ANDY’S PICK :: DEVIL DINOSAUR BY JACK KIRBY THE COMPLETE SERIES TP: Here’s the back-story. In 1972, DC asked Jack Kirby to come up with a title to compete with Marvel’s recent licensing acquisition of Planet of the Apes. Hence, Kamandi. A few years later, Kirby was back at Marvel and they asked him to create a new property  that could go paw to paw with the new Kamandi TV series that DC was developing. So Kirby grudgingly  came up with Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy. The series only ran for 9 issues. The comic was geared at younger readers, but like most comics back in the ’70s it was never marketed properly. So, at the time  DD  looked like a big-foot n embarrassment from the once-great King when compared to the more cutting edge ‘relevant’ comics from O’Neill and Engelhart. Today those topical books are still fun but are self important, quite silly and rather dated; meanwhile ol’ DD remains a great kids comic just brimming with the Kirby excitement, movement and creativity. Marvel is offering all nine issues in an affordable soft cover edition for only 19.95. You owe it to yourself to pick it up and enjoy!

ANDY’S PICK :: Walt Disney’s Donald Duck: “Trail Of The Unicorn”: I will not rest until everyone is reading these reasonably priced and beautifully designed and edited volumes of  Carl Barks’ Disney Duck masterpieces.  This is the 6th volume to be published by Fantagraphics and every one of them are great. You can purchases ANY single one of them and read them in any order.  Fantagraphics is not even bothering to number the series, so readers can just jump in anywhere they want.  Gasp! That goes against everything our passion/hobby usually requires. But these are arguably some of the greatest comics ever published. And they are as vital and funny today as they were when they were first published over 65 years ago.  Each volume includes a handful of the Donald duck full length adventures and the, marvelous 10 pages as well as a number of single page gag cartoons. And each volume contains short essays about each story from some of the best critics and comic writers around. Please buy this volume–Trail of the Unicorn or any other volume Justin keeps  on the shelf. You can’t lose!

ANDY’S PICK :: ART OF DISNEY GOLDEN BOOKS HC: Chances are good that the first book you ever held in your hand, ripped its pages, drew in, or drooled on was a Golden  Book and if your parents were anything  like mine and in as much of a hurry to buy a Golden Book to shut me up that they only noticed and bought the  one’s that featured familiar Disney characters, well sir (or madam) this is the book for you. These books have inspired generation after generation of budding animators and cartooists.  Now comes The Art of Disney Golden Books.  It is a beautiful hard cover book celebrating eighty years of the marvelous Disney character art that every kid spent time tracing, copying or spilling juice on.  Either way, Golden Books are an essential link in the chain that eventually can lead to …comic books!!  Enjoy! And good luck keeping it ‘mint’.

ANDY’S PICK :: DOOP #1: Back in 2001, Peter Milligan and Mike Allred turned the mutant world on its backside by re-imagining X-Force a super-team that eventually morphed into X-Statix. Replacing the old X-Men reliables like Cable, Deadpool, Warpath et.al. , Milligan and Allred turned a team of misfit super-heroes into well… a bunch of reality star super-powered misfits.  Now the key players on the team were Dead Girl, Phat, U-Go Girl, Anarchist and my personal favorite Doop who looked like the love child of Proty II and Slimer from Ghostbusters. Milligan returns with artist David LaFuente (and covers by Allred!) for a five issue mini-series that is sure to be one of the gems of this summer.  And if you have never read the Milligan/Allred Mutant series, pick up a book or three from Heroes– it is a great read.

ANDY’S PICK :: EDGAR ALLAN POE’S PREMATURE BURIAL ONE SHOT: Is there anything more frightening than being buried alive?  not in my book.  Two of the most terrifying short stories by Edgar Allan Poe—The Cask of Amontillado and The Premature Burial–focus on this awful subject have been adapted by that living (and unburied) legend Richard Corben.  These adaptations should prove to be exciting and beautifully rendered.  Just look at the Cover!  And if anyone asks, when the time comes (and not before!) I demand to be cremated.

What could be funnier than uniting a Moose and Squirrel to fight the cold War villainy of Boris and Natasha (fresh from their triumphs in War and Peace) and their fearless leader, FEARLESS LEADER? What if you engage the comic book legend and current scribe of the vastly under-rated Garfield comic book Mark Evanier along with perhaps the finest big foot comic illustrator in the business Roger Langridge?  If that isn’t  enough to get you to try this 4 issue mini-series from IDW? Well…. Here’s one thing you don’t see everyday Chauncey–What’s that Edgar? A long overdue Jay Ward Studios cross-over as the denizens of Frostbite Falls, MN meet everyone’s favorite Mountie Dudley Do-Right! Will Snidely Whiplash co-operate with Boris Badenov? Will Natasha fall for Horse and make Nell jealous.  That’s kinda weird.  Anyhoo…  Perhaps a Quisp and Quake cameo? We can only hope.These comics are guaranteed to be a total riot.