My cup runneth over

So, a bunch of stuff happened this week, providing me with lots of comics-related material; lots more, in fact, than I will be able to read for some time. And it was all at no cost to me! Sometimes you trip over a pot of gold, and there isn't even a rainbow around.

First of all, Big Brown delivered a neat and tidy box the other day. Beneath all the packing peanuts was this treasure trove:

LOCAS hardcover by Jaime Hernandez
Palomar hard cover by Gilbert Hernandez
Luba: Book of Ofelia softcover by Gilbert Hernandez
The Plot softcover by Will Eisner
Castle Waiting hardcover by Linda Medley
(this one was a particular surprise, since I had just discovered it at a bookstore,
moving it to the top of my buy list after being lost in it for a half-hour)

and

The slipcased, hardcover, first two volumes of The Complete Peanuts
(covering 1959 to 1962)

I will not announce whence came this munificence, to protect the modesty of my benefactor; I did want to offer a hearty and public thank-you nonetheless. I hope to have a chance to discuss some of these works here soon, but I'm afraid I'll be lost with Maggie and Hopey for some time.

But, as Ron Popeil would say - that's not all! Check this out:

I was discussing my upcoming composition class with some teaching colleagues, and describing how our source readings would all be graphic books. One instructor told me that she had some Indian comics, and offered to share them with me. I have read some about the Indian comics market, particularly recent deals with Richard Branson's Virgin conglomerate and the Spider-man India project from a couple years back, but I had never encountered homegrown Indian comics before. This stash comprises four issues of Amar Chitka Katha, which chronicles mythological, historical, and fictional adventure stories, and one copy of Twinkle Digest, aimed at younger children. I'll try to have interior scans of this stuff up soon.

But there is yet more! Look at this blast from the past:

On Halloween, a great and good friend (and the spiritual heir to Harry Houdini) came over and graced me with a copy of Limited Collector's Edition #3 from 1974, featuring a whole bundle of Superman stuff (for a buck!). Aside from being a big (14" x 10"), fun book, this looks to be a great primer to the development of the pre-CoIE Superman: it starts with a couple stories of the early Siegel and Schuster tough-guy Superman running and jumping and generally rushing all around to fight fascists and crooked politicians; continues with a Wayne Boring car-juggling Supes; gives us a Kurt Schaffenberger Krypto-and-Lois comedy and an Andru-Esposito "L.L." caper; and ends with a Curt Swan re-telling of the origin (complete with Kryptonian headbands). There's lots of extra features as well; I'll try to get some interior stuff, but it's almost too big to scan!

So, thanks to random generosity, my comics reading is stockpiled! Thanks to everyone (you know who you are) for sharing.

I must also admit that I added to my own pile as well, picking up all the issues of 52 that had come out since I had forsworn the series a couple of months ago. I fell off the wagon because I was enticed by all the talk on the internets of Will Magnus and mad scientists and the Metal Men. Well, it really wasn't worth it. The throwaway bits are great fun, and some of them are genius; the puzzle aspect of the series is pretty cool; but overall, it's just not engaging as story. It's still a big ol' mess, the plots are moving along way too slowly, some of the guest shots look like pure promotion rather than story elements, and I have no confidence that I will understand any eventual denouement anyway. I'm done, for real this time.

Now, I heard a rumor that Lady Cop is coming back in the pages of The Atom...