Tomorrow, you will be able to walk into a comics shop (yes, they still exist, despite me downloading most of comics to an iPad), and you will be able to buy three graphic novels. One is by Grant Morrison. One is by Eddie Campbell. One is by Alan Moore.
Morrison and Moore are merely two of the most acclaimed comics writers of all time. Campbell is brilliant too. He was Moore’s artist on From Hell but is also the extraordinary writer-artist of the semi-autobiographical series Alec. I love Moore and Morrison, but Campbell is the one whose work I am most excited about. I will go to a shop to buy these.
By the way, I call these all graphic novels because they are thicker than monthly comics, all square-bound I believe. That’s novelly enough for me.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century #3: 2009
Alan Moore! This is the final chapter of Moore’s tour of his mostly-20th Century versions of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, his super-hero team comprised of various heroes and villains from popular fiction. This one is set in 2009 and in some way features a version of Harry Potter as the Anti-Christ. Does that mean we can call this After Harry Potter? Only if we’re wise-asses. Kevin O’Neill draws this one.[clear]
Dinosaurs Vs. Aliens
Grant Morrison! For some reason, Grant Morrison has written a graphic-novel/movie-treatment about the great struggle between aliens and dinosaurs. I don’t know why, but considering that Grant Morrison has written more comics that I’m crazy about than anyone else (New X-Men, The Invisibles, The Filth, All-Star Superman, Seaguy, Seven Soldiers, all his Batman stuff, Doom Patrol, Animal Man, and more), sure I’ll buy this thing. Warning: this might be the stupidest thing Grant Morrison has ever written. I don’t know. But it’s Grant Morrison, so…[clear]
Eddie Campbell! This guy may not be on your radar. He should be. He can out-write the other two guys here and he certainly can out-draw them. Campbell is a treasure, a less prolific creator than Moore or Morrison, but one of great wit. His new book is about money. Official summary time: “Money makes the world go round, as they say… but how, exactly? Award-winning graphic novelist Eddie Campbell (From Hell, Alec) presents a fascinating journey into the wilderness of personal finance. With his trademark blend of research, anecdote, autobiography, and fantasy, Campbell explores how money underwrites human relationships, flowing all around us like the air we breathe – or the water we drown in. The result is a whimsical graphic essay, deeply grounded in Eddie’s personal experiences with ‘the lovely horrible stuff,’ ranging from the imaginary wealth of Ponzi schemes and television pilots to the all-too-tangible stone currency of the Micronesian island of Yap.”
Good lord, the second-to-last issue of Jason Aaron’s splendid, squalid Scalped is also coming out, and that’s the one comic DC doesn’t issue on the iPad. I am definitely going to the shop this week.
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