SETH’S PICK :: PROBLEMATIC: SKETCHBOOK DRAWINGS 2004-2012: I could have justifiably written about the start of artist James Harren’s new B.P.R.D. series (subtitled The Abyss of Time), or Tom Kaczynski’s Beta Testing the Apocalypse – fans of indie, political or analogy-filled comics should give this one a look.  However, I saw Fantagraphics’ preview of this new sketchbook from Frank artist Jim Woodring, and it quickly jumped to the top of my buy pile.  If you know Woodring, you know he’s a master of imaginative, bizarre, often wordless comics.  What I didn’t know, was that Woodring fills up Moleskine sketchbooks on a monthly basis.  Everything from stream of conscious excursions, life drawings, crazy new character designs and loose thumbnails find their way into Woodring’s sketchbooks.  Admittedly, this book might be best suited for the process hounds among us, but Woodring’s eclectic art is well worth seeking out for the uninitiated as well.

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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