Kotobukiya have announced that they’ll release statues of characters from Batman comics, The Defenders, the upcoming Black Panther movie, the Resident Evil video games, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi this summer.
Category: Comics
For the last two years I’ve kept a log of all the good books I read, regardless of when they were originally published. You can read my 2015 list by clicking here, and 2016’s by clicking here.
And since I’m nothing if not predictable, I decided to repeat this process for 2017.
So, here’s a look at the best novels, short story collections, and other books I read in 2017.
We always like to talk about the innocence of children. But in the new graphic novel 4 Kids Walk Into A Bank (paperback, Kindle) by writer Matthew Rosenberg (Kingpin: Born Against) and artist Tyler Boss, the kids aren’t strolling into a financial institution to use the restroom or find their mommies; they’re looking to rob the place. Though in talking to Rosenberg about this comic collection, he revealed that this story didn’t actually start with the kiddies.
In her first graphic novel, Blue Is The Warmest Color (Le Bleu Est une Couleur Chaude), writer and artist Julie Maroh told a coming-of-age love story about two women that took place over the course of a fourteen-year period. But while her newest graphic novel, Body Music (paperback, Kindle), is also set in the romantic realm, as she explains in the following email interview, this time she’s exploring the diversity of those feelings through a series of vignettes.
In 2012, writer Skip Brittenham and artist Brian Haberlin took sci-fi comics into a different realm by not only publishing the book Anomaly with a cinematic horizontal landscape format, but by also including interactive elements and an App to show how the comic was made. It’s territory they’re exploring again with Anomaly The Rubicon (hardcover), a sequel that not only utilizes the same format and behind-the-scenes interactivity, but a pinball game as well.
In his 2012 graphic novel Such A Lovely Little War: Saigon 1961-63 (paperback, digital), writer and artist Marcelino Truong recounted what it was like to be a kid in Vietnam in the early days of the Vietnam war. It’s a compelling story that continued in his 2015 graphic novel Saigon Calling: London 1963-75 (paperback, digital), which is now being released in English in the U.S.
One month after releasing the first Batman: The Animated Series movie, Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm, on Blu-ray, Warner Brothers are following it up with the latest spin-off from that ‘toon, Batman And Harley Quinn, which is available on Blu-ray/DVD/digital combo pack; 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Blu-ray/digital combo pack, DVD, and in a limited edition gift set that pairs the Blu-ray/DVD/digital combo pack with a 4″-tall Harley Quinn toy. But while Batman And Harley Quinn may not be as good as Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm, or as strongly connected and aligned with Batman: The Animated Series, it’s still a worthy addition to any Bat-fans collection.
Funko have announced that they’ll release a series of Hellboy POP! toys this fall inspired by the same Mike Mignola comic book series that inspired the live-action movies Hellboy and Hellboy II: The Golden Army, as well as the animated movies Hellboy: Sword Of Storms and Hellboy: Blood & Iron. A new live-action movie, tentatively titled Hellboy: Rise Of The Blood Queen, is currently being put together with Neil Marshall (Game Of Thrones) directing, David Barbour (Stranger Things) as our titular hero, and Mila Jovovich (The Fifth Element) as the titular villain.
Kotobukiya have announced that they will release a series of ARTFX+ statues based on the characters in the upcoming movie Justice League. The statues will be released individually this December and early next year.