Huge Used Graphic Novel Collection In @ Main Street

We just bought a massive collection of used graphic novels. Approximately 750 different books, all in exceptionally good condition, many like new. Mostly recent (1990+) Marvel and DC/Vertigo titles, with a smattering of independents, manga, anime art books, and some locally published stuff (Steve Rolston; Rebecca Dart's great Rabbithead) Some are on the shelves right now, and we'll be adding more every day until they're all out, which will probably take a week or more of careful cleaning and pricing.

Ian Rankin on Comics

Via staff comics guy James N:

Ian Rankin, best-selling author of the Inspector Rebus series, will have his first graphic novel released this summer. It's kicking off DC Comics/Vertigo's new crime imprint and stars London's occult detective, John Constantine.

Comics website Newsarama featured a two-part interview with Rankin about Dark Entries, his love of comics, and his approach to writing for a new medium.

Part One; Part Two

NRAMA: See, I was going to ask if you were going to have Constantine going to Edinburgh...

IR: Sadly, no. It’s mostly set in a haunted house in England. So it’s his territory – rather than take him to mine, I’ve gone to his territory. And he’s got a gig as a psychic investigator. It’s sort of like of those reality game shows where people are locked up together, but there’s a haunting going on, and people are starting to disappear, which is great for the ratings. But Constantine is brought in to see if he can solve the mystery.
So I structured it almost like Ten Little Indians, you know, the Agatha Christie mystery, where people are disappearing one at a time. It’s sort of tongue-in-cheek.

NRAMA: So this won’t have a supernatural element...?

IR: Oh, it will. Big time.

NRAMA: I was wondering about that, because of the nature of the crime line.

IR: Oh, yeah. But I had to be true to Constantine’s universe, and he’s always battling demons. So there were always going to be demons in the story. It wouldn’t just be a haunted house scenario; it would grow and grow until we had the demons of Hell involved. Which is something I don’t normally get to write about, so it was quite fun.

But what appeals to me is that he’s like a private eye. He’s got the coat, and he’s shambling around with the bottle of Scotch on the table when he goes home at night, and he takes these cases where he just gets sucked in. There’s a mystery he’s trying to unfold, and he operates almost like the Sam Spade character from classic American crime fiction, only with a horror twist, a supernatural twist.

Plus, he doesn’t have superpowers. He can’t fly. And he’s not a billionaire, so he can’t afford to build a flying ship or a rubberized suit that’ll take bullets and things. He’s only got his own wits that he lives by. He’s as human as you and I. Well, there’s the question as to whether he has some demon blood running through him, but that’s making this more difficult to discuss. (laughs)

And he’s fallible. He’s very fallible. People get killed around him, and it’s his fault sometimes. He screws up. And that’s what I like about him.

Rankin isn't the first best-selling novelist to write for DC Comics:

• Fellow Scot Denise Mina wrote two Hellblazer graphic novels (Empathy is the Enemy and The Red Right Hand), and helped Rankin adapt his scripts for his artist.
  
• Greg Rucka, author of the Atticus Kodiak thrillers, has written many excellent Batman stories and gave us a worm's eye view of Gotham City through its corrupt police department in Gotham Central.
  
• Brad Meltzer wrote a murder mystery that drew attention from all of DC's superhumans in Identity Crisis as well as launched the latest version of the Justice League of America.
• Even Jodi Picoult has written a Wonder Woman graphic novel.
• Paul DiFillipo, Mike Carey, Peter David, Douglas Rushkoff, and of course, Neil Gaiman are some of the other authors who have graced comics with their literary genius.

Dark Entries will be available from us in August, and the other graphic novels mentioned can be special ordered today.

After Watchmen

Via staff comics guy James N.:

In an attempt to cash in on the recent media blitzkrieg that was the Watchmen film, DC Comics launched the "After Watchmen, What's Next?" website, with a list of graphic novels for you to try, if you enjoyed the film or comic.

I have yet to see the movie, but loved the comic. I am Pulpfiction's resident comic monkey, so I was interested, amused, and horrified at some of their choices.

DC broke the graphic novels down into categories, and so rather than you having to navigate your way through hordes of men in pervert suits, I'll highlight a few choice comics here, for you blossoming comic geeks:

We're going to ignore the obvious choices; the great Alan Moore comics that were already adapted into horrible movies: V For Vendetta, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and From Hell. All of them are awesome and all of them are worth reading (but not watching).

As for the rest:

BOOKS THAT REDEFINE MODERN SUPERHEROES:

• The Authority: Relentless, written by Warren Ellis & illustrated by Bryan Hitch. The seven most powerful superhumans on the planet join together to become the Earth's moral hammer, to create a finer world, at any cost. They start out on the defensive; stopping ten thousand super-terrorists from divebombing Los Angeles, or repelling an invasion from an alternate Earth. But as the series progresses, they become more and more proactive, threatening sovereign governments to change their corrupt ways or risk getting squashed. "We are the Authority," they say, "BEHAVE."

MORE BOOKS BY ALAN MOORE

• Promethea Book One, illustrated by J.H. Williams III. A five-volume series that lies somewhere between Neil Gaiman's Sandman and Wonder Woman. A fantasy adventure through the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. Alan Moore, by the way, is a Magician. A real one that studies Magick. With a "k". Yes. Promethea is how Alan Moore sees the world.
  

BOOKS THAT PUSH THE BOUNDARIES OF SCIENCE FICTION

• Transmetropolitan Vol 1: Back on the Street, written by Warren Ellis & illustrated by Darick Robertson. The adventures of journalist Spider Jerusalem, who is Hunter Thompson reborn in a perverted future, armed only with a bowel disruptor and The Truth.

BEST-SELLING BOOKS FROM BEST-SELLING AUTHORS

DC Comics actually publishes comics from a number of proper novelists. Jodi Picoult, Greg Rucka, and Brad Meltzer have all taken a stab at the superhero genre. But the most recognizable name would have to be good old Neil Gaiman: novelist, screenwriter, object of goth desire.

• The Sandman Vol 1: Preludes & Nocturnes, written by Neil Gaiman & illustrated by Sam Kieth. An occultist attempting to capture Death to bargain for eternal life traps her younger brother Dream instead. After his 70 year imprisonment and eventual escape, Dream, also known as Morpheus, goes on a quest for his lost objects of power. And so begins a wonderful anthology of stories about the power of dreams and the nature of stories. Everyone should read Sandman at least once.

BOOKS FOR MATURE READERS

If comics were movies, "Mature Readers" would be the equivalent of an "R" rating. It means there are F-Bombs and Nipples between the covers.

• Preacher Vol 1: Gone to Texas, written by Garth Ennis & illustrated by Steve Dillon. Jesse Custer is a small-town reverend, slowly losing his flock and his faith. Until he is possessed by a spiritual force called "Genesis" the child of an angel and a devil which gives Custer the power of The Word: the ability to make people do whatever he says. With that, he begins a violent (and occasionally hilarious) journey across America to track down the God that abandoned Earth and everyone on it.

All of these fine graphic novels are available at either branch of Pulpfiction, or are easily ordered at 20% their Canadian cover price. I can also recommend about five thousand other great comics if you can handle being talked at by a hypercaffeinated nerd.