The Surrogates & Alan Moore: On Sale Now!

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

It costs a bunch of money to make a movie and nearly as much to actually go see one in the theaters. Top Shelf has hit a fall jackpot with their comic book The Surrogates, written by Robert Venditti and drawn by Brett Weldele. It’s debuting as a movie on September 25th, directed by Jonathan Mostow, written by John Brancato and Michael Ferris and starring Bruce Willis and Rosamund Pike.

To celebrate the movie’s release (check out the trailer after the jump!), Top Shelf is debuting The Surrogates comics at iTunes, so you can read the original graphic novel on your iPod Touch or iPhone. You can get the first two issues for 99¢ and the remaining three issues for 99¢ each. If that seems like too big a risk for you, then you can just download the entire first issue—that’s The Surrogates #1—for free from the iTunes App Store. Got it?

Between now and September 25th, Top Shelf will be taking advantage of the slow fall comic book season and offering up a whopper of a sale to celebrate: lots of great graphic novels and comic booky stuff for $3 a pop and reduced prices for their prime Alan Moore books like The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Lost Girls, and From Hell. Also, Halloween is coming up, and what better gift than a copy of Johnny Boo by James Kochalka?

It’s a great time to be alive.

[Artwork: The Surrogates © Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele]

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American Elf Volume 3

Posted by Jonas Hinckley Categories: Editorials, Reviews, Independent,

I loves me some James Kochalka. His daily strips over at the American Elf site are alternately odd, funny, poignant, life-altering, and/or just plain fun. And while it’s rewarding to check in on a daily or weekly basis, it’s not until I get the books in my hand that the full picture is revealed; there’s much more continuity and grace in reading multiple strips in order that weaves itself like an actual story.

Kochalka uses a four-panel box to document his daily activities (and sometimes lack thereof). After over ten years of strips, he’s perfected both his style and the seemingly straightforward but not-so-simple format to distill moments in his life into completely relatable and universal truths.  Volume 3 of his collected strips was released just prior to the holidays, and maybe it’s the all-color nature or the fact that it delves into Kochalka’s life as a father and his wife’s next pregnancy in a way that makes me think about my 1-year-old son, but I think it’s probably my favorite of the books so far.

Kochalka’s been documenting his life in this way since October of 1988, and what may seem random when read separately day by day, once collected into book form, an intimate portrayal of his life emerges, with storylines that build and flow like a good novel. While I’m sure it’s not his “life” in that way that any type of documentary is not fully revealing, after following his printed adventures through the years, I feel like I’ve got a pretty good idea of what the James Kochalka would be like if I were to meet him on the street one day. At the very least, I’d know to ask him how he’s doing with his band or what made him mad that day…

Read More | American Elf