. “From Landridge and Andrade to Edgar Rice Burroughs himself, there's an impressive foundation of awesome John Carter stories to build on. Combined with Marvel having the most exciting comics going on right now, and most talented editors in the industry – I can't wait to get myself to Mars."

Image Expo, the February show that both fills the Northern California comic-con slot and gives Image a place to publicly celebrate their 20th anniversary, has announced more guests, including Blair Butler, Kevin Mellon, John Layman, Rob Guillory, and Nick Spencer. In addition, Jennifer de Guzman interviewed the principals for PW Comics World:

Add another art all-star to the new DHP lineup: Francesco Francavilla is drawing a three part BLACK BEETLE story that will start in issues #11 in April. Black Beetle is Francavilla's own pulp tribute character, previously published online and in a scarce ashcan. ANd as you can see from the art, it's a perfect fit for Franvavilla's retro style.