Super hero comics are fine.  Lots of us started with them, and lots of us still enjoy the occasional cape-centric yarn.  Still, there’s a big chunk of readers who grow stagnant with recycled storylines and event gimmicks and want something different.  Sometimes I feel like there’s a social or psychological barrier that keeps super hero readers from dipping their toes in the Indie section (and vice versa).  I’m here to let you know it’s entirely okay to read a diversity of genres.  It’s healthy to like a little bit of everything, and that variety keeps you from getting burnt out on any single type of comic.  So with that said, here are a few examples from the plethora of well-crafted stories waiting for you in the Indie/Literature section in the back corner of our store.

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JUSTIN’S PICK ::: Still my favorite superhero title going today. This issue wraps up a big arc, and who knows what crazy direction Erik Larsen will take it in next? That’s what’s kept me coming back all these years, the unpredictable plot twists. And the fact that the cast ages in real time lets the audience grow with them, to boot. An underrated gem.

DOUG’S PICK ::  MANHATTAN PROJECTS TP VOL 1: SCIENCE BAD: There is a LOT that excites me this week- that New Avengers omnibus is going to look sweet on my shelf, I’ve been holding out on Incognito for this week’s hardcover edition, I want to sample a few DC zero issues…and I could go on and on.  The book I am most looking forward to this week is the first Manhattan Projects collection from Jonathan Hickman: Science Bad.  Hickman is the Alan Moore of this generation of comic creators; his books are full of big ideas, mad science, well defined characters.  I look forward to any book with his name on it.  Oh yeah, the story has an evil Albert Einstein and something to do with the Manhattan Project.  You probably guessed the latter.

MATT’S PICK :: AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #693: Its about time Spidey got himself a side-kick!  Yeah, right.  I am not gonna fight it till I’ve tried it for a few issues.  Alpha’s origin story was engaging and entertaining enough.  I’ll paraphrase the Jackal from #692, “…Great power.  Great responsibility.  A teen outcast.  And a science experiment gone awry.  History repeats itself…Parker Particles?  Alpha Energy?!  I gotta get me some a’ that!”

I like how Marvel is shrewd enough to have every hero hatin’ on Alpha – they know readers are gonna have to warm to the concept.  If nothing else, it promises to make for interesting reading for the next few months. Lets see if Dan Slott and Company can get us fan-boys (and girls!) to care about Randy, I mean, Andy Maguire.

ANDY’S PICK :: TEZUKA: MESSAGE TO ADOLF GN VOL 01: If you were to combine Lee and Kirby, Neal Adams and Carl Barks and combine them into a single cartooning entity, this amalgam would still not be as influential to the American comic audience as Osama Tezuka is to Japanese Manga. In addition to creating, writing and drawing such long-running series as Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion, Black Jack, Phoenix, Buddha and literally dozens of others, Tezuka created Message to Adolf, a fictional tale that takes place during World War II.  This was originally published in the US as a six volume set.  Now Vertical Publishing is offering this ground-breaking series in two affordable hardcover books, the first of which is available this week.  This is a great place to sample the work of Tezuka (or any Manga for that matter) for the first time. If you are already a Manga fan, I know Adolf is already on your must-buy list.  Message to Adolf is a must-read.

SETH’S PICK :: DAL TOKYO: If you’ve heard the name Gary Panter before, you’ve probably heard it mentioned in association with abstract comics.  He’s got a long track record of producing unique works that stretches all the way back to RAW magazine.  Panter’s punk aesthetic suggests a do-it-yourself mentality, but there’s also a poetic element to his writing.  His cartooning is on full display in Dal Tokyo, Fantagraphics’ 200 plus page collection of Panter’s strip originally published in America in the eighties, and later picked up for Japanese publication.  It is an abstract work, and one not easily digested as a straight ahead narrative.  That said, it’s an interesting piece of cartooning and will entertain and confound you in alternating waves.

RICO’S PICK :: PRINCE OF CATS: Montagues and the Capulets. Samurai swords. Brooklyn. Ron Wimberly draws the hell out of this re-imagining of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet with Tybalt as the lead character. I’ve been looking forward to this book for along time!

ANDY’S PICK :: COMICS REVUE PRESENTS AUG 2012: For any of you who have considered delving into the treasure trove of comic strip reprints, Comics Revue is the absolute perfect place to start.  Since 1984, Revue has been publishing healthy chunks of some of the greatest comic strips to ever grace the newspaper comic section. Currently, the all-star line-up includes: Flash Gordon from the 1960s written by the late great Harry Harrison! Modesty Blaise! Dick Moore’s run on Gasoline Alley! Tarzan Sunday pages by Russ Manning! Milt Caniff’s Steve Canyon, Alley Oop from the ’40s, Roy Crane’s Buz Sawyer from the early 60s! (it’s still awesome!)  Krazy Kat dailies from the 30s, Secret Agent Corrigan by Williamson and Goodwin and tons more–The Phantom, Latigo, Tarzan dailies, Mandrake the Magician, Rick O’Shea and a one of the great under- appreciated humor strips, Sir Bagby!

You don’t need to try this particular issue, any one on the Heroes shelf will do.  It is such an ideal comic anthology.  You will find things you love, things you like a lot and things you can live without.  But once you get a real taste of classic comic strips, the one thing you can’t live without is the bi-monthly dose of Comics Revue.

JUSTIN’S PICK :: INFERNAL MAN-THING #3: The late, great Steve Gerber’s final script gets the royal treatment via fully painted art from modern master Kevin Nowlan. This story is a sequel of sorts to an issue Gerbs wrote during his Man-Thing stint in the 70s, a run that is now regarded as a classic. Pick up these three issues and find out why.

KARLA’S PICK :: PHANTOM LADY #1: This week marks the debut of Phantom Lady #1, the first in a four-part mini-series featuring the Lady herself and her crime-fighting partner Doll Man. Amanda Conner lends her talents to the cover art for this issue, with interiors by the lovely Cat Staggs. I’m excited to see where writers Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti take this beloved Freedom Fighter and pulp heroine, and though her costume doesn’t look nearly as pin-up as her past incarnations, I’m sure this bombshell won’t disappoint!

HEATHER’S PICK :: Wolverine and the X-men #15: There’s so much to love about this book: Wolverine dealing with a bunch of teenagers, bamfs running amuck through the Jean Grey School and stealing Wolverine’s whiskey all brought to us by Jason Aaron’s excellent sense of humor.  Now we add to that an unlikely friendship between one of my favorite, Broo and Tony Stark.  I’m also excited to see new students are joining the school and looking forward to the resolution of the AVS storylines.  As always, do not feed the bamfs.

RICO’S PICK ::  ALL ACTION CLASSICS No. 4: THE WIZRD OF OZ:  L. Frank Baum’s Classic a seen through the lens of brilliant cartoonist Ben Caldwell, check it out!

Is Peanuts the greatest comic strip of all time? It is hard to say for certain since there have been so many classics that have run throughout our lifetimes and and the lifetimes of our parents (and grandparents) before us. Calvin and Hobbes, Pogo, Popeye and Wash Tubbs/Captain Easy immediately come to mind. They are all masterpieces of the comic strip form–timeless, inspiring and entertaining…but do any of these (along with dozens I neglected to mention) have the true emotional pull and the personal connection we have all felt at one time with Charles Schulz masterpiece featuring Charlie Brown and the gang? Is there any visual ICON from the past 50 years more universally familiar than Snoopy?

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